_ _ _ _3rd Person POV_ _ _ _
High above, as the horde marched forward through the mud and mire toward their single‑minded goal of complete consumption, a silhouette floated against the stormy night sky. Rimuru hung there, bat‑like wings spread behind him as he surveyed the moving sea of bodies below. From where he was, he could see just how vast the orc army truly was as it moved across the landscape.
The scene was gradually becoming more chaotic, mainly because his own forces had joined the fray. Massive eruptions of black and purple flames appeared all across the battlefield, incinerating hundreds of orcs at a time. These semi‑sphere domes of fire appeared suddenly and without warning, leaving the orc army confused and temporarily in disarray. Of course, it would not be long before the originator of those particular attacks revealed themselves and the orcs refocused their efforts.
(It seems things are getting underway,) Rimuru muttered, eyes fixed on the courage below. (Now then, I just need to find the orc lord.)
[Notice. Beginning scans of hostile entities for the individual known as the orc lord.] The voice of his reliable partner echoed in his mind.
He smiled and nodded in appreciation. "Thanks for the hand, Great Sage."
"Once we deal with them, it'll hopefully cause the other orcs to stop their invasion," he mused and immediately received a response.
[Answer. The chance of the orc army becoming temporarily incapacitated due to the backlash of the primary conduit of the unique skill Starved being killed is close to one hundred percent.]
"Well, that's good to know at leas-" Rimuru went to say, but his words were cut off as the sky above him suddenly darkened.
His eyes widened as he turned to look; his amber iris reflecting the dark flashes of lightning as a monumental storm began gathering overhead. "What the heck is going on?"
"Are those tornadoes?!" he asked as spiralling pillars of wind began to emerge from the clouds.
[Answer. This is the wide‑range attack of the entity Ranga, Death Storm.] Great Sage was quick to explain.
"Well, dang…"
Down below, the head of a massive serpent turned upward, a flash of recognition appearing in its reptilian eyes as the storm grew to blanket the sky. Zeref nodded, watching as the whirling vortexes of spiralling wind descended, tearing apart orcs and sending them flying. The crackling bolts of blackened lightning that slammed down alongside the violently twisting tornadoes, incinerating all they struck, only added to the chaotic scene.
"It sssseemsss that Ranga is cutting lossse ssssome," he chuckled, his tail whipping around to collide with an orc that was attempting to climb onto his back; the force of the impact tore the orc's upper torso from the rest of its body, sending it flying. "I sssuppossse I ssshould do the same."
Opening his mouth, Zeref let out a booming hiss, more a deafening roar than anything a snake should make. Magic immediately flared to life within his body as one of his skills activated, and carried by his intent the effect was immediate. The clouds that had gathered above gained a yellowish tint as rain began to pour from the sky, rain that horrifically melted through the armour and flesh of the orcs it touched.
Of course, Zeref made sure that the acid rain would not fall close to his compatriots; however, this meant that the orcs near those allies were relatively unaffected as well. The twins, who were close to their large serpentine companion, were quick to notice said fact as they fought side by side.
"How many are even left? They just keep coming no matter how many we kill," Yang hummed, jumping back as an axe swung down at her head; her attacker received an explosive arrow to the shoulder that erupted and blasted their arm off.
Without waiting a second, Yang pulled the string of her bow back, firing a tempest arrow that went straight through the now one‑armed orc's torso. "I don't know how long I'll be able to keep this up."
"Getting tired already, sis? Maybe you should cut down on all those treats you've been sampling," Yin chimed in, her massive tiger‑like body leaping over Yang's head to crash into an orc charging her sister from behind.
"S‑shut up, it's not my fault they're tasty…" Yang huffed defensively as she let loose several more magic arrows at the approaching horde, arrows that exploded violently among the tightly packed ranks of orcs.
Yin let out an amused growl as she clamped her jaws onto the orc's head, her razor‑sharp fangs easily piercing its skull. With one violent tug she tore the head from her enemy's shoulders, blood gushing from the mangled remains of their neck.
"Instead of teasing me, you should be focusing on the fight at hand," Yang huffed, firing another arrow that struck one of the orcs directly in the eye.
Her words caused her sister to chuckle and roll her eyes. "Yeah yeah, no need to be so sensitive."
"Make sssome room, would you?" Zeref suddenly hissed a warning, which got the two girls' attention as they turned to see him tearing his way through the orc lines toward them.
His massive form smashed through the ranks, a creeping grey mist pouring from his mouth as he moved. Those who got too close were either turned to stone by the mist, their bodies petrifying before their own eyes, or had their bodies literally begin to break apart and unravel thanks to his Decay skill. Even those who somehow got close enough to attack him or climb onto his back found that not only were their weapons barely scratching his scaly hide, but his body was also covered in a terrifying, lethal purple fluid that seeped from between his scales and killed anyone who so much as touched it.
Even without all of that, he caused chaos wherever his massive body slithered. Those he didn't kill with his skills or simply crush under his bulk were sent flying by a swing of his tail that cracked bones and shattered armour, or had the unfortunate opportunity to come face to face with Zeref's fang‑filled maw. The fact that his serrated teeth were filled with sickeningly deadly venom was one thing; the fact that he was big enough to literally swallow them whole if he unhinged his jaw was another.
"Are you two well?" Zeref asked before releasing a stream of dark emerald‑green fire from his mouth that incinerated a group of orcs in front of him.
"For now, but our energy won't last forever," Yang called back while using her unique skill to superheat the armour of some of the orcs that got a little too close to her, melting it into molten metal that burned through their wearers' flesh.
"It'll be fine; these guys aren't that tough anyway," Yin responded as she shifted back to her humanoid form, drawing her sword to parry an incoming attack.
Zeref simply shook his head at the black‑eared cat girl's words. "Do not get cocky, little one. Just because we have been fighting their foot sssoldiersss doesss not mean there are not ssstronger individualsss within their ranksss."
"Well, if there are any stronger guys around, I hope they show up soon," Yin grinned as she sliced an opponent's arms off, spun on her heel, and cut through their vulnerable neck in one swift motion. "Fighting these guys is getting boring."
"Do you know whether Lady Suu is nearby, by the way?" Zeref asked a moment later; his lady's absence had not gone unnoticed.
"We lost track of her," Yang replied.
"One second she was here, the next she was gone," she hummed without losing focus on the battle for even a second. "But she should be fine. I mean, if we're not having any issue dealing with these guys, there's no way she's struggling with them."
"I can try and contact her with thought communication if you wan-" Yin was about to say, but her words were interrupted by what happened next.
Not far away, deep within a section of the orc army, a beam of dark red lightning shot into the sky. For a moment the fighting paused as even the orcs turned their heads slightly to look in the direction the beam had come from.
This momentary stillness allowed Yin to mutter, "If I had to guess… she's probably over there." Her words caused Zeref to sigh.
"You don't sssay…"