I can't afford to lose. I ate my own comrades.
I can't afford to lose. I have to become a demon lord. Because I ate Lord Gelmud.
I can't afford to lose. My comrades hunger.
I can't afford to lose. I must eat until I am full!
The Orc War or Orc Invasion was a conflict that arose when the Orc Kingdom of Orbic set their sights on taking over the Great Jura Forest. The orcs would come into conflict with many of the tribes native to the Jura Forest, including but not limited to goblins, lizardmen, and ogres.
Background[]
Several decades before the birth of Rimuru Tempest, a space-time crack formed in a cave within the Orc Kingdom of Orbic. Soon, Aggressor insects began to spill out of the crack and they brought with them a destructive amount of the otherworld's magicules. Though the Insects were eventually defeated by the Demon Lord Carrion and the space-time crack sealed, the damage had already been done and the otherworld’s magicules began infecting Orbic's land like a plague. The plants began to wither and the water started to dry up as the land was slowly becoming an inhospitable desert similar to Barren Lands to the far west.
The desertification of Orbic’s land naturally resulted in a massive famine that made food scarce. The survival instincts of the Orcs weren’t helping matters either, with their numbers only increasing in an effort to preserve the species and making the food situation even worse. Even the Royal Family was unable to provide food for its family, with the Orc King deciding to break ancient taboo and offer up himself as nourishment for his Young Son. The king knew not why it was taboo and inadvertently triggered his son’s evolution into an Orc Lord in his act of selfless desperation. Thus the Orc Lord was born, carrying on his father’s legacy as the new Orc King.
However, even with all the power afforded to him as an Orc Lord, the King could not do anything for his people but offer up his infinitely regenerating flesh to the starving orcs in-front of him. Despite the protests of his own Son, the King continued this act until he could no longer carry on, collapsing in the desert on the verge of death. It was then that the King was approached by Gelmud, a Greater Majin with power beyond even his and many connections. Gelmud offered to adopt the King and become a father-like figure, granting him the name 'Geld' and with it hope for his people. Among Gelmud’s connections was a particularly powerful one, the Demon Lord Clayman. Clayman was more than willing to supply the Orcs with armor, weapons, and rations that would allow them to form a cohesive military force. The Orcs were no longer powerless and they soon set their sights on invading the Great Jura Forest to make a new home for themselves in the bountiful forest that now lacked the protection of the Storm Dragon Veldora.
The entire population of Orbic, now under the effect of Geld's Starved, all mobilized and marched towards the forest as a starving horde of barely coherent soldiers. The skill dominated their spirits and allowed their minds and bodies to go far beyond their limits, with any succumbing to exhaustion and hunger being consumed by their brethren. The Orcs consumed anything and anyone that got in their way as they began marching towards the home of the lizardmen Lake Siss. The Orc Lord Geld, meanwhile, personally led a detachment of some of their most elite knights to take down the largest Ogre Village in the forest, both a threat to their invasion and a great source of power for Geld. The assault was reinforced by a member of the Moderate Harlequin Alliance hired by Gelmud, a large man named Footman that assisted Geld in taking down many of the more troublesome Ogres that wouldn’t fall to numbers alone.
It was around this time that the Lizardman Chieftain was informed of the Orcish army by his scouts and he soon made preparations for their arrival. He dispatched Warrior Captain Gabiru and a squad of Knights all mounted on Hover Lizards to gather as many Goblins from the nearby villages as possible to reinforce their numbers and food supplies. Meanwhile, the Lizardmen at home all bunkered down inside the limestone caves that served as their capital and prepared for a drawn-out siege. The chieftain was wary of the possibility of an Orc Lord, knowing the terror of Starved from stories based down from his ancestors and hoping not to allow any Lizardmen corpses to be eaten.
While Gabiru was away recruiting the Goblins, The Chieftain was approached by a mysterious Greater Majin who introduced himself as Souei. Souei claimed to be the envoy of an even greater master by the name of Rimuru, confirming to the chieftain that there was indeed an Orc Lord leading the orcs and that the legendary Dryads had personally requested they slay the Orc Lord. Relieved by this news, the Chieftain agreed to a meeting with Rimuru in seven days time to form a military alliance with them.
Gabiru, meanwhile, returned home three and a half days after the meeting with Souei. Upon seeing the state of affairs–the proud lizardmen on the defensive–Gabiru, who was desperate for recognition and impatient, decided to stage a Coup. He and his men were able to enter the throne room completely unnoticed thanks to the assistance of a man named Laplace, a mercenary hired by Gabiru's namer Gelmud. Those still loyal to his father, as well as his father himself, were quickly detained while Gabiru gathered their forces and prepared to stage an all-out assault against the Orcs.
Sitting in his cell alongside his daughter the Guard Captain, the chieftain regretted not explaining more things to Gabiru and lamented that the Lizardmen were doomed. Wanting to spare at least his daughter, he broke free of his bindings and created a distraction for her to escape. The Guard Captain was quick to leave the caves of the lizardmen, following her father's wishes and heading deep into the forest to seek out Souei and inform him that the alliance fell through. However, a small detachment of the Orc Army was soon on her trail and it was led by a mighty Orc General. Mortally injured and believing it to be the end, the Guard Captain was unexpectedly saved at the last minute by Souei.
Her injuries quickly healed by a Full Potion given to her by Rimuru Tempest, the Guard Captain was accepted as a suitable proxy for the Chieftain and the military alliance was officially formed. Rimuru brought with them a squadron of Goblin Riders as well as a group of powerful Kijin, a force that could more than rival the Orc Army in might despite its small size and they headed for the battlefield at full speed.
Soon the Orc Lord Geld arrived on the battlefield, his detachment finally regrouping with the advance force and shifting the atmosphere of the lizardman battlefield. Gabiru forces were engaged with a thirty-thousand strong group of orcs from the main force as well as a group of two-thousand Orc Knights led by an Orc General. Geld and his Knights gathered ten-thousand from the advance force and were quick to move around the Lizardman-Goblin Army, maneuvering to flank them from the rear.
Rimuru's reinforcements arrived at the battlefield to find a large force of Lizardmen and Goblins engaged with the Orbic Forces. Souei and the Guard Captain rushed to the aid of the Chieftain while the Goblin Riders and Kijin intervened on the battlefield, saving the flanked Gabiru in the process and defeating another Orc General. Rimuru, meanwhile, was in the skies observing the entire battlefield, identifying officers and relaying their position to Benimaru on the ground.
Meanwhile, Gelmud was observing the war from a distance alongside Laplace. The two were interrupted by the Dryad Treyni, and Gelmud was quick to flee while Laplace held her off. Gelmud was enraged at the status of the war and decided to go against Clayman's orders and enter the war personally.
Having arrived on the battlefield from above, the Majin Gelmud appeared and was soon confronted by Rimuru Tempest. All of Gelmud's attacks were useless against the strange Majin while their attacks were unexpected and strange. After suffering various injuries and being rendered immobilized, Gelmud quickly called out for Geld to assist him, only to be killed and eaten by his own adoptive son. With the Gelmud absorbed, Geld received a massive power increase and subsequently evolved into an Orc Disaster, bringing the war to its climax.
Even the might of the four Kijin and Ranga combined were unable to deal decisive damage to Geld, who resisted the bulk of their attacks with his Aura and made up for the damage he did take with his formidable regenerative abilities. Thus the battle came down to a one-versus-one duel between The Orc Disaster Geld and Rimuru Tempest, the slime ultimately coming out on top due to their Devourer Unique Skill outperforming Starved.
Following the defeat of the Orc Disaster, the effects of Starved quickly began to wear off. The last remaining Orc General and son of Geld was quick to surrender and thus the war came to a close. A meeting to discuss the aftermath was soon held. The orcs were represented by Geld's son–their defacto new king–and the leaders of the 10 Great Tribes; The Lizardmen were represented by their Chieftain, The Guard Captain, and the Guard Vice-Captain; The Goblins were represented by the chiefs of their various tribes; The Treants were represented by the Dryad Treyni; and the fledgling town that would soon become Tempest was represented by Rimuru Tempest and the Kijin survivors of the Ogre Village. The Chairman of the meeting was elected and Rimuru Tempest was unanimously chosen.
During the meeting, the situation of Orbic had come to light and led the peoples of the forest into deep contemplation. The orcs had no home to return to and almost nothing to offer in reparations. If left alone, the survivors would aimlessly scatter all over the forest and it wouldn't take long for bandit cells to form and attack Goblin and Lizardmen caravans. Rimuru Tempest, wishing to keep the promise they made to Geld in his last moments, made a proposal that would see the entirety of the Jura Forest west of the Ameld River form one massive federation, with the Treants and Lizardmen providing temporary rations to the Orcs in exchange for labor. Rimuru's people would then provide logistical and technological support to the orcs, allowing them to eventually establish their own properly built settlements.
Rimuru Tempest, being both the strongest individual there and the overall winner of the war, was elected as the Chancellor of the Jura-Tempest Federation and ruler of the forest, much to their own dismay. All of the roughly 160,000 Orc Survivors were granted names and thirty days worth of rations, being seperated into eleven different groups based on which Orbic Tribe they belonged to. The Ten Great Tribes were each escorted to new areas of the forest by a squad of ten Goblin Riders, while the Orc Elite and the new Orc King who represented the Orcish Capital were taken in by Rimuru personally.
Objectives[]
Primary Objective[]
The primary objective of the war was for Orbic to annex large swaths of fertile land within the Jura Forest and establish a new homeland for the Orc Race. Their previous land was rendered uninhabitable due to drought and famine created by energy that leaked out from the otherworld.
Secondary Objective[]
The secondary objective of the war was for the Orc Lord Geld to consume the powerful races of the forest and evolve into a being that could become a Demon Lord. This was the wish of Geld's adoptive father Gelmud, who was promised an executive position serving under Clayman if it could be achieved. This was part of a larger plot devised by the Demon Lords Clayman, Carrion, and Milim to create a puppet on the Demon Lord Council that they could easily use to their benefit.
Forces[]
Orc Forces[]
The entirety of the Orbic Orc Horde consisted of roughly 200,000 orcs, though this number includes a great deal of non-combatants such as women and children. Even within the large horde of combat-ready orcs, only around 10,000 of them were properly trained and equipped as Orc Knights ｢豚頭騎士団, ōku naitsu｣, with only 2,000 of them being powerful enough to be called Orc Elites ｢豚頭親衛隊, ōku erīto｣. The Knights were broken up evenly into divisions of 2,000 and were each put under the command of an Orc General ｢豚頭将軍, ōku jeneraru｣.
Each of the Orc Generals ranked A-minus, with Geld's son–the general commanding the Orc Elite–breaking through the barrier and reaching A-rank. The Orc Knights they commanded all hovered somewhere between C and B-minus, while the Orc Elite ranged from B to B-plus.
The Orc Lord himself ranked well into the upper echelons of A-rank and possessed enough power to rival Gelmud after consuming many of the forest-dwellers. His Unique Skill Starved granted him the ability to take the skills and traits of those that he ate, as well as granting him access to a powerful Corrosion that he could imbue into his aura.
The rest of the orc horde, while untrained and not as well equipped, possessed a ferocious attitude due to being under the influence of Starved. Part of the power and characteristics gained through Starved had been shared with them, including the Strengthen possessed by Ogres as well as the Scale Armor and webbed toes possessed by Lizardmen. This allowed each of them to rank at least D-plus, with many of the stronger among them ranking C.
The Orcish Forces were divvied up as follows.
- Orbic Advance Force: 30,000 Troops
- The spearhead of the orcish horde that made it to the marshes in time for the war. Each ranked between D-plus and C.
- Orbic Knight Corp: 10,000 Troops
- A force of Orc Knights broken evenly into 5 divisions, each under the command of an Orc General and led by the Orc Lord Geld himself.
- Orbic Main Force: 160,000 Troops
- The remaining Orcs who were unable to make it to the battlefield in time. Like the advance force, most of them ranked at least a D-plus. Includes Women and Children.
- Moderate Harlequin Alliance: 1 Troop
- A mercenary named Footman who was hired by Gelmud to assist in taking out the Ogre Village.
Lizardmen Forces[]
The Lizardmen, as a proud and powerful race, naturally possessed a great deal of strength. Half of their 20,000 population were trained and ready to be deployed as soldiers. The common Lizardman soldier ranked a firm C-plus, equal to that of a Human or Orc Knight, while their battalion leaders all ranked at least a B-minus and a few even firmly placed in B-rank. Additionally, a great deal of Goblins were recruited by Gabiru from among the nearby villages, each of them between E-rank and D-rank.
The forces belonging to the Lizardmen were as follows.
- Lizardmen Main Force: 8,000 Troops
- The main force of the Lizardmen, each ranking at least a C-plus and equipped with a spear. They were led by Gabiru, who himself boasted strength that hovered between B-plus and A-minus.
- Goblin Support Force: 7,000 Troops
- A horde of Goblins recruited by Gabiru who were all lightly armored and equipped with a variety of weapons. Each of them could be said to be between E-rank and D-rank in strength and their objective was to flank and finish off any Orcs routed by the Lizardmen.
- Lizardmen Defense Force: 2,000 Troops
- The remainder of the battle-ready Lizardmen that protected the limestone caves they called home. They were a mixed bag between a skeletal force left behind by Gabiru and the troops still loyal to the Chieftain that were being detained.
Rimuru's Forces[]
Despite going up against an army of two-hundred thousand, Rimuru only brought a small strike team with them consisting of themself, a platoon of Goblin Riders, and four of the Kijin. The plan was for the Goblin Riders and Kijin to create an opening for Rimuru to fight the Orc Lord in one-versus-one combat.
- Main Force: 1 Troop
- The main force of Rimuru's Troops consisted of only Rimuru themself, easily ranking within the upper echelons of Special A.
- Goblin Riders: 100 Troops
- A small platoon of Goblin Riders that each ranked at least a B, with some of the stronger among them hovering around B-plus and A-minus. They were led by Gobta and his right-hand-man Gobchi. Additionally, they were reinforced by Ranga, who initially ranked a respectable B-plus but evolved into a Tempest Star Wolf in the conflict, earning him a place in the upper echelons of A-rank.
- Kijin: 4 Troops
Battles[]
Ogre Village Battle[]
The first known conflict in the Orcish Invasion of Jura. The Orc Lord Geld, along with his five Orc Generals and their ten-thousand Orc Knights, detached from the main Orbic horde and set out for the most powerful village of Ogres in the forest.
The Ogre Village was made up of around three-hundred Ogres, all of which ranked at least a B, with many of their stronger members hovering between B-plus and A. They were all highly trained in both Martial and Battlewill Arts from a young age, being equipped with high quality armor and weapons produced by their best Blacksmith. Under normal circumstances, they perhaps would have beaten the Orc Lord and his Knights, but the flow of the battle was altered due to the presence of a masked majin named Footman. With his assistance, the Ogres soon fell, with only a group of six survivors managing to escape due to the sacrifice of the village's chief.
Siege of the Lizardmen[]
The second known conflict of the Orcish Invasion of Jura. When the Advance Force from Orbic reached the marshes that the majority of the Lizardmen called home, the Lizardman Chieftain had already prepared for their arrival and made countermeasures to prevent Starved from coming into play. The Lizardmen fortified themselves in the Limestone caves that served as their capital, with each entrance being guarded by a squad of Lizardmen.
For three days these squads rotated in and out of their posts, replacing a member if they got exhausted or injured and doing their utmost to avoid any casualties that could fuel Starved. This strategy employed by the Lizardman Chieftain was flawlessly executed and seemed to be more than successful. Though their resources had become limited by turning the conflict into a prolonged siege, they only had to wait out a total of seven days before Rimuru Tempest and their reinforcements arrived to change the tide of the war.
However, the state of the war took an abrupt change when Gabiru and his men returned to the caves. Gabiru, goaded on by his subordinates and Laplace had staged a Coup against his father. He used his popularity among the younger generations and his promise of an offensive solution to the war to sway the people to his side while his men detained his father and those still loyal to him.
Having given up all hope of the Lizardmen's survival, the Chieftain could only lament his foolishness in not better educating his son on the danger an Orc Lord posed. In an act of desperation, he broke free from his bindings and set the Guard Captain free, tasking her with informing Souei that the Lizardmen were doomed and that the alliance would no longer be possible.
Guard Captain's Ambush[]
While the Guard Captain wandered almost aimlessly into the forest following the traces of Souei's Aura, she was ambushed by an Orc General and his small escort of 50 Orc Knights. The General had been tracking her movements and soon engaged her in combat. The Guard Captain might've ranked a respectable B-plus, but with the power given to him by the Orc Lord Geld, the Orc General boasted an immense force that would earn him a firm A-minus. He continued to toy with the captain until his men demanded he finish her off. Just as his blade swung down, however, he was intercepted by Souei who was secretly observing the entire encounter.
Souei used his threads to catch the General unaware and was quick to immobilize him with a vicious series of cuts. Meanwhile, his group of accompanying Knights were swiftly dealt with by Benimaru and Hakurou. Rimuru Tempest supplied the Guard Captain with a Full Potion while Souei prepared to interrogate the Orc General for intel. However, an unpredictable variable existed in the form of Shion, who slew the wounded Orc General after he insulted Rimuru.
With the Guard Captain quickly explaining Gabiru's Coup and the dire situation the Lizardmen now faced, she broke the promise she made to her father and pleaded for the Majin in-front of her to help the Lizardmen. Rimuru Tempest was eager to accept the Guard Captain as a representative of the Chieftain and thus their alliance with the Lizardmen was officially formed.
Lizardmen's Sally[]
Spurred by Gabiru after he took control over the Lizardmen, a force of eight-thousand Lizardmen and seven-thousand Goblins launched an assault on the unsuspecting Orcs. The Orbic Advance force they faced was composed of thirty-thousand orc warriors and the Lizardmen took full advantage of the marshes terrain to outmaneuver them and its tall grass to sneak up on them.
They employed tactics similar to guerilla warfare, sneaking up on a small group of orcs and attacking only briefly before retreating. Sometimes they would surround them and block their escape, while a force of Goblins overwhelmed them with superior numbers. The Lizardmen were at a complete advantage by employing this tactic, and their goal of muddying the chain of command to force the orcs to retreat from the marshes and regroup seemed to be an eventuality. However, Gabiru was unaware of Starved's existence, which is why his otherwise flawless strategy fell through.
It didn't take long for one of the orcs to catch a lizardman off-guard, the young soldier stunned by the Orc's acts of cannibalism. And as they consumed his flesh, the effects of Starved soon kicked in. The orcs all began to grow scales and webbed toes, stealing the traits and thus the mobility of the Lizardmen for themselves. To make matters even worse, the Orc Lord and his ten-thousand Orc Knights had finally regrouped with the Advance Force. The Orc Lord and his Orc Generals deftly took control of the entire battlefield, separating ten-thousand from the advance force to join with their force of Knights and flank the Lizardmen forces from all sides.
The Lizardmen had noticed the enhanced mobility of the Orc's far too late. They now had a force of twenty-thousand engaging them from in-front and a force of twenty-thousand flanking their rear. The Goblins were quick to perish in the chaos, with four-thousand of them biting the dust and leaving them at less than half their original number. The Lizardmen hardly fared much better, suffering over sixteen-hundred casualties that reduced their number by a fifth. And as if things couldn't get any worse, a group of Orc Knights wearing Black Armor led by a mighty Orc General soon rose from among the orcish ranks to face the Lizardmen.
Gabiru was unable to push through the ranks of the orcs and stage a retreat. Being completely encased from all sides and with the overwhelmingly powerful Orc General soon upon them, he made a last ditch effort to go down with pride. He challenged the Orc General–which was so powerful he had mistaken it for the Orc Lord–to a one-versus-one duel, during which neither side's soldiers would engage the other. And though it at first seemed like Gabiru might be able to emerge victorious by the skin of his teeth—he was unable to deal with the Orc General's Chaos Eater. Gabiru believed all hope was lost, until reinforcements from Rimuru intervened at the last moment and saved the day.
Rimuru's Counterattack[]
The penultimate conflict of the Orcish Invasion was two-fold, containing two separate battles with the ultimate goal of drawing out the Orc Lord.
Firstly, Souei and the Guard Captain infiltrated the limestone caves of the Lizardmen that were now overrun by Orcs. One of the Orc Generals and his Knights had detached from the Orc Lord's force and infiltrated the caves in the hopes of empowering their King even further with the deaths of the Lizardmen inside. The Chieftain was in a desperate bout against the General, putting up an admirable effort despite being well past his physical prime. Just when all hope seemed lost, Souei and his daughter arrived in the nick of time to the complete surprise of the chieftain. Souei was quick to deal with the General and slaughter the knights under his command, freeing the Chieftain and those loyal to him that were imprisoned by Gabiru.
Secondly, the Goblin Riders and Kijin engaged the Advance Force and Knight Corps, backing up the Lizardmen. The Orc General engaged with Gabiru was swiftly taken care of by Gobta and Ranga, the latter evolving into a Tempest Star Wolf as he showcased his new Death Storm technique on the Orcish Army. Meanwhile, the Kijin were plowing through the orcs with a seemingly unstoppable rhythm. The locations of the officers dishing out orders were being relayed to them by Rimuru–who was watching the battlefield from above–and they were swift in taking them out, upsetting the chain of command and plunging the orbic forces into chaos. The battle only continued to get worse for the Orcs, as Benimaru showcased his Hell Flare technique that was capable of effortlessly killing thousands of orcs in mere seconds.
With the Orbic forces plunged into utter chaos, it didn't take long for King Geld to make himself known on the battlefield, deciding to clean things up himself.
Final Battle[]
The final battle of the war, one that should've been as simple as Rimuru Tempest slaying the Orc Lord, was made all the more complicated by the presence of a Greater Majin by the name of Gelmud.
Gelmud was the one who first sowed the seeds of chaos within the forest, naming several people–including Gabiru and Geld–with potential in the hopes of creating a new demon lord when the Storm Dragon inevitably kicked the bucket. Distraught with the war's situation, Gelmud disobeyed the orders he received from the Demon Lord Clayman and personally intervened in battle. He attempted to kill Gabiru with Death-March Dance and have him be eaten by Geld, but was interrupted by Rimuru Tempest at the last second. The two of them briefly exchanged blows, but it soon became clear that Gelmud was at an overwhelming disadvantage. None of his attacks worked on the mysterious Majin, while they only used strange and unconventional attacks that bypassed his defenses.
Soon, the battered Gelmud was immobilized by threads and in an act of desperation ordered Geld to "Hurry up and become a Demon Lord so you can beat these guys". However, Geld fulfilled the order in a way that Gelmud didn't expect, taking full advantage of his immobilization to decapitate and eat his adoptive father. By taking in the immense power of Gelmud–one that rivaled or even exceeded his own–Geld was able to fulfill Gelmud's wishes and evolve into an Orc Disaster.
The Kijin and Ranga were quick to attack the newly born Demon Lord Seed, with Shion and Hakurou slashing at him at full force to decapitate him to no avail, he simply reattached his head. Next Souei bound Geld with Mystic Thread Binding and Benimaru unleashed a Hell Flare with the smallest radius he could muster, but this too was not enough, Geld sustained serious injuries but his Aura allowed him to resist the bulk of the damage. Still not giving up, Benimaru ordered Ranga to unleash a Death Storm on top of him before he could regenerate, which still didn't manage to finish Geld off.
With no other options left, Rimuru Tempest engaged with the Orc Disaster Geld personally in one-versus-one combat. Though their assault at first consisted of merely dodging Geld's Death-March Dances and shallow sword slashes, Rimuru soon got serious and applied Black Flame to their sword. With their superior speed, Geld's arm was gone in a flash, Black Flame sealing the wound shut. The two continued to do battle for a brief period of time, with Rimuru melting Geld's Meat Cleaver with their flames while Geld managed to capture them with his arm that should've been lost. He had eaten the remainder of his missing arm from the stump to the shoulder–black flame and all–and regenerated his missing arm in mere moments. With Rimuru seemingly done for–melting away from Geld's corrosive aura in his grasp–the battle appeared to be finished. But it was at this moment that Rimuru revealed their true nature as a Slime, using their liquid form to latch onto Geld's body and melt him away by "eating" him first with their Devourer Unique Skill. The two remained locked in a contest of who could eat the other first, much like Ouroboros ｢自之尾喰蛇, uroborosu｣, but Rimuru ultimately came out on top due to Devourer's ability to copy an opponent's power while they were still alive, while Starved could only steal power by eating corpses.
As the sun rose on a new day, the Orc Disaster Geld was slain and only Rimuru Tempest remained, with a silent promise between the two that the Orcs wouldn't be punished for his actions. At the end of the conflict, only one Orc General and his two-thousand Orc Elite remained alive on the battlefield, the rest having all perished for a total of nearly fifty-thousand orc casualties.