III-52 Structure

This is Master Acolyte Hammerfoot, requesting direct SkyCast to Inquisitor Sijik. Inquisitor Sijik, nothing to report. The skies are clear,

This is Master Acolyte Hammerfoot, requesting direct SkyCast to Inquisitor Sijik.

Inquisitor Sijik, nothing to report. The skies are clear, and our shadows have encountered no threats aside from a pack of chameleon raptors. The subterranean teams have also reported no visible threats.

Progress is optimal. I recommend that we double our pace. We should avoid Magerita Point for that reason. It might add a few extra hours to our travel time, but passing through might just see us intercepted, considering we have not sent them a skycast in advance.

That, ultimately, is your decision to make.

Master Advisor Sijik, for now— Wait, what the hell is that? Please hold. I think I see—

-Recovered SkyCast Communications from Master-Acolyte Hammerfoot

III-52

Structure

"Wait. Hold. I'm coming with you.” 

Shiv turned just as he was about to step through the gateway and saw Helix descending from the Court Leviathan. Beside him, a long and orderly line of orcs were already queuing up. Those who had the Path of the Shadow, the Thief, the Assassin, were at the front of the line, and they were chattering among each other, discussing how fun this coming excursion would be. 

Behind them were Heroes of Physicality, Toughness, and more. This was the main force of the orc army, the arm that would see the Inquisition's expeditionary force destroyed. There were a mixed group of Heroes and Masters, and ultimately there would be 20,000  orcs taking part in this operation.

The best thing about the orcs was that they were self-disciplined, self-directed. He didn't need to herd them like they were sheep. The moment the order came, they immediately began massing, preparing their equipment, readying themselves, and making for the gateway. 

But if there was one other thing he had noticed, it was that it was every orc for themselves. They might have talked to one another, discussing old experiences and new expectations, but they didn't hold to any obvious teams. Every orc was their own individual. And so, though they were about to fight together, they ultimately operated alone.

However, if there was one orc he didn't expect to be heading over to the surface, it was Helix. Helix, who made his distaste of the First Blood known. Helix, who was openly interested in raiding a First Blood city and capturing vampires for his experiments. And now, the Heroic-Tier orc Biomancer was gliding down from the air, his revolving blood-made wings fusing back to his flesh while his Biomancy field sheathed itself around his body as well.

"Helix," Shiv said, “We're not really going for the First Blood yet. As soon as I get back—"

"No, not that," Helix said with a loud scoff. "I will partake in the sacking of the parasitic blood-vermin. But right now, I wish to be with you.”

Shiv stared at the orc for a moment. He didn't expect this. "With me?" Shiv chuckled. “You find me that charming.”

"No, you fool, you're that inexperienced. If you think I'm going to let you wander off onto a battlefield and miss out on key educational experiences, you are woefully, you are woefully mistaken."

Shiv just grinned, and that made Helix scowl all the more. "So what, you're planning to tag along just to be my tutor?"

"Just to make sure my previous efforts are capitalized on," Helix said, sticking a finger in Shiv's face. "Also," the orc lowered his hand as he took in Shiv's armor, "what have you merged with your bone adamantine now? I see some basilisk biomass, but why is it leaking green between the crenulations of your scales?”

Shiv looked down at his armor and felt a swell of pride spread through his chest. "Oh, this?" His armor was split in slight separations. That was the result of fusing the basilisk flesh to the bone adamantine. Adding the basilisk's venom glands, however, created a network of green veins, veins Shiv could affect using his Biomancy at any moment. "Yeah, so I added a basilisk's poison gland to the armor. At first, it was just to dose myself up fast. But then, I thought, well, if I want to poison someone and paralyze them in battle wouldn’t that be useful, too?”

Helix looked on at Shiv's armor, frowning slightly. The Deathless expected the orc to chide him about some Biomancy mistake or another. Then, Helix just nodded. "Very good," Helix said. "This is the kind of initiative a Biomancer should take. Experimentation, it's good for you. Remember to fail often, fail soon, and always fail. That is how you make something interesting. Is this the only thing you've imbued with a basilisk's gland?"

"For now," Shiv said, "I used up the entire gland."

But before he could finish speaking, Helix made a gesture in the air, and a Biomancy spell swirled into shape atop his palm. A concentration of gleaming red mana pulsated as a swirling constellation of microspells came together, fusing into a dynamic structure. Shiv tried to take in all the details, all the patterns, but they were moving too fast, and there were far too many for him to account. 

In an instant, the glowing construct of mana hardened, and it transformed. A large, pulsating organ revealed itself atop the orc's hand now, and Shiv's eyes widened as he took in a new mana gland. It was plump, bright green, and practically half the size of Helix's body, and it blocked Helix’s torso from sight. Inside was a swirling miasma that could cripple someone's nervous system. The orc held it out to Shiv, and he directed his mana hydra to swallow it after a moment. 

It vanished in a flash of Biomancy mana and became a rendering within Shiv's field.

"Did you just make a mana gland using your mana? Did you just make a basilisk's venom gland using your mana right now?" Shiv asked.

"Yes," Helix replied, his voice doing nothing to hide how proud he was. "It is a trivial task if you know what to do. Why, I was capable of this even when I was merely an adept, though it would take a substantially longer amount of time. Alas, you are an inverted Biomancer, and I will have to feed you like a mother hawk does a chick, a large, dangerous chick that is simply underdeveloped of the mind."

“I’m touched,” Shiv replied sardonically. “But I also don’t need to keep being reminded of this.”

"And I will never stop reminding you of that until you finally exceed my expectations," the bespectacled orc said, grinning at Shiv as he held his hands behind his back. "Nonetheless, your cape. I understand that it is a dimensional item."

"It is," Shiv said, narrowing his eyes at the orc. "And no, you're not getting into that cape."

"Oh, come now. I suspect that someone else is already inside, or several someones you wish to protect from the dangerous orcs. Let me assure you, I have no interest in hurting your companions." Helix considered for a beat. "Not yet, anyway. Right now, I'm mostly interested in seeing your development through. I've already taken you on as an disciple."

Shiv considered that for a moment and just nodded. "Alright, sure. Thanks. Awesome, Helix. But you're still not going in the cape."

"Oh, you don't trust me."

"Not even a felling little when it comes to the lives of people I care about. Listen, Helix, the poison gland was pretty nice. Everything you taught me was cool as shit. But there's a simple problem."

"I'm an orc?" Helix asked.

"You're an orc," Shiv replied. "I have nothing against you coming with me, but you're going to be doing it in person. Or not at all."

"What is it about me that makes you so paranoid?" Helix said, prodding at Shiv slightly.

"The fact that you're a Heroic-Tier Biomancer, and that you've probably haven’t shown me half of what you can do with your Biomancy." Shiv looked Helix up and down. "Like how you managed to give me blood cancer the first time we met. Didn't even notice that. I'll let you near one of my allies for long, and maybe you'll find a way to infect them with a parasite somehow. Or some kind of sick, fucked up disease that will only trigger when you decide. So, yeah, I am a bit of a baby bird. But that doesn’t make me mentally challenged.”

Helix stared at Shiv for a good long moment and said nothing.

“Yeah,” the Deathless decided, “you see, Helix, this is why I don't want you inside my cape.”

“Very well," Helix said, rolling his eyes. But then the orc laughed in concession. "Paranoia is also good for you. It is not a bad instinct you have."

"Were you gonna actually do something like that?" Shiv asked bluntly. Helix didn't reply. Once again, the Deathless sighed. "I just can't risk anything with you bastards."

"You can't risk anything with anyone," Helix said, latching on to Shiv's statement. "You think you can trust those you're with, that they are your friends, that they are the ones you can rely on? No. With time, everything is eroded. And with life, everything changes. Everything mutates, Shiv. Remember this. Never forget. Eventually, and should you survive long enough, you will be at odds with everyone you were beside, at least once. That is the way of the world, and that is the way of the system."

The orc spoke with absolute conviction, no doubt in his own words, and his confidence left Shiv feeling uncomfortable. He knew the system was trying to set something up. A triangle of counters between him, Adam, and Uva. Except Shiv didn't think that triangle was going to hold for long. 

Adam could still hurt him substantially, avoid him maybe, but with his new Vitaemancy, he couldn't offload soul damage. And at the same time, with how fast his skills were growing, he just didn't see Adam keeping up, or Uva either. They would still be dangers in their own right. Shiv doubted he could match them in their primary skills in the near period.

 But down the line, if this was what he was capable of after a few intense weeks of struggle and death, what was he going to be in a year, in ten years, in a century?

"Good," Helix said, noticing Shiv's gaze grow distant. "You are thinking. Do that more. Do that as much as you can. Think from as many angles as you can. Work at the problem constantly. Like right now, I want you to get a Crafting Skill as well."

Shiv stared at the orc. "A what?"

"A crafting skill," the orc replied. "You have every means of creation. You can shape biology, and now you can assemble different pieces together. You can grow weapons. You can forge living creatures from your mana. But since you don't understand how to do that yet, you can fuse weapons together using biology, using spell patterns representing biology. You have an extra venom gland. I think that you should consider how you want to spend it. You've already incorporated it into your armor. Perhaps you need a weapon as well. But I will leave that to you. Expand. Grow. All is Biomancy. Don’t just deepen a few skills. An organ doesn’t work alone. Be complete.”

“Complete,” Shiv muttered. “Got it.”

"Now," Helix said, as he marched past the other orcs and made for the gateway. He rose up the final steps and stared into the black pool of Dimensionality. "It's been a while since I've seen the surface of Earth. Let’s see if it is still the delightfully savage land I remember.”

Soon an orc beside him swung out a meaty fist. Helix let out a cry as he was backhanded down the steps. He bounced several times, and Shiv just watched while the other orcs cursed and spat in the Biomancer's direction.

"Back of the line, asshole!" one of the orcs shouted. The other orcs muttered in agreement, and someone threw an old boot at Helix as well. “The hells do you think this is? Challenger’s godsdamned asshole, have some dignity!”

"Helix?" Shiv called. "You okay?"

"Yes," Helix groaned, clutching his face. "I got carried away. It was terribly impolite of me to cut."

***

The twenty-thousand orcs made their way through the gateway, through Adam's dimensional pathway, and finally out the surface gateway thereafter in under half an hour. They were efficient, a constant flow of bodies that moved eagerly toward their destination, and as they appeared on the other side, they immediately fanned out, forming something of a defensive perimeter. 

Whisper, alongside a few hundred orc Dimensionalists, threw up a barrier of quivering black static around the gateway at the surface. Shiv was about to ask why they were doing such a thing when Adam explained without being prompted.

"It's the easiest way to hide us from a seer or from someone with high-level awareness," Adam said. He observed the orc's magic as it formed a dome over the gateway. Uva connected her mind with Shiv's as well thereafter. The Deathless had given her verbal confirmation that the sky was dark, but even so, her strands moved with care as if fingers reaching toward boiling water. Only after a few seconds did she finally move without worry or nervousness. As she tapped into Shiv and Adam's mind, she let out a breath of disappointment.

"My first gaze at the surface, blocked by a wall of Dimensionality. Truly, the orcs ruin everything."

"It's only temporary," Adam said. "A very well done Dimensional veil, though. These orcs have experience working with each other, constructing shields and dimensional barriers. I guess when you live as long as they do, you just kind of start cooperating intuitively sometimes."

"Still, they don't really seem to work in teams,” Shiv muttered.

"They don't, do they?" Adam said. "It's not that they can't cooperate; it's that they prefer not to. But they will, if the task calls for it."

"Insul, Gate Lord," Whisper said. He walked up to Shiv with an eager shine in his eyes but didn’t regard Adam at all. "We've established a protective perimeter. As I speak..." and then there came a shudder, as a part of the ground collapsed. A hole opened in the earth, and a tunnel was formed. "Our Geomancer friends are going to be shuttling the bulk of our ground-inclined forces. It is agreed that they will maintain a 20-kilometer distance from our forward operating shadows. Would you like for this distance to be adjusted, Insul?" 

The orc made a deliberate show of asking Shiv while ignoring Adam. The Gatelord frowned, but Shiv snorted.

"Yeah, Whisper, why don't you ask the Gate Lord?"

"Certainly," Whisper said, and he turned his head to Adam. And suddenly his demeanor shifted entirely. The orc just sneered. "We're going to be maintaining a 20-kilometer distance. Do you have suggestions, or shall we proceed with the operation?"

Adam glared at the orc. "Twenty seems fine. I'll keep an eye from the air."

"Oh, you won't be joining us?" the orc asked. “Fearful of your life?”

"I'll be right beside you," Adam said, as he materialized a Veilpiercer, "if there is the need. Aside from that, I think I'm the most useful high up in the sky, and with my senses cast far wide open."

"And you'll be keeping that eye on your enemy, I hope?" Whisper said, a sweet smile playing across his face.

"Hey, Whisper," Shiv interrupted, flicking the orc on the forehead. "Knock that shit off. Stop trying to screw with Adam. You've got plenty of Inquisitors to tear through soon. Save it for them."

"Of course, Insul. My apologies. I simply get excited."

"Get excited about the right people," Shiv chided. The orc bowed his head before telling the others what was just decided. More orcs were flooding out from the gateway, and the messages were spread from each to each. Orc Pyschomancers even cast memory-imprint spells into the air, informing the ones that just arrived.

"Well," Shiv said, looking toward Adam, "I think that they won't be listening to your orders at all."

"I suspect not," Adam replied. "Still, they're experienced, and they're willing. Maybe we won't need to give them that much guidance at all."

"Likely not," Helix said. He loomed behind the Gate Lord and simply stared down. "And a word of advice, Young Arrow. Hide your emotions. I can smell your annoyance from here. Now every orc will try to treat you the same way Whisper did."

“If you orcs intend to make this a problem,” Adam began.

Helix just shook his head. “No. That’s not the right reaction at all. You run that perfect border between dangerous and vulnerable. You are everything we love to abuse in a human. While the Insul is mostly danger and very little vulnerability. Be cognizant of what you are. I tell you this not for kindness, just so you can pose more of a threat. And also because I wish for my tutelage to end before I and Shiv try to kill each other.”

“Just laying it out in the open, huh?” Shiv grunted.

“We are eternal. The clash is inevitable. There is no surprise about if. There is only a matter of when. And that applies to everyone that lives long enough in the eyes of the system.”

“Well, I’ll be sure to make your end quick and messy.” Shiv’s promise slid off Helix like oil.

“Focus on becoming a better Biomancer first. It would be a most embarrassing victory if I rendered you invalid from a special variant of brain degeneration and muscle atrophy.”

Shiv blinked. “Did you hit me with something like that. Is that shit hiding in my genes right now?”

Helix just walked past him without replying.

“Felling orcs,” Shiv breathed. Then, he laughed. “Never a dull day with them.”

Adam meanwhile, took a slight step away from Helix. “I’m going to have one of the Biomancers back in Gate Arrow take a deep and thorough look at me later.” 

“Anyway, how are we gonna do this? Actually, which direction are we headed again? I have no idea where Fortress-City Diego is." Shiv looked on as the few hundred orc Dimensionalists continued walking outward, increasing the spell perimeter as the rest of the orcs started sorting themselves into mobs.

"South," Adam said, but his attention wasn't on Shiv. Rather, he was staring at the orcs, trying to figure out what they were doing. "I can't quite make out the logic here. They're not sorting the magi into dedicated spell columns. They have mounted riders mixed in with pure infantry. The only ones that stand apart from the others are the shadows and thieves. Some of the Assassins are mingling with the Vanguards as well."

"Perhaps their order is instinctive," Uva suggested, but even she was confused. The arachnid order was an organization that was built off of hierarchy and discipline. Her training as a Psychomancer gave her insight into other cultures, especially the First Blood. However, the orcs were something foreign to her as well.

Shiv's gut told him there was an underlying reason behind how the orcs organized themselves. He watched the orcs, studied how the heroes and masters mingled without issue, watched as magic-focused orcs stood side-by-side with towering brutes of physicality or toughness. But there was one thing missing in the way they arranged themselves: chaos. 

If people didn't know exactly what they had to do or weren't experienced enough, there would be a lot of questioning, a lot of talking. The orcs did very little talking about organization. They simply went to a place and settled there, taking on a role Shiv didn't yet understand. Maybe Uva was right. Maybe they'd been fighting together for so long that everything they did was purely intuitive by this point.

"Or maybe it just doesn't matter at all," Shiv said. He thought back to what Helix said about having a complete set of skills. To evolve broadly, not just deeply, for specific skills. "They're all capable of filling in each other's roles," Shiv muttered. "They might not be as good as the orc next to them, but they could respond in a pinch. Adapt."

"Correct," Helix said without looking at the Deathless, but Shiv could see the sides of the orc's face stretched back in a smile. "Among orcs, there is a soft hierarchy decided by Cycle Ratios. However, beyond that, it is about performance and understanding. There are no new orcs here. No, those are the Initiates, and they will be given the chance to blood themselves in combat later. But mostly they will be doing the dying. After all, you must experience some death before you finally get the taste of what not to do."

"And the rest of the army," Shiv asked, "they're already so experienced that it doesn't matter?"

"Oh no, everything matters. I wouldn't say we are perfect," Helix replied.

"We're not perfect at all," Bonk called off from the side. He chewed on an apple of some kind as he looked Shiv up and down. "When are you going to dose yourself anyway? I'm getting tired of looking at you so shrunken. How do you even live being so damned small?”

"Later," Shiv said. "When the fighting actually starts, I don't want it to wear off. I don't want Plague Field to wear off so fast."

"Just dose yourself again," Bonk replied. "I don't see what the big deal is."

"The big deal is the dose needs to keep climbing higher."

"That's not a problem. Just find more poison. New poison. Hell, you're a Biomancer, manufacture your own diseases."

"It's a work in progress," Helix answered on Shiv's behalf. "He’s more likely to stop his own heart instead. Now, if you don't mind—"

"I do, actually," Bonk said, as he marched right next to Shiv. "He's looking for structure, but there is no long-lasting structure among us. There are, however, orcs other orcs listen to. You see those over there?" 

He gestured, pointing at Whisper, at Mortar, at himself, at an orc Psychomancer whose mana resembled a glowing tower of translucence, rather than anything spherical or strand-like. "Those are maestros, the closest thing you can find that can be compared to one of your human commanders. But they're more like conductors, in a sense. They direct other orcs. They point them, or they create opportunities for other orcs to exploit. And that is the individual's job. That is the individual's duty. For we live in a world decided by personal legend, rather than collective effort."

"Still, it seems that could leave your effectiveness diminished by far," Adam said. He frowned at the orcs, but now his gaze was settling on specific members of the gray-skin cohort, the maestros, as Bonk mentioned.

"Hardly," Bonk replied, grinning at Adam. He leaned down and stared at the Gate Lord. Adam took a step back. His posture grew tense. "Don't worry," Bonk said. "I'm not going to do anything. If I was, I'd do it directly. You see, I'm not like the other orcs, or at least not like most other orcs. If I'm going to kill you, Gatelord, I would declare it first, and it would be a good and proper fight. I love good and proper fights—”

Then Bonk and staggered as Adam's Righteous Dawn Prevails flared. Orcs all around Adam reacted the same way, with a few even stumbling as a swell of weakness washed over them. "What is...?" Bonk let out a shudder. "Why is my Physicality Skill Level dropping?"

"Because it is unwise to continuously threaten me," Adam said, his voice narrow with frustration. "I've put up with it before, and let's make a few things clear. You do bother me. You do scare me. I do despise the fact that you can see through me in certain ways. But keep playing this game. Do it. Talk to me as if I'm a child awaiting abuse. You'll find a lot less pleasure fighting me than you think."

Bonk closed an eye and squinted at Adam before he finally shrugged and nodded. "Very well. I guess we might find out in time."

"I you might not, either," Shiv said coldly. “Stick to the topic.”

Bonk just grinned. "You want to look at this army of ours like an organism."

"An organism," Shiv said. "It sounds like something Helix might say."

"Because he would be right," Bonk let out a long, suffering breath. Helix simply looked up at the sky, or where the sky was supposed to be if it wasn't clouded by a veil of Dimensionality.

Bonk continued. "An orc's symphony can be characterized by the eyes or senses on the exterior. There is no unified term for this, but understand that to be the shadows, the thieves, the first encounter, the escape skirmishers. And behind them is the skin. These are usually assassins, or, more often, high-reflexes orcs. They'll move fast, they'll hit fast, they'll exploit breakthroughs, or they'll simply run back and tell the others where spots of fun might be discovered. Then come the bones. High Physicality, high Toughness, high Magical Resistance. The ones that are hard to break, that keep the enemy held in place for the true music to begin. And after that, there is the meat: the magi, the destructive orcs meant to break and bloody. But our armies are also different from you humans.

“We are each our own nervous system, our own mind, and we don't have any veins, no logistical backline. If we are caught out, then we simply feed on inflicting suffering. Aggression, dear Insul, that is our way. Attack, always attack. Everything must pivot into an attack. To defend is to starve, and death is not a consequence."

"And comparatively, our armies care about logistics and the command structure," Adam frowned as he mused. "Interesting, but I suspect that you're maestros..."

"The Maestros are like nerve clusters," Helix added. "Killing them will reduce harmony between the orcs, but it will not stop us, not completely."

"He understates the point," Valor suddenly said. The legendary path-bearer's words echoed in Shiv's mind. There came faint flashes of memory, of fire spilling over a collapsing orc army, of human saboteurs and assassins slashing their way through orc shadows and creating a breakthrough before the greyskins knew what was happening. "The orcs say they are aggression. I disagree. They are momentum, Shiv, momentum. And when they force the opposition back onto a defensive, that is when they are strongest. When they are most coordinated, when they are most in tune with each other, that is when they are most dangerous, the hardest to overcome.”

More images appeared, of an orc Vanguard smashing through a line of elves just as an orc Shadow ripped through the elven magi protecting their front with Dynamcy spells. “But when the enemy turns to fight them, when they are not afraid, when they stand and bleed the orcs for every meter they gain, there is a fighting chance. The orcs right now are selling you an illusion. They might seem to be more effective, they might pride themselves on their own individual intuition and initiative. 

“But it is not unbeatable and they are far from unbreakable. When orc armies collapse, they are easily defeated in detail because they refuse to consolidate. They break apart into pockets, or more often, solitary hunters. And there, they can be finally overwhelmed. Adepts can kill Masters, Masters can kill Heroes, and Heroes can kill Legends. They are right about the system favoring the individual. Why, there are no group skills after all.

“But what is the individual without the group? What is a single path-bearer without a clash against another? We are shaped by the masses. They think otherwise, but they are blind to this. You can no more dominate the world than you can make it cease to exist, for you are part of the world, part of an integration. The orcs chase a fantasy beyond them, and the Challenger does as well."

Shiv consumed Valor's words with intent. However, he wondered just how much of that was the legendary path-bearer's own bias. “You don’t much like the orcs, do you.”

"That is the lesser matter," Valor continued. "It is that I think they are fooled by their own true flaws. They think they understand their own limitations better than their adversary, but due to their own psychology, they are incapable of noticing their actual faults."

"I guess we're going to be finding out about their actual faults real soon," Shiv said.

Just then, a loud call came from the orc Dimensionalists. "Spell ready! Prepare for singular veiling! Prepare, prepare, prepare!"

The orcs all began to cheer and chant. They held their weapons high, and before Shiv or Adam could ask what was happening, the dimensional veil collapsed inwards. However, it was not a chaotic breakdown of dimensionality; rather, it came splashing back toward them like a receding wave. It blasted over Shiv's body, but it didn't impact him. 

Rather, it wrapped him in a shadowy barrier that soon ceased its quivering, adapting to the environment around him. And just then he realized what happened. The dimensionality spell was the very same that protected Whisper from notice. It was effectively a Dimensional shell that couldn't be viewed from the outside, though it could be seen through from the inside.

"Broken Godsdamned Moon," Adam let out a hiss. He looked at his own hand, looked at the faint black static coating him. As he looked around, he saw that the orcs nearby were shrouded in the same blackness, though their forms were now hidden behind those vague shrouds.

"Insul," Whisper suddenly said. Shiv nearly jumped out of his skin as he realized the orc was right behind him. The stealthy orc’s dimensional veil was blending over with Shiv’s as well.  "We are prepared to depart at your order. We know the direction of Fortress City Diego, but would like to ask if you would be partaking in festivities at the Vanguard, or remaining here with the Gate Lord."

"In the thick of things," Shiv said, "as always—”

“I have them,” Adam said, his eyes glowing bright. “They’re moving. They’re moving fast.”

“What?” Shiv asked.

“The Expeditionary force. They’re moving faster than expected. Coming right for us without stopping. They just passed Magerita Point. They’re fifty kilometers away.” The Gate Lord sneered. “Bloody lying bastard. Sijik said two days. He was going to arrive in one.”

“Ah,” Whisper chuckled. “Trust is such an ugly thing. But this is good. It saves us a long walk. Shall we even intercept, or set up an ambush here?”

“Intercept,” Adam insisted. “We don’t want any of the Necrotechs to notice what’s happening. We do this in the wilderness.”

Shiv  immediately received images from Adam's mind, filtered over by Uva, and the bulk of the expeditionary force came into sight. Adam's Seer of Horizons was hidden in a cloud. Shiv guessed that the young lord did that deliberately so that his awareness wouldn't be noticed somehow.

"Can someone notice your awareness?" Shiv asked.

"Yes," Adam said. "Your thoughts are right. I'm trying to hide myself as best I can."

The expeditionary force traveled aerially. A mass of clouds carried them across the sky, and formations of griffon riders, aerial magi, and flying automaton formed their protective perimeter. At the center of the formation was a tall, bald man. A swirling mass of shadow constituted something of a coat around his body, and he had a staff planted in the middle of the cloud. His eyes were black, and the air around him was choked with flakes of spinning ash. By his side was a large automaton sporting four arms and six legs. The automaton's head was also more of a drill than a face, and wires dangled from his body, dragging behind as if something of a skirt.

"And I suspect we have eyes on our Inquisitor Sijik."

"The bald one?" Shiv asked.

"Correct," Adam replied. "The automaton talking to him, I suspect, might be Master Interrogator Harare, or Salamander Glass, a Heroic-Tier captain he mentioned before. He could also be someone I am entirely unfamiliar with."

“Heroic-Tier?” Whisper breathed. “Good. Perhaps this will be more battle than slaughter.”

“There are only two thousand of them still?” Bonk asked.

“Yes,” Adam said.

The large orc sighed mournfully. “Yeah. I think that’s not going to be possible, Whisper. It’s gonna be a slaughter. You can’t match two thousand against twenty.”

“What happened to the world is for the individual?” Shiv asked.

“Basic arithmetic,” Bonk said.

Shiv just laughed. “Alright. Orcs! We got eyes on the target. We—” He hesitated as he thought of how to frame this. “Keep all the bald Inquisitors alive. Especially the ones that have ash-shrouds for coats!”

“And the other elites too,” Adam added.

“Take some of their Heroes and Masters if you can. The rest…” Shiv shrugged. “I guess you can finally scratch that itch of yours.”

And though he could see the orcs pump their fists high, he couldn’t hear them cheering through the veil. But he could hear the ground tremoring, and he could taste their excitement.

“Those poor, poor surfacers,” Uva muttered.