Rahul now had enough data for his research, but he knew further progress would require far more time and specimens. He decided it was time to return to the main world as he is here for more than 1 year already. Before leaving, however, he wanted to widen the impact of his work. If he could force the Orcs to expend more resources managing crises here, their hold over humanity might weaken — even if only a little. The more the Orcs were spread thin, the greater the chance humans would find openings to resist.
So Rahul devised one final, ruthless plan: create chaos on a scale the Orcs couldn't ignore. He would directly contaminate the capital — the largest tribal center in this realm — knowing that when people fled from there they would carry the virus with them. From those migrating streams the infection would hitch rides to distant settlements, turning a local disaster into a regional catastrophe and giving the Orcs a headache that would demand manpower, logistics, and attention.
He prepared carefully. With his stores of Power Potion, his remaining specimens, and the perfected protocols he had refined over months, Rahul set the stage. Observation posts were established, delivery routes planned, and contingencies made for swift extraction. He did not relish the cruelty of it; he justified it as strategy. The capital was a pressure point — strike there, and the ripple would be unstoppable.
Random four armed humnoid POV
Week 1: The Outbreak Begins
The city smelled of smoke, sweat, and something far worse — the coppery tang of blood and sickness that clung to every corner. At first, I thought it was a minor illness, something that would pass with a day of rest. But then I saw the others.
The four-armed folk — my neighbors, my coworkers, the ones I'd shared meals and laughter with — began to writhe. Their hands flew to their bellies, eyes wide with terror that no language could name. A woman staggered in the marketplace, doubled over, and vomited a black, foamy stream that slithered across the dirt like it had a mind of its own. Children cried, but the adults could not help them. Some clawed at their own chests as if they could pull out whatever was inside, their screams echoing off the wooden walls.
The Orcs tried to intervene immediately. Horns blared, and boots pounded, but their discipline only made the panic worse. Every order they barked sent more people fleeing into alleys, trampling one another. Fires started in small clusters, spreading as panic swept the streets. By the end of the first week, dozens had already fallen, and the smell of decay mixed with smoke and ash.
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Week 2: Escalation and Orc Brutality
The Orcs' response intensified. They drove survivors into pens, burned the worst of the nests, and forced laborers to dispose of bodies. But nothing they did could stop the infection. Panic spread faster than any patrol, and their brute force only scattered the survivors further.
I watched from shadowed alleys as people clawed over each other for space, water, or food. Families turned against one another, neighbors betrayed neighbors. The streets became a maze of collapsing bodies, writhing larvae, and the constant, ear-piercing screams of those in pain. By the end of the second week, the city was half-empty, and the Orcs had begun splitting their forces — some attempting containment, others retreating to secure zones, terrified of what they could not control.
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Week 3: The Capital Fractures
By the third week, the city had begun to unravel completely. Fires burned unchecked, smoke hung low over rooftops, and the infected convulsed and fell wherever they stood. The Orcs, once commanding and confident, had fractured into desperate groups. Some holed up in fortified compounds, others patrolled erratically, trying to salvage control.
I kept to the shadows, witnessing brutal punishments: summary executions to enforce order, forced labor, and harsh containment of survivors. Panic escalated with each day; people trampled each other in desperation. And yet, the infection continued to spread unchallenged, weaving through abandoned houses and marketplaces, leaving death and larvae in its wake.
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Week 4: The Collapse Deepens
By the fourth week, smoke and stench blanketed the city. The streets were littered with corpses, and even the Orcs' patrols had begun to shrink. The infected fell where they stood, their bodies twitching, lungs heaving, eyes wide and glassy. Larvae wriggled in the shadows, multiplying in the chaos.
Some Orc groups attempted evacuation of survivors, but mass panic made it impossible. People fled in all directions, trampling each other and leaving nests of infection behind. Even fortified compounds could not hold; every day, more bodies piled up, and the authority of the Orcs eroded further.
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Week 5: Silence and Isolation
By the fifth week, the city had emptied in all but name. Fires had died down in some areas, but the smell of death lingered. Only a few Orcs remained, patrolling in tense, small squads. The once-bustling capital was now eerily silent, punctuated only by the occasional groan of a dying humanoid or the skitter of larvae in the shadows.
I moved cautiously, navigating through streets lined with corpses and abandoned belongings. Every movement had to be measured; one wrong step could expose me to remaining nests or wandering Orcs. The social fabric of the city was gone — trust, order, and routine had vanished, leaving only survival instinct.
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Week 6: The Aftermath
By the sixth week, the capital was effectively a ghost city. The Orcs who survived had retreated entirely, abandoning sections of the city and leaving fortified positions to avoid infection. The few four-armed humanoids who remained were either dying or hiding in isolated pockets, their numbers dwindling daily.
From my vantage, I could see the full scope of the devastation: burned houses, overturned carts, empty markets, and thousands of bodies in the streets. The infection had reshaped the capital, leaving it unrecognizable. I understood, with a cold clarity, that this was Rahul's work — a precise, calculated destruction. And I, the lone survivor, was now a witness to a city that had collapsed under the weight of both fear and a biological terror it could never comprehend.