Story sequence
A force of roughly two hundred thousand orcs moves through Jura under the effect of Starved. The skill links the army's hunger, energy, and acquired traits, allowing ordinary soldiers to keep advancing while the entire host pays the cost of famine.
Gelmud has been naming monsters to manufacture a controllable Demon Lord candidate. He encourages Gabiru's ambition among the lizardmen, uses the orcs to eliminate rival forest powers, and expects the Orc Lord Geld to remain a disposable puppet.
Treyni, speaking for the dryads who guard Jura, asks Rimuru to defeat the Orc Lord. Rimuru forms a mixed coalition of Tempest forces, lizardmen loyal to Chief Abiru, and surviving ogres. Souei exposes Gelmud's manipulation while Benimaru coordinates battles designed to separate the orc command from its massed army.
When Gelmud insults and abandons Geld, the starving leader consumes him and evolves into the Orc Disaster. Rimuru confronts Geld within the mental pressure of Starved and understands that the orc king accepted every subordinate's hunger to keep his people alive. Rimuru uses Gluttony to win the contest of consumption and accepts the burden Geld carried.
Motivations
- Geld is willing to become a monster in the moral sense if it keeps the orc population alive.
- Gelmud wants a puppet Demon Lord whose rise benefits Clayman's faction.
- Rimuru wants to stop the invasion without treating every starving orc as equally guilty.
Outcome
Gelmud and the Orc Disaster are defeated; the surviving army surrenders and the Starved network ends.
Consequences
- Rimuru accepts the orcs and gives Geld's name to the late king's son, who leads reconstruction.
- The forest's major peoples recognize a new power capable of settling disputes after Veldora's disappearance.
The victory defines Tempest's political ethic: defeat the threat, identify its cause, and integrate survivors into a system that removes that cause.