[FMMIKA] Chapter 234: White Titan Altera

Autumn, 500 AD.

Facing the city of Ctesiphon, a city fortified with countless tall towers, watchtowers, hidden bunkers, magic barriers, magic artillery, and guarded by a massive army, Justinian couldn't shake his restless unease.

The siege had been ongoing for half a year, during which the Eastern Roman forces had employed nearly every tactic they could think of.

Tunnels, siege engines, catapults, crossbows, explosives, inciting rebellions, recruiting spies, constructing siege towers and rams, using slaves and locals as cannon fodder, and of course, various supernatural means.

Fire, floods, lightning, illusions. Even under the imperial summons, a group of battle mages armed and trained by the Holy Roman Empire had taken to the field. They had given Ctesiphon quite the walloping.

Yet, even with all of this, even with Justinian and his army, they had not managed to capture the palace of the King of Kings.

'I heard that during the Classical Age, when the Greeks attacked the city of Troy, they had warhorses that could transform into metal giants. They blasted the walls to bits. How I wish I had equipment like that...'

Justinian mused as he gazed at the disciplined Persian warriors of the Sasanian Empire atop the city walls, clad in Persian or Scythian-style armor, wielding composite bows.

He didn't have much time left.

The central authority of the Sasanian Empire hadn't fallen to a particularly low point. During the siege of Ctesiphon, the loyalist forces of governors from all over Persia were steadily making their way toward Ctesiphon.

Some of the reckless and foolhardy charged directly at Justinian's besieging army of two hundred thousand and met their doom.

The more cautious ones, however, gathered quietly around Ctesiphon. By now, tens of thousands had amassed.

These tens of thousands didn't launch counterattacks, but the Eastern Romans couldn't afford to ignore them. A portion of their forces had to be deployed to keep these troublemakers in check.

'Their numbers increase every day.'

'Their courage will grow with their numbers.'

'Sasanian has tens of millions of people. If they put their minds to it, they could muster armies of ten thousand, twenty thousand, even thirty thousand or forty thousand.'

'The longer we delay, the bigger their force will become. I must give my all in this war and take a gamble.'

'It's best to win, of course, but if that's not possible, the fate of my empire will plummet.'

'Furthermore, there's the issue of supplies coming from the rear... feeding two hundred thousand soldiers daily is a logistical nightmare. Every day we linger beneath Ctesiphon's walls is a massive blow to the empire's supply lines.'

'What should I do next...?'

And so, Justinian sank into contemplation. As time passed, the relentless siege became a torment and ordeal for both attackers and defenders.

===

At the same time...

'So, this is the so-called White Titan and Velber 02... the 'Anti-Cell' and Vanguard of the Umbral Star (The Velber).'

Staring at the towering 'woman' before him, Artorius couldn't help but feel a bit sarcastic.

'How funny...'

Obviously, Artorius was talking about the White Titan.

'Turning your underlings into such massive, slender women.'

'What's the point?'

'If possible, I'd prefer the final boss to be more fearsome, look more imposing and powerful, instead of some dark-skinned figure with colorful crayons.'

'Even if it must be a dark-skinned figure, I'd prefer the style of the Queen of Sheba or the Queen of Dark Elf in some anime.'

As Artorius marveled at the colossal titan, clicking his tongue in amazement, Crimson Moon, standing beside him, had a rather complex look in her eyes.

Back in the day, the first time she laid eyes on this colossal monstrosity, the feeling of despair and fear still lingered vividly in her memory.

At that time, Crimson Moon had felt utterly doomed, like she was about to be torn apart by this titan woman and swallowed whole. She had no strength and no courage to confront such a monster.

Fortunately, the titan had paid her no attention, merely using the Moon as a pit stop before gleefully heading toward Earth. Crimson Moon had breathed a sigh of relief, thinking it was all over.

Little did she know, whether it was Earth's creatures being decimated by the titan or the other way around, it was none of her business.

However, to her surprise, after the titan had been soundly defeated on Earth by the local gods, the titan returned to the Moon, found a place to hide, and went into a state of hibernation.

Crimson Moon, on the other hand, didn't dare to interfere in such matters. Even though the titan woman seemed like she had hit rock bottom, who could tell how much of it was genuine and how much was an act?

Maybe the titan was waiting for some fool to approach, only to reveal her true strength. Like a proverb of 'playing the pig, eating the tiger.'

Even though it was said that swallowing this titan woman would bring tremendous benefits, Crimson Moon not only dared not approach the titan but also helped cover her whereabouts.

Crimson Moon surrounded the titan's resting place with layers of bounded field, preventing anyone from discovering her, lest it bring harm to all.

Things had remained this way until now.

"Truly impressive..."

Artorius remarked as he gazed at the colossal titan woman.

"The power level... it feels like beating up ordinary gods is as easy as slicing through vegetables. Even if she were to face a God King-level being, she would probably win effortlessly... is this Vanguard of the Umbral Star, one of the key reasons for the downfall of the gods?"

"Yes, well... not entirely accurate—" A feeble voice echoed within Artorius.

Of course, it was Gaia, who wanted to boast about her achievement of having Ares, the God of War, fighting the Vanguard of the Umbral Star.

But before Gaia could finish her sentence, Artorius interrupted her, "However, in the end, it was Ares who fell, and his sword was also taken by her. Although the latter was injured, she still survived and continuously recovered. So, no matter how you look at it, the victor was the titan, wasn't it?"

"Ugh..." Gaia was left speechless by Artorius's words.

Artorius, who had satirized her so mercilessly, didn't pursue the matter any further. Instead, he continued to admire Attila—or rather, the White Titan, Altera.

From a woman's perspective, she was rather ordinary. Even from a monster's standpoint, she didn't exude that overpowering presence.

However, from an energy perspective, Altera was indeed a delicious feast. It made Artorius feel quite tempted just by looking at her.