CH 546

The Rear Area of the Battlefield.

"Your Highness, the final inspection is complete."

"We're done here as well."

In a hellish landscape filled with the screams of monsters and humans, the roars of battle, and the sound of drums, there was a relatively peaceful spot.

Duke Saint Owan listened to Adelia's report while looking at the massive mechanical devices scattered chaotically in the rear area.

It wasn't just Adelia and Duke Saint Owan.

The mages of Saint Owan Kingdom were also busily inspecting the enormous mechanical devices, moving to and fro.

"I'm uneasy since we've never tested its operation..."

The Duke stared at the devices, which to an untrained eye, seemed like remnants of some colossal building, with a stern expression.

"I believe it will function properly."

At Adelia's words, the Duke quietly nodded.

Conducting research on the battlefield is an exceedingly difficult task.

After deciding to join the allied forces, the Duke and the mages had been working on this long and arduous project, cutting back on sleep.

Together with the girl who created the genius artifact called Power Cartridge, Adelia.

Talent in magic crafting.

The Duke's daughter had also contributed to the creation of the Power Cartridge, but without Adelia, it would not have been possible.

The Demon King, Reinhardt, had gathered Temple Royal-class children to create an impossible object.

And in less than a year, the object was created.

Moonshine and Power Cartridges.

These were now essential supplies for the allied forces.

The Arc Crystal that Rudina was currently using was one of the modified versions of the Power Cartridge.

Duke Saint Owan had once denied Reinhardt's idea.

However, as the Demon King had said, those two items were created.

As if he had known the future.

Reinhardt had accurately assessed the abilities of the children.

Then, another impossible task.

Having created something small, now something immense.

Something even larger than the world's largest artificial object.

With faith that it was possible, the Duke had devised a plan.

The Emperor approved, and the girl who designed the Power Cartridge fully cooperated.

The Duke proposed to accomplish another impossible feat with the child who created the impossible object, teaching her the knowledge and technology of the Duchy.

And so, after countless trials and errors, experiments, and sleepless nights, it was finally created.

"I hope it can continue to help us in the future..."

"I wish for that as well, Your Highness."

The Duke held a blue orb, while Adelia held a red one.

The weapon was too powerful for just one person to activate.

Duke Saint Owan, the head researcher.

And Adelia, who could be considered the chief researcher.

The artifact would not work unless both activated it together.

"Activating."

It was an artifact that had never been tested, as they only had time for inspections before the Serandia offensive.

No, could this even be called an artifact?

Rumble

Pieces of the massive mechanical device began to float in the air.

It was not a building, but a massive mountain that appeared to be rising.

Crack! Sizzle!

Sparks flew as the mechanical devices connected one by one.

Clank!

Everyone could only stare blankly at the massive body that interlocked with a heavy sound.

A mountain rose.

Amidst an enormous cloud of dust, the massive interlocking components soon formed one shape.

A colossal golem, standing on two huge legs, supporting the earth like a towering mountain.

The immense figure was so tall that even craning one's neck back as far as possible, its height was impossible to gauge.

Adelia gazed at the massive creation and spoke quietly.

"Activation confirmed."

"Since the activation time is short, we cannot waste any time. Deploy it immediately."

"Yes, Your Highness."

-Whirrrrrrr!

The blue magic core embedded in the heart of the colossal weapon began to seethe with energy.

-Fzzzzzt!

As if gradually disappearing, the giant golem's body began to vanish, starting from the tips of its limbs.

The colossal golem's body, enveloped in energy, was not vanishing.

It was teleporting.

------

In the same rear area.

Redina witnessed the appearance of something as massive as a mountain in the midst of the monster waves attacking Serandia City from the top of the Arc Crystal.

Shrouded in blue energy, something revealed itself.

Redina had already heard that it was about to be activated.

-Whirrrrrrr!

A golem three times larger than the largest monster on the battlefield.

"Is that… the Titan…?"

The ultimate weapon of the allied forces, created through the fusion of Saint Owan Duchy's technology and Adelia's genius.

The colossal golem, Titan.

Incredibly, Redina could barely believe her eyes as she watched the enormous figure perform short-range spatial teleportation.

No, actually, the distance the colossal golem traveled wasn't short at all.

It was merely due to its immense size that the teleportation appeared to be sequential, as if the figure was gradually revealing itself after melting into the fabric of space.

-Grooooowl!

Redina watched, stunned, as the magic cannon that poured from the figure's hand crushed the monsters.

-Groooom!

The monsters not pulverized by the magic cannon were crushed and disappeared beneath the footsteps of the colossal golem.

-Groooooooooom

The Titan turned its gaze towards Serandia City.

With each step, the Titan moved closer to Serandia.

-Thud!

The kneeling Titan aimed its fist, raised high in the sky, towards one of the warp gates spewing monsters, and brought it down with earth-shattering destructive power.

-Groooooooooom

Redina saw it.

The small warp gate shattered and disappeared.

Redina, as if discovering hope amidst despair, clenched her fists and gazed at the Titan's might.

It can be destroyed.

Even by something not human, the warp gate can be destroyed.

At least for now.

"It worked! Cayer! Cayer!"

Although it was not a laughing matter, Redina, having discovered hope, couldn't help but exclaim in joy.

"The Titan destroyed the warp gate!"

Cayer was inside the Arc Crystal's core, unable to witness the scene.

"We can destroy the warp gates with the Titan!"

She shouted, hoping to share even a bit of her joy.

"Hey! Why aren't you answering?!"

There was no way he wouldn't hear her, as they communicated through an internal communication system within the Arc Crystal.

She shouted a third time, but still, there was no response.

Then, Redina noticed that the Arc Crystal's energy reserves were not recharging.

"!"

Suddenly, Redina hurried down from the observation deck of the Arc Crystal and headed toward its core.

When the girl who descended the tower reached the central power unit of the Arc Crystal, she found Cayer collapsed.

"Ca... Cayer...?"

Redina's face turned pale blue.

------

The Titan's activation time was, at most, a mere seven minutes.

Operating a golem of that size required an immense amount of magical power, and the Titan, facing a large-scale battle, could no longer afford to delay its completion and was hastily activated.

Because of this, the Titan could only participate in the battle for a very short time compared to the overall scale of the conflict.

But seven minutes.

During that time, the Allied forces could not help but be awestruck by what the Titan could do.

Even in the midst of the ongoing battle, the Titan's prowess created a majestic spectacle that could be seen from anywhere on the battlefield.

A monstrous wave.

A mountainous barrier that blocked and crushed the wave.

Soldiers, commanders, knights, paladins, and even mages.

None could resist feeling a divine power emanating from the massive body of the Titan.

It seemed as if the god of magic had descended upon the world in response to the priests' call, crushing and trampling the monsters.

Perhaps there should be an additional god added to the Five Great Gods.

If the essence of magic could produce such a thing, surely magic itself deserved to be called the one true god of the world.

All could not help but feel a divine presence, even though the crushing force before them was not divine in nature.

-Whoosh!

The Titan slammed its raised fist into the ground.

-Rumble!

As if a meteor had fallen, the ground shook, and the monsters were buried and crushed, visible to the soldiers of the Allied forces.

But divine miracles are not eternal.

-Crack! Crackling!

The miracle of magic that had descended upon the world for seven minutes vanished as it appeared, wrapped in blue light.

Seven minutes is a short time.

However, the efficiency of time varies depending on who is using it.

-Charge! Charge!

The Titan's seven minutes were enough to create a massive hole in the wave of monsters.

-Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom!

Intoxicated by the miracle, the Allied forces began to charge once again towards Serandia.

The monsters had no fear, morale, or tactics.

But that did not make them weaker, nor did it make them stronger.

Only numbers and size.

Those were the two sources of the monsters' strength.

And their numbers had been drastically reduced.

So the outcome was inevitable.

The Allied forces captured Serandia.

------

"The Battle of Serandia is over, Your Majesty."

"It didn't even last a day... Fortunately."

I was listening to Eleris's report at the top of Lazak.

I could have watched the battle, but the place was surrounded by monsters and the Allied forces were nearby.

I didn't want to provoke either the Allied forces or the monsters into an unnecessary battle by clumsily surveilling the area.

From the moment I launched a preemptive strike, I had decided not to intervene in the battle.

So I stayed in Lazak, with only Eleris sent out.

To be precise, I didn't want to watch countless people die in a situation where I couldn't even lift a finger to help.

I might be driven by impulse and jump into the fray. And if that happened, the situation would spiral out of control.

The Battle of Serandia was over.

With this, the Allied forces achieved one of their objectives.

"Also, it was confirmed that the Titan was activated during this battle."

"How was it?"

"...It's hard to describe with words. It was like watching a mountain move."

The Giant Titan.

It's a rare sight, even in Royal-class garrisons, and Sarkegaar was there as well.

Knowing that the allied forces were working on a war weapon project, one of them was the Titan. Though the war did not focus much on security, magic was inherently mysterious. Therefore, obtaining information wasn't an easy task.

The collaborative work of Adelia and the Archduke. It wasn't that I didn't want to see it with my own eyes. The original work never described such a massive weapon. In the end, it was created due to variables.

The capital of Saint Owan Duchy, Arnaca, and almost all the security forces in the White Palace of Arunaria had been replaced with golems.

Heriett had gone missing, and the Archduke created a huge war weapon called Titan with Adelia, who had been his daughter's friend.

The Titan was one of the derived stories and developments that changed. It was incalculable how many resources the empire had poured into making it.

"The activation time is very short, but if improved, it will play a meaningful role in future battles."

"I guess so."

It was a weapon truly suited for war.

We destroyed the warp gates in advance due to our preemptive strike, so the allied forces had relatively fewer gates and monsters to deal with.

The battle became easier due to the appearance of the Titan.

Considering the power of the allied forces is higher than in the original work, and even we, who were not supposed to exist, joined them, it could only be seen that dealing with the gate situation is easier than in the original work.

The war ahead would become increasingly difficult, but the situation would be better than in the original work.

However, the incalculable number would still be the same.

Just because countless people survived doesn't mean the number of those who died changed.

What if someone I know had died?

What if someone had experienced something irreversible?

"..."

The allied forces had won.

But, I was afraid to learn the reality of the allied forces.

Above all, I couldn't help but fear the news from the Royal Class.