Crunch crunch! The terrifying sounds of chewing and the screams and wails of surviving Middle Eastern soldiers echoed everywhere across the Middle Eastern position.
Perhaps fortune had smiled on him, because after Sibir's uncle transformed into a Titan, he didn't immediately notice his pitiful nephew. Instead, the severely wounded soldier he had kicked away earlier attracted the Blood Titan's attention.
Maybe it was the stimulation of the smell of blood, but the hideous Titan grabbed the remaining half of the Middle Eastern soldier's body and stuffed it into its unrecognizable mouth.
The dying Middle Eastern soldier's final weak cry for help never escaped his throat before the Titan's teeth crushed his skull.
Sibir turned around and fled desperately on all fours. His mind was completely blank now, driven only by instinctive escape. His brain felt frozen solid. Uncle, Middle East, Far East—he threw everything behind him.
The position had already turned into hell itself. Sibir clumsily crawled straight out of the trench and ran toward the dark mass of the Far Eastern army ahead of the battlefield.
Then, not long after Sibir escaped the position, the Titan his uncle had become suddenly froze mid-chew. Immediately afterward, its massive body began to ripple violently like boiling water. The skinless muscles twisted and squirmed grotesquely.
Crimson liquid seeped from the muscles as large amounts of boiling steam burst from the Titan's body.
The Titan let out a piercing roar.
"ROOOAR!!!"
Bang!
The next second, the ugly Titan body collapsed with a thunderous crash. Its enormous frame instantly became unbelievably fragile. The moment half its body hit the ground, it shattered like tofu into a pile of mangled flesh.
The hundreds of Titans across the Middle Eastern position experienced the same thing. One after another, the Titans suddenly lost their ability to move after slaughtering the humans around them, collapsing into piles of shattered meat. The hastily created Titans quickly crumbled apart and dissolved into steam.
Sibir kept running desperately. He didn't dare stop for even a second. His chest felt as if it had been smashed by a heavy hammer, and his lungs were screaming in protest inside his ribcage. The muscles in his legs were on the verge of collapse, sending stabbing pain through his body.
But Sibir still didn't dare stop.
He didn't know how long or how far he had run. The only sound left in his ears was his ragged breathing, like a broken bellows. His vision had become blurry, as though covered in mosaic static.
Finally, Sibir stumbled and fell to the ground after tripping over a rock.
That fall robbed him of the strength to stand back up again.
Lying face-down in the sand, Sibir could feel his heart pounding violently, as though it could not wait to burst from his chest.
After an unknown amount of time passed, Sibir felt the ground trembling.
A pebble ten centimeters from his nose suddenly bounced up and struck his face.
Sibir struggled in shock to sit upright.
Then, he saw a scene that would leave him shaken for the rest of his life.
Mechanical roars.
Tracks crushing the earth.
Dozens of ferocious steel beasts slowly advanced across the ground. Their enormous size looked large enough to fit dozens of Sibir inside each one.
The steel monsters rumbled forward atop long tracks Sibir had never seen before. The sandy terrain that ordinary vehicles could barely cross felt as smooth as flat ground to them.
And what was that long steel tube?
A cannon barrel?
But why was it so thick?
Why could artillery move on its own?
Sibir stared blankly as the steel monsters drew closer and closer. At the same time, he noticed that behind every steel beast followed countless fully armed soldiers.
These soldiers wore long black trench-coat uniforms and rounded black steel helmets. They carried firearms Sibir had never seen before, with military packs on their backs. Strange masks covered every soldier's face.
Sibir was utterly confused, but he knew one thing for certain.
This had to be the Far Eastern army.
Far Easterners!
At that moment, Sibir no longer thought about anything else. The idea of fighting for the Middle East had completely vanished from his mind. The only thing left in his head now was the desire to survive.
Sibir exhausted the last of his strength to raise both hands and let out one final hoarse roar.
"I surrender! I surrender!"
If he surrendered, he wouldn't die.
If he surrendered, he could return home and see his mother again.
The thought of his family reignited a trace of hope in Sibir's eyes.
Then—
Ratatatatat!
A stream of fire erupted from the weapon of the Far Eastern soldier at the front.
Sibir's body was instantly riddled with dozens of bullets like a torn sack, collapsing limply onto the ground.
Even in death, that hope of survival still remained in his eyes.
Dozens of armored vehicles known as tanks, along with hundreds of Far Eastern soldiers, steadily advanced toward the Middle Eastern army's position.
By the time the Far Eastern army reached the front of the Middle Eastern trenches, not a single Middle Eastern soldier fired a shot in resistance.
Because the Middle Eastern position had already become synonymous with hell.
Human limbs and mutilated corpses littered the battlefield everywhere.
Steam rising from the shattered bodies of hundreds of Titans mixed with human blood, forming a bloody mist that blanketed the entire position.
A few scattered Blood Titans still remained on the battlefield, roaring as their twisted bodies crawled toward the living Far Eastern army.
The expression beneath the Far Eastern commander's gas mask could not be seen.
But with a wave of the commander's arm, the hundreds of Far Eastern soldiers immediately sprang into action.
Dozens of tanks rotated their turrets.
Boom! Boom! Boom!
The thunderous roar of the massive cannon barrels sounded like rolling thunder.
Dozens of shells slammed into the remaining Blood Titans, prematurely blasting them into piles of shattered gore.
The hundreds of Far Eastern soldiers also spread out, carrying the latest submachine guns produced by the Louis Arms Company. Whenever they encountered any Middle Eastern soldier showing signs of life, they pulled the trigger without the slightest hesitation.
The black military uniforms worn by the Far Easterners resembled the robes of grim reapers, bringing endless fear and death to the Middle Easterners.
At the same time, another group of Far Eastern soldiers carrying large packs put on black gloves and carefully collected the round metal canisters scattered throughout the battlefield.
Even the Far Easterners themselves treated those iron canisters—which released the terrifying green substance capable of turning people into Titans—with extreme caution and fear.
But no matter how careful they were, accidents still happened.
Some Far Eastern soldiers screamed and collapsed to the ground as crimson arcs of electricity tore through their black uniforms.
However, in front of the dozens of tanks that had already prepared for such situations, the incident caused barely any disturbance.
Once the Middle Easterners in the position had been completely cleaned out and the iron canisters fully recovered, the Far Eastern soldiers finally removed their gas masks one after another, lingering fear still visible in their eyes as they looked at the horrific state of the battlefield.
The leading Far Eastern officer removed his mask, revealing a weathered face filled with concern.
He had no idea how his country had developed such a terrifying weapon.
According to legend, only Eldians could transform into Titans.
But what about these Middle Easterners before him?
And those soldiers from other nations from earlier battles?
How had they transformed?
...
"What exactly are those things?" Bill asked hesitantly inside the laboratory.
Ebson revealed a cruel smile and answered:
"A wonderful thing used to eliminate inferior humans."