Chapter 179: The Huns Feel That the City of the Huns Is Practically Rome's Umbrella
The establishment of the Knights of the Round Table, previously initiated by Noah, quickly spread throughout the lands under his control. Alongside this, he also finalized the second provisional knight, aside from White, the first provisional knight.
The second provisional knight: Black Knight—Altera.
Similarly using a color as the knight's title and name—such a provisional knight soon sparked curiosity among others.
After all, provisional knights were qualified to attend Round Table meetings as observers.
Previously, no one had paid much attention to provisional knights, but now, with the qualification to observe Round Table meetings, they were undeniably part of the upper echelons.
This led many to feel curious about this Black Knight.
Even Kay and Morgan were quite intrigued by the Black Knight.
Then, as those qualified to meet the Black Knight in person, after seeing her with their own eyes, they became even more curious.
Because...
Compared to White, who at least appeared to have the physique of a normal person, this Black Knight... her height alone was nearly twenty meters!
Could she be from the legendary race of giants?
Kay couldn't help but wonder this upon seeing her, while Morgan, who had a deeper understanding of the Age of Gods, seemed to vaguely sense she had guessed the other's identity... but she also felt it was impossible.
Because...
"White Destruction, Sefar... didn't she die?"
"Black, are you not used to being on Earth this time?"
Noah looked at Altera, who had transformed the Starship into pitch-black armor draped over her body, and asked this question.
Altera, seeing that Noah had come specifically to ask her these things, sat down on the ground. Compared to her massive frame, her voice was surprisingly soft.
"...I wouldn't say I'm not used to it. It feels like everyone is curious about my size, but no one asks me about it specifically, and no one excludes me. White also helps me when I don't understand things."
Altera spoke only of the positive aspects, but Noah understood what she meant upon hearing her words.
In reality, she still wasn't quite accustomed to it.
However, this wasn't all that difficult to imagine.
After all, before coming to Earth this time, Altera had always been a weapon whose sole mission was destruction. Even if she encountered beings she could communicate with, she wouldn't engage with them.
Because her mission was destruction, nothing else.
Thus, she had no need to communicate with others; she simply had to carry out destruction.
Having always handled such missions, Altera now suddenly found herself without the need for destruction. Moreover, after becoming a provisional knight, she realized that strength alone wasn't enough—she also needed to communicate with her companions...
This made Altera, who had previously only slept when not destroying, quite uncomfortable.
Whenever things piled up, she tended to feel a bit flustered.
Yet, paradoxically, she gave off an impression of maturity and reliability.
This left her feeling uncertain in many situations—whether it was distress or happiness...
For the first time, she was living not as a weapon, and for the first time, she had companions.
These feelings were all very new to Altera.
So, all she could say about it was...
"Anyway, I don't dislike my current life. As for other places—I'll work hard."
Seeing Altera like this, Noah nodded.
"Don't worry. I came this time thinking of directly helping you quickly integrate into the current environment, but that would put too much pressure on you. So I plan to let you gradually adapt to the present circumstances within the life rhythm you're already accustomed to."
"White, I have a task for you."
As Noah spoke, he handed her the assigned mission.
Altera took the task and glanced at it, then saw the name of this enemy.
"The Huns..."
She silently read the enemy's name, while Noah waved his hand.
"'Huns' is just what I'm more used to calling them. Besides that, you can call them the Ounna tribe or Ounna people—I used to think these guys had long become pure destructive wills, mere packs of Magical Beasts. But now I've discovered that even after Velber was deleted and the Starship no longer regularly scatters data seeds onto the ground, these creatures still exist here."
This was something glossed over in the simulation.
But when Noah had Mary use Clairvoyance to search for Attila, they unintentionally found it.
Attila was together with these Ounna people.
Logically speaking, they should be the ones invading Rome. But after Velber manipulated the Starship to scatter data seeds, giving birth to that 'City of the Huns' composed of those magical puppets, these guys were separated by this so-called "City of the Huns."
After all, these puppets couldn't communicate. They were a threat to Rome, and equally a threat to those Ounna people.
Noah had previously wondered why Attila didn't seem to be part of the "City of the Huns."
But now he understood—Attila and the "City of the Huns" truly weren't allies.
Attila was the great king of those Ounna people. She harbored a mindset of destruction toward Rome, and also toward that so-called "City of the Huns."
But if the real Ounna troops got caught up among those puppets, they would surely suffer heavy losses.
That's why only Attila came alone each time.
And she would also destroy everything she could see without regard for anything!
Now the "City of the Huns" would no longer appear.
So besides capturing Attila, Noah also developed the intention to suppress these Ounna people.
And the Ounna were just a beginning.
Beyond that, there were also the small nations and tribes around Rome.
All of these needed to be suppressed.
Receiving such a task, and with Noah not even mentioning arranging troops—if it were other knights, they might feel somewhat puzzled. But Altera wouldn't; in fact, after seeing this mission, she even felt somewhat reassured.
Solo destruction missions—this was what she had always done, and what she was most skilled at.
However, Noah didn't intend to use her as a weapon, so after White accepted the task, Noah spoke with her a bit more.
"This time, there's someone on the other side who has quite a connection to you—a terminal that was destroyed by the first Holy Sword wielder when you were still Sefar, then picked up from your remains by those Huns. A being called Attila, who looks like a miniature version of you."
"I want you to capture her alive."
Hearing Noah mention Attila, Altera visibly paused for a moment before nodding.
"Attila... I understand."
Seeing Altera nod, Noah smiled and continued with the rest of his words.
"Black, although this is a familiar mission for you, try to think of yourself as a living being named Altera while carrying out your usual tasks."
"After all, you are a being named Altera, not a weapon, right?"
Noah left these words behind and then departed.
After all, he had many matters to attend to now.
The team searching for underground Magical Beasts had been dispatched under Kay's leadership, and he was still waiting for their report. Additionally, after returning from the Starship, he had established contact with Little Kiara. She had likely finished lunch by now and might pester him for a fairy tale...
On top of that, he still needed to set up a department dedicated to writing fairy tales and was waiting for news from Manaka Sajyou.
Moreover, Noah estimated that Morgan would likely seek him out soon with questions about Altera.
In short, he was truly busy. After leaving these words for Altera and assigning White to accompany her to prevent any issues, he returned to handle other matters.
Meanwhile, Altera watched Noah's departing figure, momentarily lost in thought.
"Think of myself as a being named Altera... I understand, Core... no, Zero."
As for Noah's plans to take action against the Huns, not only were the Huns themselves unaware, but even many people living in Rome had no idea.
With a single person suppressing the situation and no mobilization of troops or provisions, what should have been a significant event among humans became exceptionally minor.
There was no commotion at all.
In Rome, people simply went about their lives, eating and drinking as usual.
As for the Huns, their ambitions were even greater.
Seeing that the 'City of the Huns' had not appeared in spring, and then failing to appear again in autumn when it should have, these Huns began to plan an attack on Rome alongside their king!
After all, Attila... even these Huns had to admit that their king was exceptional in every way, except that her mind was solely focused on destruction—a kind of excessive, purposeless destruction even in the eyes of the Huns themselves!
If the so-called City of the Huns still existed, there would be nothing more to say.
But now, it seemed the City of the Huns was gone.
If another month passed without its appearance, they could follow their king into battle!
Mere Rome was never something they took seriously, especially with Attila leading them!
Thus, they wanted to seize this opportunity to attack Rome alongside their king, ideally capturing all the cities along Rome's borders!
The Great King is responsible for shattering the enemy's defenses, while they follow behind to reap the rewards, taking those cities along the way!
The Huns found this plan entirely feasible.
Attila had no objections either.
They never imagined that Noah's actions would be far swifter than theirs!