Chapter 186: If Her Name Is Tamamo-no-Mae, Then It's Pretty Much Confirmed
The Huns held unwavering confidence in their king's strength.
Compared to them—descendants of the Age of Gods who had long since lost the Divine Era Blessing, essentially a new breed of humanity—Attila's power was undeniably monstrous, even godlike!
In ordinary battles, Attila would charge ahead alone, obliterating all enemies in her path; even city walls could not hold her back.
The City of the Huns, which could effortlessly annihilate any who were drawn into it, posed no significant threat to Attila.
She even dared to plunge alone into the battlefield between the City of the Huns and the Romans, repeatedly driving back the Roman frontier defenses!
The king was invincible!
This belief had taken deep root in the hearts of the Huns, though none could say exactly when.
Just as Attila never faltered against the so-called City of the Huns, they saw no reason to believe the giant clad in black full-plate armor could possibly defeat their king!
This shared conviction was why they faced Altera without despair.
Some even boldly stepped forward to distract Altera, secretly sending others to seek their king's aid.
All of this was built upon their unshakable faith in Attila's supremacy.
Yet...
Attila, who in the eyes of the Huns spoke only of destruction and showed no mercy even to conquered lands, took two steps back the moment she was brought to the battlefield and laid eyes on the giant!
Hesitation... a word the Huns had never associated with their king—now they witnessed it firsthand in her.
"..."
The shock and terror the Huns felt upon seeing Attila like this far surpassed what they experienced under Altera's assault!
They could scarcely believe what was unfolding before them.
But Attila had no mind to spare for them now...
Against any other foe, no matter how formidable, Attila would likely have drawn her Photon Ray without hesitation and struck.
Facing Altera was different...
She was merely a Terminal the Huns had salvaged from the wreckage of the White Titan.
Thus, even though the damage inflicted by the original Holy Sword wielder had left her memories fragmented and her identity unclear, the sight of Altera stirred a primal fear within her.
She didn't understand why, but an instinctual thought arose... that if she didn't flee now, she would be devoured!
Biting is an uncivilized act!
And with a head that large, Altera's mouth must be sizable too—if she took a bite out of me... absolutely not!
Attila, who always followed her instincts, found herself not only lacking the urge to destroy the enemy but also plagued by bizarre, distracting thoughts.
Without a moment's hesitation, she turned to flee!
Unfortunately, the instant she saw Altera—and Altera saw her—escape was already impossible.
The black armor on Altera's body was transformed from the starship that originally carried her.
Thus, the ability to deploy a Predation Domain, originally possessed by the starship, now resides within Altera herself.
Noah wanted to capture Attila alive.
Therefore, the moment Altera saw her target, she immediately activated the Predation Domain located on Starship Velber 02, locking onto Attila alone.
Under such circumstances, even if Attila felt she was desperately running and had covered a great distance, in reality, Altera merely raised her hand and contracted the Predation Domain toward herself.
Then, she grabbed Attila, who was pushed forward by the contracting Predation Domain!
Realizing she had been inexplicably captured, Attila immediately began to struggle. Magical Energy from the Photon Ray vibrated the atmosphere, and a beam of light descended from above, directly striking Altera.
Seeing this beam, the stunned Huns erupted in cheers!
Because they recognized this light!
It was their king's attack!
Some among them had even witnessed tall city walls melt under this very strike!
But...
Amidst their cheers, as the beam gradually faded, the black giant standing within it appeared completely unharmed!
This caused their cheers to abruptly cease.
They all stared dumbfounded at the scene before them, seemingly unable to believe it no matter what.
Meanwhile, Altera raised her hand and looked at Attila, whom she had captured.
"Don't worry, I'm not here to devour you, nor to destroy you—Noah wants to see you, so he ordered me to bring you alive before him."
Hearing Altera's words, Attila furrowed her brows but ceased her struggles.
She instinctively sensed that Altera was not lying to her.
Thus, Attila, who had often been driven by instinct, once again chose to trust her own instincts.
Seeing Attila calm down, a gentle, faint smile appeared on Altera's face hidden beneath her armor, making her seem like a kind older sister.
However, after lowering her hand and turning her gaze toward the remaining Huns—though her tone remained unchanged, the content of her words took a sharp turn in style.
"After you, there are still over a hundred targets to be purged... Hmm, Noah asked me to consider how to complete the mission as Altera, not as a weapon—in that case, I'll only destroy those who resist~"
Although Altera may appear somewhat amiable, she is, in truth, a genuine weapon designed to purge civilizations.
Even though Noah asked her to incorporate a bit of her own thoughts during missions.
For her, sparing lives is the greatest mercy she can offer.
When Noah sent Altera to purge the surrounding small nations and tribes, he expected it would take a long time to see results.
In reality, however, his research on the Holy Grail felt like it hadn't taken much time at all. He had just completed the Third Magic when he received news that dozens of small nations and tribes in the vicinity...
A joint surrender declaration sent together!
At this point, Altera hadn't yet pushed to their side, but she had already passed through over twenty small nations and tribes—if they surrendered directly, all would be well; if they resisted... then all who fought back would be destroyed by Altera!
If your entire nation had backbone, it would be annihilated...
If your entire nation was spineless, then you would survive.
After such news spread among these small nations and tribes, they had no choice but to unite and deliberate. In the end, without waiting for Altera to arrive, they directly sent a joint surrender letter to Noah, who stood behind Altera!
We don't need you to send that monster over—we surrender now!
This was the message conveyed throughout their surrender letter. Perhaps feeling the letter wasn't formal enough, these small nations and tribes even planned to pool their resources and form a diplomatic delegation to personally come to Rome City to surrender!
On the surface, this was indeed how they presented themselves.
But in reality, after sending the surrender letter, these small nations and tribes secretly dispatched most of their warriors to a remote island they deemed hidden.
After uniting, they all understood that even combined, they were no match for their opponent.
So they decided to feign submission first, while secretly gathering strength in the shadows!
They would use surrender to buy time to grow stronger!
And forming a joint diplomatic delegation to surrender was their way of diverting Noah's attention!
This plan was devised by Abaruba, the collective representative chosen after their alliance, and the others saw no issue with it.
When persuading the kings of other small nations and tribal leaders, Abaruba even publicly declared—even if Noah truly were a monster with three heads and six arms, he couldn't possibly grasp our movements with perfect clarity. This is our chance, our only chance!
But in reality, although Noah didn't have three heads or six arms...
The moment Abaruba uttered Noah's name, Noah already knew exactly what they were saying and what their plans were.
After understanding these matters, Noah looked at the surrender letter these individuals had sent to Rome City, smiling as he mentally inquired of Mary.
"Location confirmed?"
He never specified what location needed confirming, but Mary directly used her Clairvoyance to lock onto the hidden island chosen by these small nations and tribes, then responded.
"Confirmed."
Hearing Mary's words, Noah smiled and tossed the surrender letter onto the table.
"Then have Kuro return first, and we'll wait for them to come surrender in Rome City... Once they witness how vast the world truly is, they'll naturally feel their own insignificance in the face of such grandeur."
After learning the location of the hidden island, Noah didn't send anyone to besiege it.
Because if destruction was the goal, there was no need to dispatch anyone.
Although the island was indeed remote and hidden, as long as it remained on Earth, it was within Noah's range of attack.
Mary's Clairvoyance had already locked onto the location.
And then—
In the sky above that nameless small island, at a height even higher than the clouds, a Holy Spear of the End floated in place, its cold-gleaming tip aimed directly at the island below.