r18novel Chapter 17 Betrayal of the Titans
Chapter 17 Betrayal of the Titans
"Interesting. A bunch of northern barbarians calling themselves wolves versus a group of psychologically twisted siege contractors," Qin Mo commented. "They're evenly matched. However—"
His gaze fell on the giant machines that were slowly advancing.
"And what are those big iron lumps?"
The system screen refreshed again, and this time the holographic projection that popped up was several times larger than before.
[Weapon of War: Titan—The most powerful land-based war machine ever created by the Empire of Man.]
Titans are the pinnacle of Imperial military technology, manufactured and controlled by the Martian Mechanics. Each Titan is a mobile fortress, a moving god of destruction. Each one is a strategic entity capable of altering the course of a battle.
The current composition of the rebel Titan Legion on the battlefield is as follows.
[Raider-class Titans x3: Medium-sized Titans, approximately 25 to 30 meters tall. Equipped with various heavy energy weapons and ballistic weapons, and featuring a Void Shield defense system. The Raider-class is the backbone of the Titan Legion; a single unit can contend with an entire armored regiment of ground troops.]
[Warhound-class Titans x4: Reconnaissance Titans, approximately 15 meters tall. The smallest but most agile model in the Titan family, typically deployed in two-unit formations for flanking harassment and rapid assault missions. Despite being the smallest Titan, its firepower is still sufficient to destroy a medium-sized fortress in seconds.]
[Imperial Knight Mechs x10: Strictly speaking, these are not Titans, but rather medium-sized war mechs piloted by noble families, standing approximately ten meters tall. They are typically used as the escort force for the Titan legions, responsible for clearing out infantry and light vehicles.]
[Evaluation: This Titan legion, though not large in scale, is powerful enough to crush any ground force without equivalent Titan support.]
[The Space Wolf Iron Wolf Dalian team lacks anti-Titan capabilities. Based on the current battlefield situation, the Iron Wolf Dalian team will be forced to retreat completely or be annihilated within thirty minutes.]
[Suggestion: The host may consider intervening in this battle. Destroying the traitorous Titan Legion and the Iron Warrior forces will grant a large number of merit points, while rescuing the Space Wolves will earn the favor of loyal Space Marines, which may be very valuable in subsequent actions.]
After digesting this information, Qin Mo's gaze once again fell on the three largest Marauder-class Titans on the battlefield.
Standing at 25 to 30 meters tall, this size is roughly equivalent to an adult sixth-order demon beast in the cultivation world, and it is indeed quite intimidating in the mortal world.
Moreover, the firepower of these mechanical creations is truly remarkable.
Qin Mo witnessed a Marauder-class Titan raise its arm and fire a high-energy beam as thick as a bucket from its giant laser cannon.
The beam pierced directly through a concrete bunker on the Space Wolf defense line, evaporating the bunker and everything inside.
The power of that attack was roughly equivalent to a full-force strike from a late-stage Golden Core cultivator.
In terms of destructive power alone, these Titans certainly deserve the title of earthly heavy weapons.
"Is this machine called Titan?" Qin Mo nodded to himself.
"Hmm, interesting. It's truly remarkable that a mechanical creation can wield such power. It's also quite impressive that mortals can create such weapons of war with their own flesh and blood."
He glanced at the Space Wolves, who were being forced back by the Titan Legion's firepower; the Space Marines were fighting against the steel behemoths with their bare hands.
Despite their bravery and fearlessness, courage cannot withstand a Titan-level laser cannon in the face of an absolute disparity in firepower.
The defenses of Dalian, the "Iron Wolf," are collapsing at a visible rate.
Qin Mo could sense the emotions within the souls of those space wolves: anger, resentment, and an almost obsessive thirst for battle.
Even when faced with an invincible steel behemoth, these "northern barbarians" felt no fear in their souls, only frustration and irritability from being unable to confront the enemy head-on.
"They're a bunch of tough bastards, though," Qin Mo commented.
He rose from the dark clouds, stood with his hands behind his back,
"Let me meet them and see just how powerful these strongest mechanical creations in the world really are."
The next moment—
The left flank of the Iron Warriors front.
The air suddenly distorted, and after a blinding flash of light, dozens of power armor suits and a black-robed figure appeared out of thin air on a scorched earth riddled with bomb craters.
This happened without warning.
On the flank of the Iron Warriors, several Chaos Space Marines operating heavy weapons detected the unusual energy fluctuations almost simultaneously.
The silver-gray helmets spun around in unison, and the muzzles of the bomb guns were aimed at the group of uninvited guests within fractions of a second.
However, when the automatic identification system in the helmet scanned the paint and insignia on the opponent's power armor, those fingers gripping the trigger loosened slightly.
The dark red and silver-gray of the Man of Words.
The blue-green scale pattern of the Alpha Legion.
They are all "one of us" from the Chaos faction.
A valiant lieutenant from the flank defense strode over.
"What are you doing here?" The adjutant's voice came through the helmet's loudspeaker, deep and cold.
"This area has been captured, and we are currently conducting final cleanup. If you are here to provide support, you should report this via the battle group's communication channel first."
His gaze swept quickly over the group of "friendly troops," and his brows furrowed slightly behind his helmet.
The state of these Word Bearers and the Alpha Legion seems somewhat... strange.
Their power armor was shrouded in a faint black mist, which flowed slowly between the seams, like something alive.
Moreover, their posture was also incorrect; they were too stiff, too silent, and made no unnecessary movements.
However, the adjutant didn't pay much attention to these details.
Having lived under the banner of chaos for tens of thousands of years, what strange and bizarre things haven't I seen?
The Word Bearers were originally a group of madmen who dealt with warp forces all day long, so it's not surprising that they were affected by the power of chaos and turned into this monstrous state.
As for the Alpha Legion, those guys are the biggest mystery in the galaxy, and nothing they do would surprise anyone.
What truly bothered the adjutant was the incongruous presence among this group of "friendly forces."
A human being.
A tall, slender human male dressed in a black robe stood in the very center between Whisperer and Alpha.
His face was handsome yet aloof, and his dark eyes were utterly calm.
He held a strange flag that emitted a black light in his left hand, while a golden halo floated behind him.
The halo exuded a strange aura.
It was hard to pinpoint exactly what it was, but the adjutant's genetic seed instinctively produced a slight... discomfort.
The feeling is like a creature that has been in the dark for too long being suddenly exposed to sunlight; it's not fatal, but it's definitely uncomfortable.
"And what about that human?" The adjutant's tone became more wary. "Why is there a mortal among you? And that thing on him—"
He pointed to the golden halo behind Qin Mo.
"What is that?"