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[FMMIKA] Chapter 322: A Touching Reunion
🕑 Added 2023-12-11 18:17:30 +0000 UTCHowever, in the next moment, the United Roman army on the north bank of the Seine River, from top to bottom, fell into a state of shock and even panic.
Because the first wave of Artorius's attack was neither infantry nor cavalry but—
"It's Bombeeers—!!!"
In Caesar's roar, 500-kilogram bombs fell from the bomb bay of tactical bombers.
'Goddammit?! How can this be?! How is it even possible?! We were amid classical melee warfare, and here I am, holding the river mouth with a heavy force, facing you in a Roman triple-line formation. And what do you do? Send tactical bombers at me?!'
Watching those four tactical bombers marked with 'H-6' soaring above them, a formation of two hundred tactical bombers, whooshing over their heads, the once composed, arrogant, and confident demeanor vanished with the buzzing of engines.
Furious and frustrated, face as red as a baboon's behind, Caesar drew his sword and swung it wildly at the sky in impotent rage.
"Fuuuckkk—!!!"
Caesar's state looked bad, and it really was bad. But as they say, everything is relative. You'd understand that his current state was considered good when you see the bigger picture.
Beside him, Cleopatra, who just moments ago had a tender look, now had her mouth wide open, tongue sticking out as if she couldn't retract it, just like a fool. Leonidas, who claimed to fear no one, was standing there with a spear, lost in confusion.
Sure, the Servants had ranged attacks, and the Romans had archers, mages, and the like for long-range firepower. But could these things deal with bombers?
In the modern era, sending fighters to the battlefield wasn't necessary in war since they could happily bomb everything from afar. An exposed army on the surface without fortifications gathered together was the best target.
After this round of bombing, it would be considered lucky if one percent of the United Roman's 150,000 soldiers survived. And with this, the battle came to an end.
"Dammit!"
Caesar continued to curse in frustration. But then he felt something was off.
The bombs dropped by these bombers were hitting empty areas. Except for the first one that killed a lot of his soldiers, all the others were duds.
"What's this..."
Just as he was feeling surprised, a loud rumble came from the distance. In the ear-piercing sonic boom, Caesar, with the eyesight of a Servant, could see everything—it was a barrage of high-speed artillery shells flying through the air.
Thousands of them.
On the other side, about thirty kilometers away from the battlefield, Artorius Pendragon had concentrated at least two thousand large-caliber field artillery.
"Wha-What is this—"
"After the bombing comes the artillery. Is armored assault next? What kind of monster are we fighting?!"
With this firepower, engaging in a slow advance tactic would mean none of the 150,000 soldiers on the field would survive. A blanket made of flames, smoke, and metal would gradually cover the entire battlefield, crushing all life, even the sand, and soil on the ground into dust, and evenly spreading it out.
"Lord Caesar, be careful!"
Seeing the scene unfold, Cleopatra took action. A giant serpent suddenly appeared, blocking the heavy artillery shells heading towards them. Strangely, the shells didn't explode—not because they were failures, but because all of them had their fuses removed.
'The fuses have been taken off.' Caesar quickly confirmed. 'Is it some kind of demonstration?'
As he pondered this, he almost completely gave up on continuing the fight.
The technological gap between the two sides was too vast.
Even the strongest Leonidas lost the desire to fight when he saw this scene. In his words—Such a battle holds no honor, just senseless slaughter. It serves no purpose.
However, as Caesar contemplated, someone in the army couldn't wait and rushed out to attack.
"Artorius—!!!"
"Huh?!"
That was Caesar's ace up his sleeve. A man who would never lose their fighting spirit, no matter what. As long as his opponent was the Dragon Emperor Artorius, he would fight until the very end. Even when the Dragon Emperor had displayed his absolute power and made a gesture of sincerity by disarming the artillery shells.
But it had nothing to do with right or wrong, or attitude. It was simply that he wouldn't, couldn't, and didn't want to bow down and admit defeat to the figure named Artorius Pendragon no matter what.
"Artorius—!!!"
As he roared, amidst the roar of engines and the noise of treads crushing the land, an armored unit appeared on the south bank of the river.
In addition to tanks, there were self-propelled anti-aircraft guns, armored personnel carriers, military off-road vehicles, and command vehicles, forming a complete mechanized unit.
There were also quite a few combat engineers in the mechanized unit, equipped with bridge-building tools and vehicles, ensuring they could cross the Seine River at any point during the low-water period. From this perspective, the tactic of defending along the river was equally mistaken.
===
At this moment, Artorius and the utterly confused Nero sat in a military open-top off-road vehicle. In the back were Mash, Scathach, and Ritsuka, who happily playing with a heavy machine gun that lacked bullets and safety, shouting "du du du du du" to herself like a child.
"It's him, huh? What a touching reunion."
As Artorius watched a man approaching while shouting his name with anger, he sighed and drew his sword.
"Um? Do you really need to move personally?"
Ritsuka was a bit shocked and perplexed by the fact that Artorius seemed ready to duel that guy himself. After all, he was already a ruler with hundreds of thousands of soldiers, armed with all sorts of weapons. Why bother fighting an ordinary Servant personally?
Even if the opponent was a Servant, with Mash and Scathach teaming up, most Servants would end up dead, right?
"It's a matter of respect for him personally." Artorius replied. "After all, there's a deep connection between him and me."
"Traitor—!!!"
The opposing Servant did hear Artorius's words but seemed even more furious. He continued to rush towards Artorius, brandishing a red magic sword and aiming it fiercely at Artorius.
"Long time no see, still as hot-tempered as ever, huh..."
Artorius used his favorite sword to block the attack.
"You've already died once, so eager to let me finish you off again, Lucius?" Artorius responded while smiling.
Yes, he was Lucius Tiberius, the emperor of the fallen Western Roman Empire whom Artorius once served—the tragic ruler Artorius had later betrayed, killed, and seized power from.
Naturally, he would hate, be angry, and fight Artorius to death.
But times had changed.
In the next move, Artorius sent Lucius flying, completely destroying his bodily functions and rendering him unable to continue the fight.
"It's meaningless at this point."
Lucius was no match for Artorius.
