Tearha: The Number 139

Chapter Thirty-Five: He Who Marched

Luce could only describe the sensation of seeing a Titan akin to an orgasm. A sense of wonder that overwhelms you. Your body numbs over and freeze as the sight of monstrously towering creatures that should not possibly exists lumbering across the landscape. Despite having faced numerous Titans in her short life, Luce continued to admire the creatures for their sheer sheerness even as the two siege golems started their slow approach from the mountains. From her distance, even from the dark of night, the moving Titans were clearer than a ship on empty ocean waves.

"Hulvarks," Joashden Stalewaver said, walking up and taking a stand beside her at the edge of the town of Valent. "That's the official name for them back on Katoki."

They watched the Titans descent the mountainside, two sore thumbs that poked out of the background. At their foreground, across the field of South Valent, Misti and her group of three other terramancers continued to pull up a long and tall wall of earth with their magic. Stretching half the length of the town, they needed the dirt wall to encompass even the last building. The non-terramancer Titan Rangers and the town's militia reinforced the slanted blockade with gathered spare wood and copper beams, all working feverishly under glowing flickers of lamps.

He said, "I don't think we'll be able to redirect them with just a dirt wall. If only Miguel could help out, I'd guarantee it would work. That guy is ridiculously powerful."

"I told you," Luce repeated, turning to look back at the Tower of Everwind. "We can't let Light find out we're with Miguel and the others. We have to keep neutral for this bluff to work."

"I know. Still don't think the wall will work though," he admitted grimly. "But... I think there's another way."

"What's the plan?" Luce asked. "Do they have any weaknesses we can use?"

"They're like the Rankors. Quadrupedal. But theirs is to make sure if they ever lose a set of legs, they'd still be able to move." Josh was an encyclopedia of knowledge on golems and mechs. After his arrival on Eltar, he had also brushed up his extensive information to include sentient Titans. He continued, "Their shells are the toughest of all the basic golems. Lined with onyx, which is why they have that dark glow to them. The general thinner sizes of their bodies makes them more compact, harder to break. "

"Weaknesses?" Luce repeated.

Josh continued, "Their forearms are heat treated with mineral veins as reinforcements. Their command sigil is fused within, so we'll have to drill through the wrecking balls to start the conversion."

"Josh?"

"Yeah, Luce?"

"Weaknesses."

He sighed. "If you take out two of its legs, the Hulvarks just continue walking on its forearms. They are golems made for siege. They are made to take hits and anything short of an Agarez's cannon would probably graze them."

"We're not killing them, old man."

"I'm not saying that," Josh quickly corrected. He knew how much the talk of killing Titans angered her, and she knew he'd never jeopardize their relationship that way. "I'm just pointing out that these are brute force Titans, made to punch an entire building into the ground while on the front lines of war. Redirecting them to Everwind alone would take considerable amount of power. But good news is, they are slow, so that gives us some time to recover."

Luce noted, "You still haven't told me their weaknesses yet, old man."

"Sure I did," Josh replied with a grin. "Think it through. They are tough. They are slow. They are near unstoppable Titans of brute force."

She blinked, and her mind clicked. She ran down the dirt road out of town, leaving Josh behind. Dashing across the field, she approached the workers building the walls. Misti saw her running towards them and stepped away from her work.