Pure against Unsullied

Outside Astapor, on the continent of Essos

Ten thousand Unsullied formed a square battle formation, with shields in front and spears behind.

Eren halted his army five hundred meters from the formation. Looking at the ranks before him, he felt the Unsullied certainly knew their business.

Still, if they had only been facing Dothraki cavalry, perhaps they could have written another legend. With the power of the Giants involved, however, things were different.

Eren waved his hand, directly controlling the Pure Titans and sending them charging toward the Unsullied formation. The ground began to shake beneath the running Titans.

This wave pitted Pure Titans against Unsullied, pure against Unsullied. They would see which was tougher.

The Unsullied braced their shields. When they saw the Titans charging toward them, a slight change appeared in their eyes. Anyone faced with monsters far beyond them in height and size would have shown some reaction. That the Unsullied showed only a slight change in their eyes was already proof of exceptional training.

When the Titans were still a hundred meters away, the Unsullied hurled their spears at them. In their view, any creature would die if its head or heart was pierced.

The spears flew, plunging straight into the Titans' eyes, chests, and ankles, sending blood splashing everywhere.

Some Pure Titans toppled straight to the ground after being struck in the ankles. Seeing them fall, the Unsullied thought their attack had worked. Even with their training and dulled emotions, they felt a moment of delighted surprise. Of course, it lasted only a moment.

Those Pure Titans that had not been struck in the ankles, but only in nonvital places such as their hearts and eyes, paused briefly from the hits. Then they charged toward the Unsullied without stopping.

When the Unsullied saw the Titans charging at them without slowing, spears still embedded in their bodies, a shudder ran through their hearts. Anyone would have been terrified at the sight of an enemy that could not die. Even troops as well trained as the Unsullied still felt fear.

The Unsullied had no choice but to keep throwing spears to resist. However, their commander had also noticed something during the fighting: although the Pure Titans could not die, striking certain parts still worked. Hitting their ankles, for example, could send the running Titans crashing to the ground. Though it was not fatal, it could at least slow their advance.

So the Unsullied commander shouted:

"Throw your spears at the Titans' ankles! Slow them down!"

This time, the Unsullied aimed their spears straight at the Titans' ankles. Quite a few Pure Titans fell flat because they were moving too fast, but these falls were not fatal to them. And when one group fell, another followed behind. The Unsullied's spears could only injure the Titans in the front ranks.

The Titans in front fell, but those behind trampled over their companions' bodies and charged onward. Moreover, the Titans that had just fallen had already healed their injuries, stood up, and resumed their charge.

Although the Unsullied kept throwing spears, it was unquestionably a drop in the bucket. The Titans were too fast, their strides too long. The Unsullied managed only two rounds of attacks before the Titans were upon them.

And so the Titans charged straight into the Unsullied's square formation with spears still sticking out of their bodies. The shield-bearing Unsullied in front wanted desperately to hold them back, but clearly, the Titans' strength was beyond anything they could withstand.

The tremendous impact sent the shield-bearing Unsullied in the front ranks flying. Then their nightmare began. The Pure Titans launched straight into a ravenous feast, grabbing Unsullied and stuffing them into their mouths.

Although there were only a little over two hundred Pure Titans against ten thousand Unsullied, the Titans' slaughter was anything but slow. Some caused just as much destruction even while eating people. With their enormous bodies, a mere movement of their feet trampled many people to death.

That was not even counting the special individuals among the Pure Titans known as Abnormal Titans, each of which moved differently.

Some had bodily traits that outright defied human anatomy, walking like spiders or hopping around like toads. These Abnormal Titans caused far more destruction than ordinary Pure Titans. From the rear, the Unsullied commander watched the Titans rampaging ahead and knew that any resistance was now useless. He could only say weakly:

"Retreat! Retreat! Get back to Astapor at once!"

Although the commander was also Unsullied, he understood the situation. Further resistance would only add needless casualties. It would be better to bring some effective fighting strength back into the city and rely on its sturdy walls for defense.

There were still ten thousand Unsullied in the city. Although they were still undergoing training, they already possessed a degree of fighting ability. With the protection of the walls and those troops, Astapor could still hold.

The commander had just observed that these Titans were only ten-odd meters tall, while Astapor's walls stood over twenty meters high. Although the walls were only ten-odd meters taller than the Titans, the commander and his men still saw hope of holding Astapor.

Moreover, the commander noticed that although the Dothraki cavalry had come in force, they had brought no siege equipment. However he looked at it, Astapor held the advantage.

The commander quickly gathered some of the troops in the rear and retreated straight toward Astapor. As for the Unsullied at the front, he had no choice but to abandon them, using their lives to buy time for his men to retreat.

The commander led his remaining troops straight to the foot of Astapor's walls. The slave masters looked at the Titans rampaging in the distance, then at the defeated remnants below. Although they inwardly hated these useless soldiers for collapsing so easily, they still opened the gate. They also knew that in the current situation, having more soldiers was better.

The gate slowly rose. Seeing it open, the Unsullied commander finally breathed a sigh of relief. When he first began retreating, he had doubted whether the slave masters would raise the gate and let them in. After all, the Unsullied were slaves, merchandise. In the slave masters' eyes, their lives were of little consequence.

Now, however, it seemed the slave masters still understood the gravity of the situation. Once these men entered the city, they could better help defend Astapor.

The commander hurriedly led his remaining troops into the city. In the distance, the remaining Unsullied were still buying them time to enter with their lives and attempting to fight back. Unfortunately, against the Titans' strength, their efforts were unquestionably like a mantis trying to stop a chariot.

Although they tried to stop the Titans from charging past, the Titans were too strong. Quite a few still broke straight through their formation and charged toward the distant gate.

Seeing this, the commander said in some panic:

"Everyone, move faster! The Titans are almost here!"