After slicing open the nape of a ten-meter-class Titan, Mike panted as he landed on a rooftop.
In the surrounding residential blocks, the ground was littered with Titan corpses that were evaporating. After a prolonged, brutal battle, Mike—worthy of being called humanity's second-strongest soldier—had already cut down the majority of over a dozen Titans. Fewer than five remained, swaying around him.
Having slain so many Titans, Mike's gas and blades were nearly exhausted. Fortunately, he had bought time for the main force; the southern squad should already have disengaged and completed its mission.
He knocked off the nicked blade, then looked at the final pair of blades in his scabbard, and at the few Titans below. One of them was exceptionally bizarre: a three-meter-tall body, a head shaped like a pointed cone, and enormous eyes—hideously ugly.
Dusk was approaching. Mike let out a breath, slid the hilts back into the underarm locks, and slowly sat down to recover his strength, whistling at the same time to call his horse.
Mike had already achieved his objective of stalling the Titans. There was no need to gamble his last blades and gas against them. Waiting for his horse or for nightfall would allow him to withdraw safely.
As he relaxed, Mike noticed a Titan in the distance approaching him at a leisurely pace.
"This Titan… it's strange. An abnormal? Its whole body is covered in hair." A soldier's instinct made Mike spring to his feet at once, drawing his last blades and bracing himself. Against abnormals, extreme caution was mandatory.
"That is—? Impossible! My horse!" Mike's pupils shrank violently, disbelief plastered across his face. The Titan before him was fully seventeen meters tall, covered in dense fur like a monkey—and it was holding the corpse of a horse.
Everyone knew Titans did not attack creatures other than humans. How could this one—?!
Mike was uncertain, but every muscle in his body tightened. The closer it came, the stronger the oppressive presence radiating from the Beast Titan.
A bead of cold sweat slid from Mike's forehead; his palms, gripping the twin blades, began to sweat as well.
The Beast Titan continued to close in, until it was less than fifty meters away.
Finally, Mike couldn't take it anymore. He decisively pulled the trigger. Powered by gas, the waist-mounted launcher of the Vertical Maneuvering Equipment fired, and the sharp grappling anchors shot straight at the Beast Titan. When facing the unknown, the best method was to eliminate it outright!
"Eh, that's rather rude?" In the next instant, Mike froze. The Titan before him had spoken—human language. A Titan that could talk?
Clang! In the split second of Mike's shock, the Beast Titan extended a hand larger than a normal Titan's head and blocked the anchor aimed at its neck.
Interest filled the Beast Titan's eyes, but its movements were anything but slow. Grabbing the steel cable behind Mike's anchor, it yanked hard. The tremendous force instantly flung Mike into the air, throwing him off balance.
As if it had found a new toy, the Beast Titan casually tossed away the horse it had been holding.
Bang! With a dull thud, Mike was smashed hard into the ground. Blood sprayed from his mouth. Enduring the searing pain, Mike struggled to lift his head—only to find a pair of lantern-sized eyes staring straight at him: that hideously ugly three-meter-class Titan.
The Titan opened its huge mouth toward Mike, about to stuff him inside under his horrified gaze.
"Wait." Crack—two hands even larger than the three-meter Titan's slammed together, crushing the big-eyed Titan's head. Lantern-sized eyeballs splattered everywhere.
Shaking the blood from its hands, the Beast Titan stared with interest at the Vertical Maneuvering Equipment on Mike's waist and spoke.
"What's this thing called? It actually lets you fly around like that?"
A speaking Titan—this unprecedented phenomenon left Mike utterly stunned, staring blankly at the crouching Beast Titan.
"Huh? You don't understand? We should be using the same language, right? Or are you mute?" the Beast Titan asked in confusion.
Wrapped in overwhelming terror, Mike said nothing. The Beast Titan sighed in a very human way.
"Forget it. I'll just take you back. Still, you people use swords as weapons—so you've discovered that a Titan's weak point is the nape?"
Muttering to itself, the Beast Titan reached out toward Mike, who lay helpless on the ground.
Mike shut his eyes in fear. The enormous hand deftly removed the jet apparatus from his back, then the Beast Titan stood up on its own and prepared to leave.
Mike opened his eyes and watched the Beast Titan's back. A vow he had once spoken with his subordinates surfaced in his mind—the Survey Corps does not fear sacrifice. Under the Wings of Freedom, soldiers are always ready to give their hearts for humanity!
Mike forced himself to his feet, trembling as he raised both arms, blades in hand, and roared at the Beast Titan, "Stop!"
"Hm? So you can talk after all?" The Beast Titan turned back in surprise. But seeing the resolute look on Mike's face, it quickly showed disappointment—this clearly wasn't someone it could communicate with. So it said casually, "You can start."
As the words fell, several Titans that had been standing still in fear suddenly began to move, staggering toward Mike.
"No! Don't come any closer!" Amid Mike's screams, the Beast Titan turned away and continued walking.
...
But a fifteen-meter Titan suddenly appeared in front of the Beast Titan. It faced a powerful, muscular body, blood-red eyes, and a mouth full of sharp teeth.
The Beast Titan scratched its head. "You Titan—I don't think I've seen you before."
"ROAR!!" In the next moment, the Fate Titan's terrifying punch smashed straight toward the Beast Titan's head.
At the nape, Yago naturally knew that this monkey-like Titan was also a Titan warrior from Marley.
As the fist swung toward the Beast Titan's head, a layer of crystal rapidly formed, coating the Fate Titan's fist.
Seeing the hardened fist, the Beast Titan finally realized something was wrong.
"No—wait, you're—" Before it could finish, the hardened fist had already struck its head. Like a hammer cracking a walnut, the monkey-like head shattered into pulp in the next instant.
The overwhelming force even sent the Beast Titan's seventeen-meter body flying backward.
The Fate Titan let out a roar and charged decisively at the fallen Beast Titan, smashing its fist straight at the nape. Unfortunately, at the Beast Titan's nape, a layer of crystal—just like the Fate Titan's—covered the area.
"ROAR!" The next instant, abandoning the futile attempt to strike the nape, the Fate Titan viciously tore off the Beast Titan's long arms.
From memories he had seen and intelligence learned from Annie, Yago at the Fate Titan's nape knew the Beast Titan possessed terrifying throwing abilities—stones hurled with such force could easily pierce even the Armored Titan's hardened armor.
"Who… are… you?" the Beast Titan asked haltingly, steam billowing as most of its head regenerated.
In response came only the Fate Titan's overwhelming strength. After ripping off all four of the Beast Titan's limbs, Yago controlled the Fate Titan as both fists hardened, unleashing a relentless barrage against the Beast Titan's nape.
Bang! A ten-meter Titan corpse collapsed beside Mike. Mike struggled a few times, only to see a figure cloaked in the Wings of Freedom using Vertical Maneuvering Equipment to cut down the final Titan that had been surrounding him.
The figure in the Wings of Freedom cloak turned around. Mike couldn't see the face of the Survey Corps soldier who had saved him—both hood and mask concealed the face of the small-framed soldier. Only a few strands of blonde hair slipped out from beneath the hood.