The Survey Corps was resting in a plain outside the forest, Takashi and Levi didn't take long to return with the support squads and Eren.
Commander Erwin was relieved, Eren was not kidnapped, so still victory was not something illusory, this time he made many mistakes, he did not expect another titan to appear as powerful as well as he did not foresee the roar of the female titan.
After Captain Levi returned, he looked at Auruo Brossard who was bandaging his arms, seeing that three people from his squadron were able to survive, his expression became calmer.
Takashi felt very exhausted, after all he was not a man with infinite energy. Feeling that his body could give no more, he was helped by two soldiers who came to his aid.
The commander looked at Takashi and asked Levi with slight concern, "How is he?"
The news that Takashi had the ability to summon a Susanoo was suppressed by all the top commanders of the Survey Corps. At the place where Takashi had shown his power, there were only soldiers of the commander's highest trust, so they all decided to keep the secret.
Everyone unconsciously called Takashi the sword demon, no one could match his speed and excellence of using swords like Takashi.
Mikasa, who was taking care of the unconscious Eren, lowered her head with some embarrassment, she didn't know why she approached Eren instead of helping Takashi, before even supporting Takashi she decided to check Eren's condition endangering everyone.
Levi's expression remained unchanged and he said, "He seems to be suffering from more than just extreme tiredness, his ability with which he defended us all has a very big cost, those are the consequences of using that power.
Levi was a serious, cold man who did not show his true feelings. He did not know how to make a connection with his nephew, nor did he know how to choose the right words to tell him not to use his ability that is slowly ending his life.
"He will need a lot of rest, he says he will be fine after that. How is the situation?" Levi asked without mentioning Takashi much.
Commander Erwin's expression sank for a moment and he didn't respond. That's not good news. Armin had already told him a guess as to the identity of the female titan. Although he wasn't entirely sure, there were many ways to be sure. Right now, the large part of Levi's squad was injured and Takashi seems to be not in good condition, that doesn't seem to be good news.
Levi noticed that Erwin's face was not very good and said, "What's wrong? Now we retreat because of the situation, do we still need to fight? I am in good condition, I can still go on."
Commander Erwin Smith shook his head and looked at Eren who had climbed into one carriage and then towards Takashi who had climbed into another next to Sasha, wondering if they could defeat the female titan next time.
Erwin looked at Levi and pointed out, "Takashi killed out an intelligent titan, fragments of what appeared to be a huge bow could be collected, the matter is similar to the hardened skin of the female titan."
"Also, we now know that intelligent titans are not invincible, we eliminated the one that appeared to be the strongest so we didn't lose entirely."
"This battle went relatively well thanks to Takashi's sacrifice, we are now much closer to our victory."
"That's right, only Gunther from my squadron died due to an oversight, Takashi has done a lot for the Survey Corps."
No doubt Takashi's performance and sacrifice gave them something less than a defeat, his observations and care made good things come out of this bitter pill.
Commander Erwin's eyes narrowed slightly, "Have you decided to let him be captain?"
Levi snorted coldly, "Let him recover first, if he can't keep up with the legion, forget it."
Commander Erwin smiled, he remembered what Hange Zoe told him about Takashi, this nephew of Levi could bring victory to all mankind one day. "When he is ready he can be."
Takashi lay down in a carriage and slept during the return trip, after a few reassuring words to Sasha he was completely exhausted.
On the plain outside the forest, the Survey Corps members rested and collected the remains of their fallen comrades in battle.
When the expedition started there were 233 soldiers, with a total of fourteen chariots and now there were only 180 soldiers left, more than fifty soldiers died directly at the hands of the female titan, the roar of the female titan attracted many titans that were to be eliminated. At that time, the legion had disastrous casualties.
At first glance it can be said that this expedition failed completely, not only did they lose a large number of soldiers, but also many supplies.
However, in this battle mankind was able to take the life of an intelligent titan and learn much more about the female titan. That's what everyone believed, no one knew the powers of the warhammer titan.
After returning this time, Erwin can explain the gains over the losses of this expedition, although the outcome was not as expected, there were still gains.
The recruits resting and feeding their horses felt very heavy when they saw the rows of corpses on the ground and on the carriages that had been wrapped in white cloth.
Because the recruits of the 104th Cyclo participated in the battle, there were many casualties of inexperienced soldiers.
And now seeing so many people dead, those who survived couldn't help but wonder how long they might live. You know, this was the first time they had conducted an investigation outside the walls.
Jean looked at Armin, whose head was wrapped in a bandage: "I'm a bit doubtful about my choice now. I really don't know how long I can live."
Amin lowered his head and forced a smile, "Don't think about it too much, once you think about your own death, you won't have the courage to fight."
Jean was a little upset and Armin tried to comfort him when he saw this, "Jean, you don't regret the choice you made. Now all we can do is move forward."
Jean snorted, "You're pretty convincing!"
Armin wasn't angry either, "Look Takashi, even wounded he doesn't let go of the sword in his hands no matter if Sasha insists on taking it from him."
Jean looked towards Takashi and said, "You know, I thought Takashi was injured, but he's just exhausted."
Connie, who was feeding Takashi's horse, was also frustrated, "Hasn't anyone told him about Nelson and Thomas? I guess I should tell him, this is crazy."
Nelson had died and Thomas was seriously injured, it was not even known if he would live after losing consciousness.
Ymir was upset and said, "You should tell him, but not now, later."
Christa was silent, Nelson had died yet this news was something Takashi would not take very well, she could do nothing but support those still alive.
Losses are high, morale is low, so it is now.
The legion did not stay long due to the fact that it was not safe to stay in the same place for long, so the commander ordered to leave directly.
They all got on their horses and the Survey Corps legion started to retreat towards the Karanese district.
Due to the long way they had to travel, naturally the group of carriages attracted several titans and some carriages carrying the bodies of the victims inevitably slowed down and were gradually overtaken by the titans.
"Damn, it's too close, let's fight!" cursed Jean, but he didn't dare to initiate an attack.
Armin noticed some more titans running close and shook his head, "No, this can't last forever."
"Then what should we do!" shouted Jean.
"This way, all we can do is throw them away..." Armin hesitated for a moment and didn't say the last words out of respect for his companions.
The two were silent for a moment, both were smart people and obviously knew what to do.
Captain Levi, who was in perfect condition, moved to take out the pursuing titans.
Without waiting for anyone to move, he slowed his horse and moved to the rear of the legion.
The others on the carriages were surprised to see Captain Levi close behind.
"Take good care of those carriages children."
Levi wasted no time talking nonsense and stood on his horse. The grudge he felt he had to release today and attacked the titans coldly.
"Whoosh!"
The anchor of the three-dimensional maneuvering equipment was attached to the forehead of a titan, and when the titan wanted to grab the retractable rope, it had already moved towards the two titans and cut them off instantly.
"Slashh! Slashh!"
Levi turned his body, the edge of his blades flashed and in an instant, blood flew from the bare part of the neck of two titans, both titans fell to the ground!
Since the expedition started Levi couldn't do much to support everyone, so now is the time to do something for everyone and at least secure the bodies of the fallen soldiers.
After discarding many flashy and superfluous moves, his current combat method is obviously lethal.
"So fast!" Jean looked at Levi in surprise.
Captain Levo didn't stop and rode towards the left rear of the legion, where three other titans appeared.
"Slash."
Lavi moved at high speed towards the face of a ten meter tall titan and took him out before the titan noticed.
Since he realized that Gunther had died and his nephew sacrificed years of his useful life without him being able to do anything for them, Levi felt very furious.
"Whistling!"
Rarely could the soldiers see a titan being killed so violently, Levi of moved every which way to get rid of the titans.
Blood gushed out, the titan's head fell to the ground, rolled several times, and the headless body fell on the grass and began to smoke steam.
Levi, who changed his blades, jumped on his horse and followed the legion from behind. And after eliminating three more titans, there were no more enemies nearby.
"Captain Levi is so strong." Immediately, Armin, who was in charge of guarding the bodies of his comrades, was a little surprised, there was only one person who could kill so many titans in a row and that was Takashi.
Jean was also very surprised, "Not for nothing is he considered the strongest man in the world."
Armin nodded, "Very few could match Captain Levi, I'm afraid the only one who could would be Takashi."
Jean looked at Levi in admiration and said, "Now I understand why everyone looks up to him, his strength in battle is so incredible."
Armin nodded and said, "There is only one minor difference, Takashi seems to exert no force when he cuts titans, what always impresses me is seeing how he kills titans with relative ease, unlike Captain Levi."
"You're right, Captain Levi's cuts you can feel the force." Jean agreed.
Takashi who watched his uncle eliminate all those titans breathed a sigh of relief, he didn't want to leave any comrades out.