"Hey, Mik, look there," Kaito said.
Some of the cadets were again standing on a roof, engaged in a heated discussion. As Kaito and Mikasa ascended, the others, including Armin, turned to witness the unexpected sight of Mikasa clinging to Kaito's back. Murmurs of surprise and curiosity rippled through the group.
Armin, despite the turmoil in his own emotions, felt a pang of indignation. He couldn't help but wonder why Mikasa would choose such a vulnerable position so soon after Eren's apparent demise.
Mikasa, sensing the unspoken judgment, unclasped her hands from Kaito and stepped forward, her expression impassive but her eyes carrying the weight of her recent losses.
Armin, unable to contain his thoughts, blurted out, "Mikasa, after Eren... I mean, is this really the time?"
Mikasa's gaze turned cold for a moment. "Armin, not now. Kaito saved my life, and I had no gas left. I'm not clinging to him for comfort but for survival."
Armin, realizing his mistake, stammered an apology. "I-I'm sorry, Mikasa. I didn't mean to assume. It's just... it's been rough for everyone."
Mikasa's expression softened slightly, and she nodded in acknowledgment."
Ignoring the blonde crybaby, Kaito looked toward Jean and another cadet, whose name wasn't that important. "Why are you guys standing here?"
Jean irritably said, "Shortie here doesn't want to fight the titans!", pointing toward the brown-haired guy whose face was full of snot and tears.
"G-Guys!", Connie suddenly cried.
Startled, the cadets turned their attention toward Connie. He pointed in the distance. "Look over there!"
Following his finger, their eyes widened in disbelief. In the distance, amidst the crumbling city and roaming Titans, a colossal 15-meter Titan engaged in an inexplicable battle against its own kind. The surreal scene left the group bewildered, their expressions a mix of surprise, confusion, and a hint of hope.
The cadets exchanged puzzled glances, their expressions ranging from bewilderment to surprise, leaving them thoroughly confused.
"Is that... titans fighting each other?" one cadet stammered, echoing the disbelief that hung in the air.
"What in the world...?" Sasha muttered, her eyes fixed on the spectacle.
"Is it an abnormal?" Armin asked in wonderment.
Kaito discreetly observed the faces of the three Marleyan warriors. Unlike the cadets, surprise marked their expressions, but the source of their astonishment differed. Bertholdt's gaze shifted between Annie and Reiner, both fixed on the 'abnormal' titan engaged in combat with its kin. A singular question lingered in their minds: Could that be the Coordinate?
"It doesn't matter, abnormal or not," Jean asserted. "It could even be beneficial for us. Let it fight other titans over at HQ, and we might just make it out alive!"
"But how will we do that?" Sasha inquired.
Jean pointed toward the titan in question. "See how it's just mindlessly fighting the nearest titan?"
Connie, as if struck by sudden enlightenment, exclaimed, "We just have to kill the titans around it, and it will naturally head to HQ!"
The prospect seemed a more promising alternative than facing the multitude of titans surrounding the HQ. Fueled by newfound enthusiasm, the cadets dispersed once again, their objective clear.
Armin, feeling like a burden in the midst of the chaos, offered his gas canister to her. "Here, take this. I... I might not be much help right now, and you need it more.
Mikasa hesitated for a moment, torn between accepting Armin's offer and not wanting her friends to bear unnecessary risks. She shook her head, declining, "Armin, keep it. You might need it."
Armin, determined to contribute, insisted, "I'll be fine. I can manage with what's left in my ODM gear. You will make a better use of this than me anyways."
Reluctantly, Mikasa accepted the canister, her gratitude evident in her eyes. "Thanks, Armin. Stay safe."
_____
"Sasha, Christa, and Ymir, on me," Kaito commanded. Ymir shot him a skeptical look, but Kaito couldn't care less about her opinion. Relying on "fate" to keep them alive, especially with the recent increase in titan population, seemed like a questionable strategy.
The designated trio of girls nodded. Setting aside other considerations, Kaito had demonstrated his skills in various tests, making their survival odds marginally better with him… hopefully. After all, the words "definitely" and "Kaito" rarely belonged in the same sentence.
However, Sasha couldn't resist teasing him, "Calling just girls? You making a harem or something?"
Kaito responded with a sly wink, opting not to dignify her remark with a verbal reply. Meanwhile, as Mikasa prepared to rejoin the battle with her now-filled ODM, she felt a hand on her shoulder.
"Don't go recklessly wasting gas this time, and more importantly, your life," a voice advised.
"I wasn't!" Mikasa retorted without looking back, swiftly launching herself with the ODM gear's hook. Kaito merely shook his head in amusement.
"Let's go, girls!" he declared, leaping from the roof and rejoining the unfolding drama.
____
Kaito zipped through the air with remarkable agility, effortlessly maneuvering through the chaotic battleground. Sasha, Christa, and Ymir followed suit, showcasing their own combat prowess as they swiftly dispatched titans in their path. The air was filled with the whirring sounds of ODM gear and occasional roars of titans.
As they fought, Kaito couldn't help but notice a change in the Titans' behavior. They seemed to be getting faster and more focused, particularly on him. Several times, he narrowly dodged their lunges, feeling the rush of air as massive limbs swiped through the space he had occupied a moment before.
Kaito's instincts told him that something was off. The Titans were exhibiting a level of coordination and aggression that went beyond the usual mindless behavior. He glanced at Sasha, Christa, and Ymir and saw that they, too, were facing the heightened challenge, albeit to a lesser degree.
In the midst of the battle, Sasha shouted, "Why are they so fast all of a sudden?"
Christa, grappling with a titan, replied, "I don't know, but we need to adapt quickly!"
Ymir, engaged in combat nearby, added, "Stay sharp, everyone! Something's not right."
While the others vocalized their confusion, Kaito remained silent, carefully observing the escalating situation.
Dodging a swipe from the titan's colossal hand, Kaito propelled himself backward, attaching his hooks to a nearby rooftop. With a powerful swing, he launched himself toward the titan's neck, blades glinting in the sunlight. In a seamless motion, he severed the nape, sending the titan crashing to the ground.
A sense of unease settled over him, but he kept his focus on the fight, dispatching titans with calculated precision.
.
.
'Something is fucking wrong with these fucking titans."Kaito grunted as he gracefully evaded yet another swipe from a menacing 15-meter giant.
They had been killing titans for the last 30 minutes, and with each passing second, the titans he fought seemed to grow faster and faster, and for fuck's sake, it wasn't easy for him anymore.
Embedding his blade into the titan's hand, Kaito seized the opportunity to launch himself into the air as the creature attempted to fling him away. During that fleeting moment of ascent, he surveyed the battlefield. Sasha, Christa, and Ymir were entangled in combat with another 15-meter titan, a ballet of death, as they exhibited their skills in a synchronized dance.
As gravity took hold of his body, Kaito descended. With his additional momentum, he aimed his ODM gear at the titan's shoulder. Unaware of the impending threat, the titan opened its maw wide, anticipating a bloody feast. However, Kaito's trajectory shifted slightly due to the ODM gear, and he passed by its face, leaving his sword to slice through its cheek muscles, splitting its jaw apart before meeting the resistance of bone.
As the sword came to a dramatic halt, Kaito's body tried to strike a pose, his foot landing with what he hoped looked like superhero flair on the titan's back. Swiftly, his second sword executed a precise strike, severing the nape.
"Finally fucking dead," Kaito sighed in mock relief, his vampire endurance doing its job – kind of.
I mean, he wasn't exactly the grand poobah of vampires, blessed with unlimited strength and endurance. His vampiric bloodline, as far as he could tell, was more on the grunt level – nothing too flashy. But hey, who needed to be Dracula when you had near Captain America-level strength, a Wolverine-like healing factor, and the senses of a feral detective? Not Kaito, that's for sure. And complaints? Nah, those were for mortals.
And it wasn't like he was restricted to that strength, he could overclock his body to slam titans like plushies, ehh not exactly plushies, but you get the gist.
"!"
In a momentary lapse, Kaito failed to anticipate the gigantic hand of the titan he had just defeated hurtling toward him. Despite managing to jump back and avoid the full impact, the giant hand still struck him, sending his body hurtling toward a nearby building.
Upon impact, his body collided with the wall, and the force ruptured his skin at various places, blood spurting out in a disconcerting manner. Like a character in a cartoon, his body slid down the wall, leaving a trail of crimson behind.
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Yo Guys! Here's today doee of chapter.
My update schedule is a bit irregular these days, and unfortunately will continue to be so for the rest of this month, so sorry for that.
Other wise, enjoy the chapter.