"SHIT, BEHIND US!!! A 13-METER ONE, CROSSING THROUGH THE BUILDING TO REACH EREN!!!"
"FOUR MORE OF 10 METERS COMING THROUGH THE GATE!!!"
"MIKASA... GO WITH RIKO'S SQUAD! I'LL TAKE CARE OF THE 13-METER ONE..." I shout as I propel myself from behind, soaring to a great height before connecting the cable to the back of the titan climbing the building. With a lateral slash from the base of its neck to its nape, I swiftly kill it, landing atop its corpse.
My gaze sharpens as I notice more than a dozen titans approaching from the distance. "They've already spotted Eren..."
"KIYOTAKA!!!" I hear a shout from Eren's position. "What happened to the plan?! HOW'S EREN?"
"We failed. Eren can't control that titan... we're waiting for him to regenerate to try again," I sigh, my face exhausted. "We'll have to keep trying until it works..."
Armin raises his head with an idea.
Oh... this kid has more resolve than I thought. Physical pain is an excellent way to make him react.
"The area from the back of the head to the nape... one meter long..." He draws his sword, murmuring, "Width, ten centimeters... KIYOTAKA, KEEP THE TITANS AWAY! I'LL MAKE HIM REACT!!!"
...
He connects his cables to the titan's back. "Eren emerged from the titans' weak spot... it must have to do with the way they fundamentally work... or whatever... he'll be fine."
Gripping the sword with trembling hands, his face marked by fear, he mutters, "AS LONG AS I DON'T HIT THE CENTER, IT'LL ONLY HURT A LOT!!!"
The sword pierces cleanly through the titan's flesh, almost severing Eren's left arm completely. The first few seconds pass without reaction, but suddenly... the titan stands up, violently shaking Armin off.
I only watch Armin's determination before turning my back on him. I suppose it's time to go all out... I unsheathe my swords, holding them in a reverse grip with only two fingers on the triggers. "What an annoying world..."
"FINALLY, THAT BASTARD DIED!!! FUCKING PIECE OF SHIT!!!" Mitabi squad's second officer shouts.
"!!!THERE'S ANOTHER ONE COMING FROM BELOW!!! DODGE IT!!!" Ian yells, barely moving to another building in time.
The titan leaps toward the closest one, and the second officer manages to dodge but crashes onto the roof. The titan doesn't relent, jumping again and crushing him, destroying a building with its body. Suddenly, a flash of light cuts through the titan's arm, rapidly shifting direction unnaturally and landing on its neck, delivering a deep slash.
"Kiyotaka here... joining Mitabi's group," I declare in a strong voice. "Two more approaching, 11 and 9 meters..."
Speaking to the few remaining, I propel myself toward the titans, quickly followed by the four remaining soldiers and leader Ian. "I'll distract them. Wait for an opening and finish them off."
I move, constantly changing direction until I reach the titan.
It jumps toward where I was, but I propel myself, sliding my feet across the ground while circling it. Then, I deliver a powerful rotating slash to its ankle, using a gas boost to the left to dodge the second titan. I connect my cable to a nearby roof, gaining altitude and quickly shifting direction to avoid the titan's bite.
I throw the damaged blades, embedding them into its eyes. The team immediately finishes it off.
We regroup on a rooftop, but we quickly notice seven titans, ranging from 8 to 12 meters, approaching from the gate.
"Let's repeat the same strategy... minimize gas usage. Only six from Riko's squad remain; let's support them..." I take a deep breath, feeling a hand on my shoulder.
"Until the end..." Ian says in a tone as exhausted as mine.
"Let's go."
-----------
We arrive alongside Riko's team just in time to witness a devastating scene: a titan catches one of the last members of the squad, slowly crushing his head between its massive hands. The sound of cracking bones and the soldier's muffled scream fills the air before his body falls lifeless.
Only Riko, Mikasa, and one other soldier remain standing.
The last survivor from Riko's squad, his voice trembling with fear, whispers desperately: "This is the end... Between Mitabi's squad, Riko, and the rear... only ten of us remain..."
Riko grits her teeth hard, her face a mix of fury and despair.
"TAKE DISTANCE! FIVE MORE FROM THE GATE!"
"WE'LL DECIDE BASED ON EREN'S SITUATION!" Ian shouts.
But I interrupt him, my calm and clear voice cutting through the chaos:
"No. The mission has just begun."
The tremor of colossal footsteps, each one like a near earthquake, begins to fill the air. A dense cloud of hot steam envelops the area, forcing us to turn our heads.
!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Next to us, like a monument to humanity's will, a gigantic rock moves heavily in the titan Eren's hands.
Hope is reborn amidst despair.
"EREN!" Mikasa shouts, her face covered in tears.
"TITANS APPROACHING FROM THE REAR!" warns one of the few surviving soldiers, his voice filled with urgency.
In the distance, Armin appears running, shouting with all his might: "EREN DID IT! HE'S DOING HIS DUTY! IF WE PROTECT HIM UNTIL THE GATE, WE WIN!"
Ian's face darkens as he grits his teeth. Around him, the remaining soldiers, shattered by fear, find in those words the spark needed to reignite their resolve.
A grim and unyielding will takes hold of each one.
Everyone understands their inevitable fate, and leader Ian finally gives the order:
"PROTECT HIM WITH YOUR LIVES!"
"EVEN IF WE TRADE OUR LIVES FOR HIS, PROTECT EREN!"
"MIKASA, ARMIN, KIYOTAKA! GO WITH EREN!"
"...?"
"WHAT?!"
The three of us react simultaneously.
"IT'S AN ORDER! GOT IT?" Ian roars as he gets into combat position.
Suddenly, something catches his attention: "Mitabi's group? What the hell are they doing?"
In the distance, behind the titans, the last soldiers of Mitabi's group run across open ground, far from any safe building. They scream at the top of their lungs, their faces terrified but determined.
"TURN THIS WAY, YOU DAMN IDIOTS!"
"IF YOU DON'T TURN, I'LL CLIMB ON YOUR BACKS AND MAKE YOU EAT MY SWORD!"
Two titans finally turned their heads and started chasing them. The soldiers, filled with desperation, ran for their lives with everything they had.
"THEY'RE COMING!"
"RUN!"
"TWO ARE FOLLOWING US!"
"RUN TO THE BUILDINGS!"
Beside me, Armin's face was filled with despair. "THIS CAN'T BE! GOING DOWN TO THE GROUND IS SUICIDE! THEY DON'T HAVE HORSES OR BUILDINGS TO USE! THEY CAN'T FIGHT!"
But Ian, his face hardened by desperate resolve, began speaking as the remaining soldiers adopted similar expressions, as if they had already accepted their fate.
"No... no other choice now."
A deathly silence fell over the group before Ian raised his voice again:
"FOLLOW THE MITABI TEAM! EVEN IF YOU HAVE TO GET TO THE EDGE! LET THE TARGET STAY WITH US!"
Desperation, fear, and courage mixed in the air as we launched ourselves into what felt like a battle with no return, each of us aware that the line separating life from death was about to break.
We stayed close to Eren, our eyes sharp on the chaos around us. Each step he took while carrying that titanic boulder echoed like a war drum, but with every advance, another sacrifice was added to the battlefield. One after another, soldiers were devoured in the most brutal ways: legs ripped out from their sockets, torsos torn apart between grotesque teeth, bodies mercilessly crushed under the colossal hands of the titans.
No matter how close death loomed, the soldiers continued shouting, drawing the titans' attention to divert danger away from Eren.
"Over here, you bastards!" one soldier shouted in a broken voice before being grabbed by a titan that tore him in half like a rag doll.
My gaze connected with every death, observing each corpse left beneath my feet. I didn't look away; I had no intention of doing so.
All for humanity. For its liberation. For its salvation.
But none of that mattered to me.
Still, I could respect them. Stack them beneath my feet as I marched toward my own goals of freedom. Perhaps, along the way, what I did might end up being for them too.
My eyes followed each fall, each sacrifice. Finally, they stopped on Ian, who was entirely inside a titan's mouth. His head stuck out, eyes still open, until the monster's jaws snapped shut with a dry crack, splitting his body in two.
A moment of distraction was enough to doom us. A titan crossed our path, its enormous arms extended, ready to grab us.
"Watch out!" Armin yelled.
In that instant, Riko hooked her maneuvering gear onto the titan's face. Her blades plunged deep into its eyes, tearing out a guttural scream that shook the air.
"Keep going!" she roared, holding her position.
We seized the opening to evade it, and after a few seconds, Armin's desperate scream and Eren's savage roar filled the air.
"Eren, goooooooooo!!!!!!!"
TATAKAE EREN!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
RAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAGGGHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
THOOOOMMMMM!!!
The sound of the boulder finally being placed resonated like thunder, marking the end of the battle. Hot steam rose around us, enveloping the area in thick fog.
In front of the now-sealed hole, Riko watched the scene, tears shining in her eyes. Her body trembled slightly as she tried to process what had just happened.
I approached her and silently extended my hand. In it, her flare gun was already loaded with the green projectile.
"For all of them..." she whispered as she stood, her voice broken but filled with resolve. "Their deaths were worth it."
Slowly, she raised her arm, pointing the gun toward the sky.
"For the first time today..."
She pulled the trigger.
BANG!
A green flare illuminated the sky like a beacon of hope.
"...humanity has triumphed."
"The remaining titans are coming!" a soldier shouted.
"Let's climb the wall! We'll retreat after recovering Eren!"
On top of Eren's titan body, Armin pulled with all his strength, trying to extract him from the incandescent nape while enduring the extreme heat with Mikasa's help.
"Can you get him out?!" shouted the last remaining soldier.
"It's incredibly hot! We have to move quickly!" Armin replied, his face drenched in sweat. "Gggggh! Part of his body is stuck in the transformation!"
Impatient, Riko hooked herself onto the titan's body next to Eren. I followed, positioning myself beside Mikasa.
"We have to cut it!" Riko exclaimed.
"Wait, please!" Armin shouted, pulling with all his strength.
With a final effort and a desperate scream, Armin managed to free Eren, but both fell heavily to the ground.
"Uaaaaahhh!"
The sound of flesh tearing mixed with the steam emanating from the titan's body.
Armin, still stunned, slowly turned his head, his eyes filled with pure terror. Behind him, two titans extended their arms toward them, mouths wide open, ready to devour.
Time seemed to freeze. Armin closed his eyes, resigned to death.
But then, at the last moment, a silhouette sliced through the air with imperceptible speed, destroying the napes of both titans effortlessly.
The beasts fell heavily to the ground, and the figure landed gracefully, their back facing us.
The cloak they wore fluttered slightly in the wind, and on their back was the symbol of the Wings of Freedom.
It was Levi Ackerman, the strongest human in this world.
He observed us with a mixture of irritation and curiosity as Eren's former titan body disintegrated into steam behind us.
"Hey... what kind of situation is this?" he asked in a dry, cutting tone.
PLSSS VOTE + TAG!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! 😭❤️