"Advance!"
Erwin Smith's blood-curdling cry echoed in everyone's ears.
The Soldiers of the Survey Corps, with a resolve to face certain death, charged into that hellish battlefield of Titans.
Some of the Pure Titans surrounding Reiner Braun and the others also noticed these prey coming to their deaths and turned around to block their path.
Death arrived the very instant the two sides collided.
Faced with such an absolute gap in power and a significant number of Titans, the entire situation became a one-sided massacre.
However, a Titan only eats one person at a time; they won't grab another until they've swallowed the first.
Mikasa Ackerman took the lead, steering her horse to dodge the grasps of several Titans and slicing off the fingers of those she couldn't avoid.
Soon, she broke through the Titans' containment line.
Seeing this, the others immediately followed Mikasa.
Mikasa fired her grappling hooks into the arm of the struggling Reiner and leapt from her horse into the air.
She traced a perfect arc mid-air, her blades swinging straight for Bertholdt Hoover on Reiner's neck.
Bertholdt, with Eren Yeager on his back, jumped down from his spot, dodging Mikasa's terrifying blades.
Not expecting Bertholdt to react so quickly, Mikasa's momentum carried her toward a nearby Titan that had already noticed her.
Amidst Eren's whimpering, Mikasa, with nowhere to find leverage in mid-air, was snatched up by the Titan's hand.
Crack!
The sound of breaking ribs was accompanied by Mikasa's low groan of pain.
"Mikasa!" Jean Kirstein's heart tightened, and he moved to save her.
But Lock's reaction was faster; the moment Mikasa was grabbed by the Titan, his blades arrived.
Lock severed the Titan's wrist in a flash, caught Mikasa, and threw her down to Jean.
"Jean, take Mikasa and leave first!"
"Right!" Holding the injured Mikasa, Jean immediately galloped away.
Lock dodged the grasp of the Titan's other hand from behind and ran directly up its arm.
Reaching the upper third of the arm, Lock jumped off and evaded the strike of its other hand.
His grappling hooks struck the side of the Titan's neck, and Lock used the gas to accelerate, slicing out the nape of its neck.
Lock landed on the ground, stepping off the Titan.
"Lock!"
Lock saw Armin Arlert approaching, leading his horse.
There were too many Titans around; fortunately, they were all attracted to Reiner, but Lock didn't dare linger.
Back on his horse, Lock said to Armin, "You go first, I'll try to see if I can take Eren back."
Armin suddenly said, "Lock, you should know how to provoke Bertholdt, right?"
"Hmm?" Lock was somewhat puzzled.
But looking at the faint, knowing smile on Armin's face, he understood the other's meaning.
Lock responded flatly, "I understand."
He rode his horse back toward the Armoured Titan, which was surrounded by Pure Titans.
He fired a hook into the shoulder of a Titan that was face-to-face with the Armoured Titan, swinging around the Armoured Titan's arms used for blocking.
Bertholdt and Eren, standing in the depression above thArmouredded Titan's left collarbone, appeared in Lock's sight again.
Bertholdt also saw Lock approaching; he immediately held his blades in front of him, ready to repeat his previous trick.
Lock didn't rush this time; he stepped onto the Armoured Titan's head, looking down at Bertholdt from above.
The surrounding Pure Titans were still frantically tearing at theArmouredd Titan, howling incessantly.
The emotions in the eyes of the two men facing each other were completely different: Bertholdt was tense, while Lock was calm.
Lock suddenly spoke, "Bertholdt, since you've guessed that we've captured Annie, do you know how we caught her?"
"You know how cautious Annie usually is; a normal trap couldn't have fooled her."
Bertholdt suddenly didn't want to hear Lock continue.
The smile on Lock's face suddenly became somewhat sinister as he pointed to his chest. "It was me! I'm the one who lured her out!"
"That bitch was tricked into meeting me in the Capital's underground tunnel with just a few words!"
"She really had no guard up at all, haha!"
"Bertholdt, don't you think a woman like that is pathetic?"
"She must hate me to death right now while she's being tortured by the Corps, hahaha!"
Lock clutched his stomach and laughed wildly, laughing until tears came out.
Eren stared blankly at Lock, as if he were meeting him for the first time.
Looking at Lock like this, the anger Bertholdt had suppressed for nearly three years finally exploded.
He screamed hysterically, "You descendant of devils! I'll see you dead!"
A flash of blades slashed across Bertholdt's chest the moment he lost his reason; Erwin, having lost his right arm, appeared before them.
Blood splattered, and the cloth strap binding Eren to Bertholdt's chest was severed.
Eren fell from Bertholdt's back and was caught mid-air by Mikasa, who had returned despite her injuries.
Seeing the mission accomplished, Erwin decisively ordered a full retreat.
Lock looked at the dazed Bertholdt hanging in mid-air and rubbed the hilt of his sword.
Could he kill him directly?
[No]
"Tsk!" Lock clicked his tongue in dissatisfaction and jumped off Reiner's head.
Having reclaimed Eren, the Survey Corps finally began to retreat.
Riding on his horse, Lock patted the gas canisters at his waist and clicked his tongue with a frown.
His gas was almost gone, and the Survey Corps hadn't brought many supplies this time to speed up the pursuit.
"Use mine, Lock!" Armin's voice came from beside him.
Lock was a bit surprised but didn't stand on ceremony. "Thanks!"
As they exchanged canisters, Armin said with a dry laugh, "Lock, your Omni-Directional Mobility Gear skills have become even stronger than during training!"
Lock's hand paused for a moment, then he smiled. "Maybe it's because of all the recent combat; I've gained some insights."
After a moment of silence, Armin added, "But... Lock, your current skill style is very similar to Annie's old style..."
"Is it?" Lock's voice grew distant.
Armin seemed not to notice and smiled. "You two must have shared a lot of experience in this area."
"And not just with the Omni-Directional Mobility Gear, but fighting techniques and such..."
Lock lowered his head in silence, offering no rebuttal.
"Sorry!" Seeing Lock's expression, Armin immediately raised his hand in apology. "I didn't mean to bring up Annie, Lock."
"It's fine." Lock smiled. "Armin, you're quite the observant one."
"It's nothing." Armin scratched his head and gave a silly grin.
Lock looked around, trying to find Historia and Ymir's location.
Suddenly, his expression changed.
A massive sound of rushing wind rose from behind, and a terrifying shadow swept over everyone's heads.
The Soldiers watched in astonishment as a 15-meter-class Pure Titan flew over them and crashed right in front of them.
Boom! Dust billowed in all directions.
Jean turned back and gritted his teeth. "That guy Reiner is actually throwing Titans!"
Before he could finish, another Titan was thrown by Reiner.
Boom, boom, boom...
Reiner took the Titans, grabbing him one by one, and threw them toward the Survey Corps.
The formation was instantly scattered, and countless Soldiers were thrown into chaos.
Lock calmed his startled horse and, without hesitation, headed straight for Historia.
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