Everyone on the wall was waiting for Erwin's next command.
Watching the Armored Titan begin to climb, Eren said anxiously, "Section Commander Hange, hasn't the order to attack come down yet? What is the Commander hesitating for?"
Hange explained, "He's observing the enemy's movements."
She then sighed, "Reiner and the others have prepared quite a thoughtful welcome ceremony for us."
Erwin looked at the titans in the distance and suddenly pointed forward with his blade, "Lock, that quadrupedal titan over there is what you saw last night, right?"
Lock nodded, "It certainly looks like it."
Erwin said, "Then it possesses intelligence too. No, it wouldn't be strange if there were a few more. The enemy's scale seems to far exceed our expectations."
At that moment, everyone noticed the Beast Titan slowly raising its arm and then slamming it heavily onto the ground.
"Owooooh!!"
The massive roar was like a signal; all the smaller titans within the titan wall rushed toward the base of the city walls!
Lock looked down at the Recruits guarding the horses, knowing the enemy's target was the Survey Corps' horses.
He looked at Erwin, knowing the time had come to make a decision.
Erwin, who had been thinking in silence, suddenly took a deep breath.
Levi said, "Are you finally going to speak? If I'd known you'd be this slow, I should have finished my breakfast first."
Erwin gave orders at a rapid pace, "Dirk Squad and Marlene Squad, coordinate with Klaus Squad at the inner gate to defend all the horses to the death!"
"Levi Squad and Hange Squad, find a way to eliminate the Armored Titan!"
"Each squad, follow orders and use Thunder Spears. Use any means necessary to achieve the objective!"
"The survival of humanity depends entirely on our battle today!"
"For the sake of all humanity, dedicate your hearts!"
"Understood!" The Soldiers followed the orders, quickly following their officers to their assigned locations.
Lock followed behind Levi, about to head off to deal with the Armored Titan, but was suddenly called back by Erwin, along with Armin.
"Even though I mentioned the Levi Squad just now, you two are to stay behind."
Levi said in surprise, "You want the two of us to ignore Eren and protect the horses instead?"
Erwin pointed his sword at the distant Beast Titan and said, "Exactly. If you get the chance, you must kill that guy!"
Levi glanced at the Beast Titan, "Got that, Noble boy? Get ready to cut that guy down and clean up the mess from your failure just now."
"Let's go!" Levi jumped straight off the wall.
Lock turned back and smiled at Armin, "I'll leave Reiner to you guys!"
"Yeah! Don't worry, Lock!"
Hearing Armin's reply, Lock also turned and jumped off the wall.
In just that short time, the group of small titans had already rushed near the Residential area.
As soon as Lock caught up with Levi, he heard him say, "Move freely in the vicinity and help them eliminate this batch of titans as quickly as possible."
"Also... be careful to conserve your stamina and gas. Replenish them in time and be ready for any sudden situations."
"Understood?!"
Lock drew his twin blades and shouted, "Understood!"
Levi added one last thing, "Don't die, Noble boy."
Lock suddenly laughed, "Captain, you're talking too much. It's starting to sound a bit sappy."
"Huh?" Levi squinted, "Then why haven't you gotten lost yet?"
"On it!" Lock nimbly left the spot... and began his role as a firefighter.
There were far fewer Soldiers capable of killing titans independently now. Even though they were only 2-3 meter class titans, the Survey Corps was still struggling due to their sheer numbers.
"If only my thunder spear were here."
After taking down two more titans about to rush the Recruits, Lock glanced at the top of the wall.
The Armored Titan had already climbed to the top; he likely intended to come over and kill the horses.
Only Erwin was on top of the wall. Lock frowned, but seeing that Levi hadn't made a move, he could only choose to trust him.
Lock turned back to continue dealing with the remaining titans.
The titans that had broken through the Survey Corps' outer defensive line were mostly cleared out, and Lock began moving toward the perimeter.
He looked at the distant Beast Titan sitting in place, and the wall of titans standing motionless nearby, his heart full of doubt.
What is Zeke waiting for? Is he just letting the Survey Corps deal with all the small titans?
Is it just a simple probe to wear us down?
When Lock tried to recall Zeke's previous combat style, he suddenly felt a sharp headache.
[Error detected, System shielding in progress]
The headache came quickly and left just as fast.
Lock was a bit confused,d but didn't take it to heart.
[The Survey Corps will win in the end anyway; I don't need to think so much.]
He fired his grappling hook and rushed toward the nearest titan.
In a corner Lock hadn't noticed, an illusory figure was quietly watching him.
The figure gradually solidified, as if trying to break free from an invisible shackle...
Lock arrived by Levi's side, both of them covered in blood and steam.
"Only that part of the outer front remains for this batch of titans."
Since it would evaporate anyway, Lock didn't bother wiping the blood off his face. "Captain, if the Beast Titan just stands there, it doesn't seem like there's much we can do for now."
Levi said coldly, "That's for Erwin to worry about; he's probably as uncomfortable as someone holding in a massive shit right now."
At that moment, a titan's roar echoed from the other side of the wall!
Lock's pupils constricted, "It's Reiner!"
Then he understood something instantly and immediately turned to look at the Beast Titan.
He saw the Beast Titan taking a wooden barrel off the Cart Titan's back and then hurling it violently into the air!
Annie's memories of the battlefield suddenly surfaced. Lock shouted, "It's Bertholdt! The Colossal Titan is about to fall!"
Lock immediately pulled out the spike on his ring and pressed his thumb against it.
Bertholdt was clearly going to ambush Hange and the Levi Squad. The explosion radius of the Colossal Titan's mid-air transformation... they would have a hard time dodging it.
But if he transformed now, he had a chance to shoot Bertholdt down early... He had confidence in that!
[Do not do this]
"Dammit!" Lock seemed to be gritting his teeth in resistance, but he still put the spike back in its place.
Seeing his intense reaction, Levi, who was equally worried, said calmly, "Worrying is useless. Let's deal with the trouble on our side first."
The members of the Dirk Squad came to their side. Dirk spoke up, "Everywhere else is handled. Only the small titans directly in front are left."
"You two take a break for now. Leave the rest to us."
Lock said, "I'm young and have plenty of stamina. I can still help."
Dirk looked at Levi for his opinion.
Levi, having been called old to his face, said casually, "What are you looking at me for? This guy's frustrated, just let him go vent some more."
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A/N: 40+ Advance Chapter Has Been Uploaded.
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