the daughter of a dying bloodline and humanity's strongest soldier find themselves entangled in a web of emotions they never expected to feel. but as the relentless fight towards freedom continues, they wonder if they'll make it out alive. blood, de...
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Levi landed on the branch next to the Commander and looked down onto the now immobilized Female Titan. He furrowed his brows when he saw she had managed to cover the nape of her neck before the harpoons got her completely. So she must be a shifter. No other titan would know to protect her nape.
"She's not putting up much of a fight." Levi commented
"That's no reason to let our guard down." Erwin replied, "But good work leading her here. I'm impressed."
Levi gritted his teeth, "We couldn't have done so without the rear reinforcements that gave their lives to buy us time."
"Is that so?"
"Yes." Levi said, matter-of-factly, "It is because of their sacrifice that we can expose who this bastard really is." He spat out the words, glaring at the Female Titan.
Hange was already in the mystery titan's face, taunting it while it lay in her trap. "We should make a move before she gets any ideas." Levi said and Erwin offered a humph of agreement. "But before we do that, I wanted to report something I saw." Levi finished, fully turning to Erwin.
The Commander's eyes flashed, "Oh?"
"On our way here, my squad passed what appeared to be another soldier in the trees, far out of formation. I couldn't catch a glimpse of their face, but their cape was all black, regiment-less. They moved on with their ODM gear before I could really think about chasing them. I also had that bitch on my tail so there wasn't much I could do."
Erwin frowned and looked ahead, "I saw them too." He paused, lost in thought. "I believe this is our mystery soldier. They don't seem to be making any moves just yet though, which is relieving. However, I wouldn't hold out hope that it will stay like that. Nonetheless, we have no idea where they are now, so there's no use in fretting about it at this moment. Just stay vigilant and report anything you find and we'll deal with it as it comes."
Levi nodded and turned back towards the Female Titan. He couldn't shake the feeling that something was very off as he drew his blades to attack the female's hands. He leaped towards his target, and Mike, but before they could reach the titan, a hardened structure formed on her hands, rendering their blades useless.
Huh?! Levi let out a small grunt as he pulled away and regrouped with Mike and Erwin.
"Impressive. So she can harden her skin to protect parts of her body, similar to the one that rushed Wall Maria." Erwin mused. "I wonder how many blades it will take to pierce that defense." He raised his hand to summon a soldier. "Time is running short, I want artillery ready to fire again and blast her hands away. Aim for the wrists, so that you don't blow up whoever is in there."
"Yes sir!" The soldier saluted before running to relay the message.
Levi decided to try for round two as he landed on the titan's head. "Knock knock," he snarkily commented. "I know you're in there. Now look, we can make this easy and you can come on out and stop wasting our time."
No response. The titan continued looking at the forest floor.
"Seriously," he scoffed, "What can you hope to gain by stalling? If you're thinking we'll let you go, we won't. If you're thinking about escaping, don't." He glared down at the beast he stood on. "All you should be thinking about are the good men you killed today. Not that you would. That's not your style anyway, is it? You enjoy killing, don't you."
He took a step forward, "Well that means you and I have one thing in common. 'Course, I enjoy killing titans." He cocked his head with a small smirk, "But it's a start. I'm sure we can still find some middle ground." He teased.
"While we're on that subject, let me ask. You're okay with me cutting your limbs off, right? I mean they'll grow back, right? I'm talking about your actual body." His voice got dangerously low, "I can't have you dying on me just yet. The timing wouldn't work."
Levi reached to draw his sword again, but before he could, the titan let out an agonizing screech so loud that he couldn't even hear himself think. Covering his ears did little to help. "The fuck is this bitch doing!?" He yelled, although no one could hear him.
When the screech finally came to a stop, it's like the world stood still. Nobody moved. Nothing moved, actually. Any bird or living creature had scattered the second she screamed. It was dead quiet.
But nothing happened.
Not until Mike turned to Erwin and reported "They're coming, I can smell them."
"From which direction?" Erwin asked with urgency.
"From every direction. Dozens of them. And fast." Mike had a grim look on his face as Erwin's face contorted in anger.
"Faster on the artillery, gentlemen!" Erwin ordered. Within seconds, titans came stampeding out of the trees like vermin.
"The first wave is here, coming from the east." Mike observed.
"Wagon defense squad, intercept, now!" Erwin yelled, but the titans completely ignored all the soldiers around them. Erwin and Mike looked on with horror as the raced straight for the Female Titan.
Levi kicked the titan's head, "Hey, what did you do? Called in some friends, huh?" He spat before taking down two of the titans with ease. A small one got past his defense and started eating away at the Female Titan's leg.
They went straight for her? Erwin thought in shock. In the blink of an eye, the area was flooded with titans, all grappling to get at the Female.
"All men, commence combat!" Erwin drew his swords, "Defend the Female Titan at all costs."
Hange looked up at him with a slight feeling of confusion. It would be smarter to retreat, considering the sheer amount of titans. There's no telling when they'd switch their focus from the Female to the Scouts. A swarm this big could wipe everyone out. But they advanced nonetheless.
It was an utter bloodbath. Titans were being felled left and right but when one died, five more appeared. It was endless. Soldiers could only watch in terror as they ripped the Female to shreds. Erwin soon realized it was futile.
"All hands, retreat!" He screamed over the sound of steam and titans.
His soldiers fell back into the trees, exhausted from killing the endless swarm of titans. It seemed there were few casualties, if any. But that was only thanks to whatever force had distracted the titans.
Erwin gritted his teeth, looking onto the pitiful scene. "We've been bested."
Levi wiped the blood from his face. "Don't give me that shit. Not here, not yet."
Levi glared as a sadistic smile crept on Erwin's face. "Think about it. The enemy was so committed to her secrecy, that she was willing to get devoured to protect it." The Commander said.
What's with this guy? Levi gritted, "That pitiful dance in the courtroom, and now this is all we have to show for it. If we go back now with our tails between our legs, Eren will end up in chains and we'll be right back where we start. Or worse."
Erwin ignored him, "We'll cross that bridge when we get there. Right now, our only concern is getting back with as little casualties as possible. Go recall your squad." He then fired the signal for withdrawal.
