Chapter 15

The 36th squad flew towards the headquarters in the center of Trost District. Through the gas emissions from their equipment, they left trails of white smoke in the sky over Trost District.

Of course, the white smoke soon disappeared into transparency, but the 36th squad continued flying steadily and far, thanks to the gas emissions.

"Christa, be careful. Titans are starting to appear nearby!"

Connie, flying ahead of the group with Nike in Christa's arms, warned her. As Connie said, Titans were starting to appear here and there around them.

Although the Titans were still far away and not coming towards them yet, it was a situation that warranted caution.

Titans tend to gather in areas with many people. The fact that one or two Titans were slowly approaching the center suggested that the majority of the garrison regiment at the front had been annihilated.

Even if some soldiers remained, they were likely trapped. Nike, still in Christa's arms, quietly checked the contents of her bag. Inside the bag were various signal flares, sound bombs, grenades, and Molotov cocktails.

'This should at least be helpful...'

Although it might seem futile, Nike felt a bit frustrated that she lacked the aptitude for maneuvering gear at this critical moment. However, she quickly shifted her focus and looked down at the street.

They were flying so fast that Nike could only briefly see the scattered fruit stands on the street below.

The scattered fruits indicated that despite numerous evacuation drills over the past five years, confusion still reigned during emergencies.

Nevertheless, the drills seemed effective to some extent, as there were no stragglers. Nike was confident that if she managed the soldiers' sacrifices well, she could barely keep the number of deaths under 50,000.

But their journey wouldn't remain safe for long.

In the distance, a Titan leaped towards them like a frog, aiming to devour them. However, Ymir acted swiftly.

"There's one ahead! Everyone, scatter!"

At Ymir's command, the group dispersed in all directions. The Titan, which would have devoured them, collided with a tower they were about to pass.

As the tower collapsed, the Titan also fell to the ground.

However, that alone wouldn't completely stop the Titan.

The fact that the Titan had broken through the garrison regiment's defense and reached this point indicated it was highly dangerous.

In other words, it wasn't an ordinary Titan. The Titan twisted its neck 140 degrees backward and grinned at the group. It seemed to convey the message that it was ready to eat them.

"Damn...! Let's take it down here!"

"Wait... Is that thing...?!"

As Connie connected his swords to the controllers of his maneuvering gear, Ymir was about to suggest bypassing the Titan. But Connie was already emitting gas and heading towards the Titan.

"Damn...! Christa, put Nike down and join us! Let's take it down!"

Ymir, feeling resigned, headed towards Connie. Connie began flying around the Titan, narrowly dodging its attacks.

While Connie kept the Titan occupied, Ymir joined the fight, slicing at the Titan's ankle.

Meanwhile, Christa, who had been carrying Nike, was flying around, arguing with Nike.

"Hey... Nike? I'll put you down over there, so just wait a bit, okay?"

"No. Just fight."

"I can't fight while carrying you!"

At Christa's insistence, Nike quietly took out a signal flare from her bag.

Seeing the signal flare, Christa was puzzled. What was she going to do with that?

But Nike had already decided what to do with it.

Over the past three years, Nike had learned many things while being dragged around by the Survey Corps. It was time to use one of those lessons. Nike's memory guided her.

"Just get me close. I'll assist in taking it down for sure."

"Alright."

Nike loaded the signal flare into a launcher that looked like a pistol. Since it didn't look like she was joking, Christa decided to trust Nike's words just this once.

With Nike in her arms, Christa flew towards the Titan. Judging by the steam coming from the Titan's body, Connie and Ymir seemed to be doing well.

"Where do you need to go?"

"Right in front of the Titan's face. Just take me there."

"Are you crazy?!"

"It'll be fine. I'll handle it."

Titans move much more actively than humans. They can do things humans can't because of their joints. Telling Christa to go in front of the Titan's face seemed insane. Christa thought even the Survey Corps wouldn't do something so reckless.

But Nike, without saying anything further, aimed the launcher at the Titan. Christa, having no other choice, anchored her gear to the Titan's ear and swung around to its face.

Thanks to Christa, Nike found herself right in front of the Titan's grinning face. But Nike didn't panic.

In order to deal with the unexpectedly high number of deaths and prevent a breakout from the headquarters, Nike aimed the launcher at the Titan like a pistol.

'There's only one chance. But this should be enough.'

Bang!

As the Titan lunged forward to devour Christa and Nike, Nike fired the launcher.

The green smoke emitted from the launcher flew in a straight line, hitting the Titan's face and spreading everywhere.

In an instant, the Titan's face and the surrounding area were filled with smoke.

"Now! Connie, Ymir! Kill the Titan now!"

The Titan, bewildered by the blocked vision, flailed its arms. Its sight was completely obscured.

Seizing the perfect opportunity, Ymir was the first to move. She anchored her gear to the Titan's nape and propelled herself forward with gas.

Using the gained acceleration, Ymir twisted her body and slashed the Titan's nape with all her strength.

'Got it!'

With the Titan's nape severed, the Titan collapsed to the ground.

The 36th squad, Christa's squad, had successfully taken down their first Titan.

...

After taking down the Titan, the group decided to rest for a while.

Connie and Ymir, who had been fighting and dodging the Titan's attacks, were drenched in sweat.

They had only fought one Titan, but they were already exhausted, lying on the roof as if it were a bed.

"Ha... ha... Did we really kill it?"

"Yeah... And when you say 'we,' you mean me. I killed it."

"What are you talking about? You couldn't have killed it without me."

"Shut up. Anyway, I killed it."

They still couldn't believe they had killed a Titan. They kept looking at the Titan they had killed, which was now evaporating into the air.

Nike and Christa, who hadn't directly participated in the fight, also watched the Titan evaporate.

"Everyone, great job."

"Yeah. By the way, Nike, what were you trying to say earlier?"

"Hmm? What do you mean?"

Christa recalled what Nike had started to say earlier and asked her.

"You mentioned a reason for going to the headquarters."

"Oh, that?"

Nike thought about the original story.

In the original story, the trainees couldn't get a gas supply and were isolated, unable to escape.

Mikasa resolved that issue, but for Nike, who was trying to avoid adding to the death toll of nearly 50,000, it was a painful memory.

"We need to visit the gas supply station at the headquarters."

In the original story, the lack of gas supply was caused by humans, not Titans.

Kitz, one of the captains of the garrison regiment.

At this time in the original story, Kitz took all the soldiers who were supposed to defend the headquarters and fled to the rear.

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