Chapter 19

Before Nike led Christa's squad to the headquarters and staged a mutiny, at the beginning of the Trost defense battle:

Eren was appointed as the leader of Squad 34.

The members of Squad 34 were as follows:

Eren's friend and a character who survives until the end in the original story, Armin Arlert.

And the other members who, in the original story, die soon: Nack, Mina, Thomas, and Milieus.

Unaware of the despairing future that awaited them, they trusted each other's abilities and believed they would become heroes who would slay the Titans.

"Just so you know, there are plenty of applicants for the Survey Corps this term!"

"I lost to Eren earlier, but I won't lose this time!"

"Don't talk nonsense. Of course, I'll win!"

Eren looked at Mina and Thomas, who were in his squad, and spoke.

Everyone was in high spirits. However, the Garrison Regiment soldiers who would give the order to Eren's squad were not smiling at all.

'Should I... really send them out?'

The front line was already broken, and Eren's squad, meant to support the front line, would likely die upon arrival.

But should they disobey orders? The Garrison Regiment soldiers hesitated for a moment, then finally gave the order to Eren's squad.

"Squad 34, advance! Support the front line!"

With that order, Squad 34 took off with determined spirits.

They flew like birds, white gas spewing from their maneuvering gear exhausts. Anchoring to buildings to fix their direction, they flew at high speed through the city.

They hadn't spent three years just playing around. Even Armin, who had excelled only in theory classes, flew nimbly, better than an ordinary person.

But.

"Huh...?"

"What's wrong, Mina?"

While everyone was flying agilely, Mina, who was flying right behind Eren, suddenly stopped.

As Mina stopped, the entire squad, heading to the front line, halted and looked at her.

Mina was fumbling with her maneuvering gear as if something had gone wrong.

"What's the matter? Is it broken?"

Maneuvering gear malfunctions were common. However, most issues were easy to fix, so they learned to repair maneuvering gear during their trainee period.

Mina was quite skilled at it. Eren, seeing Mina struggling with her gear, glanced at the front line.

Numerous Titans were approaching from the front. Judging by the Garrison Regiment soldiers fighting here and there, the battle was intense.

In such a situation, how would Eren, who harbored deep hatred for Titans because his mother could never walk again due to them, react?

The answer was obvious.

"Titan spotted! Engage in combat! Thomas, protect Mina!"

They charged forward, unaware of the impending disaster.

However, there was one difference from the original story.

More survivors from Eren's squad.

With only that difference, the rest of Eren's squad charged towards the Titans.

"We're finally done!"

"Then let's go quickly... Huh? Where are the others?"

When Mina finished repairing her maneuvering gear with Thomas's help, the situation was already over.

Except for Mina, Thomas, and Armin, who was far away, the entire squad had been wiped out.

Moreover, Armin, traumatized by his comrades' deaths, had collapsed.

"Are there any Titans nearby?"

"No... Then let's quickly get him to a safe place!"

Mina and Thomas used their maneuvering gear to carry Armin to a nearby tower where there were fewer Titans.

The three of them settled on top of a tower, much higher than the surrounding area.

They tried to hold their breath and stay hidden to avoid attracting the Titans.

They didn't want to be eaten by Titans like their comrades. They didn't want to die. As they repeated these thoughts to themselves, they stayed hidden.

At that moment.

-ROOOOOOOOAR!!

The roar of a Titan filled their ears from afar.

Along with the roar, the sound of a massive fist striking echoed around them.

Then they heard the sound of something big collapsing. The tower shook for a moment. It must be a Titan. Mina cautiously peeked outside the tower.

Outside, one Titan was punching another Titan.

The punched Titan's face shattered from the impact. The attacking Titan knew the nape was a weak spot and finished off the downed Titan by targeting the nape.

"What... What is that? Armin, Thomas, look over there..."

A Titan killing another Titan. It was an unexpected sight for them.

...

While Mina and her group were shocked by the sight of a Titan killing another Titan, a squad was flying nearby.

Christa's squad. Having staged a mutiny at the Trost headquarters, they had become one of the key squads in this battle.

Moreover, they had a notable person in their squad.

"Ugh, I'm gonna puke!"

"Hey! Don't get airsick up here!"

"I don't get sick in carriages, but this makes me nauseous..."

Nike, who wasn't part of Christa's squad but ended up accompanying them, was feeling airsick due to the maneuvering gear.

Although it was a battlefield with blood splattering everywhere, Christa's squad had a slightly cheerful atmosphere because of Nike's airsickness.

"Sigh, I guess maneuvering gear really isn't for me. Maybe I should steal one from the Military Police."

It might be different with the Military Police gear. Nike, thinking about it, decided to focus on the present.

They were currently near the place where Eren's squad had been wiped out. Nike thought about the original story.

Eren would transform into a Titan and go on a rampage. If she could guide such an Eren to head towards the headquarters...

The survival rate of the trainees, who would retreat after resupplying gas at the headquarters, would significantly increase.

Therefore, Nike started looking around for Eren, who would be fighting as a Titan.

As she expected, Eren was nearby.

However...

-ROOOOOOOOAR!!

"Hey, why does it seem like that Titan is coming towards us?"

From a distance, a Titan presumed to be Eren was approaching, roaring and crushing several Titans in its path, heading threateningly towards Nike's group.

Seeing this, Nike felt something was wrong.

'Wait, isn't he supposed to only kill Titans? Why is he coming here?!'

There were other trainees who had survived along the way, but the Eren Titan was only crushing the Titans in its path, charging directly towards Nike and Christa's squad.

For some reason, Nike felt that the Eren Titan was coming after her. Was this part of her intuition? But there was no time to dwell on it.

Nike needed to move to prevent her femininity corruption.

'I don't know what's happening, but should I use this?'

Nike quietly turned her gaze towards the headquarters. It was still far away, looking like a small bean from this distance, and was engaged in a fierce battle with Titans.

'...Alright, let's give it a try.'

Nike had planned to guide Eren towards the headquarters anyway.

For some reason, it seemed like he was targeting her, but that wasn't important right now. Nike began directing Christa's squad.

"Let's take that Titan to the headquarters. You saw how it killed the other Titans, right?"

"Yes!"

Christa agreed and changed direction towards the headquarters. She thought that if they could use the Titan that killed other Titans, it would be extremely beneficial.

However, Ymir, Christa's friend, turned pale. Nike had directed them here, and they had encountered this Titan.

Was it a coincidence? Or did Nike already know? Ymir was genuinely curious.

"...Did you know there was a Titan like that?"

Ymir asked Nike. Nike, with a slight smile, shrugged as if she knew nothing.

"Just a hunch."

In exchange for increasing her femininity stat by 1, Nike had gained an intuition almost akin to foresight. Ymir would never know the sad story behind it.

But that was only for a moment. The Eren Titan was now right behind them.

-ROOOOOOOOAR!!

With the Eren Titan's killing intent directed precisely at Nike, she loaded a sound bomb into the launcher just in case. She then began flying to guide Eren towards the headquarters.

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