Speed Is Invincible

Speed Is Invincible

"Eren! You can't go! Eren! Mikasa..."

Armin stood frozen in place, his legs trembling as he reached out to pull Eren back, but fear left him utterly unable to move his feet.

The sudden breach of the wall and the Titans' invasion made the three children completely ignore Xu Yue, who stood nearby with a faint smile. Then, seeing the direction of his home crushed by the massive boulder, Eren ignored Armin's cries entirely and charged back with Mikasa in a desperate frenzy.

His mother was still at home!

"Eren, Mikasa..."

Armin could only mutter softly as he trembled, wholly unable to take a single step.

"Even if you follow them, you won't be able to do anything. You'd be better off finding someone to help."

Xu Yue's Wood Clone stood beside him. Watching the Titans, taller than the houses, moving about in the distance, he kept that businesslike expression as he spoke to the blond boy.

Yet in this environment, that gentle expression sent a chill through Armin's heart...

"Right! I need help, I need help! If I find Uncle Hannes, he can definitely save them! Uncle Hannes is strong!"

As though Xu Yue's words had jolted him awake, Armin spun around and ran frantically toward the canal entrance.

Most of the Garrison Regiment were maintaining order near the canal right now. Hannes, Eren's father's grateful friend and close companion, would surely be there...

"Eh? You'd rather trust that drunkard than me? That really hurts."

Watching Armin's retreating back, Xu Yue seemed to laugh at himself before slowly walking in the direction Eren and Mikasa had gone...

"Mikasa, hurry and help me lift this beam! It's pinning Mom down!"

Eren desperately tried to lift a thick wooden beam, but it was obviously futile.

As the main support beam of the collapsed house, it was not something two children could possibly budge.

"Eren, listen to me. Stop trying to lift it. Even if you move it, it won't help. My legs have already been crushed."

Beneath the rubble, Eren's mother endured the pain and showed the strongest side of herself before her children.

"Now, take Mikasa and leave! Go, quickly!"

"No! What will happen to you if we leave?"

Though Eren often argued with his mother, at a time like this, he had no intention of giving up. His hands were bleeding from gripping the beam, but it still did no good.

Mikasa remained silent beside him, helping without pause.

"Even at the very end, you still won't listen to me?!"

Seeing that her child refused to leave, Eren's mother grew frantic. She had to endure the pain while continuing to speak, determined to see her children leave. Only by seeing them safe could she rest easy.

At that moment, a Titan with a grotesque smile walked straight toward them from the breached wall without deviating in the slightest. The ground trembled beneath its footsteps.

Though there were other humans nearby, it did not pause in the slightest, as if its target had been clear from the start.

But at that moment, a figure arrived behind Eren and Mikasa. The Garrison Regiment uniform on his body and the Omni-directional Mobility Gear at his waist revealed his identity.

Hannes, Eren's father's closest friend.

"Eren, get your mother out! I'll buy you time."

Hannes spiritedly drew the sharp blades from his Omni-directional Mobility Gear, then dashed toward the front.

This was the moment to repay his debt!

However, he had only charged halfway when he turned the corner and saw the Titan's grotesque grin. The expression on its face was like a basin of cold water, extinguishing every flame in Hannes's heart.

Silently sheathing his blades, he turned around and rushed back. Reaching Eren and Mikasa, he slung one over each shoulder and fled toward the rear without looking back.

"What are you doing?! Let go! Mom's still there!"

Eren kept pounding on Hannes, but Hannes did not budge in the slightest and simply ran with his head down.

"Haha! Hahaha! That was easy. I've finally found him!"

A somewhat sinister voice rang out. A ghostly figure landed in front of Hannes, blocking the way.

The single eyepatch made the man's expression seem even more vicious. The blazing look in Shen Yan's eyes as he stared at Eren and compared him to the portrait in his hand made even Hannes frown.

With a Titan chasing them from behind and every second counting, Hannes had no desire to create more trouble.

"Who exactly are you, sir? Given the current situation, please move aside at once. Whatever you want can wait until we reach safety!"

Hearing Hannes's words, the eyepatched Shen Yan finally withdrew his gaze from Eren and turned his head, revealing a mocking expression.

"Safe? I'm still perfectly safe here. Mortals cannot comprehend the power I possess."

Shen Yan looked at Hannes with contempt. He was merely an old soldier with some fighting ability. He might pose a slight threat to other Reincarnators on their third mission.

But to someone like Shen Yan, who had entered the Legion's elite team and already possessed the ability to pass the advancement assessment, Hannes was no threat at all!

"Hand him over, and I'll let you leave."

Shen Yan pointed at Eren. His words drew a chilling glare from Mikasa, who was tucked beneath Hannes's arm.

"Never!"

Hannes's face was filled with resolve.

Before the Titan, he had retreated out of fear and abandoned the wife of his benefactor and friend. But now someone was targeting his child. He could not retreat again!

"What a pity. Then I can only let you experience a mortal's despair."

Shen Yan gave a savage grin, seemingly unconcerned at all by the Titan steadily approaching them.

In the next instant, his entire body seemed to turn into countless afterimages, completely enveloping Hannes.

The unprecedented speed brought a shocked expression to Hannes's face.

Could a human body achieve such terrifying speed without any external assistance, without even using Omni-directional Mobility Gear?

If so, a lone Titan truly posed no threat to this man!

"Well? Can you keep up with my afterimages?"

Shen Yan's voice came from all directions. Hannes put down the two children, drew his blades, and went on full alert.

Eren and Mikasa were equally stunned by the man's speed. For the moment, they could only stay beside Hannes, not knowing what to do.

"There's an opening!"

As Shen Yan continued circling Hannes at high speed, he finally caught the instant when Hannes blinked from exhaustion.

In a mere moment, he had already arrived before Hannes.

At such incredible speed, the Short Blade in his hand was about to slice open Hannes's throat.

"Tch. Leaving the group to hog the spoils isn't very good behavior."

Yet just as his attack reached halfway, a sigh that seemed to come from right beside his ear sounded out, and a fist appeared in Shen Yan's face.

As if in slow motion, his entire face twisted and warped from the blow, becoming even more grotesque than the Titan's grin.

The next moment, he spiraled through the air, smashed through a wall, and was buried beneath the rubble.

Then, accompanied by a flurry of afterimages and surrounded by falling feathers, Xu Yue appeared at Hannes's side and withdrew his extended fist...