Fear returned

Yago and Ili walked across the square. Yago said, "Time really flies. They're already about to start recruiting the next batch of cadets. By the way, Ili, did you make a note of that Titan model? The support rod underneath is about to break. Remember to report it for repairs."

Ili nodded. "Don't worry, I remembered..." Before Ili could finish, they both felt a violent tremor. As though sensing something, Yago steadied himself and turned to look.

Beyond the towering walls of Trost District, a bolt of yellow lightning surged as if it pierced heaven and earth.

Yago's pupils contracted. "That's...!" They weren't far from the wall and could still vaguely make out the figures on top of it.

Yago instinctively sensed something wrong with that yellow lightning!

Sure enough, the lightning faded, smoke billowed, and an enormous red head appeared above the wall. In an instant, everything fell silent.

Ili and all the passersby stared slack-jawed at the enormous head above the wall. The Colossal Titan had arrived!

"Wh-what is that?" Ili asked, eyes vacant and voice hoarse.

"So this is the Colossal Titan?" Yago clenched his fists, a faint thrill of excitement stirring in his mind. That yellow lightning was all too familiar to him. He was almost certain that the Colossal Titan had transformed from a human!

"The wall! The wall's been breached!! Titans! The Titans are coming in!!" A man wearing a hat suddenly let out a piercing scream, pointing toward the distant wall.

From what they could see, the distant gate appeared to have been destroyed. That meant Trost District was now in danger, just as Shiganshina District had been back then.

Atop the wall, Eren stared blankly at the Colossal Titan looming right in front of him. Before he could react, the Colossal Titan swung an enormous arm at the fixed cannons along the wall. Before his overwhelming strength, the cannons were flattened like marshmallows and sent flying.

Using his Omni-Directional Mobility Gear, Eren quickly put some distance between them and dodged the Titan's arm. "This bastard! He actually knows to destroy the fixed cannons? Damn it, he must be intelligent!"

The next instant, without a second thought, Eren drew both blades and charged at the Colossal Titan. His Omni-Directional Mobility Gear fired grappling hooks that anchored firmly into the Colossal Titan's body, and Eren hurtled toward the nape of his neck.

On the wall, Eren's companions cried out, "Eren! Be careful!"

"Damn you! Die!" Eren roared. But huge quantities of steam erupted from the Colossal Titan's back. The steam was scalding, yet it couldn't shake Eren's resolve. Braving the heat, he was just about to charge forward when his body suddenly went weightless, and he plunged straight down.

When he looked again, the towering Colossal Titan before him had vanished completely, leaving only two enormous footprints. Eren hurriedly fired his grappling hooks into the wall, his face filled with disbelief. How could the Colossal Titan have disappeared?

Bang! Bang! Signal flares calling the Training Corps to assemble appeared in the sky inside the wall. Every cadet who saw them immediately headed to the supply station where they had been fired!

On that day, humanity once again remembered the terror of being ruled by Titans.

Alarm bells echoed through the city.

All of Trost District descended into chaos. Unlike the orderly drill before, everyone was scrambling for their lives. When faced with real danger, no one followed the rules. The soldiers of the Garrison Regiment did their best to maintain order, but they were all but helpless before civilians intent only on escaping.

Atop Trost District's wall, the dozen or so surviving cannons fired continuously. Titans streamed toward the breach, and the thunderous explosions attracted even more of them. There was no longer any time to repair the wall. The Colossal Titan seemed to have drawn countless ordinary Titans, which poured toward the opening without end.

The original plan had been to dig out a huge boulder near the gate and use it to block the breach, but the Titans had gathered too quickly. They could only hastily put up two rope nets as defenses. The hole the Colossal Titan had made was simply too large, nearly ten meters high.

The Garrison Regiment's advance unit had already reached the wall. The fifty-odd soldiers could barely hide their fear as they faced the dozens of Titans outside the breach. But tens of thousands of civilians inside the wall had yet to evacuate. They could not retreat.

The squad leader at their head rallied his troops. "Soldiers! We cannot let these disgusting Titans inside the wall! We cannot let the tragedy of five years ago happen again! We will protect the people! Dedicate your hearts! Charge!" Though the squad leader's own hands trembled so badly he could barely hold his blades, he was still the first to leap off the wall and charge at the Titans.

The other members of the Garrison advance unit roared and followed him down, putting their lives on the line to stop the Titans.

The supply station was also in turmoil. More than two hundred cadets fumbled frantically, fear showing on every face to one degree or another. Urged on by the Garrison officers, they hurried to assemble their equipment.

Yago quickly strapped on his Omni-Directional Mobility Gear and filled his gas canisters, worry clouding his face. For now, he wasn't too concerned about things at home, since Lucia and Aunt Carla had moved inside Wall Rose a year earlier. But he worried that, just as five years ago, the Armored Titan would appear after the Colossal Titan. If Wall Rose was breached as well, everything would be over.

The Garrison officer continued his speech. "Cadets, you have successfully graduated. You are now qualified soldiers! The people inside the walls need you! Work with the Garrison Regiment, and make sure you protect this city!"

But few of the recruits present were calm. They had never faced real Titans before. Panic, fear, uncertainty-all kinds of negative emotions could be seen on their faces.

The cadet Franz comforted his frightened girlfriend in his arms. Armin's hands shook so badly that he couldn't connect the gas fitting to his canister. Eren stood beside him, trying to reassure him, while Mikasa stayed close behind Eren without leaving his side.

"Everyone! Assemble by class! Report to the first floor immediately!" A Garrison soldier rushed in and announced the order. All the cadets immediately headed downstairs.

Once the cadets had gathered, a Garrison commander stepped onto the platform. Yago recognized him. He had met him earlier that day while taking inventory of the equipment: Kitz Werman, commander-in-chief of the Garrison Regiment in Trost District, a man with a thick beard covering his face.

Kitz's face was grim as he loudly announced his orders to the cadets below. "The Training Corps will split into classes according to your training procedures and cooperate with the Garrison Regiment to defend the city. The Garrison Regiment will take command, and each Training Corps class will support it. Vanguard classes will cover the forward section, supply classes the middle section, and assault classes the rear section. Furthermore, according to reports from the front, the advance unit has been wiped out. The Titans have breached Trost District!"

Kitz's words caused an uproar among the cadets. The Titans had already entered the city?

"Quiet!" Kitz continued, "Be aware that the Armored Titan could appear in the city at any moment and may well breach Wall Rose. Your mission is therefore to hold Wall Rose at all costs until every civilian has evacuated! Remember, desertion is punishable by death! I hope you understand. Soldiers, be ready to give your lives at any moment! Dismissed!" With that, he stepped down, his expression still grim.

The cadets immediately scrambled into action. Some put on their equipment, while others searched for people. Some were so nervous that they lay on the floor vomiting, while others crouched in corners and cried in terror. Frowning, Yago moved through the crowd in search of Annie. At last, he found Class 27, Annie's class, around a corner.