The beginning: A choice
"Yago, what do we do? Those Titan can actually climb buildings?!" Reiner stared wide-eyed at the Blood Titan below in astonishment.
Hundreds of Blood Titan roared terrifyingly as they scrambled toward the location of Yago and his companions. Yes, they scrambled—climbed the smooth Steel Buildings. How did they manage that?
A Blood Titan stretched out its sticky palm and slapped it against the steel wall with a loud thud. Instantly, the blurred flesh stuck to the wall like a large puddle of sticky meat. As the Blood Titan climbed upwards, when it raised its palm again, the flesh on the Blood Titan's palm tore open, blood splattering everywhere. Much of the flesh still clung to the wall, bubbling and steaming.
In an instant, countless writhing flesh and blood surrounded Yago and his companions.
Hearing the roars around him and smelling the pungent stench of blood, Yago closed his eyes. A familiar feeling welled up in his heart. It was as if he had seen the scene from several years ago again, standing on a high building overlooking the Trost District, facing countless Titan and in a dangerous area.
"A-Yi, A-Wu, do you remember how to cut off the Titan's nape?" Yago suddenly turned around and asked.
A-Yi and A-Wu exchanged a glance, and with a whoosh, four steel knives were drawn.
"Reiner, third in his class? Has he even forgotten how to hold a knife?"
Reiner paused, then looked down at the hilt of his sword. After a long pause, he chuckled softly, unlocked the clasp, and fastened the Blades. Swish! A steel sword was drawn. A long-lost feeling washed over him, and he felt a rare sense of ease. He no longer had to bear the burden of being a damned warrior. He was no longer the Shield of Marley; he was simply Reiner!
Porco ripped the blood and flesh off his face. "So what are your plans?"
Yago looked at Pieck and explained his plan, "I'll have to trouble Pieck from now on. Porco, you and Aili, let Pieck carry you. The Cart Titan will follow behind the three of us, and we'll use the Omni-Directional Mobility Gear to lead the way. Since Ebson has already shown us the way and arranged dinner, it would be impolite of us not to eat."
Pieck shrugged helplessly. Well, he couldn't escape his Fate as a charioteer. When will our Cart Titan finally get to stand tall?
At the same time, amidst the ruins, a pair of broad, fleshy wings suddenly trembled twice. A blurry mass of flesh and blood, steaming, slowly began to recover, and a ferocious face returned to normal, but the savage killing intent in its scarlet eyes remained undiminished.
The Winged Titan, struck by two Thunder Spear, stood up again, raised its head, and roared. The roar attracted several Blood Titan, whose twisted Blood Titan, driven by instinct, staggered toward the Winged Titan.
Crack! Crack! The Winged Titan flapped its wings and soared into the air. Its sharp claws easily crushed the heads of several Blood Titan. Before completely leaping away, it even grabbed a Blood Titan and tore it to pieces in mid-air, with countless drops of blood raining down like a storm.
The resurrected Winged Titan roared wildly in the air. Suddenly, its scarlet eyes seemed to lock onto a certain direction. It flapped its fleshy wings and flew in that direction with a whoosh.
"It's over! It's all over! Two hundred thousand troops! They've all been scattered?? How is this possible!" The newly appointed Marshal of the Middle East Ahmed, stared at the battle report in his hand with bloodshot eyes. He almost fainted. Just two days ago, he had been receiving good news. The battle reports submitted by the various units at the front were all about victory. They were practically saying that the Middle East had been recaptured in a day. In these reports, the Far East people were completely routed and were being utterly defeated by the Middle Eastern Army in various ways.
Some battle reports even boasted that their troops had brave Soldiers who tore apart Far East Soldiers with their bare hands and destroyed Far East Tank with stones, making it seem as if all Middle East Soldiers were superhuman.
But just two days later, the battle reports from the front lines gave Ahmed a "big surprise": the Far East Army deployed new weapons, suspected to be fast Airship, and launched a large-scale air raid on various forces in the Middle East. The bombing continued for two days without interruption, and the various forces suffered heavy losses. At the same time, the Far East Army took the opportunity to regroup and launch a full-scale offensive. While various forces in the Middle East were in chaos, the ground and air forces attacked at the same time, and the entire province of Hera Province fell in two days.
Of the Middle Easterners's last remaining strength—an army of 200,000—less than 30,000 escaped back.
This was a bolt from the blue for the Middle East leadership. The Far East, the Far East —why does this seemingly insignificant Far East always manage to pull off such incredible feats?
Ahmed clutched his chest, wracked with pain, and slammed his fist on the table in grief and anger, crying out in anguish, "Two hundred thousand people! Our last hope in the Middle East! It's all over! That good-for-nothing Shihuls! He's a sinner against the Middle East!!"
The Guard nearby wanted to say a few words on behalf of Commander Shihuls, that it wasn't that our army wasn't trying hard enough, but that the enemy was simply too powerful. However, the Marshal was currently in a state of rage, so he dared not interrupt.
On the other side, Marley also received news of the Middle Easterners' crushing defeat almost simultaneously. Magath carefully read the intelligence and was both surprised and delighted. The Middle Easterners had actually lost, just as that kid had said. The Far East people really did have a trump card. Air Force bombing? What a brilliant idea.
The Marley are considered veterans of bombing and airborne operations, but compared to the Far East Air Force described in intelligence, the Marley's Airship force is a joke. As for their aircraft concept, the Marley are still in the most basic experimental stage. Let alone replacing Airship in war, there are still many problems and hidden dangers in their ability to stably carry people.
Magath put down the intelligence and was filled with emotion. Facing the Far East as an opponent was truly terrifying. No, or rather, facing the person behind the Far East was terrifying. Facing him, there was always a feeling of looking up to him. The other party was almost a century ahead of them, and they were always lagging behind.
It was a sense of inferiority and fear stemming from being inferior to one's opponent, much like the fear felt by the Marley Empire's army of swords and bows thousands of times ago when they encountered the Eldia Empire's thousands upon thousands of Titan.
Now that things have come to this, neither he nor Marley have a choice. Since what that young punk said has now come true, why not continue to trust him one last time?
Moreover, Magath, who had been the captain of the Marley Warrior Unit for a long time, knew that the conflict between the Marleyan and Eldians was too deep. The hatred etched into their flesh and blood could not be easily resolved. In that case, Magath was willing to bear the infamy and lead the Marley to take a step back.
"Order the troops to assemble! The entire navy is to be deployed. Within two days, clear all ships from the waters around Light Harbor. At the same time, send troops to forcibly evacuate all civilians along the route. If necessary, take coercive measures!" Magath ordered sternly.
Some time later, a Marley Soldiers brought Magath bad news. Magath stood up in shock, "What?! The War Hammer Titan has disappeared?! You lost surveillance of the War Hammer Titan?!"