Two Abnormal Titans

A girl in a long dress appeared before them. She looked about Yago's age, with long, dark blond hair tied back and a pretty face. Upon seeing them, she offered a polite bow, executing the formal etiquette of the nobility perfectly.

"Miss Lisa, I'm glad you're safe. Now that you're here, let's leave immediately!" Yuwen breathed a sigh of relief upon seeing the person they had come to rescue. The longer they lingered, the greater the danger. They had to evacuate as soon as possible.

"Miss! I'm so sorry you had to endure such a fright!" Steward Rosen fawned over Lisa as he went to support her, but she made a point of approaching every soldier to thank them. She was exceedingly polite, countless times better than that steward.

When she reached Yago, Lisa paused, perhaps because of his age, or perhaps because of the Training Corps insignia on his uniform. Still, she thanked him politely. "Thank you so much for coming to rescue us."

Yago waved it off, some of his resentment fading. At least Miss Lisa was polite, unlike other nobles. He recalled the past Ili had once told him about.

Soon, Yago and the others gathered at the doorway at the base of the tower. He frowned as several attendants brought out two carriages.

The carriages were piled high with large chests that looked extremely heavy.

Yuwen was equally baffled. "Steward Rosen, there are plenty of Titans out there. Won't bringing all this along make things difficult?"

Steward Rosen replied sharply, "These are all our master's assets. Your wages are in there too. We must take them!"

Once again, Yago felt the urge to hack the man to death. We're about to lose our lives, and he's still thinking about money?

But Yuwen could hardly refuse, so he gritted his teeth and agreed. Soon, Lisa came out as well, and her appearance surprised Yago. Instead of her long dress, she wore a simple long shirt and trousers, with her hair tied in a neat ponytail. She looked thoroughly practical.

"There's no need to dress beautifully when you're running for your life, is there? You can't run in a long dress." Lisa smiled at them before climbing into the carriage. She also tried to persuade Steward Rosen to leave the valuables behind, but he refused to listen. Rather than waste any more time, the group hurried away, the carriages racing down the main road.

The Garrison soldiers split into two teams, moving over the houses on either side of the road and keeping watch over their surroundings.

Yago stayed at the back, covering their rear. Yuwen had arranged that as well. If they let a trainee take the vanguard for them, how could their elite vanguard squad show its face?

Yago ran swiftly across the rooftops with both blades raised, but unease stirred inside him. Their surroundings were far too quiet.

"Squad leader! Two Titans ahead on the left, one fifteen-meter-class and one ten-meter-class! They're approaching!" a female Garrison soldier reported.

After a moment's thought, Yuwen shouted, "Niki, take three people and deal with those two Titans!"

Niki replied, "Yes! Nanbu, Wick, Anna, with me!" The four changed direction and charged toward the two Titans, which were already dangerously close.

They were nearing an intersection. Once they crossed it, they would soon rendezvous with the middle guard and be safe. Yuwen's tightly furrowed brow relaxed a little.

The next instant, bang! An enormous impact sent Yuwen flying, slamming him hard onto a rooftop. Yago stopped immediately, and the carriages below jolted to a frightened halt as well.

As the dust from the impact cleared, everyone stared wide-eyed at the enormous figure within it. The Titan had loose, disheveled hair, a somewhat twisted body, and extraordinarily long arms. Its mouth stretched all the way to its ears, and a leg and half a body hung between its teeth.

Looking closer, wasn't that half a body Niki, who had just gone to kill the Titans?

Niki coughed up blood as his consciousness slowly sank into darkness. They had miscalculated. A terrifying Abnormal Titan had been hiding beside those two ordinary Titans. All four of them had been wiped out almost instantly.

Ignoring his bleeding forehead, Yuwen stared in disbelief. "An... Abnormal Titan. We're finished."

"Ah, no! No!" Before anyone could react, another Titan that had appeared unnoticed suddenly seized the female Garrison soldier standing on a rooftop. As despair filled her eyes, it stuffed her into its enormous mouth and bit her in two with a crunch.

Only Yago, Yuwen, and one male Garrison soldier remained.

The Titan that had eaten the female soldier suddenly leaped more than ten meters into the air, lunging toward the carriages.

"Another Abnormal Titan?!" Utterly despairing, Yuwen turned to Yago and the other surviving Garrison soldier. "The mission has failed! Run!" With that, he turned and activated his Omni-Directional Mobility Gear to flee. The other soldier followed his squad leader in a panic.

Yago hesitated, looking down at the carriages. He could hardly bring himself to abandon those people, but Abnormal Titans were countless times more powerful than ordinary Titans.

By then, the jumping Titan had reached the carriages. The attendants had long since scattered in terror, but the Abnormal Titan was incredibly fast. Apart from a few who managed to run inside houses, it swallowed them all.

The Abnormal Titan crushed the carriages to pieces, scattering coins and jewels across the ground. Lisa struggled to drag the terrified, senseless Steward Rosen away, hoping to hide in a house beside the main road while the Abnormal Titan was distracted.

Unfortunately, it spotted them anyway, and an enormous hand swept down toward them. Suddenly, Steward Rosen, who had been paralyzed with fear, sprang up as though filled with boundless energy. He grabbed Lisa and, with the last of his strength, hurled her toward the house behind him.

"Miss! Run!" Steward Rosen roared. The next instant, the Titan's palm slammed down, and blood splattered.

"Uncle Rosen!" Tears streamed down Lisa's face. Steward Rosen had been beside her for almost her entire childhood. Though he was usually harsh toward others, he had always treated her exceptionally well. Even the assets he had insisted on bringing were wealth he had earned for her. He treated Lisa like his own daughter.

Grief-stricken as she was, Lisa could not let Rosen's sacrifice go to waste. She gritted her teeth, got to her feet, and ran toward the house behind her.

But in the next instant, Lisa's feet left the ground. An enormous hand had seized her. In the end, she had failed to escape.

The Abnormal Titan raised its arm, preparing to stuff this human into its mouth.

Lisa closed her eyes. I'm sorry, Uncle Rosen. I'm sorry, Father. I'll never see you again.

Suddenly, the Abnormal Titan let out a terrifying howl. Lisa felt herself released and fell helplessly through the air. Before she could react, someone caught her in his arms.

Yago held Lisa, his gaze grave. Using his Omni-Directional Mobility Gear, he quickly reached a rooftop and set her down. "Be careful!" he warned, then turned to face the Abnormal Titan.

With a snap, he knocked the broken blade free of his left-hand grip and drew another sharp blade. Yago looked toward the nearby Abnormal Titan whose hand he had severed. Steam rose from its hand as it steadily regenerated, and its gaze locked onto him.

Yago crouched and, with two swift motions, slotted both blades into the devices on his lower legs. Once they were secured, he steadied himself, watching the Abnormal Titan with a grim expression. The battle was about to erupt.