Finale: On the brink
"Ugh!! Roar!!!" A deep, loud roar resounded above everyone's heads, and a huge shadow loomed over them. Large pieces of Hardening Pyramid fragments slammed into the massive figure with a crackling sound.
The body was almost entirely covered in Hardening, earth-yellow armor, with bright red muscles visible through the gaps between the armor plates. The eyes shone with an earth-yellow light, and the mouth armor was open, allowing billowing steam to escape from between the fine teeth.
Rumble rumble rumble! Buzz~~
After the last piece of the Hardening Pyramid shard slammed into the Armored Titan's back and bounced off, the surrounding environment fell into complete silence.
"Reiner! You?" Pieck looked up in surprise at the Armored Titan protecting everyone. At the same time, a strange feeling suddenly surfaced in her mind, "The Titan Power! It's back?!"
The Armored Titan, having blocked all the Hardening fragments, straightened up, exhaling thick steam from its mouth.
Aili looked at the cut on her hand that she had accidentally made from the Hardening of the Pyramid. The fine wound was emitting faint steam and healing rapidly at a speed visible to the naked eye. "What on earth is going on?"
Annie touched the Ring engraved with her and Yago's names with her thumb, her light blue eyes slightly moist.
"Hey, hey, hey! Everyone, you, you all look up! Look up!" The first to react was Bazel, whose expression suddenly changed drastically as he pointed in a certain direction with astonishment and stammering.
Following the direction Bazel pointed, everyone looked and saw that the once enormous Pyramid was now broken into pieces, revealing the vast shadow hidden Pyramid.
How can one describe it? It was a Titan skeleton, tens of meters tall, so enormous it was almost comical, with hundreds of massive, Hardening vertebrae connected to the base of the Pyramid. Twisted ribs were covered with menacing spikes, and countless red blood vessels and blue nerves were wrapped around the massive skeleton.
At the very top of the skeleton, near the cervical vertebrae, connected to half of Titan's body, with bulging muscles, sharp teeth, a full head of Black Hair, and veins bulging all over its body. One eye was filled with a savage crimson light, while the other eye shone with a dazzling sky-blue light. Behind the half of the Titan's body, a long tail protruded from the waist, covered with densely packed, restless sharp feet, and at the end of the tail was a strange head that was raised high.
Fate Titan (with the Hallucigenia)!
"What is that thing!? Could it be... that's Yago!?" Pieck asked, her throat dry. The invisible pressure emanating from the Fate Titan made Pieck feel her body sending out frantic alarms.
Eren wiped the blood from the corner of his mouth and walked to the front of the group. He looked up at the Fate Titan of Fate and said softly, "Everyone, be careful. Our biggest trouble has arrived. Pieck, you guessed right, that guy is Yago, but not Yago. But one thing is certain: that guy will definitely want to kill us."
With a whoosh, the long tail formed by the Hallucigenia lashed out, Fate Titan opened its mouth, letting out an unprecedentedly high-pitched and terrifying roar.
Even with a height difference of tens of meters, the movements of Annie and the others were clearer than ever before in the eyes of the Fate Titan.
"Fate... correction... doesn't... need... guarantee..." In the dimly lit Paths, a staggering figure walked through the endless desert. With each step forward, the expression on Yago's face became more ferocious.
At this moment, Yago's black eyes, like the eyes of the Fate Titan outside him, were completely enveloped in scarlet and sky -Blue Light.
He kept repeating those simple words, "Fate... correction... Fate..."
As the Fate Titan roared, the ground beneath their feet trembled violently, and countless cracks appeared in the walls of the cave that housed the Scarlet Base.
As everyone lost their footing, crackling sounds rippled across countless Hardening, Crystal -like surfaces. Then, enormous, flesh-and-blood figures abruptly crawled out from the rubble of the Pyramid.
In an instant, countless roars of Titan resounded from all directions.
"Eren, what should we do? This isn't something just a few of us can handle. If I'm not mistaken, those guys aren't ordinary Titan. What kind of monsters did Yago summon?" Pieck's lips twitched slightly. Following her gaze, those two guys with big gourd-shaped heads over there were clearly the Red Fire Titan that had died earlier, weren't they?
Annie also looked at Eren, Eren gazed at the Titan constantly emerging from the Hardening. "These are all Intelligent Titan from past generations. However, Yago hasn't been completely assimilated by the Hallucigenia yet, and the Titan he summons are far less powerful than they were in life. But with just this number, tearing us apart should be more than enough."
"This is a huge problem. If I can really bring Yago back, it wouldn't be unreasonable for me to ask the Restoration Army for tens of millions and then live a carefree life," Pieck muttered to himself.
Porco, on the other hand, was much more decisive. "Why think so much? Just go for it!" With that, Porco used the Hardening spikes under his feet to slash his palm. Clang! A burst of crimson and golden arcs of electricity erupted, and amidst the rising steam, the Flying Claw Titan nimbly emerged.
"Porco, you really are... Remember to protect me later." Golden lightning flashed as the Cart Titan landed safely on all fours.
"Aili-chan, please be careful! I'll protect you!"
"Hey hey hey! Don't get so close!"
Sea-Swimming Titan with long tails and Paladin Titan with four hooves digging into the ground also appeared on the battlefield.
Bazel scratched his head; his Fortress Titan didn't seem to be of much help.
Bang!! Suddenly, a huge hoof stepped on Bazel, startling him. He looked up and met the crimson eyes of the Paladin Titan.
Boom!! The indestructible Fortress Titan has arrived.
Annie gently kissed the Ring on her finger. "Yago, I will definitely bring you back!"
Boom!! Arcs of electricity flashed as the lithe Female Titan stepped to the front of the line.
Looking up at the Fate Titan of Fate high above, Eren seemed to see, in a daze, "himself" in that hellish scene. "It's our turn to save you, Yago!"
A slash across his palm, arcs of electricity flashing, green eyes, pointed ears, bulging muscles, a wide grin—it's been a long time since we've seen that Attack Titan relentlessly pursued freedom.
Crack! Crack! Two heavy shields materialized in the Armored Titan's arms, its earthen-yellow eyes filled with an unprecedented determination.
A massive Fusion of Titan has also occurred between the Fortress Titan and the Paladin Titan. With massive chunks of heavily armored Fortress combined with the Paladin Titan's unstoppable, invincible charge, the Fusion Titan will be the enemy's most terrifying nightmare.
Thus, a standoff instantly formed within the Scarlet Base: on one side were the ancient, Intelligent Titan emerging continuously from the Hardening, and on the other side were the modern Titan Warriors, deeply concerned for their Comrade and determined to rescue Comrade. The battle was about to erupt!