Leaving the Squad

Exhausted and powerless, Yago leaned against a giant tree. Beneath the tree, the mangled body of Titan was evaporating, and several Titan continued to gnaw at the disappearing Titan.

Yago raised his eyelids and glanced at the Titan surrounding the tree. He breathed a sigh of relief only after confirming that no Titan could climb up. Then, ignoring the aches and pains in his body, he pulled the girl lying beside him into his arms. "Annie, it's alright."

Annie lay unconscious in Yago's arms, her eyes closed. Her left arm, bitten off by the Titan, emitted faint steam. As Yago watched the Titan Power slowly repair Annie's body, he felt relieved.

Having lost both arms, he could only barely run away by holding Annie in his mouth. Now, Yago is also exhausted and his mind is in a state of chaos. Memories, as if appearing suddenly, are being dumped into his head like garbage.

Yago drifted off to sleep and closed his eyes, but his arms were still wrapped around Annie. Night gradually fell, Yago and Annie stayed together like that.

"Levi, are you serious? Yago can also become Titan?" Erwin frowned, looking at the devastated Forest before him. There was no doubt that a great battle had taken place here.

"Yes, I witnessed the entire process of Mikasa transforming into Titan alongside the New Recruits Mikasa," Levi replied calmly, standing beside Erwin.

A hint of apprehension flickered in Erwin's eyes as he murmured, "Really? Was that the Titan we brought back that destroyed the wall?"

Levi: "Not necessarily. Mikasa said that the Titan Yago transformed into seemed to have helped them. When we arrived, Yago was also using the Omni-Directional Mobility Gear to fight the Female Titan, so..."

"So you think that Yago, the Armored Titan, the Colossal Titan, and the Female Titan who appeared today aren't part of the same group, is that right?" Erwin continued Levi's words.

Levi nodded, his killing intent toward the Female Titan growing stronger. Oluo was seriously injured and still unconscious, Juda was also out of fighting ability, and even Eld almost lost his life while fighting the Titan summoned by the Female Titan. The entire Levi Squad was almost out of fighting ability.

Erwin gazed at the now completely dark sky and said, "We can now confirm that the Female Titan is Soldiers within our Survey Corps. Otherwise, Female Titan wouldn't know Eren's exact location. And it's almost certainly New Recruits. We need to investigate her thoroughly."

Levi asked, "Then should we still search for Yago?" Levi understood Erwin's desire for the truth beyond the walls. Now that Yago could also transform into Titan, he must also possess the secrets that Erwin wanted to know.

Erwin shook his head, recalling the little boy the Survey Corps had brought back from beyond the walls, who had hesitantly asked him if he could join the Survey Corps, and Yago's words to him the night before he joined. "Commander, I am willing to Dedicate Your Hearts for humanity!"

"It's too late. We can't be sure if there are any Female Titan Comrade within the Survey Corps. Our top priority is to protect Eren. Retreat first, then we'll make a decision. How is Eren doing now?"

"Still unconscious, but he's recovered. Tch, these brats are a real headache," Levi replied calmly.

Erwin muttered to himself, "I can feel that we're getting closer and closer to the truth, Father. Is what you're saying really true?"

Erwin quickly issued the retreat order, and the entire Survey Corps began to retreat to a base they had prepared beforehand.

"What? Yago is Titan too? How is that possible?" Armin's eyes widened in disbelief that Yago could be Titan.

Although the Commander had given a gag order, Mikasa clearly wouldn't keep it from Eren and Armin.

"That Red-Eyed Titan? The one who helped Eren block the door, is Yago that Red-Eyed Titan?" Armin murmured, his mind racing. Yago shouldn't be an enemy. If he were, with Yago's strength, kidnapping Eren shouldn't be difficult. But now?

Mikasa didn't speak, but slowly walked to Eren's side. Eren was lying on the carpeted carriage, still unconscious, but his legs, which had been bitten off by the Female Titan, had grown back.

"Eren." Mikasa looked at Eren with concern.

"Erwin! Is this true? Little Yago can become Titan too?" Hange, wearing glasses, rushed into Erwin's tent and asked as soon as she entered.

There were a few other people in the tent, including Erwin, Levi, and Section Commander Mike, the second strongest Soldiers.

Seeing Hange's loud and boisterous manner, Levi frowned and said, "Hey, you, are you afraid others won't hear you if you raise your voice any louder?"

Hange waved his hand dismissively and said, "Just an accident."

Erwin raised his hand in a gesture of greeting, then calmly said, "We just received orders from the Capital. The King wants to meet with Eren and recall our Survey Corps."

"Tch, a bunch of parasites living a life of debauchery," Levi said unhappily. Born in the dark Underground City of the Capital, he naturally wouldn't have a good impression of the Royal Government.

Mike also briefly commented, "There's a problem."

Erwin looked at the plan for Wall Maria Reclamation Battle on the table and asked Hange for her opinion, "Hange, what do you think?"

Although Hange acts like a madwoman when facing Titan, Hange is usually quite a strategist, her glasses reflecting the light.

"Oh? The King actually wants to meet with the Survey Corps, whom he hasn't met in decades? Or is it just that he wants to meet with Eren? And what is the role of the Survey Corps?" Hange asked cryptically.

Erwin nodded. The Survey Corps had gone to great lengths to capture the Female Titan, but unfortunately, the operation failed, and more than 10% of the Soldiers were killed.

"Capital later. Mike, how's the New Recruits screening going?"

Mike took a piece of paper out of his pocket and handed it to Erwin. "We lost twelve New Recruits, four of whom are missing."

"Missing" is generally assumed within the Survey Corps to mean Soldiers was devoured by Titan and left no remains.

Erwin glanced at the list on the paper, his gaze lingering on the names of the four missing New Recruits.

"Four missing New Recruits: Juan Oyeda, Javier Calleja, Yago Norman, Annie Leonhardt"

"Reiner, what do we do? Did Annie fail? What should we do now?" Bertholdt's face was filled with uncontrollable panic. When he learned that Eren had returned unharmed, Bertholdt immediately panicked.

But Reiner was acting strangely, seemingly not listening to Bertholdt's words, staring blankly in one direction. Bertholdt followed Reiner's gaze and saw Christa, dressed in civilian clothes, helping the Logistics Squad organize some medicines.

Bertholdt:????

(The next few chapters will introduce the protagonist's past ٩('ω')و)