Beneath the wall of Trost District.
Bertolt's eyes were filled with conflict, his conversation with Reiner from yesterday replaying endlessly in his mind.
"Reiner, there are tens of thousands of civilians in Trost District. Tomorrow, everyone in the Survey Corps will be carrying out missions on the wall, too. We..." Bertolt said through clenched teeth, unable to bear the thought.
"Bertolt, we're warriors of Marley. Everything we do is for humanity. They're descendants of devils, and they deserve to die. You'll breach the wall tomorrow. I don't know where Marcel is, but he'll show up when it matters." A flicker of conflict passed through Reiner's eyes before he cut Bertolt off with ruthless resolve.
"My mission is only to find the Coordinate and the Founding Titan. I won't take part in tomorrow's attack on the civilians," Annie said coldly, giving Reiner a look of utter disgust.
"Annie, this is all to force the Founding Titan to reveal himself. Don't you want to see your family sooner?" Reiner urged.
Annie clenched her fists, then relaxed them and said:
"If the Founding Titan appears, I'll act."
Hearing that, Reiner felt reassured. Bertolt had no will of his own and would only follow everyone else's decision, so he sighed and agreed.
After a painful inner struggle, Bertolt's desire to return to Marley and see his family finally outweighed his compassion for his comrades. He looked up at the towering wall, then resolutely bit into the web of his hand.
A flash of yellow lightning vanished in an instant, and a huge, hideous, blood-red head appeared out of nowhere above the wall. Bertolt's last shred of conscience had kept him from triggering a "nuclear blast." He only needed to breach the wall, let hordes of Pure Titans inside, and draw out the Founding Titan. He had no intention of wiping out his comrades from the 104th.
The instant the enormous blood-red head appeared, everyone stared wide-eyed, stunned. Chen Si was just about to move when a huge rock shot toward him. He sliced it in half with a single stroke, and the pieces fell past either side of him. At the same time, a ferocious gale swept toward Chen Si and the others.
The Colossal Titan Bertolt had transformed into had already kicked an enormous hole in the wall. Nearly eight meters high, the opening was more than large enough for hordes of Pure Titans to enter.
Chen Si drove his blade into the wall and fired both cables from his Vertical Maneuvering Equipment into its surface. The others failed to react in time, and Eren and the rest were blown away by the gale. Their three years of training had not been for nothing, though. As they fell, they recovered in time to anchor their cables in the wall and avoid plunging to their deaths.
A soldier named Samuel was less fortunate. A piece of rubble struck his head immediately, leaving him dazed as the gale sent him plummeting straight down.
"Samuel!" By the time Connie noticed, it was already too late.
At the critical moment, Sasha retracted her cables and ran straight down the vertical wall. Just before Samuel hit the ground, she fired a cable into his calf and successfully caught him.
Watching her, Chen Si couldn't help thinking, If Sasha had missed, wouldn't that have...
"Fixed artillery squad four, everyone prepare for battle!" Eren's roar came from below.
Bertolt saw that Chen Si was the only one still standing atop the wall. Everyone else had been blown over to the other side in the initial blast.
"Chen Si, don't blame me." A ruthless gleam flashed in Bertolt's eyes. He swung his hand viciously across the top of the wall, scouring it like a giant excavator. An entire layer was gouged away, leaving the wall much thinner.
Chen Si gently closed his eyes as arcs of electricity wound around him. He reached out and lightly gripped his sword hilt, his spiritual sense steadily locking onto the Colossal Titan's nape. Then his eyes snapped open, a dazzling blue light shooting from them, and he became a lightning-fast blur hurtling toward the Colossal Titan.
"What is that? How can he be so fast?" Seeing the figure rush toward him like lightning, Bertolt hastily reached out with the Colossal Titan's enormous hand to grab Chen Si.
Chen Si did not slow down. Instead, he increased his electrical output and pressed the gas trigger all the way down. Like a storm of lightning, he flew up along the Colossal Titan's arm, slicing through it again and again. The entire arm was cut into dozens of chunks that fell onto the wall and the ground.
Standing on the wall, Eren watched in shock. Chen Si was actually thrashing a Titan.
"My God, is that Captain Levi?" a garrison soldier asked in horror.
"No, he's wearing a Training Corps uniform. He must be this year's top graduate. To think he can slaughter a Titan like that. It's unbelievable."
Countless people in the streets trembled as they watched, their hearts filled with shock. Many instinctively began praying for that brave soldier.
Among the crowd, a beautiful young married woman in plain clothes watched the figure in the sky, like a god descended to earth, and murmured:
"That's little Chen Si..." Her eyes were filled with worry and aching concern for him.
After shredding the Colossal Titan's arm, Chen Si continued hurtling toward his nape and thrust his blade viciously at it. The Titan's cumbersome body could not react in time. Chen Si narrowed his eyes, as though waiting for something. The moment his blade pierced the skin, a tremendous blast of steam erupted. He managed to cut away only a long, narrow strip of flesh before he was blown back.
The scorching blast burned his face and arms, leaving charred marks across them. Arcs of electricity swept over the wounds, and they healed at a rate visible to the naked eye. Just as he had suspected, his electrical power could also grant him a Titan's regenerative ability. The corners of Chen Si's mouth lifted. I'm completely invincible now.
Alarm bells rang in Bertolt's mind, and he trembled inwardly. How could Chen Si be this strong? He even forced me to release steam. The Colossal Titan's steam emission had limits. Every blast consumed the Titan's flesh.
Watching Chen Si hover in the air, Bertolt gritted his teeth and intensified the steam. His body shrank visibly. Sensing the electrical energy remaining within him, Chen Si discharged the last of it along with his gas, inching forward against the steam.
Seeing Chen Si's predicament, Eren gritted his teeth and charged toward the Colossal Titan, only to be blown back instantly. He landed on the wall and struggled to get up.
"Damn it, I can't help Chen Si!"
"It's all because we're too weak," Mina said, blaming herself.
"Damn it, you have to win, top graduate!" Connie said through clenched teeth.
Pushing against the billowing steam, Chen Si suddenly accelerated and swung his blade at the Colossal Titan's nape.
"Well then, Bertolt, show everyone your true face." With his eyes closed, Chen Si drove his blade into the flesh of the nape.