Saving lives

"Sigh. Let's go save some people, Xiate."

Bai Yu turned and patted her head. This time, Xiate didn't stop him.

After speaking, Bai Yu casually draped a cloak over himself to avoid drawing attention from the people on the street. With Xiate following a little farther behind, he quickly headed down below.

Although Xiate had no idea whether he actually knew how to use that thing, Bai Yu was clearly not joking.

The two hurried through the streets, one behind the other. His strange outfit drew plenty of looks, but Bai Yu ignored them. He mainly wanted to hide his face, and he figured they wouldn't have time to worry about him in a moment anyway.

They reached Eren's home. Eren hadn't returned yet, so Bai Yu quickly stepped forward and knocked on the door.

"Is Mrs. Yeager home?"

A moment later, footsteps sounded inside the house, and a woman's voice came from within.

"Oh, is that you, Bai Yu?"

The door slowly opened, revealing a cheerful face. It was Eren's mother, Mrs. Yeager.

But when she saw Bai Yu's strange outfit, confusion immediately crossed her face. Just as she was about to say something, in the next instant-

BOOM!!!

A massive bolt of yellow lightning descended from the sky beyond the wall, involuntarily drawing the eyes of all three toward it.

They couldn't see what lay on the other side of the wall, but white steam drifted into the sky, and an enormous head rose above the fifty-meter-high wall.

Its red flesh was exposed, and its eyes looked down at the people within the wall like a human looking at pigs in a pen.

At that moment, everyone in Shiganshina District looked up at the enormous Titan's head. The entire district fell silent. No one's mind could process the terrifying thing that had appeared before them.

Blank stares. Silence. The despair born of utter terror seeped out agonizingly slowly.

At that moment, humanity remembered the terror of being ruled by Titans.

BOOM!

Another deafening crash rang out. Huge rocks flew from the gate into the town. Dust and smoke filled the air as countless boulders soared overhead before raining down and smashing into the ground.

Bai Yu's eyes narrowed slightly. An enormous boulder was flying straight toward them. He reached out and pulled Xiate and Mrs. Yeager close before either could react. Gas blasted from behind him, and the tremendous thrust propelled all three away.

The instant they cleared the spot, the boulder crashed down. Carla's house collapsed in an instant, sending chunks of stone flying in every direction.

The three hit the ground hard. Only then did Xiate and Carla come to their senses, but neither felt any pain.

"Ladies, you're killing me. Please get off."

A somewhat feeble voice came from beneath them.

"Ah, Bai Yu!"

"Brother!"

Only then did Xiate pull Bai Yu up. His back burned, and every movement dragged what must have been scraped-raw skin against his clothes. If his cloak hadn't protected him, the back of his shirt would probably have been soaked in blood.

But Bai Yu reassured them as though nothing had happened.

Then Carla seemed to remember something and hurriedly looked toward the distant wall. The terror in her eyes was impossible to hide.

"The wall... the Titans broke through the wall..."

Her voice was full of fear and trembled violently.

"Where are Eren and Mikasa?"

Xiate asked when she saw that Carla was alone.

Only then did Carla snap out of her daze as she stared at the wall. As though forcing herself to stay calm, she murmured,

"Right, I have to find Eren. And Mikasa."

But as Bai Yu watched the figures running toward them from afar, he thought with relief,

Just in time.

"No need to look. They're here."

The two approaching were Eren and Mikasa. Seeing Carla unharmed, their anxiety and worry turned to joy, and the three held one another tightly.

But this was no time to celebrate their good fortune. Bai Yu smiled and drew his long blade from its sheath, watching the Titans gradually approaching in the distance.

"All right, Eren. Take Mikasa and Mrs. Yeager out of here!"

All three understood the situation they were in. Eren looked at Bai Yu, who wore Omni-Directional Mobility Gear and held a long blade in his hand. His mouth still carried that familiar expression of mild annoyance, but Eren could sense the sharpness in his eyes.

"Bai Yu, what... what about you? Aren't you coming with us?"

"There's still Senior Sister Shishi. You go ahead. I'll catch up in a bit."

But as he said this, he glanced at Xiate.

Xiate simply said calmly,

"Brother, go save Senior Sister Shishi. I'll leave with Eren and the others. You can come find us afterward."

Her words made Bai Yu pause for a moment, but he immediately understood. An enormous blond Titan was running toward them from nearby. This was no time to dawdle, and he didn't want to get caught up fighting a Titan.

"Of course. I'll go find Senior Sister Shishi."

Xiate gave him a look, then quickly ran off with Eren and the others. Although Eren had plenty of questions for Bai Yu, he knew this wasn't the time.

The tavern.

A woman who looked to be in her twenties huddled behind a counter. A Titan about four meters tall held a man in its grip. Ignoring his desperate screams, it tore him in half with a grotesque smile. Once he stopped moving, it swallowed him whole in a single mouthful. Bright red blood splashed onto the floor, and then all fell silent.

The woman hiding beneath the counter was the tavern's owner, Ishi Dovilis.

As she listened to the sound of the man being swallowed, her eyes filled with terror. She clamped both hands over her mouth, terrified that the Titan outside would discover her.

After a long while, things outside gradually quieted down. Only the distant rumble of Titans' footsteps remained. Hearing no movement nearby, Yishi slowly raised her head to check what was happening outside.

But the moment she lifted her head, an enormous face was looking down at her, staring straight at Yishi behind the counter with a grotesque smile.

In an instant, she could no longer suppress her terror. Her eyes went wide, and tears spilled uncontrollably. She kept pushing herself backward with her feet, shaking her head desperately as she screamed in fear.

"No, no! No!!!!"

But the Titan's grotesque smile grew increasingly ravenous, stretching all the way to its ears as it reached its huge hand toward her.