Escape

Yishi stared in terror at the Titan before her, her expression utterly ravaged by fear. She screamed and shouted, but could only watch helplessly as its enormous hand drew closer and closer.

Slash!

With the sound of a blade slicing through flesh, blood sprayed from the back of the Titan's neck and splashed onto the ground. The hand reaching toward her stopped in midair, and the smile on its face froze.

Thud!

The Titan's corpse was kicked aside. A figure stood behind it and waved to her.

"Shishi!"

The familiar voice eased her nerves for a moment, and she slumped onto the ground. She wanted to say something, but she had no control over her body after barely escaping the grip of terror.

She could only sit there in a daze.

Bai Yu scratched his head awkwardly and looked around. A ten-meter Titan slowly passed in the distance, but the angle kept it from noticing them.

The other Titans were farther away, so they should be safe for the moment. Even so, this was no place to linger.

He had wanted to ask something, but then he noticed familiar clothing on half a corpse lying nearby. The words stopped on his lips, and his gaze dimmed slightly, though he had no intention of staying.

Bai Yu sheathed the long blade in his hand, walked over to Yishi, and crouched down. He found the right spot on her body and pinched it hard.

"Ah!"

Yishi cried out at once and twisted instinctively, which loosened the muscles in her stiffened body.

Before Yishi could say anything, Bai Yu crouched in front of her with his back toward her.

"Hurry, Senior Sister Shishi. We need to get out of here now."

Although Bai Yu had loosened her muscles, her involuntary scream had also attracted two nearby Titans. They were now advancing toward them, step by step.

Seeing the Titans drawing closer in the distance, she understood the urgency. She looked at the boy before her, who was younger than she was, but there was no time to think about that. She wrapped her arms around him from behind.

Feeling the weight on his back, Bai Yu found that she was not too heavy, thankfully. Watching the Titans nearby, he told Yishi to hold on tight while adjusting his Omni-Directional Mobility Gear. Carrying someone without making proper adjustments could cause trouble.

"Hold on tight, Senior Sister Shishi. If you start squirming once we're in the air, we'll both end up as Titan food."

There was even a hint of teasing in Bai Yu's voice, as though he felt no tension or fear at all. But her mind was in utter chaos, and she instinctively clung to the boy with all her strength.

Bai Yu felt her gripping him hard enough to nearly tear his clothes. He guessed the skin beneath might even be bleeding, but the strength of her grip reassured him somewhat.

He was not worried about her holding too tightly. He was worried she would not hold tightly enough.

"Get ready, Senior Sister Shishi. Here we go."

A moment later, with his Omni-Directional Mobility Gear adjusted, he drew his long blade again. A cable shot from his waist and anchored itself to a distant rooftop.

The cable mechanism at his waist reeled in rapidly, while the gas behind him provided thrust, sending them flying toward the river.

Once they were in the air, Yishi clung desperately to Bai Yu, terrified of falling, as hot wind swept past them.

Titans headed one after another toward the place where people were gathering in the distance, while others remained where they were, seemingly digging at something.

A Titan in the distance spotted them and reached for Bai Yu in midair, trying to catch him. Yishi's eyes widened in terror.

"Don't worry."

Bai Yu suddenly spoke and hurled the blade in his right hand. It spun rapidly through the air, followed by the sound of flesh being sliced open.

With the tendon behind its heel severed, the Titan lost its balance and crashed to the ground. It still stretched its hand toward Bai Yu with all its strength, but although it was alive, it could no longer reach him.

Killing that Titan would not have been difficult, but he still had Shishi on his back. He did not want her suddenly letting go out of fear and falling.

Right. Better safe than sorry.

With that thought, he drew another blade from its sheath.

Behind him, Yishi stared in disbelief at the boy she was holding.

He avoided two or three Titans along the way, never lingering to fight.

Fortunately, the river was not far away. He descended straight from the air, using the gas behind him to cushion the fall. Otherwise, a drop of over ten meters would probably have broken both his legs at the very least.

A river here led inside the walls, and boats could travel along it all the way into Wall Rose, the second wall. Boats were therefore stationed here to help evacuate the people of Shiganshina District.

The riverbank was already packed with people. Two large wooden boats lay by the shore, and the one in front had already begun to depart toward the area inside the walls.

Bai Yu spotted Xiate, Eren, and the others at the front of the crowd on the bank. They also saw him descending from the sky and hurriedly waved, but the pressing crowd swept them aboard the next boat, which had just docked.

Since Bai Yu and Yishi had arrived late, they could only remain at the edge of the crowd. Still, he could tell that nearly half the people here probably would not make it aboard.

There were not enough boats. Perhaps the people on the bank had realized this too, because they shoved toward the boats with even greater desperation, terrified of being abandoned here and eaten by Titans.

Bai Yu tugged his cloak into place and used his Omni-Directional Mobility Gear to fly directly aboard with Yishi. A soldier tried to stop him, but the crowd trampled the soldier, leaving him no choice but to give up on Bai Yu.

Before long, the wooden boarding plank between the boat and the riverbank was withdrawn. Many people still had not boarded, but the boat could hold no more.

Many people huddled in corners. Those aboard gazed at their Titan-occupied home with terror and the relief of having survived disaster.

Deep inside, they were filled with fear.

Bai Yu also squeezed his way to the corner where Xiate was. Yishi had gotten off his back and followed him in a daze.

At the sight of Bai Yu, Xiate hurriedly threw herself at him. She said nothing, simply hugging her brother tightly, while Yishi sat down beside them with her arms around her knees, her eyes dull and lifeless.

Eren and the others nearby gathered around as well. Seeing Yishi alone, Eren was about to ask something, but Mikasa held him back.

Yishi's father was the man who had been eaten in the tavern earlier...