Eren, you'd better be all right! Arthur thought as he lashed his whip over and over, urging Earl to run faster.
Beside him, Ymir's brow was tightly furrowed as she kept silently praying that Christa was safe.
Bang! A gunshot rang out, echoing through the vast forest.
"Damn it!" Arthur's expression changed. He hadn't expected the bandits to actually fire. He urged Earl to go even faster, but Earl was already panting heavily beneath him. Running at full speed for so long took an enormous toll on his stamina.
"Those bastards actually dared to shoot!" Jean had never imagined the bandits would dare fire on soldiers of the Training Corps.
The three rode toward the sound of the gunshot, reaching a clearing ten minutes later.
"Eren!" Arthur spotted the familiar figure, with the other members of his group beside him.
But they all looked bedraggled. They were covered in mud, and their Omni-Directional Mobility Gear was gone.
"Arthur!" Eren looked shocked to see him. He hadn't expected Arthur to find them.
"Are you all right?!" Arthur asked with concern.
"We're fine, but they took Christa!" Eren said urgently.
"What?! Say that again!" Ymir seized Eren by the collar in agitation.
"Ymir, calm down!" Arthur hurriedly tried to soothe her, but it did no good.
"Bandits attacked us just now. They held Christa at gunpoint and ordered us to hand over our Omni-Directional Mobility Gear. We obeyed to keep her safe, but we never expected them to take her with them." Eren explained everything that had happened.
"Damn it!" Ymir shoved Eren aside and moved to mount her horse to search for Christa.
"Ymir, calm down! Going after them like this will only get you killed!" Arthur grabbed Ymir, forcing her to stop.
"Let go! Christa's in danger right now!" Ymir said, glaring angrily at Arthur.
"I know! But are you sure you want to rush in like this? They have guns! You could get Christa killed, and yourself too! Do you understand?!" Arthur roared.
"I... I understand." Ymir froze at the sight of Arthur's anger, then gave a slight nod.
"Eren, roughly how many of them did you see?" Arthur asked. He still didn't quite trust what that bandit had told him.
"Eleven. Six had guns, and the rest had machetes." Eren told him exactly what he knew.
"Six gunmen... that's going to be a problem." Arthur felt a headache coming on. They were all flesh and blood, after all. Their only chance of beating firearms with blades was to take the enemy by surprise.
Arthur couldn't handle six gunmen alone, especially when they had Christa as a hostage. The fact that they dared target the Training Corps meant they were a bunch of desperate outlaws.
They had only spared Eren and the others to avoid making an enemy of the Training Corps. But if Arthur's group pursued them and backed them into a corner, they would definitely shoot to escape.
Arthur wasn't particularly afraid himself. With his current body, even if he was shot, he could recover in time to avoid dying as long as the bullet didn't hit his head, heart, or another vital area. Eren and the others were different. A graze might not be serious, but a shot to a vital area would certainly leave them wounded or dead.
"Damn it. If Mikasa and the others were here, we'd have a better chance." Arthur was troubled. He racked his brains for a flawless plan, but various factors ruled out every idea.
As if his wish had been answered.
Several people rode into the camp. Still on edge from the bandit attack, everyone instinctively assumed a fighting stance.
But their faces lit up once they recognized the newcomers.
They were Reiner, Annie, Bertolt, Mikasa, and the others from Group Three.
"Arthur, are you all right?!" Mikasa jumped off her horse and hurried over to him, asking with concern.
"I'm fine," Arthur reassured the anxious Mikasa.
"Arthur, what happened here? We heard a gunshot," Reiner and the others asked.
"Here's what happened..." Arthur briefly recounted the events.
When they heard that bandits had targeted the Training Corps, stolen Eren's group's Omni-Directional Mobility Gear, and taken Christa hostage,
they were all horrified.
"I was just struggling to figure out how to rescue Christa, but now I'm confident we can do it. Let's go. There's no time to lose. Eren, you and your group ride back and tell Keith. Mikasa, Reiner, Bertolt, Annie, Jean, Ymir, come with me to rescue Christa," Arthur said.
"Yes!" everyone answered.
Arthur soon led the others off, using his tracking skills to follow the wagon's wheel ruts.
"I'm sure a group of twelve won't be satisfied with just a few sets of Omni-Directional Mobility Gear. They'll definitely set another ambush farther along the road, so we'll turn their plan against them and catch them off guard."
"Mikasa, Reiner, Bertolt, and I will handle the gunmen. Annie, Jean, Ymir, you'll act as bait. Can you do that?" Arthur laid out his plan.
"No problem." They all nodded in agreement.
"Good. We'll follow the plan. The rest of you keep going. Mikasa, Reiner, Jean, let's use our Omni-Directional Mobility Gear." With that, Arthur activated his gear and slipped stealthily through the forest.
Mikasa and the others followed close behind, while Annie's group stuck to the original plan, continuing on horseback along the wheel ruts as bait.