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056 The Titan of Fate
🕑 Added 2025-12-25 13:07:08 +0000 UTCRip—Yago tore off the sinew stuck to his face. Steam quickly billowed out as the traces of his connection to the Titan rapidly vanished.
Yago staggered along the street. In front of a shop, he finally couldn't hold on anymore and slowly slid down to sit against the wall.
The consecutive battles with the Titans had already drained a great deal of his strength. On top of that, in order to escape at the end, Yago had deliberately allowed himself to be bitten by a Titan so he could get away without exposing his identity.
As for why Yago didn't reveal the power of the Titan, he still had his concerns. He would wait until the right time to talk about it.
Before Yago could rest for long, a seven-meter-class Titan suddenly poked its head out from the street corner. Yago gave a bitter smile.
"Hey, that's not funny, is it?"
He tried to activate the Vertical Maneuvering Equipment on his body, but unfortunately, after soaking together with Yago inside the Titan's body, the equipment had malfunctioned. He squeezed the trigger, but the Vertical Maneuvering Equipment showed no response at all.
"Damn it, the Vertical Maneuvering Equipment really needs an upgrade. I wasn't even inside a Titan for that long," Yago complained. But he wasn't panicking at all. Against a seven-meter-class Titan, even without transforming into his complete form, it was more than enough.
The nails on Yago's right hand extended as the seven-meter-class Titan drew closer and closer.
Whoosh! Whoosh! Several sharp sounds tore through the air above Yago's head. Green figures rapidly closed in on the Titan. Blades flashed, blood sprayed from the Titan's nape, and it howled as it collapsed.
The emblem of interwoven blue and white wings, a dark green cloak—
"The Survey Corps?" Yago recognized them. It was the Survey Corps returning to Trost District.
A stranger from the Survey Corps came up to Yago and extended a hand.
"Are you alright, trainee?"
Yago took the support and stood up.
"I'm fine. My Vertical Maneuvering Equipment malfunctioned. The Survey Corps made it back just in time."
The Survey Corps soldier didn't say much. Seeing that Yago was basically fine, he activated his Vertical Maneuvering Equipment, flew up to the rooftops, and regrouped with the main force of the Survey Corps.
Watching the green figures occasionally streak across the sky, Yago felt much more at ease.
"Yago?"
A familiar voice. Yago turned around. Connie and Annie were following Jean Kirstein, who was carrying a blood-soaked body in his arms.
"Jean? This is… Marco? What happened?"
Yago recognized the person Jean was holding. Marco's face was pale, his body covered in wounds—especially his legs. Below the knee on his right leg, it was gone, as if it had been bitten off by a Titan.
Jean was frantic and said nothing to Yago, hurrying toward the rear while carrying Marco. Connie followed after him, leaving only Annie standing there.
"Annie, what happened?"
Yago had no choice but to ask the last witness. Annie glanced at Yago and explained,
"Jean's Vertical Maneuvering Equipment malfunctioned and he was surrounded by several Titans. Marco was grabbed by a Titan while trying to save him. By the time we got there, Marco's leg was already…"
Yago fell silent. He thought of Thomas and Ilse. At least Marco was still alive. When facing Titans, humanity was ultimately still the weaker side.
At that moment, Annie poked Yago and asked with some concern,
"You… are you alright?"
Yago said,
"Me? I'm the top trainee, you know. Just now I took down more than twenty Titans. What could possibly be wrong? Don't worry."
Annie tilted her head.
"Twenty? Where? Why didn't I see you?"
Yago choked at her words. He hadn't noticed that he had counted the results from after transforming into a Titan. Still, he shouted back,
"Only twenty. They just didn't run into me. If they had, I'd wipe them out in minutes!"
Annie looked at him quietly, as if saying, I'll just quietly watch you show off.
In the end, Yago couldn't keep it up anymore. Feeling a bit embarrassed, he asked if Annie could give him a ride since his Vertical Maneuvering Equipment was broken. Annie tried, but awkwardly discovered that because her body was rather petite, it didn't seem very feasible to carry Yago.
So in the end, enduring the awkwardness of the belts, Yago held Annie and rapidly flew toward Wall Rose. With the Vertical Maneuvering Equipment on her, nothing felt very comfortable for Annie.
Being held like that also made Annie extremely embarrassed, but she couldn't exactly leave Yago behind. After all, there were still Titans wandering around.
Finally reaching Wall Rose, Yago let out a breath.
"Put me down," Annie said softly.
"Oh! Oh!"
Yago hurriedly set Annie down, feeling a bit regretful at the same time. Damn those awkward belts—he hadn't gotten to really feel it properly.
After taking off the Vertical Maneuvering Equipment and belts, Yago returned them to Annie, and Annie also shoved the equipment she was holding into Yago's hands.
Watching Annie's departing figure, a very strange feeling welled up in Yago's heart. As he grew older, he felt that he was getting closer and closer to certain things.
Just after handing the damaged Vertical Maneuvering Equipment over to logistics, deafening artillery fire reached Yago's ears, continuous and unending. Yago knew this was the Garrison using fixed cannons to eliminate the Titans inside Trost District. With the breach sealed, the Titans inside the city had become trapped prey.
Yago found a secluded spot and sat down to rest. He closed his eyes, ignoring the thunderous cannon fire beside his ears, and drifted into a light sleep.
...
A night passed, and the cannon fire never stopped. It only gradually quieted down by noon the next day. Most of the Titans inside Trost District had already been eliminated by the Garrison's fixed cannons. The remaining Titans were where the Survey Corps truly shone.
It could only be said that the Survey Corps truly deserved to be called the most insane regiment. Their combat power was simply on a completely different level from the Garrison's. In just one afternoon, the remaining Titans in the city were completely wiped out. It was said that, at someone's strong insistence, the Survey Corps even captured two living Titans.
The battle to reclaim Trost District ultimately ended in humanity's victory. More than two hundred soldiers lost their lives, and nearly a thousand were wounded. Although the casualties were heavy, this was humanity's greatest victory in a hundred years and would surely be remembered by all.
......
Together with many other trainees, Yago wore a mask and gloves as he helped collect the bodies of fallen soldiers within Trost District. Most of the remains were already in pieces, but even more of the fallen soldiers had been buried in the Titans' stomachs.
Titans have no digestive system. After swallowing humans, once their stomachs are full, they vomit everything back up, forming a nauseating mass of mixed matter. In such cases, it's impossible even to identify the fallen soldiers.
Titan corpses evaporate, but soldiers' bodies do not. If they aren't dealt with in time, plagues could easily break out, leading to even greater danger.
Yago brought Thomas's and Ilse's bodies down from the rooftop and reported their identities to the Garrison soldier responsible for record-keeping.
"Thomas Wagner, 104th Training Corps, Squad 34 Vice Squad Leader. Ilse, 104th Training Corps, Squad 34 member."
Yago took one last look at their bodies, then turned and left in silence. In a corner nearby, Annie stared wide-eyed.
"I'm sorry…"
Behind Annie, Reiner said,
"Annie, what are you saying? We didn't do anything. Don't think too much about it. Come over and plan how to take Eren."
Walking along the road, Yago suddenly felt something and glanced toward a dark corner.
