The Fate Titan braced itself against a nearby building to keep its balance. Its torn-off right leg was rapidly regenerating, and thick steam poured from the countless wounds across its body, while its crimson gaze swept the surroundings.
"Annie, I'm counting on you this time. Don't be late," Yago muttered to himself from inside the nape of the Titan's neck.
Crack! The Beast Titan completely crushed the boulder in its palm, raised both hands high, and took a wide stance to prepare.
"What a pity. Annie really is the most suitable wielder of the Female Titan's power. I wonder if the next successor will be as reassuring as Annie."
With that, the Beast Titan suddenly hurled all the stones in its hands. Its long, ape-like arms provided maximum leverage, giving the Beast Titan enough time to impart terrifying acceleration to the rocks.
The stones tore through the air with piercing shrieks as they shot toward the Fate Titan. Every fragment thrown by the Beast Titan was like a miniature artillery shell—this was the terror of Marley's spear.
"Roar!" The Fate Titan reacted instantly, raising both arms and hardening them to shield its face and nape.
If the Fate Titan's eyes were destroyed, Yago inside the nape would lose his vision as well.
Its body was once again smashed to pieces by the Beast Titan's barrage.
And the Beast Titan's attack was also a signal. The Armored Titan borrowed momentum and charged like a raging bull toward the Fate Titan, while the Cart Titan fixed its gaze on the Fate Titan, ready to deliver a finishing blow at any moment.
Bang! The Fate Titan's shattered body stood no chance against the charging Armored Titan and was slammed deep into a nearby building.
Steam seeped from the Armored Titan's faceplate as it pressed its hands hard against the Fate Titan's head. The Fate Titan let out a futile roar.
"How boring." The Beast Titan scratched its fluffy head.
However, the yellow lightning that shot into the sky made the Beast Titan abandon its contempt.
"So it really inherited the Female Titan's power? It can still transform again in this situation?" Picking up two massive stones from the ground, the Beast Titan grew serious.
A hardened iron fist shattered the Armored Titan's faceplate, followed immediately by a kick that sent the Armored Titan flying. A brand-new Fate Titan stepped out from the original, mangled body.
After kicking the Armored Titan away, the Fate Titan raised its head.
"ROAR!!" It threw back its head and let out a defiant bellow.
But what answered that roar was a storm of incoming rubble. Bang! Bang! Bang!
Thus, the Fate Titan—having just restored its body—was once again beaten into a bloody mess.
"Damn it, can't you let me look cool for even a moment? Instant humiliation?" Yago complained inside the nape, using vague phrases dredged up from his hazy memories.
Unfortunately, there was no such luxury. The Beast Titan showed no mercy—having just finished one volley, it immediately followed with another.
Crack! A slightly larger stone smashed straight through half of the Fate Titan's face.
The Fate Titan instantly lost half of its vision.
The Cart Titan, lurking nearby, would never miss such a perfect opportunity. With a burst of power from all four limbs, it leapt from the blind side and landed squarely on the Fate Titan.
"Not good!" Yago realized it too late.
The Cart Titan opened its huge jaws and tore open the Fate Titan's nape before it could harden.
Seeing bright sunlight again from the darkened nape was certainly nice—but when that sunlight was framed by a Titan's mouth big enough to swallow several people whole, Yago felt the darkness of a Titan's nape was far preferable.
Still, Pieck's enthusiasm was more than Yago could handle. His left arm was clamped tightly in the Cart Titan's jaws, and he could feel the bones being crushed.
The pain assaulted Yago's brain. The Cart Titan had no intention of eating him—crushing his arm was meant to cancel his transformation. Aside from the Cart Titan, other Titan shifters cannot transform if they suffer severe injuries, because the Titan power prioritizes healing the user's own body.
"Did it work?" Bertholdt hesitated as he lowered his knife, and the Beast Titan stopped grinding stones.
At this point, it seemed Yago had lost the ability to resist.
"Cough, cough… Miss Pieck is really enthusiastic. But I don't plan on going back to Marley with you just yet." Blood seeped from Yago's mouth, his face pale from pain—yet he was still smiling in such a dire situation.
Did Yago still have a trump card? In the distance, a green signal flare suddenly shot into the sky. Seeing it, the smile on Yago's face grew even brighter.
The Beast Titan looked up and saw the green flare as well.
"That's the soldiers' signal? They've caught up?"
Seeing Yago still smiling, Pieck inside the Cart Titan's nape was at a loss for words and prepared to simply rip this strange man out.
Szzzt! Yellow arcs of lightning crackled across Yago's body, once again shocking the Cart Titan.
"He can still transform?!"
Pieck was practical—she rarely risked her life unnecessarily. She decisively released her bite and pulled back to create distance.
Steam billowed everywhere. Emerging from it was a half-formed Fate Titan, only half its body present. Some of its muscles weren't even covered by skin; only the head remained relatively intact. Clearly, Yago's stamina was nearly exhausted, and he could barely manage a partial transformation.
But who would this kind of transformation frighten?
The Armored Titan slowly stood up. Its faceplate was still shattered—its stamina was clearly running low as well.
At this moment, the Cart Titan suddenly spoke.
"This kind of resistance seems meaningless. You're only wasting your strength."
"Enough talk. Take him down immediately. The soldiers on this island may already be on their way!" the Beast Titan said sternly.
"Heh, it's not that simple!" Yago sneered from inside the shattered Fate Titan's nape.
The Fate Titan's relatively intact head lifted, jaws lined with sharp teeth opening wide as it let out a thunderous howl.
"ROOOAAAR!!!" The sound waves spread rapidly, and even Bertholdt reflexively covered his ears.
In an instant, the ground seemed to tremble faintly.
The tremors grew more and more pronounced. Bertholdt turned back in confusion, his pupils shrinking as clouds of dust billowed—countless Titans, at least twenty, were charging forward.
The Beast Titan noticed as well, stunned.
"How is this possible? I should've cleared out all the Titans around here long ago!"
Whoosh! A freak Titan leapt over ten meters into the air, vaulting past Bertholdt on the rooftop and lunging straight at the Fate Titan.
Bertholdt stared in disbelief, while the Beast Titan immediately realized this was a technique of the Female Titan—calling nearby Pure Titans. So it really was the Female Titan's power. But the question was, where did all these Titans come from? Could it be related to that signal flare?
The Armored Titan vented steam and planted its feet, preparing to break through the mass of Titans and seize Yago, but a scream from the other side made Reiner hesitate.
"Ah! Reiner! Save me!" Bertholdt shouted in terror as a ten-meter-class Titan grabbed him with both hands.
The Cart Titan scrambled several steps onto the tallest building nearby. Its combat power was weak to begin with—if it stayed in this horde, wouldn't it be torn to pieces?
The Beast Titan angrily hurled stones, smashing the Titans in front of it to bits.
...
While all the Marley warriors were tied down, a figure descended from behind the freak Titan tearing at the Fate Titan's body.
Twin blades flashed coldly. Revealing a pale, exhausted face, Yago said, "You made it just in time, Annie. Any later, and you'd be collecting my corpse."
Whoosh! The Vertical Maneuvering Equipment activated. Weaving past more than ten frenzied Titans, the cloaked Annie carried Yago on her back and swiftly escaped amid the chaos.