God & Demon -XIV (Patreon)

Chapter XIV : A Terrible Mistake

A few days before the expedition, Christa almost screamed with joy when she discovered Ymir's ring as she entered her room. Instead she threw herself into his arms, and kissed her passionately the tall girl blushed scarlet.

"Welcome to the family," she said, hugging her with all her strength, "I'm so happy for you."

"Thanks Princess," Ymir smiled, hugging her back, “it feels so weird to have a last name. Besides… I’m a little surprised he could do that, I mean, I doubt your grandfather would approve…"

"He wouldn't even approve of me," the little blonde snorted disdainfully, "we are our own family, it's something we both decided."

“So I guess it would be better if I didn’t shout that I have a name, now,” the tall girl laughed.

“That would be better, yes,” she agreed before showing a teasing smile. "But above all, it means that Amos trusts you enough for me to show you something."

With these words, the little blonde plunged her hand into the pocket of her jacket, and handed the object she was holding to her girlfriend.

Ymir froze in place when she recognized a ring similar to hers, she deciphered the name engraved on it.

“Historia,” she read aloud, “is that…?”

"That's my name," Historia smiled, "my real name."

The tall girl didn't answer, she took the ring from her girlfriend's hands and slipped it onto her girlfriend's finger.

“I guess we could say we're married now, Historia,” she said, smiling too. "Should we move on to the wedding night right away or would you rather wait?"

In response, the young girl placed her lips on those of the woman she loved, and began to remove her jacket. That night, Ymir Hannibal was the happiest person in Humanity.

(-)(-)(-)

The woods surrounding the Survey Corps HQ were thick and full of life. Since the fall of Wall Maria, the place had been classified as a protected environment, the only hunting authorized was that of possible predators which had once thrived there, such as foxes and wolves. Apart from these, the fauna had multiplied over the past five years, and all the animals born during this period were almost ignorant of the very concept of predator. But in the last three weeks, things had changed, because a terrible creature had made this forest his hunting ground, although he always hunted the same prey.

That prey was named Eren Jaeger.

The Shinganshina native had been led into the middle of the forest blindfolded and with thirty kilograms of weight distributed evenly across his body. There, he was given permission to remove his blindfold, and was instructed to return to HQ on his own.

This had been the training method devised by Amos.

But the primary difficulty of this exercise was not finding his way, no. During this training, Amos would appear out of nowhere to strike his friend with all his might, before eventually returning to the darkness while Eren recovered from the noble's terrible attacks. Of course, the Shinganshina native was allowed to defend himself and parry blows, but being thirty kilos heavier, his movements were far too slow to even hope to deflect an attack from Hannibal. To this day, and after almost three weeks of torment, Eren returned to HQ unconscious, broken and carried, because Amos was not so cruel as to let him sleep outside if he failed. But the nobleman had taken his idea of training very far, and had forced Jaeger to carry his thirty extra kilos daily, even when he was sleeping. Eren only took them off to shower, but water being a precious resource, he couldn't linger in the shower without incurring Levi's wrath.

Today was the day before the expedition, Eren was running as fast as his legs could carry him through the woods. He had a dislocated jaw, swollen left eye, broken right arm, and multiple wounds and bruises on his upper body. Six teeth were missing from his dangling lower jaw. Fortunately, he had managed to preserve his legs, the only limbs he needed to succeed in this exercise.

The first days had been nightmarish for him, because Amos had not hesitated to inflict the most intense physical pain Eren had ever endured, going so far as to break his knees, pierce his eyes and break his pelvis. . But Jaeger had not complained, and he had done everything to ensure that neither Mikasa nor anyone else learned of the abominable treatment the noble was subjecting to him. Only Levi knew, and even the Captain wasn't sure whether approving this method had been a good decision.

Eren didn't care about suffering, if suffering made him stronger, he would suffer martyrdom for years if it would allow him to accomplish his mission. No, what mattered to him was to succeed in this exercise for the first time today, because tomorrow it would be too late.

Amos suddenly appeared from the darkness to deliver a roundhouse kick to his abdomen, but Eren jumped back to avoid him and quickly deflected the punch aimed at his right eye. He then tried to push Amos away with a headbutt, but the tall blond didn't blink when their foreheads collided, he even let out a small laugh.

“Not bad, Eren,” he complimented before kneeing him in the stomach and returning to the shadows while his prey recovered.

Jaeger did not waste time looking for him, he set off again in the direction of the HQ which he had spotted a few minutes earlier thanks to a column of smoke.

And as he saw the stables, he felt a wave of relief that made him make the mistake of letting his guard down, and Amos came up behind him to crush the back of his knee with a heel kick. Jaeger let out a cry of surprise and pain as he collapsed to the ground, Hannibal took the opportunity to grab his other leg and break it without the slightest mercy.

After which, he crushed Eren's head, and left him there in the dust.

Jaeger, however, had not said his last word, with his last good arm, he began to crawl while whining like a wounded animal.

A good twenty... maybe thirty minutes passed before the native of Shinganshina saw the steps of the HQ on which Amos was quietly smoking. Meanwhile, his right arm and left eye had regenerated, and although he was still on the ground, he increased the intensity of his movements. When at last he reached the nobleman's boots, he clung to his clothes, and, with a furious look on his face, hoisted himself up to his height despite the fractures in his legs. "I got you!" he spat triumphantly before passing out from fatigue and pain.

Hannibal caught him before he fell and rolled his eyes.

“More like you got yourself,” he smiled.

He laid him down, straightened his legs, and waited for him to wake up.

(-)(-)(-)

Eren regained consciousness a good two hours later, he stood up, and found Amos with a book in his hand and a water bottle which he threw to the native of Shinganshina.

Jaeger drank in large gulps without a word.

“Take off your weights and stretch,” he told him, closing his book.

Eren obeyed too happy to finally be able to get rid of these thirty extra kilos. The weights kicked up a light cloud of dust as he let them fall from his clothes, and he began to crack his skeleton to relieve his body.

It was then that his eyes widened in surprise and he looked at his hands in disbelief. He felt so… light. He had never felt anything like this. His reveries were, however, interrupted by Amos' fist which he blocked at the last second when it was about to destroy his right eye socket. The noble did not stop there, and unleashed an avalanche of devastating blows that Eren parried or dodged with speed he did not know he had. Jaeger jumped back to stand on guard, believing that his friend was going to continue their training with a duel, but he was surprised to see the latter's smile.

"Excellent reflex, Eren." he smiled. "Training is over, you can go to dinner."

The native of Shinganshina could not believe his ears.

"Wait... wait, what was the training for?"

This time, the noble fixed him with a look that was half annoyed and half dismayed.

“Are you telling me you didn’t notice the change?”

"Well I did notice…," Eren defended himself, "but... well... can you explain to me so that I understand what happened to me, please?"

Hannibal sighed, but didn't stop smiling.

"The goal of this training was to condition your brain in order to develop your survival instinct."

Eren looked at him dumbfounded.

"To put it simply," Amos continued, "have you noticed how much your reflexes have developed?" "Yes."

"By hitting you as hard as I did, your brain developed a defense mechanism following the excruciating pain you were feeling, and which resulted in an increase in your parade reflexes. The weights I gave you trained your muscles considerably, because thanks to your regeneration capacity, they gained much more mass, since they required very little recovery time. Your speed has increased tenfold, as you have gotten used to fighting slowly over the past three weeks, but now, you finally have the speed you need to face actual fighters. Normally, this is not something that can normally be acquired in a month, but by exploiting your regenerative capacity to the maximum, it was achievable. By the way, I'm sorry that you suffered so much. Pain acts as an alarm in your body, so it was necessary to make you suffer so that your brain would prevent it by developing these famous reflexes. You following me?"

Eren looked at his hand, a smile as demented as it was satisfied appearing on his face.

“It was worth it,” he said honestly before throwing his fist into Amos’ face. The noble parried the blow, and raised an irritated eyebrow.

"You think you're funny?" he commented before parrying another attack.

Eren did not stop there, he unleashed a deluge of blows as devastating as each other, but his offensive proved completely ineffective, and Amos sent him to the ground with a knee to the abdomen, then he crushed his head under his boot.

"You' done? he asked, tired.

To his surprise, he heard Eren chuckle, he raised his foot.

"One day or the other," the shifter spat, "I will kick your ass, you can count on it!"

Amos threw his head back and burst out laughing.

“Stick to achievable goals like exterminating the titans,” he said, helping him up, “because I’ll do anything to make sure that never happens.”

Eren snorted amusedly, and walked alongside the noble towards the kitchens.

"More seriously though," Amos spoke again, "how are you feeling?"

Jaeger sighed in turn, and looked at his hand. "I'm freaking out, he admitted, clenching his fist, I've always dreamed of going on an expedition with the scouts, and now...

He interrupted himself, and continued:

"Actually it’s weird, I’m scared, but at the same time… I can’t wait.

“There’s nothing weird about it,” Amos reassured.

Eren nodded.

"Thank you."

"For what?"

"For training me during this month, I would never have reached this level without you."

Without waiting for a response Eren quickened his pace and disappeared into the kitchen, leaving Amos with his eyebrows furrowed.

"I hope I didn’t make a terrible mistake." he thought before following him.

(-)(-)(-)

Amos stood alongside Commander Erwin as the great Karanes Gate opened. The day had come, the 57th expedition of the Exploration Battalions was about to begin. He had to swallow all his feelings for this moment, only the predation was on his face. Everything else, everything else shouldn't matter. Especially in view of the multiple conflicts that clashed in his mind. But that did not matter for now, only predation mattered for the success of this mission.

"Forward!" Erwin roared as his scouts roared back.

The Survey Corps rushed into the territory of Wall Maria, ready to fight their first battle against their new enemies.

(-)(-)(-)

Riding alongside Commander Erwin on his first Expedition was not an honor in Amos' eyes, he knew perfectly well that Smith was doing this to monitor him, and perhaps test him. He would be content with it this time, it gave him the opportunity to observe the famous “Radar” formation developed by the leader of the scouts.

As they passed through a ruined village, Hannibal heard a continuous shaking and turned his head to the left. A ten-meter titan with an imposing paunch was lumbering towards the convoy of scouts. Two soldiers had already moved out of the formation to take him out before he went any further. So while there was no reason for Amos to worry, he was curious to see how the support team would maneuver to get rid of them.

But he barely had time to satisfy his curiosity, because Erwin was already giving his next order:

"Enemy Tracking Formation, in position!"

One by one, the scouts separated into their respective squads while the nobleman remained at the Commander's side. The tall blond, however, allowed himself to shout in the direction of Ymir and Christa before they rode away:

"Take care of each other! See you later!"

"Good luck Amos! replied the little blonde in the same tone.

"Leave a few Titans for us, blondie!" Ymir added with a smirk.

He nodded before refocusing on the road, ignoring the brief sidelong glance the Commander gave him.

"Interesting… despite her bastardy it is obvious that he cares a lot for her. But while this is remarkable for a noble, it might be a problem for a scout. However, his potential is impressive, I wonder what kind of soldier he will be after he gains some experience."

For his part, Amos only thought of one thing: from which direction would the enemy arrive?

The red smoke bombs didn't interest him, only black was likely to indicate the presence of a shifter, but it would have to be fired deep into the formation to reach the Commander.

After a long half-hour of racing, the signal that the nobleman was waiting for finally arrived from the South, in the form of a yellow smoke bomb and a messenger who arrived at a triple gallop towards Erwin.

"Commander! The right wing has been almost completely destroyed! An abnormal has penetrated very deep into the formation!"

The leader of the scouts immediately registered the information and simply nodded without deviating from their trajectory, for his part, Amos was already thinking.

"The enemy is much less subtle than I had anticipated, and if the other soldiers ever take him for an abnormal, it must be because he is not that different from normal titans, like Eren. That’s very good."

He paused briefly in his thoughts to look south.

"Historia is not very far from the right wing, fortunately I warned her about the real objective of this mission. She should manage to avoid the fight, but…”

He sighed internally.

"She always tried to make me proud, to live up to me. Even though I keep telling her that she never needed to do that... I hope she doesn't do anything rash… Kaa-san’s ghost would haunt me if anything were to happen to her."

(-)(-)(-)

Historia Hannibal galloped across the plains wearing an expression that embodied determination itself. Her sapphire eyes sparkled with an incandescent blaze, her hands were so tight around her reins that her knuckles had turned white. She quickly understood, seeing the numerous yellow smoke bombs, that the shifter(s?) that Amos had warned her about had arrived. And if she had given up on confronting them for obvious reasons, changing her trajectory was out of question. She had come across a fleeing horse in complete panic on her path, and after calming it and forcing it to follow her, she had seen the state of emergency purple smoke undoubtedly fired by the fallen rider. However, she had also noticed the cloud of dust heading straight in the same direction, feeling her heart burning and her blood boiling, she spurred her horse to go as fast as possible.

(-)(-)(-)

“There you go,” Jean announced with defeatism, “the state of emergency smoke has been fired. But I'm not sure that this is enough to convey our intentions."

Reiner nodded gravely.

"Armin? We still wait three minutes at worst, but we have to decide who will stay..."

"I will stay!" the little blond interrupted. "In return, I would like you to carry a message. Preferably to the Commander himself or to Amos…

"Watch out!"

Jean's warning cry startled the two blonds who turned around to widen their eyes in horror.

A twelve-meter titan was running straight in their direction, the dilated pupils of its demented gaze seemed to scream its famine, its frantic race was that of a desperate beast.

" Oh no!" Armin realized in horror. “The trees around are too low! And this thing is an abnormal, so it’s impossible to lure it with one of us, it will always follow the other two!"

"Fuck!" Jean swore along the same line of thought. "We're screwed !"

It was then that a war cry worthy of a valkyrie resonated in their ears, the next second, their hungry-eyed predator collapsed face down on the ground barely four meters away from Armin, the with his Achilles tendon severed.

The titan almost immediately raised his head and tried to grab the little blond. Reiner, however, had the presence of mind to pull him back, but it was now he who was exposed to the creature's grasp.

The distinct sound of an omni-dimensional equipment was heard, and a thick geyser of blood spurted from the back of the monster's neck, which collapsed for good this time. The three recruits watched as their tormentor began to evaporate, struggling to control their panting breaths, before raising their heads to discover the identity of their savior.

Historia heaved a very deep sigh to relax her muscles, and tossed back her hair as the blood of her prey evaporated from her face.

"Look at me, Amos!" She beamed internally while observing the Sun. “I will pulverize all obstacles that stand in my way, just like you taught me!"

She then noticed that the soldiers she had saved were three of her friends, and a huge smile lit up her angelic face as the red vapor finished dissipating.

"Hey boys," she said tenderly before emitting a little whistle, "need a horse?"

With these words, the three stallions she had brought trotted up to her, she got off her titan and brought them to her comrades.

The latters had their mouths open, their eyes bulging and their expression haggard in front of their savior.

"God!" Jean realized.

"A goddess!" Armin added.

"I want to marry her,” Reiner decided.

Historia blushed deeply as she noticed their expressions, but she felt as peaceful and light as a cloud in the sky. She was really very proud of herself.

“Come on,” she said, clapping her hands, “we need to get back to training as quickly as possible before other titans arrive."

If Armin noticed how much she looked like Amos while doing this he didn't voice his opinion out loud.

“Yeah,” Jean confirmed, getting back on his horse, “the order to retreat should be given soon."

“It won't be,” the young girl informed them, spurring her mount into a gallop, “the mission has only just begun."

"Eh?!" cried Kirstein, galloping up to her. "How do you know that?"

She just placed an index finger on her mouth and winked at them accompanied by a small smile.

Immediately a volley of green smoke rose into the sky, informing them that the direction of the formation had changed, but that the operation continued.

"But what does Commander Erwin have in mind?! Hey Christa! What is happening?!"

“Stop complaining,” she reprimanded in a stern voice, making them shudder, “and follow orders! Someone fire a green smoke bomb to transmit the Commander's maneuvers!"

Armin took care of it after nodding.

"If Christa is so confident it must be because she received information from Amos, for now we can only obey and follow the course of events. I wonder if… "

The little blond boy's eyes widened as he realized where they were heading and what it could mean.

"We never did take the road to Shiganshina. We continued east all the way, only deviating to avoid the titans. Which means… That the operation has a completely different objective."

He remembered the direction the female titan was taking, and clenched his fists around his reins.

"If I’m right, that means Eren is the bait… but it could also mean…”

He didn't dare glance in Reiner's direction, he couldn't give him the slightest sign that he suspected him. He already had a hard time believing it after the latter had removed him from the influence of an abnormal.

"I absolutely have to survive and tell Amos and the Commader, or in the worst case take Christa aside. This information must not die with me. But I can still be wrong... I hope I'm being wrong... I must not get carried away."

(-)(-)(-)

"Hurry up!" Erwin ordered. "We only have a short time before the target arrives! Place the cannons and arm them!"

"Yes, Commander!"

Perched on a branch within the forest of giant trees, Amos observed the maneuvers and preparations of the scouts with particular interest, however he was not convinced by one thing, and this did not escape the Commander when he joined.

“Singular choice of hilts,” he noted as he discovered the hoods that covered the young man’s sword hilts. "What is the cavity on the back of the hand for?"

“You will see,” replied the noble, without taking his eyes off the preparations.

Erwin raised an eyebrow.

"Are you by any chance having doubts about our plan?" he asked in a monotone voice.

“A few,” the tall blond admitted, “first of all it seems too much based on the fact that you're hoping for a shifter like Eren. But between the Colossal, the Armored and him there are already some big differences. Add to that that despite the progress he has made in recent weeks, I sincerely doubt that we have discovered all the secrets of his powers... There are far too many unknowns there, not to have doubts. And, with all due respect, Commander, it doesn't seem like you have a plan B planned."

Erwin nodded almost sadly, and looked back at the preparations.

"Unfortunately, there was little time to do better. The government put pressure on us to get the expedition done as soon as possible because they wanted quick results, as well as confirmation that Eren was indeed an asset to Humanity. Our limited budget and our lack of time and information have not allowed us to do better at present. We would have needed at least another month to put a second, equally solid plan in place."

Amos gritted his teeth.

“I guess you owe this pressure to my grandfather,” he growled annoyed, “it’s in his interest to see this expedition fail. Thus he recovers what he lost in court: the execution of Eren and his heir."

“That wouldn't be surprising, indeed,” Erwin admitted thoughtfully, “perhaps things would be different if we had the support of Lord Hannibal himself."

What he suggested did not fell on deaf ears, but Amos had to shake his head.

"That's a very bad idea, he informed her, still as annoyed, it's when a House changes hands that it is most vulnerable. And the other lords will not hesitate to pounce on the opportunity to recover its resources to take control. If he were to die tomorrow and I were to take his place, I would have a mountain of work on my hands before I could really help the Survey Corps. I would have to start preparing the ground by getting engaged to obtain the alliance of another family and by ensuring the solidity of political, financial and military resources. But even with all that it would take me months to stabilize my situation before I could help you, and I doubt our enemies will give us that much time."

“I see,” Erwin said, narrowing his eyes, “it seems our situation is forcing us to make some risky bets moving forward."

“I know,” Amos sighed.

He had made a few of his own after all.

(-)(-)(-)

(A week earlier)

"Eren?"

The shifter looked up from his work, he and Amos had been tasked with pulling out all the weeds in the garden shortly before the rest of the Survey Corps came to HQ. The noble had sniffed the air numerous times before speaking, searching for the scent of sweet almond milk from the soap he had given Levi, ensuring that the captain was not eavesdropping.

"Yes?"

"Keep a neutral expression and stay focused on your work please, I will reveal to you the real goal of the next expedition."

Eren widened his eyes in surprise, before following his comrade's instructions, he nevertheless felt a feeling of unease swell in his chest.

“I don't think I'm supposed to know that."

"I wasn't either, I guessed it and the Commander confirmed it to me. I think it is necessary for you to know this since you will be used as bait for the capture of one of our enemies."

Jaeger froze in place for a moment, before returning to work. But now he gave his friend his full attention.

"What do you mean by that?"

"Thanks to you, we now know that it is possible for humans to transform into titans. So it makes sense to theorize that the Armored and Colossal Titans are just like you: shifters. This would explain why the Armored did not appear during the Battle of Trost. If he had, he would have destroyed the gate to the Pink Wall and in that case we would have been totally screwed. This can only mean one thing: the discovery of your power was more interesting to them than the destruction of Humanity. So it wouldn't be foolish to assume that they will be after you in the future, and the expedition seems like the perfect opportunity to kidnap you. Knowing this we can push the theory even further: we have been infiltrated by human enemies, who undoubtedly had Sonny and Bean murdered in order to prevent us from knowing more about the titans. This is what the Commander meant when he asked us who the real enemy was."

The shifter tried to assimilate in a very short time the sudden influx of information that had been entrusted to him. His hands began to shake, his blood began to boil, and his rage began to take over.

"Eren?" the noble called without raising his head. If you want me to tell you more, you will do me the pleasure of controlling you right away, I don't want to have to handle you if you were to transform and lose control; I don't have my omni-dimensional equipment with me."

Jaeger swallowed hard, and tried to swallow the excess of emotions that threatened to take over his being. It took him a good minute, but he succeeded.

“Well,” Amos said, “as I told you earlier: the goal of this expedition is to capture one of the enemy shifters. For this the scouts will use you as bait until the trap set by Commander Erwin. This is why, unless the situation is extremely critical, it would be best for you not to transform."

"Why not?" the Shiganshina native asked in frustration. "If our target is like me I will be best able to defeat them."

"And how would you know that? You are still a novice in this field since you have only had a few weeks to train, for their part, the enemy probably has years of experience under their belt. Currently, you can last a good forty five minutes in your titan form while training, whereas at the beginning, you couldn't last more than twenty minutes. The target will certainly have a lot more stamina than you, a lot more techniques in reserve, and probably unique abilities like Colossal and Armored."

Eren gritted his teeth, but nodded nonetheless.

"What if the enemy is the Armored Titan?" he asked suddenly. "What if he was the one who tried to get me? According to reports, the shells did not do any damage to it, how could our blades pierce its shell in this case?"

"I sincerely doubt that we will have to deal with him," reassured the noble, "his armor may be infallible against our blades, but it is undoubtedly too heavy to allow him to move as quickly as our horses. In other words, it is not suitable for an attempted kidnapping."

Eren nodded again and began to think.

"Why didn't the Commander inform us of the danger if he is so sure of this theory? According to you, we are going to face an enemy more dangerous than any titan."

"Because there is a good chance that the enemy in question is or has a spy infiltrated within the Survey Corps. Also he can only reveal all the information to those who are completely trustworthy. But since it’s obvious that you’re not the traitor, I decided to share all of this with you.

The shifter felt his confidence return upon hearing this, his eyes shining with a determined glint.

"What do you want me to do?

Amos was really delighted to hear this question, if his comrade listened to him from start to finish instead of listening to his anger, their chances could only increase.

"First, you need to know that you will most likely see a large number of scouts die on this expedition. When this happens, I ask you to stay calm, not give in to panic or anger, and continue to follow orders no matter what. And this, even if the order in question is to run away."

Eren raised his head with bulging eyes of horror and incomprehension, Amos just shook his.

"Many will die for the sole purpose of protecting you that day, he explained, if you get caught they will all die for nothing."

"But if we don't capture the enemy, then what will they die for?" Jaeger countered, feeling the stress take hold of him.

“Calm down,” Hannibal commanded, “take a deep breath."

The shifter did as he was asked, before impatiently awaiting his comrade's response.

"What I am going to tell you will seem cruel and insensitive," warned the latter to the great dismay of the native of Shiganshina, "however it is the sad reality: if we lose half of the Corps, we will lose a tough battle, but not the war. If we lose you, we lose the war. This is now beyond doubt given our new enemies. This is why you must not take part in combat except in cases of extreme emergency."

"But I can help," the shifter protested, "why can't I fight alongside the scouts?"

"Because apart from me, no one has bothered to practice fighting with you," Amos sighed with annoyance, "they are all still too afraid of you to do it."

Jaeger took this statement like a hammer blow, and lowered his head in frustration and regret.

"That's why," the noble continued, "you must remain calm from start to finish, be patient without giving in to panic, while letting the scouts do their work. I would like you to remember the promise I asked you to make: whatever happens, whatever happens to me, you must keep a cool head and keep moving forward. The best service you can make to those who fall will be to continue the fight they have started."

The person concerned looked up, and felt his anxiety peak as he met his comrade's gaze.

"Amos… You…"

"Eren", he said with authority, placing a hand on his shoulder,"promise me. If I or any of our comrades were to die before your eyes, I want you to keep a cool head. Otherwise we will die for nothing."

"I…"

“Promise me,” the noble insisted in the same tone.

Jaeger was lost for words, the crushing weight of his responsibility and his past mistakes had returned to weigh on his chest. Which was ridiculous when he thought about it, all that was required of him was to control his emotions, to act like a soldier. But if Mikasa or Armin were to die before his eyes, he... He was far from certain that he would be able to maintain control. Even though he knew how important it was.

“I promise,” he finally said reluctantly.

He was well aware that there was no turning back now.

"Thank you."

(-)(-)(-)

Eren was absolutely terrified, however he tried to keep looking ahead, ignoring the terrifying female titan running after his squad. Around him, Eld, Petra, Oluo and Gunther were practically begging Captain Levi to allow them to go into three dimensions.

"There she is,” thought the shifter, “the enemy of whom Amos spoke."

Judging by the surgical manner in which she had exterminated the reinforcements coming from the rear guard, it was not difficult to understand that the female was an expert fighter.

"She's really fast,” he remarked worriedly, “and the look in her eyes… she's really desperate to catch me. Well, come get me, you titanic bitch!"

The apparent calm of the shifter did not escape Levi, who had just fired a smoke bomb into the air to signal their arrival to Erwi. And of his entire unit, Eren was the only one who remained silent.

"Either he has better self-control than I anticipated, or Hannibal has done something again."

The female titan suddenly accelerated, kicking up a veritable dust storm in her wake.

"Keep moving forward!" the captain ordered. "We're going to outrun her!"

"We can't,” Eren realized, “she's way too fast and it would sabotage the plan. We have to keep moving until she reaches our trap."

The shifter tightened his hands around his reins, staring obsessively at the right's back.

"I want to transform so badly… But I can’t. I have to keep baiting him for all the soldiers who died today, and all those who continue to die... Amos and everyone else have placed their trust in me, I can't fail them now!"

And that's when he saw it, the multitudes of cannons posted on either side of the small clearing they were crossing, Eren gasped with joy as he saw the female titan fall straight into their trap.

"FIRE!" Erwin yelled from his hiding place.

Immediately, an authentic storm of detonations resonated through the woods, and a deluge of grappling hooks fell on the target who barely had time to cover the back of his neck with his hands before being forcibly paralyzed. Eren let out a long sigh of relief when he saw her immobilized.

"We got it, it worked!"

"What the fuck do you mean by that, brat?!" Levi immediately growled, turning to glare at him. "Did you know about the trap?"

Eren instantly froze in place, and lowered his head slightly under the shocked looks of his squad.

“Hannibal…” the captain gritted through his teeth. "I'm going to go say a few words to this little shit."

He continued louder:

"Tie up your horses a little further and switch to omni-dimensional maneuver, I leave command to Eld. Stay a safe distance from this titan and don't let her see Eren, I'll entrust you with my horse."

With these words, he took off using his TDM and disappeared into the branches while his squad continued to gallop.

"Eren?" called Petra shocked. "Did you really know?"

“Yes…” he replied in a small voice. "Amos figured it out and thought it was better to tell me since I was the bait."

"Damn rookies," Oluo swore, "you do everything on your own because you think you're smarter than the others! I'm gonna beat you all up as soon as this fucking expedition is over!"

"Eren," Eld asked in a much calmer tone than those of his comrades, "did Amos know why Commander Erwin did not see fit to inform us?"

"Yes," he replied, "apparently there are spies among our ranks."

"I see," the blond nodded, "in that case it makes sense not to keep us informed. And to only trust the scouts who joined the Battalion before 845."

“Are you implying that Commander Erwin and Corporal Levi didn't trust us?" Petra asked, shocked.

"This has nothing to do with our service records," replied the temporary leader, dismounting to tie up their horses, "it was imperative to unmask the spy in our ranks, or to avoid providing them with too much information. This explains the Commander's question; if we had been able to answer it we would undoubtedly have been able to participate in the main operation, or at least have been exposed."

“Amos knew the answer,” Eren agreed, “and right after that he and the Commander had a private conversation. He didn't tell me about it until a week later."

Oluo snorted loudly in contempt.

"So the noblish didn't guess the plan, the Commander just explained everything to him from start to finish."

“No,” the self-confident shifter replied, “he figured everything out."

"How can you be so sure?" Gunther asked.

"Amos Hannibal is the smartest person I know."

(-)(-)(-)

Erwin and Amos were perched on the same branch when Levi came to join them, without warning, the captain grabbed the noble by the collar and forced him to face him.

“You little dumbass,” he growled irritated, “who gave you permission to tell Eren about the mission?"

Erwin turned towards them, not necessarily upset but curious to know what the young man had to say.

The latter raised an eyebrow, internally he was very amused.

"Little dumbass? Think before you speak. I'm taller and smarter than you, if I'm a little dumbass what are you? A retarded dwarf?"

"It was essential that he not freak out during the chase," he explained without batting an eyelid, "if he had given in to panic he would have transformed and ruined the whole operation."

He shrugged his shoulders before continuing:

"It was obvious that he was not a traitor, and since he was going to be used as bait I preferred to let him know. In my defense, no one ordered me not to do it."

The captain was clearly dissatisfied with this response, and the nobleman's nonchalant attitude was seriously grating on his system. He was about to insult him with a scathing retort when Erwin spoke.

"That’s enough Levi, release him."

The little man grumbled roughly but reluctantly complied.

“Recruit Hannibal,” the Commander continued in a firm voice, “although I can understand the reasoning that led you to act in this way, I order you to inform me of this type of decision before making them in the future. We cannot carry out a mission without knowing all the parameters. Today you were lucky that it didn't backfire on us, maybe you won't be so lucky in the future. Therefore, respect the chain of command and refrain from taking such initiatives."

Amos was clearly not happy to hear this, and let his superior know with a short look, he ended up sighing:

“As you wish, Commander." “Neglecting Eren’s psychological state is a recipe for disaster, not everyone is like Levi."

Satisfied, Erwin turned towards their target, and raised his sword.

"Fire!" he ordered again.

Immediately, a new volley of grappling hooks was projected through the flesh of the female titan, Hanji fired one straight into her left buttock.

"So what do you think?!" she exclaimed with her insane enthusiasm. "Even if it pisses you off, there's nothing you can do about it! You will never be able to make the slightest movement again! With this mechanism, the more your wounds close, the harder your joints become."

With these words, she began to giggle frenziedly. A disturbing noise to Amos' ears, but the latter ignored it to concentrate on the nape of the female titan. Nape that Mike and Levi hastened to attack in order to remove the shifter it contained, unfortunately for them, its hands were covered with a layer of crystal against which their blades shattered. Seeing this, Erwin and Amos simultaneously raised an eyebrow.

The noble then jumped from his branch to take a closer look at the strange material that the female had used to protect herself, he knocked lightly on it.

“It looks like diamond,” he informed loudly enough for every scout present to hear, “it’s probably just as strong.”

"It suspiciously looks like the luminescent rock that we use to light up the bases of the Interior Police... And yet I visited the mine from which it was taken. What does it mean ?"

The Commander grimaced, but nodded nonetheless before considering their next move, meanwhile Amos was thinking:

"If she had faced Eren, she probably would have smashed him given how strong her fists are, I wonder if he can do the same thing or if it's an ability unique to this particular titan. Is the armor of the Armored that strong?"

He kept his questions for later, and came to set foot on the ground right in front of the female titan. He took a moment to examine the expression on her face.

"Hmm... She's terrified... Well, maybe that means she doesn't have any escape moves in store. But it would be better not to declare victory too soon."

It was then that the prisoner's steel blue gaze fell on him, and he easily detected the sudden hatred that emanated from it. The female titan let out a cry of rage and tried to free herself while keeping her eyes fixed on Amos, the scouts stiffened and stood on guard following her reaction, the noble himself took a step back out of pure reflex and raised his blades.

Fortunately for him, she was too well imprisoned to succeed in attacking him, and she gritted her teeth at her helplessness. A reaction that escaped no one.

"One of your old conquests, noblish?" Levi said ironically, landing on their victim's head.

For his part, Erwin was very serious, he stared at the young man with interest.

"Could it be that he knows her?"

Amos lowered his blades, and glared at the female titan who gladly returned it.

It was then that he noticed something, something that forced him to use all his self-control not to let his facial expression show anything.

"Wait a minute… That jaw, those cheekbones, that nose, those eyes… Annie!"

If outwardly, his defiant grimace was preserved, inwardly he was haggard as he really had difficulty believing what he saw.

"That look too…” he thought in shock, “it’s the famous icy look that scared almost the entire 104th… I can’t believe it… Annie…”

The latter tried once again to free herself but without further success, she looked down at the nobleman with all her hatred.

“I’m such a fucking moron!" Amos reprimanded himself violently. “The few times I helped her clear her head must have strengthened her resolve! Bloody Hell! How could I let my guard down so much?! Damn, what other enemy have I done a favor for?! What the… FUCK!"

Hannibal managed to swallow his emotions for the moment, he must not let Annie understand that he had unmasked her. So he contented himself with giving him a mocking smile which only added fuel to the inferno burning in the female titan's gaze. Afterwards, he returned to Commander Erwin's side, who was impatiently waiting to hear his findings.

“Later,” he whispered out of the corner of his mouth, “if she can harden her hands she can probably harden other parts of her body. You have to explode her wrists and elbows simultaneously, so you might have an opening to attack her neck.

Smith took a second to think, before ordering one of his subordinates beside him:

"Let squad 2 aim for the wrists, squad 3 will aim for the elbows. On my signal, fire simultaneously."

"Yes, Commander!"

Perched on the Female Titan's head, Levi was secretly gloating. This dirty bitch had killed nearly a hundred of his comrades, and he was delighted to be able to make her pay for her crimes.

"Oi! Don't you want to come out now? We don’t have all day. Personally, I have a castle to clean for a little shitty noblish."

He glanced in the direction of said noblish before returning to her.

"Say, do you know what we’re going to do with you? Do you think you will be able to get out of this situation? Think about the trouble you're causing us."

"What is this idiot doing?" thought Amos from his branch. “If he scares her too much she might very well decide to end it rather than succumb to our torture or cooperate to save her own skin. What are we going to do if she ever has poison in her pocket?"

"By the way," Levi continued, "you killed my men in plenty different ways, did you enjoy it? Because I'm having fun here, I'm sure you see what I mean. Ah, and I wanted to ask you a question: you don’t have a problem with your limbs being cut off? They'll grow back anyway, right? Your real limbs. Because it would be damn annoying for us if you died."

The Female titan's eyes shone with terror, an expression that was not lost on Amos, who was trembling with anger.

"What a buffoon! Don't push her to her limits! You have no idea what she could…”

Too late... the titan had made her decision, she took a deep breath, and uttered the most powerful, shrill, and terrifying scream the scouts had ever heard. Its sound waves reverberated through the woods until they reached beyond the treetops and forest boundaries. Amos clapped his hands over his ears and looked at their prisoner in horror.

“Damn,” Levi growled, “you really freaked me out."

Immediately, Mike landed alongside the Commander and Amos, looking worried.

"Erwin! I smell them!"

"Smell what?"

"Which side ?

"On all sides, in large numbers! And all at the same time!"

The leader of the scouts widened his eyes with worry, which did not bode well in the eyes of the noble.

"Annie,” he thought, looking at the Female Titan, “what did you do?"

Less than a minute later, a low growl was heard, and a troop of titans emerged from the woods to rush towards their prisoner.

A few scouts tried to lure them, but the creatures ignored them and continued their course.

What is… ? blurted one of the soldiers. Are they deviants?

"“No, they are not deviants. They received an instruction, or at least a call. What will they do ? Defend it? If she could control them a long time ago, we'd all be screwed... so what? »

As if to answer her question, a three-meter titan lunged at the female's leg and began to devour her. Erwin and Amos froze in place when they discovered this.

"Is she trying to kill herself?" the nobleman thought with wide eyes. "Fuck!"

It was then that a real swarm of titans appeared from all sides and rushed towards their prisoner.

"“Annie…”

For his part, the Commander reacted quickly:

"Everyone, attack! Defend the Female Titan!"

"Useless,” the noble raged as the monsters pounced on their target, “there are far too many. Damn, Annie! Is this really how you want to end it?"

One by one the titans feasted jaw-droppingly on the flesh of the Female Titan, despite the scouts who tried to push them back with blades. Amos watched helplessly as their target was devoured by the monsters in an ocean of blood, flesh, and steam. His hands tightened on the hilts of his swords, and a furious grimace appeared on his face.

"Bitch… I never would have believed you capable of such a thing… You always seemed to me far too selfish and obsessed with survival to kill yourself…”

These last thoughts froze him in place, while the Female Titan had her head ripped off. Annie had always been far too selfish to die like this, it didn't fit at all with who she was. She was a survivor… which meant…

An abominable presentiment manifested itself in the form of a stream of cold sweat which ran down the noble's back, his eyes widening in horror.

"You fucking bitch!" he roared inwardly as he flew off in the direction Levi squad had fled. “You really got us good!"

(-)(-)(-)

Amos hovered as high as possible, thus remaining out of sight and out of reach of a potential threat.

"How to find them?" he reflected. “They probably followed a very specific route in case a threat loomed. Besides, how does Annie plan to find them?"

As if to answer his question, the sound of a smoke gun was heard, Amos climbed to the highest branch of the largest tree at his disposal, and saw the green smoke rising into the sky a few hundred meters away from his position.

He turned his head back to see the multitude of blue smoke fired in the distance.

"Well played,” he groaned inwardly, “you pretend to be an ally in order to attract them to you rather than chasing after them. The Levi squad must still think that you have been caught and will only realize the deception at the last moment."

At this moment, another green smoke bomb was fired, inadvertently indicating Eren's position to the enemy.

“Fuck,” Amos growled. " What to do? I can't catch up with them before her without taking the risk of running into her. I could also fire a smoke signal, but it is not certain that they understand my intention and I will ruin my element of surprise. For now, all I can do is follow her from afar in order to intervene if necessary. Running away is the best option, but if Annie has any juice left, combat will be inevitable."

With these thoughts, he set off again in the direction of the green flare, but kept a certain distance and a certain height in order to hide his presence. Unfortunately, he quickly heard screams of panic and anger. Amos frowned in frustration, before activating one of the controls he had added to his right handle, immediately a much greater quantity of gas than normal was instantly released in one go, and propelled him at full speed.

(-)(-)(-)

A dull fear mixed with an overwhelming panic had seized Eren's heart. Less than a minute ago, he was enjoying the capture of the female titan while heading off to join Captain Levi with his squad. Then everything quickly changed, a hooded figure appeared out of nowhere and took Gunther out without him being able to do anything. His comrades instantly pulled themselves together and urged him to continue advancing, but the enemy was not far behind them, and was dangerously gaining ground.

"Who's there?!" Petra shouted.

"Protect Eren! Eld ordered.

"Shit!" Oluo cursed. "What are we doing? Where are we going?"

"We don't have time to find the horses! the group's temporary leader growled. Rush to the HQ as quickly as possible."

Unfortunately for them, their attacker followed them without difficulty, and undoubtedly had a better reserve of gas, so it was impossible to lose him.

"Is this the occupant of the female titan?!" Oluo shouted. "Or is it another enemy?!"

Petra didn't seem to have heard him, her attention was entirely focused on Gunther's killer.

"Bastard!" she roared. "Come on! I'm going to destroy you, even if it means dying too!"

Amos came rushing out of the woods as soon as she finished her sentence, and mercilessly pierced the enemy's back while Levi Squad looked on in astonishment.

Completely possessed by predation, the young man supported himself on his victim’s back with his foot and withdrew his blade, slashing her left side, sending her attacker crashing to the ground.

"Amos!" Eren shouted, relieved.

"Keep moving forward! the noble barked, propelling himself towards them. "I'm not sure I got her!

The scouts did not need to hear it a second time and maintained their course, a flash of lightning came to illuminate the area five seconds later.

“Parasite,” the tall blond hissed. “I cut out her heart and left lung and she’s still alive…I should have gone for the head."

The Female titan emerged from the woods like a devil emerging from Hell and resumed her frantic chase.

Amos gritted his teeth in anger and replaced his dull blade.

"We can't escape anymore!" he announced. "We must face her here and now!"

Eren nodded nimbly and brought his hand to his mouth.

"No!" Eld suddenly ordered when he saw him. "The three of us will take down the female titan! You two head back to HQ as quickly as possible!"

Amos' eyes nearly popped out of their sockets.

"You won't be able to defeat her without Eren!" he protested strongly.

"I can fight too!" Eren added.

"No way! This is the best strategy! It's too risky to use your titan strength!"

"It’s a risk you have to take!" the tall blond insisted.

"What are you implying kid?" Oluo said offended. "Do you doubt our combat skills?!"

"You have so little confidence in us?!" Petra asked, startled.

The terror was easily read on each of their faces, however they all seemed more panicked at the idea of seeing Eren lose control than at the idea of facing the enemy behind them.

Amos was so angry and frustrated that he was very close to exploding.

“You are not capable of killing her,” he replied in a cold voice, shocking all his comrades. "She has the power to cover her body with a layer of crystal as hard as diamond against which our blades shatter. She can attract other titans by letting out a simple cry. She has much more endurance and experience than Eren, she will not hesitate to use all means at her disposal to get rid of you, and she undoubtedly still has aces up her sleeve, powers of which we know nothing. Attacking her with just the three of you is simply suicidal. Let Eren transform."

"Please," the latter added in a pleading tone, "trust me."

Eld considered these words, he glanced briefly in the direction of Petra and Oluo before shaking his head.

"Thank you for this information, we will use it wisely. Now get back to HQ as quickly as you can, that's an order," he finally decided.

Amos and Eren couldn't believe their ears.

"Did you hear that rookies?" Oluo said. Take your panic and go home! Leave it to the pros!

“Eren, Amos,” Petra said firmly, “obey orders."

For his part, Hannibal felt like he was being slapped for being right, he felt his blood boiling in his veins.

"You idiots! You fucking idiots! You have to take risks in a situation like this! Don't hide behind the option that could offer you the ideal scenario!"

“Very well,” he finally replied in a monotone voice before grabbing Eren by the cape, “good luck.”

Jaeger wanted to protest, but Amos forced him to continue forward while Levi's squad attacked the enemy.

"Wait!" the native of Shiganshina shouted to them.

He was ignored.

"Keep moving forward," the noble commanded, taking a deep breath to calm his own frustration, "we will have to find the perfect field to face the Female Titan."

Eren's pupils immediately widened in fright.

"D-Do you really think they’re doomed?" he asked, stammering.

Hannibal lowered his head, grimacing.

“We're not immune to a good surprise,” he admitted without conviction, “but I'm not very optimistic."

Jaeger felt his heart tighten, panic now threatened to take hold of him.

"But… what can we do?"

"What do you want us to do?" the furious noble growled. "I warned them, I gave them all my useful information and they still chose not to trust us. If we disobey orders, we risk triggering a mass panic, during which they may very well choose to forcibly remove you from your titan rather than use you. And the Female Titan will take advantage of this to capture you."

Eren glanced back, Oluo and Petra had managed to pierce the enemy's eyes, forcing her to lean against a tree to protect her neck. The scouts immediately followed up by starting to cut the muscles in his shoulders.

"They're getting her!" the relieved Rogue cried. "The Female titan is cornered!"

"Don't declare victory too soon!" Amos immediately reprimanded before observing the scene in turn. “Looks like Annie’s been very reckless to let them gouge her eyes out so easily, that's to be expected, after all she spent the last 80 minutes effortlessly slaughtering scouts. But she should have known that the squad responsible for protecting Eren would be tougher."

It was then that he noticed a detail that made him raise his eyebrows in surprise, then he started grimacing with anger again.

"Damn... She can do that...?"

"Do what?" Eren asked, petrified.

"The steam only rises from one eye."

"Come on!" Eld shouted as he attacked again. "Now we're slashing her neck!"

Immediately, the female titan opened her right eyeball, and bit the body of the scout with her teeth under the horrified gaze of her comrades.

"Eld!" Petra screamed in horror.

Eren screamed too, he tried to turn back but Amos grabbed him firmly by the shoulder and forced him to continue forward.

"What are you doing?!" Jaeger shouted. "They are going to die!"

"Remember your promise! replied the noble. "Whatever happens, you have to keep a cool head! We can lose half the Corps but we can't lose you!

"But…"

"Eren! If we intervene now she will have the advantage! We’re going to face the Female Titan, you and I, but under more advantageous conditions than these, otherwise we will die and all these sacrifices will have been for nothing!"

Jaeger looked at his friend with shock and indecision, then he noticed the expression on his face, and despite the situation, he found it hard to believe his eyes.

"He's desperate..." the shifter realized, baffled, "...and terrified...this is the first time I've seen him like this...why? What do you want from me ?"

Behind them, they heard Oluo shout:

"Petra! Get back into position!"

A hideous crack followed this warning, the two young recruits grimaced and lowered their heads upon hearing it, Eren felt his eyes water.

"Petraaaaa!"

Jaeger felt as if his heart had just been torn in two, he closed his eyelids, letting his tears flow down his cheeks.

Then his eyes widened.

"He wants me to trust him,” he suddenly realized, “like he has trusted me until now."

The shifter took a deep breath, and hit his head with the hilts of his swords.

"Keep a cool head,” he repeated to himself, “the rage goes to the fists, to the fists."

He then turned to his friend, his gaze as resolute as it was tearful.

"What’s the plan?"

Amos breathed a genuine sigh of relief when he heard it.

"Thank you Eren, I’ll make it up to you."

"First we need to find the ideal place for our tactics. Time is a luxury that she does not have, the longer the fight lasts, the more likely we will receive reinforcements, the more tired she will become and the more likely she will make mistakes. We'll play defensive to start with to make her panic a little, then we'll attack."

Behind them, Oluo was slammed with a deadly kick, his corpse landing in a pool of his own blood.

Eren gritted his teeth so hard that they almost cracked, but he raised his head and tried to stay focused.

“It could work,” he finally announced, choking back tears, “she looked desperate to catch me."

"Excellent, we're going to use her desperation to force her to fail. For now we keep moving forward until we find the ideal place."

The Female Titan scanned the trees with her single eye, before spotting the fugitives and immediately pursuing them again, Amos looked back to observe her carefully.

"She cannot afford to lose sight of her goal,” he noted, “she rushes to the point of neglecting her regeneration. Good, that gives us more time and hopefully it will tire her out more than expected."

It was then that he spotted the perfect place to battle: a clearing large enough to grant Eren mobility and with enough branches to allow all of Amos' omni-dimensional maneuvers.

"Over there!" he shouted to his comrade who automatically followed him.

The Female Titan skidded on the ground to correct her trajectory, and got dangerously closer.

"Now Eren!" shouted the noble, flying away from his friend. "Transform!"

The shifter didn't need to be told again, he bit his hand with his teeth and let himself be enveloped in a light that was as devastating as it was blinding.

The Rogue Titan returned, and unleashed his rage with a powerful roar that shook the giant trees.

(-)(-)(-)

Eren's angry roar echoed throughout the entire forest, reaching the ears of all the scouts.

Mikasa would recognize this roar among a thousand, her blood raced, and she rushed in the direction of the source, ignoring Sasha's calls.

For her part, Historia's eyes widened as she realized what that meant, and knowing Amos he was probably in the middle of the fray. Without thinking, the little blonde broke away from her squad despite Nanaba's protests and fluttered without looking back.

Ymir felt a shiver run down her spine, she gritted her teeth and headed straight towards the direction where the scream came from. If there was a battle between shifters, Amos wouldn't be far away, and Historia would hurry to join him. The tall girl felt her heart racing at this prospect, she would never admit it out loud, but she would rather be eaten than let her family die.

(-)(-)(-)

The Female titan stopped in her tracks when she saw the Rogue appear, multiple columns of steam escaping from her body, signifying that her regeneration was in progress.

Amos landed on Eren's shoulder, and aimed his smoke gun at the sky.

A purple flare signifying a state of emergency rose through the branches, the female widened her single eye as she realized what it meant.

The noble and the Rogue exchanged a look.

"She's starting to realize she has less time than she expected, so let's stay defensive until she panics and gets frustrated to the point of being reckless. We only need one opening to end this, let's wait for her to give it to us."

Eren nodded slowly, then stood on guard before glaring at his opponent with his sparkling green eyes.

For his part, Hannibal gave a mocking smile.

"You have to win the psychological battle before you get to the carnage, and psychology has never been your forte, Annie. Now it’s just the three of us, let's see how you do."

The latter gritted her teeth in anger, and waited patiently for her wounds to heal.

The two giants circled each other with terrifying calm, until the steam emanating from the Female finally faded, and her second eye opened again.

“She’s coming,” warned the noble.

Eren was ready.

The enemy charged the Rogue and tried to feint with her left fist to land a powerful right hook, unfortunately she was destabilized by a smoke grenade in the face before being able to carry out her movement, the native of Shiganshina pushed her back with an uppercut to the chin that sent her rolling backwards until her back slammed into a tree.

"You miserable bitch!" the shifter roared in his head as images of all his fallen comrades danced in his brain. “We’re going to rip your head off!”

Amos threw his cape back, thus discovering two rows of three large cartridges hanging on each of his thighs, he lodged two of them in the cavities of his sword hilts with a rapid movement.

“We’ll start with the Delta maneuver,” he announced.

Eren didn't need to hear more, and slowly advanced towards his enemy.

The latter got up with a furious look and came to meet him. Amos performed a backflip to disappear behind the shoulder of the Rogue who armed a right hook. The noble thrust his grappling hook between Jaeger's knuckles, and was propelled behind the Female when he brought down his attack on the face of the latter who dodged by tilting her head to the side. She responded with a kick to the abdomen with her heel which made the shifter step back, spitting out a squirt of drool, but he recovered and gave her a left hook which she dodged in the same way. What she didn't see was Amos' grappling hook which had just stuck between the knuckles of Eren's left fist. The Rogue quickly retracted his arm to pull his friend towards him, the Female only noticed the cable at the last moment, and had her right eye cut out the moment she turned her head. Eren stroke her face with his other fist before she even had time to scream in pain.

The noble went around his ally's back to return to perch on his shoulder while the enemy took several steps back.

"Beta!" he yelled, jumping on the Rogue's wrist to anchor his grappling hooks there.

The latter uttered a devilish roar before projecting himself forward to deliver a right hook to the Female who dodged before attempting to devour Amos. But the noble extended one of his guns towards her and sent a volley of ultra hard steel bullets into her last eye. She threw her head back before trying to blindly crush the tall blond with the flat of her hand, Eren parried her attack with his forearm, before grabbing her by the hair and delivering a headbutt to her in the face that sent her crashing to the ground. The Rogue waited a second for his ally to fly towards the trees, before throwing himself at his enemy, screaming. He held her down by the shoulders, and dealt her a punch which she narrowly dodged by shifting her head blindly. Unfortunately the attack was too powerful, and Eren broke his arm while shattering the earth.

"You bitch!" he roared, cocking his other fist. " I'm going to… "

"Eren!" called Amos. "Back off! Quickly!"

He reacted automatically, and jumped back. Just in time to see the Female's right eye open again, she accompanied his jump by planting her heel into his chest. The Rogue rolled onto his back away from his opponent, but got up quickly enough. The nobleman landed on his shoulder.

"How's your arm?" he asked, examining the smoking limb.

The titan raised his broken hand to see how quickly it was healing, before nodding.

However, the tall blond noticed the beads of sweat beading along his forehead, and grimaced with displeasure.

"It’s annoying, the violent emotions he’s feeling must have weakened him faster than expected. Where in the Goddesses' name are the reinforcements?!"

In front of them the Female Titan struggled to her feet and glared at them with her single eye before tearing the remains of her visual organ from her left eye socket.

If Eren raised an eyebrow, Amos furrowed his.

"Damn… I had hoped that the bullets lodged in her eye socket would lower her vision once her left eye regenerated, but she read my game.”

It was then that the enemy let out an angry growl, and her fists gradually became covered in crystal. The nobleman gritted his teeth.

"It seems that her patience has reached its limits, she is going to attack with the sole aim of killing."

Time slowed as Amos' emerald pupils grew deeper.

"Eren?"

The Rogue titan looked down at him.

"Listen to me very carefully, we're going to take her out for good, but for that you're going to have to take a hit."

Jaeger nodded, eager to finally slay this murderous bitch.

The female waited patiently for her left eye to heal while circling around her prey, before launching into the attack one last time.

Amos reacted first by throwing another smoke grenade into her face, but despite her blindness, she anticipated Eren's surprise attack and outpaced him with a left hook that tore off his lower jaw. Unfortunately for her, the Rogue recovered almost immediately. He grabbed her stiffened fist, and went behind her to slip his right arm under her right armpit before grabbing the back of her neck. By reflex, she covered the latter's skin with crystal, thus diverting her attention from her left arm firmly held and outstretched by Eren.

Amos swooped down from the sky and severed the tendons of that same arm. Immediately, the Rogue took advantage of the fact that the limb was weakened to pull with all his strength, uttering a disjointed bestial roar following the loss of half of his jaw. The Female tried to struggle, but she was firmly held by the grip of the native of Shiganshina whose Titan had superior physical strength.

At the cost of a last effort, Eren managed to tear the stiffened fist from the enemy who screamed in pain. Without wasting a single second, he struck his victim with his new improvised weapon, using his grip on her neck to prevent recoil and thus maximizing the power of the impact. Which was a trick he had learned from Annie.

The Female's jaw was reduced to a mush of teeth, bone, flesh, blood and steam. But more importantly, it was now wide open.

However, she finally extricated herself from the Rogue’s hold, and attempted to deliver a stiffening punch to him. Amos then appeared from behind Eren's head and fired into each of her eyes, blinding him once again and slowing his attack enough for the scout titan to dodge.

"We’ve got you now!" Jaeger roared, trapping her tightly in a hug.

Knowing she was in danger, and being unable to free herself from the grip of his attacker with the sole strength of his right arm. The Female chose to take cover by stiffening her neck once more, as Amos had predicted.

" Idiot!" Eren triumphed as his friend walked around them to get into position. “Did you think you could hide forever?! We have another way to reach you!"

He then noticed that his victim had her head down, understanding that his ally needed a better opening, he headbutted her to force her to throw her head back.

"Excellent initiative, Eren,” the noble smiled when he saw him, “that will make my task easier."

Amos swung from one shoulder of the Rogue to the other before quickly rewinding his grappling hook to throw himself upwards, his target was in his line of sight: the pulverized and wide open mouth of the Female.

With a sadistic smile, he reached behind his back and pulled out a good sized grenade.

"Now I just have to throw my little pineapple straight down your throat to throw you out of your neck. I hate it when people make fun of me, Annie! I'm going to pay you back by blowing up your head!"

As he got closer to his goal, he and Eren had a common thought:

"You're ours!"

It was then that the metallic ringing of a breaking blade resonated in their ears, disrupting the momentum of one and the concentration of the other.

(Thirty seconds ago)

Mikasa sped through the woods like a shooting star in the sky, her facial features consumed with worry, her body trembling with terror.

It had been almost ten minutes since she heard Eren's cry, the lesson she had learned from the Battle of Trost had encouraged her to save her gas despite the urgency of the situation. But the multiple impacts and screams that resonated through the branches had plunged her into a state of total trance, so much so that she had completely disconnected from reality without noticing the calls of Christa who had managed to join her. When she finally came out onto the clearing where the source of the clashes came from, her blood only boiled.

The first thing she saw was the luminescent and exposed neck of a titan that was not Eren's, the latter was fighting with the presumed enemy in order to keep her under the influence of his powerful arms. While Amos tried to attack from the front, undoubtedly to weaken it further before hitting the weak point, a weak point which was in the line of sight of the oriental.

The latter didn't ask any questions, she had the perfect opening before her eyes and had every intention of taking advantage of it. So she planted her grappling hook on the Female's right shoulder, and propelled herself at full throttle to slash her neck. Alas, her blades shattered like glass on stone as soon as they came into contact with the enemy's crystalline skin.

"Damn,” the half-blood squeaked, flying away, “why? Why are my swords ineffective?!"

(-)(-)(-)

Eren and Amos widened their eyes when they saw the failed attack of the oriental, a second and a half of inattention which was more than enough to allow the Female to free herself from the Rogue's grip. Although still blinded by the hail of bullets that she had received in her eyes, she managed to detect approximately the position of her attacker following the sensations of her neck and the sound of her release of gas. And waves her clawed fingers in the direction of the oriental.

It was at this moment that time slowed down.

From inside his titan, Eren could only widen his eyes in horror as he saw his enemy's crystal claws projecting at full speed towards his adopted sister. He tried in vain to catch up or parry the attacking limb, but he knew before he even tried that it was hopeless. Mikasa saw the attack coming far too late to make a dodge maneuver, and could only close her eyes with resolve as she saw the Female's claws projecting towards her.

"Eren… Armin… Doctor Jaeger… Carla… Forgive me…”

The sound of a very violent burst of gas interrupted her in her last confession, and she felt her body being struck by an unidentified object while two protective arms closed around her shoulders... before the hideous sound of 'a blade slashing flesh does not ring in his ears.

“I’m such… a fucking… moron,” a familiar voice whispered.

Immediately, the oriental woman opened her eyelids, before widening them in horror.

Amos had used his improved ODM equipment to catch the half-blood before the attack of the Female Titan, thus removing her from the radius of action of the latter's crystal claws, but exposing himself to the murderous attack in her place who cut into his back, tearing off his cape, his military equipment, as well as a certain quantity of flesh.

From the nape of his titan's neck, Eren widened his eyes in terror and opened his mouth blissfully, while the frightened scream of a little blonde with sapphire eyes echoed in the ears of everyone present:

"AAAAAAMOOOOS!!!