"It's done!"
Miche Zacharius—called Sanmao by the troops—watched the heavy shell arc toward the Beast Titan's neck, eyes wide with grim satisfaction.
If it landed true, this single shot could end the war here and now.
This was no ordinary cannon. Its reinforced barrel and compressed-powder munitions delivered almost three times the force of the island's standard field guns. One shell could split stone bastions—or a Titan's spine—clean in half.
Only three existed on all of Paradis Island. Two had been deployed to Shiganshina; one had already been destroyed.
This was the last.
And this was their final chance.
The Beast Titan, half-blinded and riddled with bullet wounds, had no room left to dodge—or so they thought.
Just before the shell hit, a veil of thick smoke burst from the creature's steaming body. Its massive frame dropped abruptly, muscles collapsing inward as Zeke forced a premature partial transformation. The cannon round screamed through empty air and detonated uselessly beyond the wall.
The blast washed over the city, shaking stone and bone alike.
"What — he shrunk it?" someone gasped.
Before anyone could answer, lightning cracked again across the blood-red sky.
A full, undamaged Cart Titan appeared amid the fading steam. It ignored the troops entirely, jaws opening to seize Zeke's broken body before sprinting off the parapet and leaping into the ruined streets below.
"Damn it!" Sanmao hissed, coughing blood. "They're escaping!"
The Cart Titan hit the ground hard, rolling through the dust. The movement drew the attention of the swarm of Pure Titans still flooding through the shattered gate. Dozens turned away from the walls and lumbered after it, giving the defenders a brief, gasping reprieve.
"Captain Miche!" Oluo Borzado shouted, landing beside him, blades drawn and steaming. "Orders? Should we pursue? They're injured—if we catch them now —"
"We'll never match the Cart Titan's speed," Miche cut him off, still glaring at the smoke trail in the distance. "Forget them. Focus on the Armored Titan. He's boxed in and losing strength. We finish this one first!"
Eld Jinn and Oluo both nodded, signaling the crews below.
Explosions rumbled as more Thunder Spears primed for firing.
Then, from the northern road, came the thunder of hooves.
Lock's reinforcement column burst through the haze, banners of the Survey Corps fluttering behind them. A hundred riders fanned out with trained precision, the sound of galloping hooves merging with the distant roar of cannon fire.
When Miche spotted the lead rider—cloak torn, eyes sharp—he nearly sagged with relief.
"The Commander's here!"
Oluo exhaled hard. "Thank the Walls…"
Lock dismounted before his horse had even stopped moving, landing in a crouch, hand already on the hilt of his blades. Around him, medics and engineers jumped from carriages, rushing to reinforce the forward batteries.
"What's the situation?" he demanded.
"The Beast Titan's retreated," Miche replied quickly. "The Cart took him out toward the inner district. Levi's down but alive. The Armored Titan is cornered inside the outer perimeter."
Lock's gaze flicked toward the smoke-choked breach where the Armored Titan thrashed amid collapsing rubble. His armor plating was shattered in several places, steam venting from deep gouges. Thunder Spears and shells continued to strike in rhythmic volleys.
"Only the Armored Titan left," Lock muttered. "Then let's end this."
He scanned the field, expression tightening.
Kenny's detachment was nowhere in sight. The Anti-Personnel Squad had vanished.
He didn't move at all, Lock realized grimly. Coward—or opportunist. Either way, he'll answer for it later.
He drew both blades with a metallic hiss and swung onto a nearby horse. "Form up! Tight wedge! Advance!"
Within the perimeter
Reiner Braun stumbled to one knee, his armor cracked and smoking. The weight that once made him invincible now dragged him down. Every breath burned. Every movement sent pain shooting through his spine.
Around him, explosions flared—Thunder Spears striking, soldiers darting in and out like hornets.
He swung blindly, swatting one aside, but another spear buried into his thigh and detonated, spraying chunks of molten armor into the mud.
"Why — why can't I beat them anymore?" Reiner roared, voice vibrating through the Titan's chest. "Half a year — it's only been half a year! What happened to this island?!"
Through his fog of rage, he saw things that made no sense—portable artillery, synchronized teams, sniper fire coordinated with ODM strikes. It was as if the humans of Paradis had devoured Marley's own technology and turned it against them.
Every time he raised a hand, a new weapon tore it down. Every time he tried to heal, fire greeted him again. The armor that once symbolized his strength had become his coffin.
But then he saw Lock—riding through the smoke, cloak flowing, soldiers rallying behind him.
That one.
Reiner's Titan eyes narrowed.
"He's the leader," he growled. "If I take him alive… I can still complete my mission."
Something feral sparked inside him. Summoning the last of his power, he dug his claws into the ground and charged.
"Movement!" a soldier shouted. "It's charging the Commander!"
"Stop it! Don't let it through!"
Thunder Spears launched in unison, but the Armored Titan burst through the explosions, half-melted plates falling away. The shockwave threw soldiers from rooftops.
Lock's horse reared as the ground shook.
"Damn—!"
Sanmao, still atop the wall, went pale. They were too far to intervene.
Eld swore under his breath, readying his lines, but the distance was hopeless.
Only Lock stood between the Armored Titan and the annihilation of the command column.
Lock's eyes hardened. The roar of the Titan drowned everything else, but inside, he was unnaturally calm.
"You think I'm prey?" he murmured.
He yanked the reins sharply; the stallion reared again, screaming. Lock's boots hit the ground an instant later. In one smooth motion, he clipped his harness to the nearest crumbled turret, fired his grapples, and launched himself forward.
Gas hissed. Steel sang.
The Armored Titan's hand swept toward him like a wall, but Lock twisted mid-air, slicing along the fingers in a blur of silver. Sparks erupted where hardened skin met tempered steel.
The Titan bellowed, recoiling. Lock used the momentum to spin upward, anchoring another line into its shoulder plate.
"Not so tough without that shell," he said quietly, and drove both blades into the seam between neck and armor.
Steam burst out violently. The smell of scorched flesh filled the air. Reiner screamed, grabbing for him, but Lock had already released, dropping low, firing his gear again to stay just out of reach.
"Thunder teams!" Lock barked through his comm. "Target the fractures! Fire on my mark!"
The soldiers responded instantly, surrounding the crippled Titan from all angles.
Lock swung upward once more, timing his signal with the Titan's stagger.
"Now!"
Dozens of Thunder Spears streaked through the smoke and embedded along the Titan's spine and thighs.
A second later, the world exploded.
The shockwave hurled Lock backward, but he anchored his lines mid-air, riding out the blast.
When the smoke cleared, the Armored Titan was half-kneeling, plates shattered, nape exposed,e d and steaming.
"Commander!" Ymir's voice echoed from behind, cutting through the ringing in his ears.
She had arrived—eyes blazing, hand already bleeding.
"Don't!" Lock shouted, seeing the glint on her ring. "Stay human—this one's mine!"
He fired another line, slingshotting himself back toward the steaming nape.
Reiner raised his head weakly, one eye meeting Lock's through the mist.
"Why… why do you fight so hard?" he rasped, voice muffled by the Titan's throat. "You're all… devils…"
Lock didn't answer. He landed on the nape and drove both blades down to the hilt.
Steam burst around him in a white cyclone.
When it cleared, the Armored Titan was still—its body slumped forward, lifeless.
Cheers erupted across the field.
Sanmao exhaled shakily, leaning on his sword. Oluo pumped a fist, his usual arrogance gone, replaced by disbelief.
"We… we actually did it," Eld whispered.
Lock withdrew his blades and stepped off the steaming corpse, landing lightly on the debris below. The air reeked of burnt muscle and iron, but for the first time in days, there was silence.
Behind him, Ymir approached slowly, wiping sweat and grime from her forehead. "You okay?"
Lock nodded once. "Still breathing."
He looked over the battlefield—the ruined wall, the dead, the wounded—and then toward the southern horizon where the Cart Titan had vanished with Zeke.
"This isn't over," he murmured. "Not until the Beast is gone."
Ymir followed his gaze, her expression grim. "Then we chase them?"
"Not yet. We regroup first. Levi's still alive—I need to see him."
Lock sheathed his blades and turned back to his soldiers, raising his voice over the wind.
"Secure the perimeter! Retrieve the wounded and salvage every piece of gear you can find. We've won the field—but the war's far from finished!"
The survivors answered with a ragged shout, exhausted but burning with renewed faith.
For now, at least, Shiganshina still stood.
And above the blood-soaked ruins, the flag of the Survey Corps lifted once more in the rising steam.