The closer he got to the front line, the more shaken Yago became. The smell of blood was everywhere. Everywhere his eyes fell, it was as if he could see the corpses of uniformed soldiers—most of them mangled beyond recognition.
Judging by the insignia on their uniforms, there were trainees bearing the crossed swords, and garrison soldiers stationed to defend Wall Rose. The sight weighed heavily on Yago's heart, and he grew even more worried about the safety of Eren, Annie, and the others.
Leaping onto the top of a tower, Yago looked down over the battlefield. The situation was very bad. Almost the entire area under the vanguard's responsibility was crawling with wandering Titans. Some Titans had even already approached the supply depot that served as the command center.
Yago frowned. For the moment, he had no idea where to look for Eren and the others. Without thinking too much, Yago jumped down from the tower. He decided to move toward the supply depot first. After all, his gas and blades were almost used up, and he needed to resupply from the logistics unit.
...
Slash! Cutting open the Titan's nape, Yago panted slightly, but at the same time felt deeply unsettled. This was already the fifth Titan he had killed, yet he still hadn't seen a single trace of the supply unit. Logically speaking, he had already entered the area defended by the supply troops. The supply soldiers, who should have been running all over the place, hadn't shown even a shadow.
Yago looked at the blade in his hand—it was so dull it barely looked like a blade anymore. He knocked it off. There were no spare blades left in the scabbard. Yago could only take the blades strapped to his calves, but those were badly worn as well, only slightly better than the one he had just been using.
What? Why not search the corpses? It wasn't that Yago didn't want to, but most Titans swallowed people whole. Even if they didn't, the remains left behind were usually torn to pieces. What's more, the Vertical Maneuvering Equipment had mostly been destroyed. At least, Yago hadn't encountered a single intact set.
Holding his blades, Yago ran down the main street. Don't ask—there was barely any gas left, so he could only run the old-fashioned way. When he finally found those supply soldiers, Yago swore he'd teach them a lesson!
Along the way, Yago did his best to avoid Titans. When he passed a street corner, what he saw made his pupils shrink. On the ground lay a body, shattered beyond recognition. Only half a face remained, frozen in absolute terror. Yago recognized it at a glance—it was Yomen, the Squad Leader who had announced the mission's failure. It seemed he hadn't managed to escape after all.
At that thought, Yago suddenly jolted awake. Wait—if Yomen's body is here, then… that abnormal Titan?
The next instant, almost purely on instinct, Yago rolled to the side, narrowly avoiding a gigantic hand. He scrambled up awkwardly and locked eyes with the Titan, its mouth split wide in a grotesque grin.
This was the abnormal Titan that had attacked them.
Whoosh! This wasn't the time to save gas. Yago gripped his blades and shot around behind the abnormal Titan at high speed. With a burst of acceleration, his twin blades slashed cleanly toward its nape—but Yago's expression froze instantly. The blades were too dull. They couldn't even pierce the Titan's skin.
Huff, huff—the abnormal Titan's massive palm swung toward Yago. He leapt up, trying to jump to another rooftop, but halfway through the flight, Yago suddenly lost control, as if drunk, and began to fall.
"Damn it! The gas is out too!" Yago cursed loudly. Just before hitting the ground, he adjusted his body and landed on his feet.
Facing the approaching abnormal Titan, Yago let out a sigh. For an ordinary person, this would be an almost certain death scenario. In the face of despair, no one would be as calm as Yago—and unfortunately for the Titan, Yago was anything but ordinary.
He glanced around and confirmed there were no humans nearby.
Yago knocked away his last blade, slowly raised his right hand, and stared coldly at the abnormal Titan with an unfriendly gaze.
"What bad luck," he said icily. "You'll be the first Titan to experience this power."
The nails on Yago's right hand grew explosively long. The abnormal Titan seemed to sense something as well. Its speed surged as it opened its mouth wide and lunged to bite Yago.
Slash! His nails pierced into his palm. Blood gushed out, and yellow lightning erupted around his body, wrapping Yago within it. Bones, muscles, and blood vessels emerged from the lightning.
"ROAR!!!" A terrifying howl echoed through the street.
In another district, Marco's squad—Annie, Reiner, and Bertholdt—all seemed to be jolted by something in the same instant. The three of them almost simultaneously turned to look in the same direction.
Marco found it strange. "What's wrong with you guys?"
Reiner shook his head. "Nothing. Let's hurry to the supply depot. We're running low on gas."
Annie's expression remained cold, but a trace of worry flickered in her eyes. She didn't know how Yago was doing right now.
Bang! The abnormal Titan's disgusting head was slammed to the ground by a powerful, solid hand. As the steam gradually dissipated, a pair of crimson eyes was revealed. A body standing seventeen meters tall, messy black hair, a mouth full of sharp teeth—terrifying muscles all over its body proclaimed overwhelming strength. The Yago Titan, or rather, the Fate Titan from memory, had arrived!
"ROAR!" Yago controlled the Titan's hand and squeezed hard. The abnormal Titan's head exploded, its body twitching as it collapsed. Yago aimed at the nape and stomped down with one powerful step, completely finishing off the abnormal Titan.
Yago lifted his head, his crimson gaze turning toward the direction of the supply depot. Then his massive body began to walk that way.
...
Grabbing two fifteen-meter-class Titans, Yago opened his mouth full of sharp teeth and bit down viciously, one after another, tearing into the flesh of their napes.
After transforming into a Titan, Yago possessed absolute power. Ordinary Titans were nothing more than fodder. Even abnormal Titans could only hold out for a few extra moves against him.
Along the way, Yago had already taken down nearly forty Titans, including seven or eight abnormal Titans. Under such high-intensity combat, even Yago was starting to feel strained. Moreover, in this area, he could now occasionally see garrison soldiers and trainees wearing Vertical Maneuvering Equipment.
Yago no longer dared to approach the supply depot directly. Otherwise, if he didn't get killed by Titans, it would be laughable to have his own soldiers cut his nape. After all, Yago was still in the form of a terrifying Titan—a very powerful one at that. If he appeared in front of trainees like this, he would definitely be swarmed and attacked.
Fortunately, Yago already had a plan. He ran straight in one direction and arrived in front of an ordinary wooden house, crushing several small Titans only a few meters tall that were circling around it.
The Yago Titan collapsed heavily to the ground. A bulge swelled at the nape. Pop! Yago broke free from the restraints of flesh and blood, tearing open the Titan's nape and ripping away several strands of flesh still connected to his face.
Jumping down from the Titan's body, he rushed straight into the house. With a kick, he broke open the somewhat decayed door. Yago went to the farthest corner of the room, dragged out a box, and opened it. Inside was a brand-new set of Vertical Maneuvering Equipment—the very one Yago had obtained from bandits three years ago.
After Yago's repairs, this Vertical Maneuvering Equipment was fully capable of real combat use, with gas reserves filled to the brim. Yago removed the equipment he was wearing, which had long since run out of gas and blades, and quickly began putting on the new set.
After finishing, Yago walked into the room and stood before a small mirror. In the reflection, beneath the boy's eyes, there were three marks that were hard to remove—aftereffects of transforming into a Titan. They would normally take several hours to fade.
But Yago had a way. He covered his eyes with his hand and applied slight pressure. A warm sensation welled up in his eye sockets. When Yago opened his eyes again, the three marks had already vanished, and the Titan's blood and slime on his body had completely evaporated.
Stepping out of the house, the Titan's body had almost entirely dissipated. Yago didn't hesitate. He immediately activated his Vertical Maneuvering Equipment and rushed toward the direction of the supply depot.