BOOM—!
Another rock came flying, this time slamming directly into the tower. The violent tremor made everyone's nerves tighten to the breaking point.
Thanks to Lillian's warning, the elite squad had already retreated to the top of the tower and lay flat to avoid the attack, so there were no casualties. Even so, the overwhelming sense of helplessness gnawed at everyone.
"Damn it! That Titan definitely has intelligence!" someone shouted angrily.
Lillian thought to himself: Not just intelligence—terrifyingly high intelligence.
Whether one liked Zeke as a person or not, there was no denying his formidable combat ability, political sensitivity, and wide-ranging strategic vision. This time, his arrival on the island wasn't to wage war or accomplish any specific mission—he was simply here to scout the situation, more or less killing time.
After all, the Warrior Quartet had spent five years with nothing to report, which had made Marley's military extremely anxious. Sending Zeke to investigate was only natural.
"The horses were crushed to death by his rocks—we can't advance at all!"
"At least all the other Titans have been cleared out… otherwise—"
ROOOOOAR—!!
A feral, beastlike roar suddenly erupted. Standing at the edge of the tower, Lillian looked toward the wall, where the Beast Titan was throwing his head back and roaring at the sky.
He turned his head and noticed that the expressions of the three Warriors—and Ymir—had all subtly changed.
Clearly, even though the "Coordinate Power" activated by Zeke was incomplete, the other intelligent Titans were still able to sense that strange force taking effect.
Boom—boom—boom—boom—boom!
Following Zeke's roar, thick clouds of steam rose in the distance. More Titans appeared—more than twice the number from before—and once again began advancing toward the tower.
Lillian noticed that after finishing his roar, Zeke stopped throwing rocks altogether. Perhaps he believed the newly drawn Titans were already more than enough to deal with the people inside the tower—trapped birds with no horses left to flee.
Of course, Zeke had no idea that the three Warriors were currently inside the tower. His eyesight wasn't sharp enough to recognize faces from over a thousand meters away.
Otherwise, had he known, he certainly wouldn't have left so casually. He would have stayed behind to interrogate them properly.
"More Titans are coming!"
"This number… it's more than double the last wave!"
"That damn Titan—did its roar attract them?!"
"No choice. Prepare to fight!"
Nanaba replaced her blades, her expression grim.
The rest of the elite squad looked the same. It wasn't that they couldn't fight—it was that their blades and gas supplies were running low. Once those were exhausted, they'd have no way left to kill Titans.
"Hey! You rookies!"
Petra turned to Marlo and Annie. "Give us your gas. We need it to keep fighting!"
Marlo froze for a moment. Lillian spoke beside him, "Give it to the seniors. It'll be put to better use with them."
"Yes!"
Marlo trusted Lillian completely. If nothing else, Lillian had just saved his life—if he'd been even a second slower, Marlo would've been swallowed by a Titan, his future ended on the spot.
He removed his gas canister. Since he'd arrived with it full, it was still nearly untouched. After it was divided among eight people, there wasn't much left, but Petra deliberately left him about one-fifth instead of taking it all.
As for Annie, she handed over her canister as well, though less was taken from her. She had fought earlier and killed two Titans herself—her combat ability was beyond question.
Lillian, meanwhile, didn't have ODM gear equipped, though he usually carried it attached to his horse. Unfortunately, the horse had long since disappeared in the chaos, and whistling now probably wouldn't bring it back.
After the gas was distributed, the Titans were less than two hundred meters from the tower. Everyone fell silent.
They would wait. Then they would fight.
Victory—or death. There was no other ending.
"The Titan has left…"
Armin watched as it climbed down from the wall and headed into the distance. He couldn't help wondering what its objective was, but no matter how hard he thought, he couldn't make sense of it. He still knew far too little about Titans.
Yet at this critical moment, everyone instinctively gathered around Lillian, staring at the massive scythe resting at an angle beside him.
Oluo tried lifting it. Even using all his strength, he could only raise it slightly. Swinging it like Lillian—let alone using it to kill Titans—was utterly impossible.
"Lillian… you're really something else. I have no idea what you were thinking."
Despite the weapon's unusual appearance, no one entertained the idea of copying it. They'd seen his fighting style clearly enough.
Without ODM gear, wielding such a heavy weapon while moving at that speed wasn't something any normal person could do. All they could do was admire it from afar.
"Still… isn't this too dangerous?" Krista asked softly, looking at Lillian. "I know you're strong, but…"
"It's fine," Lillian replied. "Using ODM gear is actually less efficient for me. My control isn't anywhere near as good as Mikasa's or the others'. And it relies too heavily on gas—it runs out way too fast. Given this terrain, this weapon is safer for me. Don't worry."
"Oh…"
"Lillian," Nanaba of Mike's squad asked, "why did the three of you come to provide support? Were you ordered to?"
"No!" Marlo blurted out before Lillian could answer. "Deputy Commander Lillian came after receiving the news! Nobody ordered us to!"
"…"
The elite soldiers were clearly confused. A Military Police unit risking their lives to reinforce others without orders was… extremely rare.
"They're my classmates," Lillian said calmly. "I couldn't just leave them."
The others were visibly moved by his words. Armin, in particular, felt a deep sense of guilt—for his earlier suspicions of Lillian. Still, now wasn't the time to dwell on that.
"The Titans are almost at the base of the tower!" Oluo said. "Kid, your fighting style is weird as hell, but you took down plenty earlier. Keep it up this time too!"
"Of course."
Lillian lifted his scythe. Despite his confidence, his stamina was already taking a hit.
The weapon was incredibly heavy, and sprinting around with it drained energy fast. At his current condition, maintaining the same intensity as before, he could probably last another thirty minutes at most.
Still, that was more than enough time to hold out until the main forces of the Scout Regiment arrived. Eight elite soldiers were still present, and if they conserved gas and blades, they could last a while longer. And if it truly came to that—
There were still four intelligent Titans on the tower.
"They're here!"
The Titans reached the base of the tower. The elite squad moved to the edge, ready to engage. Lillian did the same, locking his gaze onto a fifteen-meter-class Titan. The scythe in his hands lifted slightly.
Behind him, Krista clenched her fists tightly.
"I want to fight too… If only I had equipment."
"…"
Ymir glanced at her, then at Reiner and Bertholdt, who seemed to be deliberately keeping their distance from her. A bad feeling slowly rose in her chest—an ominous sense that something terrible was going to happen in the near future.
"Charge!"
The Titans had reached the tower. It wasn't indestructible—if it took too many direct hits, it would collapse.
To protect the tower—and everyone on it—they had no choice but to strike first.
Whoosh!
The elite squad leapt forward in unison. Lillian did the same—except while the others wielded blades, the weapon in his hands was a massive scythe. From above, his chosen target was the largest Titan among them—the fifteen-meter one.