"Sigh, let's go save them, Xiate."
White Fish turned his head and patted her on the head, and this time Xiate did not stop him.
After speaking, in order to avoid attracting attention from people on the street, White Fish casually threw a cloak over himself and had Xiate follow a short distance behind as they walked quickly toward the lower area.
Although Xiate didn't know if he actually knew how to use that thing, White Fish clearly wasn't joking.
The two moved quickly through the streets one after the other. Although White Fish's outfit drew glances from many, he ignored them; his main goal was to hide his face, and he estimated they wouldn't have time to worry about him in a moment anyway.
They arrived at Eren's home. At this time, Eren had not yet returned. White Fish stepped forward quickly and knocked on the door.
"Is Mrs. Jaeger in?"
After a moment, the sound of footsteps echoed inside the house, and a woman's voice drifted out from the room.
"Hmm, is that White Fish?"
The door slowly opened, and a happy-looking face appeared. It was Eren's mother, Mrs. Carla Jaeger.
But seeing White Fish's strange outfit, a look of confusion immediately crossed her face. Just as she was about to say something, in the next instant—
BOOM!!!
A massive bolt of yellow lightning descended from the sky outside the wall, involuntarily drawing the gaze of all three of them.
They couldn't see what the other side of the wall looked like, but white steam was drifting into the air, and a massive head peeked out from over the fifty-meter-high wall.
Red skin was exposed to the outside, and those eyes looked at the people inside the wall like a human looking at pigs in a pen from the outside.
At that moment, everyone in Shiganshina District looked up at that massive Titan's head. The entire area fell silent; everyone's brain was unable to process the terrifying sight before them.
Dullness, silence, and an extremely slow-dawning despair of ultimate terror.
At this moment, humanity remembered the fear of being dominated by the Titans.
BOOM!
Another loud crash followed as massive stones flew from the city gate into the district. Gunpowder smoke filled the air, and countless boulders soared into the sky before crashing heavily onto the ground.
White Fish's eyes narrowed slightly. A massive boulder was flying toward them. He reached out and yanked the still-unresponsive Xiate and Mrs. Jaeger toward him. The gas from his back also sprayed out rapidly, and the immense thrust pushed the three of them away from the spot.
Just as they left, the boulder crashed down. Carla's house collapsed instantly, and many stones splattered in all directions.
The three fell heavily to the ground. Only then did Xiate and Carla snap out of it, though they didn't feel much pain yet.
"Big sisters, I'm dying here, please get off me quickly."
A somewhat weak voice came from beneath the two of them.
"Ah, White Fish!"
"Brother!"
White Fish was pulled up by Xiate. A burning pain accompanied every movement as the skin on his back, which must have been scraped raw, rubbed against his clothes. If not for the cloak, his back would likely be covered in bloodstains.
But White Fish acted as if nothing was wrong to reassure the two of them.
Carla seemed to remember something and hurriedly looked toward the distant wall, but the horror in her eyes could not be hidden.
"The wall... the wall was destroyed by a Titan..."
Her voice was filled with terror and trembling.
"Where are Eren and Mikasa?"
Xiate asked, looking at the lone Carla.
Carla, who had been staring at the wall, finally came to her senses and murmured, trying to force herself to be calm.
"Right, I have to find Eren, and Mikasa."
But White Fish looked at the figures running from a distance and thought to himself—
Perfect timing.
"No need to look, they're here."
The two arriving were indeed Eren and Mikasa. Seeing that Carla was unharmed, their initial anxiety and worry turned into joy, and the three of them embraced tightly.
However, now was not the time for celebration. White Fish smiled and drew his long blade from its scabbard, looking at the Titan gradually approaching in the distance.
"Alright, Eren, take Mikasa and your Mrs. Jaeger and get out of here!"
The three understood the situation. Eren looked at White Fish, who was wearing Omni-Directional Mobility Gear and holding a long blade. The corner of White Fish's mouth still held that familiar 'this is a hassle' look, but the sharpness in his eyes was something Eren could sense.
"White Fish, you... what about you? Aren't you coming with us?"
"And Senior Sister Shi Shi. You guys go first, I'll catch up in a bit."
Having said that, he looked toward Xiate.
Xiate simply said calmly,
"Brother, you go save Senior Sister Shi Shi. I'll go with Eren and the others. Come find us later."
These words made White Fish pause for a moment, but he quickly understood. A large blonde Titan was running toward them from not far away. Now was not the time to dally, nor did he want to get entangled with Titans.
"Of course, I'm going to find Senior Sister Shi Shi."
Xiate glanced at him and then quickly ran off with Eren and the others. Although Eren had many things he wanted to ask White Fish, he knew this wasn't the time.
...
A tavern.
A woman who looked to be in her twenties was huddled behind a counter. A Titan about four meters tall was grabbing a man, completely ignoring his desperate screams. With a grotesque smile, it tore him in half, and once he stopped moving, it swallowed him whole. Bright red blood splattered on the floor, and then everything went quiet.
The woman hiding under the counter was the owner of this tavern, named Isabel Dovilis.
As she listened to the sound of him being swallowed, her eyes were filled with terror. She clutched her mouth tightly, deeply afraid of being discovered by the Titan outside.
After a long time, the outside gradually became quiet, with only the distant booming sound of a Titan walking. Hearing no movement outside, Yi Shi slowly raised her head, wanting to check the situation.
But just as she raised her head, a massive face was looking down, staring straight at Yi Shi behind the counter with a grotesque smile.
Instantly, the fear in her heart could no longer be suppressed. Her eyes widened, tears flowed uncontrollably, and her feet kept kicking backward as she shook her head violently, screaming in terror.
"No, no! NO!!!!"
But the Titan's grotesque smile grew increasingly greedy, stretching to its ears, as it reached out its massive hand toward her.