"Kenny Ackerman!"
Rod Reiss roared at the man standing in front. The man named Kenny sneered, his expression showing clear indifference. He dismissed the roar even though Rod's voice was a warning.
He looked toward Frieda, unable to suppress his contempt. Compared to Uri Reiss, the only person Kenny truly respected, Rod Reiss and his inheritor seemed completely useless, possessing Titan power yet allowing two intruders into the center of the domain like that. Truly worthless.
If he had arrived a few minutes earlier, he might not have been so calm.
"Don't worry, Rod. I'll handle the intruders."
Kenny said loudly, simultaneously raising a handheld device shaped like a pistol and firing into the air. What shot out was not from the barrel of a gun, but from a device attached to the handle. A grappling hook cable embedded into a pillar, pulling Kenny upward thanks to the connection with the Omni-Directional Mobility (ODM) Gear on his hips.
In general, they used the ODM Gear not much differently from other military branches like the Survey Corps or the Garrison. But the handle to control the grappling hook, instead of a sword hilt, was a gun stock. Looking at the design, it seemed to be a real gun, not just similar in appearance, quite different from the common muskets.
And from the way these people moved—weaving and dodging in what looked chaotic but was actually a tactical arrangement to deal with Asahi. As for Kenny, he looked casual rushing forward, but halfway through, he gradually retreated behind the others, silently observing like a poisonous snake waiting for prey.
It wasn't hard to tell, these were professionals, and moreover, specialized in dealing with people.
The Reiss family slowly backed away, avoiding the potential combat spread. Frieda hesitated for a moment, then also retreated with her family.
"Asahi, do you need a hand?"
Grisha asked, his hand reaching up to adjust his glasses, then his collar, showing how tense he was. Unlike the Reiss family, who were all ordinary people, and Frieda, who had Titan power but used it clumsily, these Military Police soldiers were the elite of the elite, surely not easy to deal with.
"You should find cover. Just stay alive."
He didn't want to explicitly state that Grisha would only be a hindrance. Furthermore, the doctor's health was no longer good; it was best to "limit physical activity."
Asahi glared at the Military Police squad. They didn't foolishly rush straight toward him like idiots, but cautiously climbed the large support pillars bracing the cavern ceiling. They gradually spread out to surround him from all directions.
Compared to a relatively polite and ordinary-looking Grisha, Asahi looked much more dangerous with his current appearance. Evidently, almost all resources were focused on him.
"I think... we can talk."
Bang!
One person pulled the trigger. The bullet accurately targeted Asahi's head. One bullet shattered the initial goodwill.
He simply leaned, feeling the edge of the bullet graze past his face, deflecting it. The bullet embedded itself in the ground without completing its objective.
"He's... too fast!"
The Military Police soldier who fired couldn't help but sweat. Although the distance between the two sides was somewhat far, the shot was well-timed, yet Asahi still narrowly dodged it. In the soldier's perception, apart from Captain Kenny Ackerman, no one could do that.
Just then, the soldier's eyes saw Asahi move.
"Everyone be careful, this guy is not ordinary!"
Compared to the Military Police who spent their days reveling in the taxes of the people inside Wall Sina, this branch of the Military Police reacted much faster and trusted their comrades' judgment. As soon as the warning ended, they simultaneously used their ODM Gear to retreat backward to create space while raising their guns and unleashing a barrage of bullets at Asahi.
He missed his grab. His fingers stabbed into a pillar, keeping his body at a height of about five meters, using the pillar as a shield. Unfortunately, bullets were still coming from behind, forcing him to continuously change position.
To visualize it, the entire structure of the cave was a circular prism, with both ends of the prism being round. Inside the prism were many large pillars supporting the entire cave structure, spaced about five to six meters apart, with a width of two meters. The pillars were all closely spaced except for the central area where the Reiss family held the inheritance ceremony, which could be understood as another concentric, empty prism without pillars.
This Military Police squad had surrounded the small concentric prism area in a circle. This meant that no matter how he used the width of the pillar to block bullets, there would still be an exposed side for the enemy to fire.
Asahi danced in mid-air, leaping back and forth between the pillars with only the tip of his foot serving as a launch point and his fingers functioning like a pickaxe, digging into the rock.
One MP soldier couldn't retreat fast enough and was approached by Asahi, who delivered an elbow strike that sent him flying straight down to the ground. One eye was bruised purple, his pupils rolled white, suspended mid-air thanks to the grappling hook still embedded in the pillar.
"Fall back, get higher!"
Kenny ordered. Immediately, the entire MP branch fired their hooks to ascend higher. Everyone was terrified. They had never seen anyone, or anything, like this. Dodging bullets could be explained by fast reflexes, but leaping around like a monkey—what the hell was that?!
While the Military Police were all mentally unstable, Kenny just smirked.
"Don't be afraid, you fools! Do you all want to die? Focus and shoot him when he appears in mid-air!"
It could be said that Kenny had a keen eye, immediately recognizing Asahi as a "master" from his very first movements. After seeing his jumping and climbing ability, he wasn't overly worried, because he had found the key point.
Asahi was very fast. How could he not be fast when moving at supersonic speed on flat ground? But that was only on flat ground.
Mid-air didn't work like that. Without a surface for him to exert force, his speed would be quite limited. Of course, the pillars could also be considered surfaces to exert force, but those positions were not advantageous at all.
To jump higher, Asahi would have to extend the jumping distance, which would create a certain lag.
Like now.
Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang!
A volley of bullets was fired just as Asahi was suspended in mid-air. He was faster than the eye could follow, but when the lag occurred, his body became visible like anyone else—a perfect target in mid-air.
Unlike soldiers who could use the ODM Gear to navigate mid-air as long as they had a place to shoot a hook, he could only block the bullets.
And fortunately, what he was wearing was bulletproof armor. Kenny's plan was thwarted.
Asahi stopped concealing himself, charging directly like a hungry tiger, ignoring the barrage of bullets. With a heavy thud, he pushed off the ground with his feet, launching himself ten meters upward in one burst, immediately reaching the position where the Military Police were standing and firing.
The ceiling of this cave was about thirty meters high, significantly limiting the space for ODM Gear movement. Once he approached them, they were finished—no more running.
Phok!
One person spat out saliva from Asahi's elbow strike to the abdomen, his body curled up like a shrimp, suspended near the pillar. One by one, the members were defeated by him. The sounds of screams asking why the bullets had no effect slowly diminished each time the black silhouette flashed past.
"Tsk, I guess I have to learn how to use the ODM Gear soon..."
Aerial combat was not his strength. Fortunately, this was underground in a cave, where only one entrance existed. Otherwise, more than half of the Military Police would have fled.
After a clearing out, only Kenny remained. His skill in using the ODM Gear was the best among these people, causing Asahi to miss twice. Asahi couldn't help but draw his sword, cutting one of Kenny's cables.
Kenny lost his balance and fell, but he quickly spun around, planting his foot on the pillar's surface, using the remaining grappling hook as a fixed point to hang suspended like the others. He could continue to use the remaining hook to dodge and fight, but what was the point when his weapon couldn't even penetrate the enemy's armor? Furthermore, he didn't know Asahi's limits, but the gas canister that powered the ODM Gear had limits.
So Kenny stopped fighting, at least to avoid a fatal fall.