"Annie! You must protect yourself! You absolutely must protect yourself!" Yago ignored everyone else's stares, grabbed Annie's hand, and said with extreme seriousness.
But Annie's gaze was a little unnatural, evasive, as if she didn't dare meet Yago's eyes. Reiner and Bertholdt beside her were the same—especially Bertholdt; if you looked closely, you'd notice his shoulders trembling slightly.
"I know. You also have to protect yourself. Don't die at the hands of those Titans." Annie finally looked Yago in the eyes, her tone full of concern.
Before Yago could say more, a Garrison soldier suddenly shouted his name,
"Trainee Yago?"
Yago turned around. "That's me."
"Prepare to depart immediately. I am Yomen, Squad Leader of the vanguard squad of the Garrison. You will follow our squad to carry out a special mission." The Squad Leader said it without room for argument.
Yago: "What? A special mission? But I also need to be responsible for my own squad. My squad's task is to cooperate with the vanguard to clear Titans!"
Yomen: "You shouldn't ask so many questions. Just carry out the order. Your squad will be commanded by your deputy Squad Leader. After announcing the order, assemble here immediately!" After saying that, he left, extremely domineering.
Yago clenched his teeth. These guys really were… but there was no way around it. He couldn't disobey orders, so he immediately rushed toward his own 34th Squad.
He found Thomas Wagner, who was comforting the emotionally shaken Mady.
"Thomas! Listen, I've been reassigned to another mission. From now on, the 34th Squad is under your command!"
Thomas looked puzzled. "Why not let Eren command? His results are much better than mine."
Yago held Thomas's shoulder and said,
"No. This isn't training—this is real combat. Eren is too impulsive when facing Titans. Only you can control the situation. Thomas, I'm leaving the 34th Squad to you. Take good care of everyone."
Clearly encouraged by this affirmation, Thomas nodded.
"Don't worry, Yago. I'll take good care of everyone!"
Handing command to the steady Thomas finally put Yago somewhat at ease. As he was about to leave, Eren seemed to get into a conflict with Jean nearby. Because he was far away and it was very noisy, Yago only heard Jean saying something about going inland tomorrow. It seemed the sudden Titan attack had rattled him.
Yago sighed helplessly. For the trainees, this Titan appearance was indeed very unfortunate, but it also raised Yago's suspicions. He was now almost certain that the Colossal Titan was a human transformed into a Titan. Seen this way, could that person be someone from the training corps?
Of course, it was only suspicion. It could also be a coincidence. Somehow, after Eren's barrage of words, he actually managed to persuade Jean, who turned away with a sour face to find his teammates.
Seeing that no conflict had broken out, Yago didn't bother with it. He had a mission of his own.
He hurried to the assembly point of Yomen's Garrison squad. The entire squad had already assembled, including the Squad Leader Yomen who had announced the order. There were eight Garrison soldiers in total, including two female soldiers. Seeing Yago arrive, Yomen directly ordered,
"Move out!"
Hiss—eight sets of Vertical Maneuvering Equipment activated, and Yomen's squad set off.
Yago had just arrived and hadn't even caught his breath when he saw the squad move out. He felt utterly speechless, but his stamina was terrifyingly strong. Yago pulled the trigger, fired the anchors and cables, and rapidly caught up to Yomen's squad.
Seeing Yago catch up so quickly, Yomen was also very surprised.
"This kid's handling of Vertical Maneuvering Equipment is pretty good. No wonder he's the top trainee."
Yomen's squad flew back and forth through the chaotic city, charging toward the southeastern frontline under Yomen's leadership.
With the sound of leather boots scraping against stone slabs, the nine of them arrived on the rooftop of a tall building. From here, they could almost see the frontline, and faintly, Yago saw Titans wandering between the buildings.
Yomen took out a map, pointed to a location, and announced their mission.
"What? You're sending an elite vanguard squad to rescue one person? Why?" One of the Garrison soldiers complained.
"Shut up! Niki, do you know who this person is?" Yomen said sternly. "She is the only daughter of Duke Wald!"
Garrison soldier Niki immediately fell silent. Duke Wald was a great noble, not someone soldiers like them could afford to offend.
Yago's face turned cold. Hearing that their mission was to rescue a noble young lady made him feel absurd. There were still tens of thousands of civilians in Trost District who hadn't evacuated, yet an elite vanguard squad was being dispatched just for one person. Or was a noble's life worth more than a commoner's?
Of course, Yago only thought this to himself. After all, he couldn't disobey orders.
"Miss Lisa is trapped in that tower. It's too close to the breach, and there are many Titans nearby. According to intelligence, there are at least over twenty. After receiving the signal, the vanguard forces will draw away most of the Titans. Our task is to ensure that when Miss Lisa evacuates, there are no Titans anywhere nearby. Understood?" Yomen explained carefully.
"Understood!"
Bang! A red signal flare rose into the air. Yomen's squad fully prepared for combat. Soon, in the area around the tower, more than ten Titans visibly ran off in another direction. Bang! Shortly after, a green signal flare rose in the distance.
"Move!" Yomen drew his blades and charged forward. The others followed closely behind.
...
With a thunderous crash, a thirteen-meter-tall Titan fell to the ground, its body beginning to evaporate. Yago swiftly pulled the twin blades from the Titan's nape and used his Vertical Maneuvering Equipment to shoot up onto a rooftop.
"So impressive. This trainee has already taken down five Titans!" The members of Yomen's squad looked at Yago in amazement, filled with admiration.
The intelligence was definitely wrong. There were far more Titans in this area than expected. Yago alone had killed five, while all the others combined had only killed four.
"Ah!" A scream rang out. A Garrison soldier had been grabbed by a Titan.
"Everyone stop! It's too far away—we can't save him!" Yomen stopped the others who wanted to rush to the rescue.
Yago looked toward the Titan. It really was too far away. He didn't know how that Garrison soldier had fallen behind.
"Don't eat me! Don't! Help! Aah! Squad Leader, save me! I don't want to die, no!" The captured soldier screamed in terror, tears and snot streaming down his face, but the Titan didn't care. With one bite, it snapped him in half.
The cries stopped abruptly. Everyone showed looks of sorrow, including Yago, but the mission still had to continue.
Soon, they reached the target tower. As soon as they entered, they heard a sharp shout,
"Why did you take so long? Do you have any idea how frightened our young lady was?"
A scrawny middle-aged man, though well dressed and seemingly respectable, behaved like an uncchooled shrew, pointing at Yomen's nose and scolding them for arriving too late.
The others all looked furious. They had risked their lives to come here and save these people, yet they showed no gratitude at all. To save them, they had already lost a friend they'd lived and trained with every day.
But Yomen still kept his composure. Despite the anger in his heart, he said as calmly as possible,
"We sincerely apologize, Chief Steward Rosen. It was our oversight. However, there are many Titans outside. I think we shouldn't waste time now and should evacuate as soon as possible. What do you think?"
"What? There are still Titans? What are you people even doing? Where all the military funds our lord gives you every year? How can you let those disgusting Titans wander around here?" Chief Steward Rosen continued his biting interrogation.
Even Yago couldn't stand listening anymore. He had the urge to draw his blade and cut down this unreasonable man.
Just then, a gentle voice sounded from behind them,
"I'm truly sorry, brave soldiers. We've troubled you. Uncle Rosen, please don't make things difficult for these brave soldiers."
A figure slowly emerged from the darkness.
...
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