Meanwhile, on a rooftop of a nearby house, Lillian watched the destruction beyond the wall. Despite the Survey Corps' presence, Titans were steadily advancing.
Compared to the original timeline, the Titans' entry into the city had been delayed by half an hour. That extra thirty minutes gave civilians a precious window to seek safety, sparing many from the Titans' grasp. Lillian's intervention was clearly making a difference.
Now, it was time for the soldiers to engage.
"Marco, stay close to me and don't wander off," Lillian instructed.
"Huh? Well, the whole squad naturally moves together, right?" Marco asked, turning to Reiner and Bertoldt for confirmation.
The two exchanged glances. Annie remained silent, her eyes flicking toward Lillian intermittently. Lillian, in turn, observed all of them carefully. Since he was part of this squad, he would ensure no tragedy repeated — the Warrior Trio would never be left alone to discuss secrets, and Marco would not accidentally overhear anything.
"Titans incoming!"
Nearby, a roughly ten-meter Titan staggered toward them. Everyone gripped their blades and prepared for battle.
"Let's go!"
Marco, as squad leader, took the lead. The others followed, attacking the Titan from multiple angles.
Swish —!
Bodies launched through the air. It was their first real combat experience, so tension was inevitable. Lillian, however, had already grown almost numb from exposure to Titans outside the walls.
The Titan reached to grab them mid-air. Even mindless Titans weren't completely without instinct — they aimed for humans and understood human tools. They couldn't reach people above, but they instinctively swiped at the maneuver gear cables. If caught, a human flying through the air would become a Titan's puppet, either smashed or eaten.
"Careful!" Lillian warned Marco. The seventh-ranked graduate reacted quickly, using extra gas thrust to twist mid-air, pulling the cable out of the Titan's grasp.
Seizing the opportunity, Lillian landed atop the Titan's head, stepped back, and swung his blade hard at the nape.
Thuck —!
The strike was powerful enough to carve away the entire nape. The Titan collapsed with a thud, steam rising from its body. In moments, it vanished completely.
"Great job, Lillian!" Marco exclaimed, staring at the empty ground in amazement.
It was his first time witnessing a Titan's death up close. Unable to resist his curiosity, he asked, "How… how does such a huge body even form, and then disappear like that?"
Indeed, that was a question worth asking.
Lillian thought to himself: Not just you—even I, a otherworlder, don't fully understand this.
In the story, the explanation is that there is a "path," an invisible "path" to the naked eye. And then the flesh and bones of the Titans come along this path.
It's all pretty fantastical, and Lillian couldn't make much sense of it.
But since the Titans' origin is the "Devil of All Earth," supernatural phenomena aren't that surprising.
Of course, many theories claim that everything can be explained scientifically. That Titans are lab creations, made by some secret organization, and that even the Ackerman family's strength is a byproduct of Titan experiments—these theories cannot be confirmed at the moment, so Lillian remained puzzled.
Though he wasn't fazed much, the three soldiers nearby looked uneasy when they heard the question.
"Those Titans are clearly powered by devils," Reiner said. "So we must eliminate these devils, right, Bertholdt?"
"Ah… yes."
Bertholdt looked awkward. Annie, nearby, said, "Let's go kill the next one."
Without another word, she leapt forward. Reiner and Bertholdt exchanged a glance before following immediately.
Lillian thought: Want to say something? Too bad—you're not getting the chance.
Watching the three rush ahead, Lillian decided to keep them from speaking freely.
"Marco, let's go!"
"Hey, slow down!"
Marco caught up with Lillian, who stayed close behind Reiner and the others, ensuring they had no private time to exchange information.
Meanwhile, more Titans were entering the walls, but the civilians had mostly evacuated.
Lillian glanced toward the inner gate. Everyone was lining up and leaving the city in an orderly fashion—a result of the Survey Corps stationed atop the walls.
Though he couldn't see faces clearly, the troops there must be the elite units, surely including Levi and his squad.
Lillian thought: Erwin must be guarding against the Armored Titan. If the inner gate is destroyed, it's over.
The fall of Trost District was already inevitable. After all, it was just a town, a "castle in a jar." There were four such castle towns within Wall Rose. These towns existed primarily as military bases.
As frontlines, many soldiers were stationed here, so the resident population was small. Even if the town fell, the kingdom wouldn't suffer too much.
But if the inner gate were breached, all of Wall Rose would fall. That's why the current strategy was: prioritize civilian evacuation, then retreat all soldiers to the inner city, abandoning Trost District.
"Hey! Look!"
Marco suddenly shouted. Following his gaze, they saw a familiar figure being swallowed by a Titan.
It was one of their fellow 104th trainees, probably named… Cain?
Lillian thought, but Marco had already rushed forward, obviously trying to save him. It was already too late, and he himself could be in danger.
Seriously…
He glanced at the deliberately lagging trio of soldiers, knowing they wanted to seize this chance to talk. He decided to give them that opportunity and quickly chased after Marco.
"Finally, I can speak."
Reiner looked at Lillian's airborne figure with a gloomy expression. "That guy following us is such a nuisance."
"I agree… He seems unusually interested in us," Bertholdt said, shaking his head. "But maybe I'm overthinking it."
"Let's hope so," Reiner said. "If he suspects anything about us, we'd have to deal with him immediately. But he's skilled in hand-to-hand combat. In human form, we might—"
"Reiner, what are you saying?" Annie interrupted.
"…About our enemies," Reiner replied, frowning at her. "Annie, why are you acting like this?"
Annie's face darkened, her voice cold. "I don't want to reveal my identity recklessly based on baseless guesses."
Reiner stared at her deeply before saying, "You'd better think that way. Annie, don't forget who we are and why we're inside the walls."
"I know that already," Annie snapped, her deep blue eyes glinting. "By the way, why aren't you destroying the inner gate? Afraid the Survey Corps has returned?"
"Hey! Reiner, Annie, what are you arguing about?!" Bertholdt exclaimed anxiously. "Now's not the time!"
Reiner shook his head but said nothing more. Leaving Annie with a warning, he turned toward Lillian and Marco.
Bertholdt gave Annie a hesitant smile. "Don't mind him. Reiner is serious. I think he's not destroying the inner gate not because he's afraid of the Survey Corps… but because it would expose his identity. We're moving as a unit—if someone suddenly disappears and the Armored Titan appears, Lillian and Marco would notice."
"I know that," Annie said, glancing at Bertholdt before asking suddenly, "Do you think that's okay?"
"What?" Bertholdt blinked. "Destroying the gate? Of course not—the inside is full of devils."
"…Yeah."
Without further pause, she maneuvered her ODM gear and left. Bertholdt watched her go, a fleeting admiration in his eyes before disappearing, resolved: We'll return home together. And then…