AUTHOR'S POV:
A large group of Titans stood to the left and right of the Beast Titan.
.
Up on the Wall, their hoods up, the soldiers stared.
.
Levi came up behind Erwin. "Erwin, he's gonna climb up." He looked off to the side, Erwin and Armin doing the same.
.
On the ground, the Armored Titan crouched, releasing steam.
White crystal appeared over his hands, lengthening into long, pointy fingernails over both his hands and feet.
Suddenly, he took off towards the Wall. Planting his foot into the wall, he began to climb.
.
"All troops!" Erwin said to the soldiers as the Armored Titan's clawed hand dug into the Wall. "Avoid clashing with the Armored Titan! Stay away from him!"
"Roger!"
.
Eren's group stood further along Wall Maria, watching Reiner's Titan scale it.
"Hange-san, why didn't he signal to attack?" Eren asked. "What's he thinking?"
"He's watching the enemy's movements,' Hange explained, staring out at the Beast Titan and his horde. "Because Reiner and his friends prepared some sort of grand welcome for us."
.
Erwin noticed a Titan to the Beast's right. It was on its hands and feet. 'That quadruped type is carrying luggage on its saddle. It wasn't one of those that just transformed. In which case, is that the enemy's scout? If it took notice of our approach and informed Reiner, that must mean...' He imagined the small Titan spying on them in the forest.
Levi pulled up his hood.
"That quadruped type down there is an intelligent Titan," Erwin said, startling Levi and Armin. "No, there might even be others."
'That Titan... has luggage? Armin noticed two barrels on it's back. 'What could it be?'
.
Bringing up his elongated arm, the Beast Titan roared as he brought it down on the earth, creating a fissure and causing birds to flee from the nearby trees.
On his signal, the smaller Titans began to charge.
.
"They're moving!" Hange called out. "Multiple two- to three-meters approaching!"
.
'It's just like the raid at Utgard Castle...' Erwin observed the horses below. 'They'll go after the horses first. Their primary objective is to capture Eren, but... To achieve that, they'll take away our only escape option. With Wall Maria still being deep in Titan territory, Erwin thought, we have no means to get back without horses. Just by killing our horses, it completely blocks our escape and severs our supply line. Whether it takes one week or a month, they can simply wait until there's nobody who can move. Without any of the risks of battle, they can waltz in and take Eren once he's too weak to resist.' He gazed at the taller Titans that stood immobile. 'Right now, the fact that all those larger Titans are staying in formation is proof that their only purpose is to cage us in.'
"Commander!" Armin said quickly. "The Armored Titan is close! And we still don't know where Bertolt is!"
"Yeah, I know." Erwin said, still deep in his thoughts.
'At this point, what I fear most... is that Reiner and Bertolt slaughter our horses unchecked. Therefore...' Erwin straightened.
"Are you finally ready to say something?" Levi asked. "I could've had breakfast during the wait."
"Dirk Squad and Marlene Squad! Protect the horses at the gate with Klaus Squad!" Erwin ordered and turned to his left and pointed his sword. "Levi Squad and Hange Squad! Take down the Armored Titan! Employ the Thunder Spears at your own discretion!"
.
A trio of soldiers stood with long gray tubes on their backs.
.
"Achieve your objectives whatever it takes!" Erwin said. "This moment! This battle! The survival of humanity depends on it! Once more, for humanity... give your hearts!"
The soldiers jumped from the Wall as they replied, "Yes, sir!"
.
"You hear that?!" A soldier on the ground by the horses said after Erwin's proclamation. "Turn the table on the Titans coming for our horses!"
"Sir!" Marlo said with the others.
.
"Wait! Levi, Armin, Faye!" Erwin stopped them. "I did say Levi Squad, but I need you to stay, Levi."
"To protect the horses and not Eren?" Levi asked.
"That's right." Erwin said and pointed his blade at the Beast Titan. "And to strike him down when the chance comes. You're the only one I can entrust to take on the Beast Titan." He turned to Faye. "You'll need the help of the female titan to take out the other Titans too."
"Understood. Since I failed to kill that armored brat earlier, I'll make up for it with the Beast Titan's head." Levi declared and jumped off and started making his way down. Faye went after him.
"Armin, I have a plan for the Armored Titan." Erwin said.
"Sir." Armin replied.
"There are two halves in this battle for humanity's fate. And one of them... I'm putting on Hange and your shoulders." Erwin said.
.
.
The Armored Titan reached the top of Wall Maria and crouched there, looking out at the soldiers who were keeping out of reach of the small Titans by staying on the roofs, and also saw the soldiers protecting the horses.
.
'They are all gathered in one place.' Reiner thought. 'I'll kill the horses and make a break for it. That's good enough. No matter how strong Captain Levi is, he's still no match for our war chief.'
Inside his Titan, Reiner stared ahead, Levi's sword still in his neck. The red muscles pulled it out.
'That was close...' Reiner thought. 'If I was any slower transferring my consciousness to my body, I would've died instantly... How did they even think to look inside the Walls?' Reiner flashed back to coming out of his secret hiding place and Armin's startled face. 'Armin? Was it you?' He narrowed his eyes. 'No... It doesn't matter. With this, our long journey is finally coming to an end.' He gasped, noticing Erwin standing a short distance away, eyeing him. 'Erwin Smith... Don't get distracted. I've got to kill the horses first.'
.
Blue lightning erupted behind him in Shinganshina and he looked back.
.
When the steam cleared, the attacking Titan stood in the middle of the street.
.
'Eren!' Reiner thought, shocked. 'Why did he show up unprovoked? They should be painfully aware that he's our main objective. What are you thinking?'
.
The attacking Titan turned and began to run.
.
'To flee south and escape over the Wall? Reiner considered. 'If he's alone, he could escape as a Titan to Trost without a horse. And were that to happen, we'd have no reason to stay here and fight. Even if we did manage to annihilate the soldiers, we can't let someone who mastered hardening in two months go back to the Walls.' An image flashed in Reiner's head of Eren directing a mindless Titan, Mikasa sitting beside him in shock. 'If he learns how to harness the Coordinate's full power, it'll be too late. No, wait. This is weird...' He watched the Attacking Titan. 'If he really was escaping, he would've transformed after using 3D gear to scale the Wall.' The attacking continued to run, the Armored Titan watching him from the Wall. 'Why would he transform when Shiganshina is surrounded by Walls? I get it! They're trying to...' He glanced back at Erwin, who had a challenging look on his face. '...change my target from the horses to Eren!' The Armored Titan stared at Erwin and Erwin pulled his hood down, not breaking his gaze. 'Not giving me time to think, are we? Dammit, Commander. And I climbed way up here...' The Armored Titan slid down Wall Maria.
.
'Good!' Eren thought. 'He took the bait!'
.
.
.
"He wants to use Eren as bait?" Hange asked.
"Yes." Armin confirmed to Hange. "Those were Commander Erwin's orders."
"He'd resort to using Eren as bait just to protect the horses?"
"You're kidding..." Mikasa spoke up. "And what if Reiner chooses to kill the horses anyways?"
"No, he should chase Eren." Hange said, bringing up her hand to her chin. "If Reiner does go after the horses, Eren will keep going and wrap around behind the Beast Titan. With Levi, the female titan, the soldiers, and Eren, they can pincer and fight the Beast Titan. Erwin must have said that, right?"
"Yes." Armin said.
"Even if it doesn't go as planned, by having Eren flee like that, it'll confuse the enemy enough to break their ranks. It all depends if Reiner can see that far ahead." Hange said.
Eren remembered Reiner at the chalkboard in the classroom during their trainee years, explaining something. "Knowing him," he said, "I bet that he will."
"Alright!" Hange said and they followed her. "We'll take on the Armored Titan in Shiganshina!"
"Hold on!" Armin said and threw out his hand. "There's one more thing I'm worried about. Bertolt is still in hiding somewhere." He thought back to when the attacking Titan had the Armored Titan in a lock, then the Colossal Titan fell on them from Wall Rose. "The last time they fought, Eren had Reiner on the verge of defeat, but Bertolt's attack caught him off guard and he ended up their captive. It's a simple counter-strategy, but let's fight away from the Walls."
.
The attacking Titan stopped and turned, ready to fight the approaching threat.
The Armored Titan stalked toward him menacingly.
.
'It might've been a fluke, but I've beaten you once already.' The attacking Titan slowly stepped to the side.
An old weed-choked fountain stood between the two titans.
'I had it in the bag. One-on-one, I can win. When it comes to hand-to-hand combat, Annie was a tougher opponent by far!' Crystal appeared on the Attacking Titan's fingers.
The Armored Titan ran at him.
The attacking Titan dodged the punch, the force of the swing causing shingles to fly off the roof of the nearby home.
Next, the Armored Titan went low and tried to grab his legs but the attacking Titan dodged again, pushing him with his hand.
The Armored Titan slid but was on the offensive again.
The attacking Titan ducked another punch and slammed his fist into the Armored Titan's face. 'Do you have any idea... where we're standing right now?!'
Pieces of the yellow plating cracked.
.
Eren remembered Hannes carrying him and Faye as a boy, seeing the Smiling Titan kill his mother.
.
The Armored Titan was sent flipping to the ground.
'This is the place... where I... where we once called home!' The attacking Titan threw up his head and roared. 'I'm taking it back.'
.
Steam rose from the mashed side of the Armored Titan's face while the attacking Titan let out a roar.
.
'I'll slaughter you all...' Eren vowed. 'And take back what you stole! All of it!
.
Mikasa, Jean, and Armin stood on a roof, Thunder Spears loaded and ready on their arms.
.
In Shinganshina, soldiers flew over the group escorting the horses.
"Recruits! Move the remaining horses west!" A scout said.
"Protect the recruits with Dirk Squad!" Another scout said.
"Where, Marlo?!" Floch asked him.
"What?" Marlo asked, holding the rein of two horses.
"Where do we tie the horses?!" Floch asked.
"W-We were told not to put them all in one place," Marlowe answered. "Not here. Farther."
"Three-to four-meters coming from the east." A soldier reported, flying by.
"That's... a Titan?" Marlo exclaimed, watching Levi approach the two Titans running toward them. Levi quickly took out both. "Corporal Levi!"
"This will never not be satisfying."
"Tell me about it."
"Now's our chance! Hurry!" Marlo said and took his horse away.
"Clean up the small ones already!" Levi yelled. "Do it before the Beast Titan moves! And no casualties! Don't you dare die!"
"Sir!"
.
"Shit!" Levi cursed, looking around. "This is pathetic. The weak ones die so fast. Should've kept 'em up there." He looked to the Wall, where Erwin stood.
.
'Struggling with three- to four-meter Titans...' Erwin watched them fight against the Titans. Casualties all over the place... The soldiers aren't nearly as strong as they once were. However, without all those sacrifices, we never would have made it this far.'
.
.
.
Erwin was eating outside with a group of friends in his training days.
.
'When I was a trainee, I told the others about my father's theory, which I also believed.'
.
A teenage Erwin was standing with his class at graduation.
.
'And that once I was a soldier, I would prove it. But after I joined the soldiers, I stopped talking about it for some reason. No, that's wrong... It wasn't some reason.'
.
Erwin stared, gaze lost, remembering holding his arm, injured, as a Titan behind him was eating his comrade.
.
'I had realized something. That only I... was fighting for myself. That only I... had a dream I wanted to see.'
.
An adult Erwin stood on a stage, addressing the graduating class.
.
'Before I knew it, I was giving people orders and inspiring my comrades.'
.
On stage, he executed the salute.
.
'Saying they should give their hearts to humanity. Thus, I fooled my comrades...'
.
Mike restrained Levi as the corpse of the Titan that had killed Farlan and Isabel steamed behind the two.
.
'Fooled myself...'
Erwin was leading the charge during the operation to rescue Eren from Reiner and Bertolt.
.
'And upon a mountain of their corpses...'
.
Erwin imagined himself standing on his comrades' corpse. He stared dispassionately down at the bodies below him.
.
'...I now stand.'
.
Mike and Nanaba's lifeless faces stared back at him.
.
.
.
'And yet, the basement lingers at the back of my mind.' Erwin glanced to the side. 'Even if this plan fails, I might be able to reach the basement before I die... The basement Grisha Yeager left behind... The truth of our world...'
.
Eren cried out in anger as the attacking Titan punched the Armored Titan into a building.
'Those experiments paid off!' The attacking Titan continued to hammer against the Armored Titan's arms, which he crossed to defend himself against the attacks. 'These fists are all I need to fight!'
The attacking Titan caught the Armored Titan in the face, shattering the armor with a metallic screeching.
'By focusing the hardening on one spot, it gets even stronger! Since his armor's spread across his whole body, I can smash it like thin ice! The attacking Titan back up and the Armored Titan stood.
"Too slow, you big oaf!" Eren yelled as the attacking Titan threw out his hand on the Armored Titan's face to keep him away. The attacking Titan turned to move but the Armored Titan managed to grab his ankle. "Shit!"
With a cry, the Armored Titan lifted the attacking Titan up and brought him down on a building.
Still holding the attacking Titan's ankle, the Armored Titan pulled him out, lifting him and bringing down his fist, driving the attacking Titan into the ground, splitting apart the earth.
After the steam and the dust appeared, the attacking Titan, having moved his head to avoid the punch, grabbed the Armored Titan's wrists.
.
Mikasa landed on a roof. "Hange-san!"
"Not yet!" Hange said, stopping on the neighboring roof. "Everything rides on the first attack! Wait and trust Eren will give us a good opening!" She took off.
.
Eren gritted his teeth as the attacking Titan tried to keep his face away from the Armored Titan's teeth.
.
.
.
"That metal rod is your new weapon?" Eren asked.
Hange stood in front of the classroom. "You could at least call it a spear." she said, holding one in her hands.
A large group of soldiers was gathered before Hange.
"The Corps of Engineers really pulled through for me. Using technology kept secret by the Interior Police, that is." Hange explained. "I told them, basically, we needed a weapon we could use against the Armored Titan."
"Against the Armored Titan?!" Armin repeated.
"Our blades were all but useless against the Armored Titan." Hange continued. "As long as he didn't show an opening in his hardening, all we could do was watch Eren fight the Armored Titan from the sidelines."
Mikasa recalled the futileness of her attacks as Rogue and the Armored Titan faced off after Reiner and Bertolt had revealed their identities.
"Right." Faye said. "We couldn't stop him from taking Eren away even if we wanted to."
"Back then," Connie said, remembering them on the Armored Titan, trying to reach Eren who was protected by the Armored Titan's hand, "If the commander hadn't drawn a horde of Titans to him..."
"Thus far, the only attacks effective against the Armored Titan have been Eren's strangles and locks as a Titan." Hange said.
As he listened, Eren thought back to his practice in using his hardened fists against tall trees in a forest.
"Also, we have high hopes for his 'hardened punch' from recent experiments." Hange said. "However, the mission won't succeed with only those as our weapons. While it's important we plug the Wall, more so than that, we must kill Reiner and Bertolt, who are responsible for destroying the Wall."
"So you're saying you want us to stab the Armored Titan with those spears?" Mikasa asked.
"It's easier just to show you," Hange responded. "Let's step outside."
.
.
Birds took off to the sky and the group watched with open mouths, some covering their ears to protect against the metal screeching.
A tall, thick tree lay fallen over.
"It's powerful, as you can see. It's like a strike of lightning." Hange said and picked up a Thunder Spear, tapping her sword handle against it. "Hence the name, "Thunder Spear.' However, is it enough to bring down the Armored Titan?"
The group still stared, stunned.
"We won't know until we try. It's effective against normal Titans, but to deal a blow to the Armored Titan, it'll take a little more work." Hange said.
.
.
.
The attacking Titan and the Armored Titan continued to struggle, with the attacking Titan trying to get him into a submission hold while the Armored Titan resisted.
Eren cried out, trying to keep the other Titan restrained.
'Shit!' Reiner cursed when Eren managed to get him off of him and sent him rolling.' I guess biting Eren out of there isn't something I can do by myself.' Soldiers approached them. 'I've got to resort to that...'
.
"Go now!" Hange ordered, almost reaching the attacking Titan.
.
'They're making a move?' Reiner spotted Hange flying near the Attacking Titan. 'I knew they've been gradually surrounding me, but...'
.
Using Rogue as an anchor, Hange and Mikasa flew toward the Armored Titan.
.
'What can they even do to me with their blades? I've got hardened armor covering every inch of my body.' The two closed in on the Armoured titan's face. 'They can't even scratch me!'
With a grunt, Hange and Mikasa each launched a Thunder Spear, heading toward the Armored Titan's eyes.
They pierced the skin, causing blood to pool out.
Flying past his head, the two soldiers yanked out the wires.
Twin explosions went off on his face and the Armored Titan howled.
.
'We did it?' Eren thought, seeing the smoke.
.
'No, not yet...' Hange thought. The Thunder Spears are so destructive they're dangerous even to those who fire them. If you anchor to the Titan as if to slash it like normal with your blade, you'll get caught up in the explosion. Which means the only chance to use Thunder Spears... is when the target is surrounded by multiple standing objects.'
.
As Hange spoke, Jean, Connie, and other soldiers headed for the Armored Titan.
"We can only attack with Thunder Spears in situations exactly like this." Hange said
The soldiers appeared behind the Armored Titan, who sat on his knees, hands covering his face.
"Right here and right now, we've got to settle it!" Hange said.
.
Jean and the others launched their spears.
Two Thunder Spears embedded into the Armored Titan's back, below his nape.
The soldiers pulled the wires.
.
Reiner's eyes widened. Multiple eruptions exploded on his back and some soldiers were sent flying back.
.
"W-We got 'em!" Jean yelled, seeing the steaming hole at the base of the Armored Titan's neck. "It worked! The armor on his nape is peeling off!"
.
Connie skid to a stop, sitting on the roof. "R-Really?" He adjusted his cloak.
"The spears near him. worked!" Sasha said, landing next to him.
.
"Do it again!" Hange commanded fiercely. "Attack again with Thunder Spears and finish him off!" Her words were met with distraught looks from Connie and Sasha, whereas Mikasa and Jean appeared grim.
"Reiner..." Sasha said softly.
"You guys!" Jean said, glaring at them. "I thought you guys would be more emotionally prepared than me if it ever came to this! Let's do it!"
Sasha and Connie nodded firmly.
.
Together, the soldiers converged on the Armored Titan again, firing off their Thunder Spears.
.
"W-Wait!" Reiner said in fear as seven spears pierced the skin, a couple of them only a foot from his face.
At once they went off. The Armored Titan let out a rasp and the rest of the Thunder Spears exploded behind him in continuous explosions.
'Reiner...'
_____________