AUTHOR'S POV:
Groups of soldiers were gathered together on the wall at each cannon station, peering down at the herd of Titans.
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"We've successfully managed to gather most of the Titans into the corner of the City." Gustav said. "Yet, despite avoiding combat as much as possible, around 20% of our soldiers have been lost."
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The injured soldiers were laying on the ground.
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"No, they were not 'lost.' The soldiers did not die of their own accord." Pixis said. "I ordered them to their deaths." He stopped and looked out at the destroyed city overrun by Titans. "Humanity is now perched on the brink of extinction. If it means ensuring humankind's survival, I'm willing to go down in history as a butcher."
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The house was destroyed where the attacking Titan's fist collided into.
In time, Mikasa landed on another rooftop.
Ian closer towards the attacking Titan. Then he turned to Mikasa. "Ackerman!"
The Attacking Titan threw another punch and Mikasa again dodged.
She then used the 3D gear to reach the attacking Titan's face and grabbed the long dark hair to hang in place.
"Hey! Stop, Ackerman! Get away from him!" Ian yelled.
"Eren! Come to your senses!" Mikasa yelled. "Don't you recognise me?! I'm Mikasa!"
The Attacking Titan kept glaring at her with his glowing green eyes.
"You have to seal the hole with that rock!" Mikasa said.
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Rico grabbed the red flare capsule. 'The operation's a failure...' She stood, holding the gun up. 'I knew there was no secret weapon.' She shot the gun and a trail of red smoke shot up to the sky.
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"Eren!" Mikasa screamed.
The Attacking Titan clenched its fist tight.
"You're-" Mikasa interrupted.
"Dodge, Ackerman!" Ian yelled.
Mikasa jumped off in time before the Titan could harm her. But, the Attacking Titan's fist collided with his own face.
He let out a roar.
Then The Attacking Titan stumbled and fell backward. It sat against the boulder, looking down.
Mikasa used her ODM gear and landed on an immobiled Attacking Titan's nape.
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"What the hell?!" Mitabi demanded. "He's just a regular, dumb Titan!"
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'I hope I'm not hurting you.' Mikasa dug her blade deep into the Attacking Titan's nape.
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"Ackerman!" Ian called out.
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At once, the Attacking Titan reanimated, roaring loudly and thrashing madly.
Mikasa held on tight.
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"Stop, Ackerman! That's too reckless!" Ian said.
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"Eren! Can you hear me?" Mikasa asked. "Come back to your senses and take control! We're all going to die if you don't come out of there!"
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"Captain Ian!" One of the soldiers called out from a nearby roof. "Two Titans approaching from ahead! A 10-meter one and a 6-meter one!"
"One 12-meter Titan is closing in from the rear!" Another soilder informed.
"Ian! We have to withdraw!" Mitabi said. "There's no way that kid's sealing the hole!"
"Yeah." Rico agreed. "We have no choice but to leave him here."
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"Red smoke shell from the Elite Squad! It seems the mission to seal the hole has hit a serious snag." A soilder next to Pixis said.
"For nothing!" One soldier said, kneeling on the ground, one hand covering his face, crying. "My comrades have died for nothing!"
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Inside it's nape, Eren was buried in the muscle, one eye open and distant. 'Huh? What...am I...doing? Am I... sitting?'
Everything around him was dark.
'I can't see anything. What day is today? Where am I?' Eren wondered.
Then he found himself laying under the same tree where he used to take nap.
He was in his 9 years old self again.
He lazily sat up and looked around. "So peaceful..."
"Eren, you have to come now." A nine years old Mikasa said, standing behind the tree.
"Why?" Eren lazely asked. "It's so peaceful here."
"Eren, come home now!" Mikasa said.
"Why?" Eren asked.
"Don't you want to explore the outside world someday?" Mikasa said. "Far beyond those walls, there exists stretch fiery waters, lands of ice and sandy snowfields which spreads wide and much more."
"The outside... world?" Eren said and slowly stood up.
"Eren! Even though just one step outside the wall lies a world full of death, why do you still want to explore the outside world ?" Mikasa firmly asked. "Won't there be enemies?"
"Why?" Eren said, determined. "Isn't that obvious?"
Flames erupted around him.
"Because I was born into this world!" Eren said.
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The Attacking Titan roared in real the world, catching everyone's attention.
Mikasa swang away from the Attacking Titan's nape and landed near Ian.
Everyone saw as the Attacking Titan, turned around, picked the giant boulder up, put it on his shoulder and started moving towards the hole.
Steam was emitting from his body.
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Armin then landed next to them. "Mikasa!"
"Did he lost control?" Armin asked and looked at Eren.
"Yeah but he's in control now." Mikasa said, looking at Armin.
Armin's face lit up. "Now if we just cover him until he reaches the gate victory will be ours then!"
Ian looked at them intently before looking at his soilders. "Defend him! Even if it costs us our lives we must let Eren reach the gate!"
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Jean and his team were on a rooftop, watching everything.
The pure Titans were approaching Eren.
"Do not let them stop him!" Jean ordered his team. "We gotta give Eren backup!" He jumped off, his team following him behind.
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"You two head to Eren!" Ian said. "That's an order! Understand?!"
"Yes, sir!" Mikasa and Armin replied in unison.
Ian began to run, then stopped at the sight before him. "Mitabi team... What are they doing?!"
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"The Titans are ignoring us now!" Mitabi said. "Our only choice is to get close enough to grab their attention!"
His teammates were luring the titans.
"Look this way, damn it! Or else we'll shove our blades up your smelly asses and kill you!" Mitabi said.
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"No way..." Armin said. "Setting foot down there is suicide! And they have no way to fight without horses or buildings!"
"No, we have... no other choice now." Ian said and swung down.
The other Garrison soldiers followed immediately.
"Follow Mitabi Team!" Ian ordered.
"Armin, we need to go, too." Mikasa said and followed Ian.
Armin followed her soon.
Soon, they landed on the ground and joined Mitabi's team to lure the titans away.
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'My body... feels like it's about to be crushed.' The right side of the attacking Titan's face was pressed firmly into its shoulder from the weight of the boulder.
Then he noticed his friends.
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'Mikasa, Armin, what are you doing?' Eren thought.
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The two ran ahead of him.
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'If you walk down there...' Eren thought.
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Majority of the Titans were distracted by the soilders, leaving a clear path for Eren.
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'Why did you want to venture into the outside world?' Mikasa's words echoed in his mind.
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The attacking Titan was now closer to the gate while the soilders were luring and killing the titans.
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'From the moment we're born, we're all free.' Eren thought.
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Some soilders managed to kill some titans while some others became it's prey.
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'Some might try to deny that, but it doesn't matter how strong they are!' Eren recalled killing Mikasa's kidnappers. He also remembered sitting with Armin pouring over his grandfather's book.
'There doesn't need to be flaming waters or lands of ice. Or whatever else! Whoever gets to see those things will have the greatest freedom this world has to offer!'
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Ian ran, gaze shifting to the side to see one of his subordinates be captured.
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'It doesn't matter how terrifying the world may be!' Eren thought.
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Mikasa and Armin ran ahead of the Eren.
Ian killed one titan who had his friend on it's mouth.
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Jean dodged a titan's incoming hand.
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'It doesn't matter how cruel the world may be! You have to fight to live!' Eren thought.
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"There's still a Titan ahead!" Armin informed.
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It was standing directly before the hole.
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"I'll handle this!" Mikasa said.
"Out of the way!" Rico yelled and dove in and cut one of its eyes.
The two on the ground jumped away from the Titan attack.
Mikasa ran behind it and slid on her legs, shooting the hooks, using them and the gas to propel herself up.
She let out a battle cry and cut it's nape.
The Titan fell to the side, clearing the path for Eren.
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The Attacking Titan was now right infront of the Throst gate, prepared to close the gate.
Armin had tears in his eyes. "Go for it, Eren!"
At the same time, the Attacking Titan roared, slamming the boulder infront of the gate.
After closing the gate, he fell to his knees.
Armin, Marco and Jean watched with stunned expressions, mouths open.
Rico fell to the ground, crying. "Everyone... your deaths weren't in vain." She held up the gun and fired a yellow flare. "Today, for the first time in history, humanity has beaten the Titans!"
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"Yellow smoke shell spotted!" Anka said. "It seems the operation was a success!"
The soldiers around her were shocked and happy.
They all cheered.
Pixis smiled. "Send in additional reinforcements! Rescue the Elite Squad!"
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The Attacking Titan was still immobiled, steam rising out of every part in its body.
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"The remaining Titans are coming!" Rico said and gripped her swords, looking at the two Titans heading their way. "Climb up to the Wall!"
"I'll withdraw after I've recovered Eren!" Mikasa responded. She used her ODM gear and landed near Armin, who was trying to pull Eren out. "Armin, how's Eren?"
"He's burning!" Armin responded. "We need to hurry and get the Wall!"
Both of Eren's arms were still stuck in the muscles.
"Part of his body is fused to it!" Armin said.
"We have to cut open it." Mikasa said and severed the flesh connecting Eren to the body.
Armin, who had been pulling the boy, fell backwards, holding Eren.
A massive hand began to move toward them.
Eren then slowly opened his eyes.
Rico, who was on the Wall quickly jumped into action and killed the first titan.
Then she shot a hook out into the second titan's nape and killed it too.
Armin was holding the half-unconscious Eren in his arms. "We won, Eren."
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Afterwards, with the help of the Garrisons and the Survey Corps' engineers, Wall Rose once again held the Titans at bay.
Taking out the rest of the Titans trapped inside Trost took a full day, during which the Wall-mounted cannons fired nonstop. Most of the Titans that had gathered by the Wall were wiped out by explosive shells.
During this, one 4-meter Titan and one 7-meter Titan were successfully captured alive.
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However, 200 soldiers were killed or missing in action and 895 were injured. And although this was the first time humanity had stopped a Titan invasion, far too many people had been lost to celebrate this historic achievement.
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Soldiers with cloths covering their mouths were carrying bodies around Throst.
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Jean and Marco walked down the street in long brown gloves and a mask like the others.
There were bodies all over the places.
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A couple of soldiers, including Sasha, stood around a giant red blob covered in saliva.
"What... is this?" Sasha asked with disgust.
"A Titan threw it up." A Garrison soldier said to her. "They don't have digestive systems, so they puke people out like that once they've had their fill."
"That's..." Sasha trailed off.
"Damn, there's no way we'll be able to identify anyone like this."
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Annie stood over a corpse with a horrified expression.
Reiner put his hand on her shoulder. "Don't just stand there, Annie." Reiner said. "We need to hurry and give them a funeral."
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A massive fire consumed the bodies.
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Eren suddenly woke up with a gasp.
He was in a jail cell.
On the other side, there were Erwin and Levi.
Eren was confused.
"Do you have any questions?" Erwin asked.
Eren quickly recognised them. 'Commander Erwin Smith, the head of the Survey Corps, and Captain Levi...'
"U-umm..." Eren said. "Where... am I?"
"As you can see, it's a dungeon." Erwin answered. "You're currently in the custody of the Military Police. We were only just now permitted to see you."
"I see..." Eren replied. He then noticed the chains, tied up to his wrists. Erwin held up a bronze key. "That key is..."
"Yes, it's yours. I'll return it later. The key to Dr. Yeager's basement." Erwin said calmly. "In your home in Shiganshina is where the secret surrounding the Titans lies, correct?"
"Yes, I think so. That's what my father said." Eren confirmed.
"You've lost your memory and your old man's gone missing. Awfully convenient story, if you ask me." Levi said.
"Levi, we've already concluded he has no reason to lie." Erwin said and turned back to Eren. "There is still so little we know, but for now, I feel the most important thing is to ask about your intentions."
"My... intentions?" Eren asked with curiosity.
"In order to investigate your home, we must recapture Shiganshina District along Wall Maria." Erwin said. "Drastic measures are needed to seal the gate quickly. And that means we'll need your Titan ability. Naturally, it seems Titans will determine our fate. The Colossal Titan and the Armored Titan most likely work the same way as you. Your intentions are the key. The key to saving humankind from this despair."
"I am..." Eren said and took a deep breath. "I want to join the Survey Corps to make the world titan free." He said with determination.
"Hmm... Not bad." Levi said and walked over to him. "Erwin, I'll take responsibility for him. Let the higher-ups know." Levi grabbed a bar. "It doesn't mean I trust him. If he betrays us or goes out of control, I'll kill him on the spot."
Eren remained calm at his threat.
"I doubt anyone will complain. Because I'm the only one cut out for this. I'll accept your enlistment into the Survey Corps." Levi said.
Eren just closed his eyes and took a deep breath.
'A long hellish day...'
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