Disclaimer: I don't own Attack on Titan, Devil May Cry, or any of its characters…

Merry Christmas everyone! Enjoy the chapter and I'll see you on New Year's!


With Rico and her squad, things weren't going down their way either as they stood helpless, unable to do anything to help one of their comrades that was being devoured by another titan. They were successful in taking down that 12-meter class from earlier, only to come across more of them, albeit smaller.

"Squad leader… it's over." A female soldier breathed out, fearing for her own life as she turned towards Rico. "We're all that's left!"

Rico shook in fear too, before pointing to the direction of where the rock was situated. "For now, retreat to the rock! Let's regroup with Ian and Mitabi before making another move!"

However, just as they all turned around to leave, they all widened their eyes when the boulder from afar was lifted up into the air by a giant ethereal hand.


Ian and his squad, along with Mikasa and Mitabi's team, were finally able to put an end to the seemingly endless wave of titans that were all but upon them earlier, which included the ones who were capable of climbing up rooftops. But there wasn't time for a celebration of some sort, as they witnessed several more titans entering the district.

"Five titans… are coming through the gate!" Mitabi exclaimed in fear.

"You've gotta be kidding me!"

"Don't these things have a limit?!"

"Our efforts… are useless!"

"Withdraw for now!" Ian announced to all of his comrades with a hardened expression. Even he knew that it would be pointless to continue fighting right now. "Our next step depends on Eren's condition!"

They were about to take off too, only to be met with a giant rock being carried by a giant spectral hand that seemed to be coming from the ground. Their eyes widening, the soldiers on the rooftop quickly went towards its edge where they witnessed a familiar white-haired demon under the rock, using his demonic arm to support the huge boulder as he treaded slowly towards the wall. What made the difference was that his eyes were glowing bright red and his body was giving off blue smoke-like aura, a clear sign of his Devil Trigger activated.

Tears formed in the corner of Mikasa's eyes as she smiled. "Eren…"

A loud voice boomed around the whole area, getting everyone's attention as the blonde teen landed on the same rooftop where they were all situated. "Multiple titans approaching from the rear!" Armin shouted, before he walked up towards Mikasa.

"Armin!" she cried.

"Eren killed those demons!" he replied with a grateful smile on his face, as though he attained victory in a hard-fought battle. "And now… he's trying to carry out his duty…! If we cover Eren until he reaches the gate… it's victory for us!"

Armin's words quickly went through Ian's head as he snapped. He turned to his troops with gritted teeth. "Defend him to the death! Even if it means all our lives, protect Eren until he gets to the gate!" he roared out to his subordinates, and one by one, they got the message and flew off the rooftop with one objective in mind:

Protect Eren.

Ian then turned to Mikasa and Armin, before he was ready to jump off the building himself. "You two go with him!" he yelled at the two teens, who were surprised with his sudden command.

"What?!" said Armin.

"That's an order! Got it?!"

"Yes, sir!" Both friends shouted back at the same time.

Satisfied with their answer, the man was ready to take off only for his eyes to widen when he saw what was going on down below. "Mitabi's squad…?! What are they…?!"

Four titans who had gotten through the gate were seemingly heading towards Eren, completely ignoring a whole squad of soldiers much to their shock.

"The titans aren't hunting us! We have to get close enough for them to smell us!" Mitabi shouted out to his comrades, as he led the way towards the gargantuan beings that continued to ignore their presence.

"Hey! Look over here!" One of them shouted once they had gotten close enough to those titans.

"If you don't turn around, I'm gonna stick my blade right up your stinkin' ass!" Mitabi shouted as well and before they knew it, the titans finally turned around and saw their squad on the ground. That alone was enough for two of the monsters to turn their attention to the soldiers as they ran to the opposite direction to lure them away from Eren.

"Here they come!"

"Two of 'em!"

"Run!"

"Get to the building!"

Armin looked at this in shock. "What are they…?! Staying on the ground is suicide! Without horses or buildings, they can't fight!"

"No…" Ian breathed out, before gritting his teeth in realization. "That's… the only way left." With those words, he jumped down into the ground followed by his squad, running towards the titans head-on. Mikasa snapped Armin out of his slight trance and the two of them followed the orders given to them, as they ran towards Eren with their blades drawn and ready to fight.

"Follow Mitabi's lead!" Ian's voice rang out throughout the battlefield, before him and his squad drew out their swords. "I don't care how close you get! We have to make them target us, otherwise the operation will fail!"


The Devil Trigger Eren made slight grunts as he took slow but careful steps towards his goal. He wasn't particularly struggling with the gigantic rock that he was carrying [although it was enough to bother him only slightly], but he knew that he still had to be cautious of his every step.

With his ethereal version of his right arm being the only thing that kept the boulder on the air, he had the Rebellion sword in his free left hand should any more demons decide to make an appearance now. It would be risky to fight while he was like this, but it wasn't like he had a choice in the matter. All he could do was hope that the demons (Bianco Angelos) he had destroyed a while ago were all that's left of them.

"This rock… is a death flag for those titans coming through the gate…" Eren thought in his mind. Unlike the second time that he went in this state, Eren now had full control of his own thoughts and actions compared to what happened while he was rampaging through titans and demons alike hours earlier. "If I get this rock to the outer gate and seal it, they won't be able to get into the district anymore… that's why they were heading for me." The white-haired demon quickly noticed how those titans in front had their attention towards him instead of the soldiers. "I must get this over with… and save everyone!"

Eren gritted his teeth and began to tread faster, only for him to slightly widen his blood-red eyes when he noticed Mikasa and Armin before him, all prepared for battle.

"Mikasa… Armin… what are you doing…?" he said. "If you stay there… the titans'll eat you! Or worse, more demons can show up and kill you out of nowhere!"

Mikasa didn't respond because she was too focused on watching out for any threats, and only Armin turned to face Eren. However, he didn't say anything and only looked at his friend with a determined face, and that was enough for the half-demon to get the message.

"Why did you want to go… to the outside world, Eren?"

The titans in the distance continued to get distracted by Ian and Mitabi's squads, only for some of them to die horrible deaths by getting eaten by those monsters in return. Eren could only watch them die before his eyes, as he knew this was inevitable. While this was happening, Armin and Mikasa kept their guard up for any more titans that were heading for their friend.

*start playing "We Shall Never Surrender"*

"When we're born… all of us… are free. People who reject, no matter how strong they are… don't matter."

A memory flashed through Eren's mind. It was when Armin first gave him a glimpse of what was outside of the walls, through his book.

"The burning water, the land of ice… anything will do. Anyone who saw those things… would be the freest… person in the world."

Eren tightened his grip on his sword as they passed through the horde of titans that assaulted the squads.

"Fight back!"

Almost all of the members of both Ian and Mitabi Squads had been wiped out by the titans, and they were only able to bring down two of them.

"Who'd value their life… over something like that? It doesn't matter… how terrifying the world is."

The three teens were able to witness the horrible sight of Ian Dietrich himself getting eaten before their eyes, and they can only look on in horror, unable to do anything about it. Eren gritted his teeth, while Mikasa and Armin had tears in their eyes. They were only able to press forward, and continue their mission until the end.

"It doesn't matter… how cruel the world is."

The three were nearing the gate, only for them to get noticed by one of the titans that preyed on Alpha Squad as it turned towards them. Mikasa and Armin immediately raised their swords as they charged towards the monster, ready to defend Eren as they were told to do.

"Fight back!"

Before the two could move in closer to the titan, the wheezing of ODM gear could be heard as another soldier swooped down and planted her sword into its eye.

"Get out of the way!" Rico shouted, jumping off of the titan as Mikasa quickly took advantage of the opportunity that was presented before them. Firing her gear, she went behind the titan before launching herself up towards its exposed nape in order to kill it.

"Fight!"

With nothing more in the way, Eren continued his last steps forward before stopping when he finally reached the outer gate, with enough space for him to seal the hole.

"G…"

This was it.

All of their sacrifices…

The men slain…

The lives lost…

For this very moment.

The half-demon started to lower down the load he was carrying with his right arm. Everything around Armin went silent for a moment as tears gathered in his eyes again, before screaming out as loud as he could while clenching his fists tightly.

"Go, Eren!"

With a roar, Eren slammed the gigantic boulder down before him, sealing the gate completely.

"FIGHT!"

A smile slowly made its way through Armin's teary face; for all their blood, efforts, and sacrifices, the mission was accomplished.

Mikasa widened her eyes as she landed on the ground before she became tearful as well. He… He saved them all… Eren fulfilled his task… and now Trost district was saved, along with all the people that lived here, if not every human living inside the walls.

Rico fell on her butt as she watched Eren plug the hole in the wall, with a look of shock clearly evident in her features. She let out nothing but stutters and incoherent words at first, before regaining herself as tears formed in her eyes too. "My comrades… everyone…" she muttered, pulling out her flare gun. "Your sacrifices… weren't… in vain…"


Today, the human race… won its first… victory…

"Yellow flare confirmed. Looks like…" said Anka, as she got a closer view of the flare that was fired from the far end of the district, near the inner gate. "The operation was a success." She put down the telescope she was using as her own shock took over.

All of the surrounding soldiers were in the same state, since they were thinking it would take a miracle for their 'suicide mission', as they put it, to even work successfully. They all had looks of disbelief on their faces, even Pixis gained such an expression, but it was also the commander who was the first to break out of his stupor as he shouted out his next order.

He threw out his arm before him, giving the signal to the rest of the troops on the wall who were waiting for their further orders. "Send in reinforcements now! Rescue the Alpha Squad!"


Rico and Mikasa immediately took off into the air as soon as they noticed that the remaining titans there had turned their attention to the now-sealed hole, which was also the area where Eren and Armin are currently situated.

"The other titans are coming! We have to climb up the wall! We'll be safe there!" Rico called out towards the raven-haired teen.

"I will withdraw from here as soon as Eren and Armin are recovered!" Mikasa answered back, as she flew down to where her two friends were located.

As soon as he accomplished his task of sealing the wall with the giant rock, Eren's Devil Trigger deactivated and the white-haired teen fell to his knees and panted heavily in exhaustion. Drawing on the power of his special state to enhance his strength to be able to lift up the boulder took a lot out of Eren, and now he was suffering through the aftereffect it brought to him.

That made Armin snap and he quickly rushed over to his friend in deep concern. "Eren, are you okay?!" he asked, slinging one of Eren's arms over his neck.

"…Ar…min…" the half-demon barely breathed out, showing how exhausted he had become before he slowly turned his head towards Armin.

At the same time, Mikasa had landed on the ground with Rico and she didn't waste any time running up to her friends before noticing the state Eren was in. Her eyes widened in fear as she gave an audible gasp, which caused the blonde teen to notice her presence. "Armin, what happened to Eren?!" she asked in a worried tone.

"Carrying the rock all the way here took a lot out of him, and now he's too exhausted to even use his gear! But if we don't hurry up and climb the wall…!"

Mikasa quickly understood the situation as she went towards Eren's side, slinging his other arm over her neck. With both of them acting as support, Eren was able to stand up properly although he still looked out of it.

"Quick! Carry him up the wall, Mikasa!" Armin yelled in fear, as the remaining titans there finally reached the area where they were. The giant creatures knelt down and stared at their prey, before reaching out to grab them.

"You three! We're going to get eaten at this rate!" Rico turned back to them with a fearful expression. If this was any other time, she would immediately climb up the wall now and save herself, but she had her duty and she couldn't leave these teenagers here to their fate.

"I… can't…!" Mikasa gritted her teeth and struggled to fire her gear, more so when Armin left her to carry Eren by herself. She realized it was too late for her to do anything when the titan's hand was only a few meters left before it reached them, forcing her to drop Eren to the ground as she drew her sword to fight their remaining enemies.

Armin managed to catch Eren before his head could hit the ground, letting his friend rest in his arms as Mikasa was about to fight back. Rico looked too conflicted to do anything but nonetheless, she pulled out her swords too, ready to fulfill her responsibility as a soldier even now.

However, before they could even make a move, another soldier had came down from the sky and slashed through the titan's nape as if he was a rotating motor blade. With that one clean cut, the titan fell to the ground as a corpse with its killer standing on top of it.

"What…?!" Armin's voiced out in confusion.

Even Mikasa looked confused with what just happened. She was ready to kill the titan herself had it not been for the other soldier coming from above to do it. Have the reinforcements arrived after they saw Rico's flare? "T-That's…" she muttered.

Eren regained enough of his strength that he was able to observe the mystery soldier closely, particularly the cloak that he was wearing and the insignia that it bore. He narrowed his eyes to get a closer look, only for them to widen when he realized what it was and what it symbolized.

"The wings… of freedom…"

"Hey, brats…" Levi Ackerman turned to the three cadets who were standing by the rock with his usual bored expression.

Meanwhile, the other remaining titan had been also disposed of by more soldiers who all bore the same cloak and insignia that Levi had. It only meant one thing.

"...what's the situation here?"


The returning Survey Corps and the Garrison's military engineers came charging into the district, and thanks to them…

Wall Rose once again held off the titans.

For the first time, the human race had stopped a titan invasion. Not only that, but they did so with the sudden appearance of demons along the way. It was a remarkable milestone in their history, but…

Far too many lives were lost for the humans to revel in their victory.


And that comes the end of the Trost arc, ladies and gentlemen! I was honestly surprised it took exactly ten chapters to finish it, and hopefully this pace becomes the same for the upcoming arcs. Next chapter, we'll be dealing with the aftermath of the battle and the ones after that will be the start of the Female Titan arc. I know that most of you are excited with Levi and Erwin finally meeting Eren. How will things play out? Stay tuned!

Okay, time for me to address a common concern among my readers for this story. Many of you have asked if I will be including DmC: Devil May Cry in this fanfic, so here is my answer. I have already made it clear in the very first chapter which DMC universe I adapted here, and that's the original. So, the reboot is immediately thrown out of the window. However, when it comes to references and callbacks to DmC, I may or may not have them and it depends on the scenario. I repeat, I may be adding references to the reboot, but that is still unknown for now. I didn't really hate the reboot but I prefer the original over it so much, so that's it for this issue.

Also, next chapter, I'll be revealing the full list of devil arms that I'll be including in this fanfic. Eren won't be having any more devil arms except for Rebellion and Yamato (as well as a certain one that I'm keeping a secret for now, but if you have played DMC5, then you know), so that leaves the door open for new wielders of Cerberus, Agni and Rudra, Beowulf, and more. All the more reason for you to tune in to the next update!

Goodbye… and good night! BANG! *too sweet gesture*

-Lance