Here to deliver my annual chapter! Enjoy, see y'all in 2024 again! :P
Eren noticed sharply that Lara had full control over every War Hammer Titan currently approaching the city walls of Marley's capital. ''The way how she effortlessly splits them all off into groups of four makes it seem like she's an oiled machine,'' he thought while bracing himself for impact. Two groups of four approached his location with different kinds of weaponry. Two carried long broadswords, which they rested on their shoulders. ''Heavy infantry. They should be slow but a blow might be enough to go through our hardening.'' He eyed Dina to his left, who shifted lower to the ground in a tense manner.
''Four with dual-bladed swords to our flanks. Lara knows we can't harden our entire body constantly. They'll most likely deal swift attacks and wear down our defenses,'' Eren reasoned. A low rumble escaped his titan's throat, which reverberated throughout the city like a deep growl and made all the glass windows of houses in the vicinity rattle on their frames. The final two War Hammer Titans stayed just behind the walls of Marley's capital and aimed their longbows at Eren and Dina respectively. The remaining six bashed through the steel-reinforced wall with little effort, making massive chunks of stone rain into the city and tear into numerous buildings.
''They're not even caring about the city itself,'' Eren realized with a frown. He watched how big chunks of brick and broken steel shot into luxurious houses, pavements, and canals, creating complete carnage around the advancing Titans. ''Is it because they know we'll destroy most of it anyway? Then why did the very first War Hammer Titan which Dina and I fought jump over the wall?'' Reinforced plates of titan hardening coalesced together with the knuckles on his balled fists. To his left, Dina elongated her claws to razor-sharp blades. ''Dina… We'll have to work together to win. Let's play off each other's strengths and show Lara the true Power of the Titans!''
Eren's deafening roar thundered across Marley's vast metropolis, its defiant undertones like that of a caged beast who tried to break free. It didn't seem to deter any of the War Hammer Titans at all, who kept dashing forward stoically. The loud cocking of string on bows resonated even through Eren's intimidating roar. The two War Hammer Titans with their longbows released their arrows, which zipped through the air like missiles. They whizzed past the other six War Hammer Titans perfectly and traveled at high velocity toward Eren and Dina.
Eren narrowed his eyes and simply ducked to avoid the incoming arrow, which zipped past him and drilled itself into a beautiful mansion. The impact made the mansion explode as if a bomb had gone off inside of it. A big layer of dust and smoke rose from the impact and what was left of the mansion collapsed in on itself. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw how Dina gracefully dodged the incoming projectile that came her way, which impacted part of the canals behind her and completely destroyed a bridge made out of cobblestone.
Eren grumbled when two War Hammer Titans with dual-wielding swords advanced on him rapidly, giving him no time to defend himself in his ducked position. They swung their weapons agilely. The razor-sharp blades cut into parts of his torso, making steaming-hot blood erupt out of the gaping wounds at a rapid pace. He gritted his teeth. ''No time for defense, just attack and get them off of you, Eren,'' he thought before dive-tackling both of them to the pavement from his low position to the ground.
Eren wrapped his arms around their shins so they lost their balance and tumbled down, making them collapse atop rows of buildings still fortunate enough to be standing. It created loud tremors all around them while the earth rattled ominously. Eren recovered and looked up to see one of the other War Hammer Titans standing above him with her broadsword raised high above her head. His eyes widened to pinpricks. ''Quick, do something before she beheads you!'' his mind screamed at him. Out of pure reflex, he grabbed the War Hammer Titan to his left and pulled her on top of him. Not a second later, the broadsword swung down potently, aimed straight at his neck.
A sickening crack echoed heavily on top of Eren as the broadsword sliced cleanly through the War Hammer Titan's armored face and head. He effectively used her as a makeshift shield and stopped the sword from reaching his neck, but the brunt of the impact still traveled all the way to Eren's body inside his titan. He hacked and squirmed as a sharp pain exploded from his left leg. ''The impact still had enough force to break my femur bone,'' he thought with a wince. He hissed in pain and anger while a river of steamy blood gushed out of the downed War Hammer Titan on top of him. It splattered against his face and torso while the still-standing War Hammer Titan struggled to retract her broadsword from her downed ally.
''Now is my chance!'' Eren realized. He roared and rolled to his right to escape his precarious situation. The other downed War Hammer Titan recovered slightly and picked her dual swords back up to overpower Eren, only for him to grab both her legs and make her trip again. She stumbled and fell right on top of the broadsword still stuck in the defeated War Hammer Titan. The damage wasn't nearly enough to defeat her, but her weight crashing fully on top of it made the other War Hammer Titan lose her grip completely on the broadsword, disarming her.
Eren knew he couldn't stand with his broken leg. The exploding pain radiating through his body made him extremely nauseous and almost lose his consciousness. He simply acted on adrenaline alone. He managed to grab one of the swords of the downed War Hammer Titan and raised it above his head to hack away at the War Hammer Titan's neck who currently tried to get up from atop the broadsword that partially cut into her torso. ''This should be two—!'' A sharp pain suddenly exploded from his hand, cutting off his thoughts completely.
Eren watched in a stupor as his titan's hand completely splattered into big chunks of meat and blood. He only registered the sharp whizzing sound of a projectile a second later in his brain. An arrow had struck his hand and ripped it to shreds. Only large chunks of some of his fingers still remained attached to his wrist and his weapon dropped to the ground. He looked back at the smirking War Hammer Titan from afar, who grabbed another arrow and cocked it on her longbow. ''What a nuisance! You want to play like that?'' Eren thought, growling like a wounded wolf.
Eren narrowed his eyes when she shot another arrow, this time straight at his face. He hardened his still-functioning hand while the arrow flew at him lethally. With extreme reflexes, he swung his hand in front of his face and grabbed the whizzing projectile straight out of the air with a loud, rumbling grunt. The velocity of the arrow made his hand crack nonetheless, but he stopped it dead in its tracks. The War Hammer Titan's smirk turned into a surprised frown. ''We'll be playing like that then!'' he thought with a loud roar.
Eren turned his torso and rammed the sharp part of the arrow with all his strength into the neck of the War Hammer Titan he tried to defeat earlier. It pierced her armor and drove through the other side of her neck. Eren didn't stop there and smashed his hardened fist repeatedly against her neck, making shockwaves travel through the vicinity with each potent punch. He lost himself so much in his rage that he failed to take the fourth War Hammer Titan into account, who unceremoniously kicked him straight across his face.
The force blasted Eren away and made him crash against multiple rows of houses. The impact reduced them to complete dust and rubble. He groaned, clearly rattled. His entire face got mauled and most of his body sustained heavy damage. ''It's too much. I managed to defeat two, but the other two are still perfectly capable of battling.'' He looked up to see Dina struggling just as much as he did. ''Is she doing better than I am? I can't tell… My vision is blurry…'' Eren thought. His mind wanted to embrace sweet nothingness at this point. ''Eren, don't… drift… off.'' He knew one more arrow would be enough to put the final nail in the coffin for him.
Eren struggled to stay awake. In his blurry vision, he saw the final War Hammer Titan approaching him with her broadsword retrieved. The other War Hammer Titan aimed another arrow at him. ''I'm done for…'' he thought. He didn't have enough time to heal himself. ''My body doesn't respond to me either. I can't get up…'' Eren watched helplessly how the War Hammer Titan raised her broadsword high in the sky while the other one released her arrow for the final blow against him.
Dodging that arrow from the War Hammer Titan who used a longbow didn't require much skill on Dina's part. Eren had trained and prepared her well. The War Hammer Titans flanking her with their dual-wielding swords and the final one in the middle approaching her menacingly with a broadsword, however, would put all of her experience to the test. ''I need to use my speed and agility to my advantage,'' Dina thought. Her elongated claws and nimble size made for excellent offensive weapons, but left much to be desired for defense.
Trusting that Eren would be all right, Dina solely focused on the most dangerous foe of the small group of War Hammer Titans surrounding her. She roared and leaped at the broadsword-wielding War Hammer Titan with both of her claws extended. Then, she brought them both down in a potent swipe, slashing at her armored torso and leaving long gashes all over her body. The War Hammer Titan stumbled a little but continued to raise her broadsword executioner-style, unbothered by the damage she received.
At the same time, both dual-wielding War Hammer Titans swung their swords at Dina. The sharp weapons cut cleanly through the soft tissue of her skin and muscles, creating deep, bloody wounds on her body. She huffed in annoyance and surprised the War Hammer Titans with her speed. Within one smooth motion, she danced out of the way of the incoming broadsword and swiped her claw upward, severing the left arm of one of the dual-wielding War Hammer Titans. The force of the upward trajectory sent her limb flying, until it crashed into a random home meters away, completely destroying it.
The War Hammer Titan swung her broadsword down at the spot Dina previously occupied and only managed to cleave the pavement and make a big plume of smoke rise from all the rubble that flew in every direction after the impact. ''Now for my next trick!'' Dina thought, high on adrenaline. She aimed one set of her claws at the stunned War Hammer Titan—who just lost her arm—as if wielding a crossbow. While supporting her arm with the other to keep it steady, she shot all five of her fingers straight at the War Hammer Titan's head.
The hardened claws whizzed through the air and penetrated the titan's face with loud bangs, drilling themselves into her brain and making her collapse to the ground. ''Better be careful now, Dina,'' she thought while looking at the War Hammer Titan in the distance cocking another arrow on her longbow. ''You can't use one of your hands for a little while now until it has healed.''
The other dual-wielding War Hammer Titan sprinted at her and slashed both of her swords in a circular pattern. Dina didn't try to dodge and simply let it hit her in preparation for a counterattack. Both swords cut through her shoulder joint and made her arm fall limply to her side. ''Like I expected!'' Dina thought victoriously. She'd hoped Lara would prioritize taking out her arm which still held a set of functional claws to attack with. ''You thought it would leave me completely defenseless…'' She thrust her other arm upward, straight against and through the War Hammer Titan's chin. The end of her wrist had shifted into a single, sharply-pointed spear. It sunk through her armor until it came out of the other side from atop her head with a sickening sound and a gush of steaming blood. ''Think again!''
The War Hammer Titan went limp in her grip. Dina immediately side-stepped and hid behind the defeated War Hammer Titan's body from the incoming arrow shot her way, wrist still stuck in her head. The arrow penetrated the War Hammer Titan's back until the sharp end went out of the other side. She grumbled and eyed her other adversary still within striking range of her. That War Hammer slashed her big broadsword sideways. The air thundered around the sword and the only thing Dina could do in this situation was hardening the part of her torso the blade would hit.
A big grunt left Dina's mouth at the incredibly potent impact. The broadsword's strength managed to get through her hardening and break a big chunk of flesh off her torso. The large, gaping wound spewed blood everywhere and made her legs buckle. She lost her balance and went down on one knee, gasping for air. ''So strong…!'' she thought, her eyes wide in surprise and denial. ''I can't fight much longer. My titan is completely useless. Should I do it now?'' She noticed the War Hammer Titan retrieved her broadsword from her torso to finish her off. ''You don't have much of a choice, Dina…'' She gave a quick glance to Eren and gasped when she saw his titan crumpled and broken against a row of houses.
''Eren is down too. This might not be enough to defeat them all, but I have to at least try.'' Dina went down on both knees and focused all her energy inward. She tried to harden her body all at once and felt a big resistance blocking her from doing so. She ignored the resistance and the pain wracking her brain. ''Eren is depending on you, Dina. Give it your all!'' she thought while her titan glowed brighter and brighter. Steam rose out of every pore, heating up her body so much that Dina's skin melted from the intense heat. ''No holding back! For Eldia!'' She roared and released the built-up energy all at once.
The sudden explosion blasted her titan's body into smithereens while millions of pebble-sized lava rocks spewed from her body like a rapid-firing machine gun. The blast overtook the War Hammer Titan still in her vicinity and completely evaporated her. A big boom reverberated through the area which shook the earth. Thousands of lava pebbles traveled far and wide, pelting both longbow-wielding War Hammer Titans and melting their armors away. It turned them into nothing but chunks of meat and metal, annihilating them both on the spot. The sounds of all the pebbles whizzing through the air sounded like an unending wave of arrows raining down from the air.
The initial blast destroyed the entire block of houses and other manmade objects close to Dina, reducing them to nothing but dust. The rest of the block got shredded by all of the lava pebbles, totally annihilating anything resembling a home. A big plume of smoke rose into the air where Dina had exploded, while countless fires broke out everywhere, making the once-gorgeous capital of Marley burn. The only other War Hammer Titan close to Dina, the one with her broadsword raised to end Eren, got completely shredded as well. Almost nothing remained of her body as thousands of pebbles continuously penetrated her back until they had done so much damage that they pierced all the way through her.
Fortunately for Eren, most of the attack ended up blocked by the War Hammer Titan, yet still a couple of dozen pebbles pierced his body too and burned him away from the inside out. Dina couldn't do much to help him at this point. She completely burned up and had no muscles left over to even move herself. ''It's now entirely up to you, Eren. I'm completely out,'' Dina thought. She couldn't see anything with the large plumes of smoke billowing all around her. In the distance, she heard the distinct sounds of her allies battling against the other Titans. ''They're still standing, at least. I hope they are doing well.''
Silently, Dina closed her eyes and listened how the city around her burned.
Ymir didn't know what had happened. Her titan lay in a large crater, all of her limbs mangled the wrong way and she could barely breathe. Above her, the remaining War Hammer Titan she had tried to face all by herself had thrown her down. Now, she stared down the barrel as that War Hammer Titan thrust her spear downward to cleave her real body straight through her neck. Ymir closed her eyes on instinct and waited for the inevitable piercing pain to come, but instead, a sudden explosion rattled the area violently.
Ymir gasped when the War Hammer Titan lost her balance just a little, which resulted in her spear cleaving nothing but pavement. ''Finally, a little bit of luck! C'mon, Ymir! Do something and make Eren proud!'' she thought to herself. With extreme willpower, she focused solely on healing her broken body while the War Hammer Titan recovered and pulled back her spear out of the rubble. Undeterred, she thrust the spear back to cleave Ymir again. Only this time, Ymir reacted. ''Now!'' she thought. With a swift motion, she rolled out of the way of the incoming spear, making it impact nothing but rubble once more.
Ymir smirked and leaped away using only her right hind leg. ''Focusing my healing on just a single body part speeds up the process considerably. Thank you, Eren, for teaching me that trick,'' Ymir thought. The War Hammer Titan gave her an annoyed look and retracted her spear, then cocked back her elbow and upper body in a throwing motion. All color drained from Ymir's face and her grin faded into nothingness. ''I don't have the mobility yet to dodge that!'' she realized, panic setting in like a freight train.
Ymir braced herself for imminent impact, only to widen her eyes when a large bolt soared past her. The bolt hit the War Hammer Titan straight in her chest and made her stumble back. Ymir looked back in surprise and gasped. ''Sasha!'' she thought elatedly. She had healed enough after the initial attack to shoot an arrow and defend Ymir. ''She needs more time, though… time Connie doesn't have at all,'' Ymir realized. Sasha struggled to get up while the Armored Titan lay completely flat on his face, unmoving.
''At least Connie can't possibly be hurt further in this state. Not until more War Hammer Titans arrive. Which means…'' Ymir growled now that her other leg healed up fully as well. She didn't hesitate and sprinted at the War Hammer Titan who barely recovered from the surprise attack from Sasha. With a mighty leap, she jumped up to her face and started scratching at her armor, doing minimal damage in the process. ''Don't let her grab you this time, just annoy her as much as you can!'' Ymir reminded herself.
The moment Ymir saw Lara's hands coming in close, she leaped away again and landed behind her. ''That should—'' Ymir's thoughts died away when a big spear suddenly protruded from the ground and skewered her titan. The spear rose high into the sky, trapping her at the serrated end. She gurgled helplessly while coughing up blood. ''W-What…?'' She held on to the spear with her claws, lest her titan would slowly slide further down the bloodied shaft of the spear.
The War Hammer Titan didn't give her a second glance and eyed Sasha stoically. With an arrow still lodged deep in her chest, she threw her spear at Sasha with deadly accuracy. Ymir only watched helplessly as the spear pierced itself through Sasha's already wounded body with so much force that she got blown off of her feet. ''No! Sasha!'' Ymir screamed, struggling to pull herself off of the spear. She couldn't feel her lower half, but her arms still worked fine. ''C'mon, do something, Ymir! Get… yourself… down!'' She buried her claws in the spear to get a better grip on the slippery shaft and heaved herself up. Slowly, she gained ground, completely destroying her claws in the process.
The War Hammer Titan didn't even bother to look back. She solely focused on killing Sasha and walked toward her to retrieve her spear. ''Not… on my watch!'' Ymir cried out. With a heavy push, she freed herself from her trap and tumbled down to the ground. Not even the thud she made on the ground alerted Lara. All around the city explosions and battles went on, drowning out her impact in the chaotic chorus that surrounded her. Ymir dragged herself on the ground with her big arms like a crawler, gaining ground surprisingly quickly. ''I'm not done with you yet!'' she thought, clinging to the War Hammer Titan's left ankle and trying to slow her down.
Finally, that got Lara's attention. The surprise on her face due to Ymir's perseverance made the War Hammer Titan scowl. She stopped, turned around on her right ankle as if doing a pitcher throw, and then used all her strength to kick her left leg in the air. The resulting force threw Ymir off of her ankle and made her fling away like a hockey puck. She tumbled over the ground and smashed through multiple buildings, destroying them in the process. The world spun around her and only pain and extreme dizziness overtook her senses until everything went black.
Sasha's struggled against all of the odds. She'd never expected that surprise attack from the War Hammer Titan she downed. ''I can't do much. That spear severed my spine,'' she thought. Sweat dripped from her brow when Connie went down and Ymir followed soon after. ''Is it all over for us? After training so much with Eren… All for nothing?'' she hung her head low, giving in to that extreme overpowering feeling of defeat until an explosion rattled her. It brought her back to her senses, especially when she saw that Ymir didn't give up either. ''No! What are you thinking, Sasha? Eren depends on you! All of Eldia depends on you!'' She focused all her effort on her arm and managed to materialize a single bolt.
All of Sasha's hunter instincts made her focus and she fired, hitting the War Hammer Titan straight in her chest. ''Now… I just need to find the strength… to fire another!'' She tried, but the effort it took made her gasp and sweat bullets. Her vision blurred and her arm lost considerable strength. ''I need to stay awake. One last time!'' Sasha never saw the second spear coming. It cleaved her torso just above where the first one hit. The velocity of the throw made her fly off of her feet. Motionlessly, she lay on her back. She could barely breathe with how much effort it took her.
''Now, it's truly over. I'm sorry, Connie. I'm sorry, Ymir. I wasn't strong enough…'' Sasha heard the footsteps of the War Hammer Titan come closer to her. At this point, she could barely lift her head. When she appeared in her point of view, a cold dread washed over Sasha. ''There's nobody who can save you now, Sasha,'' she thought. She didn't know what happened to Ymir, but if Lara came her way, she assumed the worst. Yet, a loud, defiant growl made her stop her destructive thoughts. ''Ymir! She's still alive… and fighting! Despite all of her injuries, she's giving it her all…''
Sasha watched as Lara kicked Ymir away off her ankle, where she mercilessly smashed through multiple buildings until eventually skidding to a halt. Debris buried the completely wrecked Jaw Titan underneath an avalanche of collapsed buildings and dust. The carnage left a clear path of destruction in its wake. Multiple plumes of smoke billowed into the already darkened air from all of the fires everywhere, only adding to the total annihilation of the capital of Marley. ''If Ymir is giving it her all…'' She grunted and aimed her crossbow at the distracted War Hammer Titan. ''Then so will I!''
Sasha managed to find the strength she sought and fired a single bolt from her crossbow. It soared lethally through the air and hit Lara straight in the back of her head. The War Hammer Titan stiffened and then fell forward, taking her out of the battle. ''That's it… Well done, Sasha!'' she praised herself, feeling all her strength drain from her body. She couldn't even move a muscle if she wanted to.
''I'm so raiding the meat cabinet after this battle is over.''
Hope you guys enjoyed! Please leave a review if you did! I'll try my best to update this story more frequently from now on. Time to finish it!
~Syrup