Levi shook his head in disbelief. When he fired that noise grenade, he only expected the Female Titan to get affected. But when Bryan plummeted from a dangerous height while the other four clumsily gathered themselves by clinging to the trees, he prepared to swerve back and rescue them before one of them broke their neck. Although some of the branches broke their fall, their landing was not exactly the graceful kind. But after seeing soldiers slammed into trees and crashing on the ground when the Female Titan stomped her way through the forest, he figured the noise grenade would at least temporarily stall her from killing any more people.

"The flare burst in her face though," he smirked. "Clever move."

Although it slowed her down though, she didn't stop flailing and swinging her fists indiscriminately against those who tried to attack her. She kicked a few into the tree but only gravely injured them because Spencer and Ian pulled them away from her attacks. The rescued soldiers, paled and stupefied, patted themselves before exclaiming in awe that they survived. You have them to thank, Levi thought.

As the light began to fade, he heard Erwin shout. "Fire!"

Levi heard loud pops from the barrels as a barrage of spears and hooks shot out and dug themselves into her flesh, chaining the Female Titan. As if realizing their intentions, she covered her nape with her two hands before hardening them.

At least we caught her, Levi scouted around. "Where are the boys?"

One of the soldiers pointed to the spot between the Female Titan's feet, revealing the Blitzkrieg Boys in a crumpled heap. Levi sighed in relief when four of the Blitzkrieg Boys stood up, albeit wobbly, and revealed a groaning Spencer flat on the ground. Bryan swooned around, as if drunk, before slumping into Tala and gripping his head. While Kai dusted himself and straightened out his clothes, Ian shook out the dust before raking back his hair.

At least they were alive.

All the boys shook the daze off from the loud noise grenade that shrieked in their ears. The big blonde Russian coughed and choked, wincing in pain with a sigh.

"Damn, y'all be heavy," Spencer chuckled as he curled to stand up. "What kind of crap have you guys been eating?"

Bryan rolled his eyes. "Maybe it's because you went vegan."

"Going plant-based isn't as bad as you think it is."

"I need my meat, man!"

"Then, eat meat but don't blame your weight gain on my plant-based diet!"

Ian groaned. "Guys, before y'all start fighting about whose diet is superior, does anyone know what the hell just happened?"

Kai picked the dirt out of his ears. "It was a noise grenade."

They all turned to Kai, who was still clapping his hand against his ear to relieve some of the pressure that built up.

"Someone fired a noise grenade because they wanted her to slow down. They decided we were collateral damage," Kai hummed darkly.

Tala narrowed his eyes. "Erwin?"

"No, it had to be someone who could make the call nearby and assess the situation." Kai looked around, noticing that there was one squad that was missing. "Levi."

"Why would Levi —" Ian raised an eyebrow.

" — To keep her away from Eren," Spencer finished. "But what does Eren have that she wants so much?"

Kai shook his head. "We can only assume that Eren can transform into a Titan like her. And if he does, he probably has some special ability" — he then looked up — "only she can confirm that though."

Looking up, the Blitzkrieg Boys saw the trapped and panicked Female Titan, whose hands covered her nape. They couldn't tell, however, where exactly she was from. Blonde hair, blue eyes — the only race they figured she'd be was either Aryan or the typical American. But they had to assume that her titan form looked exactly as she did as a human.

Bryan poked her leg and clucked his tongue. "A bit fleshy though for my taste."

Spencer raised an eyebrow. "Titans are fleshy. Would you rather have them armored?"

Tala chuckled before noticing Levi walk up to them. The lance corporal had the ghost of concern written all over his face, exhaling.

"How are you boys?" asked Levi.

"Obviously not dead." Bryan sniggered while straightening out his clothes.

The corporal frowned. "We weren't trying to kill you."

"Yet, you conveniently decided that we were collateral damage."

Levi pursed his lips.

Sighing, Spencer shook his head. "It was a decision that had to be made." He then shot a coaxing glance at Bryan who grumbled incoherently under his breath after. "But that doesn't mean we like shrieking sounds tearing our eardrums to pieces."

Levi nodded. "Of course. But... Good job."

After the boys nodded in acknowledgment, the corporal then walked past them before making a beeline for the Female Titan's neck with his OMD.

Seeing the other soldiers advance on the Female Titan, the Blitzkrieg Boys slipped past the crowd and away from her. Spencer glanced back for a moment. I wonder where she's from; he thought. She fought too much like a human and even had the planning skills of one. He bit his lip. Most of the creatures that they fought, he realized, were bestial and brutal. This one was rather too calculating.

"She could be like us but with different technology," he murmured.

Bryan gawked. "Wait, what do you mean, like us?"

Spencer saw his brothers' paled expressions. "Think about it. She knew where to hit; the way she was fighting us was too smart for a monster."

Ian gulped. "Do you think it's one of Brake's creations?"

"I highly doubt it." Bryan shook his head. "It's not his flavor."

"He could've gotten a new fetish or at least participated as a consultant," Spencer pointed out.

"Fair point."

Remaining silent, Kai studied the 14-meter titan in front of them. Spencer's theory made sense to him but, where did this person come from? If so, what country?

Before he could ask, however, the Female Titan suddenly let out a bloodcurdling shriek. All the boys quickly covered their ears, wincing as her screams echoed throughout the dense forest. Her scream was so loud that it even dislodged some leaves that tightly clung to the branches. When her scream finally stopped, Tala's eyes widened.

"Guys." He glanced at all of them.

The four Blitzkrieg Boys nodded before drawing their swords, launching their cables, and propelling themselves into the air toward the trees.

Outside the forest, Mikasa and the rest of the Legion stood on the trees as the Titans clambered up the trees. Some had no success, however, with many of them falling flat on their faces. Their failed attempts thundered through the forest while the Legions watched on with mixed expressions of fear, amusement, and relief.

"Man, I'm glad those things don't know how to climb," Connie exclaimed in relief. "If they did, we'd all be dead by now."

Armin nodded, gulping as another Titan attempted to climb only to fall again. "Yeah..."

Jean chuckled before yelling at the Titans below. "Hey! Too stupid to climb!?"

His taunt, unfortunately, was met with a Titan jumping and attempting to bite his head off, causing the young soldier to stagger back in fright. Jean quickly crawled back to the tree trunk, hyperventilating and patting his chest.

"What the!? I thought they didn't understand human language!?" Jean shook his head violently, trembling and sweating buckets. "That thing nearly ripped my head off!"

Connie scoffed. "Any creature would try to rip an ugly mug like yours off."

"Oh, shut up!"

But the three suddenly froze when an enormous shadow loomed over them. Slowly, they turned around to see one of the Titans had discovered how to climb: by planting both its feet and arms on the trees' trunks; it scaled up to their level with a menacing glare. Their hearts all sank into their stomachs as it stretched out to grab them. They shuddered but exhaled in relief as the Titan lost its grip and footing, letting out a resounding crash as it fell to the forest floor. As they looked over, the three boys shivered as the Titan seemingly glared at them.

"Damn, that was a close one!" Jean gasped. "Titans can freakin' learn now!?"

Armin bit his thumbnail. I hope not, he thought. But now he wondered what Titans truly were. They showed the capacity to learn! If so, did that mean they originated from humans at some point? He exhaled sharply and shook his head, glancing once again at the fallen Titan. But instead of climbing, the titan glared at him as if plotting another way to try to grab him.

However, a loud, bloodcurdling shriek came from the denser part of the forest. All the Legionnaires jumped in fright and look towards the thicket, frozen and wondering where it came from. Mikasa looked back, her eyes widening. Was that Eren? She shook her head. It didn't sound like his scream though; she realized.

Hearing some whimpering, she looked down to see a trembling Sasha clamping her hands over her ears. "Sasha?"

"That scream, that scream," Sasha rambled.

Before Mikasa could ask, Jean, Armin, and Connie flew over to them on their branch.

Connie grinned. "Looks like the expedition's over. That's probably the Female Titan getting her ass kicked!"

Sasha shook her head violently. "No...! No...!"

Mikasa squat down and grabbed Sasha's forearms. "Sasha, what's happening?"

"That howl!" Sasha shook her head, pale, as she shuddered. "It's the death throes of a creature that's fighting as if there's nothing left to lose!"

Mikasa stopped for a moment. Sasha's instincts are usually not wrong, she realized. Worry bubbled inside her as she looked towards the thicket. However, Sasha's premise seemed on point as all the Titans beneath them stopped trying to grab them. Frozen, their gaze seemed to focus on the darkness of the thicket behind the Legionnaires. The Titans didn't seem to move until the shrieks ended. Once it abruptly stopped, they immediately charged deeper into the forest and ignored those standing in the trees.

"That was a summoning call!" Armin looked on, horrified. "The Female Titan's going to attack the team inside!"

Mikasa's blood ran cold as she immediately turned around and shot out hooks to latch onto the trees. She launched herself into the thicket with only one thought in her mind.

Eren!

What was that all about?

Erwin, still wincing from the sudden bloodcurdling shriek, shook his head while ignoring the incessant ringing in his ears. He looked around, noticing that the other soldiers had also been frozen by her sudden scream. But before he could ask, he heard soft hissing and whistling of gas when one of the veterans, the blonde Mike Sys, landed right next to him with a grave look.

"Titans, Erwin! Lots of them!" Mike warned.

Did she summon Titans? Erwin clicked his tongue. "How many?"

"I don't know. There are too many of them to count. I can smell them."

He exhaled sharply, looking at the soldiers who were also unsure of what to do. Although he didn't know what the Titans were going to do, the only thing he could do was pull out his sword and order.

"Defend the Female Titan with your lives!"

His command sent the soldiers scurrying around while others launched themselves into the air. Thundering thuds soon echoed throughout the entire thicket when he saw the Blitzkrieg Boys immediately cleave through the horde of Titans at five different entrance points. The Titans' blood splattered against the trees, sizzling and creating a smokescreen which the boys also used to ambush the other Titans. As the Blitzkrieg Boys' mountains of titan corpses began piling up, the other incoming Titans stumbled, tripped, and got tangled with one another and the gargantuan trees' roots. He gnashed his teeth; the difference in skill became painful for him to watch as some soldiers who should have died only suffered injuries because the Blitzkrieg Boys shoved them away and killed the Titans simultaneously.

Steam filled the forest as more Titans poured in, leaving Erwin to watch on with a stony horror. Blood splattered against the trees' thick trunks with carved napes flying all over the place. Some of the soldiers screamed as the steam stung their eyes and seared their skin, forcing them to retreat. He watched on stupefied, however, when Tala and the rest of the Blitzkrieg Boys propel themselves onto the higher grounds before four of them started shedding off their OMD. What were they doing?

Once their OMDs fell off, Spencer, Bryan, Ian, and Tala seemingly dove while Kai flew over toward him.

"Hiwatari? What are you—" Erwin stopped when he suddenly heard roars and saw flames burning at the corner of Kai's eyes.

The steam cleared to reveal four monstrous creatures. While he recognized the red wolf with bladed whip-like tails, the other three looked just as fear-inducing. One looked like an anthropomorphic avian, revealing talons on its feet and hands. Its arms had feathers that glimmered dimly under the forest's light which served as blades as the humanoid bird creature swung its arms to hurl blades into the Titans' necks with such precision that a blood-chilling shiver ran up his spine and gave him goosebumps. It swooped down and tore off napes, ignoring the sizzling blood that hissed when it splattered against the trees. When one Titan tried to grab its leg, a giant humanoid golem-like creature, appearing similar to the Armored Titan, pulled out some steel rods from its back and jammed them into its head. Then, from behind three other Titans, a long serpentine creature swooped in with multiple snake heads. On the top of the serpentine body, a humanoid that looked like Ian appeared to command the three snake heads to devour the Titans' heads and tear them clean off their shoulders.

"What," Erwin gasped. "Are they...?"

"Your worst nightmares," Kai deadpanned.

Erwin blinked. Were there more like them?

"Just ask the questions instead of speculating. It's irritating."

Ah, right. Erwin nodded, remembering how Kai was one not to mince words. "There are others like you, aren't there?"

"Hopefully not, we got rid of many of them as we could."

"Got rid, as in —"

"— We killed them."

The cold professionalism in Kai's voice threw him off guard, but Erwin quickly reminded himself that killing was in their line of work. He then turned back to the battlefield, watching the macabre scene of Tala and the rest of the Blitzkrieg Boys dismembering and mauling any Titan that approached the Female Titan. Despite the heart-stopping thuds of the Titans' body parts littering the forest floor, Erwin remained frozen until someone grabbed him out of the way. He gasped, stumbled, and nearly fell off the branch if not for Kai snatching a fringe of his jacket. He looked up and noticed a large, sizzling bloodstain on the tree trunk where he once stood.

"Goddamn it! Will you make your kills cleaner!?" Kai snapped. "Stop showing off!"

"Yeah, Bryan! Kill properly will you!?" He heard Ian tease.

The avian creature glared and snarled at the serpentine one. "Shut up, midget! You're the one spitting your food all over the damn floor!"

"I'm not the one splattering things everywhere!"

"Guys! Less arguing!" The golem smashed another Titan's head under its foot. "More killing!"

"Sorry, Spence!"

Erwin gawked. How could they kill Titans and still find time to bicker!? He turned back to Kai who kept a stony glance, noticing the flames burning at the corner of his eyes. Did they not burn him? The younger soldier didn't seem the least bit bothered either as he casually tilted his head to avoid one of the incoming blood splatters from one of the heads that Tala had torn off. Now that he had a closer look at Kai, his severe expression seemed to hide something. It wasn't sinister; something more apathetic yet haunted at the same time.

What did these boys go through to be the soldiers we know today?

Not even veterans sported that look. But he knew of it; it was a look of weariness and numbness that only those who had spent their lives on a bloodstained battlefield had developed. Yet, these boys appeared half his age. How could they all have expressions like that? Even Death looked less glum! Erwin recalled hearing stories of children becoming soldiers. Although, he dismissed them as fairytales.

But these boys may be from those fairytales...

Nothing else within his scope of knowledge could explain how Tala, Spencer, Bryan, and Ian could immediately adapt to the situation. Amidst tearing off napes and creating mountains of corpses and skeletons, they assessed the skill level of each soldier within their radius, cutting through the Titans' tendons to immobilize them and give the other soldiers free kills. He shook his head stiffly; that skill level was something he only saw in Levi and the latest recruit, Mikasa.

Now they had five more to add.

"Sir!" One of the soldiers cried. "They're breaking through!"

The Legion's commander watched on in horror, despite the Blitzkrieg Boys' best efforts, the smaller Titans clambered over and made it through. He paled when the small titans rushed, albeit sluggishly, past the other soldiers and dove for the Female Titan, sinking their teeth into her flesh. They were devouring her!

An escape? Erwin swiveled toward Kai, who already lunged towards the smaller titan that got past the line of defense. In one fell swoop and barely catching movement of the young man's blades, the remaining human of the Blitzkrieg Boys minced the Titan's nape into pieces. Using the momentum from his kill, Kai then swung to another branch before kicking off again to cleave another Titan that jumped up to chomp off a piece of the Female Titan's shoulder.

How did he see it coming? He wondered.

Kai then returned to his spot next to Erwin, landing with both his swords still drawn and the flames at the corner of his eyes burning brightly.

"How do you even manage," murmured Erwin, in both shock and awe.

"It's the same question I've asked myself." Kai shrugged. "But a job's a job."

However, more titans poured in and eventually, even the Blitzkrieg Boys were being pushed back. The serpentine creature slithered over to Kai, hissing.

"We're not gonna make it," Ian hissed. "She's bringing them by the hordes!"

Erwin watched on, seeing the Titans push through the mountains of corpses. Some Titans have already elected to ignore their wounds from the Blitzkrieg Boys, crawling and dragging themselves toward the Female Titan to accomplish their goal. Exhaling as he watched many of his soldiers falter, Erwin snorted as he raised his blade to the air.

"Fall back!"

Once his command echoed, all the soldiers — including the Blitzkrieg Boys — retreated to the trees. While the Blitzkrieg Boys shrank into their normal human forms, everyone else watched on with horror and disgust as the Titans devoured the Female Titan. The smell of decaying Titan flesh permeated the air, causing the other soldiers to either cough or cover their noses with their hands. But the more the Titans devoured her, the more steam filled the area. The hissing and the sizzling of heated blood made everyone's hairs stand on their ends while the smell urged them to puke. Only the soldiers' thumping hearts, shivering bodies, and the blood rushing into their heads fought back the urge.

But it was only when Kai heard soft hissing akin to metal strings and saw a silhouette slip under the steam's cover that he realized why they devoured her. "It's a diversion!"

Tala and the others quickly geared up but saw Levi and the other members of the Special Operations Team immediately mounting their horses and going deeper into the forest. With a quick murmured count, Spencer confirmed who the Female Titan was looking for.

"Whatever Eren has, the Female Titan wants it. Bad."