Chapter 25: The hybrid

All the titans were in fighting stance, seemingly ready to give their lives if necessary, despite their leader's previous words. It was at this precise moment that the first shot from the titans rang out, drawing the demon gods' attention to them in an instant. Reiner took advantage of this to detach himself from his new group, activating his loudspeaker while interposing himself between the infantry and the monsters of all kinds.

"The cavalry has arrived!

At the announcement, the soldiers who had allowed themselves to be overcome by tragedy regained hope. Reiner effortlessly swept aside all the monsters threatening the infantry, as if he were a god of war.

However, the compressed carcass of a titan that collided with him knocked him to the ground, bringing him back to reality. One of his allies had just been compressed and thrown at him. Reiner lost all composure, hastily raising his machine to take aim at the demon gods. His sense of power was completely gone. However, he received a call that made him stop his actions.

"Spearhead, target the approaching colossus! Our objective is to save the infantry and withdraw, we don't need help! The sooner the infantry is safe, the sooner we retreat!"

Hearing this, Reiner mercilessly fired several bursts of plasma at the colossus advancing relentlessly in its direction, but not even the titanic weapons could completely destroy its carapace. The sight of the colossus advancing while detaching a large part of its melting body as if nothing had happened, while the detached part almost instantly began to regenerate, was disgusting. But when Reiner tried to end the colossus' existence by aiming for its head, his two imposing shield-like legs protected him. He let his liquid exoskeleton fall to the ground, moving forward with the sole aim of killing the man who had wounded him so badly in barely a minute.

However, Reiner didn't let him, trying to aim for his paws and the less protected lower part of his body to kill him, but his lack of precision meant he just missed his target. Barely one of the colossus's paws stepped into the pool of liquid sand Reiner had created, leaving it on the ground. But while this was enough to slow him down momentarily, it wasn't enough to finish him off. As a result, Reiner fired multiple shots at the head of the immobilized colossus, who protected himself with what served as a shield. Unfortunately for him, his shield melted more and more each time he was hit.

Very quickly, the shots created a huge hole in the middle of the shield, allowing one of Reiner's shots to destroy the colossus' head. Reiner turned to face the demon gods, their numbers significantly reduced, but his titan suddenly collapsed to the ground. Panicking, he tried to right his titan, only to see the headless colossus attempt to crush it beneath his massive body. Reiner seized the chance, pointing his massive weapon underneath his body before firing an impressive plasma blast that tore through the colossus, leaving a small shower of molten organic matter mixed with plasma on the ground.

But the battle didn't end there. Reiner quickly raised his titan, aiming a destructive salvo at the demon gods, forcing them to defend themselves while momentarily grabbing the attention of some of them. Seizing this opportunity, one of the titans of the emancipation squadron ripped off the arm of one of the demon gods preparing a devastating attack with a precise shot. Just then, an order rang out.

"Retreat! Struggle will lead to our downfall, we must occupy them by retreating, over!"

"Understood."

" Received "

"In position."

The members of the post squadron replied alternately. The whole unit moved superbly, each occupying a certain demon god, covering the weaknesses of their comrades. Only Reiner didn't know what to do, awkwardly trying to imitate the other members of his group by approaching them, advancing while firing at the enemy at every opportunity. The intimidating sight of several huge machines fighting for their lives against demon gods was very imposing, yet it seemed to bring hope to the infantry who couldn't even hope to put up such resistance, boosting the morale of the troops. As if to confirm this, the infantry attacked even more ardently the monsters, illusions and even their former comrades wandering the battlefield as the undead, only to help the titans in their bitter struggle.

Fire from infantry and titans alike, alternately focused on the demon gods, had become an almost banal spectacle, seemingly the only way to defeat them. However, a confident command rang in Reiner's ears, as well as those of his entire unit. It came from a voice he'd heard before, his "coordinator".

"Franking unit, spearhead! Focus on activating all demon god defenses with infantry, artillery fire imminent!"

After hearing such words, the whole squadron, along with Reiner, simultaneously attacked the demon gods in a merciless barrage of fire, while concentrated infantry fire using the same method occurred simultaneously. And although this would normally be the most useless technique to adopt, as each shot would be absorbed by the shields in one fell swoop, it was perfect.

An immense distant noise resounded, at which point tank fire shook the earth, forcing the last remaining demon gods to concentrate defensively in the direction of the new fire.It was at this precise moment that an imposing whistle sounded, quickly followed by a huge explosion on the demon gods.Death came from the sky, and the artillery proved it by hitting the bull's-eye.Once the explosion had dissipated, the squad leader let out a shrill cry."Unit free, fall back!"

But as if to prove that any struggle was futile, just as the titans began to turn their backs on their enemies, one of them was crushed in place by an imposing concentrated gravity, only to be hurled at full speed at his closest comrade.Simultaneously, a devastating fire engulfed the battlefield, reducing to ashes a large part of the infantry they had so hoped to protect. The heat was so overwhelming that it even managed to slightly melt the military paint the titans had at their feet, while dispersing the smoke left by the impact of the shells.Beyond this smoke lay the demon gods, in the same numbers as before the devastating attack.A number of them were wounded, an arm or leg having been torn off, or left in indistinguishable shreds of flesh.But one silhouette, more imposing than the rest, seemed intact, and determined to nullify the efforts of the humans to silence it.The titans could no longer turn their backs on the enemy after learning of its survival, forcing the group to battle against the most imposing of the demon gods.He seemed far stronger than any of his comrades.Ancient scars were even etched on his shapeless body, giving a strange sense of unity to his seemingly chaotic body.The most striking thing about him was his necklace, far more imposing than any Reiner had seen before.But he couldn't look at it any longer. A fine and devastating acid rain began to fall in the area, forcing the titans to retreat while focusing the last intact demon god, who by his very presence could protect his comrades who had been caught unawares by the artillery.Once the titans were out of range of the acid rain that had eaten away at their structures, stinking up their cockpits, an imposing earthen wall rose up in front of the now distant demon gods.Once this wall had been knocked down by a few deft titanic shots, they could no longer see the demon gods anywhere, as if they had never been here in the first place, leaving them to the simple word of their coordinator, which rang in their ears.

"Coordinator to unit franking, signal from lost demon gods, request report.""Release 001 to coordinator, enemy on the run, their positions remain unknown."

"Good work, fall back to camp immediately, and rearm your titans, your structural integrity is low.My monitors indicate an advanced dislocation of the upper part of your titans, if you remain on the battlefield, they risk detaching from your machines."

"Received.""Copy."

"Understood."The squad members replied, accelerating towards the camp. Just as their coordinator was about to stop his communication to guide other groups in need, he visibly stiffened, letting out a panicked "heup! After quickly pulling himself together, he spoke in an uncertain voice.

"A signature just appeared on our radar, just behind you. Confirm enemy."

Just as their coordinator's sentence ended, an immense wind shook all the titans, even dislocating the upper part of one of them, almost revealing its pilot to the open air. A strange figure resembling a demon god lay just behind them, except that he was only slightly less imposing than the last demon god they'd met, and his body, which would normally be ethereal white, was instead jet-black, so dark that even the deepest abyss would seem luminous beside him. He exuded an unhealthy aura, similar to that possessed by demons, yet brimming with far greater power. This impression blurred his voice to everyone's ears as he calmly spoke, making his voice sink into the minds of all those close to him.

[ It's been a long time since I've been out, thank you...what's your name again... ah yes, human.I'd like to take this opportunity to apologize. I would have liked to avoid this conflict, like all the others, but please understand that it is impossible.]

The strange demon god pointed to his necklace, almost invisible on his silhouette, so deep was the darkness it radiated, then continued.

[I will grant you a swift death, and promise to do my best to protect your species once it has passed into the Xalith fold. You have fulfilled your role as soldier with brio, farewell. ]

The voice suddenly became menacing on the last words, startling the entire squadron, which hesitated to fire.Just before their leader shouted an order to fire, Reiner asked an unexpected question, activating his loudspeaker.

"And what is it that compels you to exterminate us?Are you trying to ease your conscience by blaming someone else, or are you genuinely sorry for the fate you're about to inflict on us?"

A most sinister laugh came from the figure, who began to create a terrifying mouth in the middle of his face, now letting out his laughter. When he stopped, he pointed at Reiner with one of his fingers as he replied, this time with his mouth seeming to possess countless voices yet being the same.

"Are you stupid?Have you not seen the power we possess?Time itself has been altered, we control the natural elements, and even the unnatural ones, and don't you think it's strange that you're still alive?I've even mastered your language, and you don't wonder?"

Only silence answered his questions, leaving the demon god to speak again.Although the heads of all those who had listened to him were full of questions.

"The only reason you're still alive is because of these necklaces we're forced to wear. This is as true for you as it is for our Xalith masters. They have tamed a power so great that they themselves dare not use it. If they'd really worn it out, do you think for a second that those swarms of decerebrate monsters would have been the first thing to greet you, instead of a deluge of attacks making you lose all will to fight?"

The demon god suddenly twisted his mouth into a macabre smile. As if to say why, a transmission was heard from the pilot who had lost the upper part of his titan."I-! Help! My arm!My arm!"

The squadron leader replied hurriedly, fighting his fear."Release 003 what's going on?!"

"My arm! My arm is decomposing! I... Help me, it...hurts!!!"

Everyone flinched at the shocking statement, looking at the last few surviving infantrymen, most of whom were writhing on the ground in pain, their bodies more zombie-like than alive. It was then that the demon god spoke, his smile looking even more sinister than before.

"Good. Can we start now?"