Chapter 36 The Toll of War

Titans roamed through the countryside in herds, regularly up to a dozen such all moving as one. Roaming, searching, feasting. By now word had spread to every village and every district of the Titan incursion, and evacuation had been underway for hours. But for some, the alarm had meant nothing as they'd had little chance to escape.

Eren stood looking down at the remains of such people, the bloodied limbs all that were left to mark their presence. The Titans that had done this had already moved on, and he had no way of knowing if he and the other scouts had managed to avenge their deaths by now. He didn't have a count of how many had been killed by their counterattack, but he knew it had been a lot, a lot more than normal. With him at the tip of the spear, and the Special Operations Squad and their ki powers keeping the flanks secure, they had managed to stab deep towards the Titans breach in the wall. Casualties had been rather low, and their bodies had been mostly recoverable, but the reason he stopped and watched the body was the same as so many others.

He was just too tired to continue.

The attack had come to a halt gradually, progress slowing after each and every Titan they killed was replaced by another. The riding, the fighting, the constant stress and need to be alert had done a number on the entire regiment. Mike Zacharius had called a halt to the formation a few minutes ago to confirm the conditions of everyone and let them rest.

A puff of gas alerted him of movement, but it was actually his Ki senses that told him who it was that was soaring up to land on his shoulder. Mikasa was tired as well when she landed, having been more involved in direct combat than most of the regiment thanks to her trained abilities.

"We've been ordered to turn back for rest and resupply." His Titans face wasn't fully able to frown, but it got the message across. "I'm not happy with it either, but if we push on when we aren't able then people will die. I think they want to confirm the Garrisons progress as well."

Eren sighed and let out an annoyed huff. He did understand the issues, and that was exactly the problem. He was tired, everyone was tired, and they had not been reinforced by the Garrison, meaning pressing onwards presented a lot more risk than they should accept. It was a smart move, and Eren hated how much he understood and accepted that. Sometimes he wished he was still arrogant enough to believe he could push on and kill all the Titans by himself, anger was easier to deal with than guilt.

He waited for Mikasa to hop down before moving to lay down on the grass. Separating from his Titan form had become easier with practice, and he managed to step out from the steaming nape with only a small section of flesh still stuck to his arm. Mikasa helped him to carefully trim it off and leave the smoking corpse behind.

"Hange is gonna be pissed she didn't get to see Jaeger in action." Eld stood with Mike watching from a distance as Mikasa and Eren saddled back up and prepared to fall back, Eren's horse having been kept close to hers during their attack.

"Yeah." He agreed and wasn't looking forward to having to deal with her complaints when he returned. "But duty comes before pleasure, and she understands that even if it gets in the way of her experiments."

"Let Commander Erwin deal with her complaints. Maybe she'll be satisfied with a nice report instead."

Mike wasn't too sure she would be. Granted, she did like her reports, but she could already hear her saying it just wasn't the same.

"All ready to move out Mike."

He turned to see Ilse as she reported the regiments status. With the details provided by Ymir, they had managed to figure out that some of the Titans' strange reactions to her was caused by the creatures being transformed followers of hers. Those poor people. As a result though, it had meant that Ilse had been able to be used more on the front lines and hadn't been needed to be kept in reserve for potential study in hopes of replicating the responses. He'd been happy to see Ilse was still safe, but the years of skills she'd been able to develop as a result of her constant service had meant he'd had little to fear.

Little, but still present.

"Good work, signal the regiment and let's move. Have the wagons of deceased up towards the front."

Those same wagons contained some people that Mike knew quite well. Most of the dead were fresh recruits, but others were not. Veterans who had survived years of encounters with Titans, those who had highly developed skills and counted among the best of the entire military. Now dead.

What a pitiable end to their stories.

When the regiment arrived back in Jinae, Mike was surprised to see Commander Erwin present and waiting for him. He waved for the column of scouts to move onwards and regroup with the Garrison to see to their supply issues, while he and Eld moved to join Erwin in person.

"Sir." He gave a quick salute for the sake of decorum but dropped it quickly in exhaustion. "Counterattack has been moderately successful. Seven fatalities, and four injuries, three are estimated recoverable. The regiment needs at least two hours to recover, then we can send out the expedition again. Titan numbers has been… dense."

He wasn't understating it, but he didn't want to give an exact number until he had all the information.

"Engagements have been successful thanks to Jaeger and the Special Operations Squad, their combined abilities have been essential for dealing with groups, abnormals, creating openings for attacks from other squads. In terms of direct combat, this has been our most successful performance by far."

Erwin nodded and mulled over the information.

"Have the regiment rest and resupply, but our next attack won't be towards the wall. We have reports that at least three villages have fallen, the Garrison defenders were insufficient."

"Shit." That most certainly was an understatement. Titans beginning to break through their defensive perimeter was catastrophic. The only way they could hold the Titans back would be to concentrate all available forces at the point of entry, and they couldn't do that if Titans were running amok behind their lines.

"I've already sent the scouts who were still on search missions to reinforce the Garrison teams in the area. The Garrison is preparing a counterattack to reclaim the villages, the Scouts will be acting in support."

"Understood, we'll get it done Commander." A short debriefing, and they would have much more to cover in detail later, but Mike couldn't help but notice the slight nervousness to him. "Anything else the matter Commander?"

"Has there been any signs of the Armoured or Colossal Titan?"

"None. No lightning, no sightings, not even any signs of damage. Think they went further West to avoid us?"

If they had, Commander Erwin knew they would be facing a surprisingly dangerous opponent if Ymir kept to her word. But no, that wasn't his actual concern. "Unlikely. If their objective has been to breach the wall, it's the Scouts who have the best resources to seal it up again. Leaving the wall undefended would be too risky, they know we have far greater capabilities now."

"Perhaps they're still at the breach and waiting for us? If they wait at the top of the wall it's a safe location to rest and be out of reach of the Titans."

"A possibility, but it allows us to gather our strength. They don't know what approach we will take to seal the breach, whether we wait and attack with the Garrison in support, or if we raced forwards to try and seal it as quickly as possible."

"We would be at our weakest in option two," added Eld, likewise thinking through their opponent's possible strategy. "But we'd still be strong enough to engage them. They would almost certainly think that at least."

"They would have defensive advantage." Pointed out Mike. "A concentration of Titans to wear us down, and visibility to see when we were coming."

"It would still be too much of a gamble." Erwin had already thought through the same possibilities as they but ruled them out in time. "They have limited forces with no element of surprise and are acting in desperation, but they've had time to plan their attack. The most likely options I see are either they breached the wall and have fled to attack at a later date, or it wasn't they who breached the wall."

Eld and Mike looked at him in shock.

"What the hell!? Are you suggesting-…?"

"Ymir's inherited memories identified the three surviving warriors who were inside of the walls. But we also know that there were more Titans the Marleyans had available, the Ape, Cart, and War Hammer Titans. It has been years since Maria fell, perhaps this is Marley's reinforcements."

The other two quickly grasped how devastating this situation could potentially now be. Five Titans now attacking them was a level of danger they were not ready to face, but it seemed that they were now left without a choice.

"The villages that fell, do you think they could have been Reiner and Bertholdt?"

"No. Survivors confirmed they were regular Titans and abnormals."

"So those two could be… anywhere."

Erwin nodded. If he were them, then this would be a perfect opportunity to attempt a rescue of their comrade, especially given that the Scouts simply could not risk pulling back from their counter offensive. He was to put it simply, stuck. The best he'd been able to do was leave Hange and the others in a defensible position with the hope that if required, Gohan's injuries wouldn't restrict him from being able to help.

"FIRE!"

Cannons boomed and blasted apart the knees of the Titan as it attempted to crawl over the pile of debris that had been set up as a barricade. It slumped, toppling forwards and barely managing to stay somewhat upright, however that wasn't what the Garrison had cared about.

Feet sprinted across the nearby rooftop as Rico ran towards the Titan, leaping upwards with a powerful burst of Ki before landing and slashing out the nape of the creature. There was no sense of guilt as she watched it perish, even knowing what the creature truly was.

"Good work Rico." Ian clapped a hand on her shoulder as he walked past her, looking off into the distance and towards the approaching forms of the other Titans. "Do you want us to take these out too? Or move now?"

Levi looked at the creatures with apathy. He cared very little about them, instead his main focus was on his companion. "Leave it. Time to show us what you can do Ymir."

She rolled her eyes and held out her hand expectantly. "Eren might be crazy enough to bite his hand, but I'll take a knife if that's all well and good with you."

Levi nodded to one of the other soldier who produced a knife from his back pocket and handed it over nervously. They'd been briefed about Ymir's Titan abilities, but briefly and with very few details. As a result, while some seemed hopeful the majority were very nervous around her.

Ymir rolled her eyes at the man then gripped the handle tightly. She took a deep breath to mentally prepare herself. The form wasn't exactly an enjoyable experience, neither was stabbing oneself in the hand. But she wasn't a child, and refused to show such vulnerability in front of the soldiers.

She ran forwards, jumping from the rooftop and plunging the knife down in mid-air. A crack of thunder boomed out as lightning flashed down and covered her form. Bones, muscle, and flesh birthed into existence as her Titan form landed, large teeth bared and ready for attack.

"Not much for looks are you?" She snarled at Levi in annoyance. "Come on, let's see you in action."

He jumped from the rooftop and onto his own horse, as did the rest of the Garrison soldiers, both regulars and the elite squads.

The open plains weren't her environment, and Ymir wasn't very big by most Titan standards, but she moved quickly as she ran towards her foes. There was a bang behind her as the first smoke flare was fired, followed by dozens as the order was passed down the line. Hundreds of garrison soldiers snapped the reigns on their horses and began to move out, the western counterattack begun.

When Ymir reached the Titans, she dove to the side before she struck, leaping up and biting deep into the creature's nape and tearing it out in one smooth motion. She moved to the next and then the next. Three Titans fell down beside each other by the time Levi and the others arrived.

Levi stopped by her side as the others washed around her, a wave of Garrison soldiers charging forwards in attack.

"Well well, not bad at all. Fight isn't over yet though, get back to the front and let's keep going."

He didn't actually look impressed, but whether that was him genuinely being unimpressed or just being an asshole, she couldn't tell. She would take a bet that it even if it was the former, the latter was still true. She blew steam in his face and turned to move with the wave of soldiers, charging forwards to find her next victims as she watched the sun dipping in the sky.

It had taken a long time for them to arrive on the western flank and confirm the direction of the breach, as well as that Krolva was okay. Organising with the Garrison, moving into position, all of it had taken a long time, time she had spent worrying about Historia. What was happening with the Scouts she had no idea, and despite Erwin's assurances to keep her safe she wasn't happy. So she had focused instead on her enemy. A sea of Titans stood between her and her Historia, a sea she was determined to cut through.

Historia grumbled unhappily as she rode alongside the small number of Scouts. When she'd returned to Jinae she'd been resting only briefly before being reassigned to escort the dead and wounded back to headquarters. She was sure this had been something to do with Ymir trying to keep her safe, and while she appreciated the thought it had resulted in her being singled out from her squad for the order.

She didn't want that kind of attention, the one that drew suspicion or jealousy. People would be asking why she specifically was being sent back to base, while everyone else had to go and fight the Titans again. She admitted to herself however that part of her objection, was that she had not wanted to be alone with her thoughts to think. Since the revelation of everything that Ymir had told, Historia hadn't really known what to do with herself. She didn't really have anyone to talk with about what was happening save for Ymir, but that didn't help when she had questions about her relationship with said girl.

She didn't know what to feel if she was being honest. Ymir had essentially admitted that she'd grown up being worshipped, spent decades trapped as a Titan, then several years in hiding and simply surviving until she'd learned of Historia. Ymir hadn't said it, but the connection that she'd come out of hiding simply for Historia was clear. Maybe it was because she felt a kindred spirit in their story, maybe it was because Ymir simply loved her, she didn't know.

Historia did feel a level of bonding to Ymir and knew she felt the same, and she knew that her own feelings towards Ymir were not only friendly. Except she also knew of something else now, the curse of Ymir. Eight years left, eight years of a life they could share. She couldn't even imagine what kind of life they could have together yet already she saw how it would end. If they lived through it all, Historia would be left heartbroken and alone. The selfish part of her that she had tried to push down for so long warned her, screamed at her that down that path laid only pain. Her selfishness did also tell her to take what she wanted, and what she wanted was Ymir.

Did she reject Ymir entirely and break both of their hearts, or spend the time they had together only for her heartbreak to be even greater?

By the time she had arrived back at the scout headquarters, she had made up her mind somewhat. She had decided that she would ask for advice. When she made her way up the stairs and to her chosen floor, it was only a matter of seconds before she found the room she was looking for. Gohan was sat upright and legs crossed on his bed, meditating. Though she hadn't actually been able to see him like her teammates yet, she'd been sure to remember where he was recovering so she could pay him a visit at some point.

He looked well, very well in fact for someone who had been exchanging blows with a Titan just two days ago. It seemed that just like everything else he managed to excel at, he could even recover better than most. She felt no jealousy of him however, unlike some she knew. Gohan had quickly stood out as the best in the cadets by a large margin, even compared to Mikasa, yet Historia had never felt any sense of jealousy or rivalry with him for his abilities. No, she had felt jealous over his character.

Gohan was a good person, a truly good person down to his very core. He cared for people deeply, helped everyone he could and felt guilt whenever he failed. He was, what Historia had wanted people to see her as in the cadets, and she had hated him for it. It was envy, plain and simple. She had known it was wrong but as she was starting to accept, it was a true part of her. She had hated how natural he made it seem, how genuine he was unlike her, who faked every smile and optimistic celebration. Many had thought them alike, and dating rumours had even spread about the two of them, yet none could be further from the truth. Her kindness and caring were only a shell, he was wholly pure.

"Gohan?"

His eyes opened slowly, blinking as he looked around the room and remembered where he was. When he finally realised he had company, he smiled warmly.

"Hey Christa."

"Hey Gohan."

She felt the warmth that he seemed to always emanate roll over her body. Part of her still felt the pang of anger and jealousy, but as she had let her persona die, the animosity had begun to die with it.

"I need some advice."

He shuffled over and patted the side of his bed for her to take a seat. It was such a friendly motion that it took her by surprise. Awkwardly, she took a seat by his side and cleared her throat to speak.

"My real name is Historia, and um… there's something you need to know about Ymir."

The man screamed as a Titan reached down to grab him, his sword flailing helplessly in front of him. Another Titan leapt forwards, grabbing the first and climbing up its back to bite out the nape of the creature. Blood and flesh showered over the terrified garrison soldier as he tried to cover himself.

"You couldn't be a little cleaner about it?"

Captain Levi was riding casually to her side while wiping himself down with a cloth. Even in Titan form, the roll of her eyes was obvious alongside her annoyed grunts. She hunched forwards in her Titan form, placing her hands firmly on the ground and relaxing her shoulders. The nape of her neck began to rapidly dissolve and split apart as the top half of Ymir began to rise out from the flesh.

"You're welcome to give me a little more space if you're so afraid of getting splashed."

"Tch. Can't let you wander too far now can I?" He let his eyes wander over the rest of the offensive. Distantly he watched as Garrison soldiers engaged with Titans of various sizes and speed. They fought… poorly. However they were still winning, and quite clearly too. For once, the advantage of numbers was firmly on the side of the Garrison, and they hadn't lost it.

Casualties had been taken but were far less than expected thanks to both Ymir and Levi's own Ki powers. He watched one Titan in particular as it spun around in a circle, constantly changing targets as a squad of Garrison soldiers rode around it. He breathed out slowly, a small yellow light beginning to appear in his hand. With a flex of power it built, then he threw it and watched as it whistled through the air.

The ball smashed into its face and exploded, doing very little damage but catching the Titans focus entirely. It took one step forwards towards him, then slumped over and crashed against the floor, a panting soldier still standing at its nape with bloody swords. She looked towards Levi and threw him a wave in thanks, and he nodded back in acknowledgement.

"Come on, we haven't got long left until the sun is fully down, we need to continue to make as much progress as possible."

"Isn't it a full moon tonight?"

As part of the briefing before they had departed, it had been mentioned that the offensive would continue even into the night thanks to the scheduled full moon, though word on whether they would be receiving replacements had been vague at best.

"Advancing under nightlight will run the risk of our forces spreading out and becoming disorganised. The closer we can get to the breach, the better we can continue coordinating our attack."

Ymir nodded, though truthfully she didn't care too much about the overall plan. Her main concern was the fact that was starting to get tired. She had operated for longer periods when she had first returned to human form, and she could recover fairly well if they let her have a break. Unfortunately, it didn't seem like that was going to be an option.

Taking a weary breath, she folded herself back into the nape of her Titan. The warmth and steam washed over her like a familiar blanket, covering up her body and extending her senses out to the tips of her new form. It took her a moment to make the full transition, to mentally swap from her human body and fully connect with the Titan she sat inside, but it was a familiar feeling. Within a second, it was as if she'd never been anything but a Titan, a very disturbing sensation that sent shudders down her spine.

Levi watched her rise and move out, his reigns tugged shortly after as he followed her. His doubts and concerns about her had been dwindling in the light of a successful offensive, and he was willing to let her take the lead somewhat as they continued their advance.

The advance however didn't last very long as when Levi and Ymir broke through the trees, he found the front guard completely halted at the edge of a village, and staring in complete and utter confusion. He'd sensed them, and what they were looking at, but didn't comprehend why they weren't moving until he too saw what they saw.

In front of them laid the village of Ragako, largely destroyed as they had expected and mostly deserted. Save for one Titan that remained, a Titan that was laid flat on its back atop a crushed house, the remains of a rooftop still laying on it like a blanket. The creatures small arms and legs could not reach out to touch anything, and the legs would have never supported the creatures weight.

Like the garrison soldiers looking at it, Levi too was briefly speechless at the sight. It made no sense. How could a Titan that couldn't move, get itself between a second storey floor and a rooftop? The answer came as quickly to Levi as it was horrifying.

"Ymir!"

The Titan was by his side in an instant, the nape dissolving away as she popped her head outside. Her eyes were as wide as his with the realisation.

"Transformed…"

"Did they transform the whole village?"

Ymir nodded. "It's a possibility. Except, using a needle on every person here? They would have ran away or tried to fight."

"It's been years since you were transformed, they could have changed their methods." His mind was beginning to reel at the dangerous possibilities, as well as the implications of what was currently happening. "We have Marleyan soldiers inside of Wall Rose and they're turning people into Titans, this is bad. We need to get a message to Erwin…"

In the distance, a trio of red flares soared high up into the air. The front guard spotted them instantly and snapped back into action, moving to engage and support their comrades. Levi however, held off for a moment. Shutting his eyes and focusing his senses, he reached out and felt for what the situation. A dozen soldiers were engaged in battle and were losing quickly. He felt them one by one being snuffed out by a single, much more powerful and distorted energy signature. It was not an abnormal, the deaths were too quick even for the most dangerous of Titans. There was no question that it was a Titan shifter.

"Marleyans…" His eyes narrowed and his fists clenched.

For years he had killed Titan after Titan, cutting down each and every monster in his path with no knowledge about just why they did what they did. Monsters that had been unleashed upon them, to feast on their screaming victims with no remorse, no hesitation, and no reason. Except he knew the reason now, the Marleyan willingness to commit genocide against them. The people who had known what would happen, what these creatures were, and had not only willingly unleashed the creatures, but they had also transformed people into them.

They had knowingly damned the victims to an eternity of suffering, then sent them to slaughter other innocent people. How many of his comrades had died at the hands of these beasts? How many men, women, and children? Furlan… Isabel… The memory of her bloodied head staring back at him was seared into his mind, and the rage flooded into him once more.

"Ymir." His voice growled, and the wind began to pick up as his Ki rose. "Push through to the eastern flank, alert Erwin that Marley is here."

"What? What about you?"

"I'm engaging." He snapped the reigns and his horse neighed, breaking quickly into a breakneck sprint towards his target. Levi sped past the other soldiers moving to engage and into the trees, their long shadows showing just how little there was of sunlight left. It didn't matter to him. He had the Ki of his target locked in his mind, and the creature would not be escaping.

"Still nothing?" Reiner had not long ago woken from his sleep, and despite the uncomfortable nature of sleeping outdoors he was feeling rested. The same could not be said for his friend.

"Nothing." Bertholdt muttered, looking back to Reiner and showing the weariness in his eyes. He'd refused to rest earlier and insisted that Reiner let him take the first watch as he waited to see if there was any sign of Annie being moved, yet there was nothing. For hours he had waited, only to see no sign of Annie being anywhere but at the headquarters.

He had worried that he'd missed something, that perhaps they'd snuck her away when he had been looking elsewhere. His anxiety over having to wait before rescuing Annie was driving him insane. What were they doing to her in there? She must have been suffering, and every second he waited was more pain that he could have saved her from.

Reiners hand clapped down on his shoulder and he fixed him with a sympathetic smile.

"It's almost time Bert, just a little bit of light left to go."

He was right, the sun was almost entirely set now. The moon would be coming out soon, but even with that they would have the element of surprise. Soon, very soon, they would rescue Annie and get their revenge for any pain they'd put her through. Bertholdts eyes narrowed in focus.

Very soon.

With a swing of his arm, the corpse of the horse sailed through the air and smashed into the pair of fleeing soldiers. A shower of gore and dirt signalled their death, while Zeke grinned with satisfaction. The power, the strength of his Titan form, it made him feel good even when killing those who were technically his countrymen.

A handful of people on foot moved to his side. It was perhaps not wise for the Marley soldiers to be visible, but it had been valuable information for them to see the Eldian military in action. So far, they had been unimpressed. The gear that they used was very interesting, but their overall technology seemed to have completely stagnated over the last hundred years.

With the most recent two deaths, it looked like that was the last of the soldiers for now. As the sunlight finally disappeared however, he knew there was a chance that someone was watching him from the darkness. It would matter little though. He had engaged the Eldian military a small number of times today in a better effort to see their capabilities, and he'd learned a fair amount at the cost of details about his Titans existence potentially being seen. Right now however, the Eldian military was in the middle of a counterattack against his position, and so he had almost certainly been spotted and reported.

Still, it was best not to push their luck. They had gathered enough information for now, they had best pull back past the walls and re-establish their camps.

"Pieck, transform and carry the men back to the wall. We're done for today."

The lone woman in the group nodded and moved off to one side preparing to transform. She needed a little space to safely transform and not harm any of her comrades after all. When she had gained some distance, she pulled the knife from her pocket and readied it to stab her hand. However midway raising it, she froze, and pointed into the distance instead.

Bursting out from the tree line came a single figure on horseback. Unlike the others, this one wore a deep green cloak like those that they had very first encountered. Zeke hummed in surprise as the figure raced straight towards him, completely uncaring about the dead that littered the ground around him.

"Foolish, why do they always insist in these suicidal charges?"

Zeke's beast titan form reached down and grabbed the corpse of another horse. He made a patronising roll of his neck, before reeling back and throwing the horse straight towards the man. It soared dead on target and the man didn't even attempt to move.

Which is why it was so shocking when the horse promptly exploded in the air.

Through the smoke of the explosion the man rode without even one iota of hesitance, his horse galloping as if its life depended on it and the rider focused entirely on Zeke.

"What the…"

As he rode closer the man held out a hand as a yellow light appeared. He assumed it was a torch of some kind before quickly realising that didn't make sense, it was something else. The man flung his arm forward and a ball of light whistled towards him and crashed against his chest.

It hurt, a lot.

The explosion had made him stumble, but more than that it had set his fur alight. Fire began to burn across his chest followed swiftly by steam as his body attempted to recover and heal the damage. He patted it out with a panic and turned his attention back to the rider, who was getting closer and closer.

He leapt from his horse and flew towards Zeke, his speed incredible and so unnatural. There was little time for Zeke to attack, dodge, or to do anything other than see those hate filled eyes up close. The irises glowing red with a focused rage.

Then he pulled his blades and struck.