Standing on the rooftop of a building, Haruya's gaze fell on the headquarters surrounded by Titans in the distance.
The Titans' target was undoubtedly the supply team inside the headquarters. Once the outer wall was breached, those inside would face certain death.
Not only was the supply team in danger, but most of the trainees, including Haruya, were running low on gas, leaving them in a dire situation.
After several days of practice, Haruya estimated he could go all out for a few more minutes with the remaining gas.
Of course, if he conserved it, he could last over five minutes, but probably not more than ten.
The priority now was to end the battle quickly. All he needed to do was follow Mikasa's lead.
"Since you're planning to take the vanguard too, you handle the Titans on the right. I'll take the ones on the left. The others will deal with any Titans that slip through." Mikasa glanced back.
Thanks to her, the timid trainees had found their courage.
The distance wasn't too far, but for those here, it could be a path straight to hell.
Mikasa's black hair swayed, obscuring her expression. After taking a deep breath, she jumped off the rooftop.
Without hesitation, Haruya followed.
The ODM Gear was highly effective in human settlements, but performing complex maneuvers and precise cuts required a lot of gas.
This surreal device demanded significant effort to master. If not for his prior 'training', Haruya estimated it would have taken him about a month to get the hang of it.
If that were the case, he would probably be stuck in the logistics division or worse, expelled and living as a civilian.
The scenery on both sides of the street rushed past. Corpses and ruins flashed before his eyes for just a moment.
In the next instant, a 10-meter Titan appeared in front of Haruya.
The towering figure raised its right arm, swinging it toward him as it charged.
The right hook pierced the Titan's raised arm, pulling Haruya closer while he retracted it. Using the left hook embedded in a building, he dodged the attack.
The Titan's right arm came crashing down with a whoosh, smashing a rooftop and sending wood and debris flying.
Seizing the opening after the Titan's attack, Haruya fired the right hook again, this time into the back of the Titan's head.
"Hahh!"
Pulling himself forward, Haruya crossed his arms like scissors, spinning slightly to slice through the Titan's nape.
In the corner of his left eye, he spotted his next target: an Abnormal, not particularly tall, but a tricky opponent.
As the 10-meter Titan Haruya had attacked collapsed, he was already airborne.
*Boom!*
The impact caused his eardrums to ring, and the surrounding sounds seemed to fade.
The Abnormal he had seen earlier leaped into the air.
Not only was the leaping Abnormal a threat, but two more Titans were closing in from Haruya's right.
"Ugh! This is bad..."
In midair, Haruya swung like a pendulum, using the hooks to change direction. As the leaping Abnormal attacked, he fired a hook into its body.
Pulling himself closer, the leaping Titan reached out with its right hand to grab him.
Haruya slashed with both blades in quick succession, severing the Titan's fingers and escaping its grasp.
Since the leaping Titan was already in midair, its descent gave Haruya a second burst of momentum.
Falling alongside the Titan, Haruya retracted his hooks just as the two Titans closed in.
"Got you!"
As the leaping Titan crashed to the ground, Haruya fired a hook into a nearby eave, using it to swing around and flank the two Titans.
"Haahhh!!!" With a horizontal slash, Haruya severed both Titans' napes.
The right hook latched onto a rooftop in the distance, allowing Haruya to escape the danger zone.
In an instant, three Titans fell. The leaping Abnormal, now disoriented from the crash, was finished off by the others.
"Huff, huff..." Standing on the rooftop, Haruya gasped for air.
Taking down three Titans had left him breathless. He clearly needed more training.
Meanwhile, Mikasa was like a whirlwind in the air, seamlessly replacing her blades the moment they shattered. Those were her last blades...
Behind her, more than five Titan corpses littered the path to headquarters.
After dealing with a Titan nearby, Haruya rushed toward the headquarters.
Just as he was about a building's length away, Mikasa, now out of gas, plummeted.
Without the ODM Gear, she was as good as dead.
Standing on the rooftop, Haruya noticed a massive hole behind him, likely caused by a falling Titan.
His gaze fell on Mikasa, kneeling on the ground as a Titan approached her.
"It's about time."
Pushing his hair out of his face, Haruya wiped the blood off his cheek.
Exhaling, he noticed a strange stench filling the air.
The trainees saw Mikasa fall, and some formed a rescue team to rush to her aid.
But they were too slow...
Step by step, the Titan closed in. Mikasa stood up, gripping her blades, ready for one last stand.
In that moment...
The Titan in front of her was attacked by another Titan from behind.
A powerful right fist smashed the attacking Titan's head, causing it to collapse.
The ground shook as the attacking Titan roared in fury, a roar filled with human wrath.
"Eren..."
Confirming the plot's progression, Haruya kept his distance, staying in a safe spot while remaining close to the action.
*Boom!!* *Boom!!* *Boom!!*
Eren, now in Titan form, stomped on the fallen Titan, roaring in rage. The trainees paused, stunned by the sudden turn of events.
Armin rescued Mikasa, and Haruya moved closer.
Drawing a new blade, Haruya sliced through another Titan's nape and finally reached his destination.
The trainees gathered, watching as Eren took down a second Titan.
Eren's Titan form was incredibly powerful now, but it also posed a threat to the others.
Eren assumed a fighting stance, catching Mikasa's attention.
But more importantly, the trainees were focused on escaping to the headquarters to resupply their gas.
"We can't... Everyone's running out of gas."
"I'll give you my gas canister, Mikasa."
Armin handed his gas canister to Mikasa, as she was the strongest fighter among the trainees.
Haruya looked at his nearly depleted blades. Several trainees suddenly offered him their spare blades...
"You... you're strong, right?"
"Take our blades!"
"Please!"
These trainees had seen Haruya in action and recognized his strength.
Accepting the blades, he equipped them to his ODM Gear, "I'll do my best."
If he lived up to their expectations, Haruya knew he could boost his reputation among the trainees, increasing his chances of joining the Survey Corps.
Setting aside his damaged blades, he equipped the new ones.
Nearby, Mikasa also received a new gas canister for her ODM Gear. The two vanguards were ready to fight again.
She looked at Haruya and said, "You're strong."
"Thank you."
'To think I'd earned Mikasa's praise...'
Just as the two prepared to move, Armin called out to the trainees about to charge, "I have a plan!"
It was a plan that left everyone astonished.
Haruya sat on the wooden rooftop as Armin crouched down, using sticks and stones to represent their positions, the Titans' locations, and Eren's Titan form...
"As you all saw, that strange Titan is attacking other Titans. This is the first time I've seen a Titan behave like this."
Moving the stone representing Eren's Titan, Armin continued, "If we assume that this strange Titan will keep attacking others, we can clear the Titans around it and lure it toward the headquarters, where it can fight the Titans gathered there."
"Will that work? Most of us are almost out of gas."
"It's our only option. It has to work." Armin spoke with grim determination, and no one dared to argue.
Their only way out, their only hope.
"Let's do it..."
Everyone agreed to Armin's plan, focusing their efforts around Eren's Titan form.
Like before, Haruya led the team to clear the Titans on the right, while Mikasa handled the left.
They left only the Titans in the street leading to the headquarters.
"Don't die, everyone!"
"Right!"
Lowering his raised blade, Haruya used the ODM Gear to fly toward Eren's Titan form.
There were still many Titans inside the walls, but most in this district had been cleared by Haruya and the others, leaving only those near the headquarters.
Gripping his blades tightly, Haruya navigated the streets with his hooks, targeting the Titans' napes before attacking.
"Ahhh!!"
"No, no!"
Suddenly, within Haruya's line of sight, two trainees were grabbed by an Abnormal, which was already chewing on half of another person.
"Damn it..."
As the Titan in front of him collapsed, Haruya fired a hook into a building's support beam.
Swinging through the air, he fired another hook into the Abnormal's back as he descended.
There was no time to cut its nape, so he quickly moved behind the Titan, severing the tendons in its legs.
The now injured Abnormal twisted its body to face Haruya.
Seizing the opportunity, Haruya circled the Titan, spinning as he sliced through its fingers.
"Now!"
Several trainees caught the two rescued trainees midair and brought them to the relative safety of a rooftop.
"Time to hunt the next one."
"Clear!"
As Haruya made his decision, Mikasa's team had already cleared the Titans on the left.
Haruya's side was almost done...
"Huh?!" Before he realized it, he was airborne.
The spot where he had been standing was smashed by a Titan. The deafening roar drew everyone's attention.
Eren's Titan form, having flung a Titan aside, roared at the sky. With no immediate target, he began moving toward the headquarters... or so it seemed.
*Boom!*
After a few steps, Eren's Titan form punched the ground where Haruya had been, sending him flying again.
Haruya fired his hooks to avoid the next attack, "Hey, hey, hey!"
Eren didn't let up, chasing Haruya relentlessly.
"Haruya! Lure him toward the headquarters!"
"I'll try!"
Following Armin's advice, Haruya changed direction, heading for the headquarters.
But Eren was too fast. In an instant, the ground cracked as Eren's massive fist came crashing down.
'What now? Have I become Eren's target?'
Using the speed from the ODM Gear, Haruya barely escaped Eren's pursuit.
*Boom!*
As Haruya swung through the air, a Titan's head smashed the eave where his hook was embedded, throwing him off balance.
"Watch out!"
Hearing the warning, Haruya sensed movement behind him.
It wasn't the sound of Eren running, it was the wind.
A kick from Eren's right leg!
Haruya fired his left hook, pulling himself to the side while using the right hook to change direction. He spun around, aiming for Eren's right leg.
To relieve the pressure, he planned to sever the tendons in Eren's right leg.
But as if sensing Haruya's intent, Eren stopped his kick mid-motion and instead slammed his entire body into Haruya.
'At this rate, I'll be killed!'
Thinking on his feet, Haruya cut the wire of his right hook, losing balance but gaining speed.
Like a swinging pendulum, he latched onto a nearby building's wall just as Eren's Titan form completely destroyed the house beside him.
Breathing in the dust-filled air, Haruya retracted his only remaining hook.
The debris from the destroyed house scattered as Haruya prepared to rejoin the group.
"Roar!!!!!" Eren emerged from the rubble, charging toward Haruya and destroying everything in his path.
"This is such a pain!"
The intense impact forced Haruya to retreat, but the area near the headquarters was still swarming with enemies.
So, he chose to return to the ground.
"What are you doing, Haruya!"
"Going to the ground is suicide!"
Watching Eren charge, Haruya fired his left hook.
It pierced Eren's chest area, just as Eren's fist came crashing down.
Haruya cut the wire of his ODM Gear, letting himself fall to avoid Eren's attack trajectory.
Before Eren could strike again... Haruya drove his left blade into Eren's leg and slashed at the back of his right heel with the right blade.
Eren's Titan form crashed forward, drawing the attention of the Titans near the headquarters.
"Finally, success..." Haruya sighed.
Sitting on the ground, he saw the bodies of several trainees around him.
"Are you okay...?" Someone lifted Haruya from the side, carrying him back to the rooftop.
Mikasa looked at Haruya, then at the Titans clashing below.
"You did well, but don't pull such suicidal stunts again."
Her cold yet caring words were worth the effort for Haruya.
"Haruya! You're amazing!"
"You didn't panic at all!"
"You're like a hero!"
The trainees showered him with praise.