"Roar!!" The two colossal beings slammed into each other. The Armored Titan, clad in earth-yellow bone armor, smashed a vicious punch straight into the Attack Titan, shattering its jaw.
Bang, bang, bang. The Attack Titan was suppressed and forced to retreat repeatedly, yet it did not fall completely into a disadvantage. Relying on its speed advantage, it dodged most of the Armored Titan's attacks.
"Eren!" Mikasa circled around the two Titans, extremely worried.
...
Ten minutes earlier.
Mikasa had hidden together with Eren at one of the Survey Corps' secret contact points, but no one had expected Reiner, with a gloomy expression, to find this place.
"Eren, I'm sorry. We have to take you away." Reiner's originally dark expression hardened in an instant. When Mikasa's blade was still one centimeter from his neck, yellow lightning arcs flashed over his body.
To protect Mikasa, Eren hugged her and then opened his mouth and bit into the base of his own thumb.
The two colossal beings collided just like that.
"Eren! Mikasa!" In the distance, Armin and Jean Kirstein rushed over.
The Attack Titan and the Armored Titan continued to pummel each other fiercely, but overall, Reiner's Armored Titan clearly held the advantage.
Even though the Attack Titan could dodge most attacks, whenever the Armored Titan landed a hit, the Attack Titan suffered badly.
After a long entanglement, the Attack Titan tried to seize the Armored Titan's arm, but failed, and once again the Armored Titan seized an opening and smashed half of its head with a single punch.
Steam billowed from the Attack Titan's shattered head. After swaying a few times, it collapsed with a thunderous crash.
"Eren!" Seeing the Attack Titan fall and not rise again, Mikasa immediately realized something was wrong and hurried to prepare to rescue him.
The Armored Titan's body heaved violently. The faceplate opened, and a massive amount of steam spewed out of its mouth.
Just as Reiner steeled himself to take Eren away, a thunderous crack of lightning erupted from behind. From the corner of his eye, Reiner caught sight of astonishing yellow arcs—another intelligent Titan! In the next instant, the entire Armored Titan was knocked over by an enormous force.
"What?" Reiner, inside the nape of the Armored Titan, was utterly shocked. How could this be? Another intelligent Titan? Had Yago arrived? Had the Warrior Chief failed to hold Yago back? Or was it Ymir's Jaw Titan? But the Jaw Titan couldn't possibly possess this kind of power.
Turning to look, Reiner's heart trembled. Those blood-red eyes, that terrifying figure—it really was Yago! The Female Titan's power?!
The Fate Titan opened its maw full of sharp teeth and let out a roar of challenge at the Armored Titan.
"Damn it, don't underestimate me!" Reiner clenched his teeth and drove the Armored Titan to charge straight at the Fate Titan.
Crack, crack—crystal-like hardening rapidly covered the Fate Titan's fists.
Yago showed no mercy, swinging his arm and throwing a ruthless punch.
Bang! With a single blow, the Armored Titan's mask shattered into pieces. Even its massive body faltered, losing the momentum of its full-speed charge.
Large patches of hardening spread over the Fate Titan's arms. Its crimson eyes locked firmly onto the Armored Titan.
Catching up to it, punch after punch rained down mercilessly, leaving the Armored Titan with no room to fight back.
Bang! The Fate Titan caught a punch thrown by the Armored Titan, opened its jaws, and a bone-white faceplate formed over its face, making its teeth even sharper.
It bit down fiercely, easily crushing the bone armor on the Armored Titan's arm, then tore the entire arm off with a wrench.
The Fate Titan stood there, a Titan's arm clenched in its mouth, its faceplate smeared with the Armored Titan's un-evaporated blood, looking utterly terrifying.
"So weak it's pitiful, Reiner. Is this all you've got?" Yago sighed. Of course, the Fate Titan could not yet speak like the Beast Titan or the Cart Titan, so no one else could hear him.
Yet perhaps sensing it, the Armored Titan, now with only one arm left, slowly stood up and fixed its gaze on the Fate Titan.
"You people… how could you ever understand? I have to return to my hometown. No one can stop me!" Reiner panted violently inside the nape of the Armored Titan, but still roared out his fury.
Then the crippled Armored Titan, wounds still steaming, lunged at the Fate Titan.
Yago was also taken aback.
"Unexpectedly tenacious, Reiner!"
...
Thud! In the outdoor training camp of the Training Corps, the burly Reiner was easily thrown to the ground by Yago. Around them, pairs of new recruits were sparring with each other.
Reiner shook his head and stood back up.
"You're really impressive, Yago. Your fighting skills have improved way too fast."
Yago grinned smugly. Training against Annie every day in the Training Corps naturally made him strong, and he said a bit boastfully,
"So-so. I could even knock you down with one hand, Reiner."
"What? That's looking down on me too much! One hand?!"
"Want to try?"
"Bring it on!"
Thud!! Reiner's face flushed red as one of Yago's arms locked tightly around his neck.
In the instant they engaged, Yago suddenly leaped high, shifted his body, and clamped Reiner's neck with one arm, using the momentum to slam him hard to the ground.
"Haha, admit defeat or not?"
"Cough, cough, cough—quick, cough, let go! I—I surrender!"
...
Just as the Fate Titan set its stance, the Armored Titan charging straight toward it suddenly made an unbelievable leap.
Yago was startled. "What's going on?!"
In the next instant, the Armored Titan's one intact arm suddenly clamped around the Fate Titan's neck, and the Fate Titan's body was smashed straight to the ground.
This sudden turn caught Yago completely off guard.
"Reiner? This is… my move?!"
...
I recommend checking out my new Pokémon fanfic, "Pokémon System: Me, the Strongest Champion of the League"! It features a system that isn't overpowered, keeping the story balanced and engaging. The main character isn't Ash, but an original, cool MC, which makes it even more enjoyable to read. I'd love to hear your feedback!