"When?!" Reiner's heart leaped into his throat. *'He actually got behind me without making a sound. And from the sound of it, he seems to know my identity.'*
His thumb and index finger touched. On his thumb rested a spiked ring; as long as his body sustained an injury, Reiner could transform into his Titan form through sheer force of will.
The Shield of Marley — the Armored Titan!
In a way, this was much more convenient than an Ultraman transformation. At the very least, he didn't have to worry about doing something as stupid as losing his transformation item. Looking back at the Ultra series, almost every installment featured some idiotic plotline where a broken or lost transformation item prevented the hero from fighting.
He couldn't move. He couldn't move at all. Reiner's will commanded his fingers, but his body felt as if it had been plunged into solidifying asphalt, completely immobilized.
Petrification magic. Even though it made no difference to Zenith whether Reiner transformed or not, less trouble was always better than more. Having to dig a person out of a Titan's nape later sounded pretty disgusting just thinking about it.
After transforming, the true bodies of these Titan Shifters hid within the napes of their giant forms. By the same logic, the weak point of the lesser Pure Titans was naturally the nape as well.
To a Titan, a brain was nothing more than hot tofu; the back of the neck was their true control center.
"Be a good boy and behave. You and your buddies will be reunited in a bit. Follow me, and I guarantee you'll be eating well and living the high life from now on."
Reiner's gaze shifted downward, only just noticing that Zenith was holding two ropes in his other hand.
At the end of one rope was the true body of the Colossal Titan from just moments ago—Bertolt, or "Little Bert." At the end of the other rope was the true body of the Female Titan, Annie.
What did he mean by "reunited in a bit"? He had already caught all of them! These three were the only Marleyans who had made it inside the walls alive.
Without bothering to explain anything to Reiner, Zenith knocked him out with a swift, clean karate chop to the neck, then expertly pulled out a Lead and tied him up too.
As for the others, he naturally meant the other brats inside the walls who would inherit Titan powers. Bearing the brunt of it all was that absolute madman, Eren.
Right now, Eren was still just an ordinary kid yearning for the outside world. With a little bending, he might just be straightened out.
On the other side, after nearly three minutes of fierce combat, Hannes finally sensed that something was wrong. The indicator light on his forehead was flashing rapidly, and the power coursing through his body showed signs of fading.
"Three minutes. I'm almost at my limit." Hannes looked at the Titans still rampaging through the city and let out a deep sigh.
It still wasn't enough. There were simply too many enemies. As long as the breach in the outer wall remained, the enemy would continue to pour in endlessly.
There was no time. With only a dozen seconds left, he couldn't possibly plug the hole. Hannes stared in the direction of the breached wall, paused for a second, and then swiftly headed back toward Eren's family.
Jogging toward Eren's location, Hannes, now back in his human host form, started waving from afar.
He didn't know why he was making this gesture, but an urge swelled in his heart, as if this was just what an Ultraman was supposed to do.
"You must be Mr. Hannes."
Zenith and Serie had already rescued Eren's mom. At some point, they had procured a carriage from who-knows-where and tossed the captured brats onto the wooden floorboards all at once.
Eren's mother had suffered a spinal injury and couldn't be moved easily. Eren and Mikasa sat in the carriage taking care of her, their eyes red, clearly having just finished crying.
Hannes stared at the scene, momentarily stunned. His first thought was that he had run into human traffickers kidnapping children amidst the chaos, but seeing Serie standing nearby quickly dispelled that notion.
*'What a poor child. She doesn't even have money for shoes, walking barefoot on the ground like that.'*
"Anyway, thank you so much for saving these kids. Let's head toward the city gate first. Thanks to Ultraseven, there are far fewer Titans on the streets. It should be a bit safer now."
*Good grief, you're really out here tooting your own horn.* Zenith fought the urge to roast him. Hannes's first transformation barely met the passing grade. He had let the sudden surge of immense power go to his head and hadn't even considered how to maximize his combat effectiveness.
If he had thought to plug the wall right away, the battle would already be over, and they would only need to worry about post-disaster reconstruction.
Still, as an ordinary middle-aged guy, one couldn't expect too much from him. At the very least, Hannes had a kind heart, along with a sliver of courage.
Zenith made a shushing gesture. Seeing that the little ones weren't paying attention to them, he whispered, "A true hero is a brave warrior who protects others in silence. If anyone else discovers your identity, you won't be able to fight as Seven anymore."
Hannes's previously confident face instantly flushed bright red, seemingly a bit embarrassed.
Being able to transform into Seven had indeed inflated his ego for a moment, just like any ordinary person who had suddenly gained superpowers.
But he hadn't expected to run into the very person who gave him that power right when he was trying to subtly show off for the first time.
"Just call me Zenith," Zenith said, returning to a normal volume. "You're right. We need to get to the city gate first. We won't be truly out of danger until we're inside Wall Maria."
Hannes took the initiative to grab the reins, driving the old horse forward at a slow pace. Zenith and Serie sat beside him, watching the scenery along the way.
"Lord Zenith, are you a god?"
Hannes kept his attitude very humble this time, asking in a low voice.
"No."
"Is Lady Serie a god? Do all gods have pointy ears?"
"She was born with them."
"Why did you choose me?"
"You're awfully chatty." Zenith rolled his eyes in exasperation and patted Hannes on the back. "Just drive. You'll have plenty of time to ponder that question later."
*Why did the light choose me? Why must I fight?* These were questions every non-original Ultra host eventually pondered.
As for Hannes, if he really wanted to know Zenith's reason, there was only one: pure coincidence. Seven with his Eye Slugger—Zenith had originally intended to give that to Captain Levi, but Hannes just happened to walk right into it.
He'd figure something out for Levi later. If push came to shove, giving him Ultraman Zero would work just as well.
The carriage slowly arrived at the city gate. A massive, panicked crowd had completely jammed the streets, and the gate itself was blocked by a massive cargo wagon, unable to move forward or backward.
The owner of the wagon was a wealthy merchant. Dressed in fine clothes that starkly contrasted with everyone else's, he shouted at the top of his lungs, "You lowly peasants, get over here and help!"
With the crowd bottlenecked here, Titans slowly began to be drawn by the scent of humans, lumbering toward their direction.
Just as Hannes was about to take action, he watched in dumbfounded shock as Zenith leaped into the air, grabbed the merchant, and hurled him away—along with the entire cargo wagon.
The crowd was left utterly flabbergasted. *Is that a level of strength a human should possess? Am I awake? Did the Titans scare me out of my mind?*
Tossed to the side, the merchant stared blankly up at the sky. His caravan hands quickly hoisted him onto their backs and rushed through the gate. As for the goods, those could wait until they actually had the time to care.
As long as you were alive, you could always make more money; if you were dead, you had nothing. His momentary bout of greed had been instantly cured by Zenith's toss, snapping him right back to reality.
Inside the carriage, Eren and Mikasa turned their heads sharply, watching their hometown grow further and further away. It was already a paradise for Titans now, and there was no telling when it would belong to humanity again.
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