"Cadet Sandra Gant, 104th Training Corps, reporting!" I vaulted across the rooftops and landed before the hastily assembled vanguard. Counting me, there were only five of us.
"You're here. I'm Captain White. The blonde is Tress, the dark‑haired one is Oren, and the silver‑haired one is Klau. With you, the vanguard is complete."
White's voice was steady, but I could hear the strain beneath it. None of the others looked at me. Understandable. We were all chosen for the mission with the lowest survival rate.
Before the middle guard arrived, White began issuing commands.
"Soldiers! Offer your hearts! We advance to the breach and eliminate every Titan entering the gate!"
His voice trembled just enough for me to notice.
"Rookie, stay with Klau and Oren! Tress, you're with me! We'll split into two assault teams and clear both flanks! Move out!"
Orders delivered, the five of us launched into motion.
I followed behind Oren and Klau, our gear firing us across rooftops as the chaos of Trost swallowed the skyline.
Titans roamed everywhere. Grotesque silhouettes framed by smoke and fire—death walking on two legs.
My hands shook. I forced them to steady.
I can do this. Even if I can't… I must.
"Two o'clock! Abnormal incoming! Rookie, don't die on us!" Oren shouted.
The abnormal Titan surged forward in a hideous, springing leap.
And just then—like always—the phantom afterimage appeared in my sight.
I saw its attack arc. I saw its next movement.
The trajectory told me it would land right on top of Klau.
I couldn't hesitate.
Twin blades out, I fired upward toward a tall roofline.
"Rookie! What are you doing?!" Oren yelled, panicked.
Using the recoil of the wires and full gas burst, I launched myself clean into the Titan's blind spot.
Klau screamed—"I'm done for—!!"
But he wasn't.
My blades sliced clean through the Titan's nape.
Its limp body crashed beside Klau, shaking the roof tiles under him.
As the steam dissolved, I landed back beside them.
"Nice work, rookie… I thought I was dead," Klau panted, still trembling.
"Don't pull stunts like that again," Oren snapped. "If another Titan had popped out, you'd be gone."
"Yes, sir."
No time to breathe.
No time to think.
We pressed on toward the shattered gate.
On the way, three Titans appeared simultaneously—a 3‑meter, an 8‑meter, and a 13‑meter.
Not one after another.
At the same time.
"Oren! Behind you—!" Klau cried.
The afterimages flickered again—swift, sharp, unmistakable.
My jaw tightened. I surged forward.
"Don't you dare…!!"
I shot through the narrow gap between buildings and targeted the largest one.
One clean cut took its arms.
Another severed its legs.
Before it could regenerate, I sliced the nape.
But killing the 13‑meter cost me a fatal few seconds.
By the time I spun back—
"Kl… Klau!!"
The 8‑meter Titan had already seized him.
Oren had struck at it, but fear made him miss the nape. His blade barely scraped flesh.
Klau screamed only once before the Titan bit him in half.
His upper body vanished.
His legs fell to the rooftop with a wet thud.
I didn't scream.
I didn't let myself.
There wasn't time.
I struck the 8‑meter Titan down instantly, steam exploding around me.
"Kl… Klau…"
Oren collapsed, legs buckling, sword clattering against the roof tiles.
The battlefield stench—blood and vomit and steam—choked the air.
"I… I can't. I can't anymore…" Oren's voice cracked, tears streaming as he stared at what was left of his comrade.
"This is suicide… There's no end…! Titans can't be killed fast enough! We're all going to die!!"
I stood over him, chest heaving, blades dripping Titan steam.
"Rookie… we should run," Oren sobbed. "If we don't, we'll die here… We'll all die…"
Running.
Choosing survival over duty.
Abandoning everything I'd fought for.
Below the rooftops, the city screamed. Families tore apart. Homes collapsed.
Mothers—just like my own—were dying right now.
And if the breach wasn't secured, the nightmare would spread through Wall Rose like wildfire.
"104th Training Corps, Rank Five: Sandra Gant …"
I turned my back to Oren.
"Even if the odds of surviving today are almost zero…"
My mother's face surfaced in my mind.
Carlla's warm smile.
She would never want me to run.
"…and even if it means I may never return to the people I love…"
I tightened my grip on my blades.
I will not flee.
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