"Reiner's goal should be to reach the edge of the island and take a warship back to Marley," Hange said to Erwin and Levi.
"But after such an intense battle, he shouldn't have the stamina for a long journey. In that case, he'll definitely rest somewhere Titans can't reach."
"At night, before the Titans become inactive, he'll rest in this Giant Tree Forest," she continued.
"This is our only chance—but…"
She didn't finish her sentence.
Erwin glanced at the weakened Eren not far away.
"But Eren no longer has the stamina to fight."
"I'm afraid so."
Levi spoke flatly. "Our blades can't cut through that armored bastard's body."
Erwin nodded.
"That means without Eren's assistance, even if we catch up to the Armored Titan, we won't be able to inflict any meaningful damage. On the contrary, we may lose a large number of soldiers."
"..."
Hange sighed.
"To be honest, even if Eren could still fight, sending him would be far too risky. Last time, it was only because Ymir's Titan fought alongside him that they were able to defeat Reiner. On his own, Eren probably isn't Reiner's match. And now that Ymir has been captured, she likely can't fight either…"
After a brief silence, Erwin made his decision.
"I've decided to abandon the rescue operation for Ymir."
"..."
"At present, Eren—who possesses the power of the 'Coordinate'—is our highest priority. And we've already successfully captured the Colossal Titan. Even if we were to retrieve Ymir now, the gain wouldn't be particularly significant. But if we fail… the consequences would be something humanity could not bear."
With that, Erwin waved his hand.
"Prepare to return."
"..."
Erwin… are you choosing to play the devil once again?
Levi watched Erwin's departing back. He knew full well that making such a decision didn't just mean condemning himself internally—it would also invite criticism from others.
But there was no other choice. This was the burden a commander had to carry.
Still, some people could not accept the outcome.
"Why?" Krista stared at Hange in disbelief.
"Why are we abandoning Ymir?!"
"That's right!" Eren forced himself to his feet.
"I can still fight! I—cough! Cough, cough!"
He spoke too quickly and immediately started coughing, his body swaying. Mikasa rushed to support him.
"This is what you call being able to fight, Eren?" Hange said, looking at him, then at Krista.
"I'm sorry, but this is a unanimous decision. Right now, humanity has no effective way to deal with the Armored Titan, and Eren is in no condition to fight. We… can't risk losing Eren in order to rescue Ymir."
"..."
Krista bit her pale lips tightly.
"But Ymir… she was on our side!" she said unwillingly.
"If it weren't for her back then, Eren wouldn't have been able to defeat Reiner!"
"That's true," Eren said, forcing himself to speak.
"I really couldn't beat Reiner. If not for Ymir, I would've been captured already. We can't abandon her!"
Levi walked over and looked down at him.
"Eren, you still don't understand how important you are to humanity."
"..."
"If necessary, everyone here could die for your sake. That's how important you are," Levi said calmly.
"If you truly believe you can fight, we can take you to pursue Reiner. But if you mess up—even once—not only will you be captured, we'll all die with you."
Eren's expression wavered.
"Make your decision, Eren. If you choose to go, we'll plan the operation right now."
"I…"
After more than ten seconds of hesitation, Eren clutched his head in pain.
"I'm sorry, Krista. I… I really can't defeat Reiner. If I stubbornly insist on going and drag everyone with me, I'd just get everyone killed. I'm sorry… I can't go."
"..."
"Don't worry, Krista. Ymir will be fine," Armin tried to comfort her.
"Think about it—we have the Colossal Titan now. We can use it as leverage. Maybe… maybe in the future we can negotiate—"
Before he could finish, Krista turned and walked away.
"Krist—"
"Let her be alone for a while," Mikasa said softly.
"She's exhausted."
---
Boom boom boom boom boom!
The Female Titan sprinted across the plains, Lillian standing on her shoulder, gazing toward the distant Giant Tree Forest.
Reiner and Bertholdt definitely didn't have the stamina to reach the coastline in one go. They would rest here. And if Eren hadn't been taken, then under those circumstances, Ymir would almost certainly have been captured instead.
Lillian thought: Ymir is a power that absolutely cannot be lost.
If they were ever to confront the War Hammer Titan in the future, her strength would be indispensable.
That was one reason.
The other was emotional.
Though Lillian often found her irritating, she had tried to save him before. And when the Colossal Titan came crashing down, she hadn't fled. Instead, she put her own body in front of him.
She could have escaped that impact zone easily with her speed.
But she didn't.
So whether it was to repay that debt—or simply to keep Krista from suffering—Lillian would never allow Ymir to be taken back to Marley and be devoured to steal the Jaw Titan's power.
As for Annie…
She seemed unwilling to run away anymore. When she heard Lillian was going after Reiner and Bertholdt, she chose to come along.
In Lillian's eyes, that was a good thing.
Avoidance only treats the symptoms, not the cause. Constantly running away leaves a person forever trapped in uncertainty, unable to truly live.
Facing things head-on was also a solution—even if it was difficult, it had to be done.
Because when conflicts can no longer be reconciled, a choice must be made.
"We're here."
After entering the Giant Tree Forest, Lillian glanced at the large number of Titans following behind them and said to Annie, "Cancel your Titan form. We'll go up into the trees first."
The next moment, Annie's human body emerged from the nape of the Female Titan's neck. Lillian reached out, pulled her free to help her disengage quickly, and the two of them leapt straight onto a nearby giant tree.
Without its human core, the Female Titan rapidly evaporated. The hundreds of Titans that had chased them into the forest immediately lost their target. Some noticed the two of them and clawed at the base of the tree, trying to climb up; others scattered and wandered off in different directions through the forest.
Lillian glanced at Annie. There was no sign of fatigue on her face.
After all, she hadn't actually participated in any fighting. Her stamina was full—she'd only expended a bit of energy from running earlier, nothing serious.
"Are we stopping here?" she asked.
"Yeah. We'll let these Titans help us find Reiner and the others."
Titans were naturally drawn to humans. As they wandered through the forest, they would inevitably locate Reiner. And without ODM gear, the only way Reiner and Bertholdt could move quickly was by transforming.
[Note: Mc didn't know that Bertholdt was captured]
Once they transformed, the flash of light and the commotion would instantly expose their position. Finding them would be easy. And even if they somehow weren't found now, when night fell and they tried to leave, they would still have to transform—same result.
After all, escape was impossible.
Reiner wasn't faster than Annie, and as for combat strength, it wasn't clear who would win. Annie was extremely skilled in grappling and joint locks, techniques that directly countered Reiner. And while her partial hardening wasn't as strong as his armor, it was more than enough to block attacks.
So honestly, it was hard to say who would come out on top.
Of course, if Lillian ran into Reiner, he wouldn't even give Annie a chance to act—he planned to beat him down first.
As for Bertholdt…
No matter how Annie felt about it, Lillian would never allow him to live.
He couldn't forget that his resurrection had many restrictions, one of which was:
"You cannot be killed twice by the same existence."
That meant if Bertholdt transformed into the Colossal Titan again and crushed him once more, he would truly die.
So…
Lillian glanced at Annie and thought to himself: even if Bertholdt suddenly had a complete change of heart and decided to side with those inside the Walls…
Even then, he would never be allowed to live.