"Damn it... The entire road is blocked now." Hange looked at the situation outside through the rotating mirror inside her armor.
The entire Marleyan army had been mobilized. The explosion of the Colossal Titan had sounded the alarm. Even the most oblivious army, upon seeing flames filling the sky, would know that something terrible had happened.
And now that Marley was at war with the Mid-East Allied Forces, even the slightest sign of danger was an alert that had to be answered with the full mobilization of the army.
Dense ranks of soldiers advanced toward the city in an orderly manner.
Cape City was, after all, the capital of Marley, and its army was among the finest in the country.
Before coming, Hange and her men had received warnings from Pieck and Zeke: the capital's army consisted of five divisions, with a total of 100,000 men.
These 100,000 men were Marley's elite divisions, equipped with Marley's best weapons, and nearly all of the soldiers had been hardened by battle.
Now that the explosion of the Colossal Titan was dying down, these 100,000 men were a force to be reckoned with.
This was a true force of 100,000 soldiers. Even if the Jaw Titan could kill a hundred people per minute by charging through the enemy formation, it would take hours to wipe them all out.
Killing 100,000 soldiers was a titanic task, especially when they were armed with weapons and cannons.
While Paradis Island could temporarily maintain the advantage thanks to its superior equipment and Titans, it would be exhausted if the war dragged on.
At that point, it would no longer be a matter of whether they could capture the War Hammer Titan; even the Founding Titan would be forced to act.
The Paradis forces involved in the operation numbered only a few hundred; they had no reinforcements or supplies, and their ammunition, weapons, and even the gas for their ODM Gear were extremely limited.
Some troops and vehicles had even headed toward the port; a swift victory was crucial.
Although the fleet at the harbor had been annihilated by the Colossal Titan, some armored warships remained in the commercial port and would soon be deployed.
At that point, escaping would become extremely difficult.
This was the strength of a large and populous nation. The population of Marley's capital alone exceeded that of Paradis Island; even after suffering losses, they could quickly reorganize and launch a counterattack.
In addition, Hange and her men had received new orders from Erwin to avoid inflicting overly severe damage on Marley's high command and military forces after obtaining the War Hammer Titan.
The goal was to prolong the battlefield between Marley and the Mid-East Allied Forces in order to buy time.
If all of Marley's high command in the capital were crushed in a single blow, Marley might surrender on the main battlefield if things went badly.
A quick victory for the Mid-East Allied Forces would not be good for Paradis Island.
What they wanted was to delay the battle as much as possible, allowing Paradis Island, hidden overseas, to continue developing for another two or three years.
"Ymir, get up there!" Hange ordered.
"I know, tsk, what a damn hassle." Ymir sneered as she looked at the battlefield unfolding before her.
She was in a hurry; the path is made by walking. Since the main road was blocked, she would take a deserted route!
The powerful claws of the Jaw Titan dug into the wall to her left. Like a spider, she clung to the wall through brute force, her limbs firmly supporting her body.
Bang! Bang! Bang!
Every soldier was firing at the Jaw Titan. Before long, the army seemed to have received the information; the Jaw Titan was no longer their warrior, but the enemy!
The Marleyan soldiers on the left, positioned along the hillside, secured the turrets, and the artillerymen aimed their cannons at the enormous Jaw Titan.
Dozens of thick cannon barrels extended outward, targeting the armor on the Jaw Titan's back.
Hange sighed in relief when she saw that Ymir's speed was greater and that she was avoiding most of the bullets. Although the armor had been designed to increase the Jaw Titan's defense without hindering its mobility, it was not very resistant to cannon fire.
If she were subjected to continuous bombardment, the person inside would be riddled with bullets.
In this situation, they could only rely on Ymir. With the armored turrets tilted at ninety degrees, they could not counterattack.
Bang! Bang! Bang!
The enemy opened fire, launching heavy shells at them.
The Jaw Titan regained its balance and climbed rapidly, narrowly dodging the incoming projectiles.
In an instant, the Jaw Titan leaped sideways along the hillside wall, landing on the roof of a building.
"Damn it!"
The Jaw Titan jumped between buildings as if she were a monkey.
She completely drew the attention of the Marleyan army; more than a dozen heavy artillery positions were set up around her, and thousands of soldiers opened fire on her.
Even inside the armor, the dense roar of bullets striking metal could be heard.
That sound of war made everyone inside the Jaw Titan boil with adrenaline.
"Artur! Arlot! Mikasa!" Hange called out their names.
"Yes, sir!"
Artur moved to the cannon's control panel, aimed at the armored emplacements, and fired!
Bang! Bang! Bang!
The specially manufactured shells from Paradis Island roared from their barrels, striking the Marleyan emplacements that were targeting them.
Boom!
The shells exploded into flames and black smoke as Artur and Arlot completed an extremely difficult predictive shot while moving at high speed!
The Jaw Titan ran across the rooftops, with wind and bullets rushing toward her.
Even with a safety harness, Hange felt somewhat off balance, but Mikasa maintained her footing at that speed while loading ammunition for the positions.
Everyone inside the armor felt incredible tension.
Eren and Dina, seated at the center of the formation, could not see what was happening outside, which only increased their panic.
The continuous explosions constantly reminded them that they were racing through a fierce battlefield!
Ymir was the one most affected by the tension, but she felt no fear, only excitement.
Eight more years, only eight more years until her thirteenth year as the inheritor of the Jaw Titan.
Her life would end then; the purpose of running all the way here was simply to return and get more potato chips!
"It's not my time to die yet!" The closer that moment approached, the more she could unleash the power of the Jaw Titan.
Her running speed astonished the Marleyan officers. Many had seen the Jaw Titan on the battlefield, but none of its previous inheritors had ever displayed such speed.
If Ymir's current speed were measured, it would reach an astonishing 325 kilometers per hour.
The Marleyan army could only watch helplessly as Ymir slipped through their sight, running across Marley's rooftops.
Some experienced officers wore grave expressions; this might be the most powerful inheritor of the Jaw Titan in history.
The power of the Titans had very different effects depending on the inheritor.
For example, the Armored Titan, in some hands, might only be able to generate a great deal of heat, while in others, it could suppress the War Hammer Titan with ease.
Ymir saw it with her own eyes: the vast battlefield at the training base.
At the center stood the great War Hammer Titan, surrounded by transparent spikes, while the severely injured Armored Titan desperately pressed the War Hammer Titan against his body, even with his abdomen pierced by the gigantic spikes protruding like spears.