"We will now begin the 57th expedition beyond the walls!" "Onward!" "We believe that in the basement of Eren Jaeger's Zhiganshina home, there are answers about the Titans that he himself doesn't have." "We will head there." "You new recruits will be here." "You'll be between the cart guard team and the recon support team." "Your job will be to ride alongside the spare horses and relay messages." "The Special Operations Squad will be here." "Standing by in the center of the last ranks." "It's the safest place in the formation." "Row 5-Center:" "Standby" "We're even better protected than the supply carts." "That's no Aberrant." "It's intelligent!" "Like the Armored or Colossal Titans, or Eren..." "A human in the body of a Titan!" "Its movements are much more precise than the others' are!" "Damn it." "I..." "I underestimated it!" "It protected its neck..." "Damn it!" "I can't get away!" "Jean!" "Avenge the bastard who rushed to his death!" "It stopped?" "That's the one..." "That's the one that killed him!" "He rushed to his death on the right flank!" "Avenge him!" "We've bought enough time, right?" "Let's get the hell away from it!" "No..." "Why?" "Is it heading toward Eren?" "Forest of Giant Trees 57th Expedition Beyond the Walls (2)" "How's your 3D Maneuver Gear looking, Armin?" "It's okay..." "The clasp released as intended, so it seems it's not broken." "I see..." "I'm glad to hear it." "But what do we do?" "We only have one horse." "If Jean's horse comes back, the three of us can move, but..." "Damn it, why?" "Reiner's horse returned, so why didn't mine?" "We can't stay here any longer." "In the worst case, we'll have to leave someone here..." "But how would we decide who to leave?" "Armin, since he's wounded?" "Reiner, since he's big and would have trouble riding with someone else?" "Or should I run and try to find my horse?" "Damn it!" "Why the hell do I have to think about this?" "!" "We all made it through that fight alive." "This isn't fair..." "Armin..." "Hey, Armin!" "Are you still out of it?" "Yeah, my head's still a bit fuzzy..." "I see..." "But we must decide." "It's a hard choice, but someone will have to stay behind." "Wait!" "First, let's fire a smoke round..." "If the formation continued straight ahead, the row 4-3 team should be nearby." "That's the signal for an emergency..." "But I can't imagine they'll understand our intentions just from that." "Armin, we can wait another three minutes." "By then, we must decide—" "I'll stay." "But there's something I want you to tell them for me..." "Preferably to Commander Erwin alone—" "No, Armin." "You should tell him yourself." "Looks like someone's here..." "And with two horses!" "That's..." "Krista!" "Is everyone okay?" "That's my horse..." "Whoa, whoa." "Calm down, Buchwald." "He ran toward me, terrified..." "Did you engage the Titans?" "Armin, what happened to you?" "Are you okay?" "Yeah, I think so." "I can't believe that smoke round brought you here." "I was nearby, and I already had Jean's horse." "Even horses like you." "It seems you have a strange charisma." "You saved our lives." "But I'm so glad that the worst didn't happen to you." "I really am glad." "God..." "A goddess." "I want to marry her." "Well, we should rejoin the formation as soon as possible." "Yeah, there should be orders to retreat." "To think we've been pushed back, less than an hour out of the walls." "Things are even bleaker than I'd imagined..." "And for some reason, it went in the opposite direction from the vanguard command team..." "It?" "A green round?" "Looks like they're continuing the operation, only changing course..." "What?" "That wasn't a retreat command?" "What is Commander Erwin thinking?" "In theory, any soldier has the authority to determine when mission completion is no longer possible." "Did command not see our smoke round somehow?" "Even if we don't know what's going on, there's still only one thing for us to do..." "Follow the order!" "Smoke round." "Green." "Oluo, you fire it." "Roger." "For now, everything seems to be going fine." "But is it really?" "We may already have casualties on the front lines." "Reporting!" "Message to pass along!" "Right flank recon has been destroyed!" "Our recon system is partially inoperative." "Pass this on, to the left." "Did you hear that, Petra?" "Go." "Yes, Captain." "The right flank?" "!" "I think that's where Armin is." "But Armin and the others should still be in position, near the center." "The Titans can't have made it in that far..." "A black round?" "Aberrants?" "Eren, you fire it." "R-Right!" "What a mess." "We let it penetrate deep into our formation." "It's almost here..." "The Titan." "Beneath those smoke rounds, is there someone fighting?" "Damn it..." "Look over here." "You monster..." "Now!" "Three separate attacks at once..." "You're pretty smart, but you can't possibly protect all three targets!" "Spine, Achilles tendon..." "It doesn't matter!" "Hit one, and we will slow it down..." "Go!" "Damn you for causing so many deaths!" "We'll make you die a slow, painful death!" "It jumped?" "L-Let me go!" "The most important thing is to ensure they hear of this..." "I must tell them what we're up against!" "An Aberrant?" "!" "It got in all the way here?" "We'll take it out!" "We can't let it penetrate any farther!" "The right flank's been wiped out?" "But we aren't withdrawing?" "Row 3-1:" "Cargo" "Why?" "!" "No idea..." "The Commander's orders..." "Just relay the message to the left!" "What's going on?" "Row 1-13:" "Recon" "We keep heading east." "Our goal is supposed to be south, to the old city." "Row 1-5:" "Recon" "Right now, our formation's on a collision course." "Yeah." "You can see it..." "The forest of giant trees!" "Information We Can Share So Far:" "Forest of Giant Trees (1) Isolated forests of giant trees can be found within and beyond the walls." "They occur naturally in certain areas, and tree heights can exceed 80 meters." "Information We Can Share So Far:" "Forest of Giant Trees (2) Before Wall Maria's fall, this particular forest was a tourist area." "Now, it is a strategically important location used by the Survey Corps to protect themselves from Titans during expeditions." "Seems Titans passed through here." "There's nothing growing on the road." "We can bring the carts through, too." "Send word to the rear that only the central cart guard should enter the forest." "Yes, sir!" "Excuse me, sir..." "The center row appears to be entering the forest, but wouldn't the rest of us collide with the forest?" "We're going around." "Yes, sir!" "Hey, what are we doing at this tourist spot?" "We're totally off from both our original destination and our return point." "I don't know..." "I don't know, but the order came from Commander Erwin, after all." "He must have a plan." "What kind of plan?" "Are they planning to hold a welcome ceremony for us new recruits at a tourist spot?" "No, I don't think so." "That was a joke." "Anyway, that giant woman's following us." "No matter what his plan, we can't stay here." "The only thing I can imagine is that we're passing through on our way to somewhere else..." "Everyone, halt!" "All right." "Listen up, recruits." "We will now make preparations to launch a counterattack." "Draw your blades, and wait above in the trees." "If any Titans try to enter this forest, stop them at all costs!" "U-Um, Sir, what do you—" "Shut up and follow orders!" "Seriously?" "What's going on?" "H-Hey, it looks like only the center line went into the woods." "What happened to the formation?" "It's gone." "The forest blocks our advance, so the left and right flanks will have to skirt the forest." "We've lost our recon ability." "Why didn't we change course to avoid this forest?" "Did Commander Erwin read the map wrong?" "I don't know..." "Perhaps we tried too hard to avoid the threat on the right flank and ended up here..." "This is insane..." "We've abandoned the original mission to cache supplies." "And when we abandoned it, we should've turned tail and run..." "But instead, we're forging ahead to a tourist trap." "And now, we're just standing here, to stop any Titans that enter the woods?" "Damn him for giving a crazy order." "He'll hear you..." "And this no real explanation thing is innovative, too." "Of course, I'm sure he has his own concerns..." "What do you mean?" "A commander deemed worthless by his men in a critical situation quite often succumbs to a mysterious attack from behind." "I'm just saying it wouldn't surprise me." "Jean, so what are you going to do?" "Don't be so serious..." "This situation's got me a bit worked up, that's all." "What am I going to do?" "Obey my orders, and keep Titans out of the forest." "You also think it's the right move, don't you?" "Ah—" "You look like you know something." "Well..." "Five-meter class incoming!" "Why bring the formation here?" "What is Commander Erwin thinking?" "No, that isn't what we should think about." "The Female Titan is pursuing Eren." "And the Commander knows that." "Assume those two things, and see what you can deduce..." "Captain..." "Captain Levi!" "What?" "Well..." "We're in the middle of the woods!" "If the center enters alone, we won't know if Titans are approaching!" "It seems something's approaching us from the right..." "How are we supposed to dodge the Titans or protect the carts?" "Don't go on and on about the obvious..." "We can't do that anymore, of course." "Th-Then why?" "Look around, Eren..." "At all these big-ass trees." "It's the perfect environment for 3D Maneuver Gear." "And try to use that tiny brain of yours..." "If you don't want to die, think." "Yes, sir!" "I see." "I just can't keep up right now because I'm still new." "He won't just tell me the answer." "I have to figure it out for myself." "I'm sure that's how they all learned to fight." "What the hell?" "Seriously?" "Damn it all..." "What the hell is going on here?" "Wait!" "Wait a minute..." "No one knows what's really going on?" "Maybe not even Captain Levi?" "The Female Titan is after Eren..." "If I'm right about that, then there's only one reason to come here." "This is where Commander Erwin intends to deal with the Female Titan..." "Armin..." "Our orders were to keep the Titans out of the forest, right?" "In other words..." "There's no longer any reason to fight..." "Right?" "A black smoke round?" "It's from directly behind us!" "It's whatever was coming toward us on the right." "Draw your blades." "If we see it, it'll only be for a second." "Go!" "It's fast!" "In these trees, there's no way to foresee and evade its attacks!" "It'll catch us!" "Captain, let's switch to Maneuver Gear!" "Captain!" "You won't escape!" "Reinforcements from the rear!" "Captain, your orders?" "!" "Let's go for it!" "It's dangerous..." "We should kill it!" "I'll rip you apart!" "Fool, you've run straight into hell." "You're chasing a group of master Titan killers!" "Captain Levi?" "Captain!" "Give us your orders." "At this rate, it will catch up with us!" "We kill it here..." "That's why we came to this forest!" "Right, Captain?" "Captain, your orders!" "Everyone, cover your ears." "The Female Titan continues its pursuit, leaving carnage in its wake." "Despite witnessing their friends get slaughtered before their very eyes, the Survey Corps can only flee." "Eren is faced with a decision." "Bite 57th Expedition Beyond the Walls (3)"