Chapter 26: The Naive Ani
Boom, crash.
A row of houses was smashed to pieces as the Female Titan rampaged through the city, destroying buildings indiscriminately.
But the Female Titan looked strange. Her current height was very short, only about eight meters.
It wasn't that an eight-meter titan was small, but rather that the Female Titan's current appearance was bizarre. Her legs were completely missing, and she was crawling forward using only her arms.
Ani was in despair. Her titanized legs had been severed six times, and so far, she hadn't even managed to touch the enemy's clothes.
Yet Ani had a feeling that if she could just land a hit on that man, even if he didn't die, he wouldn't be able to continue chasing her.
Su Xiao leaped across the rubble left by the Female Titan's destruction, following unhurriedly behind her.
He tried to stay out of the Female Titan's arm reach. Getting hit by her was no joke.
Just as the Female Titan tried to crawl forward again, Su Xiao rushed in and slashed several times, directly cutting her waist into large chunks. This left the Female Titan with only her upper body.
During the fight, Su Xiao noticed something: the titan's regenerative ability wasn't unlimited. The Female Titan's recovery speed had already slowed significantly.
Moreover, these "Intelligent Titans" seemed to have no pain sensation in their bodies. Even after activating Azure Steel Shadow and slashing for a while, he saw no reaction from the Female Titan indicating she was in agony.
Inside the Female Titan's body, Ani was drenched in sweat, her clothes soaked through. She had only one thought now: to crawl near Rose Wall, climb up, and escape. She had no strength left to fight.
Observing that the Female Titan's attacks were slowing, Su Xiao immediately tried to approach her upper body.
Ani panicked at this and controlled the Female Titan to wildly swing both arms, trying to drive Su Xiao away.
When one arm swung in front of him, Su Xiao steadied his waist, swung his blade, and severed the wrist in one stroke.
A massive hand flew far away. Ani immediately tried to regenerate the hand, but only a wisp of steam emerged from the severed wrist. The recovery was extremely slow.
Su Xiao, like an old hunter, gradually wore down his prey's stamina. Ani had gone from a fierce she-wolf to a husky.
Realizing Ani's stamina was nearly exhausted, Su Xiao quickly rushed forward.
Pfft, pfft...
A large amount of blood gushed out. The Female Titan shrank from her original fourteen-meter height to less than four meters, with only her head and one arm intact. The rest of her body parts were scattered along the escape path, now evaporating into steam.
Inside the Female Titan, Ani was completely hopeless. She made the Female Titan perform one last action: using that single arm to press against the back of the neck. But this struggle was too feeble. Within thirty seconds, Su Xiao would be able to peel Ani's true body out.
His long blade slashed continuously, and the Female Titan's body gradually shattered.
Su Xiao cut open the back of the Female Titan's neck, revealing a slender calf.
Just as Su Xiao was about to slash and kill Ani, a dazzling white light suddenly burst from Ani's true body.
[Warning: The Hunter is within an energy absorption field. Please move away immediately.]
Even without the Reincarnation Paradise's warning, Su Xiao had already noticed his health points were rapidly decreasing.
He stomped hard on the ground, leaping back several meters to escape the white light's range.
The dazzling white light even outshone the sunlight. The Female Titan's body rapidly dissolved, and a kind of white crystal, like solid ice, enveloped Ani's true body.
After more than ten seconds, the Female Titan's body vanished, leaving only a transparent diamond-shaped crystal about two meters long on the ground.
The entire crystal was like a crystal coffin encasing Ani, who was sleeping with her eyes closed inside.
This was Ani's last resort. The Female Titan had the ability to crystallize. If Ani fully activated this ability, she could encase her true body within.
Su Xiao stepped forward and lightly tapped the crystal with Dragon-Slaying Flash. The crystal was quite hard, but he could cut through it.
Taking a deep breath, Su Xiao gripped his blade with both hands and slashed at the diamond-shaped crystal.
Ding.
Crystal fragments scattered. The diamond-shaped crystal was cut with a five-centimeter-deep gash, and large cracks spread around the cut.
At most, it would take ten minutes for Su Xiao to break through this thing.
Inside the diamond-shaped crystal, Ani, with her eyes tightly shut, was trembling. She was in a semi-hibernation state and would only react when the crystal shattered. She could clearly feel the hardened crystal being cut.
Thud, thud, thud...
Heavy footsteps gradually approached Su Xiao. Glancing sideways, he saw the Armored Titan, which had been fighting Levi, approaching.
The Armored Titan was also in a sorry state, with one arm severed and steam swirling around its body. It seemed it could barely hold on.
However, the Armored Titan's defense was strong. If it had been another "Intelligent Titan," it might have already been killed by Levi.
At this moment, the Armored Titan was no longer paying attention to Levi and was charging at full speed toward Su Xiao.
The Armored Titan's intention was clear: it had come to save Ani.
Although Su Xiao's fight with Ani seemed easy, he was walking on a tightrope. If Ani hit him even once, the battle would be over.
And now, the more troublesome Armored Titan had arrived. He couldn't fight two Intelligent Titans consecutively.
Su Xiao frowned. If Ani was rescued like this, he would lose big.
His mind raced. Recalling Ani's mental state and her two companions, a faint, barely noticeable smile appeared at the corner of Su Xiao's mouth.
"Ani, life inside the walls has weakened your resolve. We are warriors of the Mahr Empire, not soldiers inside the walls. When you wake up, have 'Reiner Braun' and 'Bertholdt Hoover' come find me. The three of you have been exposed.
If you still want to see your father, have them come to me. Your father's situation is very bad right now. He's locked up in the 'Internment Zone.'"
Su Xiao racked his brains to say these two paragraphs, giving the three a sense of crisis, hinting that he was also from "Mahr," and then using Ani's beloved father as a threat.
After Su Xiao said this, he was stunned to find that the crystal encasing Ani was gradually dissolving.
This silly girl definitely believed it!
Although Su Xiao's expression remained calm, he was overjoyed inside.
Bang!
A massive figure leaped from a distance. It was the Armored Titan.
Su Xiao not only didn't stop the Armored Titan but even let it grab the diamond-shaped crystal on the ground that encased Ani.
After grabbing the crystal, the Armored Titan directly stuffed it into its mouth.
The Armored Titan, "Reiner Braun," was ruthless enough. Su Xiao clearly saw the Armored Titan's throat bulge as it forcibly swallowed the crystal encasing Ani.
After doing all this, the Armored Titan charged toward the entrance of District Two.
Su Xiao stood still and didn't pursue. He was curious about how the Armored Titan would break through District Two's defenses.
Boom!
A golden lightning bolt struck down outside the city, near District Two. The Brotherhood might be in for some trouble.