The battlefield is a scene of constant chaos. The winner will be the one who controls the chaos, both their own and that of their enemies.
Napoleon taught him many cruel things, but necessary ones.
Gale understood that cruelty was a necessary good in this cruel world. Only if he became a vile demon could he save the people who mattered to him.
What harm would it do to change things now? In the end, even if he killed hundreds of thousands, he would save millions if his plan succeeded.
"Begin…"
A 14-meter-tall giant manifested magically before everyone and simply gazed at what surrounded her.
The stone houses with pointed arches seemed like children's toys to the Female Titan; with a single transformation, she trampled several nobles to death in the center of the mansion.
Boom!
"Arghhhh!"
Only a few seconds were enough for the previously harmonious scene to turn into hell.
The people who had just been enjoying their meal suddenly felt a surge of food being expelled from the depths of their stomachs, leaving a sour and bitter taste in their mouths.
They stared at the bloodstains on the ground and screamed in terror: "Titans! Titans!"
"Run!"
"No! Don't eat me!"
The nobles rushed out in panic, and an obese noble tripped and fell to the ground. He saw a shattered human face, fragments of white bone mixed with fresh flesh and blood.
At that moment, he remembered that he had been talking to that person just moments ago, and he let out a terrified scream like an animal being slaughtered.
Gale arrived at the stables before Annie transformed. Historia, Mikasa, Eren, Armin, and the soldiers of the Survey Corps were there, about 100 meters away from the Female Titan.
"Get on the carriage!"
"What are you waiting for? Get Historia out of here, quickly." Gale, like a young commander, did not feel fear, did not freeze; his shout was sharp and cold.
The soldiers reacted quickly.
Historia was a princess, with the blood of the Reiss family flowing through her veins. She was the only one who could inherit the Founding Titan and unleash its power, and her importance was evident.
The soldiers quickly grabbed the reins, and Historia was the first to get on the carriage.
Through the carriage curtain, Historia said anxiously: "Gale, you get on too!"
Gale did not respond immediately. Instead, he raised his torch in the darkness and gazed at the Female Titan from a distance.
His smile faded, and the Female Titan stared directly at him.
"Tonight is a wonderful night."
Historia did not understand why Gale would take out a malt candy and put it into his mouth at that exact moment. But then, the ground suddenly trembled.
The Female Titan took long strides and ran in Gale's direction, her feet striking the ground like an earthquake.
Gale knew what she wanted to do: she wanted to capture him and interrogate him about why there was poison in the candy and how she had been exposed.
"The Female Titan is approaching!" Petra and the other soldiers drew their steel blades. "Prepare to face the enemy!"
This enemy was clearly a Titan different from the one Eren transformed into, but it was intelligent.
However, regardless of its nature, it was clearly an enemy.
Unlike Eren's transformation, the Female Titan did not care at all about the humans she crushed.
The massive footprints she left behind were filled with human remains.
Bang! Bang! Bang!
The tiny bullets of the AK-47 were ineffective against enemies of this size.
To face the Titans, those within the walls could only rely on the Omni-Directional Mobility Gear.
Grappling hooks were launched from the devices mounted on the soldiers' waists toward the rooftops of the surrounding buildings, and their bodies were lifted as the hooks rapidly retracted, tearing off roof tiles.
However, among that dozen soldiers, aside from the members of the Survey Corps, the rest had almost no combat experience.
An impatient man, without receiving orders, hooked his line onto the Female Titan's arm, sliding through the air. As he spun, he raised both blades and struck at the back of her neck.
"We did it!"
Just as the soldier thought this with joy, his gaze suddenly met the cold pupils of the giant.
The Female Titan covered the back of her neck with her right hand, and an intense sheen appeared on the back of her hand, making it seem less like flesh and blood and more like something hard and smooth.
The soldier's blade struck the hardened skin of the Female Titan with a dry, resonant crack, leaving only a superficial wound.
In the next instant, the Female Titan grabbed the cables of his Omni-Directional Mobility Gear.
The soldier was left suspended in the air, defenseless, under the cold gaze of the Female Titan's face that filled his entire field of vision.
"No… don't eat me!"
"Mother…"
"Ahhh!" The soldier let out a sharp scream, followed by another furious roar.
"Roooaar!"
In the darkness, another golden flash struck the ground.
The soldier felt a violent gust of wind, and the world suddenly spun around him. His center of gravity plummeted toward the ground.
The Female Titan released the cables of his gear during the impact, and the soldier, like a thrown stone, crashed against the solid stone wall.
At that moment, the sound of gas leaking could be heard. Someone grabbed him and cushioned the impact; he landed on a rooftop and rolled several times.
It was Petra. Petra intended to ask the reckless soldier if he was injured, but her attention shifted elsewhere.
It was Eren.
Eren transformed into a Titan without permission.
Eren lunged at the Female Titan, knocked her to the ground, and a bestial roar burst from the depths of his throat.
Petra gritted her teeth and quickly used her Omni-Directional Mobility Gear to return to the battlefield. She told the other soldiers, who were unaware of the situation: "That Titan is one of ours! Help him defeat the Female Titan!"
Unlike the others, Gale focused on the direction where the Female Titan had fallen.
When Eren clashed with the Female Titan, nearly a third of the mansion was reduced to ruins. Their enormous bodies slid across buildings and ground like rolling boulders, crushing everything in their path.
And, by coincidence, they fell right into the center of the crowd.
Hundreds of nobles and officers were crushed in the attack.
Wine barrels burst open, mixing with the nobles' blood and staining the ground red.
Bones would eventually turn to dust.
"Historia! Take Mikasa and Armin and leave first!" Seeing that the battle was at its peak, Gale warned Historia to leave.
Better than anyone, he knew that Eren's current abilities were not enough to defeat the Female Titan; it was only a matter of time before he would be defeated. That was why he had made other plans.
"Gale, aren't you getting on?" Historia was very worried.
"I have other things to do! Sir, get out of here!" Gale looked at the terrified man and ordered him to leave.
The man in charge of the carriage was terrified. Upon receiving the order, he immediately cracked the whip, urging the frightened horses to dash out of the mansion.
Meanwhile, the Female Titan had already subdued Eren.
Annie's skill with the power of the Titan was far superior to Eren's.
Moreover, Annie had received military training and was an expert in hand-to-hand combat. In terms of fighting, Eren was no match for the Female Titan.
To be honest, if Annie were determined to cause a massive disturbance without any preparation on their side, she could kill at least more than half of the capital's inhabitants; she could even destroy everything.
This is the power of Titans as weapons.
Now that this incident had occurred, Gale had to personally eliminate the threat posed by the Female Titan.
That was why he arrived at the outskirts of the mansion, where Hannes was organizing the evacuation of the Merchant Association.
The place where Annie had transformed into a Titan was far from the members of the Association. After all, it was Gale who had taken Annie there, and naturally, he did not want his people to perish in this staged accident.
"Mr. Hannes!" Gale called out to Hannes and said, "I have a way to eliminate the Female Titan without many more casualties."