Kuklo grabbed a carbine and readied it in imitation of the soldiers. Just as he did, a giant silhouette appeared through the cloud of dust. Noticing it, Kuklo pointed the muzzle at his target and took aim using the front sights. Shooting wildly at it would do no good, though. Aim for its throat…
Praying for the bullet to pierce its weak point, Kuklo pulled the trigger. A powerful burst of recoil caused the barrel to leap in the air, and the bullet flew off at a sorry angle. The result─to be expected from a first-time shooter─may have been on the better side considering that his shoulder wasn’t dislocated.
With no time to be disappointed, Kuklo continued to reload and fire. His approach truly was to spray and pray, but some shots did seem to hit their mark. Whether they had any effect was a different story. The silhouette was growing darker through the dust.
It’s catching up. As anxiety crept over him, a giant head loomed out of the cloud. The bullets must not have hurt or even tickled the Titan. It wore the same cheerful smile it had on when they first met.
Perhaps in reaction to the feast it was nearing, its mouth, which stretched from ear to ear, now hung open. Lined with numerous teeth, the titanic maw almost seemed evolved for the specific purpose of eating humans, and the darkness that spread beyond it smacked of a passageway to hell.
And I was born from there… The sight taught Kuklo why he’d been abhorred as a Titan’s son. It overwhelmed him. He realized that even if he wasn’t related to them by blood, it wasn’t quite true that he had nothing at all to do with the Titans. If people considered him unclean, that wasn’t mysterious in the least.
Kuklo readied the carbine, this time setting its sights on the Titan’s mouth. He pulled the trigger with a firm conviction.
I’m a human being. Not a Titan.
The bullet that flew out of the muzzle shot straight into the gaping mouth. Without so much as altering its expression, the Titan continued its mad pursuit. Nothing short of a cannonball through its stomach seemed able to halt it.
As Kuklo engaged in a futile struggle, the Titan’s full form came into view at last. Waving its arms like a swimmer and clearing away the smoke, the Titan picked up speed for a ferocious rush. They were now about a hundred meters apart, and at the current pace the Titan would catch up in less than a minute.
Kuklo looked to the front, but a little under two kilometers remained to Wall Maria. Its safety was too far off. A number of mounted soldiers, led by a team leader, accompanied the cargo team, but there weren’t enough of them to deal with the Titan as the arrow formation had done. Besides, the soldiers who were meant to protect the wagon were now, ridiculously, riding ahead of it.
Bastards, Kuklo fumed, but as tempered as their bodies and spirits may have been, these crack troops were but sons of men. It wasn’t unthinkable for their souls to shatter in face of a monster.
While they had acquired the know-how to fight a Titan and the armament to bring one down, perhaps the Survey Corps’ time away from actual combat had atrophied their mental fortitude to a shadow of its former self.
Albeit gradually, the wagon was starting to slow. The horse was obviously under strain having to pull the wagon and its cargo. In the worst case, they might be left behind.
This is bad… We can’t get away… Devastated, Kuklo hung his head. He saw a mess of scattered cargo inside the wagon. With so many swords, guns, bullet cases, and rations, there was no place to stand.
Wait, Kuklo suddenly realized. There were no cannons or cannonballs in the cargo so lodging a shot into the Titan’s belly wasn’t an option. But there are a lot of explosives.
Grabbing a grenade that had rolled onto the floor, Kuklo moved to the driver’s seat, where a desperate cargo team soldier was sending his whip into the horse. Though the beast galloped with all of its strength as the soldier demanded, it breathed heavily and was in no condition to perform any better. It seemed like their speed could only dwindle thereafter.
Possibly preoccupied by the incoming Titan, the soldier did not even bother to glance at Kuklo trespassing into the driver’s seat. Instead, he swung his whip doggedly as though straight forward was the only path to survival.
“The horse!” Kuklo pointed at the fiercely galloping animal. The soldier looked puzzled that he would. Unfazed, Kuklo yelled, “Get on the horse!”
“What are you saying?”
“I’ll use this to blow up the wagon!”
“O-Oh.”
Nodding in apparent consent, the soldier jumped from the seat to the horse, and Kuklo followed him. Riding was difficult with no saddle and two on the mount, and the horse’s all-out gallop threatened to fling them off. Whether it was thanks to his father’s blood─Survey Corps team leader Heath’s─or to his sheer animal sense of balance, Kuklo managed it with ease.
He reached for the short sword the soldier carried on his hip and drew it without permission. Then he immediately attempted to cut the horse free of its harness.
Kuklo had no idea what it was made of, but its weaved bundle of wires was surprisingly resilient. He’d tried to sever it with the short sword, but the blade was badly chipped by the time he was half done. He wondered if it had been dull, but inferior supplies would never be issued to the Survey Corps. He’d seen how sharp their swords were earlier, too, when they tore through the Titan’s skin. The harness must simply have been that durable. As Kuklo fumbled at his task, the Titan slowly but steadily closed the distance.
Kuklo clicked his tongue in frustration, then looked at the wagon.
What do I do?
The image of the short swords within flashed through his mind, but there was the risk of the Titan catching up to them while he moved to and fro. He could shoot the harness with the carbine, but if the bullet ricocheted and hit the horse, that would be the end.
He was out of options.
A little less than a kilometer remained to Wall Maria. If he was lucky, they might make it.
That wasn’t good enough for Kuklo. He had lived his entire life under the thumb of one stranger after another. A plan failing and costing him his life was one thing, but allowing his survival to depend on luck was not his way.
At the same time, Kuklo had no idea how to get out of this nightmare situation alive.
─I think you’ll need it to survive, a familiar girl’s voice whispered to him…or so he imagined.
Tossing away the now-useless short sword, Kuklo drew the knife he carried and applied it to the harness that yoked the horse to the wagon. Made, perhaps, of Iron Bamboo, the knife was exceptionally sharp and cut through with little trouble.
Got it! With that unvoiced cry, Kuklo immediately tossed the grenade into the wagon. In no time the abandoned vehicle was receding behind them.
Perhaps it was too small even to enter the monster’s field of vision, or Titans were only interested in humans. Ogre charged straight ahead, ready to trample the wagon.
Just as its huge foot came down, the wagon exploded with a thunderous roar, and explode it did.
Engulfed in crimson flames that spewed deep black smoke, the Titan looked like a gigantic torch. As the intense heat of the fire scorched it, countless blisters began to appear. Its skin began to fester as though decomposing.
The Titan’s gait, once nimble, was noticeably troubled. Its reddened face wore the same smile as ever, so it was unclear if it was suffering. Either way, being robbed of its physical capabilities forced even a Titan to stop.
Wall Maria’s front gate came into view ahead of them. The sturdy doors opened with a roar, and one member of the Survey Corps after another passed through it without a backward glance. Kuklo was no exception. He could hear the Titan’s footfalls behind him, but he was done. The soldiers on top of the wall were ready to intercept.
“Fire!!”
With that, the cannons spat fire.