Chapter 50: The Giantess Captured

Swish—
A shadow darted like thunder through the thicket, sending leaves scattering. Sikong Xu moved among the tree trunks with the agility of a spirit monkey, leaping and weaving with uncanny swiftness. In an effort to avoid the giant woman’s gaze, Sikong Xu shifted left and right, yet his advance was remarkably swift.

Suddenly, Sikong Xu burst out from behind the leaves, launching himself from a branch as thick as a thigh. His speed and elusive movements left the giant woman unable to react; she could only watch as the steel blade in Sikong Xu’s hand swept toward her neck.

Clang—

The blade, meant to slice through the giant woman’s throat, snapped in two! Though she had no time to respond, the giant woman instinctively activated her special ability—localized crystallization! Her skin, transformed by this power, was impervious; the steel blade, once so effective against giants, broke like a dry twig.

Sikong Xu estimated that her crystallized skin was as hard as diamond.

“Damn it!” Missing his mark, Sikong Xu wasted no time. He deftly maneuvered his gear, retreating into the cover of the trees.

The giant woman's attention was drawn away from Sikong Xu.

“Everyone, keep retreating!” On the ground, seeing the giant woman distracted, Levi pondered for a moment before issuing the order.

“Captain, we should help Sikong Xu!” Eren protested upon hearing the command to continue retreating.

“Shut up, rookie! Follow the captain’s orders!” Borchardt, never one for patience, snapped at Eren. “Remember, on the battlefield, the time you spend doubting your superior’s orders is enough for you to die once. So execute orders without question!”

Under Levi’s command, the special operations squad pressed forward.

Behind them, Sikong Xu’s relentless skirmishing slowed the giant woman’s advance, but each attack cost him a blade. This couldn’t continue; he was running out of steel.

Eventually, Sikong Xu had to ease his attacks, giving the giant woman a chance to break away. If Mikasa hadn’t arrived just then, the giant woman would have resumed her pursuit of Eren and the others.

“Do you doubt my orders?”
As they ran, Levi, unusually, addressed Eren.

“No… No, I fully obey the captain’s orders.” Perhaps because Levi had once beaten him severely at the trial, Eren now harbored a subconscious fear of him.

With his dead-fish eyes rimmed by dark circles, Levi glanced at Eren and continued, “Even if we helped, we couldn’t kill that giant. Its partial hardening ability is a nuisance. Besides, apart from me and that boy, no one here can withstand a single blow from the giant woman.”

“There’s Mikasa! If the three of you teamed up, you could capture her!” Eren insisted.

“That girl? She’s still lacking.” Levi had seen Mikasa’s figure, but admitted she was still a step behind him in overall strength.

“The giant woman seems to be after you, so our priority is to get you safely back to the main force,” Levi said coolly. “You’ve seen her abilities—our swords can’t penetrate her hardened skin.”

“Damn…” Eren grunted, unable to refute Levi’s words. He had witnessed the giant woman’s terrifying prowess firsthand.

If I could turn into a giant myself… Eren subconsciously raised his hand to his mouth.

“Don’t even think about it!” Levi’s cold bark snapped Eren out of his thoughts.

“The giant woman is obviously targeting you. She’ll have ways to deal with you. We can’t take that risk. Besides, that boy seems confident in handling her…”

Eren gritted his teeth, glanced at Levi, then focused on riding. At this point, he could only trust Sikong Xu.

…

“Sikong, her skin is too hard. The sword is useless.” Mikasa’s brow furrowed as she looked at her broken blade.

The giant woman charged ahead, while Sikong Xu and Mikasa harried her from behind. The giant woman realized that, as long as she activated her partial crystallization, the two could do nothing to her, so she ignored them and pressed forward.

Whenever Sikong Xu or Mikasa tried to attack, the giant woman would crystallize the area about to be struck, rendering their attacks useless and costing them another blade. As their supply dwindled, their attacks grew less frequent.

Sikong Xu’s expression was grim. He could cut the giant woman’s Achilles tendon to slow her, but he couldn’t kill her. She would regenerate soon enough, which was infuriating.

“Mikasa, stop attacking. Just follow her.” Recalling the ambush the Survey Corps had set ahead for the giant woman, Sikong Xu abandoned the idea of blocking her.

Though the ambush wouldn’t accomplish much, it would serve as the main battleground.

Sikong Xu’s gaze flickered as he watched the giant woman.

If all else failed, he would have to use his trump card. If used well, completing Main Quest Three should be possible.

With Sikong Xu and Mikasa no longer impeding her, the giant woman accelerated. Previously, she had been wary of them and couldn’t reach full speed, but now she left them trailing behind.

“Sikong, is this all right?” Mikasa asked softly, glancing back.

“It’s fine. There’s an ambush ahead. Once the giant woman is trapped, we’ll seize the chance to strike,” Sikong Xu replied, his eyes sharp.

Mikasa said nothing more.

After traveling a bit farther, a series of violent tremors and sounds erupted ahead.

Boom—bang—bang—bang—

The turbulence whipped Sikong Xu’s hair into disarray.

The giant woman was caught!

“Mikasa, hurry!” Sikong Xu’s expression hardened as he shot forward like a cannonball, scattering leaves in his wake.

“Mm…” Mikasa responded, quickening her pace to follow.

Sikong Xu knew that Erwin’s traps alone wouldn’t subdue the giant woman. Even the special operations squad would lose many members in the attempt.

His urgency was to save as many of them as possible; he bore no ill will toward them—every life saved was a victory.

“Let’s hope that thing works…” Darting through the woods, Sikong Xu recalled the reward from a certain hidden quest he had completed.

The most common yet devastating Explosive Tag from the world of Naruto!