Levi could provide her with all the riveting details later, if she wanted to hear them, but for now some urgency remained. Additional titans could still be wandering the field close by, and others might find their way to courtyard from who knew where.

"Keep watch."

It went without saying that she should also retrieve the axe. He brusquely handed her the leads and strode inside, hesitating only when he saw the decaying form of the abnormal-type titan she'd eviscerated. The hot vapor had mostly dissipated, but some of it still lingered as a thin haze. Levi could have appreciated the warmth if it didn't disgust him.

He entered the cage and grasped the crank. With his adrenaline subsided, he could feel a dull ache in his arms and chest as he worked the wheel. The only needling pain came from the bruise Mikasa's wire had left during their previous training -- a wound he'd slightly underestimated, but no matter. It hadn't hampered him during the fight.

By design, the gate was easier to close than it was to open. Levi finished the job in little time and left the chamber, kicking at one of the dead titan's emaciated limbs as he went.