You thought I was uploading on Friday
BUT I LIED! I'M UPLOADING ON A WEDNESDAY!
HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!
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Inside the Military HQ, the cadets of the 104th Cadet Corps were refuelling their ODM gear after successfully taking back the armoury. The room was full of a sense of relief, however, no one said much besides small chatter.
They still heard the pleas of their people ringing in their ears.
No one was having a good time at all.
"Jean, please calm your breathing, your—"
"It's my fucking mother, Marco! I...I need to get out there now, I don't need to breathe! I-I need to make sure she's safe!"
"Take a deep breath! You're not—"
Some of the cadets had family residing within Trost at the onset of the attack. When they were made aware of the situation via the large crowds of people who hadn't evacuated. Most started to desert and rush towards their families. However, some like Jean Kirstein didn't have enough gas to do so.
The men and women of the 104th Cadet Corps were strong, but they couldn't help themselves but feel rather—
"Reiner..."
"Hm? What is it Bertholt?" The well-built blonde asked, casually lightly humming a tune while replenishing his blades. Reiner Braun was the holder of the Armoured Titan, the titan that was meant to...trample the trapped citizens.
Reiner glanced at his fellow Warrior, "Is there something wrong?"
Bertholt Hoover studied his friend's body language, it was shakey, vibrating lightly. His throat seemed to tighten a bit when he spoke, almost as if he was going to vomit. Bertholt knew of the internal conflict but didn't realize it would compromise the Armoured this bad.
Bertholt was doing rather well, considering what he had just done. His lips were pursed, but nothing else could tip anyone off.
"Ah, I was just seeing how you were doing. That's all."
"..." A long pause. "...I'm doing fine..."
The armoury went silent again, only the sounds of clanking blades and gas canisters being refilled reached their ears.
No one was fine.
Whether they are normal cadets or be they Warriors of an enemy nation. The small victory of clearing the armoury was quickly replaced by the horrors they saw—filling their minds with...the cruelty of the darkest parts of humanity.
Not even Reiner, the instigator and the leader of the Warrior Unit, could fathom the scale of those monster's plans.
Just the thought of the terrorist's small-scale genocide for the sake of their...
"Let's get to the rooftop," the blonde whispered. "We'll check on that strange titan and go on from there. Get Annie."
"Of course. Are you sure you're going to be fine?"
"..."
There was no response from the conflicted blonde, only a silent nod that didn't seem to assure of the right headspace.
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The air gave off a repugnant smell, yet it was much better than the cramped, tension-filled one of the armoury. It was trading one evil for another, considering what was laid out in front of them.
Reiner moved toward the direction of the citizens and saw the massive crowd he was supposed to trample to death and eventually make a breakthrough towards Wall Rose...This line of thinking would kill over...a million people.
A vast majority of the population lived within Wall Rose, including the families of so many comrades he had come to know.
No matter his loyalty to Marley—Reiner Braun truly couldn't do it. Shattering Wall Rose would mean sanctioning the population to death and starvation. No matter their technological advancements during wartime, the Titans were simply too much.
He hated to admit it but he had grown attached to these people. Being undercover for 5 years does that to you, he supposed.
'How could people that evil exist?'
People with no sense of morality. Now he may seem hypocritical; committing a small-scale genocide for the sake of his goals but...
"Reiner. Annie said she's coming up soon."
The blonde's contemplative state ended, snapping his head towards his comrade.
"Mhm. I've been looking at the crowd...They appear to..."
"Y-yeah! T-they're thinning out around..."
Relief.
It seemed that somehow, those monsters were allowing the people to leave safely. The crowds were thinning, and despite the countless deaths still happening, they could rest easily that there was a small chance their fellow Cadet's families were alive. It took a large burden off their shoulders.
"Realy!?" Jean's frantic voice came up from behind the duo. "Oh! Oh, thank God! That means mom's...hoohh..."
"Sit down, Jean. I'm sure your mother is fine." Bertholt tried to comfort his friend, catching him as his legs buckled and having him sit on the rooftop tiles.
"Haah...Haah...Haah....How did it all come to this...?"
The teen held his face in his hands, taking deep breaths, muttering curses and whispers of despair. The thought of losing his mother, not to Titans, but to monsters in human skin—or even both threatened to break the ever-confident Jean Kristein's mind.
Reiner looked at him with a moment of pity before moving on to his next target.
"Come on! Let's move!"
"Get back to the Wall! Protect the citizens!"
"Mother! I'm coming!"
"Please be alive! Please be alive!"
"Let's go quickly!!"
"We'll leave together!"
Ignoring his comrade's voices, he walked along the roof, towards a certain Mikasa Ackerman, leaving Bertholt to console Jean. Mikasa appeared more tense than usual. He decided that from the tenseness on her face and the fact that she was in the rearguard with the elite squad, probably seeing the initial OFTL take over and leaving her post to find Eren assumedly.
The Titan the two were now observing, the one that made way and bought them time for their retaking of the armoury.
It was being cannibalized, and overpowered by the multiple Titans now assaulting its body. They tore off its two arms and shoved it against a building, now feasting on its barely conscious corpse.
This was a piece of hope for the Warrior Unit—this Titan right here.
If they could keep it alive, find out who was inside, what type of titan it was—whether it be the Founder or not, they could go home and play it off as a success.
Marley wouldn't be too happy that they failed at retrieving the Founder if this was the missing Attack Titan, but they'd surely be pleased that they could try again, given the information they gathered and the extra Titan in their roster.
"Mikasa!" Armin Arlert's voice rang. "We need to leave now!"
"...That Titan..."
"Eh..." The bowl-cut's eyes widened as he gazed at the scene. "Cannibalism? It can't regenerate?"
Annie came up from behind Reiner, looking troubled. Her lips were pursed, and her normal stoic expression was gone. She appeared...traumatized.
"I thought that if we could solve the mystery of the Titans somehow, it'd become a chance to pull ourselves out of this hopeless reality..." Mikasa's voice lightly quivered.
This entire incident would be engrained into her mind forever.
"I agree." Reiner stepped up, playing up the soldier front. "If it gets devoured, we'll be as clueless as ever! Let's take out the Titans clinging to it and keep it alive for now."
"There's a chance that Titan could become our ally. It could be a better weapon than any other cannon, don't you agree?" Annie butted in.
In the minds of the Warriors, if they could convince whoever was residing within that Titan's nape of their cause, or, in the most likely of scenarios, kidnap them and bring them back to Marley...Their suffering within these walls would end—
"I-Isn't that the Abnormal Titan that killed Thomas?"
Huh?
"ROAAAAAAAAAAR!!!"
The half-eaten Titan roared in rage for whatever odd reason, shaking off its assailants and rushing towards the 13-meter abnormal before...
CRUNCH!
Sinking its teeth into its nape.
"!!!"
"!!!"
"!!!"
Collective shock washed over the Cadet Corps as the Titan lifted the abnormal into the air in a furious display of strength, its exposed ribs cracking and buckling under the sheer strain of the task.
Using the abnormal's decaying body as a weapon, the Titan whipped it around wildly, but calculatingly, ruthlessly eliminating the remaining 5 Titans in the area.
"..."
"..."
One last defiant roar rang out from the Titan before it collapsed on the floor, finally losing all strength and will to fight.
From the steam...a person immerged.
||𝐓𝐄𝐗𝐓 𝐒𝐄𝐏𝐀𝐑𝐀𝐓𝐎𝐑: 𝐖𝐀𝐗 𝐖𝐈𝐍𝐆𝐒||
I see.
Eren Yeager's figure slowly emerged from the Titan's nape, confirming a few things for me.
This was the missing Attack Titan for sure, the one that got away over 100 years ago. If it was the missing Jaw Titan, there would be more distinctive traits, such as height and jaw.
I cannot confirm in either capacity yet if the Founder resides within Eren Yeager but I can make assumptions given the circumstances presented and known to me.
Grisha Yeager's disappearance, the slaughter of the Reiss Family and the subsequent cover-up all align a bit too well for this to be a coincidence.
It raises questions regarding the choice of Attack Titan's successor. Why give it to Eren Yeager of all people? His determination is commendable, but he's emotional and immature.
It would be way better to have a candidate with more control over themselves than one of Eren Yeager.
This leads me to theorize that the succession was rushed, and the person who gave Eren Yeager the Attack Titan was on a time crunch. But why? The possibility of the Curse of Ymir came to mind, which could be a reason.
But then that leads me to believe that Grisha Yeager somehow came into possession of the Attack Titan around 20 years ago, the means of which I don't fully understand yet, considering my brief time spent with the ones across the sea.
Another possible reason can also involve Grisha Yeager or someone else entirely. Let's say this person did something horrible using the power of the Attack Titan, or they somehow exposed themselves to someone they shouldn't have. Either out of desperation or the Curse of Ymir, that person would feed themselves to the first person they see or know—
Wait...
My mind flashed back to the day I eliminated the Anti-Personnel Squad and the ground above the church being indented by a length of 12 meters and width of around 4 to 5. The size was too large to be the Jaw or any other Titan since I've kept track of around 3 of them, the Female, Armoured, and Colossal. The only missing one is the Jaw...and the timeframe wouldn't align well.
There were also broken pillars that no one bothered to clean up. Considering the size of the Titans who're supposidly within the Walls, I could conclude thusly.
"Ah, I see..."
So it was the Attack Titan that ate...Frieda Reiss...or...
Interesting...It's a possibility...And rather bothersome...
[Refer to Vol 2.5, right after the Reiss Chapel image to find Kiyotaka noting the massive divot in the ground and the shards in the underground. Despite being light for their size, Titans are still heavy as hell.]
Do I need to head back out?
The Attack Titan's body started to decay. Recognizing Eren's face, Mikasa Ackerman zipped down from her elevated position and embraced his body, presumably looking for a heartbeat. When she heard it, tears flowed out of her eyes.
I started moving slowly away from my position, readying myself to regroup with everyone else.
As soon as they come, we need to make a rush for the Northwest as fast as possible. They'll be able to case us due to the breach in the wall, but they'll be stopped by the large crowds still evacuating outside.
They'll prioritize the citizen's safety before even thinking of chasing us. And if they even do attempt a chase, we can just mow them down. I don't believe we've expended loads of resources besides chemicals.
In the distance, my ears picked up the distinct sound of ODM gear.
How foreboding.
They'll know something is amiss when they see the lack of Titans in certain areas, and given the observant nature of their commanders, they'll jump to wildly inaccurate conclusions.
Sometimes intelligence is a gift and a curse, in the case of Erwin Smith, it's the latter.
"Time to leave, I guess..."
I took one last look at the 104th Cadet Corps before shooting my ODM hooks and flying away, feeling a few sets of eyes glaring/gazing at me.
Two large men, around 183cm or taller landed on the Military HQ, followed by 7 other pairs of feet. They appeared to be strong.
If they all ganged up on me, the possibility of me being killed, especially by the short one, Levi, was very high. From the tales I've heard, and things I've witnessed; I better find a way to neutralize all Ackermans in one way or another.
But that's a thought for another time.
The Royal Government and Military will now start tearing each other apart before they focus on me. This incident is too big to just brush off, for either party. The boogieman can only be dealt with using a united force with predictable goals.
I didn't need to be here anymore.
They'll need all the manpower they can get—dealing with me would only worsen their odds of battling one another in the eventual climax. It's sort of like fighting the final boss while you're still at level 10.
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In the past, Year 849.
This place was rather modern, I could date the architecture and culture to around the early to mid-1930s. The region itself appeared to be European in climate, not so dissimilar to the place I just came from.
Everyone looked European in some form or another. There were Germans, French and some Italians too.
I looked rather out of place, to be honest, the stares I was getting didn't help my situation. Despite wearing the clothes of a distinguished gentleman I was trying to mimic, I still heard rude sayings enter my ear. I suppose they didn't think I understood them.
Racists.
The 1930s in Germany...known for its racial intolerance and rapid nationalism that gave rise to the Nazi Party and eventual sparking of the Second World War. The same could be said for Japan—ultra-nationalism, militarism, and the eroding of the Taisho Democracy, led to... let's just say a bad time for East Asia.
Or the world in general.
I opened up the newspaper. There were stories about an ongoing war Marley was waging within the Middle East. Some minor sultanate, Aegyptus, was on the brink of being wiped out.
So this is what they've been doing for the past 100 years...
"Eldian and Marleyian are different..." I muttered.
They weren't different, at least by linguistics standards.
To give a comparison, it's like what French is to Spanish or Spanish to Italian. They share the same linguistic group/family. Probably due to living under the same empire for so long, words and phrases mingled or assimilated into Marleyian.
To think the language of an empire that ruled the world is now reduced to being spoken in internment camps.
Tap...
Tap...
Tap...
This almost feels like a story mimicking my old world now that I think about it. It just has a different twist on racial segregation and discrimination.
The oppressed became the oppressors and vice versa.
There's a justifiable reason to hate the discriminated this time instead of preconceived notions of evil. The ones being oppressed in these camps can turn into monsters that can lead to the extinction of the human race if it so be it.
This makes freedom much harder to achieve. It's much harder than simply saying, 'They're just like us but with a different skin tone,' or 'There's only one race, the human race'. To ordinary people who aren't Eldians—they're nothing but spawns of the Devil.
This isn't like my world's form of equality, where they're taught to tolerate, compensate and accept others for the sake of being a good person. Here, no matter what you do to humanize the 'other', the fact that they can turn into giant man-eating monsters doesn't do them justice.
Eldians wouldn't be in this position if they couldn't transform into Titans in the first place.
I wouldn't be surprised if they started to kill them en masse as soon as technology superseded the Titans. There would be no use in having these people around sucking up resources and money.
They already have Eldians rounded up in these convenient camps lying around.
All they had to do was send them to the showers to...clean themselves.
Tap...
Tap...
Tap...
I passed by a total of 4 notable houses.
The first one housed a decently sized family of around four. Two women, one man, and one daughter. They chatted happily into the night, talking about loved ones who went off to faraway lands. I spent the most time listening in on them.
So that's Reiner Braun's family...
The second one housed only one person, a sickly but tall older man. He appeared to be taking loads of medications, considering the plastic bottles littered all over his small home.
Bertholt Hoover's father...
I couldn't get close to my other target without being seen but there were loads of training dummies in the yard in front of the property. It suggested a focus on hand-to-hand combat, and by observing the stature of the dummies, perhaps...leg training.
Annie Leonheart is good at hand-to-hand combat.
I proceeded to observe the remaining families of the four "Warriors" who attacked The Walls.
There was no real reason to do so.
I was just bored.
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They say revenge is a fool's game.
Revenge is personal. Which means it makes you sacrifice the present to settle what's past, gaining nothing in the process. To find meaning in life you must sacrifice expediency for a better future.
Thus, If you seek revenge...
You should dig a mass grave.
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Words: 2939
Author Notes:
I think people forget that Kiyotaka is like...super cautious about everything he does. Not wanting to fight Levi head-on is a great example of that.
Kiyotaka only briefly fought a very cocky and arrogant Kenny, let's remind ourselves that...and almost got his head blown off if it wasn't for his preparation beforehand. Now imagine him fighting Levi, who survived his previous attempt to kill him, and doesn't share any traits Kenny has.