Chapter 6
The first step Ryo took on the grass outside the wall felt unlike anything he had ever experienced.
It was as if the earth itself was alive, whispering to him, "Welcome... You've been gone too long."
He took a deep breath… The air smelled completely different.
It wasn't suffocating or stale like inside the walls. It was pure, fresh—like it had passed through thousands of trees before reaching his lungs.
A light breeze brushed back his thick black hair and gently fluttered his shirt.
He raised his head to the sky… vast, clear, scattered with stars—as if it had never been confined by tall stone walls. At that moment, he felt something strange… Freedom.
Ryo began to walk slowly, then gradually started running.
He ran as if chasing a long-awaited dream—the dream of seeing the real world. The ground beneath him was sometimes soft, sometimes muddy, covered in grass and fallen leaves—but he didn't care. Every step declared:
"I'm here… outside the wall."
As he ran, his eyes widened at each new sight:
Towering mountains loomed in the distance, their peaks dusted with white snow, standing like silent guardians for thousands of years.
Massive trees with twisted branches and thick trunks—some the size of houses—pierced the sky with defiance.
Small rivers trickled between the rocks, their melodies soft in the silent night.
It wasn't just as he had imagined… it was even more beautiful than in the books.
Ryo ran for more than half an hour, yet didn't feel tired—as if it were his heart, not his legs, doing the running. He wanted to get as far as possible from the wall, fearing discovery by the guards or the gang members he had previously witnessed smuggling.
After a long distance, the scenery began to shift.
Broken wooden posts lined the road, burned carts, and charred remnants of wooden buildings…
He suddenly stopped, his eyes scanning the area.
A village…
But not an ordinary one. It was completely destroyed.
Collapsed roofs, shattered doors, and the ground was cracked, stained with dried blood. A strange feeling of danger and dread crept into his heart.
He walked cautiously through the village, eyes searching for any clue… any hint of what had happened.
In one corner, something made him gulp:
Huge footprints etched into the earth.
Not human. Titan footprints.
Broken wood, leaning walls, and dried blood blocked his path.
He began to understand.
A massacre happened here.
Perhaps the Titans attacked years ago… and maybe no one survived.
The silence that enveloped the ruined village felt like an open grave, inhabited only by rotting memories and the dead with no graves.
Ryo stepped carefully between the scattered rubble, his eyes alert, his heart pounding like war drums ready to explode.
The houses were hollow, their windows shattered, roofs tilted, ready to collapse.
Cracks in the walls, burn marks, broken doors swinging in the wind—as if sighing from the weight of the past.
With each step forward, the smell worsened…
The stench of decay, death, and foul gas.
Then he stopped before a strange-looking house, its wooden door torn off, roof half-collapsed. A choking gas-like odor poured out, forcing him to cover his nose.
He entered slowly, hesitantly.
Inside was worse…
Overturned furniture, charred chairs, and a rug stained dark—as if with old blood.
But what caught his eye was a small metal box in the corner. He opened it slowly—and found it filled with cash.
His eyes widened in shock: "All this money…?!"
Then he murmured, gazing at the scene: "Maybe… they left suddenly, or… died before they could take it with them…"
But there was no time to ponder.
He pocketed the money and sealed it tight.
Then came a low rumble, shaking the shattered window glass.
Followed by another sound—like giant footsteps pounding the ground. The earth trembled, and dust fell from the ceiling.
Ryo turned quickly, terror widening his eyes.
He looked up slowly… And through the broken ceiling…
A Titan's face appeared.
A deformed human-like face, grinning wickedly, its small eyes gleaming with hunger.
Ryo froze. His body wouldn't move.
He screamed internally:
"Move!! Move, damn it!!" But fear had paralyzed him. His legs felt glued to the ground.
The Titan extended its massive hand into the house, bones cracking wood and stone—grabbing Ryo like a human picking up a doll.
---
Ryo screamed, writhing in the air, trying to escape the Titan's grip—but it was useless.
The Titan's hand was like iron, squeezing his body until his breath faltered.
Suddenly, memories surged:
His father smiling at him.
His mother holding him before bed.
His friends walking beside him.
"Is this… the end?!"
"Am I going to die now?!"
"No… I haven't even started yet…!"
But the Titan didn't care about his pleas or memories.
It lifted Ryo toward its mouth, smiled again, opened its enormous jaws…
And swallowed him whole—tearing off his arm in the process. Ryo's scream echoed from within as pain exploded from his severed limb.
Darkness engulfed him inside the Titan's stomach, and the stench was unbearable.
He slid down the esophagus like a stone in a tunnel.
Dripping fluid, suffocating heat, and sticky organic slime clung to him.
Suddenly, he landed in a wet, slimy place…
He wasn't dead.
He opened his eyes, breathing heavily, his body coated in mucus. His face was smeared in blood—blood from his missing arm.
"I'm… alive?!"
He felt his body—no major tears, but his arm was gone. Swallowed alive by the Titan.
Even if he escaped the teeth, he was now trapped inside a beast.
From deep within, he heard a heartbeat—loud, monstrous. The whole place trembled with each thump.
Amid this horror… Ryo felt something else…
Rage.
A blazing anger surged in his chest, stronger than fear, stronger than pain.
Darkness wrapped around him, moldy air drained his lungs, and dampness burned his skin. Everything felt like a suffocating, living grave.
He wept bitterly—not just from fear… but from shame.
He raised his head slowly, eyes boiling with fury, voice trembling, tainted with sorrow:
"Why…? Why am I so weak?!" "Why couldn't I fight… avenge my father?!" "Why… couldn't I do anything?!"
He clenched his left hand against his chest, then screamed in anguish, biting his lower lip until it bled—dripping down his chin.
His sobs merged with an inner growl—his rage too great for his body.
Outside, the Titan that had swallowed Ryo continued prowling the house, sniffing greedily, feet shaking the ground—but finding no one else.
Suddenly, it stopped.
It grabbed its stomach… its eyes widened. A terrifying scream erupted from its twisted throat, its body shivering, legs wobbling—until it crashed to the ground, cracking the earth.
Its belly began to swell, showing cracks, burns, and seeping steam.
It screamed once more… Then exploded.
A filthy liquid burst out—organs, flesh, and entrails. But from within… something terrifying emerged.
Another Titan—huge, majestic, brimming with energy.
At first, it was incomplete—limbs twitching, a skeletal form shaping itself, as if fire etched flesh.
Just seconds… and it was fully formed.
Over 24 meters tall. It stood amidst thick steam, smoke hissing from its exposed muscles. No skin—just tightly woven muscle fibers, disturbingly detailed.
Its mouth hung open, jagged teeth exposed, long chin drooping.
Its eyes were pitch-black, and on its forehead—glowed a red mark, like a burning ember.
Thick black hair was tied back, with two loose strands swaying like wild banners.
Shoulder and chest bones protruded like solid armor, revealing immense physical power—as if this body was forged for war.
In that grim, smoky silence—the new Titan stood alone. No sound. No movement…
Only steam rising from the remains of the old Titan—and eyes blinking slowly in the shadows.
Inside this beast… was Ryo.
But not the weak, crying Ryo.
That boy had died—inside the Titan's belly.
The one who emerged now…
Was something else.
To be continued...
(I know everyone will say that in the original story, the Ackerman clan didn't have the power to turn into Titans. I know that—it's not a mistake. But this is part of the mystery: how can the protagonist be an Ackerman and still transform? You'll understand in the coming chapters.)