"As expected… teacher is still superior."
Roger sighed, slowly lowering the syringe in his hand.
"No, Roger. Your talent is the greatest I've ever seen in a student. We should have caught you the moment you entered the outskirts, but somehow you snuck in this far, past every outpost I placed."
Magath's words carried no concealment—only praise and admiration.
Among all his students, if Roger was second, then no one could ever claim first.
His existence was miracle, impossibility.
Time and again, Magath had watched him alone—just one man—complete missions thought impossible, turn tides single-handedly.
He was a monster.
If not for his human height, Magath would have classified him as a Titan already.
And now, even with one crippled leg, he'd slipped through Magath's carefully laid patrols as if they weren't there.
Such talent wasted from Marley's service—what a loss.
"If I hadn't told him to value teamwork, to care for his comrades, maybe he wouldn't have been dragged back and fallen from that cliff…" Magath thought bitterly, lowering his rifle, filled with regret.
Roger slowly raised his hands in surrender, though his eyes stayed sharp, wary.
Even now, he scanned his surroundings, ears pricked at the faintest sound.
"Come out, Marcel. You're the only one still hiding from me."
Roger turned his gaze back, cold and certain.
"…Roger."
Marcel hadn't expected to be discovered despite his care. Resigned, he stepped out.
"Congratulations, Marcel. You're about to inherit the Jaw Titan."
Roger's words were formal, but his expression was that of a starving wolf robbed of prey.
Marcel kept his head down, silent.
He knew—without Roger's fall, he never would have inherited so easily.
He also knew, though his brother Porco kept quiet, that he'd been involved.
But still—
He couldn't give it up.
To become an Honored Marleyan was his life's dream.
He wanted his family, his father and mother, to live free from scorn.
And he had to protect his younger brother.
"Accept your death, Roger. The Jaw Titan has nothing to do with you."
Marcel clenched his teeth, turning his face aside.
"So that's your victory speech? Ordinary, Marcel. Very ordinary."
Roger's thumb shifted ever so slightly toward the syringe plunger.
Magath noticed, but gave no alarm, only a glance to his adjutant.
Together, they inched closer, ready to strike.
Then Marcel spoke again—words that shattered Roger's composure.
"This isn't victory, Roger. This was Anderson's plan."
"…Anderson? Senior Anderson?"
Roger's hand trembled. He froze.
"Yes. Anderson saw your treachery long ago. He told us to act first. We knew you'd come here."
"What? What do you mean?! What the hell do you mean?!"
Roger jolted—his most trusted mentor had betrayed him.
Then all the encouragement, all the support—what was it?
Why?
Why betray him?
Why?!
"Roger!!" Magath roared. "It's not too late to confess! That thing in your hand isn't yours! Throw it to me!"
"Useless brat," the adjutant sneered. "Even if you jab that fluid and turn Titan, there are plenty here to kill you."
He'd never fought a Titan, only shoved guilty Eldians from the wall—but his contempt was clear.
---
At that moment, Anderson strained against the chains binding his limbs, watching from a hundred meters away.
He saw Roger, surrounded by Marleyan soldiers.
He smiled.
"Well done, Roger. You didn't disappoint me. You came."
"Now… show them your rage.
"If it's your blood…"
---
Betrayal once more. Roger's mind reeled with images of Anderson, memories crumbling into ash.
Yellowed pages of the past burned away in a gust of wind.
"Fine…
"If that's the case—
"…then all of you can die!!!"
Blood welled from Roger's eyes, streaming crimson.
He would destroy everything.
Snarling, he stabbed the syringe into his chest.
Puff! The spinal fluid emptied in an instant—
Then!
Blinding light burst from his eyes, ears, nose, mouth—searing steam erupted from every pore.
BOOM!!!
A deafening detonation. The shockwave hurled Magath and his men away.
And then—
Scalding bone and flesh surged through the Paths into Roger, plating his limbs and torso. Layer by layer it wove and twisted, rising like an enormous construction.
In half a heartbeat, it blotted out the sky.
"ROOOOAAARRR!!"
A colossus stood over them all, its foot crushing tents that weren't even as large as its toes.
"What is that?!"
"Colossal Titan?!"
"God above—"
Terror froze their faces.
Even the Titan inheritors themselves felt fear, felt awe.
"What's happening?" the Armored Titan's chosen heir gasped, staring. "Is this the new Colossal Titan's gift? Twice the size of the last?!"
Yet the Colossal's true inheritor stood aghast, exchanging dumbstruck looks with Bertholdt.
"This size… it can only be *that*."
The one who studied Titans most, Zeke, quickly regained calm, musing deeply.
"Never thought *that kind of person* would appear in Marley. Seems you're in for trouble, Zeke," said Ksaver, the Beast Titan inheritor before him, with a smile of delight.
"Yeah…"
Zeke's face was grim. His plans had just grown harder.
Then the shouts began, as Roger's Titan moved.
Every step shook the earth, gouging vast footprints.
Amid the rumble, one laugh rang out sharp and mad.
"Hahahahahahaha!!
"Come, Roger!! COME!!!"
//Check out my Patreon for 20 extra chapters on all my fanfics //[[email protected]/Razeil0810](http://[email protected]/Razeil0810)