The entire outskirts were ablaze, every Marleyan army tent swept away by the shockwaves of Roger's Titan's steps.
All supplies inside—guns, equipment—lay scattered in the open, only to be crushed under his colossal feet, ruined beyond use.
Magath, Marcel, and the others had been closest when Roger injected the spinal fluid and transformed. The blast hurled them like bullets.
Several soldiers landed headfirst, skulls shattering, dead instantly.
Magath and Marcel were luckier. Trees broke their fall, saving their lives, but their bones and tendons were shattered. Even if they healed, they'd spend their lives in wheelchairs.
Chaos reigned. Soldiers screamed and fled, though a handful kept their heads and rushed to Magath.
They were the new warrior candidates and the veteran Titan inheritors, all except Anderson.
"Commander, your orders. Do we continue the inheritance, or…"
The Beast Titan Ksaver was first to speak, his successor Zeke standing behind him.
Zeke calmly removed his glasses, wiped the dust off, and slid them back on.
Beside him, Reiner—slated to inherit the Armored Titan—looked at Bertholdt in shock.
"What, wasn't it you who lost control after inheriting the Colossal?"
Sweat drenched Bertholdt's brow.
"I don't know what happened… That thing isn't me." He raised the syringe still in his hand. "See? I haven't even injected it!"
"Then what is that?!" Pieck could no longer stay composed.
The Titan before them was even larger than any Colossal before. If it reached the internment zone, the disaster would be unimaginable.
Magath, half-blind from the impact, barely made out the burning black giant striding forward, the shouts of men like buzzing flies in his ears.
"Don't just stand there. Current warriors—use your Titans, stop that monster at once."
"Yes, sir!"
"And the successors…" Magath coughed, pain lancing his chest where a tree branch pierced through. "Get reinforcements. Second garrison, the port, the Walls. Go… and let me… rest…"
His body slackened. He lay staring at the sky, blue eyes dim.
"Commander!"
"Shut up, Reiner!"
Reiner burst into tears but Annie cut him short.
"He's still breathing. Get him to a hospital." She ordered Bertholdt and Reiner to carry him.
They obeyed, finding a car among fleeing soldiers, speeding away from the inferno.
But as the vehicle neared the outskirts, Reiner suddenly remembered. He clawed at the back window, staring behind.
"No—Roger's still there!"
"Who?"
Bertholdt stared.
"Roger. This morning he said he wanted to see a Titan with his own eyes…"
"No need to worry for him, Reiner." Magath's eyes burned with regret.
"I'm sorry, Commander. But—"
"Look behind."
"What?"
"Turn back."
"…Yes, sir."
Reiner obeyed, turning.
There, towering over a hundred meters, the giant still strode forward.
Its body was blackened, burning with fire.
The stench of scorched flesh filled the air. Each step shook the land and terrified all life nearby.
"What do you see?" Magath asked, gaze fixed on the bloody hole in his chest.
Sweat dripped from Bertholdt's brow. He'd already guessed.
"It's that giant, burning… some new mutation?" Reiner still struggled to reason.
Magath gave a broken laugh. "No, Reiner. That's Marley's calamity. That is Roger Eikam himself—the Titan born from his forced injection."
"?!"
Reiner froze.
Yes. He should have known. Roger would never surrender.
"So… he used me."
Despairing, Reiner sank into silence, staring at the floor of the car.
The vehicle's smoke trail vanished into Liberio.
Meanwhile, in the internment zone, Eldians and even Marleyans awaited the return of their new Titan warriors.
They had flowers, cheers, applause, kisses ready.
But instead of heroes, fire rose on the horizon.
"Look there!"
Every gaze turned.
A black Titan, burning with fire, stood in the distance, its eyes fixed on the zone. Step by step, it drew closer.
"My god, what is that monster?!"
"A Titan! A Titan!"
"It's the ghost of Paradis! The devils of the island have come to kill us!!"
"AAAAHHHH!!"
Panic tore through the streets.
People fell, trampled to death in the stampede.
Reiner's car plowed through, guns firing, forcing a path.
The air rang with chaos. Soldiers poured in, cracking down with brutal force.
And on a hotel balcony, a man with a full beard and one blind eye removed his hat, gazing outward.
"…Now I understand why you trusted him. Rest easy. Leave the rest to me."
He put his hat back on and walked out.
At the door, he handed a card to a Marleyan soldier. On it was written: *Torin Eikam*.
"Report to the General at once. I need an airship packed with explosives."
"Yes, sir!"
The soldier saluted, taking the card with both hands.
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