A corner of his head was instantly blown off, blood spurting out violently!
"Roar!!"
Severely injured, Roger felt the threat pressing in, glaring at the approaching Beast Titan.
There was no other choice. Though he had transformed into the Jaw Titan, his stamina was nearly exhausted. His body was comparable in size to the previous inheritor, but the muscles were shriveled, underdeveloped, only sharp claws had grown from his fingertips, while the hardened armor of the skull and jaw had not yet formed.
Although Roger's Jaw Titan had clamped onto the Female Titan's nape, due to the heavy damage to his head he could not bite down.
Helpless, and to avoid being cornered by the Beast Titan, Roger abandoned the attempt to devour the Female Titan. He prepared to leap from her shoulder, intending to sprint across the ground and use his speed to widen the gap.
But the Female Titan was no pushover. Despite losing one arm to the Jaw Titan, she had not given up.
The instant Roger leapt off her shoulder, she forced her healing power to restore the hand destroyed when Roger transformed. Immediately after, she turned and caught the Jaw Titan's ankle, yanking hard.
"Xavier!"
The Female Titan shouted.
"Understood!"
The Beast Titan instantly reacted, leaping to crush the Jaw Titan under his body.
"Damn it!" Roger's mind raced. "As expected of a veteran warrior who's fought for nearly ten years—what a pain to deal with!"
Even so, he was ready to fight to the death.
"Roar!!!"
The Jaw Titan roared, and its regenerative ability suddenly accelerated!
Strange black markings spread outward from his jaw, converging on the crushed head. They rapidly wove his titan flesh back together, restoring his head completely in an instant!
"How is that possible?!"
The Female Titan froze.
She had never seen such a thing before. Even focusing titan power on healing a single part could never be this fast!
And yet before her eyes, the Jaw Titan not only repaired his head, but even grew hardened armor across his face and jaws!
She was shocked.
This wasn't healing—this was evolution!
Roger himself had no idea what was happening.
But with so many unknowns already, one more didn't matter.
The Beast Titan dove from above like a falling mountain, about to smash him flat!
With no time to think, Roger bent the Jaw Titan's body. Like a crocodile snapping prey, he bit off the Female Titan's wrist once again, twisted his body sharply, and leapt from the battlefield with her severed hand clenched in his jaws.
Boom!!
The Beast Titan missed, crashing into the ground, steam hissing from his body.
Not far away, the Jaw Titan stood upon rocky soil, bathed in golden sunlight.
Its mane-like hair flowed, its head glowing as if seared in molten fire. Black-red markings writhed across its face, dissipating into steam at a visible speed.
With prey clutched in its jaws, it let out a deep growl, like a true lion-tiger, king of beasts!
Still regenerating, the Female Titan stared in disbelief at the Jaw Titan upon the rocks.
Her eyes lingered on those black markings, which to her seemed like the molten brandings she had seen on the colossal flame-clad titan earlier.
"Xavier… what is he?" she murmured. "Could he really be a devil from Paradis Island?"
Hearing her words, the Beast Titan Xavier sighed heavily as he stood.
"I don't know about that. I only know his existence is bound to both the people on Paradis Island and the people on the continent."
"Is this the power of the Founding?"
"No, the Founding is still within the Walls."
"Then what is he?!"
"I don't know!" Xavier snapped, frustrated like a specialist trying to explain the inexplicable to a layman. "I told you, it's just a theory. Something Zeke and I speculated when we searched for the truth of the titans. But before I could ever prove it, this 'theory' appeared in front of me—blinded one of my eyes!"
"So what's the theory? Tell me!"
"Fine, I'll say it!" Xavier cursed. "I guessed that the power of the titans has more than one origin! That there are two Founding Titans. Do you believe that?!"
"???"
The Female Titan fell silent. This was too absurd.
Two Founding Titans? Impossible.
If it were true, why hadn't it appeared before?
Why let one Founding dominate the world while the other did nothing?
Why only appear now?
"I don't believe it," she stated flatly.
Before the Beast Titan could sigh, she controlled the Female Titan to open her mouth wide, inhaled deeply, and let out a deafening roar.
"Roar!!!"
The sound was shrill and overwhelming, loud enough that even the Beast Titan wanted to cover his ears.
Birds in the distance startled into flight, trees shook and shed their leaves.
"?"
Xavier looked confused. Why was she roaring now?
Back on Paradis, the Female Titan's roar could draw Pure Titans. But here in Marley, there were none to summon.
As her comrade, Xavier didn't understand.
But as her enemy, Roger immediately realized her intent.
The moment she roared, Roger dropped the severed titan hand from his mouth and sprinted away at full speed.
For just then, every titan warrior and military unit on the battlefield—the Armored, the Colossal, the Cart Titan, the artillery carriages and the army—turned and began rushing toward the Female Titan's signal.
"Order the entire army! Move to the signal location immediately!"
The first commander of Marley's army commanded all forces converging on the outskirts.
The Eldian vanguard, serving as human shields, charged forward screaming, followed by Marleyan soldiers with rifles aimed at both enemy and Eldian alike, and behind them, the thundering artillery.
Boom!
The Colossal Titan was the first to spot a fast-moving figure on the ground. He swung a massive fist down at Roger.
Roger narrowly dodged, accelerating his run.
But behind him, countless shells rained down like a sky of falling stars, their blazing trails chasing after him!
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