Hunted by his own homeland of Marley—this was something Roger had never imagined in his life.
But now, under the grip of militaristic nationalism, Marley was rotting with corruption and malice, its discrimination against Eldians turning people into monsters.
Roger was always strong-willed. Since childhood, his grandmother had taught him: live for yourself, don't waste your life worrying about the frost on someone else's roof.
He knew why she said that. He had seen with his own eyes his grandmother being humiliated by Marleyan military police at the marketplace.
It was nothing but fear.
Without power, all one could do was seek to protect oneself, terrified of drawing fire.
That truth made Roger seethe with pain and hatred.
Life in the internment zone meant enduring endless discrimination.
Their eyes—supposedly looking at "devils"—were more like eyes staring at livestock trapped in a cage.
Everyone around repeated the rumor: on the island called Paradis lived man-eating devils, traitors who abandoned their kin.
But Roger truly wanted to see them.
"Maybe the real beasts aren't devils… but humans drunk on cruelty."
He thought to himself, gazing at the distant beach.
Behind him, shells screamed through the air, exploding like torrential rain across his path.
Even with his stamina drained and breath ragged, Roger's Jaw Titan sprinted without stopping.
At last, he reached the sea.
He stood on the sand. Before him stretched the endless ocean.
The sea breeze struck his face, seabirds stirred his ambitions.
There was no road left.
No escape.
Slowly, he turned back to face the tightening ring of titans and Marley's army.
There was nothing left to say.
It was over.
The Jaw Titan clenched its fangs, Roger glaring at the advancing Armored Titan and the others behind him.
"Let's see who dies first!"
He swore in his heart.
Flexing every muscle, he prepared for a final, desperate battle—to tear them apart with his own hands, to repay his humiliation and his grandmother's death a hundredfold.
But before the enemy even reached him, a human voice suddenly rose from beside his titan's foot.
"Leave the rest to me, Roger… sir."
"?"
Roger froze, lowering his head quickly.
How had he not noticed a human right beside him all this time?
"Who are you?!"
The Jaw Titan's demand came out as a leonine growl.
The man calmly removed his hat, revealing sparse hair, and bowed slightly.
Roger noticed the rifle in his hand and grew alert, but did not move rashly.
"My name is Niaolin."
"Niaolin?"
Roger frowned, studying him. Then he suddenly remembered.
Back when he'd seen Anderson at the ping-pong table, this Niaolin had been there too—as his friend.
"Did Anderson send you?"
Roger tried to ask, but in his titan's form the words came out as garbled growls, spraying spit all over Niaolin.
"…"
Niaolin wiped his face with his sleeve, seemingly already knowing what Roger wanted to ask. His reply was steady.
"No time to explain. You must leave here immediately, Roger. Head east, there's a ship—it can break through Marley's blockade."
Roger turned east. Indeed, a Marleyan warship was racing toward the cliffs in defiance of orders.
"Hurry!"
Niaolin shouted, suddenly raising his rifle and firing at the Armored Titan.
Bang!
The bullet hit squarely, but bounced off without leaving even a scratch.
As the Armored Titan advanced, Roger had no time to hesitate. He turned and bolted eastward.
But it was hopeless.
Marley's army had already surrounded them. Even if a ship waited, how could he possibly reach it in time?
What to do?!
He glanced back.
Niaolin was still firing relentlessly at the Armored Titan, shot after shot, until his bullets ran out.
Predictably, they were useless—like eggs smashing against stone.
"Are you kidding me? I don't even know who you are, or what you're trying to do—and this is how you save me?!"
Roger was speechless—until he spotted a slow-moving airship descending from the upper left sky.
Marley had deployed airships? Roger's heart sank. An aerial assault was impossible to withstand, even as a titan.
What to do?! What now?!
Then, the unthinkable happened.
The airship didn't hover over him. Instead, it roared past and dove toward the Marleyan forces encircling him!
"What the hell is that?!"
"An airship? Reinforcements?!"
"They're just here to steal the credit—bastards!"
Marley's officers cursed from the hills as they peered through binoculars.
They had the Jaw Titan cornered. Victory was theirs. Why was the air force interfering now?!
"Tell headquarters—order those bastards in the air force to back off! If they wanted glory, where were they before?!"
"But…"
"But what?!"
"But the airship is bombing our own troops!"
"What?!"
The commander whipped his binoculars back up. Smoke already blanketed the frontline. Explosions blazed along the coastline, deafening roars blocking not only their charge, but even the advance of the titans.
Not until the Colossal Titan reached up and crushed the marauding airship did the bombardment cease.
But by then—
Roger's Jaw Titan had already sprinted to the cliff, leapt aboard the warship, and clung fast as it sped away into the distance!
"Damn it!!!"
The Marleyan commander smashed his binoculars in rage, shouting before his entire command staff:
"I knew it! That fat pig Witt from the navy is a bastard! Always heard he was screwing Eldians! Now look—open treason! Even the air force! Son of a bitch! Competing with me for Commander-in-Chief?! Let him eat a bullet! Filthy swine!!"
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