Location: Stohess District - Underground Detention Facility
The return to the inner wall was not a parade; it was a tense military extraction. The Survey Corps had brought back a Titan Shifter alive, and the Military Police were foaming at the mouth to take custody.
Ren stood in a secure, torch-lit dungeon deep beneath the Survey Corps HQ.
In the center of the room, Annie Leonhart was bound to a chair. She wasn't just tied with rope; she was encased in a Titan Hardening construct Ren had created to lock her limbs in place. She couldn't transform without breaking her own bones, and she couldn't bite her tongue because of the gag.
Levi, Erwin, and Hange stood by the door.
"She hasn't spoken," Levi said, cleaning a speck of dirt from his sleeve. "She's disciplined."
"She's scared," Ren corrected. "Leave us."
"Ren," Erwin warned. "She is a valuable asset. Do not break her mind."
"I intend to free it," Ren said.
The Scouts left. Ren was alone with Annie.
He didn't start with torture. He started with Shopping.
[System Balance: 21,350 Points] (16,350 Previous + 5,000 Female Titan Hunt Reward)
Ren pulled up his interface. He needed to secure Annie, upgrade his base for a larger population, and prepare for the next world—a world of magic and dragons.
"System," Ren commanded mentally.
[Purchase: Pocket Dimension Upgrade (Tier 3).
Cost: 10,000 Points.
Effect: Area increases to 1km x 1km. Adds simulated biomes (Forest, Lake). Adds "Stasis Facility" for holding prisoners or injured allies indefinitely.]
[Purchase: Passive Skill - Mental Fortress (Grandmaster).
Cost: 5,000 Points.
Effect: Absolute immunity to mind control, memory alteration, or telepathic intrusion. (Essential against the Founding Titan and threats in Westeros like Bran Stark/Warlocks).]
[Purchase: Item - Universal Translator (Arcane).
Cost: 2,000 Points.
Effect: Instantly learn and speak any language, including dead or magical tongues (High Valyrian, Dothraki, etc.).]
[Remaining Balance: 4,350 Points.]
Ren felt the shift. His mind felt like a steel trap, impenetrable. The Pocket Dimension hummed with new energy.
He looked at Annie. He removed her gag.
Annie spat at him. "Kill me. I won't tell you anything."
"I don't need you to tell me anything, Annie," Ren said calmly. "I know about Marley. I know about your father waiting for you to come home. I know Reiner and Bertholdt are sweating bullets right now, wondering if you'll talk."
Annie froze. Her icy demeanor cracked. "How..."
"I offer you a deal," Ren leaned in. "Marley treats you like a weapon. Paradis treats you like a devil. I treat you like a person."
"You want me to join you?" Annie scoffed. "And betray my father?"
"I can save your father," Ren lied effortlessly. "I can bring him here. Or I can bring you to him. But only if you serve me."
Annie looked into his glowing blue eyes. She wanted to believe him. She was tired of fighting.
"Prove it," she whispered.
Ren smiled. "System, open Pocket Dimension."
The portal opened. But it wasn't the small room anymore. It was a view of a sprawling, sunlit forest with a shimmering lake in the distance. A paradise.
"Step inside, Annie. No walls. No war. Just waiting until I call for you."
Ren cut her bonds.
It was a gamble. She could transform right here.
Annie stood up, rubbing her wrists. She looked at the portal, then at Ren.
"If you're lying," she said, her voice shaking, "I will kill you."
"Get in line," Ren smirked.
Annie walked into the portal. Ren closed it.
[Asset Secured: Annie Leonhart (Stasis/Guest).].
[Status: Neutral-Wary.]
Ren walked out of the dungeon to find Erwin waiting.
"Where is she?" Erwin asked, seeing the empty room.
"Safe," Ren said. "She's in my custody. You won't find her, and neither will the Military Police."
Erwin frowned. "This... complicates things with the King."
"I'm leaving, Erwin," Ren said abruptly.
Erwin paused. "Leaving the Walls?"
"Leaving this reality," Ren corrected. "I've done what I came to do. The Wall is sealed. You have Eren. You have the truth about the shifters."
Ren handed Erwin a folded piece of paper.
"This contains the names of the Armored and Colossal Titans. It also contains the location of the basement key. Use it when you're ready."
Erwin took the paper. His hands trembled slightly. This was the victory he had sought for decades.
"Will you return?" Erwin asked.
"When the world burns, look for the lightning," Ren said.
He signaled his squad. The Valkyries—Maggie, Saeko, Saya, and the rest—gathered around him. They were packed and ready.
"Where to next?" Saeko asked, her hand on the Murasame.
"A land of ice and fire," Ren said. "We're going hunting for dragons."
Ren activated the World Jump.
The air warped. The stone walls of Stohess dissolved into white light.
World Transition: Westeros
[System Notification]
[Destination: Game of Thrones (Planetos).]
[Location: The Ruins of Valyria (The Smoking Sea).]
[Timeline: 298 AC (Pre-Series Start).]
[Objective: Acquire a Dragon Egg.]
[Warning: High Threat Level. Magic is Active.]
The white light faded.
Ren and his harem didn't land in a castle. They didn't land in a forest.
They landed on a jagged, obsidian cliff overlooking a boiling red sea.
The air was thick with sulfur and ash. The sky was a bruised purple, choked with volcanic smoke. Ruined towers of black stone, twisted by ancient magic, jutted out of the mist like broken teeth.
Valyria. The doom of men.
"Cough! Cough!" Saya Takagi covered her mouth, her eyes watering. " The air quality index here is... lethal! Sulfur dioxide!"
"Masks up!" Ren ordered. "Valkyrie Protocol should filter the worst of it, but don't take deep breaths!"
Ren looked around. It was a desolate hellscape.
"Dragons?" Maggie asked, looking over the cliff edge into the smoking abyss. "Here?"
"This is where they were born," Ren said. "And where they died."
Suddenly, the ground shook. Not a vibration, but a heave.
A massive section of the cliff face, fifty meters away, crumbled into the sea.
From the dust, a creature emerged.
It wasn't a dragon. It had no wings. It was a worm-like serpent, easily a hundred feet long, covered in scales that glowed like molten magma. Its mouth was a circular maw of spinning, serrated teeth.
[System Alert]
[Enemy Detected: Fire Wyrm (Ancient).]
[Danger Level: S-Class.]
The Wyrm roared, a sound like a volcanic eruption. It sensed the fresh meat.
"Ren!" Andrea screamed, raising her rifle. "What is that?!"
"A Fire Wyrm," Ren shouted, drawing his Warhammer (Titan Form). "It breathes fire and tunnels through rock!"
The Wyrm lunged. It moved terrifyingly fast for its size.
"Scatter!" Ren commanded.
He didn't have time to fully transform. He activated Titan Hardening on his arms and Limit Breaker.
He stood his ground as the massive head came crashing down.
Ren caught the Wyrm's fangs with his bare, hardened hands.
CRUNCH.
The ground beneath Ren cracked. He was being pushed back toward the cliff edge. The heat was unbearable—his clothes began to smoke.
"Saeko! The eyes!" Ren gritted out.
Saeko leaped onto the Wyrm's back, the Murasame glowing. She stabbed downward.
CLANG.
The blade bounced off.
"The scales are too hard!" Saeko shouted. "It's harder than Titan skin!"
The Wyrm thrashed, throwing Saeko off. It opened its mouth wider, a glow building in its throat. Magma breath.
Ren was staring directly down the throat of the beast.
"System," Ren thought frantically. "Do I have a water skill?"
[Negative.]
"Then we do it the hard way."
Ren released his grip and let the Wyrm swallow him.
"REN!" Maggie screamed.
The Wyrm clamped its jaws shut, swallowing Ren whole, and dove back into the earth, disappearing into a tunnel of molten rock.
Silence fell over the cliff.
Maggie, Saeko, and the others stood alone in the ruins of Valyria.
Their leader was gone.