Noon was approaching, and the warm sunlight illuminated this vast stretch of grassland.
A single drop of morning dew slowly slid down from the tip of a blade of grass along the leaf. Suddenly, the earth began to tremble violently, and the dew on the grass blades shook along with it, ripples spreading out.
In the next moment, the grass along with the dew was flattened beneath a massive foot.
Pulling the viewpoint higher, several Titans over ten meters tall were chasing something.
Looking even farther ahead, in front of the Titans were more than a dozen Survey Corps soldiers wearing the Wings of Freedom, riding fine horses and galloping madly.
Bang! The leading Survey Corps soldier raised a signal gun, and a red signal flare shot high into the sky.
Soon, a green signal flare rose in the distance in response.
Having received the signal, the Survey Corps Squad Leader led the soldiers to turn and charge toward a nearby patch of forest where the signal had been fired.
Several Titans twisted their bodies and gave chase.
The Survey Corps soldiers quickly all entered the forest. At the instant the Titans followed them in, a loud shout came from the trees: "Attack!!"
Clack! Hiss! In an instant, the sounds of Vertical Maneuvering Equipment starting up rang out from a large number of surrounding trees, sharp blades flashing with cold light.
More than a dozen figures burst out from the trees at the same time.
Splat! Boom!! Several Titans didn't even have time to react before the flesh at the nape of their necks was sliced away, and their massive bodies crashed to the ground.
"Sasha, Connie, I killed four—more than the two of you combined. Now you know who the real idiot is, right?" Jean Kirstein said smugly as he looked at his two companions.
Connie looked at the fallen Titan at his feet and kicked the still-not-fully-vanished body in frustration, complaining,
"It's all Sasha's fault—she missed twice! Otherwise we wouldn't have lost!"
Sasha refused to accept that and said, "No! It's your fault! Who told you not to let me eat my fill yesterday!"
"Sasha, you idiot, if you keep eating your stomach's going to burst!"
"It won't!"
Veins were practically popping out on Levi's forehead. "You idiots! Get up here right now!"
This not-so-small forest concealed more than two hundred elite Survey Corps soldiers. Signal flares rose from time to time around the perimeter—those were fired by the scouting soldiers on outer guard whenever they discovered Titans.
The Survey Corps hidden in the forest would prepare to clear the Titans and then fire green signal flares in response. In the end, the scouts would lure the Titans into the forest, where the prepared soldiers would cleanly eliminate them.
The small forest had already become a Titan meat grinder.
"Hey, Eren, what are you thinking about? Have some water." Armin handed Eren a waterskin.
"Ah, thanks. I was just thinking about why Yago wouldn't let me kill that Titan this morning," Eren said as he took the waterskin.
Armin said, "Yago? I wonder how their operation is going right now."
Eren tilted his head back and took a sip of water, but his thoughts drifted.
...
The time shifts back five hours earlier.
Beyond the horizon, a long column raced across the land. The Wings of Freedom marked their identity—the Survey Corps. Their destination was Wall Maria, which had been breached by Titans three years ago.
Such a formation naturally attracted scattered Titans along the way. The Titans swayed their massive or misshapen bodies and, driven by instinct, walked or ran toward the Survey Corps column.
But to the elite Survey Corps soldiers, scattered Titans without sufficient numbers were nothing more than free kills.
Under such circumstances, Eren, positioned in the middle of the column, suddenly narrowed his eyes. He noticed a Titan.
Golden hair, flat eyes, a fifteen-meter-tall body—especially that mouth split wide to the ears, revealing rows of ghastly white teeth and gums.
The upturned corners of its mouth looked like an eerie smile.
At the sight of this Titan, a surge of anger suddenly welled up in Eren's heart. Even after three years, Eren would never forget this Titan—the one that had nearly eaten his mother back then.
Clang! Eren drew his blade from its sheath, his gaze resolute. He wanted to personally end this Titan!
But just as Eren was about to activate his Vertical Maneuvering Equipment, someone pressed down on his arm. Eren turned his head in surprise and saw Yago's grave expression.
"Yago? What are you doing?"
Yago looked into Eren's eyes and said seriously, "That Titan shouldn't be ended by you. Let me do it, Eren!"
Eren widened his eyes and asked, "What? Wait—Yago, why can't I do it? Do you know this Titan? What do you mean?"
But Yago had already activated his Vertical Maneuvering Equipment and rushed out ahead of him.
The Smiling Titan looked at the "insect" charging toward it and instinctively reached out to grab him, but how could an ordinary Pure Titan catch the agile Yago?
Flying to the front of the Smiling Titan, Yago pulled the trigger. The grappling hook reeled in at high speed, dragging Yago as he barely skimmed past the corner of the Smiling Titan's mouth.
Bang! He pulled the trigger again. The hook embedded deeply into the ground, and Yago rushed to the Smiling Titan's back. Slash! Two quick strikes severed the Titan's heels.
The Titan immediately lost its balance and fell to the ground. With a leap, Yago jumped to the nape of the Smiling Titan's neck and raised his twin blades.
Yago knew very well the identity of the Titan before him—a royal-blood Pure Titan. In older Eren's memories, this was the Titan that had eaten Aunt Carla, killed Uncle Hannes, and first triggered Eren's Founding power. It was also the wife of Eren's father Grisha during his time in Marley, and a core member of the Eldian Restorationists.
"Come to think of it, the moment I truly changed fate was when I saved Aunt Carla," Yago said as he looked at the Titan beneath him. At this moment, the Titan swung its arms, seemingly trying to stand up.
Yago knew that when he first used the power of the Fate Titan to save Aunt Carla from the Smiling Titan's grasp, Eren's fate—and the fates of others—had already begun to change.
If that's the case, then since the changed fate began with me, it will also continue to be changed by me!
Yago steeled his resolve. His twin blades came down with full force, slicing open the flesh at the Smiling Titan's nape. Scalding Titan blood splashed onto the Wings of Freedom emblem on Yago's back.
For certain reasons, Yago temporarily did not want Eren's Founding power to be exposed or used, because Yago could not guarantee what attitude the people on the island would have toward such a godlike power—one capable of bringing about world-destroying Rumbling.
Watching the Titan's body slowly evaporate, Yago stood there in a daze for a moment. Then he clenched his fist, placed it before his left chest, and gave a salute—both as a tribute to Dina Fritz, who had once possessed royal blood, and as a show of respect for fate itself.
As the Smiling Titan fell, Eren opened his mouth, but in the end, he said nothing.
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Pls Drop some Power Stones
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