"Wall Rose… has been breached?"
"Y-You're joking, right?!"
"How could this happen…?"
"Hey—where did it happen?! Which district?!"
Even the Military Police stationed within Wall Sina couldn't help but feel fear, panic, and unease wash over them at the news.
Five years ago, Wall Sina had been the safest place of all—the heart of the interior. But on the day Wall Maria fell, it was reduced to a second-tier inner region. And now, if Wall Rose had also been breached…
Then Wall Sina—and the outer districts where they were stationed—would become the front line.
Come on…
The whole reason he'd worked so hard to become part of the Military Police was to stay as far away from Titans as possible. Who in their right mind would want to be stuck on the front lines? But the inner city wasn't accessible either—Military Police weren't allowed inside without authorization. Only officers could enter freely.
"It's said the Titans appeared from the south!" the Garrison soldier reported breathlessly, words tumbling over each other.
"That means the outer wall of Trost District in Wall Rose was breached first, and then the inner wall too—"
"What's the situation with the troops over there right now?" Lillian cut in.
"Did the message mention that?"
"Yes!" the soldier nodded rapidly. "The report says two elite squads from the Survey Corps are stationed at an outpost outside Ehrmich District, south of Wall Sina. They'll do everything they can to hold the Titans back and buy time!"
Ehrmich District…
Lillian thought for a moment, then spoke decisively.
"Prepare horses."
"Deputy commander…?"
The MPs stared at him in confusion, unsure what he intended to do.
"Ehrmich District isn't far from here."
"What?!" one veteran exclaimed. "You're not thinking of going to support them, are you? That's not the Military Police's job!"
"That's right," Lillian said calmly, glancing at him.
"And that's exactly why I'm not ordering you to go. This is my personal judgment and my own action. Even if you wanted to go, I wouldn't allow it. Your job is to patrol the district and maintain order—do that properly."
"…"
The group exchanged bewildered looks, unable to understand his decision.
Marlo stepped forward and blocked his path.
"Deputy commander, you can't go! If something happens to you… what are we supposed to do?!"
"Huh?" Lillian laughed lightly. "You see the war scythe in my hand? What do you think I made this thing for? And don't make it sound like I'm rushing off to die. Commander Erwin has probably already received the news and is heading there with reinforcements. If we concentrate our forces, there's a real chance we can stop the Titans."
His expression grew serious.
"Humanity can't afford to lose another wall."
"…"
Marlo fell silent for a moment, then suddenly said, "I'm going too."
"You—" Lillian looked at his unwavering face. The words he was about to say died in his throat. He nodded instead.
"Then what are you waiting for? Go get the horses."
"Yes!"
Marlo ran toward the stables. The others looked at one another, a few of the newer recruits clearly wanting to speak up—but Lillian cut them off first.
"Don't say it. Patrol duty still needs manpower."
"Deputy commander…"
Lillian thought to himself:
If Erwin truly isolated the entire 104th Cadet Corps along with Eren, then it was very likely they'd been sent—just like in the original timeline—to the outpost outside Ehrmich District. Officially "training," but in reality, isolation and surveillance.
Otherwise, why station the two most elite squads there?
If his guess was correct, Erwin's plan was to temporarily isolate them, wait for Lillian to produce decisive evidence, and then identify the enemy one by one.
Under those circumstances, Reiner and Bertholdt would be under constant watch—naturally leaving them no opportunity to breach the walls.
But if the wall had been breached…
Then everything made sense.
"Zeke…" Lillian murmured. "Have you landed on the island?"
Zeke Yeager—Eren's half-brother. A man no one could truly figure out.
In truth, even Lillian didn't know what Zeke was really thinking.
It was Zeke's betrayal that had led to the near-total destruction of the Eldian Restorationists. Yet later, Zeke himself claimed it had been unavoidable—that he'd overheard a secret Marleyan military meeting, learned they already had evidence against the Restorationists, and that arrests were imminent.
If capture was inevitable, then reporting them himself allowed him to "turn traitor twice," earn the Marleyan military's trust, and infiltrate their ranks.
And when all that happened… he was only seven years old.
If he hadn't been lying, then the only explanation was that he was a precocious genius.
Perhaps it was precisely that talent that allowed him to rise so quickly—becoming the inheritor of the Beast Titan and eventually earning the title of War Chief.
And because he could partially use the "Coordinate," Marley labeled him the "Boy Wonder." They were curious as to why, of course—but Zeke simply played dumb. After all, the fact that his mother—the Titan who devoured Eren's mother—had royal blood was a secret that could never be revealed.
Still…
Lillian couldn't be sure whether Zeke's words were true, or what his real intentions were.
Yes, there was a high probability that Zeke wanted Eldian restoration—but did that mean he was willing to sacrifice those inside the Walls to achieve it?
Judging by how merciless he'd been toward the people of the Walls in the original timeline, at the beginning he absolutely intended to wipe them out, seize the Founding Titan, and claim its power for himself.
But after witnessing the Wall Eldians' determination… after nearly being killed by an Ackerman…
Perhaps his view had changed—from "useless trash better off dead" to "tenacious, dangerous, and potentially cooperative."
Lillian couldn't say for sure.
But one thing was clear: one of his reasons for going this time… was to meet Zeke in person.
If there were a chance to sit down and talk—
"The horses are ready!"
Marlo led out two horses. Behind him, Annie emerged as well, holding the reins of a third.
Lillian walked over and looked at her.
"You're not going."
"Why not?"
"…"
If Annie went—and if Reiner and Bertholdt were still planning to act—what choice would she make?
Lillian wanted to trust her. But rationally, there was still a sliver of doubt.
They stared at each other for several seconds. In her deep blue eyes, he saw no hesitation, no retreat.
In the end, Lillian gave in.
"…Alright."
He knew that even if he flatly refused, she would probably go on her own anyway.
With the decision made, there was no time to waste.
The three of them mounted up and immediately set off, riding hard toward Ehrmich District.
At the same time, Erwin's side also received the news. He immediately mobilized all elite forces to provide support. The sense of crisis in his heart had never burned so intensely before—because the enemy didn't just possess several intelligent Titans, but also modern technology that was decades ahead of anything inside the Walls… It would be impossible to say the pressure wasn't immense.
Fortunately, they still had Eren.
According to what Lillian had said, Eren possessed a power called "the Coordinate," which allowed him to control Pure Titans. However, Lillian had also admitted that he didn't know how that power was actually activated or used.
After all, from Lillian's perspective, before he had fully taken control of the Titan with royal blood, it was absolutely impossible for him to let the Survey Corps know the full truth. He needed a trump card—something that could protect the people he cared about. Because of that, this information had to remain hidden for now, and could only be shared with Zachary, who stood on the same side as him.
Even so, the information Lillian gave Zachary was still incomplete.
He only revealed that the true royal family was the Reiss family, and that there was still one surviving member of that bloodline—the head of the family, Rod Reiss. He didn't mention at all that the Reiss family also had an illegitimate daughter living outside: Krista.
The reason was simple. Lillian couldn't fully trust Zachary, and he knew very well that the old fox didn't fully trust him either. If Zachary were to learn of Krista's existence and decided to make some move in secret, Lillian would have no way to guard against it.
So, before everything was firmly in his own hands, Lillian could only exploit information gaps—telling others things that were nine parts true and one part false. And without a doubt, that single falsehood was the most critical part.
Of course, Erwin wasn't stupid. He was naturally skeptical of Lillian's explanation, but there was no way for him to openly question him either. In the end, he could only accept it for the time being. As a result, any experimentation with the Coordinate's power was completely impossible—where would they even find Titans to practice on? The only option would be to capture one from outside the Walls, which was far too dangerous.
Even so, Erwin had already begun drafting a plan for that very purpose. Unfortunately, before it could be carried out, news arrived that Wall Rose had been breached.
As mentioned before, once Wall Rose fell, it would signal the beginning of civil war among humanity. However, at present, none of that had happened yet. Hundreds of thousands of refugees hadn't flooded in. So Erwin wanted to make one final effort—to gather all elite forces and fight to the death if necessary, just to find a way to seal the breach.
---
Time passed, and night fell.
Six hours had already passed since the Titans appeared. The two elite squads that had originally been assigned to guard the 104th Training Corps recruits were all redeployed to evacuate nearby civilian villages.
However, in several villages, all the residents had vanished. There was no blood, no dismembered limbs—only destroyed houses left behind.
And from the looks of it, the destruction didn't seem to have come from outside inward, but rather from inside outward—as if something had burst out from within the houses themselves.
Among all those villages, only Connie's village was different. In his own home, they found a Titan whose limbs were so weak it couldn't even support itself standing.
Connie seemed to hear that Titan say, "You're back."
However, because Reiner interrupted at the time, the matter wasn't pursued any further. Or perhaps Connie himself had already realized the truth—but his heart refused to accept it, so he chose, at least for now, to ignore it and run from it.
After nightfall, the two elite squads set out to search for the breach in the Wall. Titans were far less active at night, making things relatively safer. As for the 104th recruits, since they didn't even have equipment, they could only remain in Ehrmich District's outer city, Ehrgart.
There stood an abandoned tower with a wide field of view, perfect for observing Titan movements. Everyone gathered there, waiting for the return of their seniors.