A soldier was pinned under a door panel, dust and blood covering his face. He looked at his comrades—either dead or severely injured—and the titan he had seen had vanished.
If the entire Military Police headquarters hadn't been reduced to rubble, he might have thought he was dreaming.
"This is Wall Sina… the safest place… we were following orders… we lured him back alone under the pretense of the appointment papers… dozens of rifles fired at once… survival was impossible… then just move the body somewhere remote and blame it on bandits… so why is this happening?"
The image of the titan's sudden appearance flashed in his mind. A single, devastating punch had struck the Military Police headquarters, obliterating the building in one sweep, and then the titan disappeared.
"Damn it…"
He tried to crawl from under the door panel, but as soon as he extended his arm, sharp pain shot through it. Looking up, he saw a foot pressing down on his arm.
When the soldier looked up at the owner of the foot pressing on his arm, he was horrified beyond belief.
"Y-you…"
Standing before him, Lillian's expression was completely blank. Bullet holes were visible on his body, blood still flowing—but he seemed entirely unfazed. And… he could even stand?!
Lillian looked down at him with dead, emotionless eyes. Without saying a word, he pressed his other foot onto the door panel beneath the soldier.
Thud!
The door panel was crushed completely, and the soldier underneath immediately died.
Pffft…
Blood sprayed into the air. Lillian moved further inside, only to be grabbed from behind.
"You need treatment."
He turned to see Annie, her body still radiating the residual electricity from her titan transformation.
"Leave here first!" she commanded.
"I'm fine… you leave first," Lillian replied, turning back toward the ruins of the headquarters. "I need to see it with my own eyes…"
Annie let go of him. Lillian approached the rubble and began casually throwing aside tens of pounds of stones, digging bit by bit. Soon, he unearthed several bodies.
The surrounding streets were already in chaos. Even though Annie had transformed for only three seconds—one second to block the incoming bullets, one second to punch and destroy the entire headquarters building, and a final second returning to human form—the commotion had erupted. People who saw the titan were fleeing in panic, and even those who hadn't seen it were following the crowd. Within moments, the Stohess district was in complete disorder.
But Lillian ignored it. He continued digging, and soon found the Commander of the squad. Though not yet dead, the man's skull had been crushed by stones, blood flowing freely.
"Monster…"
The commander's teeth gritted as he looked at the bloodied Lillian. Lillian silently stared for a few moments, then picked up a nearby rock with his right hand and smashed it down with all his strength.
Bang! Bang! Bang!
The skull was obliterated instantly. The commander screamed once, then went silent. After repeatedly smashing it with more than ten strikes, Lillian let the face, now unrecognizable, go, and collapsed backward.
Annie quickly ran over, supporting him from behind. Lillian, still mumbling, "Annie… kill all living witnesses here, use their guns… then leave quickly… don't worry about me, or we're all dead…" fainted before finishing his sentence.
She gritted her teeth, laid Lillian near the door, quickly checked the scene, eliminated the surviving soldiers with their own guns, and left.
Two minutes later, reinforcements arrived.
"What… what happened here?!"
Patrolling soldiers, including Marlo and others, rushed back, horrified at the mangled bodies and crushed corpses. Some even vomited on the spot. Soldiers who had always lived within the Walls were simply unprepared for such extreme carnage.
"Quick! Save them!"
Meanwhile, people who hadn't witnessed the titan firsthand discussed in disbelief.
"Did you see the titan?"
"No! Everyone said there was a titan, but I didn't see anything!"
"Same here. Those who did see it said it appeared and disappeared immediately."
"Really?"
"Seems so… Did you see the Military Police headquarters? It's completely destroyed! Dozens of soldiers killed!"
"Well, the criminals must be thrilled."
"Yeah… crime's going to spike again soon."
The day after the destruction, the civilians of Stohess district were somewhat pacified. Only one building was destroyed, and many residents assumed there had been no titan—that the warehouse's explosives had accidentally detonated. Official authorities, of course, did not believe this.
That same night, Commander Nile of the Military Police personally came from the Capital to investigate. Witnesses confirmed a titan appeared, while others reported hearing gunfire. Indeed, bullet holes were found on the corpses. The anomaly? All the officers on-site were killed, leaving no one to testify—except for Lillian.
He was quickly taken to a hospital and, after emergency treatment, survived. Within twenty hours, he regained consciousness, astonishing the doctors, as his body seemed to recover faster than normal.
"I know you're in pain," Nile said beside his hospital bed, with a recorder taking notes. "But we need intelligence. This incident is severe, and the pressure from above is unprecedented."
Lillian nodded weakly, understanding the gravity of the situation.
A titan had appeared inside Wall Sina, and this would surely terrify the nobles and the shadowy manipulators behind the inner world.
With the Founding Titan gone, if a titan really reached the Capital, the wealthy and powerful would have no means of defense. It would be inevitable that immense pressure would be exerted from above.
"Yes," Lillian said slowly. "Today… our squad was patrolling the district. After finishing, I returned to headquarters, but as I approached, I heard gunfire inside. I rushed in to check…"
"Then what happened?"
"Then I saw the Military Police start fighting among themselves. I don't know why—some of them were inside the building by the windows, others were in the courtyard. They fired at each other, and I became a target as well. The moment I appeared, I was hit by a hail of bullets…"
Nile frowned, carefully considering the possibilities.
The Military Police turning on each other… exchanging gunfire? Why?
"Commander, you must have already spoken with the doctors. It was sheer luck that I didn't die. When I was shot, I truly thought that was the end."
"What about the Titan?" Nile asked. "Did you see a Titan?"
Lillian nodded. "I did. Just before I lost consciousness, I saw someone run in from outside. That person transformed into a Titan almost instantly. After that, I blacked out."
"Who was that person?!" This was clearly what interested Nile the most, and he pressed the question immediately.
"I'm sorry, Commander. That person was extremely cautious—wearing a cloak with a hood. I couldn't see their face at all. But judging from their build, they were very tall. I believe it was probably a man."
"..."
Nile crossed his arms over his chest, the thinning hair atop his head seeming even more sparse.
After all, dozens of Military Police had died—this was no small matter. If it wasn't investigated thoroughly, even if he didn't get dismissed, he would still be facing severe punishment.
But the information Lillian provided was simply too vague. A tall man—there were countless people like that within the Walls. Finding such a person would be like searching for a needle in the ocean.
Seeing Nile's frustration, Lillian offered a suggestion. "Commander, I think we can still find him. After the incident, the outer and inner gates of Stohess District must have been sealed, right? That man couldn't have escaped. He must still be hiding somewhere within Stohess."
Nile nodded at this. "Yes. That narrows the search considerably. We'll conduct inspections and question residents—maybe we'll uncover new leads." He sighed. "Could this Titan be like Eren Yeager?"
"It's possible."
"If that's the case, then even if we find him, we won't be able to capture him on our own," Nile said. "Looks like we'll have to get Erwin involved."
"..."
"Alright. Get some proper rest," Nile said as he stood up. "Recover as soon as possible. Stohess desperately needs you right now—both the brigade commander and the deputy commanders are dead. You're the only one left who can take the position."
"Yes, sir."
Nile left with his aide. As they disappeared from view, the light in Lillian's eyes slowly drained away, turning cold.
"Karen…"
Leaning back against the bed, Lillian felt it for the first time in this world—a pain in his chest, boiling rage, and countless other emotions. All of them tangled together, threatening to tear him apart.
She had been the most innocent of all—so why did it have to be her?
Lillian thought that if he had reacted just a little faster back then, or if he hadn't grabbed that Military Police officer but instead turned immediately, picked Karen up, and thrown her away—she wouldn't have died.
Yes, he would have died himself. But he could revive. Even if it became impossible to explain afterward, that would still have been better than sacrificing a girl.
Just one bullet. One single shot. And the girl who dreamed of becoming a Military Police officer—the girl who called him "Lillian-nii"—was gone from this world forever.
She wanted to become a Military Police officer… yet died at the hands of the Military Police. What must she have been feeling in that moment?
Human life was so fragile.
Was it because he himself could revive that he subconsciously assumed others could as well?
Why had he lowered his guard?
He knew full well that after killing the brigade commander, the deputy commander would become his mortal enemy. So why had he fallen for something as flimsy as an "appointment letter"?
Thinking back now, perhaps the deputy commander had already been preparing ever since the brigade commander's death. Was he afraid that once Lillian truly became brigade commander, he would be targeted next—so he struck first?
Then who else had been involved? Had the Stratmann family participated as well? What about those higher up? Could a deputy commander really dare to do something of this magnitude alone?
"Why did I ever let you become a soldier…"
Lillian turned his head toward the window. Reflected in the glass, his face gradually hardened, growing cold and rigid—like a beast breaking free from its cage, baring its fangs to the world.