Ehrmich District
By now, the main force of the Scout Regiment had arrived—but not all of them were dispatched to the battlefield.
Erwin had sent only the most elite unit ahead first. Eren, Hange, and Levi were among them—undeniably the strongest fighting force humanity possessed. Erwin himself stayed behind to contact the local Garrison, requesting reinforcements.
When he first received word that the Wall had been breached, Erwin didn't yet know whether the report was true. But upon arriving in Ehrmich District, he quickly realized it was false.
If Wall Rose had truly been breached, more than ten hours had already passed by now. With the Titans' walking speed, they should have already reached Wall Sina. Yet not a single Titan was in sight.
That could only mean one thing: the Wall hadn't been broken.
And if the Wall wasn't broken, yet Titans still appeared—then the explanation was obvious.
The intelligent Titans from Marley had resurfaced.
After his earlier conversation with Lillian, Erwin already knew that there were only nine Titan powers in existence—nine intelligent Titans. Two were now in Eren's possession; the rest belonged to Marley.
Five had already appeared.
That meant Marley still had four Titans that had never shown themselves.
Under those circumstances, the appearance of one—or even several more—was hardly surprising.
Once Erwin reached that conclusion, he immediately realized that humanity had arrived at a critical turning point.
If these Titan movements were the prelude to a full-scale offensive—if the infiltrators within the Walls coordinated with incoming forces to truly breach Wall Rose—then humanity would be finished.
The Scout Regiment alone wouldn't be enough.
He needed the Garrison. He needed the Military Police.
Ehrmich District lay on the southern edge of Wall Sina, under the authority of Commander Pixis. Thanks to their previous discussions, Pixis was willing to trust Erwin to a certain extent and agreed to temporarily lend him troops under Erwin's command.
After coordinating the forces, Erwin set out with over a hundred soldiers from the Military Police and Garrison. Though many of them were reluctant, they had no choice.
Levi and his unit departed earlier and reached the site just as dawn broke.
What they saw was a battered tower surrounded by devastation. Using their ODM gear, they ascended to the top, where everyone sat exhausted, barely holding themselves upright.
"Hey—are you all alive?"
"Captain Levi!"
"You finally made it!"
"Thank goodness…"
"We're saved…"
Relief washed over everyone as Levi's group arrived. The members of Levi Squad were visibly emotional.
"Captain, it's a good thing you came," Petra said. "We've completely run out of gas and blades."
"You did well," Levi replied. "Where are the Titans?"
"They've all been eliminated," Nanaba said, glancing downward. The Titan bodies had already evaporated, but the horrific scenes of the battle were still burned into her mind.
"So the Wall wasn't breached?"
"We didn't find any holes."
Levi nodded. "Then Erwin was right."
"Armin!"
Eren and Mikasa arrived moments later and immediately spotted him. Armin looked drained—when he saw them, he forced a weak smile.
"What's wrong?"
"Eren… Mikasa… it showed up again…"
"Showed up? What did?"
Armin's face darkened. "An intelligent Titan."
"Wha—"
Creak.
The tower door opened, and Lillian stepped out. Levi and the others froze in surprise.
"Lillian?" Eren stared at him in shock. "Why are you here?"
"He came to support us," Gelgar said. "If it weren't for this kid, we might all be dead."
"…"
"Armin," Levi said, glancing briefly at Lillian before turning back, "you said there was an intelligent Titan?"
Armin nodded and described it.
"That Titan was about seventeen or eighteen meters tall, completely covered in fur—like some kind of beast. It didn't attack us directly. Instead, it climbed onto the Wall and started throwing rocks. And it didn't target us first—it targeted our horses. It was clearly trying to take away our ability to escape."
"I see."
"Then where did that Titan go?!" Hange asked urgently.
Everyone shook their heads. After throwing two rocks and letting out a roar, it vanished. With no horses, no one could pursue it.
"Enough. We'll talk later," Levi said. "Let's leave this place and return to the Wall."
He turned and leapt down from the tower.
Hange swept her gaze over the group and asked Nanaba quietly,
"Nanaba… where's Mike?"
"…"
The soldiers of Mike's squad all fell silent. Hange seemed to understand immediately.
"I see. Let's go."
Losing a comrade of many years—saying it didn't hurt would be a lie. At most, the pain was slightly dulled because they hadn't witnessed his death with their own eyes. But now wasn't the time to dwell on grief. There were far more important matters at hand.
The group quickly descended from the tower. The arrival of the Scout Regiment also brought a large number of horses—more than enough for everyone.
Before departing, Eren, Mikasa, and Armin deliberately sought out Lillian. Eren and Mikasa were somewhat surprised by the scythe in his hands, but they didn't ask about it. Instead, they got straight to the point.
"I'm sorry, Lillian," Eren said with guilt. "About what happened before… we shouldn't have doubted you."
"How could you say that?" Lillian replied casually. "That's exactly how the Scout Regiment should act. Investigate everything you don't understand. If I were in your position, I would've done the same."
"..."
"If you really feel bad about it," Lillian glanced at the three of them, "just treat me to a meal later."
"Well?"
Eren froze for a moment, then broke into a grin. "Of course!"
They set off.
---
After that battle, everyone was utterly exhausted—especially Lillian. His physical strength was down to barely ten percent.
There was no helping it. In the latter stages of the fight, the elite squad had completely run out of blades and gas. They couldn't fight anymore. Lillian had been forced to lure the Titans away one by one and kill them himself. The physical toll was enormous.
Frankly, they were lucky the number of Titans wasn't too large. Otherwise, even if Lillian had fought himself to death, he wouldn't have been able to kill them all.
That was only natural. This batch of Titans had likely been nearby villagers transformed by Zeke's roar. Which meant Zeke had probably arrived on the island several days earlier and spent time injecting the villagers with his spinal fluid.
But that raised another question.
Normally, injecting spinal fluid into a human would cause immediate Titan transformation. Yet Zeke's spinal fluid—or rather, spinal fluid from someone with royal blood—didn't work that way. Instead, it left people in a confused, near-mindless state. Only when someone with the power of the Coordinate roared would they transform into Titans.
Lillian wasn't even sure whether this conclusion was correct. There were simply too many unanswered mysteries in the world of AOT, and he himself had arrived here with only fragmented knowledge.
If the villagers had been injected individually, would an entire village really submit so obediently? Had Zeke deceived them, the way his father Grisha once posed as a doctor? Or had he simply used force?
Considering that Zeke wouldn't have come alone, there must have been plenty of soldiers aboard the Marleyan warship. Armed with automatic rifles, their deterrent power was immense—more than enough to coerce villagers into taking injections.
Still…
The more Lillian thought about it, the more complications emerged. He couldn't quite piece it all together.
He had originally hoped to find an opportunity to talk to Zeke, but Zeke had appeared briefly, "fished" a bit, and left. There'd been no chance at all.
As for now…
Lillian glanced at Reiner and Bertholdt walking ahead of him, wondering whether they would still choose to expose their identities and try to take Eren.
This situation was already different from the original storyline. Every elite member of the Scout Regiment was present.
Several elite soldiers—including Levi, humanity's strongest—were here. If Reiner and Bertholdt revealed themselves under these circumstances, could they even escape alive? The Armored Titan could, of course—after all, even Levi couldn't break through his defenses. But the Colossal Titan? On open plains like this, escaping wouldn't be easy at all. He would absolutely need the Armored Titan's protection.
Fighting Eren while simultaneously guarding against Levi and the elite squad… this was hardly a favorable situation.
Unless… they were also counting on Annie's combat strength?
Lillian glanced sideways at Annie. Her expression was as cold as ever, but there was a faint, barely perceptible restlessness in her eyes.
If a battle really broke out…
Which side would you choose?