𝚈/𝚗'𝚜 𝙿𝙾𝚅

We prepared for an ambush, but the cloaked people turned out to be Deputy Commander Hanji and Moblit, who brought news of the coup d'état's success.

As a result of Commander Erwin's actions, the end of the current royal regime was declared.

The announcement was made immediately after the military seized control of the capital, upon the very gallows constructed for Commander Erwin's execution.

She also revealed that the newspapers have printed the truth about the false charges against the Scouts, thanks to Flegel Reeves.

Our only mission now is to rescue Eren and Historia and eliminate those who get in the way.

We don't have to hide in the forest and attack others who want our heads for 'betraying' the government.

We are free people now.

The rest of the squad cheered. I chuckled as I watched Mikasa being suffocated by Sasha.

Connie jumped and kicked at nothing in particular as Jean fist-bumped the air. Captain Levi remained silent, but he was relieved.

"We did it, Y/n!" Armin suddenly wrapped his arms around me. His face was so close to mine that we were rubbing each other's cheeks.

If he switched angles or moved his face slightly to the right, our lips would've made contact.

My face heated up as I realized that he doesn't know how close he is. I shrugged and just accepted the hug.

"U-Uh, sorry!" Armin squeaked and quickly pulled away from the hug. His face heated up while mine had already calmed down.

"It's fine." I replied, bashfully looking away as the two of us just awkwardly stood there.

"I may have a lead on that. Let's get there and put an end to this battle." Deputy Commander Hanji held up a book.

༛༛ ༛ ༛༺༻༛ ༛ ༛༛

Right now, we are riding a wagon that is being driven by Armin. Across from me is Captain Levi and Deputy Commander Hanji.

Next to me is my fellow, female childhood friend, Mikasa, who was just silently sitting down.

Deputy Commander Hanji explained the contents of the report Erwin gave us.

Five years ago, there was an incident with the Reiss family on the day Wall Maria was breached.

Some bandits raided and set fire to the only chapel in the area, while the Reiss family was inside. The entire family, aside from Rod Reiss, was killed.

This was only a few days before Historia's mother was killed by the Interior Police, which meant that Rod Reiss sought Historia immediately after losing his family.

Captain Levi concluded that there must be something special about her bloodline.

Deputy Commander Hanji was still uncertain, but what concerns her is that parts of the chapel were completely wrecked despite having been made of stone.

And then after the chapel's destruction, Rod Reiss used his own fortune to rebuild it, strangely enough.

Because of that, Deputy Commander Hanji decided that it was worth checking the chapel out to clear our suspicions.

"What are you thinking about, Armin? Do you mind sharing it with me?" I questioned. I turned to Captain Levi and he nodded.

He permitted me to talk to Armin. I sat down next to him as he continued to drive the wagon by controlling the horse.

"If a Titan really gained the ability to transform after eating a human who can do so, it only raises more questions." Armin stated.

"Raises more questions, huh? Kinda like when and how did Eren become a Titan? Who did Eren eat to gain his powers?" I said.

"Exactly..." he mumbled. To save Eren's butt once again, we head to the Reiss chapel.

Captain Levi warned us that Kenny will be our biggest obstacle and we should regard him as Levi's equal, or an even deadlier enemy given by his gear.

The others express their concerns about whether they can actually beat Kenny Ackermann.

"But based on what the captain said, he must have at least one weak point." Armin argued.

"You serious, Armin?" Jean raised a brow at him, uncertain of Armin's statement.

"Yeah. He may have the training, but he doesn't have our practical experience." Armin elaborated.

They discuss Kenny's surname. Captain Levi asked Mikasa if Kenny might be a relative of hers.

Mikasa replied, saying that she heard from her parents that the Ackermans were once persecuted in the cities, but she never learned the reason.

Levi asked her if she ever experienced a moment when she felt a power awaken in her.

I recall Mikasa telling me about something like that when she decided to visit my room and have a sleepover.

Mikasa told him that she has, and Captain Levi explained that Kenny also had such a moment.

We had finally arrived at the chapel and all of us parked the wagons somewhere.

As I was about to get down from the wagon, a hand was offered towards me. I looked at the owner of the hand to see Armin.

"Need help?" he asked. I gently smiled and accepted his offer, placing my hand on his as he helped me get down.

Inside the publicly known chapel rebuilt by Rod Reiss, we search the interior of the chapel.

Deputy Commander Hanji discovered a trapdoor under a rug. I'm sure that's where Eren and Historia are.

"All right, we're good to go." Armin informed once he was done attaching his gas tanks to the explosives.

"Are we? And is everyone prepared to get their hands dirty?" Captain Levi turned to us. I gave him a nod while the others looked unsure, some even were hesitant.

"Looks that way." Captain Levi sighed. I noticed the fearful look on Armin's face. He doesn't seem too fond of murdering another one of our species.

"Something on your mind again, Armin?" I questioned, glancing at his face. He seemed to be deep in thought since he didn't hear me.

"Armin?" I shook his shoulder. This seemed to bring him back to reality since he gasped in surprise.

"Y-Yes, Y/n?" he stuttered, turning to face me.

"If you have something on your mind, don't be afraid to tell me." I informed him. He gave me a nod and proceeded to clear his throat.

"There's a flaw in the design of the anti-personnel ODM gear." he mentioned. Everyone seemed to be paying attention to our conversation.

"And what may that be? I didn't really get to observe it." I inquired, leaning against the barrels that we will be using for later.

"The barrel and the anchors are fixed to point in the same direction." Armin stated.

"This means that its users are completely unable to aim behind them." I concluded, making him nod.

"But an even greater flaw is that once the user has fired two shots, they have to take the time to reload." he added.

This will be easy, but there's no guarantee that we'll all make it out alive without any injuries or worse...deaths.

༛༛ ༛ ༛༺༻༛ ༛ ༛༛

𝟹𝚛𝚍 𝙿𝚎𝚛𝚜𝚘𝚗 𝙿𝙾𝚅

The doors leading above ground burst open as barrels of gunpowder, augmented with bags of oil, roll down the stairs to the floor below.

Sasha fired a flaming arrow from her bow and into one of the barrels, causing it to explode.

Levi, Hanji, and their squad members charge in after them. Other squad members fire signal flares into the air.

"Thirty-five enemies! They're gathered behind the pillars! Continue as planned! We'll take them all down here!" Levi instructed.

"All troops, spread out! Surround them one at a time!" Caven, the assistant leader of the opposing group, ordered.

Jean and Connie both take out enemy soldiers as Sasha and Armin provide cover by shooting arrows at the barrels and shooting smoke signals.

Y/n glided through the smoke and doesn't realize that one of them is at the crystal pillar next to her.

The man spotted her and used his anti-personnel ODM gear to attack her from behind until a smoke signal is fired in between them.

Through the smoke, the man cuts through it, only to find nothing. He stared at it, confused.

"Where'd she go?!" the man angrily yelled, searching around him frantically.

"I'm right behind you." Y/n whispered, using her blade to slice his entire head off. The man's head fell to the ground.

"I actually killed someone..." Y/n muttered, staring at the head that was rolling on the ground until it came to a sudden stop.

"I killed one of our kind...a person who is just doing this because they have a different perspective..." Y/n whispered, shaking a little.

"Y/n! Try to stay hidden in the smoke while you fight!" Armin instructed, firing another smoke signal in her direction.

Y/n turned to him to see him staring right back at her. He gave Y/n a reassuring smile, which made Y/n relax.

"That's right...I'm doing this for the sake of Armin. I need to stain my hands more." Y/n scolded herself.

"Y/n." Mikasa called out to Y/n, making her turn to the person who called out to her. She gestured to the 6 people to her right.

"Mikasa." Y/n nodded. The two of them glided towards the 6 enemies. Y/n dodged every bullet that came her way as Mikasa stayed behind pillars.

"Whoops." Y/n mumbled, barely dodging a bullet that nearly hit her. It could've even killed her if she wasn't paying attention. Well, her body would've reacted either way, though.

The two of them took out 6 people easily. It was as if their dead bodies meant nothing to them.

Mikasa was focused on saving Eren from getting eaten. Y/n was focused on staining her hands in blood for 'the sake of Armin'.

Seeing Hanji approach, Caven fired wildly off-target to feign weakness and create an opening. Hanji fell for the bait and chases after her.

Caven landed on a wall and shot one of the anchors from her Anti-Personnel ODM gear into Hanji's shoulder.

This allowed her to swing Hanji across the field until momentum tore Hanji free and threw her against one of the crystal cavern's pillars. Hanji fell motionless to the ground.

The Scouts stared at Hanji's motionless body as it fell to the ground. They couldn't believe what they were seeing.

Taking advantage of the Scouts' collective shock, Caven called for the Anti-Personnel Squad to fall back to their final defensive post.

"You're not going anywhere!" Y/n declared, gliding her way through the smoke to catch up to them.

"She's getting closer!" one of them shrieked, shooting a bullet at Y/n, only for it to be in vain as she dodged.

As she managed to kill one of them by piercing her blade through their heart, a smoke signal was shot in front of her.

She turned to the origin of the smoke signal and saw Armin staring back at her with his smoke signal ready.

"Y/n, fall back! They're luring you into a trap! Don't fall for it!" Armin yelled. Y/n nodded and went back to them.

The Scouts pursued the Anti-Personnel Control Squad through the Underground Chapel, only to encounter a net that the Interior Police had dropped during their retreat.

Y/n could nonchalantly slip through one of the holes of the net and dodge the bullets, but even she wasn't sure if she'll make it out uninjured.

However, the bright light from a Titan transformation shines from the back of the cavern, drawing attention.

"This must be..." Jean mumbled.

"A Titan's forming!" Levi pointed out.

"Eren!" Mikasa called out, as usual.

"This isn't Eren transforming. Every time Eren transforms, he would always let out a roar. Thus, it is either Historia or Rod Reiss." Y/n stated.

"Captain! The hole!" Armin pointed out the hole that was no longer patched. Levi ordered Armin and Moblit to take the wounded Hanji to safety.

"See you later, Armin." Y/n waved at him before following the rest of the Scouts who went to rescue Eren and Historia.

Mikasa managed to catch Historia before she slams into the wall behind her and shortly after, the rest of Squad Levi arrived.

Levi asked for the keys, and they, including Conny and Jean, began to free Eren.

Eren protested, saying that they should just leave him, but Jean told him to shut up.

"I feel like this thing is even bigger than the Colossal Titan." Sasha said, staring at the Titan that was still forming.

They pull Eren free as part of the ceiling collapses and lands on the platform where Eren was chained just a moment before.

Squad Levi finds themselves pressed back against the cavern walls with no clear way out.

"I'm sorry, everyone. I've been completely useless. We were wrong all along. I was never humanity's way forward." Eren apologizes to everyone.

Jean does not accept it though, pointing out that Eren has never accomplished anything by himself.

Connie chimes in, reminding Eren that collectively, they have been through worse than this.

"Shut up for once, Eren. It's okay to cry, but don't ever call yourself useless after everything you've done, you reckless idiot." Y/n smacks the back of Eren's head.

The group plans their escape using Omni-directional mobility gear and carrying both Eren and Historia.

Eren does not think it is possible, but Historia refuses to do nothing. Levi grudgingly tells Eren that he needs to make a choice.

Chagrined, Eren grabs a bottle labeled, 'Armor', on the ground and charges at Rod's Titan. He breaks it between his teeth.

When he transformed, pillars of crystal rise from the ground around his Titan, reinforcing the structural integrity of the cavern around it.

"Everyone! Get underneath Eren!" Levi orders. They all nodded and proceeded to follow their captain's orders.

Several Titans, most notable the Armored Titan, have displayed an ability to harden their bodies.

Eren attempted to reproduce this effect while he was hiding to seal up Wall Maria.

However, he was unsuccessful up until he attempted it beneath the Reiss chapel to protect the rest of his squad.

Inside the cavern, Jean and Mikasa break Eren out of his Titan, which has completely turned into crystal.

Once freed, he looks at the remains of his Titan in shock as Levi calls the effect, 'hardening'. Even after cutting Eren out, his Titan has not gone away.

Connie and Sasha descend through a hole in the ceiling to announce they have secured an exit route.

"What about Armin's condition?" Y/n questioned.

"Armin's okay! And so are the others!" Connie replied. The two rushed towards Eren and sighed in relief.

"You really saved us all! But if I'm being honest, when you suddenly ran off with tears streaming down your face, I thought, 'We're gonna die! This loony sadsack is about to doom us all with his incompetence! Quit being a darn baby this instant!', that's the honest truth." Sasha confessed.

"Hey..." Connie sweatdropped. Honestly, Y/n thought of the same thing, but she wasn't going to be the one to say it.

Levi ordered everyone to start heading up to follow Rod Reiss, who was dragging his face on the ground as he approached the walls.

𝚈/𝚗'𝚜 𝙿𝙾𝚅

"Y/n, you're safe." Armin smiled, grabbing my hand and lifting me up. I tugged on his hand and pulled myself up.

"Eren was being a baby and crying, so we had to encourage him again." I reasoned.

"I was not!" Eren retorted from behind as he walked past me with Mikasa next to him.

"Was too." I argued.

"Was not!" Eren replied again before Mikasa told him to quiet down and rest for the whole day.

Eren glanced at me once more and I decided to mock him a little, so I stuck my tongue out at him.

"Wh-Why you!" he was about to dash towards me and tackle me before Mikasa lifted him from the ground and carried him to the wagon.

"M-Mikasa! Let me go! I'm not your kid or little brother!" Eren yelled, struggling to escape her grasp.

All of us boarded our own horses while Armin drove the wagon with Deputy Commander Hanji, Eren, and Historia in it.

I was riding the horse that was right next to the wagon, but I was closer to the driver's seat, where Armin was.

Mikasa was close to the actual wagon so that she can keep an eye on Deputy Commander Hanji, Eren, and Historia, mostly Eren.

"Erwin." Captain Levi called out, making Commander Erwin stop and check up on all of us.

"Is everyone all right?" Commander Erwin questioned, checking inside the wagon to find an injured woman.

"Hanji's our only casualty." Captain Levi answered, making his way to the wagon as well.

"The injury doesn't seem too life-threatening." I informed. He gave me a nod and glanced at the wound to make sure.

Captain Levi also lets Commander Erwin know that the Titan, dragging its face on the ground, is Rod Reiss.

Erwin decided that we will all head for Orvud District since that is the Titan's likely destination.

"Y/n, aren't you tired? It's been a long day of hiding and I haven't seen you resting.?" Armin inquired.

He gave me short glances since he had to focus ahead of him to avoid crashing the wagon.

"Not really. My head feels heavy, but I can manage. Plus, passing out randomly is getting on my nerves, so I'll force my body to stay awake." I replied.

"I see. But if you're tired, I don't mind allowing you to rest in the wagon or if you want, you can..." his voice trailed off as he looked away from me with cheeks dusted with light pink.

"Hm?" I asked. He shook his head and told me it was nothing.

"So, if I have all this right, Rod Reiss was trying to recover the Founding Titan's power from within Eren." Deputy Commander Hanji started.

"And that power can't be fully utilized by anybody outside the Reiss bloodline." she added.

"But when a Reiss is in possession of the Founding Titan's power, the will of the first king prevents them from liberating humanity from the Titans." she rambled.

"Well, now. I wonder why that is. This is the first king's idea of true peace? He must have had a strange way of looking at it." she mumbled.

"What this means is that we still have a choice. If I let that Titan eat me, Rod Reiss will return to being human. It's still possible to use the true power of the Founding Titan." Eren concluded.

"You can't..." Mikasa muttered.

"Seems that way. We could capture Rod Reiss once he becomes human and undo the first king's brainwashing. If we could do that, we might find a way to save humanity." Captain Levi stated.

Historia, however, reminds us of their other option. First of all, we have no idea if you can undo the brainwashing.

"Yeah. Right now, we can't even be sure Rod Reiss will return to normal if he eats Eren." Armin elaborated.

"Also, Rod Reiss is too busy eating dirt over there. I'm sure he even lost his face from dragging it so much." I added.

"Exactly." Historia said.

Now that the Founding Titan has been taken away from the Reiss family, they have an unprecedented chance to change things for humanity.

She believed that Eren's father was trying to save humanity, and took away the Founding Titan and murdered the Reiss family because he had no other choice.

"That's right! We knew Dr. Jaeger. He wouldn't do something like that for no reason." Armin stated.

"Right. There must be a way to save humanity without the Reiss bloodline. That's why he left you the key to the basement." Mikasa reminded.

"Even if Rod Reiss devours you and takes the Founding Titan's powers back, what can he do? Nothing." I answered my own question.

Deputy Commander Hanji agreed with this plan but asked Historia if she was all right with what it means because we will have to kill her father.

We cannot allow a Titan that large to roam free, nor can we even restrain it. We don't have the