The invasion was going swiftly, so far. Ever since the four warriors departed on their mission to capture the founding titan, all traces of them were lost. They never showed up at the bay, so it was reasonable that after several years, the command started to grow restless. And so, they've decided to send their most valuable asset, into the field.

That certain asset was one Zeke Yeager.

A son of two notable rebels, which he personally gave away to the authorities, who started out as a talentless deadweight, eventually turned out to be the most vital part in Marley's defence. His ability of erratic bombing, and throwing different projectiles at long distances, proved to be one of the most fearsome attacks at the military's disposal. But what was even more special about the man, was his second ability.

He could summon his own titans, using his scream. Marleyans weren't aware of this, but Zeke himself was pretty sure that he could attribute it to his heritage. His mother, Dina Fritz, was a descendant of the royal family. Thus, Zeke concluded that he was able to somehow emulate the power of the coordinate.

Nevertheless, unbeknownst to the military, the man had his own, secret agenda. One that his mentor had bestowed upon him all those years ago…

"Alright!" The Marleyan officer exclaimed "there should be a village, just in front of us."

The small squad stopped in their tracks. Right now, they were in the territory of wall Rose, and even though they were pretty sure about not encountering any retaliation, one could never be too cautious.

Zeke looked back towards the transformed Pieck.

Despite her titan form being somewhat hideous, she had perfected it well during those five years. Her quick thinking and usually correct decision-making were traits that complimented the cart titan in a way never seen before.

He turned to look at the other soldiers. They weren't really vigilant, as of right now. They didn't even have their gas masks on, yet…

Their plan was simple. Find a small village, turn the inhabitants into titans, and create a diversion, so that he could get some intel on the whereabouts of the missing warriors, and the army of Paradis.

'If you could even call it an army' Zeke thought, rolling his eyes.

The idiotic notions that some of his people seemed to be sharing, were truly pitiful. Suicidal charges, right into certain death were not uncommon among them, according to some of the information the Marleyan military possessed. Especially, among the well-known survey corps…

"Hold up" Pieck suddenly spoke up, tensing, right as the soldiers were about to climb on her back and reach for the equipment for the planned gas attack.

The blonde shifter turned back towards the cart titan. Just what was the girl rambling about, now?

"What is it?" The Marleyan officer asked with annoyance.

"We're not alone" Pieck exclaimed, assuming a battle stance, while staring at something that was right in front of them.

The whole squad turned at once, to look just who was approaching.

Much to their surprise, it was a young woman with dark hair. Some of the soldiers even started chuckling up at that weird phenomenon.

"Hah, guess she wants something from us…"

"She must be some kind of a local attraction…"

Something definitely wasn't right, and those fools were apparently having the time of their lives.

"Shut up!" Zeke cried out, silencing the soldiers "why would she approach us if she already saw Pieck?"

"Maybe she's deranged…"

"Could she be one of us?"

"No way! She looks nothing like Annie…"

Whatever that meant, it couldn't be any good. The soldiers had some light guns and rifles at their disposal, so they obviously weren't scared of a single female. They didn't have any heavy weaponry though, so if Zeke's fears turned out to be justified…

"Welcome!" The woman cried out, when she was at a shouting distance.

That was very unsettling. Were they expected? And just who exactly was that woman?

Apparently, the officer had already heard enough, so he took out his rifle and pointed it towards the female.

"Hands up!" He yelled with authority "and walk slowly towards us!"

The woman didn't need to be told twice, as she did exactly as he said.

With each passing second, Zeke was getting more and more nervous about this weird situation. As the woman approached them closer, he managed to make out some of her other features.

She seemed pretty tall for a woman. At that, she was wearing a fine, white, soft-looking robe, that ended just above her ankles. Another weird thing about her was that she was walking barefoot.

"I was growing restless" she informed them as she stopped in her tracks, just a few meters away from them "my name is Frieda Reiss, by the way…"

'Frieda Reiss…' Zeke thought as he noticed that the female was looking at him.

"What's your name?" She asked all of a sudden.

"On your knees!" The officer yelled, with the gun in his hand.

Frieda spared him only a single pitiful glance.

"Make me" she said to the officer.

Suddenly, something clicked within Zeke's mind. This occurrence was unexpected only because they assumed that the king of the walls would stay passive during the whole invasion.

What if he, or rather she, didn't?

"NO!" The blonde yelled at the soldiers approaching the female "DON'T GO NEAR HER!"

Just as those Marleyans looked back at him with surprise, a grin appeared on Frieda's face.

"I kneel to no one…" she exclaimed, before bringing her hand to her mouth.

Thanks to his instinct and quick thinking, Zeke managed to do so in time as well.

Explosions ripped through the landscape, as titan flesh formed out of thin air, accompanied by huge clouds of smoke.

How could those soldiers be so foolish and underestimate that woman. It truly said something about the state of their army…

However, right now, the only thing that mattered, was bringing Frieda down.

"It's the king of the walls" he heard Pieck from behind, when his body finished forming.

"Prepare for battle" Zeke ordered, looking forward at the slowly dissipating cloud of smoke.

The Marleyans could only cower behind the cart titan with fear sprawled over their faces, as they didn't really have any weaponry that could rival the power of a shifter.

Especially when that particular shifter was the founding titan…

"We should retreat and regroup!" The officer yelled, with fear.

But this was his once in a lifetime opportunity. If he managed to take over the power of the founder here and now, his dream would surely come true.

"No!" He affirmed "this is our chance! If we don't act upon it, who knows how many years it will take us to find the founding titan again? I will take over the coordinate right here, right now!"

The Marleyan couldn't really argue with the giant form of the beast titan, so he gave in.

"Alright!" The man yelled again "what's your plan…?!"

The moment he said that a cloud of weird gas enveloped the entire surrounding area. Zeke watched in amazement as the soldiers started coughing and collapsing on the ground.

"What?" Pieck exclaimed with shock.

This kind of ability was unbeknownst to those of the nine. The occurrence pretty much confirmed what he already knew.

"Must be some kind of a sleeping gas" Zeke spoke, concentrating at the form of his opponent, emerging from the smoke "she definitely is the king of the walls…"

Just how in the world, did she manage to break the vow to renounce the war?

But the shifter had no time to think, as his foe suddenly lunged forward.

His titan form was way too slow to avoid getting hit, so the hardened fist landed right on his face.

'Damn, she hits hard' he thought as his form was sent flying through the air, before dropping to the ground several hundred meters away.

This was the entire problem. While his titan remained unrivalled on long distances, close combat wasn't his strength.

He momentarily looked up and saw that the moment Frieda landed her hit, Pieck managed to sneak up on her. Right now, the brave shifter was clinging to her back, trying to bite into the founding titan's neck.

This was his moment to retaliate.

Noticing a huge boulder just to the side, he quickly reached out for it, and as fast as he could, broke it down in his hands.

'An eye for an eye' Zeke thought, as he prepared to throw the makeshift projectiles.

However, he didn't take into account the fact that Pieck was right there with her, and just as he was swinging his arm, Frieda managed to get the upper hand, and used the girl's titan form to shield herself.

Cursing under his nose, the beast titan dropped the projectiles, not wanting to hurt his fellow teammate. This was going to be way harder, than he initially thought…

Frieda didn't waste any time and upon noticing that her main concern just resigned from using his deadliest attack, she threw the cart titan right back at him.

Instead of catching his fellow shifter, Zeke decided that this was the moment to start his attack. Avoiding the flying form of Pieck, the beast titan started running as fast as he could at his foe.

'I'll take the founder… I'll fulfil your dream, Mister Ksaver…'

But fate had other plans, as Frieda foresaw his attack coming, and ducked under his slow fist.

Then, she delivered her own, finishing blow to his head.

As two strong fists impacted with his skull, pain spread all over the man's body. There wasn't a single nerve within him, that wasn't screaming right now. As he desperately tried to harden his neck, Frieda opened her mouth, revealing a full set of sharp teeth.

'No… not yet…' Zeke thought as the titan form of the king of the walls, bit on his nape area, hard.

That was the end of him. As all light in his vision slowly turned into darkness, regret was the only thing he was feeling.