Dina was contemplating everything in silence. It turned out that Grisha managed to complete his mission. Too bad, it was all for nothing.
"Hey" Hange asked her "we still have you and Eren, right?"
"…You don't understand…" the blonde woman exclaimed while taking sharp breaths "…none of the power we have can match Marley…"
"I'm sure it isn't as bad as you think…"
"They have six titans at their disposal… One of which is the most destructive force on earth… Their army is as big as the population of this island…"
Everyone was looking at Dina with wide eyes. She couldn't bear to see their despair. She closed her eyes, trying to hold back the tears.
"…The plan was centred around the power of the founder…" she nearly sobbed "…but it doesn't matter anymore…"
"Hey" Dina suddenly heard someone call out.
She looked up to see Erwin.
"Are you okay?" He asked her with concern.
Rod Reiss was headed to the Orvud district. Being an abnormal, the vast number of humans was attracting him towards the city, and so they couldn't evacuate it. It has been decided, the scouts would deal with the titan here.
"I'm okay…" Dina slowly responded.
"I heard you were panicking, just a few hours ago" the man said.
"…Right now, everyone should…"
Erwin looked towards her with considerate eyes.
"I'm sure my plan…"
"I'm not talking about Rod Reiss!" She snapped suddenly.
Erwin cringed away with surprise. Seeing what she did, Dina lowered her gaze to the floor.
"I'm sorry about that" she said weakly "I was out of line."
"No, it's okay" Erwin slowly replied, "you're worried about Marley, aren't you?"
Dina nodded at that. Erwin went over and sat with her. They were currently in the barracks of the Orvud district. It would still be some time until dawn, and the plans had been already put in motion, so everyone was relaxed for now.
"We have no chance…" Dina said after the long moment of silence "…without the power of the founder, we're going to lose…"
"Not all is lost" Erwin suddenly interjected "we're still alive, and we know what lies before us."
The woman looked up at Erwin's face.
"As long as we're fighting" the commander continued "I'm sure we'll be able to find a way. And they can't know if we are actually able to use this power. If that isn't an advantage, then I don't know what is."
"Yeah" Dina admitted with newfound conviction "you're right. This isn't over yet."
She suddenly stood up.
"Let's kill Rod Reiss!" The woman said vigorously.
The first part of Erwin's plan was simple. They would try to kill the titan using the cannons stationed on the wall. If that failed, they would switch to the second part.
As Dina watched the sun rise, the noise of exploding shells was filling the air. Yet, no matter how many bullets hit the target, it didn't seem to have much effect on the humungous titan.
'Let's switch to plan B' she thought as she retreated from the front of the wall.
Rod Reiss was getting nearer with each passing second. His limbs were too small for him to be able to stand, so he just crawled forward. Everyone felt it when the titan finally reached the wall.
As the giant hands grabbed at it, a cloud of smoke coming from the giant filled the air. The monstrous body of Rod Reiss raised up from the ground. It looked horrific. Due to the constant crawling, his face had been scuffed. The underside of the beast had been ripped open, and some of the titan's organs fell out of its belly.
Suddenly, the commander fired a flare.
Two makeshift carts launched at the monstrosity's hands. Upon hitting their targets, both of them exploded.
Now that the titan had nothing to support itself, it fell head-on right at the wall.
Seeing that the head was positioned in the expected place, Erwin fired a second flare.
From the smoke, Eren's titan emerged, holding a net full of explosives. He was running straight at the beast's mouth.
When he was close enough, he threw the net right into its mouth opening.
The moment he did that, an explosion ripped through the air. The titan's entire head along with the neck had been blown up into the air.
"ALL TROOPS!" The commander yelled an order "USE YOUR MANEUVERING GEAR TO FINISH IT OFF!"
All scouts dispatched immediately. Dina was cutting through the bits of titan flesh left and right, yet none of those seemed to contain the weak spot.
Suddenly, she saw that Historia launched ahead of everyone. She was heading towards a huge piece, which seemed to have some parts of the backbone.
As the girl neared the fragment, she slashed her swords right at it.
In this moment, Dina felt a tingle of electricity run through her. Looking towards the flying girl, she already knew, that they had won.
It all went according to Erwin's plan. It was Historia herself who proposed to be the actual one to finish Rod Reiss off. It was meant to be a stunt, to introduce her character to the public, but Dina didn't expect the girl to actually pull this off.
After the short battle, the press did its part at showcasing the young girl known as Historia Reiss as the saviour of the Orvud district. Thanks to that, the people were waiting with anticipation for her coronation.
When the day finally came, the sun was shining brightly, and no clouds could be seen over the capital. The people fell to their knees with worship as Historia entered the platform wearing full regalia.
Dina looked up with pride, as Darius Zackley crowned the new queen. In that moment, the crowds erupted into cheers, wishing the best for their new ruler. And Dina, was one of those people. She knew that it was Historia who had chosen to be the queen, and not Krista.
"Long live the queen!" Dina shouted along the rest.
