Levi

"This is goodbye, Captain. You care about your subordinates. You're not gonna slice them up just 'cause they've grown a bit, are you?"

Levi is propelled up the treeline just as one of the newly spawned Titans tries to consume him. Still in shock, humanity's strongest soldier stares down his former comrades, now his monstrous enemies. "Was it the wine?" Levi didn't consume any, but the wine that the Scout recruits got is usually reserved for the Military Police, and the wine is of Marleyan origin. The soldiers begged for permission to drink it, and Levi relented. How did he not see this coming?

"His spinal fluid was in the wine?! Since when?! He said as their bodies would become rigid. There weren't any signs of that…is that because it was a lie?" Levi suddenly gasps as the Titans climb up the trees, but with greater speed and skill than a normal Titan could. He leaps off, narrowly dodging another leaper. He draws his blades, cutting the hand of another Titan. As he heads for its nape, he recognizes the face of the Titan as a man named Barris. Painfully, he dodges out of the way of the Titan's mouth, allowing it to hit a tree trunk. As he descends, he gazes around at the multitude of Titans. "Are you...still...in there...you guys?"

No answer comes from the gathering of Titans, and sadly, Levi must do what he must to survive...

Zeke

"Didn't I say that I didn't want to do something like this? I'm sad, though. This is neither a conflict nor battle. This is farewell. We couldn't trust one another. But even that was understandable. You've seen so little of the world, and it's far too different from what you think it is. But it seems you've misunderstood the success of the surprise attack on Liberio. The war potential of the entire world will soon gather upon this island. Thinking to yourselves that you have power, that you have time, that you have options. That's what you've really misunderstood, Levi. Those are your mistakes."

Zeke turns away from the direction where Levi is fighting as he is escorted out of the forest by a trio of Titans. "Well, even if I had said my true intentions… You guys probably wouldn't understand."

"Hey, Eren, we're the only ones who understand, right?" Zeke looks forward to where he hopes the exit to this forest is also in the right direction. "If I can escape this forest, soon, I'll be where you are. But you do remember the exact time and place… Right, Eren?.. Hmm?" A black line suddenly enters Zeke's right peripheral view. Turning to it, he sees it is an ODM line, and behind it is the lieutenant slashing the nape of one of the escorts. The bloody devil himself. "GO!"

Levi flies forward, taking out the arm and nape of the lead Titan, and flies around to the Titan carrying Zeke. With no other option, Zeke leaps off and bites his hand. "Why are you still alive!"

After his transformation, Zeke protects his nape with a crystal covering while scanning the area. "Where did you go? Levi! Ah, over there, eh!" Grabbing and crushing a Titan's face, Zeke flings the flesh at Levi, who dodges and disappears again. That incites the Beast's anger, but furthermore, does that mean Levi took care of his subordinates? "What happened to your cute subordinates? Don't tell me you killed them? How pitiful!" Zeke senses movement behind him and throws more flesh, only to see that he notices falling branches...from above.

"Checkmate, you bearded-face bastard. You weren't reading obediently, but aside from that… How could I misunderstood anything? To think you could escape me because you turned my subordinates into Titans… You thought that I couldn't kill my comrades? Do you know just how many comrades we've killed? You probably wouldn't even know." Zeke throws up more flesh bits in a bid to protect himself, but some branches do get past and strike at the hardened nape. No, those aren't branches. It's those damned explosive spears!

"UWAHHH!"

Zeke is ejected from the Beast Titan with a strong explosion, dropping on the ground somehow alive but immensely disfigured. He feels Levi grab his head and hold him up. "Hey, beard-face. You asshole. You reek of filth, and you're in damn bad shape for a piece of shit. Don't worry, I won't be killing you… Yet."

Hange...Shiganshina District...

"What? Hange?!"

Hange, Floch, and a few Jaegerists exit out of the headquarters within Shiganshina to the roof, where Instructor Sadies and his 109th Training Corps stand. The pale-haired brat begins shouting orders as soon as he spots Sadies. "It's been a while, Instructor. It's sudden, but we'll be taking over this subdivision of the Army Corps. We're the ones who are being called the 'Jaegerists' or something like that. From here onwards, you mobilize according to our orders."

"The Jaegerists…"

Sadies scoffs. "You seem to know your place quite well, Floch. An asshole like you is like that statue of a little boy that's pissing into a fountain. If you think that you wouldn't be considered a comrade by anyone else unless you pointed a gun at me… Then you're absolutely right."

Floch suddenly fires, the bullet bouncing off the ground by Sadie's foot. The ex-Commander of the Scouting Regiment, however, remains unmoved. "I missed… Anyways, I thought if I shot at your leg, I could make you talk faster and get it over with."

"Talk about what?"

Floch shakes his head as he steps past Sadies. "Nah, it has nothing to do with you. We don't need an old guy like you, who's got no redeeming qualities aside from being obstinate. From now on… Those of you in the Training Corps! This is your era! Those of us known as Jaegerists have sworn to dedicate our hearts to save Eldia from the brink of collapsing. This won't be for the sake of the old Army Corps organization but for the sake of our people living on this island! If we remain dependent on the old-fashioned Army Corps that doesn't know what to do, we'll only get trampled by the enemy in the outside world! Now, I'm asking you all, who are you all? Are you someone who will live together with us, in a future led by Eren Jaeger, or are you someone who will remain with Keith Sadies here, and commit double suicide alongside your own customs?"

A few walk over in front of Floch, saluting him with their right fist over their heart. "For the sake of Eldia's future, I'll give my heart!"

"Alright, show me your resolve! Beat up Instructor Sadies until he can no longer stand! This guy is the embodiment of all the bad habits that we ought to be weeding out! Let me see you purge them! Those who cannot do this will be thrown in jail!"

"Cut it out, Floch," Hange exclaims. "Stop acting like an idiot."

"Hange," Sadies says, "regardless of how many pipsqueaks come at me… They're no match for me..." Or so he says, but Hange watches as Sadies is brutally beaten by each and every single one of the students to Floch's satisfaction. What's worse is that she cannot stop them. So this is what Floch wants, to see the old broken and destroyed while the new rises from the ashes. How...idiotic, she would think, but wasn't she once party to the destruction of the old regime and the rising of the new four years prior? But unlike then… Erwin plotted each step out without a single drop of blood. How many have bled due to the Jaegerists?

Floch chuckles as Sadies lies on the ground a broken, beaten mess. "You did well. All of you will be welcome." He turns to Hange, who has her back to him as he heads back inside. "Well… Would you guide me to where Zeke is being detained, Commander Hange?"

Levi

"Urgh…"

"Are you awake? Hey, wait, don't move." Levi gestures to the spear implanted in Zeke's abdomen. "The Thunder Spear's fuse is connected to a wire that's been tied around your neck. If you move recklessly, it'll detonate from your abdomen. You'll probably end up in two pieces, to say the least." Levi looks out to the setting sun as the horses pull the cart he and Zeke ride in, hearing the vomiting struggles of the wounded Beast Titan. "Given the state you're in, it's hard for me to even tell you not to die. But it's not like I have any sympathy for you. You treaded over the lives of my subordinates, all according to your plan. Was being covered in vomit and shit while bawling your eyes out...all according to your plan?" Levi takes out his blades and dismembers Zeke's legs, causing the Beast to howl. "Shut up. If I don't chop you up like this, an asshole like you could end up turning into a Titan, right?"

"M… My...glasses...where are they?"

"Oh? As if I'd know. You won't be needing your glasses anymore, anyway.

Zeke

"You should have been exterminated, all of you! But you still have children! Why do you still give birth to other demons?"

"Remember Zeke, this is the outside world. If this world is wrong, then it must be changed. Zeke, you will be the one to save us all…"

I did not come here to die...I did not plan all of this to die here and now. I became a warrior...because my mother and father saw hope in me. I studied the history of Eldia, from both Marley's and Eldia's perspectives, for them. But I had no motivation to become a warrior. I did not want to be their hope. I just wanted to be their kid… But to save myself, to prove my loyalty to Marley, I had to turn against them.

Yet… I still wanted to save the world. And my predecessor, Tom Xavier, held the answer.

"About 600 years ago, an epidemic broke out. So many people died that it resulted in the world's population dropping sharply. But one day, the confining Empire of Eldia completely defeated the disease. It's not that there were fewer ill people. Among the Descendants of Ymir who caught the disease, not even one person died. The holder of the Founding Titan of the time had yielded its power and had rewritten the composition of the Descendants of Ymir's bodies in a way that was favorable to the situation. Basically, we Descendants of Ymir, no matter where or in what conditions we find ourselves in, we are like one part of the Founding Titan's body. What do you think? It's terrible, right?"

"Well then… I wonder, would the holder be able to make it so that Ymir's descendants cannot bear babies? If this person uses the power of the Founding Titan. If no more Descendants of Ymir were to be born… After 100 years, Titans would have surely vanished from this world. The world wouldn't have to be afraid of Titans or suffer because of them anymore. More than anything...if from the start we hadn't been born, there would have been no suffering. It would have been better."

That has been my drive, my goal. To ensure the world is safe, the people of Eldia must become sterile. No more fear from the world, no more suffering of the Eldians. Peace can now thrive. That is my dream… "The only possible...salvation...is Eldia's...euthanasia…"

"What did you say? Euthanasia or something? You're gonna end up dying inside some stinky Titan's mouth while hearing the sound of your own body getting chewed up, but...wouldn't that be an awfully gentle way for you to die, compared to the lives of my comrades that you've stolen…"

"I didn't steal them… I saved them. The lives of those children...from...this cruel world."

Levi looks down and draws his swords again. "Looks like your legs grew back."

"Isn't that right...Mr. Ksaver?! I hope you're watching! AAAAAHHHHHH!" Zeke pulls back on the fuse, causing the Thunder Spear in the cart to detonate...

Gabi

Alone in a cell of her own, alone for the first time in a foreign land, Gabi Braun can only reflect on the past month. She's deeply worried about Falco, who is elsewhere in this prison. She's worried about the Braus family, who took care of the two of them, and even defended her for the most part once her origins were revealed. She was also relieved but more worried about Zofia after learning the truth from the masked devil...no, that soldier. He is also the lover of the girl she shot, he...protected her as well. She cannot help but feel a strange sense of guilt. "They're devils, though... So why am I..."

The door to the cell opens. Gabi looks up to see the Attack and Founder Titan waltz inside, followed by a soldier. Immediately, she's filled with fear, the last encounter fresh in her mind. He, however, glares at her. "Hey, brat who killed Sasha."

"Wh-What do you want?"

"If you wanna save Falco, help me."

"Help...you? How?"

"Call for help on the radio to flush out intruders in the walls." Eren turns to the sound of a soldier's throat being slit, only to have a pistol aimed at his face.

"Don't move. And you be quiet, Gabi."

Gabi, however, can barely contain her happiness that the dark-haired woman who came for her. "Pieck!"

She holds a finger up. "Quiet. I take it you're Eren Jaeger, correct?" Eren doesn't answer, but it seems Pieck takes his silence as confirmation. "Gabi, aim the rifle at Eren." Remembering the last time she was threatened to not move, Gabi hesitates until Pieck eyes her. "Gabi!"

"...Understood."

"Eren, hands out of your pockets."

"And what if I refuse?"

"I pull the trigger and your brains hit the floor. Ever seen it? No time to transform."

"And? Why don't you pull it? If not, why else are you here? What happens if I don't listen?"

"That's something you'll never know. Once your brains hit-"

"I do know. You won't shoot." Eren steps over to Pieck, placing his forehead on the end of the barrel of the pistol. "You aren't allowed to kill the Founding Titan. Your orders are just to retake it. But for that, you'll have to turn into a Titan and eat me alive, right?"

Gabi raises her rifle, ready to shoot. "Pieck!"

"...Gabi, take your finger off the trigger."

Eren frowns. "You're not the only one who would pay for defying the military. Your family in the zone would, too."

Pieck sighs and holds both arms up. "Yeah, I won't shoot. And eating you doesn't seem possible either, so..."

"Pieck?"

"You found my Titan footprints from when I invaded, right? I thought I did well sneaking into your midst without being caught. But I have other reasons for not shooting. If you used the Founding Titan's power, couldn't you defeat Marley? You wouldn't make the world your enemy unless you knew you could win. Do you have something more than the Founding Titan?"

"Pieck..." Gabi confusingly calls. "What are you-"

"Gabi, put down the rifle."

"Supposing I did, what's your goal?" Eren asks.

"To free all Eldians in Marley and around the world. I want to free my family in the internment zone. I became a Warrior to get my dad, my only family, proper medical care. He survived, but he's incredibly sad knowing my term will soon be over. Before I die and leave him behind, I want to show him Eldia has a bright future. For that, Marley needs to be crushed. I'll help out however I can. If we can slaughter Marley, I'll do whatever it takes."

Gabi can't believe what she's hearing. Pieck...is betraying Marley too? "The mastermind of the attack on Marley...was Zeke. Now you? What have we been fighting for?! Once the world knows that we're good Eldians, won't they let us go free?!" She raises her rifle at Pieck. "You're the same as Zeke, a traitor!"

"Gabi. Are we Marleyans or are we Eldians? What do you think?"

"...We're...Honorary Marleyans."

"Wrong. We are Subjects of Ymir. That's the one truth we can't escape." Pieck steps over and snatches the rifle from Gabi. "No matter what we're called, we're a race that turns into Titans. But like we saw at Fort Slava, Titan power is on its way out. As soon as Marley can't use us, they'll slaughter us all. Even if we prove we're 'good Eldians,' there's zero chance that we're freed. We have to secure our right to live with our own hands."

"Prove it," Eren speaks. As Gabi and Pieck turn to him, they can see his right hand removed from his pocket, a finger dripping with blood. "If you're going to cooperate with us, show us you mean it."

Pieck nods. "I'll show you where my comrades are."

"How?"

"If we go to the roof, I can point out where they are."

Eren glares at Pieck, but the formation of healing steam on the finger proves he's willing to go along with her. "Fine."

Elijah

"So," Connie says under his breath, but audible enough for me to hear, "All we can do is sit here while it all plays out?"

I turn away from the group behind me as Mr. Braus and Nicolo serve tea to the 104th and the former's family. Placing my forehead on the cold steel bars, I sigh as I respond to Springer's question. "Seems that way."

"Armin, could you just bust out of here as a Titan?"

"No. I'd destroy the city. Unlike Eren's Titan, the Colossal Titan can't do something that precise."

"So? Why did Eren beat you to a pulp?" Jean asks. "It's about time you tell us."

Armin lowers his gaze. "He said hurtful things to Mikasa. I swung at him and he hit back."

"Huh?"

"He hurt Mikasa? How?"

"Well-"

"Stop," Mikasa pleads. "It's fine."

"No, it's not. What exactly did he-"

"Jean," I say firmly. "Now's not the time. But you're right, it was not 'fine.'"

"Besides," Connie adds. "We already know he's a total piece of shit. Now he's lost his mind and hurt the three people he should care about most."

"I think if he was sane," Jean comments. "he wouldn't do it without a good reason. Do you think there's some sort of meaning behind it?" I rest my head in my hand in thought. Freedom, that's what Eren wanted more than anything. I share that goal...but the way he's going about it-

"Long time no see, heroes of Shiganshina. It pains me to reunite in a place like this." Yelena... It's taking a good third of my will to not grab the oversized blonde-haired woman and smash her face repeatedly on the bars. I couldn't anyway because she's out of reach and Kaya and the other children are here. Yelena is not alone, with her stands Onyankopon and Nicolo's assistant, Griez.

In the presence of the former, Connie becomes irate. "Hey! You're on their side, too?! Let us out!"

Onyankopon sighs. "That's a lot to ask, considering you guys put me on house arrest. Just sit quiet and behave until Zeke and Eren meet."

"You-"

"Connie." I place a hand on the boy's shoulder as Jean steps up. As one of the two senior officers in the cell, and between Jean and me, he might not kill her, he approaches the bars as calmly as possible.

"Must be nice, Yelena. Everything went exactly how you planned. Through you, Eren moved how Zeke wanted. Raiding Marley, getting people's support, using wine to take over the military... Now Eldia and the Founding Titan are yours. You can crush Marley and avenge your homelands. Isn't that the reason you came to this island?"

"This island was primitive," Onyankopon says. "We brought it out of the past."

"Eh?!"

"So you and your pals could enjoy it," Nicolo interrupts. "Once you ruled that is."

"You were tricked and lost. That's all it is."

"Griez! Looks like you sold us out to get promoted to Yelena's lackey, you snitch!"

"Are you dumb? It's you who sided with the devils and betrayed us!"

"What?"

"Drooling over some devil spawn who reeked of potatoes!"

Nicolo's eyes sharpen as he reaches out the cell for Griez. "I'm gonna kill you!"

"Chill, Nicolo!"

As Jean struggles to hold Nicolo back, Griez continues on... "You wouldn't shut up about her, day and night. Stupid me thought you'd get a grip when the bitch died."

"Funny." I say, "A pussy like you would talk shit like this on the other side of the bars, knowing full well that I'd tear your fuckin' throat out in a heartbeat. Even then, you're lucky there are children present, then I would settle for a simple neck snappin'."

Griez scoffs. "Don't even get me started on you oh 'Conquerer of the Armor,' the way you trot around wearing the jacket of a worthless soldier and a necklace of two even more worthless devils."

I sneer, my willpower nearly failing me. "...What was that?"

"let me put it in terms you'll understand. Like you, that whore and your family were nothing more than the spawn-of-the-de-"

BANG!

Griez's head suddenly explodes and he drops to the floor with a hard thud.

"Yelena?!" Onyankopon shouts.

She turns to me and bows apologetically. "I apologize for his disrespect. This island has no need for those who would call you devils, especially those who have passed. Believe me, our true goal is nothing as hollow as getting revenge on Marley. Our goal is to end the cycle of hatred to save Eldia and even Marley. No more secrets, I'll tell you everything, about Zeke's plan to save the world: His 'euthanization' plan."

"Stop children from being born?"

Yelena nods to Armin's question. "Correct. That's Zeke's euthanization plan. All suffering brought about by Titans will disappear from the world. Gradually. Peacefully."

Jean scoffs. "How is that peaceful? If Subjects of Ymir slowly die out, we'll only have geezers to defend in the end. How do we protect ourselves? You think they'll leave us alone?"

"The Rumbling can serve as a deterrent as long as the Founding Titan and the Royal bloodline are preserved. Fortunately, Queen Historia was blessed with an heir."

"What?!" I stare at Yelena, searching for the lie in her eyes...but I don't find it. Historia...is pregnant? How long? Since when? She didn't say anything when I was there a month ago, and it seems I'm not the only one of us to be in shock over the news.

"The Queen's closest friend didn't even know? Shocking. As long as Subjects of Ymir inherit the Founder until her child passes away..."

"You talk like this is a sure thing," Jean says.

"Sure things... Certainties... No nation can claim to have them. Each one has its own share of problems. But there is one certainty, and that's the threat of the Titans. Their history of tears and bloodshed will be put to an end... By Zeke and Eren. I don't know how long humanity will last, but it's hard to think that a greater feat will ever come to pass. People will speak of the brothers as legends for millennia to come. Like the gods of the past. Even after their deaths, they'll be seen as saviors who shone over humanity." Grunting from behind me gains Yelena's attention, belonging to that of Armin as he holds his forehead. "What's wrong?"

"No... But to think your cause was so noble... It touched my heart!" I frown, not knowing who's really speaking right now. Armin...or Bertholdt.

It mattered not to Yelena. "I'm glad to know you understand."

"Yelena!" A soldier comes running down to the cell block in a frenzy. "Come quick! Intruders!"

Gabi

"Is it safe to say you and I are allies now?"

"If you can point out the other invaders," Eren harshly states as he leads Pieck and Gabi down a hallway filled with alarmed and armed soldiers. "Until then, you'll be cuffed to the Marley kid. If you try to transform, she'll bite the dust."

"Don't worry. This kid will come around soon enough."

As the trio walks up a staircase leading to the roof, Gabi hears the confused state of the soldiers due to Pieck's presence and Pieck leading them on. But her sole purpose is not on Pieck's betrayal, but on the condition of the boy she came to Paradis with. "Hey... Where is Falco?"

"Falco's here, too. But it seems he drank some of Zeke's spinal fluid.

Both Pieck and Gabi gasped. "How?" The Cart exclaims.

"Who knows?" They're saying the wine with spinal fluid got in his mouth."

"Does that mean..."

"Gabi?"

"...It's my fault...again."

Pieck sighs. "I see. You took over the military with Zeke's spinal fluid. Do you know why Zeke even has an ability like that?"

"Beats me. Do you know?"

"No. Other than Zeke himself, nobody does. Ever since I met him, I felt like Zeke was telling lie after lie. Four years ago, I confirmed that hunch. Only with you did his words seem true. 'Believe me, I know what you're going through, Eren. Someday, I'm coming back to rescue you.' If anyone, I thought he'd tell you about his secret power. For example, like it can draw out the Founding Titan's power or something."

Eren says nothing as the doors outside open, with some people standing on the other end. Pieck chuckles as she spots one of them, the woman in the lead. "Oh? You shaved your beard? I thought it suited you."

Eren

As the Marleyans are escorted outside, Yelena steps up to Eren. "Eren, it's not safe to trust that woman."

"Yeah. I don't trust her, either, but it's mutual." He follows the foreigners out as Pieck stops at the edge of the courtyard, looking over the city with the Warrior candidate beside her. As he steps into the center of the courtyard, Pieck turns back at him.

"By the way, aren't you using the Founding Titan's power? Where's Zeke?"

"You'll find out soon enough," Eren clenches his right hand, ready for anything. "Show me. Where is the enemy?"

Pieck lingers for a moment, turning back to the city, then to the girl beside her. She smiles at her before turning...and pointing to Eren. "There." She suddenly grabs the girl and jumps out of the way. Before Eren can react, the roof underneath him begins to give way. He barely hops up before enormous jaws clench down on his legs.

The Jaw Titan.

Gritting his teeth, Eren begins his transformation, causing a pillar of debris to fly up

Gabi

"Galliard!" Gabi hides with Pieck as the Jaw Titan protects them both during the transformation of the Attack Titan.

Pieck chuckles to herself. "I knew it wouldn't be easy."

"Pieck! You're not a traitor?!"

"Gabi! You thought I'd sell out my comrades?"

"But you said we have no future fighting for Marley!"

"look." Gabi looks up, seeing the might of Marley floating in the clouds. So it has begun, the true invasion of Paradis Island. "I don't trust Marley. But I do trust the comrades I've fought beside."

Reiner

"There's the smoke signal," General Magath says. "Pieck and Galliard have exposed his location. It's the Founding Titan. Go get revenge for Liberio!"

Reiner nods as he stares to the southernmost city of the walls. The place where this all started...and the place where it will end. For Eren. For Elijah. For the devils...and Reiner will save the world.

Elijah

"What the?!" Connie picks himself up as he stares up to the ceiling. I join him, narrowing my eyes as I stare upward. Eren...he was forced to transform? But why? There's no need to...unless Marley has made their move. I clench my fist as only one name comes to mind. Only he would make a crazy attempt like this...

"...Reiner."