-E-

Back at the Scout Regiment's base of operations, things have been rather quiet for the past few days. While their battle did technically end in victory, they learned a great deal about their enemy, and they received a great deal of public favor thanks to them bringing so much food back to the walls, ultimately, the fact remained that their enemies got away, there was nothing they could learn from the dead Telesdon that they thought would be useful in the future, and they lost the entire Levi squad. Even worse than that, the heinous way in which the armored alien killed them left nothing for them to bury. Their parents couldn't even see their children one last time before sending them to their final resting place. All Levi was able to do was look them in their pained eyes as he informed them that their children were turned into colored rain.

However, if there was one person who took the events of that expedition harder than Levi did, it was Eren. But unlike Levi, who had become a master at bottling up his grief, Eren couldn't help himself but let his rage and grief be unleashed. And the only constructive outlet he could think of to let his rage out in, was physical training. For the past few days, Eren had been out in the courtyard going to town on either some straw dummies or whoever was brave enough to get in his furious path (meaning Mikasa and basically no one else.)

But this wasn't just to blow off steam. Eren knew the day would come when he would have to face Bemular again, and he needed to be ready for it. So every day, he would eat his breakfast, finish every task he had set out for him in record time, and then train as hard as he could.

On this particular day of training, Eren and Mikasa had finished their work around the same time, so Eren decided to practice with her instead. Some of the other Scouts who also finished watched from the sidelines, placing bets on who would win as they both stood on their separate sides of the field.

"My money's on Mikasa," Connie said.

"Oh, same," Sasha said.

"Yeah, me too," Jean said.

"Ditto," Ymir said.

"Honestly, me too," Armin said.

"You guys! That's so mean," Krista said. "Have at least a little faith in Eren!"

"Well, who are you betting on, Krista?" Sasha asked.

"...Mikasa." Krista sighed.

Eren ignored their betting though. To him, this wasn't about winning. It was about getting stronger. So, before the round was even set up, Eren forced Mikasa to swear to him that she wouldn't hold back. Initially, Mikasa adamantly refused, too afraid to hurt Eren to go all out. Eren expected this, and before the battle started, he posed a suggestion to her.

"Listen, when the fight starts, I want you to picture me as the person you hate most in this world," Eren said.

'The person I hate most…' Mikasa pondered.

Mikasa closed her eyes and sighed. She knew one person to which the title applied. It would be difficult to picture him in the place of Eren, but for his sake, she caved and tried her best to.

"You ready Mikasa?!" Eren called from across the field.

Mikasa looked up with an angry scowl as she gazed upon the man she hated the most in the world.

"Yes. I'm ready, Reiner."

Eren smirked for a moment before getting into a fighting stance which he learned from Annie. "Good. Then let's go!"

Mikasa sprinted towards Eren, her hair flowing behind her and her fist clenched. Eren managed to dodge her first attack but realized too late that this was actually a fake-out, and Mikasa proceeded to slam her knee into his gut. The spectators let out sympathetic groans of pain as Eren toppled over. To everyone's surprise, though, Eren stood up, seemingly either not being that hurt by Mikasa's attack, or simply ignoring the pain. Eren took several swings at Mikasa, which she dodged easily before counterattacking with a leg sweep. She then pinned him down and got him in an arm lock, and a slight pop could be heard. Eren's subsequent yelp of pain caused Mikasa to snap out of her illusion and gasp with concern.

"E-EREN! Are you okay!?" Mikasa asked frantically. "I didn't hurt you, did I!?"

Eren slowly got back on his feet, then grabbed his arm and twisted it back into its socket. He winced but then checked the range of motion and determined that he was fine. So, he got back into his fighting stance.

"Again," Eren said.

"W-wha-"

"Fight me again!"

"Eren, I don't think this is a good idea anymore," Mikasa said. "What if I end up hurting you again?"

"I can take it!" Eren growled. "Now fight me again!"

"Eren, you don't need to push yourself like this," Mikasa pleaded. "You're already strong enough as Ultraman."

"Accept, apparently I'm not, if I almost died multiple times, and couldn't even kill Reiner or that armored monster in the end!" Eren snapped, not at Mikasa though. Rather, he was more snapping at himself.

Mikasa tried to insist that Eren and her stop fighting, but it was fruitless as Eren got back into position. She sighed and put up her fists again. The spectators watched on, now quite a bit more uncomfortable than they were before.

-A-

"So you say that you, Reiner, and Bertholdt were never actually from the walls?" Erwin asked

Annie sat at a table in Erwin's office, sitting on a chair across from Erwin, Hange, and Levi, as well as Dot Pixis of the garrison regiment, who had come to hear her out as well. She was here for one reason, and that was to give the Scouts information. She was at the point of no return. If she lied, she would forever be seen as a traitor to the island nation and would be placing a target on her back from then on. If she told them the truth though, she'd be a traitor to Marley, and may never see her father again. When weighing up which side she should stay loyal to, who actually cared about her safety, and who was the most likely to have a future, the answer was obvious to her.

"That's right," she replied. "In fact, we aren't even from this island."

"And pre-tell, what exactly is an island?" Pixis asked.

"Essentially, you all live on a small land mass in the ocean," she explained. "This one is located close to our home nation of Marley."

Annie proceeded to explain everything, from the Titans once being human, to how they were turned into Titans, to Paradis' place in the wider world. She explained the concept of nations, the ocean, and of course, the warriors. Though to ensure she wasn't executed on the spot for supporting Reiner and Bertholdt, she made sure to stretch the truth as much as she possibly could. She said she didn't want to be a titan shifter in the first place, emphasizing only having thirteen, now down to a measly six, years left to live because of the curse of Ymir, as well as the fact that she was less than ten years old when she was entered into the warrior program. How she was manipulated by Marleyan propaganda into believing that the people of Paradis weren't people at all, but devils, and that if she wanted to prove she wasn't a devil, then she would have to kill them, and how even after wanting to go home, she was forced by Reiner and Bertholdt to continue their mission. And even though she didn't mean to, she did start tearing up as she told them her story.

And it worked. While Levi clearly still held a great deal of resentment towards her, she was fine with that, because he wasn't the one she needed to convince. She just needed to convince the other three who were in the room with her. Hange was simultaneously freaking out over the wealth of information that Annie had provided, and distraught at the prospect that the people outside the walls hated them so much that they were willing to doom children to live the rest of their shortened lives as weapons. Pixis was equally disgusted by Marley's cruelty, and Erwin found himself sympathizing with Annie, and with all the information she provided, there was little doubt in his mind that Annie truly was defecting to his side. Though that said, this didn't mean Erwin didn't have any questions for her.

"Miss Leonheart, I recall you mentioning that there were a total of nine titan powers," Erwin said. "Now eight due to Bertholdt's death. I'd like to know more about these powers you've mentioned."

"Well, first of all, there are still nine powers," Annie said. "Just because the wielder of the power dies, doesn't mean the power dies with it."

Erwin raised an eyebrow. "Elaborate."

"Whenever one of us dies, our power is transferred over to a newborn Eldian, and thus the cycle repeats itself."

"I see. This information will be quite useful to us," Erwin said.

"Here's hoping that the Colossal Titan doesn't just end up right back in the hands of Marley, then," Pixis commented.

"As for the nine powers," Annie leaned forwards to explain. "There are seven whose powers are known to me and two whose powers are unknown. I'll start with the ones I know about The Armored, Colossal, Jaws, Cart, Beast, Founder, and Female. The Armored Titan is the most durable titan in Marley's army, with hardened titan skin all over his body. He is able to shed his armor in exchange for greater mobility, but in doing so, he also makes himself more vulnerable, as his armor can't regenerate. This also applies to armored body parts that had been removed."

"That explains why Reiner's arm wasn't armored when he was chasing us in the forest," Levi said.

"The Colossal is the most destructive Titan. The user has the ability to set off an explosion of steam whenever he activates the ability, it constantly emits steam, and its body is so hot that simply walking through a forest will light the whole thing on fire. However, the Colossal Titan's steam also decreases its body mass. The more steam it produces, the more its muscle mass decreases. It's also easily the slowest titan of all, with no means to increase its mobility. Then there's the Jaw Titan, which was Marcel's Titan before he was eaten. The Jaws is the second most mobile Titan, and its powerful jaws allow it to bite through even the Armored Titan's armor. It can also use its claws to climb up and cling to walls. But it's also the second-smallest Titan, and in wide open areas, most Titan shifters can safely take it down. Also, since it's on this island, whoever holds the Titan now could possibly be recruited to our side."

"You say that this titan is only the second most mobile," Erwin noted. "Which shifter is the most mobile then?"

"That would be the Cart Titan," Annie replied. "Another quadrupedal Titan shifter, this one with an elongated face. It's the smallest and most mobile shifter, and unlike most Titan shifters, it can stay in its form for months on end. Because of this, Marley has created special weapon attachments fitted for the Cart Titan, hence its name. It's a powerful support Titan that has been able to devastate entire military formations in the past by working with the other shifters, so if it shows up on the battlefield, it should be made a high priority."

"Understood," Erwin said.

"The Beast Titan is a wild card of a Titan because depending on the shifter, it can do something entirely different, and it all seems to depend on the user. Currently, it's in the hands of the Warrior commander, and his Beast Titan takes on a form similar to a monkey." They all looked at her, confused. Annie then face-palmed and sighed.

"Right, you don't have monkeys on this island," Annie said. "Okay, a monkey is an animal that's similar to a human, but with a different build, and hair covering their bodies. Some of them also have tails, but others don't."

"Hmmm… is it possible that the thing Reiner was aligned with was a monkey?" Hange asked.

"Probably not," Annie replied. "Monkeys don't talk, or wear armor, or fly, or shoot lasers out of their mouths and hands, or size shift. So unless something really strange happened to that monkey, I highly doubt it." Annie then got back onto the subject of the Beast Titan. "Anyway, Zeke's beast titan is capable of overpowering an entire artillery squad just by throwing a handful of rocks at them, and he can harden his skin similarly to how I can."

"So what are his weaknesses?" Levi asked.

"That's the biggest problem with Zeke. No one knows if he really has any inherent weaknesses."

"Well, isn't that just peachy," Levi sighed.

"Hmm. Annie, how tall is Zeke's titan?" Pixis asked.

"About seventeen meters, sir," she said.

Pixis smirked. "Then we already know what his weakness is. Ultraman's foot!"

This actually prompted a mild nose laugh from Annie and a smirk from Erwin.

"So, what about your Titan?" Erwin asked. "The Female Titan? What can your Titan offer us?"

"Not much compared to Jaeger, but I'll tell you everything I can do," she replied only somewhat jokingly. "My Titan is a sort of jack of all trades Titan, having some of the benefits of each Titan. Unlike all the other Titans besides the Armored, my Titan is the only one that can naturally harden their skin. All the others require hardening fluid made using The Female Titan or Armored Titan's hardening. I usually use this ability to enhance my strikes and defend myself from attacks. I can also encase myself in a crystal made of hardened Titan skin, then break out at will. I can also use a rallying call to summon any Titans in hearing distance to my location, though I can't control them."

Hange raised an eyebrow at Levi when he didn't say anything about that. "You're not going to say anything?" She asked.

"Nah, the joke would be too obvious," he said.

"And of course, last but not least, the Founding Titan," Pixis said. "You mentioned that you and the rest of the warriors were sent her to retrieve it. So tell me, what makes it so valuable?"

"The Founding Titan is the most powerful Titan in existence," she said. "Little information exists on it, but we know that it has the power to control all Eldians and Titans. It even created these walls using millions of Colossal Titans, before erasing the memories of everyone on the island with a roar."

Pixis, Hange, and Levi were almost as shocked by this revelation as they were about the Titans being humans. Erwin however, simply nodded in understanding, having suspected that there was something the government was hiding from the people, both about the walls, and about the history of this world, and now he finally understood what it was they were hiding.

"Thank you, Annie. This information will be very helpful to us in the future," Erwin said. "Now, can you tell us about these other two Titans you don't know as much about?"

"Sure," Annie shrugged. "The Warhammer Titan is a Titan power Marley keeps secret. It's in the hands of the royal Tybur family, but nobody knows which Tybur has it. The Attack Titan meanwhile was lost and hasn't been found since."

"I see," Erwin nodded. "So then, now I'd like to know more about-"

However, before Erwin could finish his sentence, he heard an urgent knock on the door.

"Come in," he said, and a Scout opened the door.

"Commander, representatives of the Military Police have come to speak with you, sir," he reported.

"I see. Well, let them in," he said before turning to Annie. "Annie, you're dismissed for now."

"Understood sir," she said. She then stood up and stepped out of the room, before walking down the halls of the Scouts' base.

As Annie walked through the halls towards her room, she looked out a window and onto the courtyard. There, she saw Eren and Mikasa training with eachother. Eren was clearly on the backfoot throughout the entire fight, and try as he might, was never truly able to get the upper hand on Mikasa, even with his crude replications of her techniques. Still, though, Annie found herself impressed by his tenacity and drive to improve himself by any means possible, as well as how well he was holding his own against her. Now that she was no longer in the red, and had cemented herself as an ally of Paradis, she found herself less terrified that Eren was improving his skills, and more comforted that she would be under the protection of the strongest being in the world…

Hopefully.

-S-

After Eren's training session with Mikasa concluded, the crowd dispersed, with Sasha and Connie deciding to use their remaining free time to take a stroll around the castle grounds. Sasha had her arms wrapped behind her head, gazing up at the clouds absent-mindedly, while Connie had his hands in his pockets and looked out into the forest, hoping for something interesting to happen. He had his doubts, as the most interesting thing he'd seen out in those woods these past few days was a wild boar, so he had his expectations low. Because of this, he was all the more surprised when he did see something looking back at him, and it didn't look like the boar he was expecting.

Peering out from behind a tree was a bizarre-looking creature. It bore light red skin, with white hands, legs, and feet. It only had three toes and three long fingers, and its arms were so short that Connie couldn't even tell if it had any. The creature was covered in fluffy fur that was a darker shade of red than the rest of its body. It also seemed to have a short, rat-like tail that was the same shade of white as its hands and legs.

Connie shook Sasha's arm and pointed at the creature with wide eyes and a trembling voice. Sasha soon laid eyes on it as well and yelped, prompting the creature to let out a chirp of fear and hide behind the tree again. Connie grabbed a wooden board for self defense, and the two carefully approached the tree where the creature was hiding, where they found it cowering behind it, its knees quivering and its eyes clenched shut.

When the red creature heard the crunching of the leaves as they stepped closer, it screamed and bolted away, taking the nearest escape route it could find, which led back to where Connie and Sasha came from. The two chased after the red monster as it ran across the castle grounds.

Mikasa and Eren were taking a walk together while talking about their training session, with Mikasa trying her best to make him feel better about how it went, but Eren just wouldn't listen. She sighed, trying to think of any way that she could make him feel better about himself. But in her absentmindedness, she ended up not noticing the red monster running towards them, forcing Eren to tackle her out of the way as it ran past. Eren and Mikasa then looked up to see Connie and Sasha chasing after it.

"The hell is that thing?" Eren asked.

"U-um… Eren? You can get off of me now." Mikasa said softly.

Eren's cheeks reddened, and he jumped off of her with his hands raised.

Sasha and Connie continued to follow after the red monster, eventually seeing it trip over a rock protruding from the ground. However, rather than simply fall flat on its face, the red monster curled up into a ball, tucking it's legs, face, and hans beneath its fluffy body as it rolled forwards. This only caused it to build up speed, and as a result, it wound up accidentally knocking Jean over while he was passing by.

"What the fuck?! What is that?!" Jean shouted angrilly as he rubbed his head.

Connie and Annie ran past Jean, now starting to get exhausted from trying to catch up to the fluffy red monster. It soon hopped out of its ball form and continued to flee. It then rounded a corner and stopped when it saw Annie talking to Armin on the other side of the turn. Annie had a distraught look on her face, and rubbed her arm as Armin was seemingly trying to process what Annie told him with an indescribable look on his face.

"Annie… I don't know what to say right now," Armin said as he tried to process what she told him. "I almost can't believe you… no, it's more like I don't want to believe you. I don't want to believe that you could be even indirectly responsible for all the deaths in wall Rose. Annie… why?"

Annie solemnly looked away from him. "I was scared," she replied. "I still am. Every second I've spent on this island has been a waking nightmare. All that's changed is that now, I'm more scared of this island than I am of Marley."

"Is that really all that changed?" Armin asked.

Annie closed her eyes and sighed. "No. There's more to it than that. Because more than being scared… I just couldn't bring myself to hurt you anymore." Annie looked back at Armin on that final note. Armin could tell through the cadence in her voice that she was being genuine, and as the pieces clicked together what Annie meant by that, Armin's cheeks flushed a bright red, as did those of Annie.

Suddenly, the mood shifted on a dime when they saw the red monster not too far away from them. It tried to turn the other way, but saw that Sasha and Connie, along with Jean, Eren, and Mikasa, had all caught up to it. Annie pushed Armin behind her protectively and held her fists up, waiting for the creature to make its move, while everyone else observed it cautiously, as it proceeded to quiver with fear. Eventually, it crouched down and began to whimper, tipping everyone off that it might not be dangerous after all. Sasha was first to recognize this and implored Connie to set the board down, which he did. The wooden board slipped out of Connie's grip with a soft thud. Sasha then took a knee before the creature and held out her hand to it.

"Hey, it's alright," she said in a gentle tone. "We're not gonna hurt you. I'm sorry for scaring you."

The creature looked at her, still skittish, but calmed down just enough to get a bit closer. In response, Sasha got a bit closer as well. Eventually, Sasha placed her hand on the red creature's cheek and gently petted it.

"Okay, so we know it's not hostile at least," Connie said. "But still, what is that thing?"

As soon as Connie asked that question, the red creature suddenly stood up. Everyone was tense, but Sasha held out her hand to them as the creature started scratching at the ground. Everyone gathered around it, their eyes widening in shock as they realized that it was writing something in the dirt. The little monster eventually stepped back once it finished writing, and showed its work to everyone.

"Pigmon…?" Armin read out loud.

The red monster, whose name was apparently Pigmon, jumped in place and nodded.

"Hold up, does this thing actually understand us?" Connie asked.

Pigmon nodded again, confirming Connie's suspicion. Everyone was equally surprised by this revelation, but after everything they've been through since Trost, from Eren becoming a giant, superpowered being that was completely different from the Titans, to Annie, Reiner, and Bertholdt being revealed as Titan Shifters, to the other giant monsters they faced in Wall Maria, the concept of a red creature that could understand their language ranked among the less bizarre things they had experienced.

The doors to the courtyard soon opened as Erwin came out to address the Scouts currently gathered around Pigmon. "Soldiers, report to the barracks. You need to get rest for the upcoming mission," he said.

"What is it, sir?" Eren asked. "The Military Police have enlisted the assistance of the Garrison and Scout Regiment to track down a person of interest," Erwin explained. "I'll explain more tomorrow." He then looked towards the monster they surrounded with a curious expression. "Who might this be?"

"Oh, this is Pigmon," Sasha explained. "He's a monster we found wandering around the base. He's relatively harmless, and he even knows our language. He can't talk though."

"I see," Erwin pondered this while keeping his composure, before nodding to himself. "Please escort him to the horse stables, until we can determine what should be done with him."

Sasha nodded and patted Pigmon on the stables. Pigmon nodded and followed her, but eyed Erwin skittishly. Even if he had no ill intent, the intense gase Erwin gave him terrified him to his core. Almost as much as that of the monster on that other island he had so narrowly escaped from.

-B-

Bemular and Reiner returned to the quarry where Reiner had initially added Telesdon to his Battlenizer. With Telesdon dead, Reiner required a new monster to add to his party, and one far stronger than the previous monster. The two soon arrived at the hole that Telesdon had created. Bemular pressed a few buttons on a keypad on their arm, and blue lights began to glow all over the various rivets on their armor.

"After you, then?" Reiner asked.

"Naturally," Bemular replied. "Also, I advise entering your armored form before we go down. Things could get messy."

Reiner nodded and as Bemular hovered down into the depths, he sank his teeth into his hand and transformed into the Armored Titan. The titan then slid down the slide of gravel into the pit below, where they began exploring, Bemular illuminating the cavern walls as they went. Reiner was amazed to find a complex system of caverns buried beneath he surface of the island, all linking together in some way.

Bemular eventually stopped Reiner and held a hand up to their ear, listening for any nearby kaiju activity. After listening into the darkness, they heard the sounds of a scuffle echo from the cave straight ahead of them.

"Come, Reiner. Our monster awaits us," they said.

Bemular floated forwards, with Reiner close behind. As they grew closer and closer, the roars became louder and louder, until eventually, they saw bright orange flashes in the distance. They soon rounded the corner as they saw a light in the distance. They soon arrived at a molten cavern where they saw three badly injured Telesdons lying in defeat beneath a monster both larger and more powerful than them. Its skin was thick and pale, its eyes bright red, its teeth were sharp, and it bore a long, thin tail, and spikes all over its body. It also bore two long black horns, and a pair of long, black whips instead of hands.

"A Gudon!" Bemular exclaimed. "Perfect!"

"That's our monster, hugh?" Reiner asked via his communicator. "Seems like we might also be able to pick up a new Telesdon while we're at it."

Two more Telesdons emerged from the magma filling the arena and fired their lava heat rays at the monster, which it blocked by twirling its whip hands so quickly that they formed a pair of shields that blocked both beams. Gudon then swung both his whip hands, wrapping them around the Telesdons' necks and dragging them to the surface. The subteranian monster then began flinging both monsters around, ragdolling them and wearing them both out. Once the two Telesdons were sufficiently beaten down, Gudon proceeded to feast upon the defeated Telesdons, only one of which had survived Gudon's attack and was slowly crawling back towards the lava.

"Holy shit. This thing's pretty strong," Reiner commented.

"And that's only its normal state," Bemular said. "Once you add it to your battlenizer, it will only become stronger."

Bemular then began to levitate and flew down to Gudon. "Remember, just like last time," they said. "I'll wear it down, then you capture it."

Reiner stayed in his Titan body, aware that if he exited it down here, he'd probably suffocate from the ashes and toxic fumes from the underground volcanic activity.

Bemular landed behind Gudon in their giant form, and attacked it before it even had a chance to react, delivering several flying rapidfire kicks to its back that sent it flying into the wall of the cavern. Bemular then summersaulted through the air and drove their heel into Gudon's stomach. Now thoroughly enraged, Gudon ensnared Bemular with his whip hands, and slammed them on the ground, before dragging them through the lava, knocking the Telesdons into the lava in the process.

Bemular rose from the lava and flew at Gudon, who charged at them horns first. Bemular swiftly dodged Gudon's horn charge before kicking him in the back of the head. They then landed and chuckled to themself as they watched the monster stumble about. They then dodged a flurry of whip attacks that left massive scratches in the wall behind them, but their cockieness ended up allowing Gudon to wrap a whip around their ankle and swing them around the arena.

Bemular managed to pull themself out of Gudon's grip, then fly right into Gudon fists first, charging up their fists with red energy. On impact, there was a massive explosion of energy that rocked the arena and caused rocks to collapse onto them. Quickly, Reiner's hand emerged from the nape of the Armored Titan, Battlenizer in hand. Bemular grabbed Gudon and a Telesdon and held them up to Reiner, allowing him to turn both monsters into Battlenizer cards, before they grabbed Reiner and fled the collapsing cavern.

The two burst out of the underground, a trail of smoke and ash latched onto their backs. Bemular managed to shake it off, before landing. Reiner then emerged from his titan and looked at his Battlenizer. He smiled as he saw that both Gudon and Telesdon were registered onto the Battlenizer. Bemular shrank down to Reiner's height and placed a hand on his shoulder, and Reiner's smile faded ever so slightly.

"So, do we just go back in and let them loose?" Reiner asked.

"Not quite," Bemular said. "There are now four of us, and four districts in Trost."

Reiner's eyes widened as he realized where Bemular was going with that.

"Even with all the power he holds, Ultraman cannot be in two places at once," Bemular explained. "And at best, the humans will only be a threat to you. Even if Ultraman defeats one of our monsters, he will not have enough time to stop the other two. And if things get really bad for you, you can simply call for backup and I will be there to assist you. Once all other districts are breached, we will all converge on a now weakened Ultraman and eliminate him."

Reiner nodded. "Right. That's a good plan."

"Honestly, I wonder why you and your warrior friends never came up with something like this," Bemular said. "You would shred the walls' defences thin in just a few days with your titan powers."

"How long have you been watching us, again?" Reiner asked.

"Since around five years ago," Bemular replied. "But I did my research."

"What kind of research?" Reiner asked nervously.

Bemular chuckled. "Let me put it this way: I know where your mother lives."

Reiner's blood ran cold as those words rolled off of Bemular's tongue. His heart began racing as his mind was a buzz with questions.

Bemular then turned around. "So if you don't do as I say, she'll suffer the consequences just as you will. Understand?"

Reiner nodded fearfully.

"Good. Oh, and by the way, Marleyan reinforcement are likely on their way."

"H-how do you figure?"

"I used Leonheart's father to pass on the message that his daughter defected," Bemular said. "It was the last useful thing he was able to do for me before I had to…" Bemular's claws glowed red. "Do away with him."

Reiner covered his mouth with his hand, feeling the urge to vomit at their sadistic methods of getting with they desired. And for what reason? Why would they feel the need to go to such extremes? It didn't make sense to Reiner… until he thought about it.

When he did think about it, that served a few purposes. Marley were more likely to listen to information being passed along by humans, than told to them directly by some alien in a suit of glowing armor. But Bemular then probably killed Annie's father because now that she betrayed them, they didn't want her back, and to send her a message that she should not have gone against them. But probably the most horrifying part, was that by killing Annie's father, Bemular likely spared him from an even worse fate at the hands of Marley.

"Now on your feet, my minion," Bemular commanded. "We have an Ultra to destroy."