(Short Chapter)
The sun is dying on the horizon, its light bathing the land in a crimson glow, as if the world itself were slowly bleeding out. The wind lifts the dust from the road, and the shadows of the trees stretch across the prairie like twisted fingers grasping for life before being devoured by the night.
The hooves of the horses pound the ground with a steady rhythm, an echo that blends with the whisper of the wind. There are no unnecessary voices. Only the sound of the march and the distant murmur of the walls we have left behind.
I ride at the front, holding the reins firmly. Levi rides beside me, his posture tense yet relaxed, his gaze sharp like a blade still sheathed. Erwin follows closely, his silhouette rigid under the orange glow of the sky.
My wounds still throb with a dull pain, but not enough to be a distraction. After all, the human body is a simple mechanism. The only thing that matters is that it still functions.
"You're still in condition to fight."
It can barely be considered a question.
Levi speaks without looking at me, as if the answer were irrelevant.
"Yes."
Erwin says nothing immediately. His cold eyes seem to measure each word before speaking.
"The odds are not in our favor," he finally states.
"As if they ever were," Levi replies indifferently.
"But this time, it's different."
The silence between the three of us lingers, heavy, as if the war ahead had already begun in our minds.
The differences are clear.
"We can assume they've already noticed our presence," Erwin says, his voice devoid of emotion. "If they've taken any measures, we'll find out at the worst possible moment."
"In other words, they're going to ambush us," Levi mutters.
Erwin neither confirms nor denies it.
"In that case, we should prepare for a longer chase. We need to have the horses ready to pursue them over a long distance..."
No need for euphemisms.
"We have to succeed," Erwin continues, unshaken. "Save Eren. Recover him at any cost. Nothing else matters."
The meaning behind his words is not ambiguous.
Every soldier accompanying us is just a piece on the board.
Disposable pawns. Expendable.
"Or maybe not," Levi suddenly says, his tone indifferent but with a barely perceptible edge. "You two aren't exactly expendable, are you?"
I don't respond.
Erwin doesn't either.
That was one of the first things that drew me to this man. Erwin does not fight for humanity; he has a goal, one that is almost childish.
Likewise, my own goals are only temporarily aligned with this side of humanity, simply due to circumstances.
"Once we arrive, formations will be meaningless," Erwin says, resuming the topic with his usual methodical coldness. "Find and recover Eren. Nothing else."
Then, an opportunity must be created.
"I suppose you brought them along to make dealing with the Pure Titans easier, didn't you?"
I say in an ambiguous tone.
There's no need to specify who I'm referring to.
In the distance, the soldiers of the Military Police ride alongside the Scouts, many of them frowning, tense at the prospect of encountering a real Titan for the first time.
"And then you expect the Military Police not to hate you," Levi says with disdain.
Erwin does not correct him.
There's no time for sentimentality.
To save Eren, our enemies are not just Reiner and Bertholdt but also the Pure Titans.
And unlike our own soldiers, they are not indispensable.
The dark outline of the forest of giant trees looms ever closer, its shadow stretching out before us like an open maw, ready to swallow us whole.
"It's time," I say softly, but loud enough for them to hear.
My fingers tighten around the reins.
"Let's regroup with the rest..."
------------------------------------
A flash.
Brief, fleeting—an instant in which light filters through the canopy of the giant trees. Barely perceptible. Almost unreal.
"Was there a flash?!" Mikasa shouts, her body already tense, her eyes scanning the forest with surgical precision. Her almost inhuman reflexes barely manage to catch it.
But I saw it too.
No doubt about it.
Ymir's Titan is near.
A chill runs through the formation as glances dart around, searching for any sign amidst the dense forest. The tension becomes unbearable. The atmosphere is thick, heavy like a rope about to snap.
My gaze moves across the faces of the soldiers, observing their hardened expressions filled with uncertainty. Finally, my eyes settle on Erwin.
His expression is cold. His posture rigid. The firmness of a man who has already considered every possible scenario and keeps moving forward, without hesitation.
"Did we arrive in time...?"
His voice is stronger than ever, but even he knows the question is irrelevant.
Time waits for no one.
There is no room for regret.
"EVERYONE, SPLIT UP!" he commands with absolute authority. "FIND EREN AND BRING HIM BACK! ASSUME THE ENEMIES HAVE ALREADY TRANSFORMED INTO TITANS! FIGHTING IS NOT THE PRIORITY!"
The formation reacts immediately, but the world gives us no respite.
A roar shakes the air.
And then, in an instant, the brutality of this world strikes us without mercy.
The screams begin.
Shadows move among the trees.
And the Titans emerge.
One. Two. Four. Eight.
More than a dozen appear in mere seconds, pouncing on the Military Police soldiers like ravenous predators.
They have no time to react.
One second, they're riding, clutching their weapons with trembling hands.
The next, they're torn from their mounts.
Jaws snap shut.
Screams of horror mix with the sickening sounds of bones breaking and flesh tearing.
The horses rear wildly, some trampling their own riders in sheer panic. Blood splatters the bark of the trees, the ground stained red.
And like a rope that finally snaps, the formation collapses.
The squads crumble into chaos. Discipline turns into pure survival instinct. Strategy dissolves into a desperate attempt to escape.
The mass of soldiers scatters. Some try to regroup. Others simply run.
My horse presses forward without stopping.
Not particularly concerned with the situation.
No need to be.
The squads are destroyed. I am surrounded by what remains of the Military Police, a group of men who, until recently, believed this world could be controlled with hierarchies and bureaucratic orders.
Now, they are learning the truth in the cruelest way possible.
"W-We need to regroup!" A soldier beside me speaks, his voice cracking with despair. His hand grips the reins so tightly his knuckles turn white.
His eyes are wide with fear.
"Keep riding!" another orders frantically. "The Titans will surround us if we stop!"
I don't bother recognizing their faces.
Irrelevant information is discarded.
"We have to join the Scouts! We can't face this alone!"
My response is immediate.
"That's not possible."
"What—?!"
My eyes scan the forest.
The formation is broken. The Scouts are too scattered for regrouping to be a realistic option.
There are no defensive lines.
No leadership.
Only survival.
"Commander Erwin must already be maneuvering with the main squads," I explain calmly, my tone completely indifferent. "If you want to survive, we need to make sure the Titans stay close."
I see the desperation in their faces.
"This can't be..." another soldier mutters. "No... w-we can't..."
The space between the trees narrows.
The path tightens.
One of the horses stumbles just as a set of teeth crushes the head of its rider with a wet snap.
I simply jump over him.
The sound of bones shattering rings through the air.
The horses behind scatter in all directions, their instincts overtaken by fear.
Without a second thought, I pull the reins and position myself next to the lieutenant.
Just then, another flash of light fills the area.
From the left, the massive silhouette of the Armored Titan emerges between the trees.
On its back, what appears to be Ymir in her Titan form.
The rumble of its advance makes the earth tremble.
...
So, Plan B...
...
I don't need to exchange words when my eyes lock onto Erwin's in the distance.
No words are necessary.
He understands.
I understand.
The pieces begin to fall into place on the board.
--------------------------------
"Everyone, follow me!"
My voice is monotone. No trace of panic. No room for doubt.
"Make the Titans follow us!"
I don't wait for a response.
I pull the reins with precision.
My horse shifts direction in a fluid motion, accelerating straight toward the Armored Titan, which is moving away at high speed.
Behind me, the shouting erupts.
Some cry out in surprise. Others in indignation.
Some try to defy my order.
Others simply follow.
Regardless of the deaths and complaints, they will follow me.
Because the alternative is staying behind.
And in this hell, staying behind means only one thing.
Death.
—
The sky was overcast that day.
Heavy clouds loomed over the camp, shrouding the sun in a gray mantle that turned the afternoon into a limbo between light and darkness. It was neither suffocating nor cold. Just... stagnant. As if time itself had lost its purpose.
I was sitting on a supply crate, adjusting the straps of my ODM gear. My hands moved with mechanical precision, neither hurried nor distracted. Not because it was necessary. Not because I needed to.
It was just something to do.
Another action in the long list of repetitive gestures that made up the day.
A few meters away, Bertholdt and Reiner were speaking in hushed voices.
I didn't look at them. I didn't interrupt them.
But I listened.
"We can't hesitate..." —Reiner's voice was firm, unwavering. But the stiffness in his words betrayed the uncertainty inside him.
Bertholdt, on the other hand, remained silent for several seconds.
That wasn't unusual. His nature was that of someone who watched the world from a corner, always in someone else's shadow.
Finally, he exhaled a sigh.
"Do you really think this is right...?"
The question lingered in the air like a cold breeze.
Reiner didn't answer immediately.
The silence stretched on—uncomfortable, heavy.
An echo of something I knew all too well.
It was the kind of silence that filled the halls of the white facility where I grew up.
The kind of silence that didn't exist to be broken, but to remind you that any sound was unnecessary.
That any thought outside the established order was meaningless.
I continued adjusting my gear with the same unshaken calm.
I didn't react.
I didn't blink.
I simply engraved every word into my memory.
Eventually, Reiner seemed to notice my presence and approached with that forced confidence that defined him.
"Kiyotaka."
I turned my head slightly in his direction, not rising from my position.
"Reiner."
"We don't see each other much outside the training grounds, do we?"
"There's no reason to."
He let out a short laugh—rough, devoid of real amusement.
"I suppose you're right."
Bertholdt also stepped closer, though with more caution. His eyes reflected something I had seen many times before in others.
An attempt to understand me.
A search for something that wasn't there.
"You know... I've always wanted to ask you something."
I didn't respond immediately.
The pause made him hesitate, but he continued nonetheless.
"Do you... have you ever felt like you belong here? It must be hard being so far away at such a young age, right?"
Is he trying to see himself in me?
Reiner tensed beside him.
Interesting.
My expression didn't change.
"Here..." —I repeated the word indifferently, testing its weight. Then, without altering my tone, I added— "No."
The surprise on their faces was brief but noticeable.
As if they had expected a different answer.
As if they believed there was still something within me capable of giving them a comforting lie.
"That's..." —Bertholdt lowered his gaze— "That must be lonely."
"Not really. Here or anywhere else, it's the same." My eyes focused on Bertholdt for the first time. "The place isn't relevant. I'm the one who decides whether I belong or not."
I don't know if my answer unsettled them more than the emptiness in my tone.
But there were no more questions.
The conversation hung in the air between us, trapped in nothingness.
The clouds continued to cover the sky.
The wind kept blowing.
And everything remained the same.
Reiner was the one who broke the silence.
"If you don't belong... then why do you keep going? You must have a reason for working so hard."
A simple question.
A question that required no thought.
"Not really. There's just... no other moment to do it."
And that was the only truth.
The only constant.
Destiny, loyalty, purpose... They were nothing more than worthless ideas.
Keep moving forward.
Advance.
Not because it makes sense.
But because stopping isn't an option.
Reiner frowned at my response.
Bertholdt only nodded slowly, but his eyes still seemed to search for something in me.
Something that wasn't there.
Something that had never been there.
But they couldn't understand that.
No one could.
...No.
Maybe someone did.
Though I don't expect to see that person again.
His face, his name, his voice...
Everything about him is shrouded in an impenetrable fog within my mind.
It's the only thing I can't recall clearly in my entire life.
And naturally, that piques my interest.
The past has lost its meaning.
I no longer need to find someone stronger than me.
This world is full of such people.
I can only pretend that my heart still seeks the same freedom as always.
And even that... I don't truly desire anymore.
When I arrived in this world, I thought I was finally free.
More than anywhere else.
I thought I had left behind everything that tied me down.
That I could shape my destiny without anyone else doing it for me.
That this time... this time, I could live as a human being and not as an experiment.
I thought I could have it all.
Everything I once believed I wanted.
The normal life of a child.
The quiet life of a teenager.
The uncertain future of an adult.
But as time passed...
The world, once again, turned against me.
There is always someone trying to take something from me.
There is always someone trying to drag me back.
Even when I have nothing left, they still try to take more.
The faces change, but human nature does not.
They come with smiles, with kind words, with false intentions.
Always seeking. Always demanding.
And then there are the others.
Those who exist simply to ruin my life.
Those people...
The ones who destroy my peace for no apparent reason.
And I wonder...
Why?
Why does this always happen?
Why does the world cling to the idea that I must keep fighting?
Why won't they let me rest?
I have endured enough suffering in the past.
That should be enough.
But no matter how much I try...
They always pull me back.
No matter how many times I try to live in peace.
Always.
There is always something.
There is always someone.
Someone who even robs me of my right to silence.
There is always a war.
There is always a conflict.
There is always a reason to draw a sword.
But in the end...
I guess I'm still trapped in that place.
That nameless void.
I wonder...
Will I ever live my days in peace?
Will I ever truly achieve it?
Is it not enough to ask for nothing more than that?
Is it not enough to desire a few days of solitary peace?
Every day that passes, I ask myself the same question...
How many have to die?
How many will be enough?
How many more?
...
Is it even worth trying anymore?
If I kill all my enemies...
Will I finally... be free?
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