Frieda's mind was completely blank, devoid of any thought.
She couldn't understand, or perhaps she didn't want to understand, why all those people had died. Clearly, just minutes ago, she had been scooping food for them, watching them rejoice over a good meal, yet now, all that remained was a pile of lifeless, shattered flesh.
Frieda could even hear the screams echoing in her ears, the screams before death. No, it wasn't just echoing; it was truly happening. Unlocking memories that seemed destined never to be recalled.
Something, slowly ignited within Frieda's consciousness.
"What are you standing around for?!"
Kenny Ackerman snapped, seeing Frieda still standing stunned in place. The Armored Titan was only a few dozen meters away. He didn't care about offending her anymore, forced to hoist Frieda onto one shoulder and the terrified little Historia in the other arm, then sprinted for his life.
As he ran, his mind recalled the brief meeting with Asahi after the "power transfer" in the capital concluded.
"Kenny, you are definitely going to be attacked."
"Huh?!"
One of Kenny's eyes widened, the other squinting shut, showing his extreme skepticism. Asahi didn't mind; after all, anyone would be confused when met with such a statement upon first meeting.
"This had better be a joke."
"Unfortunately, it's not."
He briefly told Kenny how the human-turned-Titans had breached Shiganshina and Wall Maria, their objective, and that they were in hiding. Of course, Kenny was even more horrified when he learned that the entire Wall was not the whole world, and the outside was vastly larger, but they had to set that aside for now.
"They are definitely hiding somewhere. This is a huge threat that, if not eliminated, will cause many future plans to fail. It is better to endure the pain for one day to uproot them completely than to guard for a thousand days and be exposed in a moment of carelessness."
Asahi said in a low voice. This move was a necessary one. The Marley soldiers would not reveal themselves unless he left, and they could hide for a very long time. In a situation where his accumulation points and deployable power were limited, the strategies he could employ were few.
He could only use all his strength to do it. Hoping that...
Bang!!!
Just as the Armored Titan stepped on the tree where Kenny had been resting, a sudden loud explosion occurred. What erupted was a mass of thick, white threads woven into a net, tightly pressing against the Armored Titan's legs. It stuck so firmly that it caused the colossal body to momentarily lose balance, struggling and crashing to the ground, causing tremors that shook the entire surrounding domain.
"Reiner! What are you doing!"
A voice of panic transmitted from within the armor. Reiner, currently in his Titan form, could not respond, only struggling with all his might to tear off the white sticky patches covering his feet and part of his shins. These things were not only as tough as ropes but also had an extremely unpleasant, sticky elasticity. The large Titan had no choice but to exert force to rip them off.
This trap was indeed designed by Kenny. Before this, Asahi had given him many spider silk bombs so Kenny could cope with sudden enemy attacks, even suggesting he could keep the rest if he didn't use them all. Kenny initially intended to keep them, but the moment he saw the Armored Titan appear, his instinct frantically warned him that he absolutely could not keep them, or he would die.
Don't be ridiculous; even without instinct, he knew what kind of monster that thing was!
"Move immediately! Head to the research institute!!!"
Kenny jumped onto the carriage and roared. The carriage driver trembled in fear, but his actions were not slow at all, whipping the horses to gallop onto the main road. Kenny set both Historia and Frieda down, his gaze fixed sternly on the Armored Titan. Simultaneously, he felt that enormous thing was looking at him.
Reiner was certainly looking, and he realized that Kenny had prepared in advance. The sticky bomb, the carriage—those things were absolutely not accidental. And the person who designed them was none other than Asahi.
They, the Marley soldiers, were originally in the dark, but now they had been dragged into the light. Regret was too late; Reiner could only control his Titan body to chase after them. Once the spear is thrown, it must be followed through.
The spider silk net was torn apart. Seeing the carriage carrying their target shrink into a small dot, the Armored Titan chased frantically.
Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom!
Every stomp left a massive indentation in the ground and sent dirt and rocks flying into the air. The Armored Titan shifted from walking to running. Its movements looked slightly slow, but that was due to the visual difference between the small and the colossal. In reality, each running step, each stride of the Titan, spanned dozens of meters. The distance between the Titan and the carriage rapidly closed.
"Damn it... faster!"
The coachman dared not look back, only furiously urging the horses to run. Fortunately, these were good horses that had been specially selected, so they could continue to accelerate, though this only extended the time to a certain extent.
He didn't know if they could hold out until Asahi arrived.
Suddenly, at this moment, Frieda stood up.
Her state was very strange. Her eyes were dull, yet she wasn't being controlled like before. It was more like... she was in a trance.
When encountering a shock too severe to handle, the brain unconsciously disregards it, locking it away in the deep layers. This was also true for Frieda, not once, but twice. The current blankness felt more like a protective layer for her consciousness. Unfortunately, Frieda could not maintain it.
More accurately, any person with royal blood who inherits the Founding Titan cannot.
The blankness in her eyes shattered, returning the original clarity to her gaze. Immediately afterward, something began to burn.
Hatred.
In her ears, countless voices seemed to be screaming in extreme suffering. They were all roaring madly, all screaming for destruction.
She only wanted this suffering to end, but this world wouldn't allow it. If that was the case, she... could only destroy this entire world.
"Kill! Kill! Kill! Kill! Kill! Kill! Kill!"
Under the horrified gaze of both Kenny and Historia in the carriage, Frieda jumped out. Just before landing, she bit her finger to draw a streak of blood.
Bang!!!
Another yellow bolt of lightning appeared, splitting the sky and the earth, characteristic of someone transforming into a Titan. A colossal silhouette rose from the smoke. This Founding Titan, transformed by Frieda, was completely different from the first time; it stood over 30 meters tall!
Reiner abruptly halted his entire body, vigilantly looking at the gigantic creation twice his own height. He felt this would be quite difficult to handle, considering the sheer difference in height.
But that was not all. The scene that followed was what truly terrified everyone present. The ribcage section of the Founding Titan—more precisely, the rib bones—began to deform. It grew another human-shaped structure, getting bigger and bigger until it reached the standard size of a 15-meter Titan. Then, this Titan broke free from the Founding Titan's body, its dumb, blank eyes staring at the Armored Titan. Everyone was speechless with horror.
A Titan... creating a Titan!