A hundred years ago, humanity lived peacefully upon the land—until one day, they appeared: humanity's natural enemies, the Titans. Towering in size and immense in strength, they fed exclusively on humans, and mankind was swiftly driven to the brink of extinction.
The surviving humans built three massive walls—Wall Maria, Wall Rose, and Wall Sina—to resist the Titans' assaults. The remnants of humanity lived within these three walls.
Inside the walls were three military branches: the Military Police, the Garrison, and the Survey Corps. Vige and the others belonged to the Survey Corps. Unlike the other two branches, the Survey Corps never aimed to cower behind towering walls. They advocated venturing beyond the walls to explore the outside world, seeking a future for humanity.
They sought the origin of the Titans, and even to eliminate them, to bring true peace. Unfortunately, to this day, the Survey Corps had sacrificed countless soldiers, yet the results achieved were painfully minimal.
Thinking of this, Vige glanced at Yago. This child might be the key to uncovering the Titans' secrets.
Vige led Yago toward the main force of the Survey Corps.
Yago was full now and let out a burp. Just as he was about to ask something, he suddenly felt the ground trembling.
Even the massive trees around them were shaking. Yago was a bit dazed.
"Uncle Vige, what's happening?"
Vige's eyes turned grave, his expression solemn.
"Not good! There might be Titans!"
Before the words even fell, several towering figures appeared ahead. Yago's eyes widened, shock surging uncontrollably in his heart. Such huge Titans.
The three Titans also noticed Vige's position and slowly moved closer.
Vige roared, "Jiso! Retreat! Notify the main force!"
Jiso cracked his whip, and two horses pulled the carriage in a mad dash away from the Titans. Vige spurred his own horse forward, galloping as he ran, while pulling a signal flare gun from his saddle.
Loading a round, Vige pulled the trigger without hesitation. The signal burst into purple smoke in the sky. In the Long-Range Enemy Scouting Formation, purple signified the need for support. With Vige bringing along a child like Yago, retreat was inconvenient.
Moreover, Yago clearly carried something extremely important, so they urgently needed reinforcements.
Jiso drove the carriage anxiously, glancing back from time to time at the Titans. His carriage carried the bodies of fallen comrades—they absolutely could not be allowed to fall into Titan hands. Yet Jiso failed to notice the shadow hidden within the nearby forest.
Vige noticed it before Jiso did. Vige shouted anxiously, "Jiso! Watch out!!"
However, it was too late. A grotesquely deformed Titan—a Titan whose jaw was as large as its head—burst out suddenly, smashing the carriage into fragments. Jiso's body was bitten like a rag doll, and then the Titan's teeth closed. Rip—bright red blood sprayed everywhere.
Yago's gaze went blank. His mind couldn't process it for a moment. Only when the Titan swallowed Jiso's body did Yago shudder violently, followed by an uncontrollable terror. Dead… dead?
Just moments ago, Jiso had been smiling and chatting with him, and just like that… dead, dead.
...
When Yago awakened, the Titans' corpses had already evaporated, and the bodies of the soldiers from Vige's squad had been recovered. So Yago had never truly felt the terror of Titans. Even when Vige recounted humanity's history of fighting Titans, Yago had only listened as if it were a story.
But now, Yago seemed to suddenly understand how terrifying Titans truly were.
The shattered fragments of the carriage overturned Vige's horse. Vige scrambled up in a sorry state, glanced at Yago, and said, "Yago! Hide!"
Then he raised the signal gun and fired a black flare into the sky. Black represented an encounter with an Abnormal.
Abnormals were a type of Titan even more terrifying than ordinary ones—faster, stronger, and more frightening still, possessing a degree of intelligence, capable of ambush and concealment.
After firing the signal, Vige drew two steel blades from the vertical maneuvering equipment at his waist and pulled the triggers on the hilts. Two steel cables shot out from the device, carrying Vige flying toward the deformed Titan.
The cables shot out and retracted. Vige nimbly circled around the Abnormal, repeatedly slashing it with his blades, carving wound after wound into its body.
Yago collapsed onto the ground, gasping for breath. His heart pounded at extreme speed, while his head throbbed with unbearable pain, as if something were about to burst out of his mind.
Suddenly, a shadow fell overhead. Yago looked up, his gaze freezing. A massive Titan was bending down, staring at him. Saliva dripped from the corners of its split mouth.
Vige saw this as well. The three Titans from before had caught up.
"Yago! Run!"
Yago's mind screamed at him to escape, but the instinctive terror in his body left him unable to move at all. Under extreme fear, the human body stiffens to the point of immobility—it was truly terrifying. An ordinary person without any training, facing such a Titan, simply had no strength even to flee.
Watching helplessly as the Titan's hand drew closer and closer, Yago's pupils shrank to pinpoints.
Bang! At the critical moment, Vige arrived in time, scooping Yago up and leaping aside. Suddenly, the Abnormal appeared before them, grabbing hold of Vige's fired steel cable. Vige was shocked and immediately reacted at top speed, flinging the Yago he was holding into a patch of soft grass. He himself, however, was smashed by the Abnormal like a yo-yo straight into a massive tree.
Pff! Vige spat out a mouthful of blood. Several ribs were broken, and he lost his ability to fight.
The other Titans seized the opportunity. One Titan bit down on Vige's arm and tore at it viciously, while another grabbed one of Vige's legs.
Yago stood up and saw the cruel scene before him. Endless grief and rage surged from his heart. His eyes grew wet, tears falling. He raged at his own helplessness for dragging Uncle Vige down with him, and raged at the cruelty of the Titans.
Ever since Yago had awakened, Vige had always treated him gently. It felt as if it had filled some emptiness in Yago's heart—along with the humorous Jiso…
Yago roared, "Stop it!!!"
His hands clenched into fists, his slightly sharp nails digging deep into his tender palms.
With a thunderous boom, a streak of yellow lightning erupted. The immense shockwave blasted away a ten-meter-tall Titan that had been approaching Yago.
Vast clouds of steam billowed up. Through the haze, red flesh intertwined with pale bone could be faintly seen.
"ROAR!!!" A deafening roar tore through the steam!
A gigantic figure emerged—fifteen meters tall, its entire body covered in tough, powerful muscles. Crimson eyes, and a mouth filled with teeth as sharp as knives.
The dying Vige looked at this brand-new Titan. He was both astonished and calm. As expected, Yago really could turn into a Titan. He was willing to help Vige—this proved that this Titan could at least help humanity. Perhaps this was hope.
Upon seeing the Titan Yago had become, the Abnormal and the other three Titans were thrown into turmoil. They abandoned Vige and charged howling toward Yago's Titan. Yago's Titan roared back and smashed a fist straight through the head of one Titan that had just climbed to its feet.
The Abnormal was incredibly fast. It pounced onto Yago's Titan from behind, biting and tearing viciously. Yago's Titan cried out in pain, muscles across its body tensing. Reaching both hands back, it grabbed hold and executed an over-the-shoulder throw, slamming the Abnormal hard into the ground.