"Ugh…"
Lillian lay flat on his back in a spread-eagle position, staring up at the overcast sky as fine raindrops fell onto his face. For a brief moment, his mind was completely empty.
Ever since entering the Walls, after three relatively carefree years in the training corps, and then joining the Military Police, he had never truly rested. His body and mind had always been "on the move." It would be a lie to say he wasn't exhausted.
"This should be about half an hour later, right… Wait, am I on the plains?"
He sat up and looked around.
The Wall was about a kilometer away.
Looks like this "random revival within one kilometer" rolled the maximum distance.
Lillian rubbed his head and looked down at himself. He was still wearing his shirt and shorts, but his jacket and ODM gear were gone.
Strange.
He guessed that this "revival" was some kind of rollback—restoring his body to an intact state, along with whatever he was wearing close to his body. Everything else wasn't included.
"I wonder how things are going over there now…"
The last thing he remembered was Ymir transforming into the Jaw Titan and charging in front of him, trying to shield him with her own body—only to fail.
There was no helping it. With that kind of mass and the extreme heat from the steam, a human would be smashed into pulp and burned to ash in an instant. Ymir simply couldn't protect him.
"In that case… Ymir must be badly injured too."
"As for Eren, I remember Captain Levi pulled him out of the nape in time. He probably wasn't crushed. If that's true… then maybe Reiner didn't manage to take Eren."
"So… should I go back now?"
Lillian sat there on the plains, thinking.
If he went back now, it would probably bring a lot of trouble.
First, he'd have to explain why he wasn't dead—why arms that had supposedly been crushed into paste were suddenly perfectly fine again. That alone would be a headache.
No excuse would sound convincing. And honestly, he didn't plan to make one.
If it was someone he cared about, telling them part of the truth selectively—so what?
If it was someone he didn't care about… who are you? Why should I explain myself to you? What business is it of yours why I didn't die?
After all, this wasn't a modern urban setting. This was a supernatural world. Titans existed. If something like the power of Titans was real, why would resurrection be impossible?
Some people believed Titans were the result of scientific experiments, but Lillian was skeptical. The overall technological level of the world wasn't that advanced, and Titans had first appeared more than eighteen hundred years ago. Genetic engineering back then? If anything, it sounded more like some prehistoric or extraterrestrial civilization.
Still, one thing was certain: the era of Titans would end with this generation—at the year 2000.
It lined up with "To You, 2000 Years From Now," and with what Uri had said about "the coming twilight of humanity." Something huge was bound to happen.
But Lillian didn't know what it was, so he didn't dwell on it.
He stood up and took two steps forward—
Then froze.
Looking down, he realized his foot had sunk into the ground. Every step left a deep crater behind.
"Hey… what the fuck…"
He suddenly remembered another setting tied to his revival.
Right now, his body possessed one-third of the Colossal Titan's composite physical constitution.
"You've got to be kidding me…"
He hadn't even finished developing the power of one-third of an 8-meter Titan yet—and now he had obtained another one-third of what was practically the strongest power in this world.
Of course, that wasn't a bad thing.
But wanting to truly control this kind of power without investing an enormous amount of time and effort was simply impossible.
It was like handing a nuclear launch button to a child—one mistake, and catastrophic destruction could follow.
"In that case, I definitely can't go back inside the Walls for now…" Lillian sighed. After thinking for a moment, he added, "I'm basically a 'hazardous object' at the moment."
"Still… that's fine. I wasn't in a rush to go back anyway. There are other things I need to do."
With that thought, he turned his head and glanced toward the wall of the Ehrmich District. There should be soldiers on guard up there. If the sky were clear, someone standing out on this vast plain would be easily visible from a kilometer away with the binoculars used inside the Walls.
But right now, heavy rain was pouring down, conveniently concealing his figure and sparing him from worrying about being spotted.
"Let's start by not making a crater with every step…"
Lillian carefully controlled the distribution of force in his legs, consciously reducing the strength he used when his feet touched the ground, trying to return to his original state. At the same time, a thought crossed his mind:
'Bertholdt, you really did want to kill me. What a bastard.'
If Bertholdt hadn't harbored actual killing intent toward him—if Lillian had merely been crushed as collateral damage—he wouldn't have revived. But the outcome had matched his expectations. Because of Annie, that guy truly wanted him dead.
'But killing me wouldn't change anything.'
All he had done was tell Annie a truth she should have already understood, yet refused to admit. Even if he were killed, a changed mindset could never be reverted.
"Man… this is exhausting."
Step by step, he walked across the empty plain under the pouring rain. This was the area between Wall Sina and Wall Rose. Aside from the Titans Zeke had previously unleashed, there weren't any others here, so there was nothing to worry about.
Even if a Titan did appear, it wouldn't matter.
Lillian felt a constant sense of pressure throughout his body, an overwhelming urge to punch something—anything—away. If a Titan showed up, he felt like he could just send it flying with a single blow.
But since there was nothing around to hit…
'Guess I'll hit the ground.'
No hesitation. Lillian stopped, rolled his shoulders twice, gathered his strength, and slammed his fist down hard.
BOOM—!
A deafening explosion rang out as chunks of stone flew everywhere. A massive crater instantly appeared in the ground. At the same time, the suffocating pressure inside his body eased noticeably, as if a large amount of energy had been released.
"Not bad."
He smashed the ground a few more times, venting the excess power in his body. After leaving seven or eight huge craters behind, he continued forward.
After roughly forty minutes, he finally managed to control the force behind his steps. Compared to before, his walking now looked almost normal. That said, in all that time, he had covered less than two kilometers.
The distance between Wall Sina and Wall Rose was enormous. At this pace, he wouldn't make it even if he walked day and night for ten days straight.
So once he had mastered walking, he began to run.
With one-third of the Colossal Titan's stamina, running barely felt tiring at all. It was like finishing a marathon and only breathing a little harder than usual.
On a whim, Lillian pushed his speed to the limit.
Instantly, the sensation was terrifying. Everything around him blurred—less because he was that fast, and more because his dynamic vision couldn't keep up.
After accidentally tripping and being flung dozens of meters through the air, Lillian got back up and resumed running at a normal pace.
Where was he headed?
Naturally, Wall Rose.
More precisely—outside Wall Rose.
The Titans' playground.
As for what he planned to do out there…
Huh?
Lillian suddenly came to a stop mid-run.
He looked toward the east. Through the curtain of rain, he could vaguely make out a figure walking across the plain.
At a time like this… walking alone in the rain? Who else is as insane as I am?
Without hesitation, he changed direction and ran toward it.
As the distance closed, his vision cleared.
And sure enough—it was her.
"Hey!"
He shouted loudly.
The figure paused and turned around.
Rain streamed down relentlessly, loosening her tied hair into damp strands that clung to her pale face. Her originally unfocused, deep-blue eyes slowly regained a hint of clarity when she saw him.
It was Annie.
The two stood about ten meters apart, silently staring at each other through the rain.
For a moment, Annie even thought she was hallucinating. Under normal circumstances, Lillian shouldn't have been here at all—let alone dressed like this.
…In his underwear, maybe?
Of course, Lillian wouldn't call it underwear. It was clearly a fitted shirt and knee-length shorts. In the year 8102, girls could wear this on the street without issue.
In this era, though, wearing it outside was still questionable—definitely something that could get you lectured by the Military Police.
They continued staring at each other.
Annie thought she was seeing things.
Lillian thought she might be about to say something, so he waited.
She didn't.
After nearly half a minute, Lillian finally couldn't take it anymore and stepped closer.
"Hey… aren't you cold?"