Chapter 7
The steam from the titan that had swallowed Ryo earlier began to fade slowly...
In the heart of the forest, where smoke still rose from the titan's torn remains, the new titan stood in its full might.
It stood still, breathing slowly, shrouded in silence.
Then, suddenly...
It roared.
A long, thunderous roar pierced the sky and the ground. Its echo reached deep inside the walls, awakening beasts from their slumber. It wasn't a cry of pain—it was a cry of revolution.
As if answering a blood-stained call, the earth began to tremble. One titan… then another… then ten… then more.
Titan heads emerged from the trees, their hollow eyes, drooping jaws, and staggering limbs swaying as they moved.
They ran straight toward the rebellious titan, as if by instinct, sensing that this creature posed a threat to them. As if they knew... that their end had come.
The rogue titan didn't move fast.
It waited.
And when the first of them reached him—a large titan with sunken eyes and a mouth gaping to his chest—he grabbed it by the neck with one hand, lifted it high, and roared...
Then kicked it with overwhelming force.
The titan flew through the air, twisted grotesquely, and smashed into a massive tree trunk...
Split in two.
Before the trunk could hit the ground, the rogue titan had already turned to his next foe.
A foolish titan charged ahead blindly, its mouth wide open in hunger— But what it bit into was not flesh, but a solid kick.
A kick delivered by a leg packed with dense, coiled muscle.
It struck the titan's stomach, and half its body exploded into the air.
Blood. Flesh. Bone. It all rained down like a crimson storm.
It was as if the Ryo inside this monstrous body had lost all trace of mercy.
As if his soul were bursting forth with every strike.
He ran, kicked, struck, tore—one after another, they fell.
Bodies flew, heads shattered, necks snapped. The blows were not random. They were calculated. Precise.
Even in the heat of savagery, he moved like a trained killer. As if... someone had taught him this before.
With every fallen titan, the rogue one roared anew. As if a nation's tortured soul was screaming through him.
Within mere minutes, the earth was littered with titan corpses. The monsters stilled. The threat... neutralized.
And when silence returned, the rogue titan's body began to evaporate...
As if its vengeance had been fulfilled.
Its knees buckled, and it collapsed slowly to the ground. Steam rose from its nape and body, until a crack formed at the back of its neck.
From it, emerged a small, frail figure—but alive.
Ryo.
He crawled out, his body drenched in thick blood and steam, his breath ragged. But the most shocking part... was his face.
There were red lines under his eyes, stuck to the remnants of the titan's muscle, as if part of the beast still clung to him.
His head spun. His body staggered. Then he gripped his head with both hands.
"What is this...?" He whispered, groaning in pain.
Memories began to resurface. Painful ones. Still foggy.
He saw a man with dark, thick hair— A man who looked terrifyingly like him.
This man stood before Ryo, tears in his eyes, holding a glowing syringe. Titan spinal fluid.
He screamed:
"Please, give me your hand!! Ryo!! Don't accept this fate!"
"Stop Eren!! Isn't this what you showed me from the future?! If it's true... then please, stop him!!"
His face was contorted in sorrow, stained with tears, his eyes broken with desperation.
But Ryo... understood nothing.
He saw the visions. And then came a blinding pain—like a sword stabbed into his brain.
"Aaaaaah!!"
He screamed, clutching his skull, collapsing to his knees, his face drenched in tears. Lost between overwhelming emotions.
---
Ten Minutes Earlier...
On the opposite side of Paradis Island, at the eastern gate of Wall Maria, the air was thick with tension.
The calm night breeze the soldiers had grown used to now carried strange sounds—a deep, rumbling noise, like the earth itself was a restless dragon.
Suddenly, a great roar shattered the silence.
A titan's cry unlike anything they'd heard before. Like a nuclear blast, its echo rattled the very bones of the guards.
One soldier ran along the wall, shouting:
"Did you hear that?! That's not just one titan... there are many!"
Another guard trembled:
"But how?! There's been no breach! This is impossible!"
Down below, in the outer yard, a mafia cartel was conducting a secret shipment. The atmosphere turned into a nightmare.
The wagon was loaded to the brim with crates—each containing 3D maneuver gear. Armed mafia men surrounded it.
But even their hardened hearts began to falter. Their hands froze with every monstrous scream echoing across the sky.
One man, gripping his pistol, muttered:
"I say we ditch the cargo and run. I'm not dying like a rat out here!"
Their leader, a burly man with a black beard, barked:
"No one touches anything! We're here to make a deal. The cargo goes through!"
As they began to push the wagon toward the gate, they were suddenly surrounded by figures in long cloaks bearing twin wings.
The Survey Corps.
Out from the ranks stepped a tall man with sharp eyes and gleaming blond hair. Commander Erwin Smith.
Behind him stood his soldiers, led by a short man with a dark, ominous aura.
Levi Ackerman, 21 years old. The blade of the Survey Corps.
Erwin spoke in a calm, commanding tone:
"You. Did you come from beyond the wall?"
One thug stammered:
"Y-yes sir... we're merchants... We have a license!"
Their boss stepped forward, sweating, pulling a paper from his pocket:
"Here, look! An official trade permit from the government!"
Erwin took the paper, examined it, and replied:
"Excellent. Then let's inspect your merchandise."
He walked toward the wagon. The gang objected.
Their leader shouted:
"You have no right! That's illegal search! I'll file a complaint!"
Erwin ignored him. With one hand, he pulled back the tarp.
Dozens of crates appeared. All filled with 3D maneuver gear—some models exclusive to military use.
Erwin's eyes widened:
"All this? It wasn't declared."
An officer beside him added:
"They're smuggling weapons!"
Panic spread. One mafioso screamed, drawing his pistol:
"Back off! We'll handle this ourselves!"
Chaos erupted.
But then... just one breath.
The air vanished.
The boss's head fell before he even realized.
From the shadows stepped Levi Ackerman. His blade shimmered in the firelight, his body still in combat stance.
One gangster cried:
"I-it can't be!!"
But more screams followed. Arms severed. Knees shattered. Throats cut like butter.
Anyone who lifted a weapon fell instantly.
"Levi! Stop!"
Erwin's command cut through the air. Levi obeyed without a word, stepping behind his commander.
Erwin spoke to the remaining gangsters:
"Detain the rest. We'll interrogate them about the arms deal."
Before they could leave, another titan roar shook the earth.
The very stones of the wall trembled. Even the air seemed to suffocate.
Erwin and Levi exchanged glances.
This roar... was unlike any titan they'd known.
A feral howl, as if the sky itself had screamed.
Standing with Erwin were Mike, Hange, and Levi—all silent, all staring at the horizon.
Erwin said sternly:
"That sound... it's strange. I've never heard anything like it. But how are titans moving at night?!"
The Survey Corps knew well—pure titans don't move at night. They're weak. Helpless. Let alone roar like that.
Hange, worried, tapped her glasses:
"It came from outside the wall... but it's close. Almost like... it's right beside us."
Erwin gave the order:
"Mike, Hange, Levi. With me. The rest stay here."
"Yes, sir!"
None of them knew...
What awaited them wasn't a group of titans.
It was the birth of something new.
Something that belonged neither to titans nor humans.
---
Elsewhere, steam still rose from the rogue titan's body.
But unlike ordinary titans, its steam was slow, reluctant. As if its body refused to vanish.
And from within the scorched, cracking tissues of its nape...
Ryo Ackerman crawled out, gasping like he had just escaped hell.
Each step outside that monstrous shell was wrapped in strands of muscle. Two thick tendrils still clung beneath his eyes.
As if the titan had branded him.
He crawled... then collapsed to his knees.
His face drenched in sweat, blood, and steam.
He whispered, trembling:
"Did... I die?"
He raised his eyes, still reeling from the visions.
His right hand... had grown back.
He didn't understand how. But it had regenerated.
He turned his gaze back...
He saw the towering figure of the rogue titan.
Its exposed muscles. Its black, empty eyes. The glowing red mark on its forehead.
He whispered:
"I... I'm a titan?"
His voice cracked.
"How?... How did this happen?! I hated them. I swore I would destroy them!"
The world... was laughing at him.
The one who dreamed of killing titans... had become one.
But something within him wasn't fully human.
And not fully titan.
Something else had awakened.
Something furious. Rebellious. Vengeful.
He rose slowly... but noticed something strange.
His strength hadn't left him.
In fact, he felt stronger than ever.
He ran a few steps... and the ground barely held him.
His muscles had exploded with newfound power.
The blood of the Ackermans... had awakened.
And Ryo knew one thing.
He had to vanish.
Before anyone saw him.
There was no time to explain. He didn't even know if what he had lived... was real.
He ran through the trees, into the shadows.
Despite the crushing exhaustion.
His body endured.
To be continued...