Morning came. Mikasa, Armin, Eren, and I had already talked the night before and decided that we would join the Scout Regiment. While Eren was busy giving one of his speeches before walking off, I took the opportunity to talk to Ymir and told her to join the Scouts along with Krista. She was initially against it, but when I told her that Krista herself wanted to join, she had no choice but to agree.
It was almost time—the moment when the Colossal Titan would appear again. Bertholdt would transform and destroy another part of the wall just like five years ago,while Eren and the others were stationed there for maintenance duty.
A short while later, I joined Eren and the others on the wall: Eren, Connie, Thomas, Samuel, Sasha, Mina—and me.
I was already prepared for what was about to happen. This would be my first step toward rising in power. I would gather the others and rally them behind me. I remembered that our superiors would retreat to the interior, leaving us cadets behind. After that, I would head back to headquarters—after saving Eren's squad.
My priority was to make sure Eren wouldn't transform into a Titan. I couldn't allow that. It would alert the nobles who already knew the truth.
"Anyway, Leo, what are you doing here?" Eren asked.
"Yeah, I thought you weren't supposed to be on duty today," Connie echoed.
"Well, there's something I need to talk to Eren about," I said. "So I figured I'd speak to him after this—and while I'm at it, help you guys out."
"Me?" Eren asked. "What is it about?"
"I'll tell you later," I replied.
That's right—my first target is Eren. I'm going to recruit him before moving on to Annie and the others. I already have one under my command; with Eren, that would make two.
"Well… alright," Eren said, still looking confused.
I waited for the right moment, staying silent while remaining on guard. I positioned myself close to Samuel—this guy almost fell to his death if not for Sasha saving him.
After a few minutes of waiting while cleaning the cannon, I heard it—a loud bang. Then boom.
It happened fast.
I sprang into action and grabbed Samuel by the head.
"Wait—what?!" Samuel shouted, caught completely off guard.
Carrying his weight didn't slow me down at all. I jumped onto the wall and immediately activated my ODM gear to keep myself balanced. The others followed, though they were clearly caught by surprise.
"Wait—Leo? Let me go!" Samuel said.
"Shh," I replied.
I watched what Bertholdt did. He created a massive hole, and Eren tried to fight the monster—but it disappeared just as suddenly, vanishing into a cloud of steam.
"The wall—it's broken!" Connie shouted.
"We don't have much time," I said. "Let's move to HQ."
"Leo, that's the one from years ago—damn it, I was about to—" Eren started.
"Focus, Eren," I said sharply. He had clearly lost his composure. "We move first."
"…Alright," he replied.
Good. I'll stick to my plan.