Many throughout history have said that returning pain with more pain is an endless cycle of suffering, but Gale did not see it that way.
To buy time, he had to leave Marley with a scar that would be difficult to heal. He had to confuse them and make them understand that he could cause tremendous damage.
The destruction that the operation against Marley would bring would leave them with a wound that would be hard to recover from. But that was only the beginning. With the power of the Titans in his hands, he would make sure to prepare a defense.
Without a doubt, Marley would use its pain to seek revenge and would try to unite the power of the world to destroy Paradis.
That was why Gale had asked Erwin that, even though this was not an invasion, they had to remind the people of Marley very clearly that they also possessed power and a way to strike back.
And in that way, he would use the chaos to his advantage and take all of Marley's Eldians away once the turmoil began.
With the power of the Titans in his hands, the imprisoned Eldians would serve no purpose other than becoming sacrifices.
That was why, before launching his operation, he infiltrated soldiers to deliver a message, and that message was the one that promised paradise to all of them.
As the saying goes, blood is thicker than water, and it seemed that the message had been well received by many Eldians.
"The demons are invading us!"
"It seems the time has come." An old man in the Eldian internment zone walked toward his bed, pulled out a long wooden box, and took a weapon from inside.
The resistance had always existed in Marley, and the main resistance group within the Marleyan nation was the Eldian Restorationist movement.
All of them were oppressed Eldians seeking to overthrow the Marleyan government, restore the glory of their own empire, and recover the power of the Founding Titan.
Their original leaders were gone, but a year ago another group had been formed, one controlled by Gale from Paradis.
And its only desire was to bring as many Eldians as possible to Paradis so that they would not have to pay the consequences for what he was about to do.
"The time has come to go to Paradise!"
Of course, Gale was not entirely a saint. He eagerly wished to increase the numbers of his army and thus lighten the burden on his people.
...
"The Armored Titan." Gabi Braun stared at the figure of the Armored Titan standing only a few meters away from her. "Brother Reiner."
She was a warrior candidate, but the armband she wore was already the red armband of an Honorary Marleyan.
This was because Reiner Braun, the previous inheritor of the Armored Titan, was her cousin.
Living in the restricted Eldian zone, once a family member became a warrior—an Honorary Marleyan—the entire family could enjoy that person's legacy, rising from the lowest gray armband to the privileged red one.
With that armband, even outside the restricted zone, the guards would not pay her much attention.
Gabi had grown up listening to stories about her cousin.
Now, at nine years old, she had recently joined the Warrior Training Camp.
She had always longed to inherit one of the Nine Titans, to become a warrior like her cousin Reiner, praised by her family and recognized by her neighbors.
She wanted to atone for the sins of the Eldians' past and dedicate herself to the great Marleyan Empire.
This was the education she had received since childhood, which was why she had become a warrior candidate.
Her memories of her cousin dated back five years, when she was only four.
Although they had not seen each other in five years, she lived in her aunt's house. Her aunt had a photograph of her and her cousin hanging in the most prominent place in the living room.
Her aunt was proud that her son had become a warrior, and Gabi heard her every day talking about how wonderful her son was. Therefore, even though Gabi had not seen her cousin in a long time, her memory of him remained especially vivid.
She could recognize the Titan's form at a glance; it was undoubtedly the Armored Titan.
According to her aunt, wasn't her cousin Reiner at the front lines of the war? Why was the Armored Titan here? And what was that explosion from a moment ago? Was it the Colossal Titan?
Gabi sat motionless in the mud, her mind completely blank.
Until she heard a shout behind her.
"Gabi, run!"
It was Falco, her classmate who had become a warrior candidate alongside her.
Gabi snapped out of it, got to her feet, and ran with Falco while her confused mind struggled to understand the situation.
Above their heads, like a flock of birds in flight, shadows blocked the sunlight, but they were not birds—they were human figures.
Gabi looked up and saw people in black combat uniforms moving between buildings with grappling hooks.
"W-What... what is that?" Gabi watched as the group flew overhead.
They appeared to be equipped with weapons attached directly to their arms rather than handheld grips; the black-and-gold barrels were fastened straight onto their forearms.
Besides the weapons, some carried even stranger equipment on their arms: four half-meter strips of silver metal attached to both arms, with several more mounted on their backs.
Gabi and Falco ran past them, but they were ignored. They found their classmates, and the group ran together.
Within seconds, chaos erupted, but before they could reach safety, a burst of gunfire exploded behind them.
It was not the Marleyan soldiers who were firing, but the black-clad figures flying around them. They simply refrained from attacking unarmed children like Gabi and Falco.
But the moment they saw uniformed Marleyan soldiers, they opened fire without hesitation.
Sparks flew, bullets rained down, and blood sprayed everywhere. The Marleyan soldiers were completely defenseless, falling one after another.
Several Marleyan soldiers brought out a cannon and aimed it toward the surrounding buildings.
But before it could fire, one of the men in black stopped.
Kenny stood on a rooftop beside the cannon, retracting his hook.
"Hey, hey, hey, don't be so cruel. Cannons are dangerous. What if you blow up the buildings?"
"Come on, would you kill your own people?" Kenny asked loudly. His voice sounded alarmed, but it was not fear; there was a mocking tone in his words.
"Damn you..." the Marleyan soldier whispered fearfully.
"You broke the rules first, so don't blame me when you're down there! Hahaha!"
Kenny launched himself into the air, performing a highly difficult aerial waltz followed by his personal squad.
All of them were equipped with the most advanced automatic pistols Gale had created, possessing power and accuracy unlike anything seen before.
Bang! Bang! Bang!
The bullets did not need to be precise. As long as a burst struck a soldier's chest, no matter who they were, how big or small they were, they died within seconds.
"Our mission is to eliminate every anti-air defense position like this one. Move out and blow everything up with the Thunder Spears." Although the weapon in his hands was beautiful, Thunder Spears remained Kenny's favorite alarm clock.
"Since they use cannons, let's show them our finest mobile weapon."
"Yes, Captain."
The Thunder Spears in the demolition squad's hands ignited, their propellants hissing and crackling as they cut through the air, embedding themselves into the ground around the cannon like arrows.
Four Thunder Spears surrounded the cannon. One even pierced the chest of a man who was barely breathing, while the others embedded themselves in the blood-soaked ground.
BOOM!!!
"Ahhh!" Gabi was blinded by the dazzling white flash.
A deafening roar followed, and when she opened her eyes again, she saw nothing but twisted scrap metal and debris flying through the air.
A charred finger rolled to her feet, giving off a foul smell like burnt hair.
The sight before her made her cover her mouth as her stomach churned.
"Gabi! Run!" Falco grabbed her hand and pulled her away.
The two finally reached the outside of the training camp, where Gabi saw her aunt standing at the entrance of the internment zone.
Her aunt carried freshly purchased vegetables and cooked meat. Today marked one month since Gabi had started school, and her aunt had promised to prepare a lavish dinner for her.
Her aunt seemed frozen in place; her hands trembled, and the bag fell to the ground.
With a shaking voice, she called out to her son.
"Reiner..."
But it was not her son. She knew that.
The Armored Titan was slaughtering Marleyan soldiers.
Karina had watched as the Armored Titan grabbed Reiner's former instructor and hurled him to the ground.
Her son would never do such a thing.
Upon seeing this, she understood.
"Reiner..." Karina cried out as she fell to her knees, covering her mouth with one hand while tears streamed down her face.
Gabi and Falco ran to her and helped her up.
The children led her away from the battlefield.
...
"Are you alright, sir?" Theo asked after helping Willy up following the first explosion.
Willy's forehead had been split open and was bleeding heavily.
"Damn it... Is this the strength of Paradis Island?" Willy exclaimed, breathing heavily. The pain made him sweat and tremble. "They even brought the Armored Titan! Are they trying to kill all of us?"
"I've already sent the highest-priority support telegram." Calvi supported Willy. "Our army will arrive soon!"
"The Colossal Titan exploded at the port. Don't let them escape, no matter the cost!"
Marley had 100,000 soldiers in the capital. The Armored Titan and that ridiculously powerful force were formidable, but even if they ran out of ammunition and supplies, even if it cost lives, they had to make them pay for this attack!
"Brother... what should we do?" A girl wearing a black-and-white maid outfit knelt beside him, untied the sash from her skirt, and wrapped it around Willy's forehead to stop the bleeding.
"Please, Lara." Willy clutched his chest. "Hold on until the army arrives."
"I know."
Golden arcs of electricity crackled around the woman named Lara Tybur.
Hardened crystals grew from the wound on her arm, enveloping her in diamond-like crystal.
She appeared trapped within amber, shining with a silvery light.
The next second, the crystal violently sank into the earth, creaking and splintering with the sound of breaking planks, until the transparent crystal emerged from the ground outside the house.
The crystal rapidly expanded, lightning flashed, and skeleton and flesh fused together.
A giant resembling someone clad in steel armor stood in the square.
"Demons of Paradis Island, you will no longer be allowed to do as you please!" declared the War Hammer Titan.