"It's the Survey Corps' Great Hammer!"
Someone shouted.
Roger looked over and realized the voice belonged to a soldier from his own Scorpio Corps. He had no idea why this man even knew about that "Great Hammer."
Because he'd been buried in internal affairs lately, Roger hadn't paid much attention to anything else—least of all Survey Corps business—and he certainly didn't know they'd secretly developed a giant-smashing hammer.
Roger studied the device.
A great hammer fixed to the wall's edge. You wind it by hand, release the rope, and let inertia bring it crashing down.
Beneath the hammer, many soldiers stood as bait, luring Titans in. Then they'd trigger the hammer and smash—obliterating the Titan's skull and the nape in one blow.
This mechanized workflow slashed casualties dramatically—far safer than riding out to meet Titans in the open.
"Smart," Roger said with a faint smile. "In the end, it's humans who are scarier than Titans—human ingenuity…"
He looked at the ODM gear on his body and drifted off into thought.
He remembered first strapping on ODM gear, the day he learned to use it, how he'd flown and spun through the trees with reckless freedom.
Back then, he'd been awed by human invention—and he'd conceived a wild idea: mount ODM gear onto a Titan.
Staring at this massive hammer now, Roger thought it might actually be worth serious consideration.
It might be time to mount large machinery on Titans.
It didn't have to be ODM gear. Other rigs—like this hammer—could be fitted onto a Titan's arms or elsewhere to boost its punching power. Why not?
With that, Roger's mind started running again.
But this wasn't the time for deep design talk. That could wait. What mattered now was how to purge the Titans outside the Walls without staggering losses.
Boom!
Boom!
The Great Hammer fell every few minutes, like the pumping of a heart—like the people inside the Walls flaunting human strength.
The citizens cheered, and, watching that hammer, they seemed to regain faith in humanity.
"Attaboy, Corps!!"
"That's it! Humanity must stand tall!!"
"We will win!"
"Dedicate your hearts!!"
Pride surged through the crowd. And just then, the gates opened again: Erwin led the newly reorganized Survey Corps, on horseback, out of the Wall.
A roar of voices exploded. It was like everyone had been jabbed with a stimulant—fists pumping, hands over hearts for Erwin and the Survey Corps!
In that fevered moment, Erwin drew the steel blades from his ODM gear, raised them high, pulled his mount's reins, and made it rear with a piercing whinny.
"Survey Corps, hear me! From this moment—full alert!" he bellowed, then kicked off into the charge. "Advance!!"
"Yes, sir!!"
The soldiers caught fire, shouting as they had countless times before, spurring their horses and surging forward!
Behind them, women, children, and the elderly watched, praying for a triumphant return.
"Nice…"
"They're being hoped for."
"Not like us…"
The Scorpio Corps sagged a little. They still couldn't shed the fact they were seen as "born with bad blood." Courage or not, recognition never came.
The louder the crowd cheered, the sharper the doubt inside them cut.
But then—
BOOM!!!
A shattering thunderclap. The ground split.
A platinum-white pillar of light dropped from the sky like divine lightning, slamming into the earth!
Everyone's eyes snapped toward it!
Before their eyes, the platinum glow peeled away, layer by layer.
Bone and flesh plated themselves into place. Answering the call of [Channel], Roger summoned a Titan body—he summoned the Jaw-Armored Titan!!
With a deafening crash, the Titan planted itself on solid ground and stretched out a hand, fingers closing on thin air.
Shiiing!
White light flared in its palm; a heartbeat later, a crimson scythe took shape in its grip.
As the scythe leveled, light armor spread across the Jaw-Armored Titan's frame, together with the supple, specialized plating of the War Hammer Titan.
Head thrown back, Roger made the Titan roar, a sound that thumped chests and spiked heartbeats.
"ROAR!!!"
As if proclaiming dominion to the world, the Jaw-Armored Titan raised the scythe high with its left hand, swept it back across its rear, and thrust its right hand out, pointing straight ahead.
In that instant, something primal fired inside the Scorpio Corps. They all flared with battle heat, bellowed, and charged in the direction Roger indicated!
To them, Roger was sky and earth—an existence they could never defy!
The column moved out, Scorpio warhorses screaming.
The cheering inside the Walls died at once. People stared, stunned and afraid, at this powerful, terrifying Titan. Their bodies trembled; none dared raise their voice—as if being noticed meant instant death.
Silence fell.
Within the Survey Corps, despite the Jaw-Armored Titan's earth-rattling voice, Erwin didn't look back even once.
He kept charging forward.
He charged on without a shred of hesitation.
Behind him, Eren Yeager glanced back at the monstrous figure and the huge scythe in its hand—and the memory of his devoured mother rang through him.
"We have to drive them out. We have to surpass them. If only… if only I had a Titan's power…"
That thought burned through Eren, but he knew it was impossible.
"Eren, you're falling behind."
At his side, Mikasa had slipped out of formation to watch him.
"I know. I don't need you to say it. Just look after yourself," Eren said. "Mikasa, if I die on this expedition, take my ashes—at least a part of me—and bury me there."
"Where?"
"At [the sea]!"
Eren shouted and kicked his horse to full sprint.
He flew past everyone.
Past Mikasa.
Past Armin.
Past Jean, Connie, Marco, Sasha…
Past every last one of them.
Until they couldn't catch him, and he was gone from sight.
"Eren!"
Mikasa called and poured on speed, but she never closed the gap.
Levi watched and remembered things he didn't say.
He tilted his head back and looked into the sky.
A wild goose cut the air in easy freedom.
Unbound.
//Check out my P@tre0n for 20 extra chapters on all my fanfics //[email protected]/Razeil0810.