"Reiner, have a seat. We're all old friends here—let's talk." Yago said casually.
A drop of cold sweat slid down Reiner's forehead. He stared nervously at Yago. After weighing his options for a long time, he finally sat down in the chair across from him.
Seeing Reiner sit, Yago lightly clapped his hands. Soon, several soldiers in military uniforms walked in from outside. However, although they were dressed in Marleyan uniforms, each of them had a red armband tied around their arm.
Red armbands? Reiner's eyes widened in surprise as he suddenly thought of something.
"Eldians?"
Yago didn't answer his question. He simply waved his hand, and the soldiers quickly approached him.
"Take these kids to the next room. Thanks for your trouble."
"Yes! Boss Yago!" The leading soldier looked at Yago with admiration. Although Yago was younger than him, Reiner's guess was correct—these soldiers were indeed Eldians, and all of them were core members of the Eldian Revival Army.
Not long ago, Serena had personally announced this news to the members of the Eldian Revival Army: the true leader of their movement was none other than Yago, who had been disguised as the Marleyan Loya!
This revelation completely ignited the morale of the Revival Army. The leader they admired had been fighting alongside them all along! And now, they were about to accomplish something unprecedented in the past hundred years—they would liberate all Eldians!
Several soldiers carried the bound Warrior candidates—tied up like dumplings—out of the room, either dragging, lifting, or hoisting them over their shoulders.
As Gabi was carried past Reiner, she struggled desperately, twisting her body. Though her mouth was gagged, she still tried her best to make muffled noises. Unfortunately, Reiner seemed to hear nothing. He sat there with his head lowered, not even daring to move.
This was because his heart was filled with unease. With Yago suddenly appearing here, he couldn't be sure whether his former comrades from Paradis Island were also present.
Thinking of Eren, Armin, Mikasa, and Historia, Reiner felt an inexplicable heaviness in his chest. If he could start over, he wouldn't want any of this to happen again.
But there were no "ifs" in this world. No matter what, the mistakes of the past had already been made, and no amount of atonement would ever be enough. Now, all Reiner could hope for was that his family wouldn't be dragged into this.
Resist? With only the power of the Armored Titan, Reiner had no chance of winning. Not to mention the overwhelming Titan power Yago possessed, just recalling that short figure from his memories—spinning rapidly through the air and slaughtering Titans—was enough to make him tremble in fear.
"Zofia, you should go get some rest too. I'll need you to help your sister Airi later." Yago said gently to Zofia.
The already dejected Reiner suddenly received another shocking blow.
"Airi?? H-How is she involved with Yago and the others? Wasn't she chosen by the higher-ups as a new Titan warrior?"
Reiner grew even more confused.
Hearing that she would be helping Airi, Zofia immediately perked up as if injected with adrenaline. She happily agreed and left the room. Now, only Reiner and Yago remained.
...
At the same time, Willy Tybur stepped onto the stage, dressed in a specially tailored luxurious suit.
"Ladies and gentlemen, ambassadors and representatives from all over the world, and all the dedicated journalists present—first of all, welcome to this conference. I, Willy Tybur, as Marley's special envoy, thank you all for attending."
With that, Willy bowed deeply.
His gesture immediately drew waves of applause and cheers from the audience.
After more than half a minute, Willy straightened up again. He subtly glanced toward the seating area where the Marleyan nobles were gathered. After a brief pause, he spoke in a low voice,
"This is a very long story... Over a hundred years ago..."
...
"Yago… how did you get here?" After struggling internally for a long time, Reiner finally asked nervously.
Yago replied, "Then how did you come to our Paradis Island back then?"
Reiner's heart clenched sharply. His lips trembled, but he couldn't utter a single word.
Yago continued, "Bertholdt is dead. Not long ago. His Colossal Titan power has already been inherited by us."
Reiner lowered his head, clenching his fists so tightly that his nails nearly pierced his palms.
"Reiner, tell me—why did you break the walls? Why destroy the century of peace inside them?"
Reiner's eyes widened, tears already welling up.
"I'm sorry! Yago, it was all my fault! I was the one who insisted on breaking the walls. I'm the sinner who destroyed the peace of the Eldian people!"
Yago's expression turned cold.
"So? What was your reason for breaking the walls?"
Reiner said dejectedly, "To infiltrate the walls."
"Why infiltrate the walls!?"
"Because we needed to find the Founder and take back the Coordinate power."
"And the reason?"
"To take the Founder… and save the world."
"Save the world? Hahaha, that's the funniest joke I've ever heard." Yago sneered. "Taking the Founder back to Marley is saving the world? How exactly does that save it? Are the Eldians on Paradis Island going to destroy the entire world?"
Reiner had no response.
Yago stood up, grabbed Reiner by the collar, and yanked him up from the chair. He demanded fiercely,
"Reiner, do you even understand in your own heart? Who are you taking the Founder for? It's for Marley! Why does Marley want the Founder? Tell me!"
Even though Reiner was slightly taller than Yago, he was completely crushed in terms of presence.
"I-I know… Marley wants to use the Founder to further control the power of the Titans… to fight for Marley."
Yago pointed outside, toward Willy's voice.
"Did you hear that? What did Tybur say? We Eldians used the power of Titans to rule the world with bloodshed, so we're called devils. But what has Marley done after obtaining that power?"
Yago dragged Reiner to the window. From there, the dazzling stage could be seen faintly.
"Do you see this? All this luxury and splendor—what do the Marleyans rely on? It's the countless Eldian soldiers who died for them in war. It's the innocent Eldians they kicked off airships and turned into Titan cannon fodder. All of this was bought with their lives!
But have the Marleyans ever reflected on this even a little? They openly curse us Eldians as devils, yet they still covet the power of those very devils! And look at those clowns in the audience—look at their hypocritical masks.
They also call Eldians devils, yet now they shamelessly applaud Marley for using that so-called 'devil's power.' How utterly ironic."
Yago released Reiner, and Reiner stumbled and fell to the ground.
"Reiner, you were right about one thing—you are a sinner. And the crime you've committed is unforgivable."