BOOOM!!!
The nitroglycerin was detonated by the fire, and the deafening explosion filled the ears of everyone within the inner walls.
The tremor that shook the ground unleashed a burst of light and heat, and for an instant, it was as if it were daytime.
Before the explosion, Gale had warned Hannes to open his mouth wide to avoid having his eardrums rupture. Almost instinctively, both of them threw themselves to the ground the moment the fire reached the detonation point.
The shockwave swept across their backs, the piles of hay around them were blown away by the wind, and something fell beside Gale with a dull thud.
Crack!
"Damn it…" Gale had underestimated the explosion his bomb would cause.
What had fallen beside him was a clear example. When he saw the charred piece of skin, roughly his size, with embers burning on it and emitting white steam as it rapidly shrank like burning foam, he knew that this time he had been too naïve.
Gale narrowed his eyes, shielding them with his right hand, and slowly stood up, looking at the flaming crater.
The warm wind lifted glowing ashes and black smoke into the sky, and embers fell in scattered particles, like a snowfall of flames.
The entire field had vanished, leaving only a massive crater burning fiercely within.
The fourteen-meter-tall Female Titan had been torn to pieces. At a glance, her exterior was completely charred.
The remains of the Female Titan were scattered everywhere, and those remains were disappearing at a terrifying speed.
Fortunately, the Female Titan had been at the center of the explosion, and her body absorbed most of the impact and heat.
The Titan Eren had transformed into only lost its legs and suffered burns across its body.
The soldiers on the rooftops froze, staring blankly at the scene before them.
The mansion beneath their feet was littered with human remains, and in the distance, apocalyptic flames burned. The giant's body had been scorched by the fire, and her head, along with the nape, fell to the ground. No skin remained on her enormous face—only exposed gums and charred bone.
The nearby vines caught fire, and the air filled with the smell of blood and nitric acid from the nitroglycerin explosion. After the noise subsided, Hannes looked up and saw Gale standing at the edge of the crater. His hair and clothes fluttered in the wind, and the reflection of the flames in his eyes looked like molten gold.
Farther away, the people in the carriage and those who had fled turned back.
They heard the explosion behind them and saw the glow of fire lighting up the sky.
Mikasa jumped from Historia's carriage, rolled several times through bushes and undergrowth, and stood up despite her injuries.
"Eren…" Tears streamed from Mikasa's eyes as she ran toward the mansion.
"Mikasa! Where are you going? Come back!" Armin shouted from the carriage.
To Armin's surprise, Historia jumped down the moment he shouted.
The princess tore the hem of her tight dress, discarded her sharp high-heeled shoes that hindered her movement, gritted her teeth, and ran barefoot.
"Your Highness! Come back at once!" The soldiers accompanying Historia pulled their reins, jumped down, and chased after her.
But soon, Mikasa and Historia stopped.
In truth, they had not gone far from the mansion—only one or two kilometers.
But when they looked up toward the explosion, a figure was watching them with a smile, waving.
The figure was Gale, who stood beside Hannes in a high area far from the explosion.
"Gale, are you alright?" Historia's small, soft hands touched Gale's face and skin, trying to find hidden injuries.
"I'm not that bad, just a minor burn." Gale remained indifferent despite his left arm having been burned, and looked at Mikasa before saying, "Mikasa, the explosion shouldn't have affected Eren. Don't worry."
"If you're concerned, let Mr. Hannes take you to where he is so you can make sure."
Mikasa nodded and first approached Hannes, who was still recovering from witnessing such a tremendous explosion.
Gale stayed there waiting for Petra and the others to arrive, while the soldiers used their Omni-Directional Mobility Gear to reach the edge of the crater.
Petra stared in horror at the remains of the Female Titan, covered her mouth, and murmured, "What kind of thing caused that explosion?"
"Petra, go to the head—we must secure the perimeter before confirming the Female Titan is dead!" Gale shouted, pointing at the remains of the Female Titan's head.
"Hurry, don't just stand there!"
"Seal the perimeter! No one is allowed to leave the epicenter of the explosion!"
Petra knew that anyone could potentially be an intelligent Titan. Only by close observation could they determine whether someone showed the aftereffects of transforming into a Titan like Eren.
But not everyone knew about these aftereffects, so it was her duty to ensure that the one controlling the Female Titan did not escape.
"She's here!" A shout drew everyone's attention.
There was a luminous, transparent crystal, half buried in charcoal and half exposed, standing out clearly in the sea of fire.
"That is…" Petra's sharp eyesight allowed her to see through the barrier and discover the person sealed inside the crystal.
"Hurry, bring water to put out the fire!" Petra ordered urgently.
Under her command, the soldiers found the waterwheel near the mansion, dug a shallow trench, used the waterwheel to divert river water toward the crystal to cool it, and then focused on extinguishing the surrounding flames.
Shortly after, a group of soldiers arrived from the direction of the town. They were on horseback, led by Commander Pixis.
The nitroglycerin explosion had been so violent that it was felt even in the city, so Pixis set aside his duties and led his personal troops, following the glow of the fire in the distance, to this place.
Unimaginable devastation—ruins, fire, remains of giants, signs of battle, human corpses…
Some of the former Military Police, who lacked combat experience, felt physically ill upon seeing the scene; some covered their mouths and vomited by the roadside.
"What exactly happened here?" Pixis asked, his hands behind his back.
"We were attacked by an intelligent Titan—the Female Titan, a woman who can transform into a Titan like Eren!" Petra quickly reported the situation.
Once the fire was extinguished, the soldiers retrieved the crystalline object and brought out Annie inside it, her eyes closed as if she were asleep.
At last, Pixis understood what was happening and likely anticipated it when he saw the signs of the explosion.
From a distance, Gale frowned, then shook his head. "A normal outcome, not surprising."
After all, she was an Eldian born in Marley, a soldier of the Marleyan government, and the war there had escalated to the point of using firearms, armored trains, and airships.
When she ate the malt candy, she realized it was a trap and naturally assumed that weapons were aimed at her.
Thus, in her final moments, she used all her strength to create a hardened outer shell to protect herself.
Some people tried to break it with a hammer and shoot it with a pistol, but they could not destroy the crystal.
The fact that it remained so intact after a nitroglycerin explosion was proof enough of its durability.
In the history Gale knew, Paradis Island had not been able to get Annie out of there for five long years.
Only when Eren activated the power of the Founder did she awaken from her dormant state.
However, this was not necessarily a bad thing—at least from Gale's perspective.
If Annie had not been able to harden herself, she would have exploded on the spot. In that case, the power of the Female Titan would have manifested in Eldian newborns and become uncontrollable.
It was better to preserve this crystal.
"Perhaps in the future, we can open it and allow others to inherit the power of the Female Titan," Gale thought coldly as he looked at the surrounding chaos.
Unfortunately, if it were the power of a Titan—without the drawback of only being able to live thirteen years after inheriting it—Gale himself would have liked to experience what it felt like to become a Titan.
He let out a sigh of relief, gazed at the ruins, and at last, the obstacle had been overcome.
"I took care of 95% of the nobles—a good achievement. Suppressing the rest will be simple," Gale thought as he walked away to treat his burns.
It was time to create his own armed force.