A/N: Hello, readers! Welcome to another chapter! Enjoy!

edited on october 1st, 2021 @ 8:24am

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𝓒𝙷𝙰𝙿𝚃𝙴𝚁 𝙴𝙸𝙶𝙷𝚃𝙴𝙴𝙽,
𝓦𝙰𝚁𝚁𝙸𝙾𝚁.

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While stopped at the ruins of Utgard Castle to take a brief break, the Scouts were overwhelmed by Titan assault, vanquishing their hope of survival. However, in that moment... Ymir suddenly transformed into a Titan.

And then the main force of the Scouts rushed in to engage the enemy. They successfully dismantled the Titan attack. However, upon the ruins of battle, Eren and the others learn a surprising truth.

IT HAD STARTED TO RAIN not long after and clouds had darkened the sky. The Scouts made it back to the top of the wall as Ymir was wrapped up. She was now being lifted on top of the wall as Julian watched as Christa's eyes watered.

Julian placed a hand on her shoulder in reassurance. "She'll be fine. Titan shifters heal pretty quickly." He told her.

"Yeah. I hope so. Thank you, Section Commander." Christa said, wiping her tears as Julian smiled.

Julian saw Hange walking over which he took that as a sign that they wanted to talk to Christa. He patted Hange on the shoulder before walking away.

Julian's mind trailed back to Miche's squad as he sighed. "We should've gotten there quicker. If we did, perhaps they wouldn't have died." He thought.

"What are you thinking about, Section Commander?" Lyon asked as him, Zach, William, and Melody walked with him.

"Sorry, my mind is just thinking back to Miche's squad. If only we had gotten there sooner, their deaths could've been avoided." Julian stated.

"They did their part. Now time to do ours. And that's sealing this damn hole." Zach informed.

"I'm with ya there."

"Is everyone clear?" Hange asked as they walked up with Julian, Lyon, and Moblit behind them. "We'll deal with Ymir later. And Connie... I'll arrange for a Scout squad to investigate your village later. For the time being, I want you to focus on the mission to fix the wall. Got it?"

"Got it!"

"Still... I expected this place to be swarming with Titans." Hange stated as they looked down and saw Hannes riding along outside the wall.

"Hannes?" Mikasa questioned.

"It's the Garrison's advance squad. They came to tell us where the hole is." Hange spoke up.

Hannes lifted himself on top of the wall. "There's no hole anywhere!" He informed.

"Huh?" Eren said.

"We spent all night looking for it... but at least between Trost and Krolva District, there's nothing wrong with the wall." Hannes stated.

"What'd you say?" Julian asked.

"We bumped into soldiers from Krolva and retraced our steps. We haven't seen Titans the whole way here." Hannes replied.

"But... we know for sure there's Titans on this side of the wall." Armin pointed out.

"Did you actually look? Are you sure you're not drunk?" Eren asked rudely.

"I didn't drink! Wait, why are all of you here anyways?" Hannes questioned.

Hange turned to the crowd. "If there's no hole in the wall, so be it. For now, we're falling back to Trost District!" They informed.

"Oh no... What if there's a Titan that dug a hole underneath the wall?" Hange asked themselves.

"The hole will be hard to find in that case." Moblit replied.

"I'm the Armored Titan and he's the Colossal Titan."

"Right now, we need to focus on getting Ymir back safely." Hange informed.

"Even with our horses, we still have to worry about the Titans."

Mikasa stopped in her tracks. "Huh? What are you talking about?" Eren asked.

"Why are you telling him, Reiner?" Bertholdt questioned, grabbing onto his arm.

"Our primary goal was to ensure all of humanity was wiped out, but now there's no need for that. Eren. If you agree to come with us, we won't have to destroy any more of the walls. Understand?" Reiner asked.

"Huh? No, wait! I don't understand at all!" Eren responded.

"I'm saying... Why don't you just come with us?" Reiner repeated. "I know this is sudden, but we need to go now."

"Right now? Where will you take me?" Eren questioned.

"I can't say that yet. But... Well, it's something like our hometown. So? What will it be, Eren?" Reiner asked.

"Uh..."

"It's not a bad deal, right? You can easily avert this crisis."

"I wonder about that..."

"Hey! We're leaving!" Armin called out.

"What the hell? And here I thought I had enough to think about yesterday..." Eren thought.

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《 𝖳𝖶𝖤𝖫𝖵𝖤 𝖧𝖮𝖴𝖱𝖲 𝖤𝖠𝖱𝖫𝖨𝖤𝖱 — 𝖤𝖧𝖱𝖬𝖨𝖢𝖧 𝖣𝖨𝖲𝖳𝖱𝖨𝖢𝖳 》

"Eren?"

"What is it, Section Commander?"

"Oh, well... I was finally able to get my hands on the background report for Annie Leonhart."

"Annie's?" Eren questioned.

"Yeah. It's taken so long to get it because managing these reports is such a mess right now. According to this, there were two others belonging to the 104th Cadet Corps who came from the same area as her. And those two are..." Hange paused.

"Reiner Braun and Bertholdt Hoover." Julian finished.

Hange looked at him with shock. "I know you're a genius, but how did you know?" They questioned as everyone turned to look at Julian.

"Are their family records either mixed or nonexistent?" Julian asked as Hange looked through the papers and nodded. "Thought so. When I went to visit my younger brother, and the rest of the Cadet Corps, I had an uneasy feeling upon meeting Reiner. I suspected he had something to do with the chaos five years ago, and Bertholdt was just a guess."

"Not to mention, during the long-range scouting formation, their unit was given false information. They were among those purposely told that Eren was in the right wing." Julian continued.

"The Female Titan attacked from the right wing!" Armin announced.

"Huh? What does that mean?" Sasha asked.

"Then it's possible they passed on that information to Annie..." Julian replied.

"Why? Why would they tell Annie?" Sasha questioned.

"Hey, hold on a minute, Section Commander, Armin. You can't just—" Eren began.

"I know that, Eren." Hange interrupted. "By itself, that's not enough to prove anything. I'm not even surprise Julian knew so quick. He was always an expert on finding things out. So just in case, I'd like to hear from you how these three interacted during training. Know anything?"

"I knew Reiner and Bertholdt were from the same place, but... they didn't seem close with Annie." Armin responded.

"I agree. I don't recall ever seeing the pair talking to Annie that much. Well, Annie didn't talk much in the first place." Eren agreed.

"When we ate, Annie would always sit alone and munch on food by herself." Sasha added on. "Oh! I've got something! I heard a rumor that she liked sweets, even though she looks so grouchy!"

"I... don't remember." Mikasa said.

"But... As their comrade, I'd find it hard to believe. Set aside Bertholdt, who doesn't say much. Reiner is like everyone's big brother, and he's not devious enough to deceive all of us." Eren said.

"I agree. Reiner gave everything he had fighting the Female Titan with me. He would have gotten crushed in her hand if he hadn't—" Armin paused as if he realized something.

"What's wrong?" Eren asked.

"Reiner managed to escape, but... Annie suddenly changed her course... and ran in the direction of Eren. I... I did mention that Eren might be at the rear of the center rank. But Annie was too far away to hear..." Armin replied.

"Seriously?"

"Did Reiner seem overly interested in Eren's location?" Hange asked as Armin widened his eyes as he remembered Reiner asking where Eren was.

"It can't be... I only started talking about Eren's position... because Reiner was the one who asked about it first. Furthermore... when that happened, the Female Titan was staring at her palm. He might have written a message with his blades in her hand. Reiner could've..." Armin trailed off as it was silent.

"What the hell? Why are you saying things like this? You should—" Eren started to say.

"Eren!" Julian interrupted him. "No... Everyone, listen up! Supposing that we find Reiner or Bertholdt, act in such a way as to not reveal any suspicions. Of course, do not make any mention of Annie Leonhart either. Regardless if they're Annie's accomplices or not, we need to lead them deep underground and confine them. Does everyone understand?"

"Yes!"

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Eren placed his hand on Reiner's shoulder. "You're just tired, aren't you? Right, Bertholdt? You've been though so much, it's making you crazy." He said.

"Y-Yeah." Bertholdt agreed. "Reiner's just really tired."

"Besides, if you were really the Armored Titan that wants to destroy humanity... why would you be asking me this in the first place? What did you think would happen? That I'd nod and say "Sure, let's go"?" Eren questioned.

"Come on, let's go." Eren told them.

A strong gust of wind blew, breaking a flag that was tied to a stick. The sky cleared up as everyone was silent as Mikasa was clenching onto her blade, anger wielding up inside her.

"I see... That's it. I've been here too long for my own good. It's been three long years... surrounded by nothing but idiots. We were just kids... We didn't know anything. If only I never knew that there were people like this... I... wouldn't have become... such a half-assed piece of shit!" Reiner shouted.

"It's too late now... I don't know what's right anymore. But there's only one choice for me now... is to face the consequences of my actions... and as a warrior..." Reiner finished as he held up his hand, which had steam coming out of it. "...fulfill my duty to the bitter end!"

"Reiner! Are we doing it?! Now?! Right here?!" Bertholdt questioned.

"Yeah. We settle this... right here, right now!" Reiner shouted as he headed towards Eren.

In a flash, Mikasa appeared from behind Eren with a dark look on her face and clashed her sword with Reiner's hand as blood spat out.

She got out her other sword and quickly slashed it across Bertholdt's neck as the two male's stumbled back. Bertholdt was struggling to breathe as he grabbed onto his neck as Mikasa pointed her blade towards Bertholdt.

"Eren! Run!" Mikasa shouted before trying to stab Bertholdt again but was pushed out of the way by Reiner. He knocked her off the wall but she quickly recovered.

Lightning flashed around Bertholdt and Reiner as Eren could only stare in shock.

"Eren! Get out of there!" Armin called out as Hange, Julian, and the others ran towards them.

A lightning bolt struck the two of them as the Scouts were thrown back. Eren struggled to pull himself up as the Colossal Titan had formed on top of the wall with the Armored Titan behind it as wind and rocks flew in every direction.

Eren had accidentally let go of the wall but was quickly caught by the Armored Titan. He looked up to see the bottom half of the Colossal Titan missing, the Armored Titan stood behind him on the other side where the Scouts were as they tried to grab onto something.

The Colossal Titan stretched its arm out over the Scouts to retrieve Ymir who was blowing away.

"Ymir!" Christa exclaimed.

The Armored Titan skidded down the wall as Eren's hair was blowing in his face. Eren started to tear up from the betrayal from the people he thought of as friends.

"Bertholdt... Reiner..." Eren thought as he bit into his hand. "You damn traitors!"

Eren transformed into his full Titan form as he used his fist to attack the Armored Titan.

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A/N: Another chapter is done! Man, I remember being in so much shock when I first watched Reiner and Bertholdt's reveal. Thanks for reading!

Word Count: 2007 words.