Standing on a thick branch high above the ground, Lock leaned his shoulder against the tree trunk, scanning the forest below.
At the base of the tree, Hange Zoe was barking out instructions as Moblit and the others struggled with their grisly prize. The four-meter Titan they had crippled was bound tightly, its limbs hacked off and its body wrapped like a grotesque mummy before being loaded onto the wagon.
Where the soldiers moved with nervous tension, Hange's expression brimmed with excitement, almost impatience.
To her, this wasn't horror—it was discovery. The title of "mad scientist" suited her all too well.
Yet the way her bright, feverish eyes occasionally flicked toward him made Lock uneasy. The sharp, almost greedy glint reminded him too much of how she looked at Titans.
He exhaled and turned his gaze outward, toward the fading line of the horizon. His thoughts drifted, replaying every moment since he had first stepped beyond the Walls.
"Without realizing it, I've adapted to the killing… to life outside."
The confusion that once gnawed at him had faded after his first kill.
Now, with steady equipment and a clear mind, Lock believed he could survive most encounters. Pure Titans were manageable. As long as he avoided mistakes, they were nothing more than oversized prey.
Intelligent Titans, however—that was another matter.
In the story, the Walls are breached again not long after this expedition…
His eyes returned to the forest floor, where Hange and the squad were finishing the work of securing their captive Titan.
"It's almost time to head back," Lock murmured.
The sun was dipping low, painting the treetops with crimson light. Distant Titans that had been wandering aimlessly began to slow, their sluggish bodies grinding to a halt as the night approached.
Even monsters, it seemed, required rest.
"Lock! We're ready to move!" Hange's voice carried up from below.
"Got it," he called back, preparing to descend—
When a sharp noise split the calm.
The quiet forest suddenly erupted as small animals bolted in every direction. The hair on Lock's neck prickled. Something was approaching.
He narrowed his eyes, searching the shadows between the trunks.
Then he saw it—
A Titan, emerging from the woods. It was short, only a little over four meters, with short golden hair and an eerie grin stretched across its face. Its steps were faltering, heavy, as if it would collapse before it reached the clearing.
At first glance, it was nothing unusual. Another mindless Titan. Harmless for now.
But then Lock's heart jolted. His eyes widened.
That face. That grin. That hair.
Her.
The Titan that would one day devour Carla Jaeger, Eren's mother.
Dana Fritz.
The realization struck like lightning.
In a rush of instinct, Lock's hands pulled his blades free. His body tensed, ready to strike. But just as he was about to leap forward—
Memories surfaced. Names. Histories.
Dana Fritz. Eldian restorationist. Grisha's first wife. A kind woman before her fall. The biological mother of Zeke Yeager, the future Beast Titan.
The words she once cried out before her punishment echoed in Lock's mind:
"Grisha, no matter what I become, I will find you!"
Transformed into a mindless Titan, she had no will. No choice. No thought. Only instinct. A victim, bound inside a monstrous shell.
Unlike Grisha, she never received another chance.
Lock froze, blades trembling in his grip. His chest rose and fell as he forced air through his lungs. Slowly, painfully, he sheathed his swords.
His gaze lingered on her—on Dana—before he turned away.
He couldn't do it. Not now.
Yes, he had every reason to cut her down. Emotionally, it would protect Carla, the woman who had shown him warmth and treated him like her own. Rationally, though—if not Dana, another Titan would have devoured her. That cruel wheel of fate would keep turning.
But fate was no longer set in stone. Lock was here now. And if the plot still turned toward that tragedy, he would intervene—without hesitation.
For now, though, Dana Fritz still had value.
Her bloodline was royal. If she could ever be restored, the Coordinate could be activated. And even if she remained a Titan, she was proof that contact between the Founding Titan and royal blood could unleash that power.
She must live until I can decide her future myself.
The thought filled him with a heavy urgency. Time was slipping away.
"I need more power…" Lock whispered to the quiet forest.
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