Running at full speed, Lock soon reached the roof of Harry's blacksmith shop. He found that Uncle Harry and Aunt Martha had already left. He couldn't help but breathe a sigh of relief.
However, his headache worsened as he noticed the Titans relentlessly following him…
Because they had been in a rush to get moving, they ignored the Titans encountered along the way. Since most of the people who hadn't escaped had already been devoured, Lock, a living human who made no effort to dodge, instantly attracted the attention of the Titans.
One by one, they began to gather around him.
"Since Uncle and the others aren't here, it's time for me to leave~"
Licking his dry lips, Lock suppressed the urge to slaughter all the dozen Titans in front of him. He turned around and headed toward the entrance of Wall Maria, his mind busy analyzing the situation.
If I remember correctly, the moment the Titan broke the wall should have occurred earlier than the plot suggests. In that case, many of my memories are now useless…
Thinking of this, Lock's mind wandered to Grisha. In his memory, Grisha had gone inland to practice medicine before the wall was breached and wasn't in the Shiganshina area. He had used that opportunity to seize the power of the Founding Titan…
I hope Grisha hasn't already acted… or perhaps, since the plot advanced, he didn't go inland at all and stayed here.
According to Lock's line of thought, he wished Grisha hadn't gone inland so that he'd have room to operate rather than be stuck in a passive position.
But his train of thought was interrupted by a huge figure standing in his path.
On the main road leading to Wall Maria's gate, a strange Titan appeared—a 15-meter-tall figure distinct from the others, covered in armor.
Reiner? Is he about to break through Wall Maria?
Lock froze, standing at the edge of a rooftop, his eyes fixed on Reiner—transformed into the Armored Titan—accumulating energy to crash through the city wall.
Should he act or not?
If Reiner was eliminated here, many things could be avoided, but Lock was not 100% certain of success. A failure meant paying with his life.
There was one critical question weighing on him.
If Reiner were truly killed, what would Lock gain?
Were Armored Titan?
Even though Lock was of Eldian blood, he could not inherit the power of a Titan unless chosen. The key point was: he hadn't decided whether to inherit a Titan's power at all. After all, doing so would limit his life to merely thirteen more years.
Even if he were forced to inherit it, the Armored Titan was not his choice.
This was not advantageous for him, so Lock saw no reason to act.
Reality forced him to stop thinking further. Reiner was already running—fast—charging directly at Wall Maria.
After Shiganshina District falls, Wall Maria will fall too…
Watching Reiner's retreating back, Lock felt a trace of inner struggle.
As the outermost wall, the fall of Wall Maria would mean that a huge area of human settlement would be overrun, becoming a playground for Titans. This would be an immense disaster for the people inside the wall, whose numbers were growing while living space was shrinking.
He could have stopped all of this… but he hesitated.
The consequences were enormous.
Sigh…
Lock exhaled deeply. "From beginning to end, I've been a selfish person."
He pushed aside the thought and continued approaching the city gate.
The fall of Wall Maria was undeniably a massive opportunity for the Survey Corps, whose status was always awkward and often disregarded, to expand its power.
Chaos within the wall was the perfect chance for a hero to emerge.
If Lock wanted to overturn the established order, his current position wasn't enough.
He needed more influence, especially the power of Titans.
Reiner, Hoover, and Annie were warriors of Marley and could not be confronted openly—at least not yet.
But from what he saw, Lock felt fully capable of acquiring the three great Titan powers—the Attack Titan, the Founding Titan, and the Jaw Titan—which would serve as his trump card and confidence to break tradition.
With this in mind, Lock arrived in front of Wall Maria.
What he saw was the city gate breached by Reiner, and a panicked crowd of civilians and garrison soldiers at the entrance.
Petra and the other four stood out in particular. Having already experienced battles beyond the wall, they remained far calmer than the others.
But even they were visibly shaken.
The Armored Titan, which had endured artillery fire and broken the city gate, was unlike any Titan they had ever seen.
They had faced countless Titans outside the wall, yet this one was uniquely powerful.
Fortunately, for some unknown reason, after breaking through the gate, the Armored Titan disappeared—a fact that was excellent news.
Seeing Lock arrive safely, the group hurried toward him.
"Why are you here just now?!" Petra asked sharply, though her eyes were full of worry.
Elder and the other two wore the same expression.
But this was not the time to talk.
Turning toward the horde of Titans closing in from behind, Lock said firmly:
"This place is probably indefensible. Delay them as much as you can so the people can evacuate by water."
"This is the only option," Elder agreed with a heavy nod.
A depressing atmosphere spread among them.
It wasn't that they didn't want to fight, but there were simply too many Titans—and only five of them.
The garrison troops had long grown complacent and clumsy. Their three-dimensional maneuver skills had atrophied. Killing Titans was no longer second nature.
Many froze in shock, becoming easy prey.
Others fled aimlessly.
The fall of Wall Maria had begun. Humanity's last foothold was crumbling.
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