Chapter 189: Is it Tingyun? Or the Lord Ravager Phantylia?
Boom!
A huge, ground-shaking roar echoed through the dilapidated city ruins.
Mikasa, Ymir, and Krista frantically used their Omni-Directional Mobility Gear to escape the urban area, their wires zipping between crumbling buildings.
Because a 60-meter-class Colossal Titan had suddenly stood up in the middle of the ruins!
The Titan was 60 meters tall, with thick, sturdy legs, bizarrely slender arms, and a small, skull-like head. Its entire body was fiery red, uncovered by skin, and continuously emitted clouds of super-high-temperature steam that warped the air and set nearby structures ablaze.
"Damn it! How could a Colossal Titan suddenly appear here?!" Ymir cursed as her form traversed the air.
The Colossal Titan... that was the monster who, five years ago, made humanity recall the terror of being dominated by Titans.
The high temperature of its body was something they couldn't even get close to.
They immediately judged that this was a Titan they couldn't handle; running away was the only correct course of action.
Of course, that's what they did.
They were about to escape the abandoned urban area and enter the forest. Perhaps they would have a chance to hide, using the massive trees as cover.
However, things were not as simple as they imagined.
"Krista, watch out!" Ymir, looking ahead, turned her head. Her pupils shrank in terror, and she urgently shouted.
"!!!"
Because directly in front of Krista, a burst of golden lightning flashed. From within the forest, a new Titan rose.
A fifteen-meter-class Titan!
It had short, white hair, and its entire body, from the neck down, was covered in a pale yellow, armor-like, hardened structure.
This Titan appeared directly in front of Krista.
Krista's Omni-Directional Mobility Gear had one grappling hook shot out and hooked onto a large tree, while the other was just being reeled back in.
It was too late to change direction now.
The Armored Titan's massive fist smashed directly towards Krista.
"Bastard!"
Mikasa and Ymir simultaneously changed direction, their bodies twisting in mid-air, turning back to charge towards the new Titan's back.
Their blades were aimed at the one weak spot: the nape of the Titan's neck. As long as they cut off the nape, the Titan would die. That way, Krista would be safe.
"Haaah!"
Ymir, who had leaped to the top of the Titan's head using her gear, grimaced and tensed all her muscles, using all her strength to slash her twin blades at the Titan's nape.
Clang!
Only a crisp, metallic sound was heard.
Zzzzzt!
The blades sparked, scraping harmlessly against the pale yellow, hardened tissue.
Ymir froze. I... I can't cut through!
The blades were like striking incredibly hard armor.
But she wanted to try again... it was already too late; the pull of the Omni-Directional Mobility Gear had already pulled her past him.
Unwilling, Ymir could only place her hope in Mikasa, who was following close behind. "Mikasa! His nape is covered in armor!"
Upon hearing this, Mikasa's gaze became serious. She summoned her unique Inherent Armament, the Iai Katana, Narukami.
In mid-air, golden lightning gathered from the air, crackling around Mikasa's body and onto her blade.
Zzzzzzt!
Then Mikasa transformed into a streak of golden light, charging at the Titan at extreme speed. Her blade swung, and the golden lightning exploded on impact.
"Roar!"
Blood splattered. The Armored Titan seemed to roar in pain. He turned his head, glimpsing Mikasa's blade and the lightning that had pierced his armor.
But unfortunately, with Mikasa's current strength, she couldn't completely cut off his nape.
The Armored Titan only paused for a moment, realizing there was no immediate death threat. He turned his fist, which had been aimed at Krista, into an open palm and slammed it down hard towards her.
"…"
Krista stared, frozen, at the descending giant palm.
She hadn't expected her life to end here. Her life as "Krista Lenz." This fake person she had disguised herself as.
She was born on the farm of the Reiss noble family in the northern part of Wall Sina. Her mother was a maid of the Reiss family, and she gave birth to Historia with Rod Reiss.
Initially, she didn't know her own identity. She had never seen her father since childhood, and her mother detested her, once violently throwing her off the porch, screaming, "If only I had the courage to kill this child..."
Her grandparents, who raised her, never spoke to her except to teach her necessary knowledge. She grew up with animals and got along very well with them.
A few days after the fall of Wall Maria in 845, one evening, her father, Rod Reiss, appeared before her for the first time. He informed her of her identity and intended to take her and her mother away.
Immediately after, a group of men in black—the Interior Police—appeared before the three, coercing Rod and slitting her mother's throat.
Before Historia was about to be killed, Rod said that if Historia lived under an assumed name from then on, he would spare her.
So, she was renamed "Krista Lenz" and sent to the frontier. Subsequently, she adopted the name "Krista Lenz" and joined the 104th Training Corps.
However, she never expected that even after changing her name and identity, she would still die in the end.
Living… was truly difficult.
She slowly closed her eyes. The Armored Titan's huge palm was about to descend.
Just let me depart in peace. Leave this world.
This was the real Historia. An empty person, unloved by anyone since childhood, and not expected to come into the world. A person who deserved to die.
But… the imagined end did not arrive.
"Krista!"
Ymir's anxious voice gradually approached.
Krista felt... safe and secure. This was the first time she had ever felt this in her life.
The moment she opened her eyes, she saw stars. Stars in golden, clear eyes. A man was holding her bridal style, having plucked her from the air.
Ymir landed nearby, her blades raised, and pointed them directly at Ren. "Who are you?!"
Ren gently landed, still holding Krista, and carefully placed her on the ground. He shrugged and raised an eyebrow. "Isn't it obvious? The one who saved your friend."
Ymir turned to see the Armored Titan frozen in its clapping motion, steam still rising, but utterly motionless. She frowned deeply. "He's cooperating with you so much. Are you two working together?"
"You have a vivid imagination."
Ren gently raised his hand.
"Drink!"
The Armored Titan's hand moved again, pressing down.
Ren pointed his hand again.
The Armored Titan's body became motionless once more.
Ymir's eyes narrowed. She clearly saw the Titan's muscles tense, and its palm clearly pressed down with force... so how could it suddenly stop? Those muscles clearly didn't relax!
Mikasa descended from the air using her gear and landed beside Ren. She nodded slightly. "Thank you."
"Mm." Ren smiled faintly, then turned to the side. "Miss Tingyun, you seem to be a bit late."
The sudden appearance of a new person to their side startled Ymir and Krista.
It was a woman dressed very strangely, in luxurious silks, looking somewhat noble. Most importantly, she had a pair of fluffy, brown fox ears on her head and a large, fluffy tail behind her back.
Would a normal person wear such strange ornaments? Krista thought.
Tingyun narrowed her beautiful fox-like eyes, her voice soft and slow as she fanned herself. "Young Master jests. This humble one is experiencing such a thing for the first time, so of course I had to think it over carefully."
She did hesitate for quite a while before choosing to confirm.
Tingyun's voice was indeed very pleasant to listen to, making Ren's ears feel comfortable, and one couldn't help but want to hear her speak a few more sentences. It was true that Tingyun spoke humbly and pleasingly.
But facing this Tingyun, Ren needed to confirm thoroughly.
When his golden, star-like eyes looked directly at her, he had already scanned through her memories and found no information related to the Lord Ravager Phantylia.
Immediately after, his Dominator ability transformed into the noble, ice-blue Mystic Eyes of Death Perception.
"!!!"
Out of pure, primal instinct, all of Tingyun's fur bristled. Her tail fluffed up to twice its size.
An intense, soul-shaking sensation permeated her entire body, a feeling of absolute, unavoidable death. She barely managed to force out a smile, relying on her strong, professional composure.
She probed, her voice trembling slightly, "Young Master, what is the meaning of this? Could it be that Tingyun said something she shouldn'T have and offended Young Master?"
Ren retracted his Mystic Eyes of Death Perception, shook his head, and simply explained, "Not at all. I quite like the way you speak, and you're very beautiful. I bear no ill will."
"I was just confirming whether you were possessed by someone or something."
"Possessed?" Tingyun was a bit confused. Who would possess me? A... Suiyang?
[Inorin's Note: Suiyang are malevolent spirits in Xianzhou lore, often associated with possession.]
Ren found it difficult to explain the matter of Phantylia, so he didn't say much. At least, it could currently be confirmed that this Tingyun, whether from her memories or the lines of death she possessed, was Tingyun herself, not Phantylia.
Krista and Ymir didn't understand the conversation between the two. Mikasa glanced at the Chat Group and understood that Tingyun was a newcomer who had just joined.
Seeing that Ren was unwilling to say more, Tingyun dropped the matter and stopped asking questions, though her heart was still pounding from that terrifying gaze.
Instead, she curiously surveyed her surroundings. After her gaze fell upon the Armored Titan, which was stopped in a strange, mid-clap posture, her eyes showed a ripple of emotion.
"Why is this giant humanoid lifeform... maintaining such a posture?"
Ren said indifferently, "It's just a small trick. I temporarily stopped time."
"Stop... time? A small trick?"
Tingyun blinked her beautiful eyes; she didn't feel that Ren was lying. But such an ability was too inconceivable.
Krista and Ymir also understood this sentence, and they were shocked to their cores.
If one looked closely... the Armored Titan really did seem as if a pause button had been pressed. It didn't move, didn't breathe, and didn't even blink its eyelids.
Was it... really stopped in time?
Before the two could wonder, Rumble!
That Colossal Titan, its body wreathed in high-temperature steam, walked over step by step, shaking the earth, crushing forests, and creating massive pits with every step.
His eyes were fixed on the frozen Armored Titan.
Ren scoffed. "You truly have an eternal friendship. Since you're here, don't leave."
The King of Chronos's ability activated again.
The Colossal Titan also stopped moving after taking one step, its leg raised in the air.
Thinking of Furina's desire to watch a "stage play," Ren leisurely started a live broadcast.
[Ding! Ren has started a live broadcast!]
[Furina has entered the live broadcast room!]
...
"Wah!"
Furina, sitting in her seat in the empty Opera Epiclese, was startled, almost jumping up from her throne.
After entering the live broadcast room, an extremely realistic, first-person image had suddenly appeared before her eyes.
The tall, terrifying, skinless, tens-of-meters-tall Titan scared her.
It was true that she acted as the Hydro Archon every day. She performed with such elegance. She praised herself with such excellence.
But in reality, all of that was false. It was all part of her performance.
Furina clearly knew that she was just an ordinary person who had lived for a very, very long time. She would be happy and sad, brave and timid, smile and cry.
When no one was around, she found it difficult to hide her true emotions.
Just like now.
Startled, Furina quickly exited the live broadcast room, her heart hammering.
She shrunk her head and looked around, finding that she was still in the Palais Mermonia.
"Hoo…" She finally let out a long sigh, patting her chest. "Really... how can there be such a monster? It's so scary."
After thinking for a moment, she cautiously asked in the group.
[Furina: "Can anyone tell me the meaning of 'live broadcast'?"]
[Reinhardt: "Live broadcast means transmitting what the person who started the broadcast sees, for people who enter the live broadcast room to watch."]
With the answer from the helpful Reinhardt, and after Furina roughly understood, her eyes lit up. She immediately re-entered the live broadcast room.
Seeing the image of the Titan again, she was no longer afraid. It's just... a stage play! A very realistic stage play!
[Furina: "What a wonderful stage play! Can it bring me more joy? I'm very much looking forward to it!"]
[Inorin Note:
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