Chapter 129: Chat Group: Kyubey, Kyubey, Why Are You Here Again?
BOOM—!!!
A violent burst of emerald-green light! Eren's raised right fist collided head-on with the massive, falling boulder.
This was not a clash of mere flesh and blood. It was a confrontation between a highly condensed magical energy and pure, physical destruction.
A moment of dead silence.
The next second, a deafening roar echoed across the plains. The giant boulder, upon contact with the green light, seemed to be struck by an invisible hammer. Cracks spiderwebbed from the point of impact.
BANG!!!
The boulder completely disintegrated in mid-air. Countless small fragments and dust were blasted outward by the violent shockwave, which rippled past the Survey Corps, their capes snapping. The horses neighed and shied, but the charging formation, protected by Eren, was unbroken.
From the dust, Eren's figure emerged, the green light slowly receding to a faint aura. He hadn't even slowed his horse, his gaze fixed straight ahead.
…
At the edge of the forest, the relaxed smile on Zeke Jaeger's face froze. He stared, wide-eyed, at the scattered debris. His full-power throw—a strike that should have annihilated countless human lives—had been shattered… by that person… with that strange light… bare-handed?!
Who is that? How is that possible?! What is that power?! It's not the power of the Titans! When did the devils of Paradis get their hands on something like this?!
Shock quickly turned to fear. An incomprehensible power. An uncontrollable variable.
…
Meanwhile, in the depths of a distant forest of giant trees, Kyubey stood calmly on the damp moss. Its arrival had been silent. The only sound was the rustling of leaves in the wind.
Suddenly, a stream of information flowed into its perception.
[Non-Human Chat Group]
Tom Cat: [Confused_Cat.jpg]
SpongeBob SquarePants: Wow! Kyubey! Why are you in this damp-looking place now?! Weren't you just in the city in Marley?!
Squidward: Tch. This white troublemaker again. Stop popping up with these useless messages when I'm trying to have quiet time.
As Kyubey wondered why the group members were speaking as if it had been here before, the next mental signal created a slight dissonance in its consciousness.
Monokuma: Upupupu… The despair-filled broadcast suddenly disappeared, what a letdown!
"Monokuma"? Kyubey searched its memory banks. Based on the last memory fragment this individual unit possessed, that unique mental signature was not on the member list. This was a deviation from its own records. This, combined with its own "first-time" arrival in this world, created a clear contradiction.
Had the chat group itself undergone an unrecorded evolution? Or was the memory data this unit carried somehow fractured or incomplete? Further confirmation was needed.
Kyubey connected its consciousness to the Incubator civilization's contract system and began pulling the stored records for this world and the [Non-Human Chat Group] to cross-reference the discrepancies.
[Retrieving Record: World Attack on Titan]
[Timestamp YYYY.YY.YY: Sample collected: "Pure Titan"…]
[Timestamp YYYY.YY.YY: Sample collected: "Colossal Titan"…]
[Timestamp YYYY.YY.YY: Sample collected: "Female Titan"…]
[Timestamp YYYY.YY.YY: Sample collected: "Armored Titan"…]
[Timestamp YYYY.YY.ZZ: Marleyan continent observation post established…]
A flood of log data poured into its consciousness, clearly showing that the Incubator civilization, or perhaps a previous "iteration" or sequence of itself, had already been active in this world. The records of the collective knowledge network were in significant conflict with its current individual memory.
Conclusion: This unit's memory is incomplete, has been influenced by an unknown force, or the timeline itself is no longer the one in its memory.
Assessing possibilities…
…
Ragako Village Outskirts Battlefield.
Zeke's shock turned to fury. "ROOOOAAAR!!!" He let out a heaven-shaking, inhuman roar. "Stop them!! Don't let them get close! Crush them all!!"
BOOM!!! At his command, dozens of golden lightning bolts shot up from the ground around them. They were Eldians Zeke had hidden nearby. Pure Titans, born in an instant, charged the Survey Corps. The earth trembled again as dozens of Titans of varying sizes formed a chaotic, lethal wave.
Facing the oncoming Titan horde, the Survey Corps soldiers gripped their blades, but did not falter. Because in front of them, just behind Eren, three even more brilliant flashes of light shot into the sky!
Samuel! Louise! Ymir!
After the massive golden flashes faded—ROAR!!!—a 15-meter Armored Titan, a 14-meter Female Titan, and a 5-meter Jaw Titan appeared. They didn't hesitate, roaring as they met the Pure Titan charge head-on. At the same time, Mikasa and Levi's blades tore through the newly-formed Titan line, scattering flesh and steam. The Survey Corps cavalry broke through the gap, continuing their charge toward the distant Beast and Cart Titans.
…
In the deep forest.
Kyubey calmly watched the distant battlefield. The three newly-appeared Intelligent Titans—Armored, Female, and Jaw. According to Incubator intel, these specific bioweapons should be in the possession of individuals marked as "Marleyan Warriors" at this time. Yet, they now belonged to the Paradis faction.
Combining that with the boy's display of "magic" consistent with its contract system, the appearance of a new group member at a time inconsistent with its memory, and the discrepancies between its own memory and the system logs, a high-probability deduction formed in its consciousness:
[WARNING: Significant timeline deviation detected. Current world state differs critically from baseline.]
Its attention finally focused on the figure at the center of the battle, radiating a familiar energy signature. Eren Jaeger. In the Incubator's early observations of this world, this individual should only possess the [Attack] and [Founding] Titan powers at this time. But now…
[Scanning target: Eren Jaeger]
[External energy signature detected… Confirmed as "Witch" system derivative.]
[Karmic Load (Relative Estimate): 1.15x baseline.]
His "Karmic Load" was weighted, slightly higher than the one recorded in the system. This was proof that he had experienced "events" outside of its own memory. He was carrying "Karma" that did not belong to this point in time.
Kyubey hid in the shadows of the giant forest, its ruby-red eyes reflecting the distant, charging figure.
Timeline anomaly… abnormal individual…
It remained hidden. Thinking. Plotting its next move.