Chapter 148: Multiple Playthroughs — The Arms Race Arc!
The awakening was not as long as the previous times, but it was just as cold and cruel. The residual corruption of the loop remained in his Soul Gem, perhaps even a little larger. He knew the time rewind had succeeded. He was back at the turning point where everything could be changed.
He had no time to dwell on past failures, no time to sink into the despair of the endless loops. Those memories were a brand, reminding him over and over that any hesitation, any mercy, would lead to the worst possible ending.
"Deterrence." The moment his consciousness became fully clear, a new, iron-clad rule was forged in his mind. The bloody lessons of the past had taught him that in this cruel world, only absolute power and a terrifying resolve could win them the space to survive.
As time passed, his magic gradually unsealed and returned. Under the shadow of the Titan attack, as the populace's fear of the unknown and the outside world reached its peak, Eren displayed a power far beyond reason—the magic granted by his Soul Gem. He still dealt with the initial Titan threat efficiently. His overwhelming combat strength shocked the high command of Paradis.
He cooperated with the military. By demonstrating his power and sharing parts of his "foreknowledge" of the future, he gradually gained de facto leadership. He relied on the intelligence Floch had brought back in the previous loop, as well as the research theories from Paradis, forcing himself to memorize some of it. Even though he couldn't fully understand the complex theories, he could rigidly memorize and recite them. This alone pushed Paradis to develop its armed forces at an unprecedented rate.
This time, his goal was clear: to cripple Marley's war potential as much as possible, especially before they could fully mobilize on a global scale. If possible, it would be best to deal with Marley before Kyubey even arrived.
He carried out several devastatingly destructive operations, targeting Marley's key military installations and ports. These actions not only severely wounded Marley but, more importantly, demonstrated to the entire world that Paradis Island was no longer a lamb to be slaughtered.
However, this did not achieve the desired deterrent effect. While he appeared strong, he wasn't strong enough to create a true stalemate. Instead, his actions were seen as a potential threat wielding devastating power. The news spread like wildfire. Marley's plight, and the unconventional power displayed by Paradis, was now being watched by the other major powers with unprecedented alarm and fear.
Speculation about "Paradis possessing a weapon of mass destruction" and "the power of devils" ran rampant. In the strategic analysis reports of the world's major nations, the "Paradis Threat Theory" vaulted from a fringe topic to a core issue. The traditional military balance was broken, and the existing international order faced a severe challenge. A global tension began to spread, and the seeds of an arms race were sown in the shadows.
It was in this fertile soil of fear and ambition that the small, white figure quietly reappeared.
It moved between different nations, approaching politicians, military leaders, and even the heads of underground organizations—those who felt threatened, those who harbored ambitions of expansion, or those who simply wished to break the current world order. It presented, at the most opportune moments, the possibility of a contract, the "magic" and "wishes" that could grant superhuman power.
The leaders of those nations, weighing their fear of Paradis against the temptation of gaining immense power for self-preservation or expansion, began to make their choices. A few nations, out of extreme concern over the Paradis threat or simply enticed by the power itself, began secret research and limited adoption of "Magical Girls" as asymmetrical assets or special forces. They didn't trust Kyubey, but they trusted Eren and Paradis even less.
At first, the conflicts were just skirmishes off the coast of Paradis—reconnaissance units clashing with Marley's remaining forces, or a small nation probing Paradis's borders. But as the number of nations with magical power grew, and as their stances on how to "solve the Paradis problem" diverged, these small-scale frictions began to escalate.
The conflict gradually evolved into a proxy war centered around Paradis Island. Magical Girl units from various nations, their identities disguised, engaged in secret firefights in third-party territories, or infiltrated Paradis as spies to conduct sabotage and intelligence theft.
Eren soon found he was no longer facing just Marley. He was now facing a multitude of Magical Girls, secretly backed or directly dispatched by multiple nations, or "volunteers" who had joined the fray. They were like packs of wolves, drawn by the scent of blood, probing, harassing, and infiltrating Paradis from every direction.
Paradis Island was once again isolated and without allies.
Eren's power was still overwhelming. He could easily destroy small infiltration squads, but he couldn't be everywhere at once. Faced with a continuous war of attrition and infiltration waged by multiple nations using magic, Paradis's resources and manpower were stretched to the breaking point. Every defensive battle, every counter-intelligence operation, silently eroded the island's strength and morale.
The people of the island, though no longer facing the direct threat of Pure Titans, were filled with an unprecedented fear and despair upon learning that the entire world viewed them as a "Devil's Island" and a "source of global threat," and that an endless stream of enemies with terrifying powers was trying to get in.
Dissent also began to appear within the high command. Some began to question the price of Eren's hardline strategy. They were growing weary of the endless war.
Eren stood alone at the window of the throne room, looking down on the island he was trying to protect through force. The night outside was dark. Beyond the Walls, countless eyes watched, filled with fear, greed, or hatred.
He had tried to use "limited deterrence" to achieve a "balance of terror," to keep the conflict contained to just Marley. However, Kyubey's intervention had caused the focused conflict to instantly metastasize across the globe. The cold logic of realism—national interests, the balance of power, and the fear of the unknown—had driven the other nations to put Paradis on trial, all while trying to carve out a piece of the spoils for themselves.
He felt a weariness he had never known before. He seemed all-powerful, yet he was being entangled by countless tiny, invisible threads. He tried to build a wall, only to find the outside world was a bottomless pit, spewing forth an endless supply of enemies, all driven by either the lust for power or the terror of it.
Eren took a deep breath, feeling the faint pulse from his Soul Gem. This gem, which housed his soul, also recorded his repeated failures and despairs. Paradis was being worn down. The trust within its walls was eroding. The "balance" he had tried to maintain was broken. He was trapped once again.
The island ship was foundering in the storm of the entire world.
In the distance, a shooting star streaked across the night sky, its path a straight, bizarrely bright line—the afterimage of starlight passing through a distorted warp interface.
And he, too, would soon be entering the next loop.