On the towering walls of Paradis Island, a Marleyan officer marched at the front, escorting a line of Eldian prisoners.
Zeke and the other Warrior candidates followed silently behind.
Reiner cried all the way until his eyes were swollen like walnuts by the time they landed. Still, with the Titan's healing, he would recover soon.
…
"Kneel down!"
A sharp bark cut through the air. Zeke and the others turned their heads toward the voice.
The Eldian prisoners had been forced into a row, kneeling with their faces toward the wall.
Beyond this wall lay the interior of Paradis Island.
The Marleyan military had explained to them that after the 145th King Fritz fled with his people, he built three massive walls to trap them inside.
But in truth, there was a fourth wall.
This fourth barrier stretched along the coast, enclosing the island entirely. Between this coastal wall and Wall Maria roamed the exiled Pure Titans. That outer buffer was what allowed the Marleyans to land here safely—but no further.
…
"What… what are you going to do?" Reiner squinted his swollen eyes at the officers.
"Execution."
The Marley officer smirked. He held an Eldian prisoner in one hand and a syringe in the other, pressing the needle against the back of the prisoner's neck.
The man trembled violently, already knowing what fate awaited him.
The officer glanced at the children and sneered. "You all know this process, don't you? Normally, we'd inject spinal fluid to turn them into Titans. But now, we've improved things—no injection necessary."
"You're going to… turn them into Titans?" the children gasped.
"Yes! Those who betray Marley are sent home. Don't worry—the King of Marley is merciful. He doesn't kill all Eldians. He merely returns them to 'Eldian Paradise.'"
The officer's grin widened.
The recruits peered down.
Below the fifty-meter wall stretched only barren wilderness—lifeless, uncivilized. Nothing remotely close to "paradise."
"But you children have nothing to fear," the officer continued. "You are honorary Marleyans now. Such executions won't happen to you—unless you betray us."
With that, he drove the needle into the prisoner's neck and shoved him over the edge.
A scream.
Then a blinding burst of steam—
BOOM!
The prisoner transformed mid-air, crashing down as a snarling Titan.
The recruits froze. For the first time, they were witnessing a Pure Titan.
The body was grotesquely swollen, eyes emptied of humanity, a grotesque grin plastered across its face—caught somewhere between madness and cruelty.
Though smaller than most of the Warriors' Titan forms, the sheer wrongness of its smile was far more terrifying.
Even the seasoned candidates recoiled.
…
The prisoners, who had resigned themselves moments before, erupted in panic at the sight.
"Let me go! I don't want to be a devil! I'd rather die as a human than live as a devil!" one screamed.
He thrashed, slipped free, and toppled from the wall before the officer could grab him.
The officer clutched his hand and feigned innocence. "Ah, my grip slipped! His fault for struggling!"
No one believed him.
Below, the newly-turned Titan seized the falling man and stuffed him into its maw.
Crunch, crunch.
The sickening sound of bones and flesh rang out. The Titan chewed with relish, eyes glowing with twisted satisfaction.
The Eldians' scalps prickled with horror. Their bodies went numb as the guards forced them down to kneel again.
"Look well," the officer barked, his voice ringing with venom. "This is your true form! Eldians are monsters—towering demons who devour humans! So choose: will you return to 'Paradise' as devils, or die here as humans?"
"I want… I want to die as a human!" one prisoner sobbed, tears streaking his face. "Even if I die, I want to die human!"
"Very well."
The officer shoved him down.
As he plummeted, the man smiled faintly through his tears. "Dad… I'm human, after all…"
Crunch.
The Titan consumed him.
Despair hollowed the faces of the watching Eldians.
"Who else wants to die as a human?" the officer demanded smugly.
"I—I do…" another muttered. He too was thrown down.
Crunch.
"Who else?" the officer asked again, until only three trembling prisoners remained, too terrified to answer.
"Cowards. Too scared to choose, so I'll choose for you."
He drew out another syringe, ready to inject the spinal fluid.
At that moment, Zeke suddenly called out—
"Wait!"