The embankment was narrow, far too narrow. If Zeke transformed into a Titan here, there would be no space—he could crush soldiers, prisoners, and even topple them into the sea below.
"Wait, Captain! Don't do it here! Wait until we're clear before you transform!" the Marley officers cried out, panic tightening their voices. They scrambled down from the wall in disorder, boots thundering on the stone.
But Zeke didn't wait. His teeth sank into his palm.
Golden lightning split the air.
The sound was deafening, the light blinding. Smoke burst upward, curling into the sky as the ground trembled beneath its weight. And then, out of the haze, a colossal figure rose.
He was nothing like the other Titans.
A body covered in thick brown fur, a hulking posture that dwarfed the walls, and ears sharp and pointed. He was less like a man and more like some ancient ape—huge, terrifying, unnatural.
The Beast Titan.
"Ah… ahh—!" The death row prisoners, who had braced themselves for this moment, collapsed anyway. Their knees buckled, and they crumpled into the dirt like ragdolls.
Even knowing what was coming, nothing could have prepared them for this sight. The will to flee died in their throats.
This was not like the mindless Titans they'd seen before. The Beast was taller, heavier, and radiated a suffocating sense of oppression.
"Warrior Captain Zeke! Please start roaring!" an officer on the ship shouted, his voice cracking.
Zeke turned his massive head slowly. His amber eyes swept over them like a predator sizing prey.
"...!!" The officers froze under his gaze. It pressed against their chests like a boulder. Their breath stuttered, their hearts skipped.
"He's going to rebel!" one of them screamed, terror breaking loose. "Set sail—NOW!"
Chaos erupted. Sailors scrambled, ropes snapped free, the anchor scraped against stone. The officers pushed and shoved one another in blind panic, rushing to escape what they were sure would be their deaths.
From his perch, Zeke watched them with detached calm. In Titan form, the world shrank. Ships, men, even fortresses—all seemed small, like toys scattered at his feet.
And in that moment, a memory drifted into his mind.
Anna's voice, soft, curious. "Hey, Zeke, what does it feel like to become a Titan?"
"The eyesight gets worse," he had answered.
"?"
"If you want to see someone's face clearly, you have to squat… or lie down."
Her laughter had followed, light and warm. "Hahaha…"
It felt like only yesterday. Yet now, she was gone.
The echoes faded. Zeke blinked, pulled back to reality by screams at his feet.
The prisoners—small, weak, like insects. They cowered in the shadow of his form. But among the trembling bodies, one detail caught his eye. A head of long, black hair.
Just like hers.
Zeke lowered his hand. His claws reached carefully, impossibly huge compared to the fragile figures below. His fingers closed around the girl—Seema.
"No—no, please—" Seema's voice broke into sobs. She stared up at the monstrous muzzle, the fur, the gleaming eyes. She knew this was her superior, the man she had pledged loyalty to. But faced with the Beast Titan's sheer presence, terror consumed her. The finger extended toward her was thicker than her whole body.
"Help me! Someone—!" she screamed. But the other prisoners were just as lost, collapsed on the ground in paralysis. None moved. None dared.
Her body lifted, higher, higher, the ground shrinking beneath her. She thrashed, her cries growing shrill and desperate as she rose toward the sky.
From the ship, the scream carried across the water.
"Faster! Faster!" the Marley officer barked, sweat pouring down his face. "Zeke is going to mutiny! He'll crush us all!"
"Commander, wait!" another officer cried, shielding his eyes to look back. "Calm yourself—Warrior Captain Zeke isn't attacking us!"
The ship had already put distance between them and the wall. From afar, the panic dulled into uneasy silence.
A soldier shouted, pointing. "Look! Look there—he's not striking the fleet. He's… he's executing the prisoners!"
All heads turned.
The massive Beast Titan loomed atop the wall, clutching a screaming girl in one hand, the rest of the condemned trembling below.
"He didn't betray Marley!" relief broke through the ranks. "He's following orders!"
The commander sagged against the railing, his fear dissolving into shame. He remembered the warning he'd received before departure—that Zeke might rebel, that his royal blood made him dangerous. He had believed it, braced for it. But here was proof, undeniable.
"Warrior Captain Zeke… is loyal," he whispered. "How foolish I was."
After all, how could a man who climbed to power by betraying his own parents ever dream of siding with Eldia?
"Set course for Marley!" he ordered, his voice steadier now. "We return at once!"
The sailors obeyed. The sails filled with wind, and the ship pulled farther and farther from the cursed island.
Behind them, Paradis faded into mist.