Zeke's chest heaved as he glared at the boy below. His voice trembled with fury as he bellowed,
"Reiner! You lied in your report! If you had told the truth—if you had admitted that Marcel died in an accident instead of in battle—I could have taken precautions! He wouldn't have been taken so suddenly! But you… you dared submit a false report!"
Reiner, still on his knees, looked up with tear-filled eyes.
"Report? I… I haven't reported anything. What report are you talking about?"
For a moment, Zeke was speechless.
Of course. His knowledge wasn't from this timeline—it came from the intelligence he carried from his previous life. In the original history, only Reiner Braun had returned to Marley alive after the mission on Paradis. Annie had been captured, Bertolt had fEren in battle, and Marcel—brave, loyal Marcel—had died in combat against the Eldians.
That was what Reiner had told their superiors. That was the official record.
But now, the truth lay exposed. Marcel hadn't died in glorious combat. He had been devoured by chance, "outside the walls," before their mission had even begun in earnest. The death wasn't heroic—it was senseless.
"Damn it…" Zeke ground his teeth, his thoughts dark. The timeline really has shifted.
Because we landed earlier than before, Marcel ended up as prey before even reaching the wall.
But he couldn't voice this truth. He couldn't admit to being a man reborn, walking through history for a second time.
To his recruits, he was only their commander.
Meanwhile, Reiner's shoulders sagged. His eyes, usually filled with stubborn determination, now seemed hollow.
"Captain… punish me." His voice cracked, but he forced himself to continue. "I'm unworthy. I am the weakest. I can't protect my comrades, I can't even protect myself… Please… take me back to Marley and replace me. I can't carry this burden."
Zeke's golden eyes narrowed. He felt no pity. "Good. You said it yourself."
He was a captain, not a nursemaid. A warrior who couldn't endure pressure didn't deserve the power of the Titans. If Reiner had truly given up, then it was his duty to reclaim that power.
Zeke reached down, seized the boy, and stuffed him into his massive Beast Titan's mouth.
Crunch!
The sound of bone and enamel snapping echoed in the air. Pain lanced through Zeke's jaw. His sharp animal fangs shattered like brittle twigs. His jaw dislocated with a loud pop, forcing a strangled roar out of him.
Tears welled in his eyes.
Inside his broken jaws, Reiner had transformed. The light of transformation blinded them, and in the next instant, a hulking figure emerged—plates of gray armor snapping into place over bulging muscles, a monstrous frame towering at full height.
The Armored Titan.
The transformation had ripped apart Zeke's mouth, breaking teeth and tearing bone.
"You've got to be kidding me…" Zeke groaned, clutching at his ruined face.
"You couldn't transform earlier, but now? Now you do it, just to break my jaw?! You're doing this on purpose!"
Below him, the newly formed Armored Titan curled up like a child, whimpering pitifully despite his massive, invincible body.
Fury consumed Zeke. He raised his foot and kicked the Titan hard in the ribs.
Crash! The sound of breaking armor rang out, the crack reverberating through the clearing.
Zeke doubled over, hugging his own shin with a whimper. The kick had hurt him more than it hurt Reiner.
His tears of rage mixed with tears of pain as he sat on the ground, silently sobbing at his own misfortune.
Above them, Annie and Bertolt clung to branches. Reiner's sudden transformation had blasted them into the trees.
"The captain looks furious…" Bertolt muttered, peering down nervously. "If Reiner hadn't transformed when he did, he would have been eaten just now."
"Yeah," Annie replied dryly. Her usually composed face was tight with worry.
But Bertolt, uncharacteristically, jumped down from the tree and ran to Zeke's side. He stood tall, saluting firmly despite his trembling legs.
"Captain! Please give Reiner another chance!"
Zeke lowered his gaze. This boy was usually timid, soft-spoken, too gentle for war. Yet now he stood tall, his voice loud with conviction.
"Another chance?" Zeke's voice was hoarse with pain and fury. He looked at the armored figure curled on the ground. "I've already given him too many. Why should I—"
Bertolt cut him off. "Because we'll soon reach the Eldian walls! You said so yourself, Captain—tomorrow by noon! And when that time comes, we will desperately need Reiner's strength. We can't break through without the Armored Titan!"
"I can do it myself if I take his power," Zeke snarled.
"But at what cost?" Bertolt's voice wavered but did not falter. "If you use your strength for that, you'll exhaust yourself. Our true mission is not to fight the Eldians head-on—it's to infiltrate, locate the Founding Titan, and bring it back. If we waste our power storming the walls, we risk everything! Captain, please—forgive Reiner, just this once. Give him a chance to redeem himself!"
The plea struck Zeke harder than he expected. For a moment, he thought of Marcel—brash, stubborn, willing to throw himself in harm's way for Reiner's sake. And now Bertolt, the quiet one, had found the courage to do the same.
Reiner… why are you always the one others defend? Zeke thought bitterly.
He considered his options. Time was against him—he needed to find Grisha Yeager before history repeated itself. If the Armored Titan could still serve its purpose, then perhaps…
"Fine." Zeke exhaled heavily, letting his Beast Titan dissolve into steam. He stood atop the Armored Titan's plated shoulder, glaring down.
"Reiner! Quit crying. You transformed because some part of you wants to live. If you don't want to die, then stand up! Live on with the will that Marcel left behind!"
Reiner's Titan eyes flickered open. Confusion lingered in their dull, glassy stare. But within that confusion was a faint glimmer—something that might yet grow into resolve.
The Invincible Armored Titan had risen again.