[If we reach 100 Power Stones this week, I'll release 10 bonus chapters as a thank-you to everyone's support!]
....
"!!!"
The three warriors froze, eyes wide, their breaths caught in their throats. The silence of the carriage pressed down like a suffocating weight.
"Doomsday?" Bertolt's voice cracked, barely above a whisper. "What does that even mean? The… the world will end?"
"Reborn?" Annie shook her head, her fists trembling on her knees. "Are you mocking us, Captain? Time travel, rebirth—those are children's tales. How could something so absurd exist in our world?"
"Absurd?" Zeke leaned back against the seat with a low, humorless chuckle. "Maybe. Maybe not. But tell me, Annie, if it's so ridiculous—why am I standing here? Why do I know things I shouldn't? I lived the future once already. I watched everything unfold. And then, one morning, I woke up in this cursed body again… back in the past. It felt like a dream."
The carriage wheels groaned over stones, but even that sound seemed distant. His words, dripping with conviction, wrapped around the three like chains.
They stared at him, their young faces pale. He wasn't joking. His eyes—sharp, heavy with something ancient—were more convincing than any proof.
Annie's lips parted. "So… all those things you said before. Those bizarre predictions. They're not just lies to scare us. You meant… they're our future?"
"Yes."
Just one word. Solid as iron, cold as death.
And with it, they were plunged into hell.
Memories of his earlier words lashed them one after another:
Your mission will fail.
Annie, you'll be captured alive.
Bertolt will be eaten.
Reiner, you'll lose your mind.
The person you long to see—you'll never see them again.
The phrases echoed like a death sentence carved into their skulls.
Bertolt's face twisted. "Eaten… by a mushroom-headed boy? Why? Why something so absurd? Why me?!" His voice broke into a laugh, but there was no humor, only panic.
Annie's fists clenched so hard her knuckles whitened. "My father… beaten to death by government dogs? For resisting? That—no, that can't be. He's still waiting for me back home. He's alive, he has to be alive!"
But Reiner was the one who unraveled completely. His single good arm shook as he gripped the bench.
"My mother… my aunt… exiled to that cursed island. Turned into Titans. And then—killed by Gabi? My own cousin? Why would something so cruel happen, where family devours family?!"
His voice cracked into a scream.
Zeke only watched him coldly. Cruel? You think this is cruel? This is the way of our bloodline, boy. For two thousand years, Eldians have slaughtered their own. Parents, siblings, children—it's nothing new.
Just another cycle.
Still, part of him was unsettled. In his previous life, Reiner had clung obsessively to the idea of his father, that phantom of a man. But now?
Not a word. No desperate mention of finding him. Instead, only grief for his mother, his aunt. So that's where your heart really lay, Reiner.
You never cared about the man who abandoned you. You cared about the ones who stayed.
His thoughts were interrupted when Reiner lurched forward despite his mangled body. With his remaining hand, he clawed toward Zeke's boot, nails scraping leather. His eyes blazed with fury.
"This—all of this—was because our mission failed!" he roared. "If not for that, my family would be safe! They'd never have been punished, never turned into monsters, never—never killed by Gabi! You caused this! You sabotaged us! It's all because of you!"
Zeke looked down at him, expression colder than steel. "Don't be foolish. None of this has anything to do with me." His voice was measured, deliberate. "Listen carefully, Reiner. In my first life, I never even went with you to the island. This time, I chose to join you to try and change what I knew would happen. Whether I am here or not, the result is the same. Your mission… was always doomed."
The words struck harder than a blade.
Reiner's grip faltered. His hand slid off Zeke's boot, and he sagged back in defeat, eyes hollow. "…So, we were destined to fail from the start?"
Bertolt shifted uneasily, torn between comfort and fear. He wanted to put a hand on Reiner's shoulder, but the walls between them—their roles, their doubts—kept him frozen. Instead, he turned to Zeke.
"Captain… How can you be so sure? If you hadn't interfered, maybe—maybe we would have succeeded."
"Look around you." Zeke spread his hands mockingly. "Does this look like success?"
The carriage rattled as shouts and cannon fire echoed faintly from Shiganshina.
Smoke curled in the sky behind them. The battle still raged. No one knew how it would end.
"Our plan was simple," Zeke continued, voice sharp. "Break the wall. Force the King's hand. Draw him out. But tell me—have you seen anyone? Has the King revealed himself? Has a single warrior of royal blood transformed to defend his people?"
The three froze.
"!"
They realized he was right. Since the start of the attack, no mysterious savior had appeared. No royal Titan had emerged to quell the chaos.
The only Titans were their own. The only defenders were human soldiers, fighting desperately against impossible odds.
The Founding Titan had not appeared.
The so-called King of the Walls was letting his own people be devoured.
Zeke's voice dropped to a bitter growl.
"I told you before. Don't break the wall. Don't waste lives. The King will never rise for his people. Even if you hand half the island over to Titans—even if you kill thousands—the King will sit in silence behind his walls. A coward to the end."
Annie's eyes widened as the pieces clicked. "So that's why… you changed the plan. That's why you stopped us from breaking the inner gate. You knew all along that the King wouldn't come."
"Exactly." Zeke sighed, almost weary. "If it weren't for you three dragging me into this mess, we'd already be on the road to the Founder's true hiding place. Instead, here we are—riding a stolen carriage like common thieves."
Annie lowered her gaze, shame burning her chest. So all those deaths… were for nothing?
Zeke caught the flicker of guilt across their faces and sneered. "Regret won't change a damn thing. Those people died anyway. Their blood is on your hands. How does it taste? The weight of sin?"
None of them answered. The distant rumble of collapsing walls filled the silence.
Shiganshina was burning. Civilians screamed, clawing for survival. Soldiers fought and died. And here they were—the supposed culprits—safely rolling away in a carriage.
"It's fine," Bertolt muttered, forcing himself to breathe. "They're… they're demons, aren't they? That's what Marley says. If they're demons, then whether they live or die—it doesn't matter. We just have to finish the mission. Return home. That's all."
Zeke laughed darkly.
"Demons? Humans? It's all the same. Don't you see? Whether it's now or later, whether it's Marley or the island, it doesn't matter. Because when the end comes, all of them will die. All of us will die. The world itself will crumble." His eyes glinted, and he leaned forward.
"When the Rumbling begins… all life will be equal."
The three gasped.
"The… Rumbling?" Annie whispered.
At that word, the air turned to ice. Their minds snapped back to his first claim—Doomsday.
Zeke only smiled. "Yes. That's the end you're walking toward."