"I wonder... if everything is going smoothly?"
In an ordinary room adjacent to the central area, Frieda softly muttered, her worried eyes directed toward the window, looking at the magnificent government building.
This was the first time she had been able to step out of the Reiss family's domain, shedding the heavy responsibility of being the holder of the Founding Titan and the Queen of the Walls. Ordinarily, Frieda would have been able to enjoy the outside scenery and civilization. However, fate had other plans: she turned into a Titan, almost wiping everything out, and now she sat here awaiting a coup d'état to unfold.
Frieda knew exactly what a coup was, which was why she was worried. No, anyone in the weaker position would worry when going up against an entire massive regime, let alone Asahi, who was acting alone without any supporting forces.
Actually, Frieda had a mistaken perception. The elite forces within the Walls were undeniably real, like the Reiss family's guard unit, or the military police secretly trained by the nobles to neutralize "potentially dangerous elements" to the center of power. But they only constituted a very small fraction of the Military Police Brigade; the rest of the Military Police were mostly just a spoiled and useless bunch. The Garrison was slightly better, but not by much.
Yet, whether they were elite or not, Asahi was confident he could sweep through all of them. Even if placed in the modern 21st century, he could do the same, short of facing super weapons of mass destruction.
Frieda was not alone; Levi and Hange were also stationed in the room. The entire Survey Corps, using secret routes, was present around this area. Before this event took place, Erwin had secretly informed the entire Survey Corps, stating that he would reveal the reason immediately after the mission succeeded.
Naturally, the Survey Corps raised many conflicting opinions. Erwin, having just been promoted, dared to take such a deadly risk; everyone was wary. If not for his prior reputation, it is likely no one would have been here.
At this moment, fighting had broken out, but it was limited to the area surrounding the central government headquarters, not even spreading to the outskirts of the palace. The reason was that Asahi's sweep was too fast and too intense, barely resting, turning a gun-based encirclement battle into an all-out melee of one against all.
His physical endurance seemed to have no upper limit, continuously moving through the troop contingents. Wherever he went, people fell. Punching, slamming, elbows, chops, grappling... all kinds of moves were applied to the unfortunate soldiers who fell like stalks of rice before the sickle.
The courtyard, with its evenly distributed flowers, grass, trees, and numerous fountains, had turned into a battlefield. Flowers and grass were crushed by bodies lying on top, countless in number. Half of a fountain was broken, water spilling out everywhere.
Above, the steel wires from the ODM Gear were tangled everywhere, looking no different from a mess of knotted electrical cables.
Asahi brushed away the layer of dust from the gunpowder smoke clinging to his armor. There were simply too many people on the other side, so getting hit once or twice was normal.
Today, the number of people who had fallen here, stretching from the corridor several blocks away to this very spot, must be nearly a thousand. It should be noted that the total strength of the Military Police Brigade was only around two thousand soldiers.
Excluding some hidden forces, Asahi took only half an hour today to sweep through half of the Military Police.
Of course, the reason it was so easy for him was that this was a critical location, unlike the outside where the Garrison could use cannons and artillery. So, getting inside here required passing through him.
They no longer sent any more troop branches, likely realizing that sending more was just sending them to their deaths.
Asahi paid no attention, returning to the King and the nobles' great hall.
At the same time.
"Commander-in-Chief, what should we do now?! The King and the nobles are still in there, I fear they have been taken hostage."
A trembling man reported to an old man with hair and a full beard that was silver-grey like a lion. He wore a pair of round spectacles, his face calm to the point of indifference.
Darius Zackly, the Commander-in-Chief of the entire military. The only person, aside from the high-ranking nobles, who could directly command all three military branches.
In response to the soldier's excessive nervousness, Darius merely lightly pushed up his sinking spectacles. What they were facing had exceeded imagination; being nervous would only make everything collapse faster.
He slightly narrowed his eyes. The Survey Corps was absolutely involved in this matter; calling them accomplices would not be an exaggeration.
This was not difficult to deduce, especially for cunning individuals like Darius. One coincidence might be excusable, but many coincidences are definitely intentional.
"A shame..."
He spoke a cryptic, incomplete sentence, the meaning of which was unclear. Darius took a puff of his cigar, sitting still as if waiting.
A long moment later, a figure wearing a blue cloak with the symbol of the Wings of Freedom appeared near the command center. It was none other than a member of the Survey Corps.
All the soldiers became intensely wary, clutching their muskets and ready to pull the trigger at a signal from Darius. Contrary to their expectations, he did not do so, only standing quietly, watching to see what the Survey Corps soldier would do next.
He knew the man was merely a messenger. Spending time and effort to kill a small fry, only to anger the opponent, Darius saw this as an unfavorable exchange.
"Speak, what is the matter? You have spent time and effort attacking the capital, holding all the high-ranking leaders and the King hostage; surely it wasn't just for fun?"
"Commander-in-Chief, sir, we never intended to harm the government. As for the reason, if you proceed toward the royal palace, you will know."
"Commander-in-Chief, you cannot go! It's a trap!"
A tense soldier shouted, pointing his gun straight at the Survey Corps soldier. Although the messenger stood still, his body was tense, ready to dodge at any moment.
Darius Zackly raised his hand, signaling everyone to stand down, which reluctantly calmed the scene. His pupil swept over the soldier who had shouted, quietly showing a trace of displeasure. How could his judgment of the situation, as Commander-in-Chief, be inferior to that of a petty soldier? If not, how could he have risen to command the three armies?
Furthermore, Darius hated being interfered with the most, whether by the ignorant masses or the nobles who occasionally bypassed him to mobilize the military.
As for what the Survey Corps soldier said, Darius already believed 80% of it. The reason was that it happened too suddenly and too quickly, as if they merely marched in and executed the action without a predefined plan. Given the intelligence of the Survey Corps leaders, such a low-level mistake would be difficult to commit if they truly intended a coup.
In that case, the Survey Corps were, after all, just people being exploited.
"Lead the way."