Annie and Kiyomi continued to sail west towards the nation of Hizuru, Kiyomi praying that Lord Mikasa could truly stop the Rumbling.
Kiyomi spoke with guilt, blaming herself for allowing Zeke and Eren to meet for her own gain, leading to the current catastrophic situation. She felt she bore an irrecoverable fault.
However, it was all hindsight now. Kim Lei had always prioritized protecting the interests and reputation of the Azumabito clan, but in the end, she lost something pure. She should have respected others without calculating gains and losses.
Hearing this, Annie also fell into deep thought, reminiscing about her father's farewell, the fierce competition within the Warrior unit, the laughter and camaraderie with her comrades in the Survey Corps, and the parting with her beloved. But now, it was too late to say anything.
Just then, Falco and Gabi found them. Falco told Annie he had a dream. Annie immediately suspected it was related to Galliard's memories, but Falco denied it.
Falco explained he saw Mr. Zeke's memories. Gabi, standing by, inquired if the Female Titan could acquire the abilities of other Titans by absorbing parts of them.
Annie confirmed this, stating the Female Titan was particularly susceptible, having been forced to consume various things in the past.
Falco and Gabi became excited upon hearing this, their youthful energy injecting life into the somber atmosphere.
Falco continued, "I became a Titan after drinking Mr. Zeke's spinal fluid, so I seem to have inherited the characteristics of the Controlled Titan."
"The clearest memory I saw was flying in the sky, and I believe I can do it too. This means there was once a Beast Titan with wings."
This explained why Falco's Jaw Titan and Galliard's looked so different. Falco's Jaw Titan resembled a bird, so Falco and Gabi decided to head towards the battlefield.
Annie immediately scolded them for their recklessness, warning that transforming into a Titan on the ship would surely sink it.
Furthermore, how could Falco be sure he could achieve such a feat when he hadn't even learned to control his Titan power yet?
What was lost could not be regained. It was too late.
But Kiyomi interrupted Annie, saying it was fine even if the powers were inherited. Rather than accumulating more regret, it was better to fight with everything they had.
Kiyomi supported Falco's idea, and Annie hesitated.
Meanwhile, the residents of the Marleyan internment zone had commandeered a train from Marley and were heading towards Fort Slava to escape the Rumbling via airship.
However, just as they were about to reach the fort, they discovered all the airships had already departed. In the distance, with billowing smoke, the Rumbling was arriving as predicted.
Giant skeletons led countless Titans towards the fort, while all the airships flew towards the Titan army, intending to bomb them from the sky. The war to end all wars had finally begun.
At the same time, Queen Historia's child was born into the world.
But on the other side of the world, countless people were being trampled by the Titan army. Faced with the insurmountable power of the Titans, humanity scattered like lambs to the slaughter. Pushed to the brink, people could only helplessly lift their infants to prevent them from being crushed.
The people at the fort understood this was humanity's final offensive. The fort's commander announced to all aerial units, "The burden you carry is immeasurable, but no matter the outcome, this is not your responsibility. This responsibility rests on each and every one of us adults."
"We cultivated hatred in the next generation through hatred, believing hatred would bring salvation."
"In the past, we dumped all insoluble problems onto the island of devils, resulting in the creation of that monster."
"And now, he is returning all the hatred we have accumulated."
"If there is a future, I swear I will never make the same mistake again."
"To bid farewell to an era of mutual hatred, we must end this monster forged by the world, here."
In the next moment, all the airships launched indiscriminate bombing at the colossal skeleton. But the range was too vast, and the accuracy too low.
Suddenly, a golden flash illuminated the entire battlefield.
The next second, the Beast Titan's body appeared on the colossal skeleton. The Beast Titan condensed hardened fragments in its palm and then threw them back towards the airships in the sky. The airship force was instantly annihilated and turned to charcoal by this single blow.
Humanity's last desperate attack was so easily dealt with by the Controlled Titan. The last glimmer of hope vanished with the complete destruction of the airship force.
The Titans continued their advance towards the fort. The adults' eyes were filled with guilt. Perhaps they deserved to die, but pity the innocent children.
However, Eren, consumed by the heat of battle, paid no mind to such sentimentalities.
Eren's sole thought was to drive out all enemies from the island, a decision long made.
Just then, the children noticed a plane appearing in the distant sky. The plane, swaying unsteadily, flew rapidly towards the colossal skeleton. Its engines had nearly ceased to function.
But Ouyang Guopeng declared, "I will definitely get you all above the Founding Titan. I will then perform an emergency landing, so you must land precisely on the Founding Titan."
Meanwhile, Eren also spotted the arrival of the Pathfinders and immediately commanded the Beast Titan to attack them. Levi's eyes immediately locked onto the beastly bastard, saving him the trouble of searching.
The people inside the aircraft were on high alert, ready to launch. Their primary objective was to eliminate the beastly bastard.
Armin led the team, leaping from the plane. This time, they would drag Eren out of that skeleton.
But the beastly bastard's attack rained down on the unprepared group. At this critical moment, Reiner stepped forward. A dazzling golden flash illuminated the entire battlefield as the invincible Armored Titan descended from the heavens.