Thick smoke suddenly appeared on the coast of Malaysia. Countless giants, having crawled underwater, reached this place. Here, the World United Fleet, equipped with the most advanced military weapons in the world, was stationed. All of humanity's intellectual achievements were to be staked on this battle.
If even this fleet could not stop the Rumbling, then humanity would have no other means to stop it.
At the commander's order, countless missiles poured towards the sea ahead.
However, even with humanity's immense firepower, it was like throwing stones against a great rock in the face of thousands upon thousands of giants. The giants immediately landed on the shore, revealing their colossal forms. The fleet's missiles were no more than a tickle against their bodies.
Facing the encroaching Rumbling, the United Army was struck with terror and scattered in all directions. Amidst the billowing smoke, a massive skeleton emerged.
And that was the Attack Titan, just as it was when the Walls were breached by Titans years ago. Except this time, Eren was leading the Titans to invade others' homes, and Eren's sole objective was to expel all enemies, to completely drive them from this world, leaving not a single one behind.
Meanwhile, Ramji and Halil were hiding money in a tree hollow.
Ramji expressed that as long as the two of them kept saving money, they would one day be able to live in a better place.
However, Halil, with worry, cautioned Ramji not to steal anymore, warning that if he continued to steal money, his left hand would eventually be cut off.
Ramji, however, insisted that someone had to do it, otherwise, they would never escape their dilapidated tents.
Each year, many people succumbed to the winter and died. He no longer wished to witness such things.
Ramji said that if he died, Halil should give all this money to everyone.
Just then, people fled in panic towards the distance.
For a moment, Ramji and Halil didn't understand what was happening. They couldn't grasp why everyone on the street was running. In the next second, they saw a tide of giants approaching from afar. People were shouting to each other to hurry up the mountain, but little did they know that the mountain itself was already crawling with giants. People had nowhere to escape.
Turning back, the giants' footsteps were imminent. Ramji, terrified, pulled Halil to flee. However, the flying corpses caused by the giants crashed down upon them, and they were instantly buried in the rubble. The massive stones crushed their limbs, and blood splattered everywhere.
Yet, the child's small hand still tightly clutched the money they had painstakingly saved. In the next moment, the giants' stomping descended mercilessly. Their bodies were crushed into dust by the giants' footsteps, and their forms returned to the earth. The giants' rampage continued, with countless more humans suffering under the tread of the Rumbling, leaving behind scenes of utter devastation wherever they went.
Ever since Eren was born, a human-made wall had stood before him.
Armin had told Eren tales of the magical world beyond the Walls, a world that must have been many times larger than the world within. But when Eren finally explored the world beyond the Walls, he found it to be completely different from the world he had dreamed of.
When Eren learned that humans were still alive beyond the Walls, he was deeply disappointed.
Eren had believed that the future could be changed. But as all the memories of the future began to confirm themselves, Eren realized that the future seemed unalterable. He was, after all, a half-breed scumbag, just like Dina. No, he was even more of a scumbag than Dina.
To trample all things in the world, to soar between heaven and earth, was this the freedom Eren pursued?
Watching young Eren's happy expression, I understood that a boy chasing freedom would ultimately become a slave to freedom.
However, at this very moment, Armin's figure arrived beside Eren through a passageway. Armin seemed to sense something, or perhaps nothing had happened. It felt as if many years had passed, or perhaps it was just an instant.