"Ymir, do you know what I came here to do?" Roger asked.
"I'm truly sorry, Ymir really doesn't know. Please forgive me, master."
Ymir spoke in a panic, like a frightened little deer.
"There's no need to apologize for something like this. I don't want to hear you apologizing to me anymore," Roger said. "Ymir, I order you: from now on, don't call me 'master' again. Call me 'Roger', like usual."
"B–But!"
"No buts. Just do as I say."
"But…" Ymir was so anxious she was almost in tears. "R–Really… really okay?"
"Of course."
"Then… Roger… Roger, master?"
"Once more."
Roger sighed.
"Ro… Roger."
Pitifully, Ymir lifted her small face, looking up at Roger to test his reaction.
"Mm." Roger finally nodded and said to Ymir, "Ymir, I don't need a slave. What I need is a helper I can call… a 'friend'. You and I were equals to begin with. There's never been high or low, noble or base. It's just that right now, I need your power."
"If you want Ymir, then please just take Ymir. Everything of Ymir's belongs to you."
Ymir said this while gazing at Roger with adoring eyes.
Her wording sounded strange, but that was more or less what she meant.
Roger couldn't be bothered to correct her anymore.
How could slavish obedience, rooted in her for thousands of years, be pulled out so easily?
So forget it, he thought.
In this moment, Ymir's heart was overflowing with warmth.
She had never seen her master like this before, treating her so gently.
Back in the old days, once the king finished dealing with affairs of state and returned to the bedchamber, he would almost certainly come and take her roughly.
Because her body could regenerate without limit, Ymir had practically fulfilled every sexual fantasy the king had.
In those days, although she suffered all kinds of torment every single day, bearing child after child for the king, reduced to little more than a breeding machine…
She was in pain.
Yet she also felt an intense happiness.
Her feelings for the king only grew deeper.
For the king's sake, she was willing to give everything of herself.
She was even willing to take fatal wounds in his place.
She believed that this was love.
To die for love—she felt blessed.
Even when the king carved up her flesh, turned her into minced meat, and shared it out for her and his children to eat…
She still believed the king was wise.
Just like the final order the king had given her—his last wish: that the Eldian Empire might prosper forever, that the power of the Titans might be passed down for all eternity—Ymir had obediently carried it out, never leaving.
Only…
So tired.
Why…
did it still hurt?
Why…
was she still so sad?
She didn't understand.
And so, a strange feeling welled up inside her.
She saw…
Her child. The one who had once been most considerate of her.
The child who had inherited the Attack Titan.
The one who wanted to find an answer for her.
She acquiesced.
She accepted him.
She wanted to wait for that person to come and tell her—
What love is.
What freedom is.
But in the end, that person never came.
Instead, her "master" came back.
"Ymir, I want to start the Rumbling," Roger said.
"If that's what you want."
Ymir very carefully held herself back from blurting out the word "master".
"I want to kill some people," Roger said. "Many of them may be innocent, but I want them to die for the simple reason that they stand on the opposite side from me."
"Mm-hmm, Ymir understands."
As she spoke, Ymir walked toward the Paths, toward that great tree with countless branches.
"Wait."
Roger grabbed Ymir by the shoulder.
"What is it, master… oh, no, Roger."
Realizing her slip, Ymir's face flushed red, and she clapped a hand over her mouth.
"You're not going to ask me anything?"
"Ask what?"
"Ask why I'm doing this. Why I'm going to kill those people."
"There's no need." Ymir gave a shy smile. "If it's you, then you must be right. Even if you want to kill others, that must be correct too. Even if you want to destroy the world, Ymir will still do as you say."
"…"
"Just trust me."
Since Ymir wasn't going to think any deeper about it, he saw no need to overcomplicate things by saying more.
The Rumbling had to be set in motion.
Originally, Roger had worried that if he tried to forcibly control Ymir, whether he could actually control the Rumbling was still up in the air.
Now there was nothing to worry about.
Ymir was utterly, unwaveringly loyal to him.
He still didn't know why Ymir had mistaken him for the first King Fritz, but he certainly had no intention of doing what the first King Fritz had done.
He only wanted to fulfill his long-cherished wish: to destroy Marley, and to wipe out Marley's twisted militarism.
To use the power of the Rumbling to unify the entire world.
When that time came, if barriers still existed between people…
If they wanted revenge, let them have it.
If they wanted slaughter, let them have slaughter.
As long as they weren't afraid of the Rumbling, they could go ahead and do as they pleased.
Death was the best means of controlling humanity; Roger had always firmly believed that.
After giving her master one last hug, Ymir walked away barefoot.
A string of tiny footprints was left on the ground.
Roger stood on the sand, watching Ymir's figure recede into the distance.
When he turned around, his field of vision suddenly opened up.
Two airships were circling in front of him. In the distance stood the Beast Titan, leading a great horde of mindless titans toward him.
Roger saw their ferocious faces.
Tours.
Erwin.
Hange.
And a number of people of the Walls he didn't recognize at all.
He blinked. The deep blue of his eyes was filled with mystery and unfathomable depth.
His face was expressionless.
The Jaw-Armored Titan ignored the rest of the titans.
It simply moved forward slowly, as if out for a stroll, heading toward the last titan—the Beast Titan, Zeke.
Zeke slowed his run. He was deeply wary—wary of the Founding Titan's power.
He knew that ever since Roger had devoured the Founding Titan, he had already lost.
Now, even if he kept fighting for the military, it would be utterly meaningless.
"Is this really the best choice?"
The Beast Titan suddenly stopped, then likewise began walking slowly toward the Jaw-Armored Titan.
The other titans halted and stopped their charge, freezing in all sorts of grotesque poses as they stared at Roger and Zeke.
"So in the end…" Zeke said helplessly, "my plan still doesn't work, huh…"
He sighed.
He knew the Founding Titan had already chosen Roger.
Which meant that the euthanasia plan had been completely rejected by Eren.
In the end, Eren had still entrusted his power to Roger.
Clearly, Roger was the one Eren believed to be the best choice.
And now, trying to fight Roger any further would be nothing but a road to death.
"It can't be helped."
Zeke sighed.
The Beast Titan reached out its hand.
The Jaw-Armored Titan reached out as well.
The two titans clasped hands.
In their silent gazes, everything that needed to be said had already been said.
Immediately after,
the Beast Titan, along with all the titans around it, dissolved and turned back into humans.
"Time to end this."
Roger said, opening his hand to catch Zeke Yeager as he fell from the sky, then putting him into his mouth.
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