Bang! The wooden door shattered into pieces, and Kenny was never this disheveled before.
"Kenny! Stop!" Before Kenny could catch his breath, Levi, wielding dual blades, had already caught up.
"Damn little Levi, worthy of inheriting my true teachings—never letting go of any threat that might exist." Kenny sneered.
The wound in his abdomen split open, blood seeping continuously. Kenny was already at his limit.
Swish! Swish! Two figures suddenly appeared, blocking Kenny's path. Levi Squad's Oluo and Jurgen had already cut off his retreat.
"Any random Survey Corps soldier thinks they can stop me now?" Kenny was seriously injured—but even then, not something a few small wolves could shake.
Bang! Crack! Kenny burst forward, firing a shot that forced Oluo back, then with the hand that had emptied the buckshot, he grabbed a dagger and viciously locked Jurgen's blade.
With his other hand, he raised the flintlock that still had one round of buckshot left, aiming it at Jurgen.
"Damn it!" Jurgen panicked, but breaking free right away was impossible.
"Stop!!"
Bang! The gun still fired, the scorching buckshot grazing past Jurgen's scalp.
Jurgen was shaken. When he steadied himself and looked closely—"Captain!"
A sharp blade had already pierced through Kenny's chest.
"Cough, cough." Kenny spat out dark red blood. A gravely wounded old lion meeting a young, powerful lion king could only await death.
Levi's gaze was complicated. For some reason, seeing Kenny like this didn't make him feel happy.
Bang! Bang!
"Move!"
Levi reacted swiftly, dodging two shots of buckshot.
A figure rushed to Kenny's front, her face streaked with still-wet blood, breathing raggedly, her blond hair in complete disarray.
"T-Traute, you're not dead yet?" Kenny spoke with difficulty. "Surrender. At least save your miserable life."
Traute instead scanned the surroundings. Levi Squad had already surrounded them.
"Captain Kenny, I said it before—we weren't fighting for some bullshit true king, but for your dream.Since your dream is destroyed, then we should go to hell to be buried with it. Captain, what a pity—your dream was never realized." Traute said in a low voice only she and Kenny could hear.
"Hey, cough, cough—you idiot, what are you trying to do?" Kenny was stunned.
The next moment, Traute charged at full speed toward the seemingly easiest target in Levi Squad—Petra.
Slash! Slash! Slash!
Three blades pierced through Traute's body at the same time. Her hands loosened, dropping the flintlock with no buckshot left. Her pupils scattered, and she collapsed into a pool of blood.
The instant she rushed toward Petra, almost everyone in Levi Squad reacted. Levi was the fastest—one strike pierced Traute's heart, a fatal blow.
"Really… an idiot." Kenny forced himself upright, leaning against a tree, his expression dazed. The once thunderous Kenny had fallen to this end.
"What a surprise. The little brat from the brothel has become this capable. Kuchel, your son is a qualified Ackerman." Kenny drifted into memories of the past.
Levi's pupils contracted when he heard Kenny's words. He rushed in front of him and demanded,
"What do you mean? What is your relationship with my mother? You're an Ackerman too!"
"Heh… I'm just a bastard. An unqualified brother. A bastard who watched his sister die on a brothel bed and felt nothing."
"My mother's brother?!" Levi's hand gripping Kenny's collar trembled.
Kenny felt life slipping away.
"I couldn't take care of that child. All I could teach him was how to use a blade—threats, negotiations, all kinds of schemes. I couldn't teach him anything else, because I myself am a bastard."
Levi lowered his head.
"Why… why did you abandon me alone in the Underground? Why did you disappear without a word?"
Kenny's vision was already blurring. He struggled to see Levi's face clearly.
"I… I didn't have what it takes to be a father. Maybe I couldn't bear to part with that child either."
"Kenny…" Levi fell silent. Perhaps he had realized long ago that Kenny's identity wasn't simple. No one would casually teach such skills to a prostitute's child in a filthy place like the Underground.
"I joined the Military Police, worked for Uri. Levi, do you know? If a person doesn't obsess over something in this world, there's no drive to keep living. We Ackermans are all slaves to something. I chased power—what do you chase?"
"Cough, cough, cough." The blood in Kenny's mouth was nearly dried up. Using his last strength, he took a small box from his chest and pressed it against Levi's chest.
"This… this… I got it from Rod… an injection. After injecting it, you can turn into a Titan. But… it can only turn you into that kind of mindless Titan. Eat… those intelligent ones, and you can grasp… the power of the Titans." Kenny forced out the words.
"Levi, I really am a bastard… a scumbag of an uncle." With his final words, the hand resting on Levi's chest fell limply.
"Captain, we…" Petra and the others grew worried as they looked at Levi, who had stood frozen for ten minutes.
"Let's go. And… bury Kenny Ackerman."
Levi picked up the box, took one last look at Kenny, then turned and left. The veins on the hand gripping the box bulged—clearly, Levi's heart was anything but calm.
...
Yago picked up a small vial from the ground with the words "Armor" written on it, deep in thought.
"Hey, Yago, I don't even know how to say this, but… thank you. Truly. You gave me a third life." Ymir said sincerely to Yago from the stretcher.
Having lost the power of the Titan, some of Ymir's injuries could no longer heal quickly, so she could only lie on the stretcher for now.
Yago smiled. "It's nothing. Honestly, it's my first time hearing you thank someone—it's a bit hard to get used to. By the way, I remember the first time you saw me, you even said I was a bad guy."
"It's still the same now. Don't get any improper ideas about Historia. Even though you saved me, I still have to say—Historia is mine. No one's allowed to steal her!" Ymir said half-joking, half-serious.
"Haha, Ymir, you really are… don't worry. I already have someone worth protecting for a lifetime."
Yago said with mixed laughter and helplessness, then turned his head to glance at a somewhat lost figure standing there.
Perhaps because of Annie's identity as the Female Titan, the fellow trainees didn't know how to talk to her, leaving Annie standing there alone, watching.
Yago walked over, took Annie's hand, and walked toward the others. Annie was a little surprised, but still followed obediently.
(A/N: Here I'll answer a reader's question. In the previous chapter, Yago didn't give his power to Ymir. He only used the Fate Titan's ability to save Ymir. So now Ymir has been brought back to life but has lost the power of the Titan and is just an ordinary person. Please don't misunderstand.)
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Pls Drop some Power Stones
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