"Wait, who are you people?" A Military Police officer wearing a unicorn-emblazoned uniform stopped Yago and the others at the manor gate.
Yago felt the Military Police officer in front of him looked very familiar. Thinking carefully, ah—wasn't this Marlo, whom he had met once before?
In older Eren's memories, Marlo had joined the Survey Corps and ultimately died on the road to subjugating the Beast Titan.
But now, it seemed Marlo had not chosen to join the Survey Corps after all.
Naturally, Marlo did not recognize Yago, whom he had only met once. Acting purely out of duty, he stopped the new recruits who wanted to meet Historia.
"We're here to see Historia. She should have mentioned it, right?" After some explanation and confirmation, Marlo gestured to several other Military Police officers behind him to let them pass.
Because of special circumstances, Yago had let Annie return to rest first. Connie and Jean Kirstein had also been reassigned by the still-injured Squad Leader Levi to help with the Survey Corps' recruitment work.
So this time, only Yago, Eren, Armin, Mikasa, Sasha, and Ymir came to see Historia.
After entering the manor, the group headed straight for the study where Historia was.
In front of Historia's study, two guards stood watch at the door. Their uniforms bore no insignia of the three main military branches.
Which meant...
The door opened, and Commander-in-Chief Zackly, wearing glasses, walked out of the study.
"You will become a benevolent and great queen." After saying this, Zackly turned to leave the study. Seeing Yago and the others, he gave a slight nod before departing with the guards.
"Ymir? Is that you all? Come in quickly." Historia's voice came from inside the study.
Everyone hurried in and saw Historia seated beside the desk, with many documents laid out in front of her.
"Historia! I missed you so much. You're not even queen yet and you're already working this hard—it breaks my heart!" Ymir ignored everything else and lunged forward, hugging Historia tightly.
Historia smiled and said, "Sorry, sorry. I should have gone to greet you. But I really have been busy lately. I was just discussing issues concerning the people of the Underground City with Commander-in-Chief Zackly. There are still many orphans and children there who need help."
"As expected of our Historia—too kindhearted!" Ymir hugged Historia even tighter.
"Historia really works hard, and she truly is amazing—beautiful and kind," Eren praised. It was rare for Eren to compliment someone like this, though it would have been better if he weren't praising another girl in front of Mikasa.
Mikasa's eyelids drooped, and a faint aura of resentment made Yago, standing to the side, shiver for no apparent reason.
Armin said, "So, Historia, why did you call us here? Tomorrow is the coronation ceremony."
Historia nodded and said, "It's precisely because of tomorrow's coronation. The Wall Church priest said that for my coronation ceremony, I can select several honored soldiers to attend. So I hope you can all participate—of course, including Annie and the others."
Hearing Historia's last sentence, Yago felt deeply moved. No matter what, Annie's identity as a Marley warrior still made some people wary, even though only a few knew the truth.
But Historia's action clearly showed her trust in Annie, which truly touched Yago. He also didn't want Annie to always be lonely and excluded.
"Honored soldiers? That sounds really impressive!" Sasha said innocently.
"It is indeed a very high honor," Yago nodded.
"Eren, I heard you've been conducting hardening experiments lately. How are they going?" Historia asked.
Eren nodded and said, "It's going okay. I can already complete most of the hardening. Squad Leader Hange recently proposed an idea—apparently, it might be possible to use my hardening ability to kill Titans."
"Really? Eren, that's amazing," Historia said with a smile.
Just as everyone was chatting, bang!! A loud gunshot from a firearm rang out from outside the door.
"What's going on? Why is there gunfire?" Ymir immediately pulled Historia behind her, her face full of vigilance—no one knew who actually possessed Titan power here.
Yago and Mikasa exchanged a glance. Clearly, the two strongest soldiers present sensed that something was wrong.
"Eren, get behind me!" Mikasa shouted at Eren.
Eren, somewhat embarrassed and annoyed, retorted, "Mikasa! Don't treat me like a child!"
Yago crouched and pressed himself against the door. His Titan-enhanced physical abilities were extremely strong, and his hearing was far better than that of ordinary people.
He faintly heard several muffled screams, along with subtle hissing sounds.
"Vertical Maneuvering Equipment?" Yago frowned and turned to say, "Something's not right. I heard the sound of Vertical Maneuvering Equipment. We need to leave here first—we can't just sit and wait!"
Everyone agreed. Yago pulled open the door and took the lead out. Historia's study was located at the end of the second floor, with only a single staircase leading downstairs.
Just as Yago hesitated over whether to go down the stairs, loud bursts of gas propulsion reached everyone's ears.
Four figures had already appeared at the top of the staircase. They wore black uniforms never seen before. On their legs and waists were unfamiliar devices, and at the lower back was a small gas canister—seemingly the gas tank of Vertical Maneuvering Equipment, reminiscent of the former Central Military Police's gear, though without firearms.
Even stranger, each of them wore a hood, and on their faces were black masks painted with eerie symbols, revealing only their eyes. Each held two daggers.
"Who are you people!" Armin shouted at the figures. The four exchanged glances, then, as if by prior agreement, sheathed their daggers and simultaneously raised their arms, charging straight at Yago and the others.
"So fast!" Yago exclaimed. Before he could react, one of the black-clad attackers was already in front of him, throwing a punch straight at his face. Yago had no time to respond further and could only block passively.
On the other side, Mikasa was already engaged with two of the black-clad attackers.
Barely twisting aside to dodge a side kick, Yago was shocked to the core. He had always been confident in his combat skills, but he was truly stunned now—the black-clad attacker before him was outrageously skilled. Yago could only barely hold on.
Elsewhere, Armin had already been knocked unconscious by one of the attackers, and Ymir, while protecting Historia, had also been subdued by another.
"Ymir! Let her go!" Historia cried out in extreme anxiety, her hand already raised to her mouth.
"Damn it! Who the hell are you people!?" Eren, having taken quite a few punches himself, shouted angrily.
Every one of the black-clad attackers was unbelievably skilled—even Mikasa was close to being overwhelmed.
The fight grew more and more stifling. Suddenly, Yago hardened his resolve. He viciously grabbed the attacker's arm, while at the same time his own abdomen took a heavy blow, the pain making him want to double over.
But Yago gritted his teeth and endured it, seizing the opportunity to rip off the attacker's mask. A completely unfamiliar face appeared before him—black hair, black eyes, fair skin and white teeth. She looked to be about the same age as Yago and the others, a young girl—but there was no emotion at all in her dark eyes.
There was no time to think. Yago reached out, about to activate his Titan power. Earlier, he had held back because the space was too confined and Sasha and the others were nearby. But now, if he didn't use his Titan power, he felt he wouldn't last much longer—these people were far too ferocious.
But the next moment, Yago's head suddenly went blank. A powerful wave of dizziness hit him, and in the final instant before losing consciousness, he heard a cold, indifferent voice say,
"A-1, everything's taken care of. Except for the king, what do we do with the others?"
"Take this Titan power, and this Ackerman too. She should be like us... for the king..."
Without ever using his Titan power, Yago lost consciousness just like that.
(A/N: What could the identities of these mysterious black-clad attackers be? Everyone can try guessing. After all, this is completely original content.)
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Pls Drop some Power Stones
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