Accompanied by a soul-piercing roar from the Attack Titan, every Eldian present was affected, as though someone had pressed a pause button on time itself. All Eldians froze in place for a full second.
Only a handful of people noticed something was wrong with such a synchronized moment of stiffness. Just imagine it—being in a massive venue with thousands of people making noise, and then in a single instant, every single person suddenly falls silent without any warning. What kind of terrifying scene would that be?
Nicolo, pushing his self-made food cart, was one of those few people. After selling out his special sandwiches, he had been preparing to bring the extra-thick fried cutlet he specifically saved for Sasha when he encountered this bizarre scene. The Attack Titan's roar instantly caused countless Eldians around him to freeze in place in a daze. Although it lasted only a single second and the noisy surroundings quickly returned to normal, Nicolo was clearly frightened.
Most Eldian soldiers had no awareness of that one second of blankness. Many of them couldn't even perceive the instant at all.
But for certain people, that second felt incomparably clear.
Levi frowned, lowering his head to look at his hands before clenching them tightly. During that moment just now, he had felt his body slip out of his control. That sensation of weightlessness and helplessness made him extremely uncomfortable.
"Eren, you brat... what the hell are you doing?"
Mikasa, Annie, and even Jean, who had been wearing his usual long-faced expression, all realized what had just happened and immediately turned to look toward the Titan battle everyone believed had already reached its destined conclusion.
Sure enough!
The situation on the battlefield had undergone a complete reversal!
Compared to the vague confusion or faint awareness of the others, the Fate Titan standing directly before the Attack Titan had the clearest understanding of what had just happened.
No matter how hard Yago tried, he couldn't understand it. Eren had actually used the Founder's power!
What kind of joke was this?!
If this wasn't cheating, then what was?
He didn't even possess royal blood, so why the hell was Great Ancestor lending power to Eren?!
The instant the Attack Titan roared, Yago's vision went black, and the Fate Titan's originally crimson eyes were instantly covered by a layer of white light.
It seemed like only a moment, yet also like hundreds of years.
Light appeared before Yago's eyes.
A towering pillar of light, an endless sea of sand, and a star-filled sky.
This was the Paths!!
That roar from the Attack Titan had actually allowed Yago to glimpse the Paths directly!
Although clarity returned to Yago's eyes in only an instant, the shock in his heart lingered for a long time.
How had Eren activated the Founder?
He clearly hadn't touched anyone with royal blood!
However, that wasn't what Yago needed to care about most right now.
What he truly needed to worry about was the trouble he was about to face.
That brief moment of distraction was already enough for Eren, who had originally been cornered into despair, to launch a counterattack.
The Attack Titan took advantage of the instant the Fate Titan froze and suddenly reversed its grip, grabbing both of the Fate Titan's arms. By the time the Fate Titan reacted, it was already too late.
The hardening wrapped around the Attack Titan's arms suddenly expanded explosively, layer after layer spiraling upward, spreading continuously from its hands.
In the end, those layers of hardening actually spread from the Attack Titan's arms onto the Fate Titan's arms that it was holding.
Like frozen crystal.
Half of the Fate Titan's arms were quickly encased in crystal-like hardening.
"Yago! I finally got you, huh?! I told you already! Don't underestimate me!"
Inside the Attack Titan's nape, Eren was drenched in sweat, but his face was overflowing with excited laughter.
All those months training his trump card hadn't been for nothing!
After the humiliating defeats in the previous four battles, now was the time for revenge!
"ROAR!!"
The Attack Titan threw back its head and roared toward the sky. Steam and Titan saliva sprayed from its mouth as its muscles bulged violently from exertion. The entire Titan pulled backward with all its strength.
Rip!!
Blood splattered everywhere as flesh tore apart gruesomely.
The Fate Titan's arms were forcibly ripped off by the Attack Titan.
The severed wounds were mangled and bloody as steam burst outward, while the Fate Titan's body staggered backward repeatedly.
But how could Eren possibly let such a perfect opportunity slip away?
The Attack Titan stomped the ground fiercely and lunged forward like a starving tiger. The hardening on its arms shattered apart with cracking sounds, and the severed arms of the Fate Titan crumbled into fragments along with it.
"What?! It can actually do that?! Captain Eren has a chance! Come on! My meal ticket depends on you!"
One of the watching soldiers shouted excitedly.
The complete reversal on the battlefield instantly ignited the emotions of the spectators below. Countless soldiers stood up and cheered loudly.
It seemed everyone was eagerly looking forward to seeing Captain Eren defeat Commander Yago in a comeback victory.
Bang! Bang! Bang!
Having lost both arms, the Fate Titan couldn't regenerate its injuries in such a short time and could only retreat passively.
Meanwhile, the Attack Titan smashed punch after punch into the Fate Titan's body.
The Fate Titan did not retaliate at all, relying entirely on the durability of its body to endure the assault head-on.
"Ah! What's that!?"
Zeke, who had originally been calmly watching the Titan battle, suddenly widened his eyes.
Without warning, two massive shadows suddenly rose from behind the Fate Titan.
The sunlight was blinding, making it impossible to see clearly at first.
But as everyone's eyes adjusted to the light, they gradually saw what those two massive shadows truly were.
A pair of enormous feather-covered wings suddenly sprouted from the Fate Titan's back.
The wings seemed to burst directly from the Fate Titan's flesh itself, with chunks of steaming blood and meat still clinging to the dark brown feathers.
The wings spread wide.
With a single flap, the Fate Titan's body instantly soared upward, directly leaving the ground.
The sight of the Fate Titan suddenly growing wings and taking flight left countless people utterly stunned.
Connie pointed at the sky and shouted:
"My god! A birdman! No, wait—a bird Titan!"
Jean also stared wide-eyed at the Fate Titan flying through the sky.
"A flying Titan? There seemed to be one in Marley's capital that day too. But that Titan's wings were way uglier than Yago's."
Zeke stared fixedly at the wings behind the Fate Titan.
The scene he witnessed inside the Paths space that day resurfaced in his mind.
Founder Ymir had pulled a ball of light from his chest and stuffed it into Yago's body.
Afterward, Yago's Titan gained a pair of wings.
This was...
The Beast Titan's power!
So Yago really could obtain the powers of other Titans?
And why would the Founder help Yago?
Zeke's gaze gradually became profound.
Meanwhile, Eren looked up at the Fate Titan flapping its wings in the sky, the corners of his mouth twitching slightly.
Just who exactly was cheating here?
The Fate Titan didn't remain in the sky for long.
Its body shifted, and with a flap of its wings, it landed lightly back on the ground.
Then the Fate Titan lowered its head as steam erupted.
Yago directly emerged from the Titan's nape.
"Not bad, Eren. You've really got something there. You actually forced me to use extra power. This round's my loss—you win."
Yago laughed as he jumped down from the Fate Titan's body, the simple Vertical Maneuvering Equipment attached to his thigh allowing him to land steadily.