Just as dawn broke, the walls of Orvud were already neatly lined with cannons.
Nearby, the Garrison Soldiers stood ready in formation.
The members of the 104th were waiting by the inner side of the wall, chatting.
Connie looked down at the somewhat restless crowd and sighed, "Being woken up so early and told it's just an Evacuation Drill..."
"It wouldn't be surprising if a riot broke out today."
Jean added, "And at a time when the Royal Government was just overthrown by the Corps."
At that moment, Mikasa noticed that Sasha hadn't touched her military rations and couldn't help but ask, "Sasha, you haven't eaten anything yet?"
Sasha whispered, "Yeah, I have no appetite..."
Eren was incredibly surprised, "Really? Are you okay?"
Connie said, "Actually, I haven't eaten either."
Jean followed up, "Yeah, I wonder why. Maybe it's because we just finished killing so many people."
"Killing people?"
Just as Eren was confused, Lock walked over from the other side, holding a large food bag.
He approached everyone and greeted them, "Come, come, I bought these from below. Freshly baked roasted sweet potatoes. Do you want to try some?"
"Eh, no one wants any? I bought so many."
"Sasha, you definitely want one, right?"
Seeing Lock approach, Sasha immediately stood up and turned to leave, "No thanks! Lock, keep them for yourself!"
Lock turned to the others and asked, "What's wrong with Sasha? Why does she run away every time she sees me now?"
Jean stifled a laugh and said, "Maybe it's because you're too charming, Lock."
Connie covered his mouth and said, "Maybe Sasha is hiding some unspeakable secret from you, Lock."
Mikasa said expressionlessly, "The last time you drugged us, Sasha was the last one to wake up. It's probably because of that."
Lock analyzed the situation, "Mikasa's reason is clearly more reliable. It seems I should prepare a gift for Sasha, too, oo to express my apologies."
"Eh? We were drugged by you. Shouldn't we get something?"
"Eren! You had it the worst, you tell him!"
"Lock did it for the sake of the big picture..."
Levi walked over, "Stop messing around, that guy is already here!"
...
Thick white smoke rose hundreds of meters high.
The Titan's body, crawling on the ground, was as massive as a small mountain; every movement it made caused a massive tremor.
It was like a moving, super-sized volcano.
Then, the Garrison Regiment's bombardment began.
There were over a hundred cannons on the wall and at its base. At the commander's order, they all fired at once.
After a round of shooting, Erwin looked ahead, "The cannons on the ground are even less effective."
Levi replied, "Of course. Even with the high-angle shots from the wall, hardly any hit the neck, right?"
"What are they doing?" Levi said with some dissatisfaction.
Erwin's tone was flat, "Soldiers mobilized in an emergency, cannons cobbled together, a makeshift organization, plus this is the northern inland—they certainly can't compare to the Garrison Regiment of the Trost District..."
"But it is undoubtedly the highest combat power we can mobilize right now."
...
Lock said lazily, "It would be great if Commander Pixis could come; then we might not need to take action."
Jean said with surprise, "You weren't like this before, Lock. Why are you thinking about slacking off all day now?"
Lock's heart stirred, and he asked casually, "How was I before?"
Jean blurted out, "You were the type who wanted to get involved in everything, showing off regardless of whether it was your business or not."
Lock was stunned...
Indeed, Jean was right; he really used to be that kind of person.
Then why did he feel that many things were boring lately?
Was it just because there had been too much going on lately and he was tired?
Or was it... because of Annie's influence?
Thinking of this, Lock felt a bit enlightened, a bit happy, but mostly sad.
He quietly rubbed the ring on his right index finger and didn't speak again...
The Garrison Regiment's bombardment failed to stop the Rod Reiss Titan from approaching the wall.
Every citizen in the city could see the thick smoke rising outside the wall.
A change in wind direction caused the entire top of the wall to be shrouded in thick smoke.
Two giant hands climbed onto the wall.
The citizens in the city stared blankly at this scene, as if they hadn't yet realized what was happening.
With the support of its hands, the Rod Reiss Titan finally stood up.
Its massive, horrific upper body was fully revealed to the people.
Because of the friction along the way, its face was entirely flat, resembling a medical coronal plane.
The chest and abdominal walls were also gone, and the internal organs fell onto the wall due to gravity.
This scene was extremely horrific.
The citizens finally began to wail, running away desperately.
Kitz's face showed despair.
Then the Survey Corps made their appearance, using carts modified with Omni-Directional Mobility Gear to carry explosives, crashing them into the Titan's supporting arms.
Two explosions occurred, and the Titan lost its most important support, slowly falling forward.
Eren transformed into a Titan and, under Erwin's command, rushed toward the Rod Reiss Titan's head, carrying numerous gunpowder barrels.
He stuffed all the gunpowder barrels into the other's mouth.
"Boom!"
An explosion occurred on the wall!
The Rod Reiss Titan's head and nape were blown into countless massive chunks of flesh, splattering into the air.
The Survey Corps Soldiers, who were already prepared, rushed toward the chunks of flesh, attempting to cut the piece of meat that held Rod's consciousness.
Finally, with a full-force strike from a blonde girl, all the flesh in the sky turned into white smoke in an instant.
The Titan's remains also began to evaporate rapidly.
After completing all this, the girl fell from the sky and was caught by Lock just before hitting the ground.
The two of them landed on the ground together.
The girl stood up from Lock's arms and approached the crowd of people who had come to thank their savior.
She solemnly announced, "I am... Historia Reiss, the true Queen of this world within the walls!"
Lock smiled and knelt on one knee, paying his respects to the Queen...
The Queen's coronation ceremony took place shortly after she saved Orvud.
On the high platform, Zackary slowly placed the crown on her head.
Then, along with all the military representatives, he knelt and bowed.
Historia walked to the front of the platform and gave a military salute to everyone before her.
"Dedicate Your Hearts!"
All the citizens watching this scene began to cheer, celebrating the birth of the new King.
Below the platform, Lock couldn't help but mock, "Imperial power granted by the military?"
"The priests of the Wall Cult must be furious!"
...
After the ceremony, Historia led the group to find trouble for Levi.
Eren couldn't help but say, "Why do this? The Captain didn't do anything wrong, did he?"
Historia said, "I promised Mikasa!"
Jean encouraged her, "That's right, Historia. How can a Queen go back on her promise!"
At that moment, a figure walked over from ahead.
Once she saw who it was, Sasha immediately turned away to avoid looking at him.
"Lock?"
"Lock, we're about to accompany Historia to teach the Captain a lesson. Come join us!"
Lock arrived before Historia, carrying two items covered with cloth.
"Don't interrupt. I promised Historia that I would give her a gift when she became Queen."
"I worked very hard to prepare this."
"What? What is it?" Jean and Connie asked curiously. "Quick, uncover it and let everyone see."
Lock looked at Historia and smiled, "Historia, I have two items here, but you can only choose one."
"Do you want the one under the white cloth, or the one under the green cloth?"
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