CHAPTER 12: THE FOREST OF TRUTH
The gates opened before dawn.
The Survey Corps rode out into the grey light. Fifty soldiers. Fifty lives. Fifty chances to die.
Sukuna rode near the front. Mikasa on his left. Armin on his right.
Reiner was ahead. Bertholdt beside him. Annie behind.
"The warriors are all here," Sukuna thought. "If something happens, it happens today."
The first day passed without incident.
They rode through fields and forests. No Titans. No attacks. No deaths.
Too quiet.
"Something is wrong," Armin whispered.
"Something is always wrong," Sukuna replied.
That night, they camped near a small river.
Sukuna sat alone, staring at the fire.
Jean sat down across from him.
"You've been quiet."
"I'm always quiet."
"Quieter than usual."
Sukuna looked at him.
"What do you want, Jean?"
Jean was quiet for a moment.
Then he said, "I want to know why you're not afraid."
"Who says I'm not afraid?"
"Your eyes. They never show fear. Even when Titans are charging. Even when soldiers are dying."
Sukuna looked back at the fire.
"I've seen worse than Titans."
"What could be worse than Titans?"
"Humans."
Jean stared at him.
Then he stood up and walked away.
He didn't ask anything else.
The second day, they entered the forest.
The trees were massive. Ancient. Their branches blocked the sun.
The soldiers moved carefully. Wires ready. Blades sharp.
"Titans live in forests," Armin said quietly. "They hide in the shadows."
"Then we'll find them," Sukuna said.
They found them.
Three Titans. Five meters. Seven meters. Four meters.
They charged.
The soldiers moved. Wires flew. Blades flashed.
Mikasa killed two. Reiner killed one.
No casualties.
"Too easy," Sukuna thought. "This is a trap."
That night, Shadis gathered the officers.
Sukuna watched from a distance.
"They're planning something," he thought. "Something they don't want the cadets to hear."
He moved closer. Quiet. Invisible.
"...the village," Shadis said. "...the people outside the walls..."
"...the king's orders..."
"...the truth about the Titans..."
Sukuna's eyes narrowed.
"The king knows something," he thought. "The king is hiding something."
He slipped away before anyone saw him.
The third day.
They reached their destination.
A clearing in the middle of the forest.
And in the clearing...
A Titan.
But not a normal Titan.
This one was screaming.
Not in pain. Not in hunger.
In grief.
Its face was wet with tears. Its hands were pressed together like it was praying.
The soldiers stared.
"What... is that?" Armin whispered.
"A Titan that remembers," Sukuna said.
Shadis raised his hand.
"Do not attack," he ordered. "Observe."
The Titan looked at them.
Its eyes were human. Sad. Old.
"Help... me..." it moaned.
The soldiers froze.
"It... it spoke," someone whispered.
"Titans don't speak," another said.
"This one does."
Sukuna stepped forward.
"Eren, no!" Mikasa grabbed his arm.
He pulled away.
"Let me go."
He walked toward the Titan.
The Titan watched him approach.
Its massive body trembled.
"You... are not... human," it said.
"Neither are you," Sukuna replied.
The Titan's eyes widened.
"I was... once."
"What happened?"
"The king... cursed us. Made us... into this."
Sukuna stopped a few meters from the Titan.
"What king?"
"The king... of the walls. He lied to everyone. He trapped us... inside these bodies."
The Titan reached out a massive hand.
"Free... me..."
Sukuna looked at the hand.
Then he looked back at the soldiers.
Shadis was pale. Mikasa was ready to attack. Armin was writing in his notebook.
Reiner and Bertholdt were staring at the Titan with empty eyes.
Annie showed nothing.
"I can't free you," Sukuna said.
"Why... not?"
"Because I don't know how."
The Titan's hand dropped.
"Then... kill me."
Sukuna was quiet for a long moment.
Then he drew his blades.
"Eren, don't!" Armin shouted.
"It's begging for death," Sukuna said. "Who am I to refuse?"
He flew into the air.
The Titan didn't move. Didn't fight. Didn't run.
It just knelt there, waiting.
Sukuna's blades flashed.
The Titan's nape opened.
Blood sprayed.
The Titan fell.
And as it died, it whispered one last word:
"Thank... you..."
Silence.
The soldiers stared at the body.
Sukuna landed on the ground. His blades were red.
"It was a human," Armin whispered. "A human who was turned into a Titan."
"Yes," Sukuna said.
"How is that possible?"
Sukuna looked at Reiner and Bertholdt.
"Ask them."
Reiner's face went white.
Bertholdt looked away.
Annie's hand moved to her sword.
"What do you mean, Eren?" Shadis asked.
Sukuna smiled.
"Nothing, Commander. Just thinking out loud."
That night, no one slept.
The soldiers sat around the fire in silence.
The Titan's words echoed in their minds.
"The king cursed us."
"He trapped us inside these bodies."
"The king of the walls lied to everyone."
Armin wrote in his notebook. Page after page.
Mikasa sat next to Sukuna. Her hand was on her sword.
"You knew," she whispered.
"I suspected."
"How?"
"Because I've seen this before. In another world."
Mikasa looked at him.
"What world?"
"A world with curses. A world with kings who lie. A world I destroyed."
Mikasa was quiet.
Then she said, "Will you destroy this world too?"
Sukuna looked at the stars.
"I don't know yet."
END OF CHAPTER 12