Chapter 50 - Wilderness (4)

(3rd person's POV)

Over at the other team belonging to Mikasa and Annie, 7 grown men were on the ground, beaten to a pulp.

5 minutes earlier, Mikasa had detected a group of people was trailing behind her squad. As the recorder of the team, her job was to make ensure that the document she was transcribing, is the most perfect as it can get.

And so, when her team was resting, she and Annie bypassed the bandits' eyesight while they weren't looking.

As they didn't want to reveal their inhuman powers, they limited it as much as possible to not be seen as a 'superhuman'.

After waiting for a while for the bandits to settle down, they used the back spine of the sword to knock the heads of the bandits. Their actions were so fast, only 2 of them briefly saw what happened before getting knocked out.

This left them unconscious until the rest of the team arrived and tied them all down.

And so, after some light torturing them for a bit, the bandits confessed that they were hired by someone to steal the ODM gears for a good price. They have also told them that they weren't the only bandits, as the other half of the bandits are responsible for taking Athanatos' team gears.

Well, it's kind of useless to try to plunder Athanatos, and everyone here knew it. They felt pity for the bandits on the other side.

With a sigh, Mikasa told the blonde leader about her plan.

"Thomas, you're the captain of the team, you should bring these guys back to the base. Annie and I will meet up with Marco's team, and take things from there."

"...Alright. Be careful there."

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(Eren's POV)

No kind of training that I have ever done... had prepared me for this moment.

I tried to resist, telling everybody we would win... if we worked together.

No one did...

Once I looked over them, I discovered 3 of my teammates were being held hostages, Mina, Connie, and Sasha.

Jean had also tried to run away while I was causing a ruckus, but a bullet nearly claimed his life. It narrowly misses his head, leaving a small trail of blood on his right cheek.

We all stopped at that point. And no one dared to make a move.

It was then that a familiar voice sounded out within the wild.

"Use rocks idiot!"

Is that Thana-kun?

He's also here. But why isn't he helping? I know he has plenty enough of strength to get us out. Does he want me to deal with this by myself?

Regardless of how much doubts I'm casting over myself, I can't let this moment of distraction to go to waste.

Focusing all my body weight into my legs, I made large strides toward the nearest pile of rocks.

It was just about a second when the bandits turned their attention back to me. But it was too late then.

Picking up 3 of the biggest rocks, I began to fire them in rapid succession. It hit three of them right on the hand, knocking them out.

The one I targeted was the man who restrained me earlier, the guy who shot Jean, and the guy who got pushed away by Armin.

Even though that took out 3 bandits, there are still 4 more.

Seeing how dangerous I was, one of the bandits pointed his gun at me.

I could see it. Death was looming at me.

It's impossible to dodge. But I didn't give up.

Everything felt a bit slower. No... my reaction was pushed to its max limit.

My muscles began to scream. It hurts like hell. My bones were making creaking noises as I keep trying to move out of the aim point.

But I was too late.

No matter how fast I am, I am simply a human.

It's impossible to dodge a bullet when the shooter is so closed to you.

This isn't how I wanted my story to end. This isn't supposed to be the end of my journey. I can't accept that it's all over. I refused.

The bullet went straight into my ċhėst.

Ahh... I guess it's over.

How regretful... I still haven't achie...

〚GRAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!!!!!!!〛

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(Mob Leader's POV)

A monster...

It's a monster.

How did it appear here?

No one told me this was going to happen.

If someone told me that I have to fight this thing... not in a million years would I ever accept the request.

What went wrong?

How did it come to this?

How are the hell are supposed to fight a freaking TITAN?

"GYAHH! MONSTERS!!"

"RUN!!"

"HELP!!!"

My men were frantically escaping as far as possible. They knew, there's no chance of winning. But if we get to the horse, there's a chance that some of us will survive.

I have to save my own ȧss, even if it meant leaving people behind.

There are currently four people on the ground, unconscious. 3 of them are my men and one of them is a cadet. I don't really care about my men. They were just a bunch of thugs that I hired. Besides, they aren't good people. And I could care less about that brat on the ground. No one can help him anyway.

No one can.

Hopefully, these four will be able to delay me some time.

I can't afford to die here. I still have a mouth to feed at home.

My daughter needs me.

I have to return.

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(3rd person's POV)

"Not what I had in mind..." Athanatos said, with a thoughtful expression.

He had decided that to increase Eren's chance of survival, Eren will need to become a titan shifter. It was the perfect time to show off how useful Eren is to the government, and that he won't pose a threat to the people. Also, since he had basically all the control within the government, no one can refuse his orders; thus it won't take much to convince them that Eren is a valuable ȧsset.

It's definitely not because he is too slothful to do anything. No. And for sure, Athanatos doesn't want to make Eren do all the work to lessen his workloads. Not at all. He is after all, totally not selfish and is the most compassionate human being in the whole planet.

He's not lazy alright?

It's all to help humanity.

Well, the plan doesn't work as he intended to, though. He had thought that since Eren is quite strong right now, he will be able to withstand the craziness that will manifest once he becomes a titan.

But he was proven wrong.

Instead of the original 15 meters titan that he became in the original timeline, it was now much different. Athanatos had strengthened Eren's connection with Ymir Fritz, even without the use of serum. Basically, she will be able to mold Eren into the most formidable titan ever created.

And the result?

A 22 meters titan.

Its body was steaming like hell as if it was literally on fire. But that was just a minor feature. In general, the body looked mostly the same as Eren's original titan appearance, but there are some drastically adjusted components.

On where his nails are located, it was replaced now with black crystallized claws, that looked like it was tougher than even diamond. The whole thing looks seemingly as if there was nothing it can shred apart.

His knee wasn't like that of a humanoid being anymore. Actually, it wasn't even like any beings known on Earth. It could both be bent back like dinosaur legs, or act like a normal human's kneecaps. In other words, it has an extreme level of flexibility, allowing it to either switch between sprinting with extraordinary mobility, or run with higher stability; both has its own advantages.

His jaw remained but it was evidently sharper, especially on the upper canine teeth, which was even longer than a vampire. It was more akin to what a saber tooth tiger would be like, has it been a human. The razor-sharp jaw appeared to be very dangerous as if it could pierce and rip apart anything.

But besides all of those, Eren now has a significantly more muscular body, with no indication of any body fat. His eyes were much sharper, like a hungry predator that couldn't wait to tear everything apart. His pointy elf-like ear was a bit longer and wider, giving him a much better hearing. All in all, his acute senses were all now enhanced to its limit, way beyond what a normal titan can even dream of.

Inside the body though, was something much more complex. There were no more useless digestive organs that do absolutely nothing but being useless weights. It was now all pure muscles, designed to be able to exert larger forces or absorb bigger impacts. It was as if the body was supposedly sculpted by the gods.

And where the nape is supposed to be, Eren was no longer there. He now resides within the heart, eliminating titans' biggest weakness. Now, unless someone managed to get all the way into his heart, he will be a nearly unkillable titan.

A true mindless slaughter machine.

"Yare, yare. It seems that someone is too much of an M to want to be beaten in broad daylight. Why do you got to do this to me Eren? I have stressed this important fact countless times before. I AM NOT AN S. Stop making me beating you, It's not funny. Stop influencing my girlfriends the wrong way. Otherwise, I might have to castrate you to match your titan appearance."

〚GRRRR!〛

"Bitch, plz."

〚GRHAAAA!!〛

"Ok then... let's start the beating session #419. Entertain me a little will you?"