"No... please! I do not want to become a devil!"
"Waaah..."
"Just shoot me!"
"I curse you! May you all die horribly!"
The Eldians, bound and kneeling on the ground, either screamed, cried, or cursed viciously, but no matter their reaction, it was all just a way to vent their overwhelming fear.
"Hehe, what more could you want? You will be reunited with your brethren soon enough,"
the captain said, picking up a syringe and a vial of spinal fluid from the box. He drew the fluid in and injected it into the neck vein of an Eldian, then kicked him in the back, sending him tumbling off the high platform.
"Ah!"
The falling Eldian screamed, but before he could hit the ground, his body suddenly underwent a violent transformation. Large amounts of steam hissed out, and in an instant, his body changed from human to titan.
"Thump!"
The titan's body slammed onto the ground, stirring up a thick cloud of dust. It crawled up clumsily from the ground, looked around blankly, and then, as if catching the scent of the people standing above, immediately began moving towards the platform.
However, its height was far from reaching it, so it could only stretch out its hands, grabbing the edge of the platform and looking up with a hollow, yearning gaze.
"This is a devil!"
Several Marleyan soldiers who were witnessing the transformation for the first time were terrified, but that fear quickly turned into contempt and disdain.
"A mindless monster."
The other Eldians kneeling nearby, having witnessed the entire process, finally reached the verge of collapse. Some screamed wildly and struggled with all their strength. A few even tried to throw themselves off the platform. Even if there was only sand below, they would rather gamble on death than be turned into such abominations.
Seeing the chaos, the captain frowned and barked at the soldiers,
"Hold them down! Do not let them fall!"
"Yes, sir!"
The soldiers rushed to restrain them, but one new recruit hesitantly asked,
"Captain, would it not be easier if we just pushed them down and let the titans eat them? We could even save spinal fluid. I heard that stuff is expensive."
"You idiot!"
The captain glared fiercely at the soldier and growled,
"These titans are not meant to just kill people. They are used to maintain the threat against the devils on the island. If it was only about killing, we would have just shot them at the internment camp. Why do you think we brought them all the way here?"
"Uh, yes sir!"
The recruit quickly straightened up, understanding the bigger picture.
Indeed, turning these Eldians into titans was not about eliminating them. It was about creating an endless source of terror and pressure. If the titans were ever wiped out and the island lost its external threat, things would become complicated. The Marleyans needed the titans to maintain control. Without that constant terror, it would be hard to manage even their own people.
"Enough. Their noise is giving me a headache," the captain waved his hand impatiently.
"Inject the rest and kick them down. Then get back to the ship and get some sleep."
"Yes, sir!"
The soldiers systematically injected the remaining Eldians and kicked them off the platform. One after another, titans rose from the ground, reaching up with longing hands, their blank eyes locked on the platform above.
"Move out."
The captain led the soldiers back toward the ship. As they entered the cabin, a heavy smell hit their noses.
"Did you guys smell that?"
"It smells like..."
"Blood?"
Before they could fully process the realization, the sudden roar of gunfire erupted behind them.
"Da da da da da da da da!"
"Puff puff puff puff puff puff puff!"
The bullets tore through the air. The soldiers, caught completely off guard, had no time to react. They had treated this entire trip like a leisurely duty. Complacent, unarmored, defenseless. Now they were being cut down mercilessly.
The captain and his men, all eight of them, collapsed one after another under the barrage. Some died instantly. Others writhed and bled out on the floor, moments away from death.
"Ugh... ughh..."
The few who clung to life groaned miserably. One of them struggled to lift his head toward the shooter. When he saw who it was, his bloodshot eyes widened in horror.
"You... you..." he gasped, raising a trembling finger at the teenager emerging from behind the door. His face twisted into a ghostly mask of disbelief.
"You... were not you dead..."
"Ah, I did die once,"
Rayan said quietly.
The soldier who spoke was the same one who had shot him earlier. One of those who had gleefully overseen the transformation of Eldians into titans. He had gotten what he wished for. But what was happening now was beyond anything he had ever imagined.
"Devil... you are a devil..."
"Yes, a devil,"
Rayan said as he grabbed the bleeding soldier by the collar and began dragging him toward the door.
The soldier's arms and legs had been shredded by bullets. He could not resist. Most of the others were already dead. The rest could only twitch weakly, awaiting their end. They had all treated this mission like a holiday cruise. Now they were paying the price.
Dragging the broken soldier outside, Rayan returned to the high platform. Below them, the newly transformed titans still loitered. Mindless. Waiting.
"D-devil! What are you going to do?"
the soldier stammered in terror, sensing the inevitable doom.
"No! Do not! Please, please!"
"You sowed the wind. Now you will reap the whirlwind,"
Rayan said coldly.
Without hesitation, he kicked the soldier off the platform in the same callous way the Marleyans had done to the Eldians.
The soldier hit the sand below with a thud, surviving the fall. But surviving was the worst thing that could have happened to him.
"Aaaaaah! No, stay away! Stay away!"
The soldier screamed with all his strength as the titans approached, his voice breaking into desperate sobs. It did not matter. One titan grabbed him. Another tore him in half. His body was ripped apart, fed into multiple mouths like scraps.
Rayan stood silently above, watching.
Even though he had achieved vengeance, the satisfaction he had expected did not last. It was fleeting. Quickly replaced by a deep, overwhelming disgust.
These creatures had once been human. Victims themselves. But now they were nothing but monsters. Enemies of humanity.
"..."
Rayan exhaled slowly.
But then, a sudden thought froze him in place.
"Wait... how am I supposed to cross a plain full of titans... to get inside the walls?!"
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