To Be The Strongest - Chapter 90

While the female titan was surrounded by black flames, she looked at the flames as if they were no obstacle for her at all. Making her way to the flame, she suddenly stopped in her tracks as she saw a smaller titan trying to run through it, only to be turned into ashes after walking into it.

“Don’t bother trying. Oh, wait. Do try. I want to see if you crystal skin protects you.”

Akane jovially waves at the female titan to try, which she didn’t as her eyes were now fixed on Akane.

“Now I’m sure there is someone inside of you.”

Akane laughed as she brandished her sword. She would definitely peel the one inside of it out. She was curious to see who was inside of it.

Being stared at like that, the female titan just took a stance as she waited for her enemy to move. Yet the one who took action were neither of them, as Shinobu had expertly hidden herself and appeared near the female titans legs.

A quick stab to both of the Achilles heel proved effective, as black spots appeared and slowly began to make their way up.

“Oh, so this is how it works on titans! Interesting~”

Shinobu nodded as she watched the black spots spread. The female titans legs soon lost their strength as the black spots had reached her knees. Her feet had already begun to slowly rot and fall off.

“You see, this poison atrophies the muscles, making them die off within seconds. See, it is still spreading. I wonder how long it takes to reach your neck~”

Shinobu was humming in delight as she began to take notes again.

At this point the female titan showed the first real emotion, a slight hint of nervousness.

Opening her mouth, the female titan screamed out loud, her voice echooing loudly through the grasslands they were on.

Akane could feel something pop, the sound disappearing at the same time. Reaching up to her fox ears, she felt a wetness taint her fingers. Looking at it, blood was covering her fingers.

‘Ah, I popped my eardrums’

Not bothering with it, Akane looked up only to see a massive crowd of frenzied titans coming towards her, jumping into the black flames as if their existence didn’t matter. One by one they turned to ash, the number of titans crowding the black ring of fire not decreasing at all.

The female titan looked on in triumph as she saw the black flames begin to flicker under the constant ȧssault of titans. At this point the black spots had reached her ċhėst, her lower body having already rotted away.

“Let’s do some peeling then~”

Shinobu happily chuckled, not in the least bit worried.

Stepping up to the female titans neck, which was unprotected by the arms, Shinobu blackened her sword with armament haki. It was a weak version, but it would do its job.

Cutting into the neck, having hit right around the part the female titan crystalized, Shinobu began to cut away. The wounds weren’t regenerating as pieces of crystalized titan flesh began to fall off without any difficulty.

Revealed underneath it was a blonde woman, her head and arms still densely covered by the muscles of the female titan she controlled.

Not bothered in the least, Shinobu cut the muscles off, making the blonde woman fall from the titans neck. Grabbing the arm of the falling woman, Shinobu glanced at her.

Blinking slowly, bȧrėly conscious, the owner of the female titan completely lost conciousness.

The corpse of the female titan soon evaporated, leaving only a skeleton behind that emitted steam. Before long that too would likely vanish.

Recognising the voices she heard, Shinobu happily called out to them.

“Ban~ Soren~ Lafitte~”

A shout was heard in reply, though it sounded more like laughter as the sounds of battle increased and had soon stopped comepletely.

Akane let the flames simmer out, revealing her three companions covered in evaporating titan blood.

“Oh, Shinobu! Seems you had fun too!”

Ban yelled, letting Courechouse rest on his shoulder.

“Of course I did. Though I must say the healing properties of your blood do work wonders.”

Shinobu said as she pointed to her blood crusted ears.

“Good to know!”

Soren did much the same, while Lafitte stepped towards Shinobu, observing the woman at her feet.

“The owner of a titan?”

“Oh my, how did you know~”

Shinobu jokingly replied as she looked over the woman’s unconscious body. Taking any items that seemed strange or self harming, Shinobu let the rest to Lafitte, who knew exactly what his task would be.

Tying the woman up tightly, Lafitte looked at Ban meaningfully, who only sighed in reply as he stepped up and cut open his arm, letting blood flow freely and enter the woman’s mouth. With this, she would be up any moment.

Sitting back down besides Akane, placing her on his ŀȧp as he helped her with her damaged ears, they waited for the woman to wake up.

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Opening her eyes, the woman was met with Lafitte’s bloodless face, his eyes staring deep at hers. Her mouth had been filled with a cloth, making her unable to inflict any self harm upon herself that would trigger her titan transformation.

Which was another thing they had learned from Eren. One requirement for transforming was supposedly a wound. Something the woman in front of them was clear of.

Letting Lafitte do his job, the rest waited for him to work his magic.

“Now that it is done, let’s ask some questions shall we?”

Lafitte removed the cloth propped into the womans mouth. Making no sudden movements at all, she just looked at Lafitte.

“First question. What is your name and your affiliation?”

The woman opened her mouth and began to speak truthfully.

“Annie Leonhart. I am a warrior of the land of Marley.”

Lafitte nodded.

“And what is your purpose in coming here and attacking this island?”

“We are ordered… to retrieve the Founding titan. It has the power to control other titans.”

Sweat was slowly forming on her face as she seemed to fight the hypnoses.

“Then last question… for now. Who is the founding titan?”

Annie remained quiet for a moment, slowly opening her mouth as the words spilled out without her wanting to.

“Eren Yeager.”