Chapter 24: A Psychopath

The time to begin the expedition had finally come. The scouts were all gathered at the Karanes district gate, a mix of determined and nervous expression on their faces.

"Thirty seconds until we open the gate!" A garrison soldier announced as the participating soldiers steeled themselves in preparation.

"It's time!" A section commander announced to the recruits behind him. "Humanity will take another step forward! Show me what you can do!"

The scouts let out determined shouts as the gate rose in front of them.

"Advance!" Erwin announced, loud enough for all of them to hear as the horses took the sign to begin running forward, exiting through the gate. "We will now begin the 57th expedition beyond the walls! Onward!"

As they rode the horses, they were at alert, keeping watch of their surroundings as they moved forward.

It only took a few minutes for them to reach and exit the old city district but they had yet to see titans. Due to that, tension was high with the soldiers expecting a sudden attack with every building they passed until they left the district.

"Go into long range scouting formation!" Erwin, who rode at the front, furrowed his brow as he gave the order. He'd expected them to encounter at least one titan in the area but they moved without impediment.

'What's going on?' He wondered.

-[Liam]-

He was almost bored as he along with the Levi squad took their position in the formation. They were in the center towards the last line.

He turned to his side to see Annie, her expression as apathetic as usual. After she was revealed as the female titan, she was put in the squad just like Eren.

Whereas Levi was there in case Eren acted up, Liam was there in case Annie did the same. Though the chances of that happening were unlikely, it served to relax many of the other soldiers that someone was there to deal with the two in the worst case scenario.

His eye caught a green flare in the distance, causing him to raise a brow.

He'd cleared most of the titans but there was always the possibility of other titans moving into the area.

"Green smoke round. Petra, you fire it." Levi ordered from the front as they adjusted accordingly.

-[Forest Of Giant Trees]-

-[?]-

He'd finally managed to make his way to Paradis Island, the island of devils. The higher ups finally agreed with his plan and sent him forward.

With all his meta knowledge, he had done everything he could to keep track of the timeline. The death of Reiner's family was proof that things could change. Bertholdt's dad had also been found dead in his home.

He didn't have time to investigate their deaths but he knew what he had to do. The scouts would lead Annie into this forest to try and capture her. He'd use that opportunity to both capture Eren and save his waifu!

Now it came to one simple problem…Where the hell were they?! He'd been waiting for a few days and he hadn't seen anything other than titans.

'There weren't as many of them as I thought there'd be. Did the show exaggerate the amount or is it just in my head?' He wondered as he sat high up in the trees.

All he could do was wait.

-[Liam]-

With how the events played out so far from converting Annie to his side and stopping the two titans from getting killed to revealing the identities of the other titans in the walls, they wouldn't be making their way to the forest of giant trees like they would have originally done.

This expedition was merely a test run for the actual trip to Shiganshina so they'd probably go half of the distance there before making their way back within the walls.

"You're spacing out again." He turned to see Annie staring at him.

"It's been a few hours since we left. I'm not exactly a fan of horse riding." Liam said with a light glare directed at his horse.

"To think even someone like you can be scared of something." She said in what sounded like confusion.

"Afraid? You've got the wrong idea. I'm not afraid of riding horses, I just don't like the experience." He clarified.

He was almost regretting the fact that he'd culled most of the titans in the area beforehand. Of course, it would reduce the casualty by a large margin but as a result, he was bored.

'Thank goodness I'm just a clone.' Liam thought, almost letting out a sigh. 'The original must be having fun.'

-[Marley]-

-[Liam]-

Standing atop one of the buildings in Marley, the real Liam pondered on something. He would be lying if he said he felt bad about how the Eldians in Marley were treated.

He didn't feel happy about it, neither did he feel bad about it…he didn't know how to describe it. Ever since his reincarnation, he felt free.

Back on earth, people were conditioned to care about people and other things from birth. He was the same, or at least, he tried to be so. He wasn't some anime protagonist who had a tragic backstory.

When he was 13, a kid tried to bully him at school. Keyword being tried. The 'incident' ended up with said bully ending up in the hospital with a broken arm. Safe to say, he was expelled within the hour for 'violent behavior'.

His parents didn't take the news lightly and sent him to live with his uncle as 'punishment'. The so-called punishment lasted a few years after both parents died in a car accident. His uncle was a scientist and his wife was a doctor.

A doctor who was easily able to figure out something both the school and his parents had missed. At 15, he was taken to a hospital to run tests and was diagnosed with AntiSocial Personality Disorder, in less technical terms…psychopathy.

Two years after that, he found himself waking up in what was supposed to be a work of fiction. He didn't have any tragic or dramatic ending, it all just went black.

Liam almost let out a chuckle as he thought back to his previous life. Unlike what most people thought, being a psychopath didn't mean insanity. If anything, his mind was at a constant calmness.

Adding [Gamers Mind] into the fray only further added to the calm. It was why he was able to do what he did. It wasn't some coping mechanisms or disconnect from reality. He was always born like this…a monster from the very beginning.

In his palm was a product of alchemy wrapped with burlap textile and ropes to hold it together. A short and thin rope stuck out of the opening at the top. The whole thing was three times the size of his fist.

'Regardless of how guilty you felt, a king who leaves his people to suffer in captivity and forces the rest to live in fear of extinction is no king. Karl Fritz, the works of your self righteousness and incompetence are about to be undone.' He thought as his finger touched the tip of the thin rope, the rope catching fire immediately.

As the rope burned and shortened, Liam heard a voice shout at him. "Hey! What are you doing on my roof! Get down from there this instant!"

He looked down to see a well dressed man looking up at him in anger. "Let the flames of war begin." Liam said as he dropped the item in his hand, letting it fall to ground level.

Before it hit the ground, he used [Apparition], disappearing in a soft pop, shocking the man. The man had no chance to react as what happened next would be the spark that would mark the beginning of Marley's path to destruction.

*BOOOOOOMMMMMMM!!!!!*

In an instant, a town sized scar was made on the earth of Marley. The explosive culmination of a full week of mixing and a level 73 [Alchemy].

Marley would never be the same again.