### Chapter 11: Accusation

Faced with the protagonist's outburst, Kiba's response was simple.

Bang!

With one punch, he knocked Eren to the ground.

This action immediately caused a stir among the onlookers, but Commander Pixis calmly waved his hand, signaling everyone to stay put and observe.

"Put away your pathetic weakness. Do you really think I'd risk a court-martial to falsely accuse my comrades?"

With just a few words, he left Eren speechless.

Eren didn't know Jason well, but the guy didn't seem like the type to make false accusations. What would he gain from that?

"No, that's not right." Eren shook his head vigorously, almost getting caught up in Kiba's logic.

The issue wasn't about false accusations; it was about why those three would have killed Marco.

If Kiba couldn't provide a clear motive, then there was a serious problem with his story.

As if reading his thoughts, Kiba's tone suddenly became serious. He crouched down and stared intensely at the protagonist. "Eren, you've encountered the Colossal Titan more than once, right? Haven't you ever wondered about the way it appears?"

"W-what are you trying to say?"

"That strange golden lightning and the ability to vanish suddenly—aren't those exactly like your Titan transformation?"

The implication was clear: the Colossal Titan was also a human who transformed.

Many present had already entertained similar thoughts, so they weren't too shocked. However, a few sharp-minded individuals, like Commander Pixis sitting in his chair, had already begun to guess what Kiba was about to reveal.

"Hey, kid," Levi stepped forward, his calm eyes concealing a storm beneath. "You're not saying..."

"That's right," Kiba nodded affirmatively, each word he spoke further fraying the nerves of those around him. "I overheard their conversation from afar and confirmed that Bertolt is the Colossal Titan and Reiner is the Armored Titan."

Eren, lying on the ground, was so shocked that his mind seemed to freeze, leaving him staring blankly at Kiba, unable to speak.

"I was about to leave when I noticed Marco had overheard their conversation and admitted to it."

"Then Reiner and Bertolt attacked Marco, and finally, the recruit Annie arrived and removed his gear, leaving him at the mercy of a Titan."

With those words, the room fell into a dead silence. No one had expected that there was a third Titan hidden among the recruits.

"Come to think of it, those three did seem to be from the same hometown," a man who appeared to be an instructor hesitantly spoke up, adding fuel to the fire.

The three had arrived together, and with two of them revealed as traitors, the last one couldn't possibly be innocent.

Even without hearing it firsthand, they had to treat her as a Titan.

The expressions on everyone's faces showed their grim satisfaction. After enduring so much hardship, they had finally identified several Titans. Now, all that was left was to plan their capture.

However, things would not end so easily.

"It's impossible!" Eren couldn't hold back when he heard that Annie was also a suspect. He jumped up, reaching to grab Jason by the collar.

The girl who taught him hand-to-hand combat, the one who always pretended to be a lady despite being a violent maniac—Eren could sense the soft heart hidden beneath her cold exterior. He felt it, even if he couldn't explain why.

Marco's death could be set aside for now. What Eren couldn't accept was Jason's malicious accusation against Annie.

Eren's sudden outburst was unexpected, and Levi instinctively raised his right leg, ready to kick him away. He didn't trust the boy much yet—kicking him, or even drawing his blade if necessary, wouldn't trouble him in the slightest.

But this time, Levi was a split second too slow. Just as he lifted his leg, Jason had already drawn his blade and pressed it against Eren's neck.

"Better understand your position," Jason warned, his blade sharp against Eren's skin. Eren's defiance waned, though his eyes still burned with anger.

Seeing this, Kiba suddenly broke into a broad smile, though it held no warmth—only unmasked malice.

"You're even more naïve than I thought. Do you really know who you're defending?"

"Bertolt is the Colossal Titan, which means it was his hand that destroyed Shiganshina. If I'm not mistaken, that's your hometown, isn't it?"

Eren, who had been struggling, froze on the spot. The image of the Colossal Titan kicking down the wall flashed through his mind, followed by the terrifying memory of his mother being devoured by a Titan.

"That... that person really is..."

"Whether it's true or not, we'll find out soon," Kiba said, turning his gaze to a woman with a manic gleam in her eyes.

Hange Zoë, one of the squad leaders in the Survey Corps, was a well-known mad scientist. Many of the latest findings in Titan research were thanks to her work. Having finally captured two Titans, she was eager to study them herself, hoping to uncover the truth hidden within them.

"To prevent their secrets from being exposed, I'm certain those three will make a move—like secretly killing the two captured Titans."

In fact, that very night, Reiner and Annie would take action, fearing that Hange might discover the truth about the mindless Titans. Reiner also wanted to test Annie's loyalty to Marley.

During Marco's death, Annie had shown great reluctance to kill him, so she needed to prove her allegiance through her actions.

Of the three, Bertolt was the only one who hadn't been involved in the night's events, but Kiba had no intention of letting him off the hook.

If Kiba could sever Bertolt's spinal nerve with a single cut, he would lose his ability to transform. It wasn't that difficult, really.

The key was to locate the nerve along the center of the neck, cutting along the posterior root of the spinal nerve. In simpler terms, a single stab to the neck would likely be enough to kill a Marleyan warrior in their human form.

Aside from that, no amount of severed limbs would kill them—instead, it would only accelerate their Titan transformation.

For other rookie Reincarnators, even if they were fortunate enough to overhear the trio's conversation, they would likely meet their end during the mission. The odds of survival were slim—at least a seventy percent chance of death—otherwise, the system wouldn't have issued such a severe warning.

"To complete this mission is rare enough, but to single-handedly kill Bertolt would be a remarkable feat."

Given his past mission experiences, Kiba knew that the rewards he would receive were closely tied to his performance during the mission.

If he could take down the Colossal Titan on his own, the rewards would be extraordinary.

It was worth the risk.

Over the next half hour, Commander Pixis began assigning specific tasks. Considering Jason's background in the 104th Cadet Corps, he agreed to Jason's special request.

"It's finally about to begin," Kiba thought to himself.

(End of Chapter)