But Hannes didn't dare slow his steps. Gritting his teeth, he forced himself to keep running, dragging Eren and Mikasa with him at full speed.
That's when Eren suddenly snapped back to his senses. "We have to go back! We have to save Mom! She's safe now!"
Eren's words sent Hannes into a storm of hesitation again.
Should he abandon Carla completely — or go back while there was still a chance?
"Uncle Hannes! The three of us can do it! We can save her—please!"
Eren's voice was desperate, clinging to the shred of hope that had appeared before them.
And at that moment, a single roar from Eto echoed across the district, drawing the attention of dozens of Pure Titans nearby.
Seeing this, Hannes wavered.
Now or never. Maybe this really was their best chance. He just couldn't bring himself to abandon Carla.
He set Eren and Mikasa down, preparing to turn back—and that's when he saw a tall, unfamiliar figure suddenly appear near where Carla was trapped.
Who was that?
Hannes froze, his gut instinct raising every alarm.
"That place is dangerous! Get away from there!" he shouted.
But the person didn't even acknowledge his voice. Instead, they casually approached Carla, and with one hand, they lifted the massive wooden beam pinning her down—then even shifted the rubble stacked on top of it like it weighed nothing.
Eren, Mikasa, and Hannes all stood frozen.
Especially Eren and Mikasa. The two of them had just spent every ounce of strength trying to move those beams—and this guy had just picked them up like twigs?
Even Hannes felt a chill run through him. That kind of strength… no normal human should be capable of that.
Byakuya carefully cleared the wreckage off of Carla, moving with surprising gentleness for someone so overwhelmingly strong. He took care not to injure her any further.
Of course, if he really wanted, Byakuya could've used his kamui ability and saved Carla instantly, even transferring the intangibility to her—but that kind of power was too flashy. Too hard to explain. Right now, subtlety was key to the plans he had in motion.
Carla looked up at the white-haired young man in shock, momentarily forgetting the pain in her crushed leg.
She didn't recognize him. And more than that, his strength had left her speechless.
"...Who are you?" she asked, stunned.
Byakuya didn't answer. He simply helped her sit up, then inspected her injured leg.
It wasn't as bad as it looked—no fracture, just severe bruising. She wouldn't be walking properly any time soon, but with treatment, she'd recover.
Just then, Eren and Mikasa ran over.
"Mom!"
Eren threw his arms around her, tears streaming down his face.
"You're still here?" Carla scolded them with a trembling voice, tears of her own falling freely now—though even she didn't know if they were from relief, grief, or both.
She had wanted them to save her, yes—but more than anything, she wanted them to survive.
Eren ignored the scolding. He grabbed her arm, determined. "Mikasa, help me lift her—let's get out of here!"
Mikasa nodded silently, moving to support Carla's right side while Eren took the left.
"That's too risky!" Hannes interrupted. "Let me carry her!"
It was the better plan. Hannes had the stamina, and Eren and Mikasa were strong enough to keep up with him.
Just before they set off, Eren turned to Byakuya. "Thank you, big brother… please, stay safe!"
"I will" Byakuya replied calmly.
Mikasa also gave him a small nod of thanks. "Let's go, Eren. We can't waste time."
With that, the group began to retreat toward Wall Maria.
The Shiganshina District, where all of this had taken place, was a protruding sector on the southern edge of Wall Maria.
As long as Wall Maria held, humanity would retain over 95% of its territory.
Byakuya watched them go, waiting until he was sure they were safe before moving again.
Behind him, the sound of steam hissed from the ground.
The Titan—Dina—was regenerating.
Byakuya approached her fallen form, then without a word, warped her into his Kamui dimension, locking her away in a pocket dimension.
Then, he teleported to the top of the 50-meter wall, using his sharingan to scout the terrain beyond.
He was looking for a place to contain Dina — a remote prison where she couldn't cause any more damage. Somewhere safe, until the time came when she might be needed again.
Before long, he spotted a deep crater and instantly warped to it. There, he released Dina's Titan body into the pit and sealed the space around it with a genjutsu lock.
He remembered her name, of course—Dina Fritz.
But in this world, people would come to know her more infamously by the Smiling Titan.
In the original timeline, Dina had devoured Eren's mother. It was one of the most traumatic events in his life.
But Dina was a tragic figure in her own right…
"Now that you're a Titan" Byakuya muttered, staring down at her from the rim of the pit, "you won't feel loneliness anymore. So just stay here for a while."
He turned his back and completely ignored the dozens of Pure Titans now closing in on him.
Then, with a flicker of distortion, he vanished—returning instantly to Aeto's side.
By now, Eto had already wiped out a large number of Pure Titans.
To her, the Titans' so-called "armor" was barely harder than human flesh. Her kagune tore through them like they were made of paper.
She'd even taken a curious bite out of one, testing the flesh. It tasted vaguely human—but that was where the similarity ended.
To her surprise, it didn't give her any RC cell response at all.
Not even a flicker.
For someone like her, who could instinctively sense RC cell fluctuations, the complete absence was unsettling. These Titans were massive, living weapons—but biologically, they were utterly hollow.
Whatever they were made of, it wasn't human. Not in the way that mattered.
Soon, she had cleared the entire area. But more Titans were pouring through the massive breach in the wall.
Byakuya reappeared on her shoulder, standing atop her hulking Kakuja form.
"All the survivors are evacuating now. The Yeager family is safe. Leave the rest of the Titans to me."
Eto retracted her kagune with a deep breath.
"I also confirmed something. Eating these Pure Titans? Completely useless. No RC cells at all."
"Figured," Byakuya said, nodding. "This world runs on a different kind of monster biology."
It made sense. Whatever system had dropped them into this reality clearly hadn't bothered integrating every aspect of their powers. Ghouls had RC cells. Titans were something else entirely—anomalies without essence.