Chapter 15: Chapter 15 - How many road rollers can you lift?
•••••
How many road rollers can you lift?
•••••
The entire city was ravaged to bits.
Like a bunch of kids visiting a toy store, they tumbled and massacred any toy they found. Putting it in their mouths like candies, biting them till their toy's blood ooze out.
Seeing the Titans pouring in without hints of stopping or slowing down, Dio gave up trying to kill them all. Although he could alter his body however he wished, he couldn't get stamina from scratch.
With a livid look on his face, he glanced at the pale woman in his arms. She had large light eyes, long dark hair tied loosely, hanging on her right shoulder with bangs on each side and only a few short hairs kept loose on her forehead.
She stared at the scene with a blank look on her face.
"...My... Home..."
Staring into her once 'house', now turned ruble, the woman's pupils shook. Perhaps she was shocked that all her hard work to build it was gone, or maybe because she had memories she didn't want to forget.
Dio didn't care.
"Let's go."
Putting her on his shoulder, he tensed his legs and leaped into the air.
Although he lost some of his emotions whenever he used serotonin induction, he still had some humanity in him.
After the survivors he saved successfully evacuated into the next wall, one of his devout followers asked him to save his mom.
That devout follower was the boy named Eren.
"..."
Dio still felt uncomfortable knowing that there are some people out there who would do anything just to follow him.
Even forgetting his own mom amidst the chaos.
'Weird kid, I should avoid him in the future.'
Arriving in front of the gate, he dropped the frozen woman off. She stared at him for a few seconds, biting her lips, and tears welled in her eyes.
"T, thank you..." She whispered under her breath.
Dio tilted his head in response.
"What for?"
"For saving me..."
Faced with the older woman's sincere gratitude, Dio felt stifled.
He wore a confused expression before giving her a nod.
"Okay."
Although he didn't really feel anything by saving her, since she seemed earnest in thanking him, he accepted her gratitude simply.
As he was about to walk away, he stopped. Without bothering to look back, he said. "If you're really thankful for me... then try to take care of your kid better."
"?"
Dio didn't bother to explain as he blasted off into the sky, a golden trail following behind him like a ghost.
•••••
High above the wall of Shiganshina District, Dio gazed at the horizon with his arms crossed.
In his 'adult' form, he could feel his muscles tightening and spasming, signifying the lack of blood in keeping the form. If he wanted to keep his form longer, he needed to drink someone's blood to rejuvenate his lost energy.
'Could I just drink my own blood instead? Like an infinite source of food... Recycling?' he randomly thought before crossing it out due to how gross it sounded.
'It's like I'm drinking my own piss... useful, but gross.'
He subconsciously smiled a little. He found that even though some of his emotions are suppressed, he could still think weird stuff in his head.
Turning his head, he glanced at the boat sailing away. Some of the kids waved their hands at him, naturally Eren at the lead, and some of the old men kneeled on the ground and began praying.
He cringed.
"Did I start a cult or something?"
He suddenly remembered his words when he greeted them.
'Hear me. Oh, pitiful humans.'
He only said that because he didn't know how to interact with them. If he ordered them so suddenly, then they might not listen, so he used the most effective method there is.
Act like a God and talk in a holier-than-thou attitude.
And it worked.
Although it had a very different effect than intended, at least it worked, right?
"Lord Dio..."
Still, with his stone-cold face, Dio mumbled absentmindedly.
"Not bad."
He doesn't mind being worshipped as a God.
"That's not bad at all."
As long as it benefitted him, then he doesn't mind.
Please with himself, he smiled stiffly.
Booom-!
Only for it to vanish the second it appeared.
Furrowing his brows, he walked near the edge of the wall and looked below.
"...Huh?"
Perhaps he was hallucinating, so he rubbed his eyes.
"The fuck?"
Even with his serotonin induction on, he couldn't help but curse.
"ROOOOAAAAR!!!"
If it was a normal Titan, then he wouldn't be so surprised. After all, he could take care of them with ease.
"Goddammit."
But this time, it wasn't a normal Titan.
It was a Titan that had white hair and hardened plating covering its entire body. With its muscle bulging firmly, its foot shattered the ground, dashing from the hole the Colossal Titan made towards the closed gate.
It was the Armored Titan.
•••••
Crouching on the ground, Dio's powers activated.
"Now then, shall we dance?"
His entire body released a white haze, shrouding his figure. Like a boiling lobster, his entire skin turned red. Muscles and veins popped and reformed, showing how overpowered his bodily master is, Dio's entire body burned with strength.
As the seconds passed by in his crouching position, Dio could feel all the fat in his body burning by the second. By the time the Armored Titan reached half of Shiganshina, Dio's body sprang up in the sky.
With his blonde hair fluttering from the intense wind, a soft smile blossomed on his face.
Closing his eyes, he muttered:
"The world."
Still floating in the sky, Dio summoned his stand, a golden figure hovered behind him. Like a guardian protecting its master, The World reflexively did a pose with Dio mid-air.
With his body angling down, Dio's arms were spread wide apart. As if the whole world was his to conquer, a domineering sneer was plastered on his face.
"Time..."
As he whispered the words, his body naturally glided down in a smooth motion. With his back facing the ground, Dio raised his hand, seemingly offering it to the golden spirit.
The World reciprocated. Stretching its golden fingers, the stand held Dio's hand carefully as if it was the most fragile being in the universe. [1]
"Stop!"
The world remained still. With the only exception of Dio himself, and his stand.
Staring into each other's cold and emotionless eyes, they both gripped each other's hands tightly.
As if they had practiced it a million times, The World turned its body abruptly, twisting its waist so fast that it looked like it just turned around casually.
Dio relaxed all his muscles, and let his body get dragged along the momentum. Reaching the turning point in their technique, Dio glared at the motionless Titan beneath.
With his entire body bent sideways, Dio's red pupils flickered.
The whole world was gray, there was no sensation, no air, no gravity, only him and his stand alone exist.
Before he was hurled by his stand in unimaginable speed that transcends time and space itself, a random thought passed through his head.
Gritting his teeth, he yelled.
"Time Cannon!"
It was the shittiest name he came up with in his entire life.
Woosh-!
A second passed.
Dio's figure vanished from the sky.
"-Moootheeerfuuucker!!"
He appeared 10 meters above the Armored Titan's head.
"..."
"..."
Both of their eyes met.
The Armored Titan, still in his running position.
And Dio, who was covering his face from the raging wind pressure, threatening to tear his body apart.
The two of them, who didn't know what was about to happen, just stared at each other's faces in a trance.
Soon, that trance was broken when The World's foot reached the Armored Titan's forehead.
BANG!
A resounding crash echoed.
Like a falling satellite crashing on an unassuming house, half of the Armored Titan's face was lopped off. His jaw and skull were shattered from the impact.
The Armored Titan stood still on the spot.
He shakily brought his hand to his face, if it had the features of a normal human, then it would probably have the expression Dio had right now.
Disbelief.
That's right. Dio's expression was morphed into one of disbelief.
Looking at his bent and inverted leg, Dio's brows wiggled in pain.
His whole body felt numb as if he was bathed in cement.
His stomach wanted to churn out its contents, but he forced it down.
'Even with my pain receptors off... this hurts like shit!'
He saw his pale white hands. Proof of his lack of blood.
They were trembling.
A foreboding feeling came to him. Slowly, he turned around.
"Ah."
A surprised gasped escaped his bloody lips.
There stood the Armored Titan, huffing and puffing steam out of his mouth. Its arms trembled in apprehension as it held its face unsteadily.
"I'm fucked."
[AoT Opening - My War]
As if it was waiting for this moment, the system provided him suitable background music.
The sound of a drum beating reverberated in his ears.
Suddenly, the ground shook. Stomping hard on the floor, the Armored Titan's shoulders shook as it aimed a deadly glare at him.
[La-La-La-La...]
An ensemble of singers sang in his mind. Like a choir created only for this moment, it created a symphony that rattled his brain.
[Ba-ba-ri-as-ras-ti-ti-ti-ras-ti-ti]
As the Armored Titan loomed closer in his position, Dio's eyes darkened.
[Ba-ba-ri-as-ras-ti-ti-ti-ras-ti-ti]
Even with his calm and composed mind, he couldn't think of a way out.
Boom! Boom! Boom!
The sounds of the Armored Titan's heavy footsteps synchronized with the annoying song in his head, forcing him to ball his fists in frustration.
[Let's start a new life from the darkness]
"ROoooaaaAAAARR!!!"
Hearing the Armored Titan's roar, something snapped within Dio.
"The World..."
Out of desperation, he summoned his stand.
Reflexively, despite being injured, Dio managed to do a pose with it.
With a hand brushing against his chest, The World placed its head on Dio's shoulder. Like a child asking for permission, it boreholes at the Armored Titan's neck.
Can I kill it?
It silently asked.
"You can."
Receiving his master's permission, The World picked Dio from the ground and placed him on his elbow.
Holding onto The World's arm, Dio snarled at The Armored Titan.
"Go! Kill him!"
Mimicking their actions earlier, The World spun Dio in a counterclockwise motion, before launching him.
The wind felt like blades scraping against his skin.
But even so, Dio greeted it with open arms.
His open blazer flapped uncontrollably, trying to resist the wind pressure.
Try as it might, it was only a single piece of cloth. It couldn't win against the force of nature.
Suddenly, the unruly breeze stopped.
As if there was no wind in the first place, Dio's entire body passed through smoothly, like a fish in a pond, he 'flowed' across the air and arrived in front of the Armored Titan.
The Armored Titan didn't even manage to stop before Dio's elbow crashed on his neck.
Snap!
Dio, who was expecting the Armored Titan to be decapitated, was stunned.
Instead of the Armored Titan's neck snapping apart, it was his arm instead.
"Euh?"
Staring blankly into his arm, he forced a laugh out of his mouth.
"Hah! What the hell?"
Before he could retreat, the Armored Titan grabbed him.
Gripping him in its thick hands, it brought him in front of its face.
Faced with the giant's eyes that were filled with silent fury, Dio arrogantly tilted his head backward.
Before the Titan could squeeze him to death, Dio calmly asked.
"Hey."
The World grabbed the Armored Titans cheek and cocked its fist.
"How many road rollers can you lift?"
•••••
[Author's Notes]
Dio's strength is twice of a normal person.
The World is vastly weaker than a Titan.
Besides his sure kill move, Dio has no devastating attack.
The only blood he had ever drink is from Shuka, therefor his strength his limited.
[1] Michelangelo's 'The Creation of Adam'.
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