"Rumble!" A deafening roar reverberated across the world. The Rumbling continued.
In the capital of the Suros Alliance, Skayev received word that every soldier on the front lines had been wiped out.
Ten million soldiers had killed at least eight hundred thousand Colossal Titans, but it had made no difference. Once their ammunition ran out, the soldiers had routed along the entire front, only to be trampled into pulp by the endlessly advancing Colossal Titans.
The workers he had forbidden from leaving their factories for even a moment worked overtime to produce guns, artillery, and ammunition. But in the face of this sudden catastrophe, time was not on their side. Countless munitions factories had already been obliterated by the Rumbling.
Skayev stood atop the palace that had once belonged to the tsar, whose rule he had overthrown at the head of workers and rebel soldiers. Watching the enormous clouds of dust rolling toward him in the distance, he was overwhelmed by conflicting emotions. For the first time, he began to question the meaning of war.
"Perhaps from the first time a human swung a blade, from the first bullet fired, the flames of war were destined never to burn out. At last, they have spread over the heads of all humanity..." Skayev lit a cigar as he reflected.
He had ordered the entire palace doused in gasoline. This architectural treasure, built by the Suros people and a symbol of their nation, was not something he wanted crushed beneath the Titans' feet. He chose to burn with the palace until the very end.
The cigar fell to the ground. Sparks flared and swiftly spread around Skayev's feet. In an instant, flames erupted. Moments later, the entire palace was engulfed in a raging blaze, transformed into a magnificent "Flame Palace." For the