Golden light sheathed Gohan's form as he hovered in the air. Green eyes looked over the King and his Titan. He said nothing, only hovering with his aura pouring energy off his body. Gohan's energy was overwhelming. With the King's new ability to sense energy, he was completely aware of just how small he was before Gohan.
And yet, Gohan seemed to be paying him only the barest of attention.
Gohan's mind was elsewhere, sensing every Titan on the island and beyond. His senses were so strong now, that he felt the familiar life of the entire planet. Every human, every Titan, every animal and plant across the entire world. If he focused, he would be able to feel further, reaching out into the stars and onto other planets.
His shackles had been broken. His body freed. Now… now it was time to do what he should have done from his first day arriving on this world.
His hand raised up into the air, a wave of energy rolling across his body and into his palm. A ball of energy quickly took form. With a little push of his strength, blasts of energy rocketed outwards from it, piercing high into the sky and swerving off into the distance. Thousands upon thousands of blasts screamed out from his palm, filling the sky with a blinding light.
Hands worked deftly at Mikasa's stab wound. The medical staff had been working hard to close her wound and keep her from bleeding out. Her eyes were fluttering between consciousness and darkness. She hurt, deeply. But pain was not enough to keep her awake after so much blood had left her body.
She was barely awake, but she was still aware when she felt it. Gohan's power was staggering, and she gasped when she felt it burst free.
Was this the power he had talked of? Was this the strength he'd had before he woke up in their world? It was mind-boggling to feel, so strong and so present in her mind and body. But it wasn't a pressure like she had felt during his Oozaru transformation. That power had been so heavy, so angry, that it had been terrifying. What he was now… it was awe-inspiring.
Even as she continued to bleed, as she felt his radiance she felt comforted. Voices raised in panic as her eyelids drew heavier, and she began to lose the fight with consciousness. As her vision waded away, streaks of golden light filled the sky overhead.
Ymir held Historia tightly as they moved slowly across the open land. Historia was barely awake, Ymir carrying her gently in one of her Titan's hands. The thundering stomps of the distant Titans were growing closer, rising dust clouds spelling their incoming doom. Until a blinding light had appeared in the sky.
Even in her Titan form, she felt a wave washing over her. She could not sense Ki, could not use it, and yet… she felt his presence. A golden beacon of warmth overhead, shining brightly and providing such comfort she could not comprehend it. She could feel his presence, feel the power radiating off of him.
Ymir was not what anyone would call an optimistic person. She was not hopeful, or cheery, save for some private moments with Historia. With the life she had experienced, she was quite the nihilistic person.
But feeling Gohan's power above them, and seeing his glowing aura, she felt a sense of hope.
She came to a halt in awe when he raised his hand up and let loose an unending stream of beams into the sky. She watched as they arced through the air, filling the entire sky with light as they stretched beyond view. She could see them travel far past the point where she could see, Wall Titan forms blocking her view.
At the edges of her vision however, she could just see them begin their descent. Swerving back down towards the Earth.
For the people who lived in Trost, to say that they were gripped by panic was an understatement. Frightened people huddled together, gripping each other tightly for support as they hid in the shadows of the Wall Titans that surrounded them.
For many, they had bore witness to the Titans first breach into the city at a time that had seemed so very recent, and yet so long ago now. With the breach sealed, they had felt safety return again. The investment from Dimo Reeves had seen the districts economy flourish again, and life had returned to a sense of normalcy. Now, as they sat surrounded on all sides by unmoving Titans that had been hiding inside of their walls, all they felt was fear.
Until the lights had appeared overhead.
Some had pointed in fear. Others in wonder. But none had wondered their purpose for long before the beams of light came crashing down.
Beams hit and exploded into the nape of each and every Titan, blowing apart and incinerating the flesh of its neck. Heads came loose, and knees buckled as the Wall Titans died one after another. But the blasts did not end at simply killing each of the creatures. Beams came down and hit every single part of the creatures.
Loose heads that came falling down were hit by more beams and blown from existence. Every bit of debris that could fall and hurt someone was destroyed. From top to bottom the Titans were bombarded by beams that vaporised the flesh, muscle, and bones of the creatures.
The roar was immense. The sounds of explosions and whirling wind had people clutching their ears desperately to protect their hearing. It felt like the attack lasted an eternity, yet after less than a minute the world had gone quiet.
Hesitantly, people began to open their eyes and look around.
They saw open fields, and the ruins of the land beyond their walls. There were no walls now, no limits on what they could see. No Titan was in sight. They could see the far-off horizons, the trees of the forests, the lands which had been untouched for years.
Steadily, people began to race to their rooftops, to the tallest of buildings that they could reach. All of them were greeted with the openness of their lands. The walls of their prison had been lifted, the dangers that kept them trapped were gone. A limitless expanse laid before them, a future of hope and opportunity.
And hovering in the sky above them all was the golden light that they all knew.
They couldn't explain how they knew. For his followers, perhaps it was faith. For the others, perhaps it was simple instinct. But each of them knew, that the Angel of Trost had become so much more. A saviour of all their people.
Gohan didn't drop his arm immediately after he finished his attack. His mind roamed over the island, confirming that every Titan had been killed. Despite his victory, he felt a great wave of sadness washing over him. He could have done this so long ago and saved so many lives, if only he hadn't been so limited.
But he pushed the feelings of guilt away.
He had come to terms with his limits. He had accepted that in spite of all he had once been able to do, he had still done all that he could to help. He had given it his all, and now he would do so much more.
"What… what did you do…?"
The King had sensed what he had done. He had felt the complete incineration of every shred of the Wall Titans. But the King simply could not comprehend it. The man had truly believed that he was a god, that he was the pinnacle of strength and power in this world. But Gohan had known the truth of power, he had seen the true scale it could reach and knew that there was always someone so much more powerful.
In this world, Gohan was now the most powerful.
"The Titans of the walls are dead. Every single one. I made sure to wipe out any debris as well, so now everyone is completely safe. The only dangerous thing left… is you."
The King and his Titan flinched. Gohan felt no satisfaction at the fear in the monster before him, instead he felt only greater anger. For all of his talk about the inevitable and justified murder of his people, the man was a coward at his heart. He floated closer towards the creatures skull, eying the fusion of the King and Frieda.
Frieda was clearly near the end of her existence. Her body was beginning to rapidly decay away and be subsumed by the Kings form. With the Titans dead and gone, with Gohan now powered up to such an unbeatable level, she felt herself relaxing and beginning to finally rest. She had staved off death and destruction long enough. Now, she could leave it to Gohan to handle the rest.
He watched as her eyes closed, her body sagged, and electricity sparked beneath her flesh. Steam billowed away her form, and only the King remained.
"Goodbye Frieda. I wish I could have given you the life you deserved."
In return, he would preserve the world that she had cared for. Even if that world had only really extended to her sister. Lazily, Gohan's eyes drifted over to the King.
"I gave Frieda countless chances to stop fighting. To live. But she couldn't accept them, because of you. Those chances I gave her, I gave you as well. But you've refused them. So many people are dead now because of you and your will." He held up a hand in front of the Kings face.
A flash of light brought forth the energy ball in his hand.
"You're too dangerous to let live, and you've done too much for me to forgive."
The kings' eyes widened, but before he could say anything Gohan let the blast loose. It was an oddly serene death, as Gohan's energy wave didn't explode like a typical attack. Like a great gust of wind, the Ki washed over the King and his Titan, eradicating every fibre of the creatures being.
A pulse of energy pushed against the Titan and its body buckled instantly. Falling apart as the atoms of its form broke away from each other, falling away into nothingness as it was wiped from the world.
There was no explosion beyond the creature, only a gust of wind rolling across the plains as the Titan died.
Gohan's hand fell, and he breathed a sigh as the deed was done. The King and his Titan was dead, as were all of the Titans on the island. The war against the Titans was now over. They had won. His senses told him there was still work to be done however, and he split himself up into four copies with the multiform technique.
Four pillars of golden light shone brightly, before they rocketed away to their individual destinations.
"What happened Petra?"
Petra's eyes were closed, senses focused outwards when she gasped. She felt Gohan's ascension, it was impossible to miss, as well as the moment that he wiped the Titans from existence.
"The war, it's… over."
She smiled, an overwhelming sense of relief filling her body. Mrs Jaeger gasped, a hand coming to her mouth in disbelief as she held tightly onto Hannes.
The followers of Gohan around her were in similar levels of awe. Their white headbands marked each of them as one of his fan club, and they were quick to begin spreading the word. Cries of celebration were beginning to echo when Petra felt the Ki energy and opened her eyes with a bright smile on her face.
Gohan was there in an instant. Flashing before her as his super speed came to an end. His super Saiyan form was just as he had described it, and yet being in its presence was so much more.
"Petra… are you okay?"
She laughed, struggling to form words before an emotional dam inside of her failed. Laughter turned into sobs as she forced herself to stand and throw herself into his arms. He was warm and soft, gentle and comforting. He held her carefully, stroking her hair as she calmed herself.
"I thought I was going to die that day. I didn't think…"
"I know. I thought you might have… I'm so happy you're safe. All of you."
Gohan looked over at Mrs Jaeger and Hannes, the two of them still in awe as they beheld him.
"Gohan… you're golden."
He laughed, wincing as he felt the pain in his ribs.
"Yeah, I managed to get my power back. Ow."
Petra's hands roamed over his wounds, muttering an apology as she inspected him.
"Gohan, how are you still standing? These wounds are… are you going to be okay?"
His warm smile faltered, and he briefly let his pain show through.
"I'll live. When I power down it's going to feel a lot worse. Sorry about that."
The apology was instinctual, but obviously unnecessary. Carla frowned at him before waving him to come closer. As he did so, she reached out and pulled him into a tight hug.
"Thank you… for everything." Another thought tickled at her mind. "Eren and Mikasa, are they…?"
"Don't worry, I'm looking after them now."
Confused eyes looked up at him, only to meet his warm and comforting smile.
Mikasa's eyes gently opened. She felt pain, a lot of it, and yet it was so strangely subdued. Her vision slowly began to re-focus, and a blurry shape before her turned into Gohan standing overhead.
His hand was splayed outwards, energy softly pouring off his hand and into her body as he transferred some of his power. It wasn't healing, there was little he could do for her in that regard, but it was enough energy to keep her conscious and safe for a while longer. With the surgery on her stomach wound complete, she would likely be safe enough. The risk of possible infections was still there, but he could do no more for her in the present moment.
"Mikasa, you're going to be okay."
His other hand was outstretched with golden sparks floating through the air and onto several other figures. She noted particularly that many of them were those who had been wounded during the fight against Kenny, a fight that she too had lost.
Captain Levi was awake, but badly wounded, the medical staff still completing some bandages around his form. From the elite Garrison team, Ian had survived, but was now missing an arm, the golden glow from Gohans energy transfer doing its best to keep him conscious. Rico had passed away, bleeding out from her spilled artery in spite of attempts to stem the bleeding.
Mitabi and the other man had been killed in their attack against Kenny, leaving the other survivors to be those of the Scouts that had once been her comrades. Jean's body had been wrapped due to his broken rib but was otherwise in no danger. Armin had a bloody nose and Mina had a broken knee, but neither were in serious danger. Sasha had been more concerning, the knife that had cut and twisted through her lower leg leaving her bleeding heavily. The bleeding had long since stopped, and with Gohan's energy the only concern now was the risk of infection.
There were others though, countless others. Soldiers from the Military Police, Garrison, and Scouts were all counting their dead and wounded. The Military Police had suffered the most in the end, many dying before they finally surrendered, but all sides had been bloodied. The dead were being collected and grouped. The wounded were being assembled and were already bathing under Gohan's energy glow.
"Gohan… you're…"
"Yeah." Gohan cut Jean off before he continued. He was going to have to spend quite a bit of time catching everybody up given all that had happened. He could see the thousands of questions on everybody's tongues as they looked at him, but he simply held up a hand. "Before anyone asks your questions, we're just waiting on one more person."
A second Gohan flashed into existence next to the first and deposited a bloody Eren on to the floor. The Titan shifter had a million questions, yet they all seemed to disappear as he saw Mikasa. His hand went out and grabbed hers, the feeling of her warmth in his hand reassuring him that he wasn't dreaming.
"You're okay."
"She is." Gohan let his golden glow extend over to Eren as well, though he did not need it like the others. His body was weak and low on energy, but he had managed to regenerate and close his wounds.
"Okay, who's got the first question."
"They're all dead? All of them?"
Erwin was at a complete loss for words as Gohan relayed the summary of what he had done. The other soldiers around him were all likewise in complete stunned silence, none were able to tear themselves away from the glowing golden man that had descended to be before them.
"All the Titans on the island are now gone." Perhaps he was a little too relaxed in how he said it given the immense wave of shock that was rippling over the crowd, but for Gohan this had been somewhat inevitable once he had managed to regain his power.
People really had thought that he was exaggerating when he had told them what he used to be able to do.
"What of the capital? Commander Pixis and the others?"
"The fighting is over. The Garrison have taken control, and the wounded are being treated. There has been… a lot of people have died. A lot more will be forever scarred by what happened today."
"I know." Erwin had already known just what this day would cost. In fact, he'd honestly expected things to be so much worse. The devastation that had been laid upon their nation however… it would take a great deal of time and effort to fix. "What comes next will be important. I will need to speak with Dot and we will need to arrange a new government. The previous system of nobility may require some gutting. But someone new will need to take the place of the old King, the people will need a figure to believe in."
At that, Gohan let out a deep breath. Politics was an area he most certainly did not have any knowledge in. He had studied a great deal of history on his original home, but little of it could be applied to this world and his social experiences had been… limited.
"I think I'll have to leave that to you two to figure out. But if you want, I can take you to him?"
"You can what?"
Erwin was suddenly lifted as Gohan grabbed him by his arms. Being held like a child by someone so much younger than him might have been embarrassing if Erwin had been given time to process it. Instead, he found himself suddenly rocketing through the air and coming to a halt a split second later by Commander Pixis.
"…what?"
"What's the plan sir?"
Zeke had to admit, it was a very good question that Reiner had asked. Freeing himself of his Titan, he found himself staring around at the devastation that had been caused by the movements of the wall Titans, all of which had now been vaporised by beams flying from the sky.
Zeke, Reiner, and Pieck were all left in complete bemusement after they had transformed to survive, only for the Titans of the wall to completely ignore them and subsequently be annihilated.
"Was that… the Rumbling sir?"
Pieck was the least sure of herself of the three of them. Reiner had remained cold and focused, a far cry from the man he used to be. Consuming Bertholdt's memories had changed him heavily. But Zeke didn't know what to say to any of them.
They too had seen the proclamation of the King, and cry of resistance from this Gohan person. But hearing his defiance and seeing the greatest threat to the world destroyed was an entirely different matter. Zeke's plan was completely shot, and now he was left utterly lost as to what they should do.
"We should… we should return to Marley. We'll inform command, formulate a plan after we return."
It was the best that he could come up with on such short planning time. He would have to think of a fallback plan as they travelled.
"Sorry, but I can't let you do that."
All three of them spun on their feet to see a glowing man hovering in the air just behind them. He looked like any other ordinary person, save for his glowing golden hair, green eyes, and incredible musculature. It was impossible not to guess that this must have been Gohan.
From the way Reiner briefly blustered, before roaring in anger and raising his hand to bite and transform, Zeke's assumption had been confirmed. No clash of lightning happened however, as Gohan knocked Reiner out faster than they could comprehend. A single chop to the neck, and Reiner sagged into Gohan's arms before being gently lowered down to the ground.
"Sorry about that, but I don't want Shiganshina to be damaged any more than it already is. And I think letting you three go back to Marley would just make things worse." Despite his words, the man did not actually look very apologetic, smiling as he spoke to them. "So I'm sorry to say, but you three are now my prisoner."
An alarm buzzed, and Bulma's eyes opened wide. Waking from her deep sleep, she was quick to reach out and grab the device on her bedside table, looking at it in alarm. Instantly awake, she began to read through the alert quickly.
"Woman what is it? It had better be important." Not many would have guessed that Vegeta would get so fussy when his sleep was interrupted, but actually having lived with him for so many years now it was hardly new for Bulma.
Still, he would be relieved to know that it was indeed, very important.
"It's the machine, it managed to find a trace." She was already typing away as she spoke, furiously setting up new plans and making arrangements. "I got a trace to Gohan."
She leapt out of the bed and grabbed her robe, throwing on clothes quickly even though she refused to take her eyes off of the device in her hands.
"I need you to fly to Goku and tell him- AGHHH!"
Goku appeared in front of her, using instant transmission to travel from his house directly into their bedroom. Bulma gripped her robe tightly as she covered herself with a panicked squeal.
"GOKU! What are you doing in our bedroom!"
"Bulma! I sensed him! I sensed Gohan!" She didn't need to ask why Goku hadn't been asleep despite the very late hour, the bags under his eyes were not new and his eyes themselves were bloodshot with a desperate fervour.
Seeing the whirlwind of emotions in her best friends' face, her anger quickly subsided. "I know Goku, I got the alert."
"We have to go now! I can't sense him anymore, I lost his signature, but it was him! I know it was him!"
"I know Goku, okay? Just give me a moment to have a look over the machine and we'll find him."
"But-!"
"Kakarot! Get out!" Vegeta snapped Goku's attention back onto him, breaking him from his spiralling panic. "Go wait for us in the basement, we won't be long."
He looked like he wanted to argue but stopped himself before begrudgingly nodding. Then he blasted his way out of the roof and flew off towards the basement where they had built the scanning machine.
"Oh that little-!" Bulma sighed and forced herself to calm. "You know you didn't have to speak to him that way Vegeta, he's going through a lot."
"It's precisely because of that that I needed to." Vegeta's gruff voice was only momentarily muffled as he pulled on his familiar armour and suit. Bulma had long since lost the argument of him keeping it by their bed. "Kakarot has just been given a little bit of hope. If things don't go well then he will react… poorly. We can't be gentle with him, otherwise he'll get his hopes up."
"You don't think this is it?"
Bulma had learned just as Goku had that Gohan's energy signature had appeared for only the briefest of moments, but it was more than they'd had for years. It was finally something, something tangible and that they could actually use.
"I don't think this is over just yet. Whatever this is, there's something more going on."
A chill went up her spine. Vegeta had lost a lot of his arrogance and pride over the years since Cell and Gohan's disappearance. Being so over matched that day and having the chance to test himself consistently against Goku over the years had tempered him greatly.
Thus, when Vegeta was set on edge, so was she.
"Whatever it is, we're a lot closer than we were before." Bulma said as she finished dressing herself. "I'm gonna let myself have a little hope."