One by one the soldiers are eaten, their bodies lay strewn across the ground. In a barren wasteland, a group of Vanguard soldiers prepares to fight a Titan, a brief summary is given about the origins of Titans and their abilities. A while later, Tsubaki visits Murakumo's grave.

Before Murakumo dies, he bites off the Titan's nucleus as well. Murakumo defeats several in his form, but his nucleus is bitten off by a Titan behind him. To Tsubaki's surprise, she finds that the half of his body grew back and he can transform into a Titan to fight. Murakumo gets caught and half of his body is eaten. The soldier gets eaten by another Titan and Murakumo charges at it. The soldier back on the building wonders why he is afraid of Titans, so out of rage he joins in the battle and kills the Titan Murakumo is flanking. Murakumo comes to her rescue, implying that she should stay out of harm. He subsequently finds Tsubaki challenging the Titans down below. Despite the soldier's qualms, Murakumo does not lose hope. The Titan in disguise evolves into a large Titan.Ītop a small building, a soldier rallies intelligence from a superior officer to Murakumo, who insists for the whole city to evacuate. The dead soldier's face belongs to Murakumo's father who was eaten by a Titan years ago. They pressurize him, and eventually Murakumo snaps and cuts a man down using his sword. He is disturbed by a group of soldiers who suspect that he is a Titan in disguise. On that note, Murakumo leaves the barracks. Tsubaki wants to join the Vanguard Corps just like her father did, but Murakumo claims that he will only teach her if she practices blade swinging a hundred times a day.

Inside a distant city where humanity has enclosed itself within a wall of giant trees, a soldier called Murakumo heads back to the barracks but finds a young girl, Tsubaki, asking for an apprenticeship.

Manga aot vol 1