The air feels heavier than usual.
The silence weighs on everyone like a slab of concrete.
Ymir says nothing.
She doesn't move.
Her gaze remains locked onto mine, reflecting a storm of emotions contained beneath a façade of false calm.
Krista clings to my arm with all her strength, her breathing ragged, her eyes glassy with terror.
The others are still frozen, unable to process what is happening before them.
The tension is absolute.
Until, finally, Ymir closes her eyes and lets out a long sigh, almost weary.
"...Alright." Her voice is dull, as if the weight of the world has just fallen on her shoulders.
She opens her eyes again, but this time, there is no longer any anger or defiance in them.
Only something cold. Something resigned.
"You really have no remedy, do you...?" she murmurs.
Her fingers slowly reach for the knife that Connie is still holding with trembling hands.
He doesn't even realize when he lets go.
His eyes are fixed on her, disbelieving, as if he can't accept what he's seeing.
Reiner grits his teeth but still doesn't move.
Bertholdt looks like he's run out of air.
Ymir holds the knife with both hands, as if it weighs more than it should.
As if she has already accepted what's coming.
"...I always knew this day would come."
Her tone isn't sad.
Not even desperate.
It's simply a statement of the inevitable.
And then, she looks at me once more.
But this time, her gaze is empty.
"I don't know what the hell you are..." Her grip on the knife tightens. "...But it's terrifying."
I can see the shiver in her fingers, no matter how hard she tries to hide it.
Her lips curve into a bitter smile. "I thought I had seen everything... thought people like you only existed in horror stories."
She chuckles under her breath. "But no."
She tilts her head slightly, as if analyzing a creature she's never heard of before.
"You're not human."
The declaration cuts through the air like a cold knife.
But I don't bother responding.
Because I know she doesn't expect me to.
Ymir lets out one last sigh, her face softening for the first time.
She turns her head and looks at Krista, who is still clutching my arm, panting, her eyes brimming with tears.
Ymir smiles at her. "I'm sorry, Krista."
Krista's voice trembles in an attempt to respond, but no words come out.
Her expression is that of someone on the verge of completely breaking apart.
Ymir just shakes her head.
"It's okay... Don't worry... I have no right to tell you how to live your life, but... live with your head held high..."
She lifts the knife, taking one last breath.
"...Now let her go."
I hold her gaze for a few more seconds, memorizing her final expression.
Then, without hesitation, I toss her back onto the rooftop without much care.
Krista collapses to the ground, coughing and gasping, clutching her throat in desperation.
The others remain motionless, still in shock.
But Ymir...
She simply stays in place, knife in hand, eyes lost in the void.
As if there is nothing left to do.
"...What a damn nightmare," she mutters to herself, giving Connie a light pat on the head and smiling softly at Krista before gripping the knife tightly in her hand.
The knife remains firm in Ymir's grasp.
The wind howls through the ruins of the tower, making her hair billow as her gaze stays fixed on nothingness.
For a moment, no one moves.
No one breathes.
Ymir exhales, her shoulders relaxing.
And then, without hesitation, she throws herself into the abyss.
Krista screams her name in desperation, crawling to the edge of the tower, her eyes wide with horror.
The world seems to slow down for an instant.
Ymir's body falls, her silhouette outlined against the glow of the dawn.
And then...
The knife slices into her palm, and a bright light surrounds her, accompanied by the sound of thunder.
An explosion of steam and energy shakes the air.
Her body distorts in the flash, morphing into something larger, more ferocious.
The titans below turn their heads just as an enormous claw emerges from the cloud of steam.
Before they can react, the beast crashes down on them with a brutal impact.
The nearest titans don't even have a chance to move.
Ymir's roar echoes like a raging storm as she rips into a titan's nape with a swift bite.
Her claws tear through flesh with ruthless precision, shredding another titan in a single motion before pouncing on the next.
The remains of the tower tremble under the force of the battle.
From above, the others can only watch, stunned, as Ymir's savage form moves among the titans with inhuman speed, slashing, crushing, and destroying with relentless fury.
"You've got to be kidding... Ymir..." Connie murmurs.
Krista remains on the ground, hands covering her mouth, her expression a mix of horror and awe.
Bertholdt and Reiner's faces show fear as well—but a different kind.
The remaining titans try to surround her, but Ymir is faster.
Her jaws close around one of their necks, tearing it apart in a single bite before tossing the corpse like a ragdoll into the others.
The Jaw Titan's claws rip through another nape, sending the lifeless body crashing to the ground.
Steam and blood fill the air as the massacre continues.
From my position atop the tower, I observe every movement with clinical precision.
Every attack.
Every decision.
Every reaction.
Ymir fights like a wild beast, without refined technique or strategy, but with a brutality that compensates for any lack of skill.
But the most interesting part...
Is the fury in her eyes.
It's not just rage.
It's something more.
Something primal.
The tower shakes violently as Ymir propels herself from it, using it as a springboard to leap toward a nearby titan. With a brutal movement, she tears out its nape in a single slash, shredding its structure with lethal precision. Without wasting time, she spins and buries her claws into the torso of another smaller titan, utterly destroying it in a burst of flesh and blood.
"WOAH—AAAAH!!!"
The impact of her leap shakes the tower so hard that Krista loses her balance. She teeters dangerously toward the void, but at the last moment, a firm hand grabs her by the leg.
"Thanks, Reiner..." she murmurs, still shaken from the near fall. But the relief is short-lived.
The grip doesn't loosen.
Quite the opposite.
"Reiner... my leg..." Her tone shifts from confused to worried as she feels the pressure increase.
Her face twists in pain.
"REINER, MY LEG!"
I don't take my eyes off Reiner's face for a second. Something is wrong. And I'm not the only one who notices.
"Reiner, come on! That's enough!" Bertholdt raises his voice, urgency in his tone.
Connie intervenes too, struggling to free Krista. "Are you listening, man!? Let go of her leg!"
Finally, those words seem to bring him back.
"Huh... What...? Sorry..." He releases Krista's leg abruptly, as if only now realizing what he was doing.
Krista rubs her sore leg, still frowning, but her tone softens. "Don't apologize... You saved me..."
Reiner stares at her in silence, his expression darkened by thoughts he can't articulate.
"Krista..." He says her name with a weight in his voice that forces her to look up. "Did you know... that Ymir was a titan?"
Silence spreads between us.
"No..." Krista's answer is barely a whisper. "I didn't know... we've been together all this time, but I..." She clenches her fists on her lap. "I had no idea..."
Slowly, her gaze shifts to me.
Her voice trembles slightly as she asks:
"You... how did you know?"
I watch her without answering immediately.
Deep down, I always suspected Krista was hiding something... something important. But in this moment, her expression is genuine.
She's not lying.
At least, not now.
"I didn't know."
Krista's eyes widen in shock, her body tensing.
She looks terrified at the realization that I was willing to kill her based on a mere assumption.
"Erwin told me."
I hope he doesn't mind that I use his name to back up this nonsense.
His expression softens just a little, and he turns his gaze back to Ymir.
"It's fine..."
But Connie doesn't seem so willing to accept the truth.
"I can't believe this..." His voice is filled with incredulity and deep hurt. "We've known each other for three years, and yet..."
Krista murmurs with the same pain in her tone. "It can't be... I even... No, I can't... I refuse to accept it..."
Reiner frowns, his jaw clenched. "In other words... she had answers to the secrets of this world." He exhales in frustration. "I couldn't even imagine it... She should have revealed her identity to cooperate with the Scout Regiment... like Eren..."
"That doesn't mean she didn't have a reason to hide it..." Bertholdt interrupts him in a low voice, almost as if he were speaking more to himself.
But Connie doesn't let it go.
"WAIT A SECOND." His shout cuts through everyone. "EREN DIDN'T KNOW HE COULD TURN INTO A TITAN, RIGHT!? But in Ymir's case... it seems like she did have some idea about the power of the titan. Do you understand what that means?"
The air feels heavier.
Eyes shift between Ymir and the ground, trapped in thoughts no one wants to say out loud.
Finally, Connie breaks the silence with the question everyone feared:
"If that's the case... then... whose side is she on?"
My eyes slowly scan the group before I respond.
"That will be decided later."
My tone is firm, cutting.
"She will be subjected to a trial just like Eren. Commander Erwin will decide what to do with her."
My gaze locks onto Bertholdt.
"I don't need to say what awaits her if she's declared a traitor, do I?"
Bertholdt swallows hard.
Krista shakes her head, as if she's still processing the idea. "Whose side...? You mean Ymir could have been our enemy...?"
"Yes."
Connie's words fill the atmosphere with a sense of betrayal again. "Now that I think about it... she was always indifferent, no matter the situation. As if nothing had anything to do with her."
He pauses, his voice trembling with suppressed emotion.
"Could it be because she had a hidden power...? I could never tell what she was thinking."
Bertholdt takes a deep breath before murmuring:
"I wonder... What is her goal?"
At that moment, a titan manages to grab Ymir's arm, pulling her into the countless number of titans, one of them biting down on her arm with force.
"YMIR!!!"
Krista screams in despair as she watches the scene from the top of the tower.
Ymir, in her titan form, struggles against the massive titan holding her. Her jaw snaps open, and with a fierce crunch, she bites off the enemy titan's arm in a single chomp, sending a stream of steam and shredded flesh into the air. Without wasting time, she takes a powerful leap toward the tower, using her strength to climb at full speed.
But luck is not on her side.
Just as she's about to reach a safe position, another titan manages to grab her legs.
For a moment, her claws dig into the structure of the tower, searching for a foothold. If she holds on too tightly, the combined weight of the titans could bring the entire tower down.
She understands this immediately.
Without hesitation, Ymir makes a drastic decision.
She lets go.
Allows gravity to pull her down.
"W-WHAT...?!" Krista can barely breathe from the shock.
"S-SHE... SHE LET HERSELF FALL FROM THE TOWER!!" Connie's voice is a desperate scream. "WHY!? Don't tell me...! She didn't want the tower to collapse...!!"
A tense silence spreads over everyone.
Then, Krista murmurs, her voice filled with emotion:
"Yes... exactly."
Ymir's titan form lands on the titans below, crushing several with her own body. But instead of escaping, she begins to fight with ferocity, tearing necks apart and crushing skulls with her claws.
Krista clenches her fists tightly. "If she wanted to, she could have escaped alone using her titan form. We know her power isn't enough to defeat all the titans here... but instead of running away... Ymir is fighting."
Her eyes fill with determination.
"SHE'S RISKING HER OWN LIFE... TRYING TO PROTECT US!!"
Reiner watches the battle with a deep frown. "Things are looking bad for her... At this rate, she's going to—"
Before he can finish his sentence, Krista abruptly stands at the edge of the tower.
"DON'T DIE, YMIR!! NOT IN A PLACE LIKE THIS!!"
Her voice is louder than any roar of battle.
"YOU'RE SOMEONE WHO OVERESTIMATES HERSELF ABOVE ALL ELSE, AREN'T YOU?! THE GIRL WITH THE WORST PERSONALITY IMAGINABLE!!"
The wind whips her hair as she shouts with all her strength.
"THEN LIVE FOR YOURSELF!! IF YOU PLAN TO DIE TO PROTECT THIS TOWER... TO HELL WITH IT, JUST BRING IT DOWN ALREADY!!"
Everyone watches in shock.
For a moment, there is no response.
Then, as if her words had ignited something inside Ymir, she lifts her head.
Without warning, she lunges at the tower's structure and, with brutal force, begins tearing out bricks with her claws.
She starts hurling them furiously at the titans, striking them with fragments of stone as the tower creaks dangerously.
"H-Hey! SHE'S REALLY GOING TO DESTROY THIS TOWER!!" Connie shouts, completely stunned.
The foundations begin to give way.
Massive cracks spread across the structure, threatening to collapse at any moment.
Krista remains standing at the edge, too close to danger.
Just as the tower shakes violently, she loses her balance.
"KRISTA!!"
Without a second thought, I fire the cables of my ODM gear and catch her in my arms before she falls.
Her body trembles slightly as I hold her firmly against me.
At that moment, Ymir, still in her titan form, reaches the tower.
But it's too late.
The structure tilts.
The collapse is inevitable.
Ymir turns toward us with her fierce expression, but in her eyes, there's something deeper—an unshakable certainty.
"If you want to live... hold on."
She offers us her back, giving us the chance to grab on.
There's no time for doubt.
We cling to her at the last second, just as the tower completely crumbles, burying the titans beneath tons of rubble.
The crash is deafening.
The dust and steam rise, covering everything in a thick fog of destruction.
When the cloud of dust finally begins to settle, the scene left behind is shocking.
The Titans have disappeared beneath the ruins of the tower.
A sepulchral silence spreads across the battlefield.
Connie, eyes wide with disbelief, murmurs:
"I can't believe this..."
Bertholdt observes the devastation with the same astonishment.
"She... managed to trap the Titans under the rubble..."
Connie finally lets out a dry laugh, filled with both relief and awe.
"Dammit... and to think she climbed all the way up here just to save us..."
But Ymir does not relax.
Even in her Titan form, she remains tense, her claws gripping the ground with caution.
Her heavy breathing fills the air with a mist of steam.
The battle is not over.
"!!??"
At that moment, the rubble beneath us begins to shake violently.
The sound of cracking stones and rising dust puts us on alert.
A chill runs down my spine as, from within the collapsed tower's remains, massive figures begin to emerge.
"THE TITANS ARE GETTING OUT!" Connie shouts, his voice trembling with terror.
Krista clasps both hands over her mouth, eyes wide with disbelief.
"No... it can't be...!"
The ground sinks under the weight of the Titans freeing themselves from the debris, their bodies regenerating rapidly despite their wounds.
"YMIR, TAKE THEM DOWN!" Connie's desperate voice echoes through the chaos.
But Ymir is already moving.
With a wild leap, she launches herself at the nearest Titan.
Her claws tear into its flesh, and with a brutal bite, she rips out the nape, killing it instantly.
But her victory lasts less than a second.
Another Titan appears behind her, and before she can react, it grabs her by the hair with crushing force.
It lifts her into the air as if she were nothing more than a rag doll.
"Oe... oe... oe... this is really bad..." Connie murmurs, his face completely pale.
The remaining Titans close in like a ravenous pack.
One sinks its teeth into Ymir's arm and yanks violently, tearing the flesh.
Another clings to her leg and twists it at an impossible angle.
The sound of flesh being ripped apart and bones snapping fills the air, mixed with the echo of jaws snapping shut.
Her body quickly becomes unrecognizable.
Pieces of her disappear into the Titans' mouths, while her hot blood rains down onto the rubble.
It's a grotesque sight.
Krista covers her mouth with both hands, her chest rising and falling with irregular breaths.
"They... they're eating Ymir...?" Connie's voice is barely a terrified whisper.
Krista takes a step forward, shaking her head.
"No... no... it can't be... no...!"
Suddenly, her fear transforms into pure desperation.
Without a second thought, she starts running toward Ymir.
The moment her foot touches the edge of the rubble, I grab her arm and, with a calculated movement, throw her to the ground.
She lands on her back with a choked gasp, dust rising around her.
For a second, only silence.
Then...
Krista rises with clenched teeth, her gaze burning with a fury I had never seen in her before.
"WHAT ARE YOU DOING?! LET ME GO!" Her voice is a torn roar, her hands hitting my arms with force.
Her rage is pure, raw, a storm of emotions threatening to overflow at any moment.
"SHE'S RIGHT THERE! SHE'S STILL ALIVE! LET ME GO!!"
She tries to stand again, but I hold her shoulders, effortlessly pushing her back down.
"No."
My response is firm, unwavering.
Krista looks at me with tear-filled eyes, her breathing unsteady.
"Why...?" Her voice cracks. "Why won't you let me save her?"
I tilt my head slightly.
"Save her?"
My words pierce her more deeply than any wound.
"She's surrounded by Titans, her body being torn apart. Right now, it's impossible for her to survive. And if you run toward her, you'll just be adding another corpse to this massacre."
She clenches her teeth so hard she might break them.
"I don't care!" She screams at the top of her lungs.
"WHAT DOES IT MATTER IF I DIE?! IF SHE DIES HERE AND NOW...!"
Before she can finish, I push her back down.
Her body trembles.
Her fists dig into the ground with such intensity that her knuckles turn white.
"Live."
My voice is low but unyielding.
"If you want to honor her sacrifice, then live."
Krista's shoulders shake violently.
Her fingers sink into the earth, trembling between the dust and blood.
Her lips part, but she can't respond.
"Dead, you won't be able to do anything for her. Alive... you still have a chance to give something back."
Her eyes shut tightly, as if trying to drown out her own sobs in the darkness.
Tears fall heavily onto the bloodstained ground, mixing with the damp earth.
The Titans' roars still echo in the air, but for her, the world seems to have stopped.
The beastly growl of a Titan rises among the rubble, the sound of bones snapping and flesh tearing drowns out Krista's ragged breathing.
"Besides..." My words cut through the chaos like a sharp blade.
"This is already over."
At that moment, a Titan's silhouette looms over the debris.
Its hollow, lifeless eyes fixate on me as its massive arm stretches out, its deformed fingers moving clumsily, reaching out to grab me.
I don't move.
I don't take a single step back.
My breathing remains calm, indifferent.
I let it get closer.
Closer...
I can feel its hot breath, its nauseating stench filling the air.
I wait until the last moment, until its shadow completely engulfs me, until its claws are just about to close around me.
And then, my lips move.
"You're late... Nee-chan."
In an instant, everything changes.
A flash of steel.
A sharp, fierce sound.
The Titan's head is sent flying, spinning in slow motion, its vacant expression frozen in time before its body collapses with a deafening crash.
I look up.
Between the mist of steam and blood gushing from the dissolving body, a figure lands with the precision of a predator.
Her gaze barely lingers on me.
A glint of light in her eyes, softened by a hidden concern.
Her rigid stance, her body tense, her breathing still steady but marked by adrenaline.
Blood drips from her blade, her cape billows in the dust.
Mikasa.
"K-Kiyotaka..."
Her voice trembles slightly, almost imperceptibly, but I notice it.
Her eyes scan me—my torn clothes, the dried blood covering me from head to toe.
For a second, her jaw clenches.
She shakes her head forcefully, as if trying to discard any thoughts that might unsettle her.
"All of you, fall back." Her voice regains its usual firmness.
"We'll handle this."
The others barely manage to react.
Connie, still stunned by what just happened.
Bertholdt, his face tense, his gaze fixed on Mikasa.
Reiner, watching me with an expression difficult to decipher.
Krista...
Krista remains on the ground, her face stained with tears, but her eyes...
Her eyes remain fixed on Ymir.
The chaos is not over yet.
But from this moment on...
The balance has shifted.
--------------------------
"IDIOT!" The sudden scream cuts through the air like a whip, shattering any lingering trace of the moment's epic tension.
Everyone turns their heads just in time to see a superior approaching with long strides, his frown unmistakably furious.
"I TOLD YOU TO STAY BACK, EREN!"
"WOAHHH!"
Eren instinctively lowers his head, shrinking under the weight of the reprimand.
"S-sorry, sir...!" His voice is barely a murmur, but no one misses the way his body trembles, as if expecting a blow at any moment.
"OYEEEEEEE!"
Connie bursts into the scene, his voice filled with emotion as he rushes toward him.
"Eren!"
The boy lifts his gaze, surprise and relief shining in his eyes as he sees us.
"Guys!"
He greets us with a tired smile, the genuine emotion clear on his face... until his eyes land on me.
The change is immediate.
His face falters.
The color slightly drains from his skin.
His gaze hardens for a moment, as if he isn't sure what to think.
But before he can say anything, a soldier's voice interrupts the scene.
"ALL TITANS HAVE BEEN ELIMINATED!"
The battle is over.
Minutes later, the Scout Regiment begins regrouping, ensuring there are no more threats nearby.
The bodies of the fallen titans continue to emit clouds of steam as their flesh disintegrates into the blood-soaked earth.
Ymir is extracted from her titan body.
What's left of her.
Her state is... difficult to process.
Her skin is torn, flesh ripped away in several places. Her breathing is weak, barely perceptible.
It's almost unbelievable that she's still alive after what she's been through.
But she's still breathing.
That's enough for Krista.
In a single movement, she kneels beside Ymir, completely ignoring everyone else.
With unexpected gentleness, she takes her in her arms.
Ymir can barely move her lips.
But her eyes...
Her eyes meet Krista's.
For an instant, time stops between them.
Finally, Krista lets out a whisper.
Her voice is soft, almost trembling, but firm in its resolution.
"My name..."
Her fingers grip Ymir tighter, as if simply holding her could keep her from disappearing.
"Is Historia."
------------------------
The wind howls atop the wall, carrying the metallic scent of blood and the rotting stench of the titans burning below. Steam still rises from the decaying corpses beneath us, a silent testament to the battle just fought.
I stand still, gazing into the distance with indifference.
Without looking, I drop four Scout Regiment patches onto the surface of the wall.
"So... this is what's left," Hange's voice rings out behind me. Her tone is light, but there's a weight to her words, a hidden fatigue beneath her usual energy.
"Four casualties," I state calmly.
Hange steps forward and picks up one of the patches. Her eyes, usually sparkling with curiosity, darken for a moment.
"It seems that, in the end, we always end up losing more people than we can remember..." her voice is low, almost a whisper.
"There's no glory in death, only in the result it leaves behind. If someone dies without changing anything, then their existence had no meaning."
"And do you think these four changed nothing?"
I slowly turn to meet her gaze.
"No. I will remember them, but... they died as soldiers. Nothing more."
Hange lets out a small chuckle, though her expression remains serious.
"That's something... I can't tell if you're ruthless or something else."
I don't respond immediately. My eyes follow Ymir as she's carefully lifted onto a stretcher. Her mangled body barely moves, and yet, she's still alive.
"Speaking of the living..." Hange shifts the topic. "What do you think of Ymir?"
"She's far more loyal than she seems," I answer without hesitation. "She tries to give off an image, but she doesn't fight for herself—she fights for what matters to her. She's already made her decision."
"And what decision is that?"
"To die as someone who protects, rather than as someone who merely survives."
Silence stretches between us for a moment. Hange watches Ymir with a thoughtful expression.
"...It seems you understand her quite well."
"She was quite transparent with me."
Hange sighs.
"You're impossible..."
The sound of footsteps interrupts us. The others begin climbing up onto the wall, exhausted, covered in blood, their gazes lost in nothingness. The battle has taken its toll.
But there's still one last move to be made.
"Did you receive my message?"
Hange's face darkens.
"What the hell did you want it for...?"
I turn to her, my eyes reflecting the unwavering determination of someone who already knows the outcome.
"I'm not sure yet, but I know it will be useful."
"Hah... I don't know whether to be scared or excited when you say things like that."
"You should do both."
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