The Colossal Titan's arm rises into the air, engulfed in searing steam that distorts the light around it.
Almost in slow motion, it descends with impossible weight, dragging a wave of heat that threatens to consume everything in its path.
The ground trembles under the pressure of its movement, while Hange, far behind me, screams:
"SOLDIERS!!! GET AWAY FROM THE WALL!!!!!!!!!"
The boiling air currents hit my body like a hurricane, scorching my skin and tearing apart what little remains of my cape.
My ODM gear is damaged, the gas depleted.
My muscles are stiff — not just from exhaustion, but from the sharp pain throbbing in my back after the fall.
And yet, my grip on Annie doesn't loosen for even a second.
I let the decision make itself.
I don't close my eyes.
There's no fear in my mind.
The roar of the steam whistles in my ears as the Colossal Titan prepares to crush us like nothing more than insects.
And then—
The world shakes.
Something moves through the scorching mist.
A sharp sound cuts through the air, tearing through the hiss of the steam like a sudden thunderclap.
In an instant, my body is yanked off the ground with brutal force.
The shift is so abrupt that dizziness hits before my brain can even register what's happening.
The wind screams in my ears, and the pressure on my ribs is the only sign that someone is holding me.
Not gently.
Not with concern.
But with a ruthless grip that makes it clear that, if it were up to him, he would've left me there.
As the steam slowly clears, the unmistakable face comes into view.
Gray eyes, sharp as blades.
A frown of pure contempt.
An immaculate uniform, despite the blood and ash floating in the air.
Levi Ackerman.
His hands hold me firmly, but his expression is a mixture of revulsion and sheer annoyance.
"What kind of trash pulls a stunt like this?"
His voice is cutting, sharp like a dagger sliding between ribs.
Before I can respond, I feel a sudden impact against my stomach.
He let me go.
Not to make me fall, but with enough roughness that my feet barely manage to touch the edge of the wall without stumbling.
"Carrying a corpse, with no functional gear, in the middle of a suicide mission..."
His tone is flat, emotionless, but every word drips with venom.
"And you look like absolute shit on top of that."
He scans me from head to toe with visible disgust, as if even breathing the same air as me was an insult.
"I hope you have something useful in that head of yours," he mutters, casting a quick glance at Annie, still in my arms.
"Because if not, I swear I'll throw you off this damn wall myself... So?"
"How do we kill that thing?"
The heat continues to devour the air.
The steam swirls, dragging the scent of ash and burnt flesh with it.
But I don't care anymore.
My hands move on instinct.
Fast. Precise.
The empty gas tanks hit the ground with a hollow clang.
Click. Click.
The new ones fit perfectly.
The sound of gas flowing back into the ODM gear is like a metallic whisper.
Breathing.
Muscles tensing.
Ready.
Levi watches me, brow furrowed, arms crossed.
"You've got five seconds to start talking before I launch you myself."
He doesn't respond to provocation.
He doesn't want excuses.
Just answers.
I grip my blade and point toward the massive silhouette shrouded in steam.
"The heat burst isn't infinite."
Levi's eyes narrow.
"Go on."
"Every time it uses that steam to repel attacks, his loses body mass."
My voice doesn't waver.
"It's an absolute limit. The more it uses that defense, the less of it remains."
...
Levi doesn't blink, but I can see the understanding click into place in his mind.
Behind me, Hange gasps, her eyes wide.
"That's...!"
But Levi doesn't let her finish.
"Then we force it."
His tone is pure steel.
"No, we'll force it. You'll land the final blow... It doesn't matter if we only get a single second... kill it."
My gaze locks with his.
There's no disgust.
No indifference.
Just determination.
Without a second thought, I toss Annie like a rag doll toward a nearby soldier, who stands trembling in place.
"Protect her with your life. If you have no choice — kill her."
"SOLDIERS, PREPARE FOR BATTLE!!!!!!!!!!!!"
Hange roars, spinning toward the few who still stand.
"DON'T LET IT STOP RELEASING STEAM!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!"
The remaining soldiers of the Survey Corps rise into the air, myself included, as Hange's voice echoes like a war cry.
"IT'S HUMANITY'S GREATEST ENEMY — ATTACK!!!!!!!!!!!!"
The Titan's massive fist moves sluggishly, trying to swat us like flies, but missing every time.
We use the openings to slash its flesh, shallow cuts, just enough to irritate it.
In seconds, cables latch onto its neck from every direction.
"The reports were right!!!"
"It's slow!!!"
"Its only advantage is its size!!!!!!!"
"Compared to a normal Titan!!!!!!!"
"It's easy to dodge!!!!"
"NOW!!!!!!!!!!!"
At Hange's command, we all launch toward the Colossal Titan's nape.
!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
At that exact moment, a scalding vapor erupts with the force of a tornado, peeling the skin from our hands.
"HOLD ON!"
Hange's voice roars through the storm of steam, cutting through the agony, the desperation, the burning flesh.
"DON'T LET GO OF THE CABLES!"
The scorching wind engulfs us like a living inferno.
The heat is unbearable.
The metal of the handles sears into my palms.
But I show no reaction.
It doesn't matter if we endure or not.
We don't have the right circumstances, but as long as we're here... it will have to stop eventually.
Around me, the shouts turn into ragged breaths, into clenched teeth trying to survive.
But one by one, they begin to fall.
First one soldier.
Then another.
Their figures plummet — some manage to fire their hooks to a safe distance, others are lost in the burning mist.
The steam keeps roaring.
The capes scorch, the leather cracks, the skin blackens.
"KEEP... HOLDING... ON...!"
Hange still clings with all her strength, voice breaking under the strain.
But even she knows the truth.
One by one, the soldiers start to let go.
I feel it too.
The tremor in my arms.
The lack of oxygen.
The weight of charred flesh on my fingers.
There's no choice.
There's no glory in dying here.
Not now.
I fire my hook before my muscles completely fail.
The cable tightens.
Cold air rushes against my face as I escape the inferno.
The others start doing the same.
Hange is the last to release her grip.
Her face twisted in sheer frustration as she pulls back with us.
We retreat.
"HANGE!!!" I call out as soon as my feet touch the ground. "GO AFTER THE ARMORED TITAN!! I ONLY NEED LEVI!!!" My voice comes out rougher and deeper than usual.
Her gaze darkens as she nods. "Squads 3 and 4!! Stay behind the target!! Squad 2, come with me!!!! NOW LISTEN TO ME CAREFULLY, WE CAN'T CAPTURE HIM ANYMORE!!! KILL HIM WITHOUT HESITATION!!!!"
From behind, I can see the hesitation on their faces — much to my disappointment.
"FOLLOW ME, SQUAD 2!!! OUR ENEMY IS THE ARMORED TITAN!!!!!!!" Hange yells one last time, throwing herself off the wall.
Just then, Connie appears, carrying Sasha on his back from the front. "It burns, it burns...!"
"You brats better get back unless you wanna end up as pulp on the ground," Levi snaps at Connie, Historia, and Mina, who stand too close, wrestling with their fear in their own way.
"Uh... Captain... sorry..." Historia starts hesitantly, her voice hardening as she struggles to hold back her tears. "I'm sure Ymir isn't dead, so... Please—"
I expect Levi to respond with his usual sharpness, but instead, his gaze lingers on Historia for just a second before shifting forward "Shut up, brat... We'll do what we can."
"WHERE ARE REINER AND BERTHOLDT!!!!" Connie interrupts, desperation dripping from every word. "THEY DON'T HAVE 3D MANEUVER GEAR!!!! PLEASE, KIYOTAKA... SAVE THEM!!!!"
"..."
-----------
"So, what's your plan, Shinkū-yarō?" Levi doesn't look away from me. His gray eyes are like knives, searching for any sign of doubt. But there's nothing. No hesitation. No fear.
The steam still roars, carrying the stench of burnt metal and charred flesh. It surrounds us like a ghostly fog, distorting the silhouette of the Colossal Titan in the distance. His figure barely visible, but the heat unmistakable.
https://youtu.be/C5yc0FPP7po
(my recommendation, an OST from Re:Zero)
"I can only rely on his love now. It's the only thing I can use at this point..."
My words are steady, as if stating an irrefutable fact. Levi doesn't reply. He just scowls. He doesn't like what he's hearing, but he can't deny it either.
"For now, only I can act."
I start walking.
Each step is a direct challenge to the scorching heat intensifying with every meter. The air sears my skin. My clothes are already in tatters, clinging to my body with sweat and dried blood. My muscles scream with each movement, but my mind remains unwavering.
The Colossal is still there.
I keep moving.
The steam grows thicker. Every breath feels like swallowing liquid fire. The temperature rises, as if the world itself is rejecting my presence.
But I don't stop.
I don't falter.
When I'm close enough, I raise my voice, letting my words cut through the roar of the heat.
"Bertholdt..."
His silhouette doesn't move. But I know he hears me.
"None of this makes sense..."
My voice remains as calm as ever.
The heat intensifies. The skin on my hands burns, glowing red. But my tone doesn't waver.
"But you already know that, don't you?"
I take another step. My swords remain at my waist. I don't need them.
"You know what else I know?"
The steam thickens even more.
"That all of this is your fault."
The air between us seems to freeze, even as the temperature continues to rise.
"You're the reason she suffered all this time."
The pressure of the heat becomes unbearable. Pieces of my cape and clothing peel away, disintegrating into the suffocating atmosphere. But I keep moving forward.
"You condemned her, Bertholdt."
There's no anger in my voice. Just cold, sharp truth.
"Annie could've carried out her mission. She could've stayed hidden. But you..."
My eyes never leave the Titan's silhouette.
"You betrayed her."
The steam shudders.
"Because of your reaction when Marco died."
It's not true. But that doesn't matter.
"Everything else... every plan, every move... it was all calculated from the moment we realized you were a Titan shifter. From that point on, everything was a trap."
I keep driving my words into him like invisible daggers.
"And when we figured out she was a traitor, it was thanks to you."
The flesh of my hands and shoulders burns mercilessly. It would've destroyed anyone else. But I keep walking.
"Do you know what we did to her after that?"
I don't need to see his face. I know his mind is already filling in the blanks.
"Do you know how long she suffered, alone, in the darkness?"
Imperceptibly, the Colossal Titan's head wavers. Just a slight movement. But enough.
"Do you know how she screamed...?"
I let the words linger, a venomous echo in the air.
"How they beat her, how they broke her bones over and over, how they forced her to talk..."
I keep walking.
"But she never said anything, Bertholdt."
The silence between us tightens.
"You gave her up. And even then, she never betrayed you."
The heat is unbearable. But the truth is even more suffocating.
"That's love, isn't it?"
My voice slides through the steam, a subtle blade slicing through his conscience.
"I must say, you chose well."
I take another step.
"She has a good body."
The roar of the steam drowns out Bertholdt's silence. But I don't need him to respond.
"Firm muscles, agile, built for battle, but without losing her feminine appeal... objectively beautiful."
Annie's image crosses my mind. Her defiant gaze. The coldness in her words. The way she buried her emotions beneath that mask of indifference.
"A strong personality."
I keep walking.
"That kind of woman doesn't break easily."
The steam quivers, as if the air itself is holding its breath.
"I'd say I know her better than you, wouldn't you?"
My tone never changes.
"Inside and out... Every time they broke her, every time her bones shattered, every time her blood smeared her face, every time she begged for help..."
I take one more step.
"I was there."
Bertholdt's image burns in my mind. I know that, even inside that titan, he's listening to me.
"I know exactly how much she can endure before collapsing."
The steam roars.
"I know the precise sound of her bones breaking."
The temperature keeps rising — but not as much as the pressure in his mind.
"I know how she breathes when the pain becomes unbearable, when her body stops responding but her mind keeps fighting."
My eyes lock onto him.
"You, on the other hand, never saw her like that, did you?"
Silence.
"To you, Annie was always unreachable. Strong. Cold. Untouchable."
I take another step.
"But I already know her completely."
....
.....
....
GRUUUUUUUURRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRR!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
The roar erupts like thunder, ripping through the air like steel against stone. The steam disperses in an instant, falling like a curtain violently torn down. And then I see it: Bertholdt's colossal silhouette fully revealed in all its monstrous enormity.
Before I can process it, the Colossal Titan's arms descend in a single devastating motion, driven by its immense weight, like the wrath of a god crashing down on the earth.
The world trembles.
The ground shatters.
The pressure from the impact bends the atmosphere.
The shadow of those massive arms engulfs my body, wrapping me in a darkness that reeks of death.
There's no time to think.
Only to act.
My muscles move on pure instinct. Adrenaline drowns out the searing agony of my charred flesh.
The moment the steam disappears, I fire both hooks in opposite directions and unleash a wild blast of gas. My vision warps from the sudden acceleration, and the air becomes a razor-sharp whirlwind.
And at the last second...
BOOOOMM!!!!!!!!!!!
The Colossal Titan's arms obliterate the ground where I had been standing. The earth erupts into a storm of debris and dust. The shockwave hurls me through the air, spinning out of control.
But before I can fall...
A black flash.
A silhouette moving at impossible speed.
The wind screams around me.
And then, my eyes catch it:
Levi Ackerman...
For a moment, he's just a shadow slicing through the air.
By the time my senses try to catch up, he's already past me.
Unstoppable. Relentless. Lethal.
And in a blink, he's already soaring straight toward his target.
Levi glides through the air like an arrow, as if space itself bends to make way for him. The pressure of the steam keeps surging, but he keeps going.
Nothing stops him.
Nothing will stop him.
In an impossibly swift motion, the Colossal Titan's hand rises to block him. Its colossal fingers, capable of crushing entire houses, try to trap Levi in midair.
But with a single impossible twist...
SHHHHHHK!!!
The fingers fall, severed at the base.
The yellowish blood sprays like a torrent as Levi carves through the wall of flesh and bone like lightning.
"Did you really think that would be enough to kill me, you piece of shit!!!!!?"
Levi spits, his eyes blazing with pure fury.
Without wasting a second, he shifts direction with another burst of gas, slicing through the titan's forearm as easily as tearing a rotten tree branch.
And then he spins, propelling himself straight for the Colossal's face.
But something changes.
Something's wrong.
The Colossal Titan's body — once made of swollen muscle and hissing steam — starts to transform.
The flesh vanishes, leaving behind a massive, sharpened, deformed skeleton.
An abomination.
Levi doesn't stop. He can't stop.
With a single cut, he turns both of the titan's eyes into an explosion of blood and vapor.
But just before impact, something echoes underground.
Something monstrous.
GROOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!!
From below the wall, a roar like that of a cornered animal echoes.
"NOW DIE, BASTARD!!" Levi roars.
In a perfect motion, he latches his hooks into the Colossal's nape and launches himself with all his strength.
Levi, without a shred of hesitation, seizes the opening.
The final strike is just a second away.
The end of Bertholdt is about to become reality.
But then...
The Colossal Titan lets itself fall.
As if the battle had never mattered.
As if it had all been a simple game.
As if death was just an inevitable outcome.
The massive body of the Colossal Titan begins to tilt to one side, its charred flesh peeling off in smoking rags. Its enormous muscles crumble like a mountain of burning flesh, emitting eerie cracks as its structure collapses under its own weight.
Levi, still in mid-air, reacts in a fraction of a second. His gaze sharpens, assessing the fall with near-inhuman precision. Without hesitation, he cuts the hooks and shoots a burst of gas to propel himself backward, evading the colossus' collapse like a predator dodging the fall of its prey.
But the fall is no accident.
Bertholdt lets himself fall on purpose.
The impact is devastating.
The Colossal Titan's body crashes with the force of a meteor, slamming directly onto the Armored Titan, which at that moment was being overwhelmed by Eren.
The sound of the collision is overwhelming, as if the very planet itself were splitting in two. The metal plates covering the Armored Titan's body fracture instantly, crushed under tons of burning flesh and broken bones.
Eren barely has time to react. His titan form stumbles backward, shielding itself with its arms as the shockwave tosses him like a ragdoll.
And then, the true devastation arrives.
BOOOOOOOOOOOOMMMMMM!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
An explosion comparable to a modern bomb shakes the earth. The air vibrates as if it were about to tear apart, while a cloud of dust and steam rises into the sky, darkening everything in its path.
---------------
My eyes slowly open, my eyelids heavy as if made of stone. Every movement burns. A searing heat runs through every corner of my body, but it's a distant pain, muffled, as if I've already suffered so much that my skin can barely register more agony.
My pupils slide with effort, scanning the visible areas of my body without moving. Almost my entire torso and arms are wrapped in bandages, some stained with dark, dried blood. The metallic smell of hemoglobin mixed with the dust of the collapse fills my nostrils.
I'm alive.
But barely.
My gaze slowly rises toward the sky. The sun has moved quite a bit. Four or five hours? It's hard to say for sure. My entire body screams at me to stay still, but I ignore the pain.
Slowly, with every muscle fiber protesting, I try to get to my feet.
When my eyes move to the left, I see her.
Mikasa.
She's in the same position as me, getting up, although her state seems much better. Her breathing is heavy but steady. Firm. Unyielding.
Our eyes barely meet before a figure bursts into the scene.
Armin.
He comes running, his face twisted with desperation and fear.
"Wait! Don't move, please!" he shouts, his voice cracked.
But Mikasa doesn't listen.
Or rather, she doesn't want to listen.
In one movement, despite her wounds, she grabs Armin by the collar of his clothes and lifts him with a strength she shouldn't have in her state.
"ARMIN! WHERE IS EREN?!! WHERE IS HE?!" Her voice is a strangled, torn scream. A mix of rage, fear, and pure desperation.
Armin struggles, trying to hold her without hurting her.
"MIKASA, CALM DOWN! DON'T MOVE, WE DON'T KNOW HOW BADLY YOU'RE HURT!!"
But his words bounce off her like useless stones.
Nothing else matters.
Only Eren.
I ignore both of them as I drag my broken body toward the edge of the wall. Every step is torture. My legs tremble, and I feel like they could collapse at any moment, but I keep moving.
And when I finally look down...
The crater.
A monstrous hole where the Colossal Titan fell.
The ground is shattered, the debris scattered as if they had dropped a bomb.
But there are no bodies.
No signs of life.
Nothing.
Just emptiness.
He's not there.
Mikasa stumbles next to me, but she's firm. Her chest rises and falls rapidly, and as soon as her eyes process what she sees, her gaze darkens.
Panic begins to rise on her face like poison.
"WHERE IS HE?! WHERE IS HE?!" She screams again, her voice torn as if her throat is about to break.
Until Armin, with trembling hands, finally responds.
"Eren was kidnapped..."
"...Along with Ymir..."
The words fall, crushing Mikasa.
"By Reiner and Bertholdt."
--------------
POWER + FOLLOW + GIFT!!!!
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