Eren suddenly transformed into the Attack Titan, crashing down onto the street. The ground shattered with a thunderous boom, sending up clouds of dust and debris.
Eren let out a furious roar that echoed across the entire wall district.
"It worked!" Ian cried out when he saw Eren successfully transform. He immediately turned and issued orders.
On Chen Si's side, he turned into a bolt of lightning, darting through the napes of twelve Titans. In the blink of an eye, all twelve Titans were slain, their bodies beginning to release steam.
"That guy feels even stronger than Levi," Rico exclaimed in shock as she watched Chen Si slaughter the Titans.
"Everyone, prepare yourselves!" Ian ordered.
Mikasa had been watching Chen Si the whole time. Seeing this, she finally breathed a sigh of relief and shifted her focus to the Titans around Eren.
At this point, Trost District was already crawling with Titans. The ordinary soldiers' task was to draw away the majority of them. Pixis's strategy clearly relied on sacrificing soldiers' lives to reclaim the district.
Chen Si was responsible for restraining and eliminating Titans approaching the troops. Mikasa joined the elite squad to protect Eren. Armin worked together with Staff Officer Anka to coordinate and direct operations from afar.
Just as everyone prepared to carve a path toward the gate, something unexpected happened.
After transforming into a Titan, Eren suddenly turned his head and, without a word, threw a punch at the closest person to him—Mikasa.
"Eren?!" Mikasa shouted in shock.
Fortunately, her reflexes were fast. She instantly leapt away as the house beneath her feet was smashed to pieces by Eren's fist.
"Eren, what the hell are you doing?!" Chen Si shouted angrily from afar after slicing apart a Titan in front of him.
Ian and the others, who had been about to act, were stunned when they saw that Eren had lost control.
Eren missed his strike, then swung another vicious punch at Mikasa.
"Ackerman!" Ian shouted, rushing forward in an attempt to save her.
Mikasa clenched her teeth. She chose not to fight back. Using her ODM gear, she shot into the air and narrowly dodged Eren's attack.
Flipping midair, she landed on Eren's face and shouted:
"Eren! Don't you recognize me?! I'm Mikasa! I'm your family! You have to lift the boulder and block the gate now!"
"Ackerman, get down! He's already lost control!" Ian shouted anxiously.
The irrational Eren swung a punch at Mikasa who was clinging to his face—only to smash half of his own face apart with the blow. He immediately collapsed to the ground.
Chen Si stared in disbelief.
Eren was so determined to hit Mikasa that he smashed his own face.
"Eren, you idiot! If Mikasa gets hurt, I swear when we get back I'll chop your ass into pieces and feed it to pigs!" Chen Si roared as he cut down three more Titans.
But as Chen Si charged into the Titan horde, killing three only brought six more. Killing six brought eight more. He soon became trapped in a brutal slaughter.
The Titans' blood evaporated far slower than the speed at which Chen Si was killing them.
His entire body became soaked in blood.
Seeing Chen Si surrounded by Titans in the distance, Mikasa clenched her teeth and continued trying to awaken Eren.
"Eren, you're human!" she cried with all her strength.
"The operation has failed. I knew from the start that using Titans as weapons was impossible," Rico said calmly as she looked at the out-of-control Eren. She raised her signal pistol and fired a red flare into the sky.
"What the hell? So in the end he's just a mindless Titan without any control?" Mitabi said in disappointment.
On the Wall — Command Headquarters
"We have confirmed that the elite squad has fired a red flare. The operation appears to have encountered a serious crisis," one staff officer reported tactfully.
Everyone knew that a red flare meant mission failure.
"All those sacrifices… were they for nothing?! Did all our comrades die in vain?!" one soldier cried in despair.
"Failed…?" Marco muttered, sweat dripping down his forehead as he watched the signal flare.
"Why… how did this happen?" Armin said in anguish before turning and leaving.
"Hey, Armin! Where are you going?" Marco shouted.
"Commander Pixis should switch from offensive to defensive operations immediately," another staff officer suggested nervously.
"Commander, please issue a retreat order to the elite squad!" Staff Officer Anka urged.
Pixis shook his head.
"No. Continue luring the Titans toward the corners of the town. As for the elite squad, I've entrusted everything to them. They're not only skilled fighters—they're the very best humanity has. I won't let them give up so easily. For the soldiers who have already died… as long as we're still alive, we fight to the bitter end."
Pixis spoke like a gambler placing everything on one final bet.
"Ian! A 6-meter Titan has appeared ahead, along with a 12-meter one. Another 12-meter abnormal Titan has appeared behind us!" an elite squad member reported.
"That kid is useless. How are we supposed to block the gate?" Mitabi said.
"Yeah… even if we had no choice, we'll have to abandon him here," Rico added flatly.
When Mikasa heard that Eren would be abandoned, killing intent flashed in her eyes as she glared at Ian and the others.
Ian was startled and turned his head away, unsure what to do.
At this moment, Chen Si had finally cleared a path through one direction of Titans and shot straight toward Eren.
While maneuvering with his ODM gear, he noticed several corpses beneath a roof.
Chen Si cut his gas propulsion and landed on the street.
"Is anyone still alive?!" he shouted at the bodies.
Frowning at the sea of corpses, his mood darkened.
Because of his overwhelming strength, Chen Si had never really felt fear toward war before.
But now, seeing the street piled with bodies and blood, he finally understood that for ordinary people, war was truly a brutal slaughterhouse.
"Chen… Si…"
A faint voice reached his ears.
Chen Si immediately turned around and saw a figure sitting beneath the eaves—missing limbs, his abdomen soaked in blood.
"Trutt!" Chen Si rushed over.
"Don't worry. I'll take you back to headquarters right now," Chen Si said, tearing half his coat off and pressing it against Trutt's wound.
But the moment his hand pressed down, blood poured out like water from a lake.
"Trutt… you…" Chen Si clenched his teeth and prepared to carry him.
"It's too late, Chen Si. Listen to me," Trutt said weakly.
"I'm listening."
Chen Si knew from the amount of blood loss that he couldn't be saved.
"You're humanity's hero… You must defeat the Titans and lead the people inside the walls to the outside world. I… I'm honored to have known a hero like you…"
Trutt's face grew paler and his eyes began to lose focus.
"Trutt, stop talking! I'm not worthy to be compared to soldiers like you. I just got lucky, that's all… I…" Chen Si's voice choked up.
For the first time, he watched someone he knew die right in front of him.
His heart churned.
"Haha…" Trutt laughed weakly, coughing up blood.
"I know you're different… but I'm still proud of you. Chen Si… tell me… can I count as your friend?"
"Of course you can! Damn it, Trutt! Who the hell do you think you are?! Why the hell does it make me want to cry when you die?!" Chen Si said, his eyes turning red as he fought back tears.
"It's just a shame… we never got to share a drink… together…"
Trutt stared up at the sky.
The light faded from his eyes.
Chen Si silently watched him for a long time.
Then he carried Trutt's body and flew up to a nearby tower, gently placing him on the ground.
Chen Si looked toward Eren in the distance.
War was cruel.
Those who were not the protagonists wouldn't even leave a trace in history.
All these soldiers rushing forward to their deaths did so for a tiny hope—hope brought by Eren's existence.
When Chen Si had read the original story before, he only knew that Eren eventually sealed the gate with the boulder.
He never realized how many people died during that time.
Or how many soldiers charged toward death in despair while Eren was attacking Mikasa.