However, Erwin had lured too many Mindless Titans, and gradually, the Armored Titan's speed began to slow.
All around, the Survey Corps had already engaged the approaching Titans in a desperate melee.
"Where's Levi?"
Amid the chaos, Erwin's sharp voice cut through the roars and screams. His eyes darted toward Armin and the others.
"Corporal Levi and Mikasa are holding off the Female Titan at the rear!" Armin shouted back, his breath ragged.
"Is that so…" Erwin's gaze flickered toward the distance, where the Armored Titan was being pinned down by a tide of Titans. His brows furrowed tightly.
With a sharp hiss, several sets of Vertical Maneuvering Gear fired in unison—Connie, Jean, Sasha, and the others zipped through the air toward the Armored Titan.
The massive creature was struggling, one hand guarding its nape, the other caught between the jaws of two Titans, while four more held onto its armored legs.
Even with its hardened armor, the sheer number of attackers was overwhelming.
An army of ants can bring down an elephant—and if the Armored Titan wanted to escape, it would have to abandon Bertholdt's protection.
"Bertholdt! How much longer are you going to hide?"
Connie and Jean landed on the Armored Titan's shoulder, glaring through the gaps between its armored fingers.
"Bertholdt! Reiner! Are you really just going to run?" Armin's voice rang out as he joined them, his expression twisted in disbelief.
"Why do you keep chasing us?!" Bertholdt shouted back, his voice breaking with frustration. He couldn't bring himself to meet their eyes.
"Give Eren back to us!" Connie yelled, his voice full of anger.
"Impossible!" Bertholdt's reply came through gritted teeth. "The reason we came to this island is to reclaim the Power of the Titans!"
"So that's why you kicked down Wall Maria five years ago?" Armin snapped, his tone trembling with rage.
At that, the others froze for a moment, the memories of their lost homes and fallen comrades flashing before their eyes.
Eren struggled violently behind Bertholdt. Even with his hands and mouth bound, his eyes blazed with hatred and defiance.
"Eren, if you just come with us, this will all end," Bertholdt said, trying to sound calm, but his voice was heavy with guilt.
"Give him back!"
Connie and Jean slashed at the Armored Titan's fingers, but their blades barely scratched the surface.
"Darkness has already appeared. I must protect you."
The voice came from behind. Zhou Wei, using his maneuvering gear, appeared in midair like a ghost. His words made no sense to Armin and the others.
"Zhou Wei, what are you talking about?" Armin shouted.
"You'll understand after I rescue Eren," Zhou Wei said calmly, not wasting another second.
"Wait—you can actually save him?" Jean asked in disbelief, eyes wide.
Zhou Wei didn't reply. His eyes sharpened, his aura shifting as immense energy surged through his body.
A blinding golden light erupted from his palm, coalescing into the shape of a roaring dragon. The very air trembled as the dragon slammed into the Armored Titan's hand.
BOOM!
A deafening explosion followed. The armored fingers cracked and snapped under the blow. The force was so immense that the Armored Titan itself staggered backward, crashing into the ground.
Reiner's consciousness blurred—his body rattled within the Titan shell.
Steam burst out violently. Zhou Wei seized the moment, darted forward, and snatched Eren away before the Titans could react. His movements were swift and ethereal, weaving through the Mindless Titans as if he were part of the wind.
"Eren's been rescued!" Armin shouted, eyes wide in disbelief.
"What the hell…" Connie whispered, frozen midair. Their blades couldn't even scratch the Armored Titan, yet Zhou Wei had shattered its defense with a single palm strike.
"Bertholdt!"
Reiner, pinned beneath the weight of Titans, roared in fury.
Inside the half-destroyed armor, Bertholdt's body convulsed—his bones cracked under the strain of Zhou Wei's attack. Barely conscious, he heard Reiner's desperate shout.
In that instant, golden lightning burst from his body.
"Not good! Retreat!" Armin screamed. "He's transforming—Bertholdt's going to become the Colossal Titan!"
"Everyone, fall back now!" Erwin ordered sharply. His voice was firm, but his expression had gone pale.
Eren was safe—they had to get out before the explosion hit.
All around them, Mindless Titans were converging. Staying would mean certain death.
CRACK—BOOOOM!
A blinding column of golden lightning tore through the sky, connecting heaven and earth. The explosion that followed ripped the ground apart, launching Titans and soldiers alike into the air.
The air turned to fire as steam erupted outward, swallowing everything in its path.
When the light finally faded, the Colossal Titan stood in the center of the devastation, sixty meters tall, an overwhelming pillar of flesh and terror.
It swung a massive hand through the air, scooping up dirt and boulders, hurling them like a storm of meteors toward the fleeing Survey Corps.
"The Colossal Titan's attacking!"
"Dodge! Don't let it hit you!"
Erwin's command rang out, but chaos drowned it almost instantly.
The ground exploded under the impact. Screams filled the air. Blood and fragments of uniforms scattered across the plain as members of the Survey Corps were crushed into pulp.
And amid that hellish storm—
A figure suddenly blinked through the steam, moving faster than the human eye could follow. He reappeared at the base of the Colossal Titan.
Reiner, half-conscious and leaning against the Titan's massive leg, looked up just in time to see Lucien Graves appear out of thin air.
His eyes widened in horror.
Lucien ignored him. His feet struck the ground, releasing a sonic boom as he launched himself upward like a cannonball.
"Bertholdt! Watch out!" Reiner roared.
He didn't understand—Lucien was flying without maneuvering gear.
How was that possible?
In Lucien's hand gleamed a Nichirin Blade. In a single motion, he sliced through the Colossal Titan's nape, exposing Bertholdt's upper body.
It was too late for the boy to react.
Slash!
Blood sprayed through the steam. Bertholdt's body split in half, his upper torso caught in Lucien's arms as they plummeted toward the ground.
When they were twenty meters above, Lucien's left hand clenched. Golden lightning arced through the air—and in the next instant, his body transformed into the Female Titan.
Before Bertholdt could even scream, Lucien's Titan form snatched him mid-fall and shoved him into her mouth.
"No—!"
Bertholdt's eyes widened in terror. His final scream echoed through the battlefield before he was crushed and swallowed whole.
"Bertholdt!!" Reiner howled, despair and fury twisting his face as he watched his friend die before his eyes.
BOOM!
The Colossal Titan's massive corpse collapsed, steam and blood flooding the air. The Female Titan—Lucien—emerged from the haze, running across the devastated plain.
"What just happened…?" Armin gasped, turning to look back.
From their distant position, the survivors could barely believe what they were seeing—the Female Titan had appeared out of nowhere, devoured Bertholdt, and felled the Colossal Titan.
"She's not their ally!" Connie shouted. "She ate him! The Female Titan isn't working with them!"
The group exchanged horrified looks. Who was this new Female Titan?
Was she friend—or another enemy?
None of them had the courage to go back and find out. More Titans were approaching from every direction, and the Survey Corps had already suffered unbearable losses.
Zhou Wei's face was grim as he looked toward the steam-shrouded battlefield.
He knew it now without a doubt—the Female Titan was 'Darkness'.
He didn't know what method she had used to inherit Annie's Titan power, but it was clear: both he and Eren were her targets.
Whether she was human or something else entirely… that, he couldn't yet tell.
He had once suspected someone—but that person was already dead, killed by the Female Titan herself.
_______
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