"That little brat killed two of us." The gunman stared at Arthur, who could no longer fight back, reloaded, and aimed at him again. His face was dark, and he had completely lost his mind.
"Fuck you!!" Arthur stared down the barrel without a trace of fear. He only hated himself for not being stronger. Once he died, Yumiko and Mikasa would never be able to deal with the two remaining attackers.
"Die!" Arthur's curse sent the gunman into a rage. He aimed straight at Arthur's face, eager to watch the bullet tear into it and blow his head to pieces.
Just as the gunman was about to pull the trigger, Yumiko rushed out of the house with Kane's hunting rifle in her hands.
Seeing Arthur about to die at gunpoint, Yumiko threw caution aside, raised the rifle, and pulled the trigger.
With a bang, the bullet shot out. It missed the gunman's vital organs and struck his gun hand instead, but it still saved Arthur.
The impact knocked the gun out of his hand, leaving that hand a bloody mass of mangled flesh.
"Aaaaah!!" The gunman screamed in agony at the searing pain.
"Die, you bitch!" The other attacker, who carried an axe, froze when he saw Yumiko wound the gunman. Then viciousness surged through him, and he swung his axe at her.
As the attacker brought his axe down, Yumiko frantically raised the empty hunting rifle, now no better than a stick, and barely blocked the blow.
But the burly attacker's strength still sent Yumiko crashing onto her backside.
"You bitch! Since you want to die so badly, I'll grant your wish!" Seeing Yumiko helpless on the ground, the attacker grew even more vicious. He drew a dagger from its sheath, pinned her head down, and stabbed.
"No!!!" Seeing Yumiko about to be hurt, Arthur struggled off the ground with every ounce of strength he had, desperate to stop the attacker. But the gunman with the ruined hand blocked him.
He could only watch as the attacker plunged the dagger into Yumiko's back, straight into her heart.
Yumiko gave a muffled groan, then felt herself growing sleepier and sleepier. With the last of her strength, she looked at Arthur one final time before slowly falling still.
"Aaaaah!!" Watching Yumiko die to save him, Arthur was overwhelmed with grief. Unable to hold his emotions back any longer, he let out a heart-rending scream.
Inside the house, Mikasa witnessed her mother's murder. She, too, could no longer contain her anguish and cried out.
"Mom!"
"Mikasa, run!!" Arthur shouted to her. He did not want anything to happen to her as well.
But Mikasa was lost in the tragedy of her mother's death. She simply stood there, stunned and vacant.
The attacker who had killed Yumiko spotted Mikasa, and his eyes lit up. He pulled out the dagger stained with Yumiko's blood, gave it a sickening lick, and walked toward Mikasa with a wicked grin.
"I can still make a fortune by selling you!"
The attacker grabbed Mikasa and slapped her to the ground.
How could a little girl withstand the force of a grown man? The slap left blood trickling from the corner of Mikasa's mouth, and the scarf around her neck fell off.
Seeing the attacker treat Mikasa like that, Arthur could bear it no longer. He lashed out with a kick, striking the gunman blocking his path squarely in the crotch.
The gunman dropped to his knees in pain.
Arthur grabbed a stone lying nearby.
He began smashing it into the gunman's head, blow after blow.
The attacker who had slapped Mikasa down saw Arthur overpowering the gunman. With a curse, he abandoned Mikasa, charged at Arthur, and kicked him in the waist.
The kick sent Arthur flying two meters. If his body had not been far stronger than an ordinary person's, that single blow might have knocked him unconscious.
But Arthur had now completely lost the strength to fight back.
"Motherfucker!!"
Seeing the gunman's unrecognizable face and his shallow, failing breaths, the attacker lost his mind as well. He glared viciously at Arthur, then pounced on him and clamped his hands around his neck, squeezing harder and harder.
"I don't care about the money anymore! All I want now is for you to die! Die!!"
The attacker stared down at Arthur with a savage expression, shouting in fury as he strangled him.
Pinned beneath him, Arthur tried to fight desperately, but the gunshot wound in his shoulder left him unable to muster any strength. His face had turned crimson under the attacker's grip, and he was clearly running out of air.
At that critical moment, Mikasa finally came to her senses and stood up.
She froze for a moment when she saw Arthur pinned down, then spotted the dagger on the ground. She hurriedly picked it up and gripped it tightly.
The man's back was turned to her. It was the perfect opportunity, but she could not bring herself to strike.
"Do you want to stand there and watch your last remaining family member die in front of you?"
Suddenly, Mikasa seemed to hear someone whispering in her ear.
"I can't..." Mikasa trembled all over. She still could not overcome the barrier in her heart.
"Mikasa! Fight! Fight! If you don't fight, Arthur will die! You don't want to feel the pain of losing your family again, do you?" the voice sounded again.
In an instant, images flashed before Mikasa's eyes: the prey her father and Arthur brought home from every hunt, the butterfly she had watched a spider kill, and Arthur's words that this world was both beautiful and cruel.
At that thought, a thunderclap seemed to crack through Mikasa's mind.
In an instant, Mikasa felt a mysterious strength welling up inside her. A moment later, her gaze sharpened.
She tightened her grip on the dagger and aimed at the attacker's back, directly behind his heart.
A voice kept telling her where his weak point was.
"Aah!!!" Mikasa shouted and unleashed her strength. The immense force of her grip shattered the dagger's handle in an instant.
The next moment, Mikasa shot forward like an arrow and drove the blade into the attacker's back, straight into his heart.
"Ugh..." The attacker strangling Arthur suddenly felt a chill in his back.
He turned in disbelief, only to see a girl whose eyes were filled with murderous intent.
A moment later, the attacker spat out a mouthful of blood, collapsed onto Arthur, and quickly fell still.
"Arthur!" Seeing that the attacker was dead, Mikasa hurriedly pulled him off Arthur and began checking his condition.
Mikasa's heart sank the moment she looked at Arthur. His face had turned blue-gray.
With a trembling hand, she held her fingers beneath Arthur's nose to check for breath, but there was none.
"No... no..." Mikasa pulled her hand back in disbelief, then pressed her head against Arthur's chest to listen for his heartbeat.
"How could this happen..." Tears spilled from Mikasa's eyes as she realized his heartbeat had stopped too.
"Please, Arthur! Don't leave me!" Mikasa sobbed, shaking him and calling his name over and over.
But even after a long time, Arthur showed no response.
Was I still too late? Mikasa stared at her hands, her heart utterly dead. She hated herself for not saving Arthur the moment she had the chance.
"Arthur, Dad, Mom, wait for me. I'll join you soon." Mikasa had lost all desire to live. She pulled the dagger from the attacker's back and, with tears streaming down her face, slowly brought it toward her throat.
Without her family, she had no one left to rely on and no reason to keep living.
Just as Mikasa was about to slit her own throat, Arthur's body suddenly twitched beside her.
Mikasa noticed the movement, dropped the dagger, and threw her arms around Arthur in excitement. Then she bent down again to listen to his heartbeat.
Unlike before, a heartbeat sounded in Arthur's chest again, though it was very faint.
Even so, it filled Mikasa with such joy that tears streamed down her face. She hugged Arthur and burst into sobs.
She had thought she had lost him.