The road outside Headquarters was a scene of utter devastation.
Many houses had been damaged, and the ground was littered with Titan corpses that had been dead for some time. It was clearly the Abnormal Titan's handiwork.
The Abnormal Titan was in terrible shape now, too. It had lost both arms and had only its right leg left, with bite marks covering its body.
It leaned against a house, panting as scalding steam poured from its body. Although Titans could regenerate, the more Arthur looked at its condition, the more certain he became that it was on its last legs.
"Is this thing really that strong? How many Titans did it fight all by itself?!" Connie shouted in shock.
"This thing is downright terrifying. But it looks like it's about done for," Jean said, watching the Abnormal Titan nervously. Although he knew it had no interest in humans, seeing such brutality still made him recoil.
"That poor Titan. We only managed to get into Headquarters thanks to it," Sasha said. Seeing the miserable state of the Abnormal Titan that had helped them, she couldn't help feeling sympathy and pity.
"Hey, you idiot. Don't tell me you're feeling sorry for a Titan," Jean said, looking at Sasha in disbelief.
"I'm just telling it like it is." Sasha pulled a sweet potato out of nowhere and spoke with a hint of indignation as she ate.
"I think we could try capturing this Titan if we get the chance. After all, it's the first Titan we've seen attack its own kind. Maybe we could learn something important from it," Armin suggested.
"Huh? Capture it? Are you kidding?" Jean stared at Armin incredulously, unable to understand why he would suggest something so absurd.
"He's right. Maybe it could help us uncover the Titans' secrets," Reiner agreed after standing nearby and staring at the Abnormal Titan for a while.
"You're both out of your minds." Jean scoffed at their idea.
"Arthur, why do you think it attacks Titans?" Mikasa asked.
"I don't know." Arthur had no answer to that question, either. He had been watching it for a long time, but the Abnormal Titan didn't seem to possess any intelligence. It simply kept targeting its own kind.
Clang, clang, clang! At that moment, a steady peal of bells rang out, soon echoing throughout Trost District.
"It's the evacuation signal," Christa said after listening carefully.
"Yeah. Looks like the higher-ups know they can't hold Trost District anymore and have ordered us to retreat," Arthur said, guessing why the signal had been sounded.
"Should we retreat, then?" Mikasa asked.
"Let's wait and watch a little longer." Arthur shook his head. He wanted to see whether the Abnormal Titan still had any fight left in it.
"Look! Another Titan!" a soldier on lookout shouted, pointing into the distance.
Everyone looked in the direction he indicated and saw a twelve-meter Titan slowly approaching them.
Among the crowd, Armin's expression changed the moment he saw what the Titan looked like. He raised a trembling hand, pointed at it, and spoke.
"That's the Titan that ate Thomas."
"What?!" Shocked by Armin's words, everyone turned an angry glare on the Titan.
"Since you're the one who ate Thomas, I'll kill you myself and avenge him." Arthur hadn't expected the Titan that had eaten Thomas to dare show up here. Although he hadn't known Thomas very well, they had still been classmates for three years.
It was only right that he avenge him.
Just as Arthur was about to use his Omni-Directional Mobility Gear to slay the Titan, the motionless Abnormal Titan suddenly raised its head and roared at the twelve-meter Titan before it.
They were so close that everyone covered their ears.
"Roar!" The Abnormal Titan suddenly hauled itself up on its remaining right leg, then hopped toward the twelve-meter Titan as though it intended to tear it apart and devour it alive.
Before the Titan that had eaten Thomas could react, the Abnormal Titan tackled it to the ground and began hammering it with frenzied headbutts.
Bang, bang, bang! The violent impacts rang out without pause. The Abnormal Titan smashed the other Titan's face into a bloody pulp, but its own face fared no better. Even one of its eyeballs fell out.
Then the Abnormal Titan opened its bloodstained maw and sank its teeth into the other Titan's neck like a tiger, tearing into it.
With savage bites and shakes of its head, it ripped the flesh from the twelve-meter Titan's nape and spat it onto the ground.
With its nape torn away, the Titan died at once, collapsing to the ground and slowly turning into a skeleton. After killing it, the Abnormal Titan also fell to the ground as though utterly exhausted and moved no more.
Everyone fell silent as they looked at the two Titans that had killed each other.
Arthur sighed at the dead Abnormal Titan. It seemed there would be no miracle, so he prepared to lead everyone back to the wall.
Just as they were about to leave, the sharp-eyed Arthur suddenly noticed what looked like a human figure at the Abnormal Titan's nape, though the steam kept him from seeing it clearly.
Arthur was stunned. He immediately flew toward the Abnormal Titan's nape.
At first, everyone was confused, but then they saw it, too. Like Arthur, each of them wore an expression of shock, as though they had witnessed something unbelievable.
"Eren?!" Once Arthur got close enough to see the face of the person he had spotted, his shock turned to wild joy. He hadn't expected Eren to still be alive.
"Arthur, is that... Eren?!" Mikasa, who had followed close behind Arthur, landed beside him. She had initially wondered who the person was, but the sight of that familiar face shocked her, too, before delight spread across her features.
"How did he end up here? Did Eren turn into that Titan?" Holding the unconscious Eren, Arthur's mind raced as he racked his brains for an explanation.
"Thank goodness." Mikasa listened to Eren's heartbeat and, once she confirmed he was alive, tears spilled from her eyes. Having someone she thought lost returned to her felt wonderful.
"We can't stay here. Let's get Eren somewhere safe first," Arthur told Mikasa as he lifted Eren into his arms.
Mikasa wiped away her tears and nodded with a smile. The two of them brought Eren back to the rooftop.
With the steam blocking their view, the others above hadn't known what had happened below and had only seen a human silhouette. Now that the two had returned carrying someone, everyone hurried over.
But when they saw the face of the person in Arthur's arms, disbelief spread across their faces. They thought their eyes were playing tricks on them: Eren, who had died, had somehow come back to life.
"Eren!" Armin rushed forward in excitement and hugged him. He touched Eren's arm, clearly remembering how it had been bitten off when Eren saved him. Yet now it was completely intact. How could this have happened?
"You've got to be kidding! Did Eren turn into that Titan?"
"Has a Titan been living among us all this time?"
"Am I hallucinating?!"
As they looked at the unconscious Eren, everyone except Arthur, Mikasa, and Armin wore conflicted expressions.
After all, this was a truth that was simply too inconceivable to accept.