3rd POV

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'What... '

Eren's heart nearly leaped out of his mouth. He couldn't believe it. Did they just—

"Go ahead a little bit then switch to the gear. You guys will be off on your own for a while."

They all jolted in surprise at Levi's voice and promptly glanced away from the commotion occurring behind them to stare at their captain in bewilderment.

'eh? What—'

"Eld's in charge while I'm gone, make sure to keep the brat safe, got it? Tobe, you're with me."

They all snapped their head in disbelief toward the woman who simply let out a "sure". She quickly followed right after their captain who shot off in the opposite direction, leaving a very confused Levi squad behind who could do nothing but stare at the two's disappearing figure in the distance.

"What the hell just happened...?" Gunther was the first to break the silence. He got no response since nobody could explain the situation so he decided to cheer the mood a little. "uh, anyway, s-see that Eren? We captured that titan!"

As much as the others were lost, they rolled with it, smiles slowly appearing on their confused faces after processing what just happened.

"This is the power of the Survey Corps! Don't underestimate us, fool!" Oluo bragged with a dumb grin while Petra had a small relieved smile on her lips. "Now do you get it ?!"

The boy was still looking behind, wondering why Colith and the Corporal separated from them before looking back forward with a smile, eyes shining at the prospect of the threat being neutralized before he let out an enthusiastic "Yeah!". He was happy that they managed to catch that titan he's now sure to be a shifter! Colith was right! He should trust them more in the future! They clearly know what they're doing!

'...But I have a feeling that she...somehow knew about this...why was it after her and why didn't she tell me?' A little frown appeared on his face as they advanced a little further before they switched to the gear after tethering the horses in a safe spot.

"You've been...awfully quiet for a while, why's that? " Levi voiced suddenly.

"Eh?" Colith blinked in surprise, startled eyes traveling to meet the corporal's figure. "what do you mean?"

"Tch," he stopped his advance to land on a nearby branch, urging the woman to do the same with a bewildered look.

She glanced forward with a frown after hearing shots being fired once more, probably to further neutralize the female titan before redirecting her gaze toward the Ackerman. She pointed a finger to the giant's location with a sweat drop "hum, shouldn't we—"

"don't play dumb with me, answer, what's been bothering you?" He inquired once more, facing her with his resting b face.

Her gaze flickered quickly around, having not expected this to happen. Still, she ended up putting it on the count of her presence here in the story. Regardless, she jolted a bit upon noticing his narrowed eyes on her.

'oh boi.'

With a chuckle, Colith waves her hands in defense while attempting once more to redirect his attention on the mission, though before she could answer—

"You know who's in there, don't you?" Levi said plainly, watching with acute eyes as she jolted in surprise, eyes widening exponentially, an indication that he was right.

A silence took place as he eyed her before she let out a long-suffering exhale, shoulders sagging. "Ah, there's a chance of me knowing them, that's for sure," she responded slowly while massaging her nape.

'Oh, she's not denying?' Levi noted.

"But hey, I'm just guessing that whoever infiltrated the walls knew about today y'know? In any case, that's not important! We should hurry before something happens!" She affirmed.

"something?" Levi parrots, arms folded as he stared at the titan's general location with a frown. He saw Colith nod from the corner of his eye which caused him to motion for her to elaborate.

"hm, we never know with shifters, they're as predictable as a loose cannon. Although, I must admit that Erwin's resourcefulness baffles me! Capturing one so soon like that! Impressive!" She grinned in admiration before quickly shaking her head to regain her composure. "Anyhow! It's best if we don't make them wait any longer, don't you think?"

The Ackerman's eyes shifted back to her for a moment before he conceded with a hum, shooting off once again with the woman following behind. "Don't overdo yourself, got it? You look like shit." he uttered flatly before speeding up ahead.

Colith dumbly watched him move away before her lips curled up in a smile, a light blush coating her cheeks. "Aye aye captain!" She chirps, using more gas to keep pace with the Ackerman.

They soon arrived at the spot where the Commander stood tall, his sharp cerulean eyes stuck on the skewered giant as he observed her, though, they quickly shifted to the newcomers.

"I'm impressed that you managed to lead it here, Levi."

The male grunted, "That's thanks to the rear squads. They bought us the time we needed. We couldn't have done it without them." Levi stated simply.

Erwin's gaze landed on Colith who seemed vaguely offended for some reason, though he dismissed it. "I see."

"Yeah, thanks to them we'll meet whoever's inside that neck."

"hm.." both males' eyes found the dangling woman whose hand was cupping her chin as though she was contemplating something. She pointed at the titan's hands. "that's gonna be tough, though."

The Commander nodded in agreement "Indeed, but we must find a way to remove them to access the nape. What can you tell us about it?"

"From my observations during the chase, well, she was crazy fast—"

"No shit." Levi clicked his tongue.

"I'm not done, captain! As I was saying, she's fast. Also, her size, 14 meters, and her slender but muscular body, compared to my 18m and Eren's 15m gives her an advantage in terms of speed. She's shown great swiftness and an impressive reaction time when handling the rear's attempts to stop her so that one's on me actually." she cringed. "I should've taken into account the fact that shifters based on speed were a thing, I apologize."

The Commander hummed before nodding. "It's alright. You couldn't have foreseen such things. Did you discern the use of...any special ability that we should be wary of?"

The woman paused, contemplating his question before shaking her head. "Nope, she hasn't shown anything except great swiftness, though there might be a chance that she does possess one. But just in case," she looked for Hanji and spotted the woman standing on a branch above, next to her a barrel containing regular restraining spears. Some members of her squad like Ilse and Moblit were present, "Oi! Did you bring the spears?"

Hanji's hungry eyes shifted from the giant to Colith. She blinked twice before letting out an awkward laugh. "Hum you see...—"

"They're not finished," Ilse responded curtly beside her which earned the freckled woman a punch on the shoulder.

"shhh— so hum, what I mean to say is that they're still in the testing phase! Yep! As much as I wished to use them on this expedition, I'm still not satisfied with the blast's radius. But it won't be long until we can safely use them."

"Moblit nearly blew up."

"That's a detail. I'm sure he's fine." she waved a hand dismissively.

Everyone sent a sympathetic look toward the male in mention who scooted away from the scientist with haunted eyes. Poor man.

"This is a waste of time. Let's just chop them off." Levi cut in, sharp eyes narrowed on the titan's hands who flinched upon him uttering those words. An action that didn't go unnoticed by those on the surrounding trees.

"Well, that's a solution too, yeah," Colith said after a moment of thought. She promptly unsheathed her swords, ready to join the corporal in his cutting spree until the Commander's voice stopped her.

"Not you."

"Eh?" she blinked in surprise and watched as Erwin motioned for Mike instead who readied his blades accordingly.

"I want you to stay put and observe instead while Levi and Mike take care of this." the 'look for any hidden abilities' was left unsaid, though the woman easily complied by shrugging.

She sheathed her blades back in their holsters and swiftly landed next to Erwin to watch the situation unfold, failing to notice the Commander's watchful stare. Unbeknownst to her, a flash of concern flickered through his eyes before his gaze found the black jewel around his neck.

Meanwhile, an incredible scene was occurring right before the astonished eyes of the cadets posted at the entrance to the forest. What they thought to be a simple, simple being stretched, horde of mindless titans running toward them turned out to be led by something. And by something...they meant a 6-meter class. But that wasn't all God no. What had them all gaping was the fact that all these titans...WERE CARRYING THINGS IN THEIR HANDS!!

"W-WHAT THE HELL?!"

"HOLD ON—" someone shouted, wildly rubbing their eyes to squint, "are those...ARE THOSE CORPSES?!"

"WHAT?!"

"ARE YOU KIDDING ME?!"

And true to the cadets' words each titan had something in their hands. More precisely, corpses! Everyone wondered what the hell was going on. Why on earth were they carrying their fallen comrades' bodies? And more importantly, why weren't they eating them...?

The horde's rapid approach unnerved them. How were they supposed to get rid of all these titans?! There must be roughly around 50 individuals and that was without including those already present under their feet who had been, till now, standing motionless, staring at them.

"Are you kidding me...?" Jean muttered in horror. Now, this is just bullshit. "Are they seriously expecting us to stop this...?" He gulped.

Marco laughed nervously from the branch above, his trembling hands barely managing to correctly hold his gear's handles as he watched the creatures closing in on the forest. Was this the end...?

"Sh-should we stop them...?" someone barely managed to utter.

"Are you crazy?! Want to die?! Don't tell me you want to jump in there now!?"

"N-no but...! Aren't we supposed to stop them from entering the forest...?"

Everyone's eyes found the only veteran here. Even their superior looked startled, then again who wouldn't be in front of all these monsters?! Although that didn't stop him from shouting, "WE MUST STOP THEM NO MATTER THE COSTS! IF PUSH COMES TO SHOVE, WE MIGHT THIN THEIR NUMBERS. SO, DON'T LET ANY TITAN PASS!"

'Fuck.'

To their shock and relief, the horde slowed down and came to an abrupt stop 20 meters from the forest. There was a stressful silence as the two parties stared at each other. One with apprehension while the other with indifference.

So...What now?

The 6-meter class was the first to move, effectively gaining everyone's attention. They watched with batted breaths as it took a single step forward before stopping. Its blue eyes slowly skimmed over the area, eliciting numerous reactions from the cadets who could only stare in bewilderment as it let out a loud grunt before nodding— 'wait noddi—'

They watched in utter shock as those with bodies approached to place them on the ground while remaining at a safe distance from any attack from the scouts. Not that any of them would've dared to jump in here. They weren't crazy.

"What the..." someone trailed off, stumped by what they were witnessing.

Before long, all the corpses were lined up, separating the confounded scouts from the horde.

.

.

.

The two warriors were confused, though they refrained from making any comments on the situation. Something obviously wasn't right. Those titans weren't behaving like usual. The only instance of them acting other than usual was when their War chief was involved, though that was highly impossible.

Could it be...the Founding's ability? In this case...who? This possibly couldn't be Eren's doing since, to their knowledge, he had only recently started to control his titan which by the way was peculiar. Which one of the nines was it? And Colith...

Bertholdt's uncertain gaze found Reiner's. What should they do? Should they go after it right now? Will Annie be okay against them? something wasn't right!

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.

.

"G..Good...lu..ck."

Everybody's eyes bugged out upon registering that it was the 6-meter class's voice. Before any of them could react accordingly, it turned back on its heels and started jogging in the opposite direction, quickly followed by the titans that came with it, and thus, they were gone.

The cadets stood there like deers caught in the headlights. Unable to put words to the surreal situation that just occurred.

"Did...Did this titan just...talk..?" Marco was the first to break the silence. Many of the cadets started speculating about the unprecedented event with various reactions.

"Huh?! HOW IS THAT POSSIBLE?!"

"What did it mean by 'good luck' though?! "

"Come on, it's a titan! Titans don't possess the mental capacity to maintain communication! That doesn't make any sense!"

"THEN HOW DO YOU EXPLAIN THIS, GENIUS?! THAT THING JUST SPOKE! I AIN'T CRAZY!"

"Tsk 'Good luck'? , is this a joke?" Jean sneered. "They think we'll fall into this shitty trap?" he clicked his tongue, truthfully insulted about this before turning to the blond for his input. "Oi Armin—" though he cut himself off upon seeing the look on his friend's face.

Armin was looking in the direction the titans took with realization written all over his face. It was as though he just remembered something...

Something perhaps, familiar?

The sound of footsteps alerted the group and caused them to glance toward its provenance. An 11-meter class was nearing their location. Armin gasped in alarm. Without gears to fight, they might die if the titan got to them! Immediately after he thought that, he saw Eren bring a hand to his mouth, his gaze burning with unadulterated hatred directed toward the approaching titan, though before he could do anything rash, Colith stopped him.

"No need." She shook her head as she lowered Eren's fist from his mouth.

"Huh?! What do you mean?! It's a titan!"

"I know lil bird, I'll handle it."

They had been about to ask her what she was going to do when she simply glanced toward the creature who seemed to have spotted them and was now jogging toward them with its signature empty beady eyes. Before any of them could react, however, her eyes glowed for a second, which was quickly followed by the titan coming to an abrupt stop.

Armin couldn't describe how he felt at the time. He watched, agape, as the titan's eyes sprung to life as though it regained something. It looked...weirdly sentient. The titan glanced at them for a while then swiveled to walk in the opposite direction, away from them.

"What...what was that...?" Armin had uttered in disbelief, though Colith simply replied with a finger to her lips, a grin slowly forming on her face as the sounds of waves echoed through the night.

"Secret~!"

'The 6-meters...its eyes...they...'

His eyes widened, finally putting two and two together.

'Don't tell me that Colith...you—'

"Armin!"

He was brought out of his thoughts by Jean's voice, which caused him to glance at him with wide startled eyes.

Jean frowned. "Get a grip! This ain't the time to be daydreaming!" he scolded.

Armin blinked then glanced away "S-sorry..!" he said, missing the way Jean paused to stare at him for a second.

Jean's eyes narrowed, although he choose to keep his words to himself and focused back on the strange situation at hand. "So what now? This is clearly a trap. Why would they bring our comrades' corpses here?" he glanced at the titans still down here. "Do they think we're dumb enough to go down and get the bodies so they can catch us?" he clicked his tongue in annoyance as sweat rolled down his face. "This bastard better not order us to engage them or I'll kill him myself...!" he glared towards their superior who seemed as frazzled as them.

"I don't think this is a trap." Armin said.

Jean paused, "Huh? What do you me—...!" the sound of grappling hooks being fired reached his ears, making Jean glance at the source only to see that Armin was no longer in his spot and was now going down. He did a double-take. "ARMIN?!"

Jean's outburst caught everyone's attention, causing them to follow the direction he was staring at. Their eyes nearly popped out of their sockets. Marco almost fainted in shock.

"ARMIN!"

Did he have a death wish or something?!

"CADET ARLERT! WHAT THE HELL DO YOU THINK YOU'RE DOING?!" the veteran yelled, his shock matched by everyone in the vicinity, even the two warriors were speechless.

What was the meaning of this?

Armin effortlessly landed. Everyone feared it to be his end, although, to their bewilderment, none of the titans did so much as move to attack. They just stayed there, rooted in their spot, staring at the blond's little figure in disinterest.

Armin kept calm as he warily eyed each titan in the area before his hand grasped tightly the necklace. 'I hope my theory's correct...' he thought before breathing deeply. If he was right, he'll hopefully discover the true purpose of these necklaces Colith gave them. With a nod, He slowly walked toward the bodies under the titans and scouts' watchful stare.

"What the...they're not attacking him?" someone breathed. "What the fuck is going on...?"

Armin eventually reached the bodies and paused upon getting a clearer look. 'There's no blood nor missing limbs...' he crouched down, recognizing some faces. Luilo, Tever, Soedis, Suleiman and—

'Ness-san?!'

He couldn't believe it! His former superior the female titan had smashed into the ground was here! Unscathed!

Gobsmacked, the teen quickly approached and reached for the man's wrist to confirm something. And upon feeling a faint pulse, Armin stumbled backward on the ground, astonished. It garnered the others' attention who watched the blond freaking out.

'He's...he's alive...!'

"You don't find this strange? I understand the need to leave us, rookies, out of the equation but what about you guys? They kept all of you in the dark about this except—."

"Shut up, will ya?" Oluo grumbled.

"What are you trying to say?! That the Captain and the Commander don't trust us?!" frazzled, Petra snapped.

"N-no but, it does give the impression that—" Eren tried.

"PETRA, KICK HIS ASS!" Oluo barked in irritation.

Petra paused to stare at him with a deadpan. "You do it. I'm not risking getting on Colith's bad side." she huffed, folding her arms.

Eld shook his head, "Just think about it, that trap would've failed if they told everyone beforehand. I think those who knew were the survivors from five years ago. That's what I think at least."

"Doesn't explain why Captain Levi called for Colith. Does that mean she knew? That'd explain why she wasn't freaking out earlier." Gunther suggested, catching their attention.

"Hah? Why would they include the witch in the plan? Ain't she an outsider?" Oluo sneered.

Eld gave him an exasperated look. " Maybe because she's found herself to be a trustworthy ally, genius."

"Ally my ass, I'm sure she's hiding something," he grumbled.

"No matter, did you know about it, Eren?" Petra asked, ignoring the bickering duo.

Eren shook his head, "No, I didn't even know she was onto it until after Captain Levi called her." he frowned.

"But more seriously, they included her maybe because of her knowledge? She's the only experienced shifter on our side, after all. She knows more about titans than all of us combined, no offense kid."

"It's okay, Gunther." Eren rubbed his nape sheepishly.

"Tch, so what? What if she's one of those spies? What if she's just pretending to be on our side then Bam! Betrayal!"

"Colith's not a spy." Eren scowled, aggravated by the accusations.

[On the other side of the forest, the woman in question sneezed, getting a curious look from the Commander. ]

Oluo clicked his tongue and looked away with a huff, "Whatever, I'm just saying."

"Are you still sour about the slap? That's petty."

"SHUT UP WOMAN!" He snapped, face red in anger and embarrassment while his comrades snickered at the memory.

"If you still don't trust her, why d'you still have that thing around your neck?" Eld quirked an eyebrow at Oluo who suddenly found interest in a random tree.

"None of your business."

Gunther snorted, rolling his eyes, already knowing the reason why his antsy comrade didn't discard the neckless on the first occasion. "Anyway, does anyone have any idea why she gave this to us?" he pulled the thing out to look at it.

Petra shook her head "Hm-hn! No but it's pretty!" she gushed, eyes gleaming with stars as she admired the black gem, a vision Oluo couldn't help but find cute.

"Hm, I guess it's just a gift then, even saw it around Commander Erwin's neck."

"Real question though, how the hell did she find the time to make them? Is she a jeweler?" Eld asked, turning to Eren who shrugged, clueless as well. He sighed, "Regardless, let's focus back on the mission. Think they already found out who's in there?"

*CLANG*

Mike and Levi's blades broke, pushing them to back off.

"Tch! This is useless...!" Levi spat, observing his shortened blade with a frown. They were trying to sever the thing's wrists off, but no success so far.

"It appears that she does possess the same hardening ability as you," Erwin remarked after a long contemplating silence.

"Yup, but unlike me," Colith pointed to the crumbling shards falling off, "She can't maintain them for too long. I suppose the next course of action would be to blow her hands to bits, right? Though there's a high chance that it could kill whoever's inside."

Erwin quirked an amused brow as he stood with a hand holding his chin, " I take it you have something in mind? What do you propose then?"

"Weeeell," she lifted her right sleeve, showing her dark-skinned arm. A crystal-like material immediately covered it, something the Commander was now familiar with. "We'll see who's tougher!"

Without further ado, Colith leaped from her spot and into the air, going for the titan's hands with a wild grin Erwin is sure to have never witnessed on her face before. This immediately got everyone's attention who noticed what was occurring, eliciting various reactions from gawking to doing double takes upon seeing the strange crystal-like texture coating her arm.

Hanji's eyes lit up, "OH I get it! Since the blades can't cut through the hardening, using the same thing might undo it! haha! Fighting fire with fire! Truly brilliant!" she bounced excitedly, missing the confused look on Ilse's face who couldn't comprehend in what way that would be effective.

As expected, the female titan reacted quickly by coating her hands once more in anticipation of what was to happen, and, Maria, did it happen.

Colith swiftly pulled her fist, ready to punch as she descended on her target like a meteor and—

A resounding *CLACK* echoed, the sudden unnatural sound startling everyone in the vicinity. The scouts stared in wonder and lingering shock, awaiting the results of such a move they'd never got the chance to witness.

"Did it work?" someone asked lowly.

It is a suspenseful silence, only broken by the sound of shattering crystal that met the onlookers' ears. Which was quickly followed by horrified gasps upon seeing the outcome.

Something did break.

"Welp might need them explosives in the end."

But not what they were expecting. They all gawked at what was left of her arm in sheer horror as fragments of crystals fell on the ground below. Levi appeared next to her so fast that it gave some scouts whiplashes.

"God dammit brat! What the fuck is wrong with you?!" He hissed, something akin to worry written on his features as he glared at her, causing Colith to jump in surprise.

"Don't worry captain, I felt like something like that would happen eventually." she turned to look at the Commander's bewildered face, "It seems like the hardening's a hundred times tougher in titan form than as a human. I had a feeling that it wouldn't work, but I still wanted to see if my theory was correct."

"Tch! You knew it'd fail and still went with it? Are you crazy? What are you gonna do with a fucking missing arm now?" he scowled, truly unhappy with her recklessness. Colith sweat dropped, just now recalling his warning about not hurting herself to prove a point. Oh snap—

"relax captain, tis but a scratch!" she tried to reassure.

"YOU'RE BLEEDING!" Hanji shouted, causing her to freeze and glance blankly at her arm devoid of the crystal and thus had blood furiously gushing out. The crystal must've cracked while she was speaking. She casually stopped the bleeding.

"See? A scratch."

The glare she received made her lower her head in guilt before she squeaked a quick "sorry" to the male who clicked his tongue in annoyance.

With that solution out of the window, the scouts resulted in setting charges in hope of destroying the titan's wrists. It was risky, considering that it might kill the shifter inside, but without Hanji's spears, they were make do with what they had brought along, that is to say explosives.

"I've got an idea!"

"if that includes harming yourself, I see myself in the obligation to refuse." Erwin denied with a frown, eying the steam flowing out of her regrowing limb. He couldn't help but notice how the process was taking longer than usual.

"what? No no! Remember what I did with Ethel? I could try that and even extract information without having to pull the shifter out of there!"

"Ethel?" a random scout asked but he was ignored.

Erwin's eyes widened a bit, thinking back to the peculiar thing she did with said titan a month ago. It...it could definitely work, considering that's mostly how they discovered the titans' true nature.

With the commander's approval and under Levi's narrowed eyes, Colith perched herself on a branch right above the female titan's head, ready to descend. Using the gear with only one hand available was definitely another matter, though she managed, to some scouts' awe. She briefly glanced at her arm. The regeneration was only around her forearm, the process being painfully slower than usual, yet, she didn't make it a big deal.

'i got this, I got this!'

With those brief words of encouragement, Colith shot the hooks above her to stabilize herself and proceeded to slowly descent until arriving right in front of the titan's face which thankfully was, this time, devoid of arrowheads, per her own request. This meant that the titan's icy blue eyes were left unharmed and functional which were now cautiously staring at the woman.

Colith only grinned, holding the titan's wary gaze.

"Well well well, mind if I take a look, little one?"

As soon as her eyes showed signs of glowing—

"YAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!"

It immediately released a blood-curdling screech that echoed through the woods to the point of reaching and startling those on the outskirts of the forest.

"What in the world was that?!" a short-haired girl exclaimed then squawked after nearly running head-first into a tree. She just returned from the cabin after refueling her gear whenit happened.

"Be careful! I don't know what that was but I'm no longer sure if we should still go there." her companion said, landing on a branch with an anxious frown.

"What?! NO! Just because of that scream you're gonna back down?!"

"Precisely."

An affronted look came across her face as she puffed her cheeks, "You can't be seriou—" but stopped herself upon hearing heavy footsteps and gasped when a titan, followed by another dashed right bellow her, "what's got to them all of a sudden?" she wondered as more of them ran past them. This was the first time she's ever seen them act like this.

"It looks like they're heading to where that scream erupted." her companion noted, "In any case, let's just retur—and off she goes. Of course she'll go after them, who was I kidding." her companion said flatly before sighing and reluctantly follow after her.

"What the—what was that?!" Hanji cried out, uncovering her ears like most of her peers, "A death rattle? Holy rose!"

Although, before they could regain their bearings enough to situate themselves, everything began to shake around them and it is after a warning from their resident titan detector about the incoming threat that, in horror, they understood what was going on.

Titans were rushing toward their location from everywhere.

Alarmed, the scouts immediately flew off to higher trees, mistaking this as an onslaught caused by the female titan's cry for help and therefore, a last-ditch attempt to save herself from them by summoning hordes.

"Where's Colith?!" Ilse gasped in worry upon realizing that her friend had been directly in front of the female titan and might have been knocked out from the scream. Though before any of them could panic-

"I'm here!" said woman landed right next to the Commander while rubbing her ears with her good hand, the other still regenerating, "Fuck, my ears are still ringing! Almost ended up deaf! Looks like she knew what I was about to do and quickly reacted."

They sighed in relief at her unharmed, safe –for her hand– sight then directed their attention to the situation occurring.

"Tch, a cry for help? Does that mean she can control titans too?" Levi wondered, glaring at the skewered giant with disdain from his spot.

His theory was shared by some scouts. After all, it made sense to them that she'd seek help from surrounding titans by making them attack them, though that theory fell flat when a small titan managed to break through their defense and bit into her leg, devouring her flesh. Erwin's eyes widened.

"Can't you do something to stop this?" bewildered, he turned to Colith only to see a sad frown on her face.

She slowly shook her head. Unfortunately, she could only stop them by making eye contact, which at this point was useless since they were too many of them coming for her to deal with.

Understanding that, It was with great reluctance that the Commander ordered them to protect the female titan by killing those approaching.

Those aware of the titans' true nature did their best to not feel remorse, but it was easier said than done with the knowledge that what they were battling against were actual humans unable to control themselves. While the scouts were desperately busy trying to thin their numbers, Colith informed Erwin that she'd rejoin her squad and was gone before he could inquire about her sudden hurry.

Eventually, after more struggle, he called for the scouts to pull back upon seeing too many titans gathered around what was left of their prisoner.

"Hey, Erwin!" said Levi after landing next to the Commander.

"She got us."

The Ackerman remained silent for a second before scowling upon seeing the look on the blond's face "Why the hell are you smiling?"

"The enemy was prepared to give up everything. I never thought she would have the titans eat her to erase all information..." he explained.

The raven-haired male didn't say anything as he eyed the dissolving blood from his hands and sleeves. His eyes shone with bitterness at the sight, knowing it was the only solution they had to defend the piece of shit which in the end didn't matter since the bitch died. Levi clicked his tongue while listening to Erwin shout the next instructions, although he halted when he noticed something amiss and began looking around in search of something.

"If you're worried about Colith, she returned to your squad." Erwin responded, a certain glint flashing through his eyes.

"Tch, worried? Why would I be? She can handle things by herself." Levi scowled, causing Erwin to squint at him in amusement before adorning a more serious expression at his next words. "no matter, after all the bluster in front of the council, we suffered heavy losses and nothing useful gained. What will happen to Colith and the brats when we stroll back to the gate?"

"C-Commander Erwin!" someone shouted, causing the two males to direct their attention toward the agitated messenger heading towards them.

"What is it?" Erwin asked as the man landed frantically near them, nearly slipping to the ground.

"i-it's..huh..." he stumbled with his words, nearly forgetting protocol as he looked as though he just saw ghosts, which in itself was close enough to what he was about to reveal.

"Tch! Talk! We don't have all time!" Levi snapped, causing him to stiffen and quickly nod.

"i-it's about the right-wing, s-sir...!"

"The right-wing? What of it?" Erwin quirked an eyebrow, gesturing for him to continue.

"w-w-well, they're a-alive sir..!"

There was a long silence following the statement during which both Erwin and Levi stared at the man who looked as bewildered as them.

"Come again?"

Things were going pretty well at the moment. Aside from the otherworldly screech that nearly made all of them jump out of their skins, Levi squad and their resident shifter were currently heading toward the retreat signals. It seemed like the mission came to a close which led them to believe in its success, causing the tension to dissipate. It is with good spirits that the squad members allowed themselves to relax while engaging in light banter until they caught sight of another signal and changed course, heading toward it, assuming it to be the Captain's doing.

Upon getting closer, their eyes caught sight of a figure approaching their location.

"Huh? Who are you?" confused, Gunther asked.

Unfortunately, their assumptions proved to be wrong when the person immediately went to slice the closest person, which in this case was Gunther who barely had time to register the situation.

*SWOOSH*

Everything happened so fast that they nearly experienced whiplashes as they watched the surreal scene occur.

One moment, the mysterious person was right beside Gunther, ready to cut him when a kick to the back sent the attacker barreling to the ground.

The scouts' eyes nearly popped out of their skulls at the sudden display, speechless.

"What is it with you guys?! Since when do scouts attack each other?! What the heck is going on?!"

Surprised, Gunther and the others snapped out of their stupor and stared at the stranger in utter bewilderment who had just saved their comrade's life.

On instinct, they promptly put some distance between themselves and their attacker who apparently had recovered enough to chase them once more. Even though what seemed to be the female titan's shifter, was right on their asses, their attention was fully directed at the new addition who had a scowl on her face.

"You-what—"

"Seriously, what the heck is going on? I thought you guys were supposed to kill titans, not your freaking comrades?!" she cried, interrupting whatever the heck Eld was about to say. "What the fuck's your commander thinking?!"

"W-wha—you know commander Erwin?" asked Eren which caused the girl to glance at him curiously. Puzzled teal met verdant green as the former realized that she didn't have a uniform and therefore— "Wait, you're not a scout!"

"COMMANDER?!" she squeaked in horror after processing his words, "THAT COCKY BASTARD'S A COMMANDER?!—"

"ISABEL!" a new voice shouted, causing them all to glance at the newcomer, "How many times have I told you not to rush into things headfirst?! You're not a kid anymore for goodness sake! " the man scolded, easily catching up. Levi squad couldn't help but notice how skillfully these two were using the gear. They were almost on par with their captain!

"Huh?! If I hadn't, this guy could've died, you know?!" she rebuked, pointing at a speechless Gunther, "I basically saved his life!" she gloated with a smug grin causing the ash blond-haired man to sigh.

"You can't keep doing this! We don't even know what's going on and why they're here!" He admonished.

"blablabla, whatever let's just ask them." she rolled her eyes then addressed the gaping group, "By the way, who the hell are you guys? Are ya playing some kind of game? Is this a new training regiment? Blow up trees and screech like a bunch of freaks? " she tilted her head to the side.

"WE'RE THE ONES SUPPOSED TO ASK THAT!" Oluo shrieked, finally snapping out of his shock. "WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU TWO DOING OUT HERE?! ARE YOU WITH THE FEMALE TITAN?!" His eyes narrowed, something his comrades all mimicked.

Unbothered by the outburst, Isabel eyed Oluo for a solid second, not acknowledging his accusations before casually turning to her companion, "Hey Furball, doesn't he remind you of aniki?"

"I told you not to call me that–"

Before he could finish his sentence though, a yellow flash followed by a familiar thunderclap resounded right behind them, causing them all to glance at the source with wide eyes. While the duo expressed confusion about this situation, Levi squad's mouth dropped upon seeing the bane of their existence.

'So she escaped..' thought Eren in horror.

A newly formed female titan was now dashing toward them. And the look on her face promised nothing good.

Soooo~

[Furlan Isabel are back!]