Saph's PoV
The feel of soft fabric brushing my face awoke me from the dark recess of unconsciousness. Blinking, the adrenaline I'd fostered in the battle surged back with a fearsome force. Snarling with the instinct of an animal, I scrambled to my feet despite my blurry vision.
"Hey there," Levi said as he grabbed my wrist to halt my frantic efforts, "stop moving, idiot. Half your face had been melted off. You haven't completely healed yet!"
Hearing those horrific words, my fingers softly touched the bandages around my eyes. One socket was an empty sunken hole, the other had slowly begun to form tissue, but it was still unusable. The muscle underneath felt tender and fresh. "What happened? The last thing I saw was a Thunder Spearheaded at me." With the pounding of my heartbeat fading, I could now distinguish the sound of waves. We'd made it onto the boat at least. The two of us must be alone in a bedroom, otherwise, Levi wouldn't be holding my hand. It felt so good, so steady.
"I told you not to do anything reckless, and you go get yourself blasted into smithereens. If you hadn't thrown your blade at the last second, you'd have taken on the full impact. All that would've been left of you is chunks." Guiding me to the edge of the mattress, Levi pulled me down next to him. "After you got hit, Falco transformed which blew up the building the Egerist were on. Most of them died in the blast and the others fell to our blades."
Flopping into his lap, my thoughts became hectic disarray as memories of what happened previously surfaced with a brutal vengeance. The shockwaves of pain made me curl up into the fetal position, my body giving up now we were in a safe place to do so. "I'm sorry. I'm so sorry," I whispered, fearing if I were any louder it'd turn into a sob. Despite not being able to see, I tried to angle myself in Levi's direction in a desperate attempt to be closer. How I wished I could witness his expression.
His fingers threaded into my short hair, stroking my head like how I'd seen him do with Chaco. I didn't think I'd be able to cry without eyes but the tears began to soak into the flimsy cloths. Any that escaped, he wiped away himself with the pad of his thumb. "What's wrong, Saph?"
My nails ripped into the sheets underneath me as I struggled to breathe once again underneath the weight of my grief. A jumbled mess, the few coherent thoughts that fled through my mind carried a unique vicerality. It felt as if my heart had been sliced open, and I'd continued to bleed out ever since. I'd thought the moment of tragic realization would carry the worst of the torture, but the slow decay of my spirit might be what kills me. Each inch of me felt what had been ripped away, and the last thing I wanted to do was have Levi feel the same.
A low grunt left his lips as Levi snuck an arm underneath my legs to scoop me up closer to him. With my temple now resting on his shoulder, he continued to stroke my hair. "It's Chaco, isn't it?", a hoarse edge of knowing attached to the question.
Hearing his name caused a round of convulsions that started in the core of my being before reaching my toes. It crumbled the dam. "Yes," I sobbed, clutching him. "He's gone. When Wall Rose came down, it fell on top of the house." Burying my nose into the crook of his neck, I disintegrated into his gentle strength. How I needed him right now. "I'm sorry. I'm so so sorry."
"Don't blame yourself," Levi tried to reassure me. "It's not your fault."
"It is. You both deserved better than what I've been able to give you!" I wailed with an open mouth. His shirt began to become soaked from a dreadful mixture of drool, snot, and tears. "All I gave my son was an early grave, and you… I don't want to leave you." Reaching a hand up, I traced what distinguishable features I could find with my fingertips. "The two of you were supposed to have happy and long lives together."
Levi cupped his palm against my knuckles, guiding my fingers until they found the corners of his eyes where tears had started to leak out. "I would've done the same thing. We both thought he was safe at Honey and Edmond's. Nobody's safe though. Not right now. That doesn't make it your fault."
"I could've prevented it," I desperately explained, "I was supposed to protect him."
He pressed a gentle kiss on my forehead. "We both were, yet you're not pointing a finger at me." Unlike me, Levi's nerves continued to remain steady, the only indication of cracks was from how his voice began to quiver and the tears greeting the tips of my fingers. "I was so caught up in getting revenge on Zeke, I spent more time with that bastard than my own son these last two weeks. I'm a failure as a father."
"Don't say that. Chaco was so proud of you." Sitting back up slightly, t I wanted to ensure he heard my words. "Levi, he'd been wanting to hear grand stories of your exploits as Humanity's Strongest Soldier before bedtime instead of reading. The times you saved me. When we fought the Beast Titan, or what you saw when you traveled off the island." Reassuring him inflamed an inner strength within my bones. As if I'd been close to drowning, now an infusion of weightlessness allowed me to breach the surface. "Do you know what he always did next? Told his own stories about the two of you. When you took him on a hike and how you guys saw a snake. How fast you were when you first showed him your moves in 3DMG."
"Really?"
I nodded with fervor. "Yes! Our son felt so loved by you. Never abandoned."
"Then why don't you think the same applies to you? You're the one he ran to when he thought a Titan might be under the bed. Had his favorite lap to sit on." Crushing me to him, Levi lacked all restraint as he hugged me. "Why must you blame yourself?"
Buckling under the question, I spoke broken garbled sentences in between my sobs. "I have…believe I… could've stopped…because…nothing stopping…same happening to you. I have to do better. I must do better," I yowled. Levi continued to silently hold me even with every exhale releasing a torrid mess of my anguish. Far beyond reason and sense, what I needed most was to be acknowledged. While Levi let out a long sigh once in a while, he didn't move much else for those minutes. Only when we jolted to a stop did I break away from him. I needed to collect myself. How am I supposed to protect Levi as we head off into such a dangerous battle when I'm in this state?
Realizing that my new eyelashes were now fluttering against the binding, I hastily ripped off the soggy fabric. Blinking, it took me a moment to become accustomed to the little light in the room. Being able to see along with feeling him calmed me down enough to speak. "How are you healing?" I asked, sniffling. What terrible shape the two of us were in.
"Better. I'm going to walk around a bit to stretch my limbs. Might go see if Yelena knows where Zeke and Eren might be headed." Those gray orbs pierced me with a stare. "I can still defend myself, it's not all up to you. Never was." Swaddling me up into a blanket, Levi took small breaks to slowly caress my cheeks with the back of his fingers every once in a while. "I'm going to leave the door open," he reassured me as he limped out, leaning against the railing of the ship for help.
I gave a small nod, not wanting him to be out of my sight now that he was within my reach. How strong that lovely, tiny man is. My whole being screamed that I'd failed him and Chaco, but for all that same anger I felt towards myself, Levi's word's rung with a beat of peace. It's not your fault. Scared me to let go of the blame and anger. It'd only leave the echo of his absence for me to contend with.
"You should stay with Saph and sleep a little more," I heard Armin suggest from the corridor.
Levi's voice was gruff but not hostile. "Sleep more? If I sleep any longer, you all will forget about me. I've got work to do."
The hobbling thump of his footstep receded as they moved in the direction of the interrogation. Uninterested myself, I concentrated on regaining my full strength by doing some breathing exercises. While I usually found myself restless and my mind wandering, the quiet sorrow I found myself encompassed in assisted my solo therapeutic session. As if submerged deep underwater, it dulled the world around me. Made it easier to focus on my internal structure. Too bad my Titan Powers don't contribute towards healing the heart.
"We're leaving in an hour, Saph," Armin interrupted as he broached the room. Circles of blood stained his otherwise crisp white shirt. Evidence of the bullets and other wounds he'd endured at the docks. "How are you feeling?"
A dry laugh cracked the room with its tension. "Horrible, but I can fight." Shuffling off of the bed and to my soles, I stretched my bare toes out against the steel of the floor. A good portion of my clothes had disintegrated within the blast, leaving Hange to scramble around to find me a pair of shorts and an ill-fitting shirt.
Face downcast, Armin handed me some 3DMG. "I'm sorry about Chaco."
"Of course you are," I said bluntly, not wanting to talk about the subject matter. "Who wouldn't be, but there are other things to worry about right now." Quickly donning on the gear, we left together in silence. What more is there to say? All I hoped was that if I keep moving, maybe that'll help.
"Hange! We head off in an hour."
Our ragtag group all gave a short nod as we approached. Despite our wounds and weariness, I didn't doubt we contained some strength. Two Ackermans, four Titan Shifters, and 3 hardened Survey Corps members would be enough to eradicate most threats, but this is a threat on a scale we've never expereinced before. Titans were one thing, Eren's Founder Titan is hardly comparable. Neither are most of us at full power. Casting a worried look toward Levi, it distressed me to see him suited up for battle, though I knew he'd never stay behind. Seated on a crate, Levi turned in my direction once we'd arrived. Such small gestures always warmed me from the inside out. How precious he is. No matter what reigning terror we must face, I know he's always there, watching my back.
However, my stomach soured at the sight of him shakily raising a battered hand. Cradled between his thumb and pinky, the handle of the sword seemed ripe to slip away at any moment. "Two fingers are enough. It's fine," Levi attempted to reassure us.
A rain of gunshots interrupted the gathering. Instinctively, we all dashed to the hanger that held both the precious flying boat and the source of the rapid popping sound. The fastest of us all, Mikasa flew ahead as she whipped out her claw. The brief reflection of the sharp metal shining into my eyes was all I glimpsed before they both disappeared into the shadows. I wasn't too far behind as the scent of blood grew stronger.
"Floch?" Shocked, I stood still as Hange pushed past me.
"To think he latched onto the ship to get here," she muttered as she kneeled down to search for a pulse.
Damn. I'm surprised nobody noticed. Turning to evaluate the area he shot, dread caused me once to perspire once I spotted the holes in the bottom of the flying boat. Oh no.
Onyankopon focus landed on them the same time mine did. "Hange! The bullets had pierced the fuel tank! We can't fly like this," he trailed off in a whimper.
One of the engineers stood up and grabbed the toolbox. "Not yet! We will have to block them."
Most of them scrambled to the machine, refusing to give up. "Prepare to seal! Anyone who can move, watch the engine."
Twiddling my fingers impatiently, I paced back and forth between Levi and the plane. Will I be able to protect him? I have to. There's no other option. Turning around to approach Levi once again, my impatient steps trailed off to a stop once I realized he was observing me with a sad expression. Softening, I didn't realize that I'd moved closer until we were a breath away. Before either of us got the chance to say something, the soles of my feet began to grumble.
"Shit," I whispered as our facial expressions morphed into horror.
Reiner darted outside as if the slow rhythm of the crust bending around us might come from any other source than the slow stampede of Colossus Titans. "The Rumbling is here!"
"Tch," Levi spat in between the spaces of his clenched teeth. Salt water sprayed us as I walked with him out of the structure. Fearing that the unstable ground might cause him to fall and hurt himself, I glued myself to his side. The ground around us began to shake more vividly as they towered over us.
The head engineer didn't glance up from the frenzied pace of his work. "Someone will need to buy us a little bit of time!"
Panic began to cause my veins to bubble as Levi glanced at me with a torrid mixture of emotions. Don't look at me as if you're about to say goodbye. With the severe knowledge that he was about to volunteer to stay behind screaming at my instincts, I stepped forward to confront him. "You promised me that if a situation ever arose where someone needed to step up that you'd let me do so."
Glaring at me with a vengeance, Levi's brow furrowed as if he'd forgotten the agreement. "The situation has changed. With my weakened state, you're a much more valuable asset to keep alive. I'm ordering you to step aside and not embark on this suicide mission."
I snapped, bristling at the thought of watching him dash off to die. How dare he. "Take your order and shove it up your fucking ass."
"Saph-"
Shaking my head, I interrupted his plea. "Don't make me do this anymore." My words wobbled uneasily, battered by my crashing desire to disappear in his stead. "I don't have much fight left in me, so at least let me die helping you and everyone else." Before the love of my life, I grazed my palm into his. A ghost of holding that same hand in comfort, solidarity, while making love, and a promise. "Please," I begged.
Crestfallen, Levi's facial expression shifted into stricken alarm. The pallor of his face became white.
"That's not necessary," Hange said as she grabbed my shoulder. "I'm sorry, but I'm going to have to ask you to keep fighting."
"Hange, but you're the Com-," my voice dropped as I felt Levi's fingers twitch around mine. Maybe it's selfish of me but I truly didn't want to part from him.
Shaking her head, Hanged patted my shoulder with a severity that cut off any potential resistance. She turned to the rest of the group. "Not anymore! Armin, I'm promoting you to the 15th Commander of the Survey Corps. The one requirement is that you never give up. There's no one better than you, so everyone is in your hands." Hange began to wave with a bright smile. "Well, goodbye!" Striding towards the thundering horde of Colossus Titans marching our way, she glanced behind her. "Oh! Saph and Levi are also your subordinates now. Manhandle Levi as you will, but Saph's more volatile so make sure you say please when giving an order."
Bending her head, the veterans shared a smile between us, "You two take care of each other. No squabbling." Her smile seemed a little forced, but we both knew she was committed. "Always wanted to go out with a bang, and I wasn't about to let either of you steal that moment. My time has come."
Levi pressed an enclosed fist to the center of his chest. "Dedicate your heart."
"I'll miss you, Hange."
"Haha, that's the first time I've heard you say that. Thank you, Saph."
I didn't want to watch as she took off with the Thunder Spears. Doomed to die, yet she whipped around in the air with grace. This is the first person with who I felt a friendship within the Survey Corps. No matter what else happened, Hange always was there with a solution. I'd come to rely on her throughout all these years. Someone who I saw worthy of fighting with and for in the harshest of circumstances. Holding my breath, I began to suffocate underneath the sadness and panic befalling me.
After shooting two of them down with the firepower, she was reduced to her swords. Only years of experience helped her swipe them down one by one with her blades. Feeling the heat from my distant position, I couldn't fathom how she was withstanding the crippling temperatures of the sardonic Titans. Just a dot in the sky, she continued to cut them down around us. Their falling corpses crashed, merely missing the warehouse walls. The ones behind her victims only stepped on their fallen comrades, unrelenting in their forward movement.
"Hange!" Armin cried as we all boarded the boat as the steam and heat finally overwhelmed her.
Seeing the pause in her movements, I knew she was headed for the sea below. Unable to mask myself, I pulled away from the scene as I heard the engine of the plane begin to stir. Not wanting to see my friend fall, I focused on seating myself next to Levi. Riddled with grief, I partially collapsed into him, using the excuse of the turbulence of the screeching plane to seek contentment in his touch, but Levi barely glanced my way when I leaned into him.
"Hold on! We are taking off," Onyankopon shouted, sniffling afterward.
"See ya, Hange," Levi murmured. "Watch over us."
We'd barely been lifted into the air before the lot of us were transported into Eren's mind world again. A large pillar of white flame bellowed before us. Sand stretched out all around us but there was no sea, no ocean. Just hills of the fine dirt but no water. Without the crashing waves or smell of salt, the place held a eerie desolate feeling.
"Again?"
"Eren," Armin screamed, "please listen. Stop now! No one will touch Paradis for centuries! You've shown enough terror and destruction. We can sign a neutrality pact with this. No one has to die anymore because the island is safe" He took a deep desperate breath. "We're at fault here! We drove Eren to this end."
"Eren!" Jean joined in the shouting. "Please leave the rest to us. Please don't murder for our sake."
I can't stop the Rumbling. I can't gamble on Paradis's future. I'm going to keep moving forward.
Raising a finger, Levi pointed at the blinding white light. "Look."
We all switched our attention to two small figures that stood side by side. Their dark outlines splintered the brightness.
"Eren," Mikasa said as she raced forward.
All in pursuit, the mumblings and yelling of the group became a noisy mass of sorrow. All blended together into a soup of nostalgia and fear.
"He's a kid?"
"Even so… that's Eren, but who is he with?"
"What do you mean you can't?"
"Trust us!"
"Why did you let us use our Titans? We can talk here. Tell us!" Armin demanded, his usually quiet voice reaching a new pitch of hurt. "We were always together. I don't want to be further apart! Eren?"
I took the world's freedom to achieve my own, but I won't steal yours. Your freedom to save the world versus my freedom to keep moving forward. If neither steps down, we will collide. That leaves only the option of fighting.
"Why did you bring us here?"
To tell you that there is no need to talk. The only way you'll be able to stop me, is by ending my life.
With a jolt, we returned to the interior of the plane. Thank goodness Onyankopon wass flying. We'd have certainly crashed into the wide expanse below if the pilot had been unconscious.
Shifting uneasily, Levi leveled his one eye cooly at Armin. "He's not going to negotiate, so what now?"
"I don't want to hurt him," Mikasa confessed, cradling her head.
"Let's see if we take Zeke out of the equation and if that stops him or not," Armin pleaded.
Levi nodded. "That hairy bastard is meeting his end next time I see him."
Settling into my spot, I picked at my shorts. I didn't want to hurt Eren, but I saw no other way of stopping this. Even without access to royal blood, he'd continue this crusade. Tired of violence, nothing in me yearned to hurt Eren. Part of me understood his conviction. He'd told me that he wanted Mikasa, Armin, and all of his friends to be free before the curse shortened his time, so maybe I should've seen this coming. Grateful for the fact that I'm not in Mikasa's spot of having to murder the person I'm devoted to and hold dear, I tried to prepare myself for the fight ahead.
Shuddering in the sky, the Azumbabito plane struggled to maintain the frantic pace Onyankopon had pushed it for the last handful of hours. Levi and I had shared a few words with everyone else but each other. Regretful of my desperate plea to die in his place, I didn't know how to express my remorse surrounded by company.
"There he is!" Jean shouted as he pointed out of the plane.
We all stood up to gather around him. While steam had engulfed us for most of the trip, it now bellowed into every opening of the plane, pushed inside by the magnitude of heat centered around the Founding Titan and the Colossus Titans encircling him.
Onyankopon began to curse and bang on the wheel. "Shit! The engine is almost dead."
Peeking into the cockpit, Armin gave a cursory glance at the controls. "We should jump out!"
"Not yet!" He shouted with vigor and steel. "We must get right above the Founding Titan before you do so. Then I'll try to crash land this!
"Onyankopon, watch out!"
Jarring thunks began to fill the space with noise. Each one a sickening punch to the stomach as it caused us to consider what'd be like to start dropping out of the sky. A barrage of shattered rocks had been pelted at us from below. I instinctively moved in front of Levi to hold my arms up as a cover. Tilting wildly in the sky, the plane veered sharply in the hopes of avoiding more damage to the material of the plane. It'd be easy for this precarious situation to crumble apart entirely.
I felt Levi's hand on my ribs, pushing me to the side gently but with resolve. "The fucking monkey!" he growled.
Following my gaze to where he was glowering, I saw the Beast Titan swinging its arm with perilous precision. "Glad he's not hiding," I said as I mentally prepared myself to turn. I'd never taken him on in close combat before, but I wouldn't be alone.
Armin cleared his throat. "We found our target. We'll go after the Beast Titan and do everything we can to stop the Rumbling!" Without even a pause, he threw himself out into the clouds.
Expecting Levi to be not too far behind due to his vendetta, I was startled that he didn't step forward before the rest of the group. I wanted to go after him so I could watch his back. "What are-" A quick finger to his lips shushed me. Only when the last person had jumped out did I start to twirl towards him.
With the heat and passion of an unsaid poem, Levi kissed me. Tender but insistent in deepening the intimate exchange, Levi made the split second of contact stretch out so sweetly. Color exploded back into my world as my senses became awash in a new intensity. Once he let go, I was left dazed and speechless. "Stay with me. I love you too much, and I refuse to let go."
Smiling, a tear trickled down my cheek. A little bit of joy finally escaped into what I'd thought had become a shell of my heart. How could I have forgotten how lucky and thankful I should be to still be here with the love of my life? "For you," I whispered, "anything." Grabbing his hand, I fell out backward, tugging him down with me.
I quickly let go in order to orient myself in a downward position. Shooting forward, my eyes watered from the speed, but I knew we needed to catch up with the rest of the crew. Renier changed just as another wave of rocks was thrown at us. While his armor had slipped away when the Walls fell, his burly body still sheltered us from the missles. The Cart Titan too roared into appearance, the strip of dynamite that Floch had wrapped around the plane now clutched in its jaws.
Guess it's my turn. Digging my nails into the palm of my hand, my fierce desire to protect Levi caused me to change before I even saw the first hint of blood. My claws scratched the surface of Eren's enlarged spine as I landed. Looking around, I saw Armin speaking some words under his breath. The only person who hadn't transformed into their Titan self.
"As I thought," he shouted on top of Renier's shoulder, the Beast Titan's smoking carcass in front of them, "Zeke hid his real body just like the Warhammer Titan did."
Jean interrupted, "You mean we have to find a human body from this heap of bones?" He continued, his voice nervous but decisive. "There's no way we'll be able to do that! Armin, we are left with no other alternatives."
"I know! I'll blow this place up in a minute. Join the Cart Titan and get out of here."
Stunned, I wasn't the only one surprised with Armin's changing intention as Mikasa appeared crestfallen. "Are you sure?"
"Eren is expecting this attack, it won't kill him! If we blow apart these bones then maybe that'll reveal their locations."
The rest of us began to move away, attempting to give him as much room as possible. I'd only shifted my scrutiny elsewhere when I heard the awful gnashing of teeth behind me. None of us reacted in time as a Titan emerged out of a cloud of steam to swallow Armin whole. Gaping, I was stunned by the sudden arrival. What the hell?
Levi climbed on top of my collarbone, his voice close. "Who the fuck are these guys?"
"Is Armin still alive?" Connie asked in dismay.
"Calm down," Levi ordered. "If he had been hurt then he would've shifted. In other words, he's been captured without injury. It seems the Titan who swallowed him has ran down to Eren's ass to hide."
Rows and rows of abnormal-looking Titans began to emerge from the crevice and cruxes of Erens jagged vertebrae. Everywhere one looked there were enemies. Large formidable enemies who didn't have the empty glazed expression of most Titans. They circled Reneir, the Cart, and me, patiently waiting for an opportunity to strike.
The Cart's gnarled voice echoed around us. "I know what they are. The Nine Titans of the past. I'm guessing Eren can revive them without the consciousness of the Shifter by using the Founder's power. An inexhaustible army created for the sole purpose of fighting." Gathering her legs underneath her, the Cart gave us a deep appraisal. "That's why," she leaped away and began sprinting towards Eren's head, explosions in tow, "I can't let you do anything careless since Eren is not my friend!"
"No!" Mikasa shouted as it dawned on us the contents of her plan.
Taking a step forward, I hesitated as a swathe of the enemies stopped me in my tracks. They'd yet to unleash an attack, but the sheer number of them still daunted me. Horrified by Piek's course of action, there was nothing I could do as she wrapped the sheet of dynamite around the skeletal nape of Eren.
Expecting an explosion of a large magnitude, I shifted to the side to shelter Levi. With my eyes closed, the sound of my hammering heart occupied all my senses. A second went by. Then one. Then two and three. Realizing that nothing was happening, I cautiously gave a peek to see that the previous Warhammer Titan had appeared with a spear in hand. Dangling the Cart Titan at the end of the weapon, Piek had been completely stopped in her tracks.
This whipped the rest of the Nine into a frenzy as one hastily dodged in front of me, causing me to impulsively swipe with my claws. This gave an opening for the one beside it to grab my wrist, burying its teeth into my forearm.
"Argh!" I cried out in pain as I stumbled backward. Allowing Levi to concentrate on detaching the bastard from my body, I waved my lengthy nails at the ones nearby, daring them to go after Humanity's Strongest as he assisted me.
With one lethal swipe, Levi freed me before returning to the crux of my shoulder and neck. With my tiny protector nestled near, I fell to my four feet so I could dash forward with a vengeance. Infuriated by my clumsiness, I eagerly twirled within the potential catacomb of teeth and claws. The flesh of their necks held no flavor, but they were composed of different textures. Some were scaly, others squishy tissues, however, they all ripped apart on top of my tongue. With no human piloting them, it took a little extra effort to put them down.
Seeing Levi dart off, I withdrew to carefully survey him approach Jean just as the past incarnation of the Jaws Titan jumped towards them. "Captain!" Jean cried as it clamped its mouth, skimming the leg of Levi's pants.
Too close for comfort, I jabbed a long claw into the back of a Titan's throat in order to swiftly behead the creature so I could make my way to the rest of them. I backed up in order to close the gap in our now tight circle. Surrounded, they didn't leave us much room.
"We've got to get Armin back. There's no other way out," Levi commanded, herding us to where the Titan who'd kidnapped Armin had escaped to. "Hurry up!"
While most of the group rushed ahead, Connie lingered back to help a struggling Renier. Hesitating near Levi's side, we watched the two of them fight against the tide of enemies to catch up. They appeared close to breaking out of the crowd, when, out of nowhere, Bertolt's Colossus Titan swooped down and plucked the Armor Titan up. Holding his previous friend as if a toy doll, the Colossus swiftly bit his head off.
The only thing that saved him was Jean swooping by to grab Reneir's body before it got injured. Thwarted from his snack, the Colossus thrust the carcass of the Armored at its feet, resulting in an explosion that staggered both humans and Titans. Closest to the blast, Connie had been stunned, leaving him dangling helplessly. Taking advantage of the vulnerable soldier, a Titan swung down from below with its mouth wide for the treat.
"Connie!" Mikasa shrieked.
The other Ackerman was the one who grabbed him instead. Grappling with the boy, Levi couldn't avoid the grinding white pearls as they captured his leg. Ashen faced, he vomited blood before losing consciousness. The world erupted.