"I know Sandra well. If there are that many Titans near the headquarters… she'll try to lead a counterattack. Armin, where is she? What did she ask you to keep secret?" Mikasa's voice was distant—hollow even. But her presence pressed like steel. You could not defy her.
Armin's tears poured harder. His shoulders trembled. His voice came out in pieces.
"S-Sandra… Sandra… I'm sorry… Mikasa…"
"I don't want to hear apologies," Mikasa said. "Where is she?"
"Mikasa… Sandra's with the supply team. Don't be like this…" Jean tried to ease the tension.
Armin clenched his jaw, fighting the truth.
"…Sandra Gant. Fifth-ranked graduate of the 104th Training Corps. The supply squad? That was a lie. She was ordered by command to join a temporary vanguard unit… tasked with defending the breach from incoming Titans…"
Gasps rippled across the rooftop.
Everyone understood what that meant.
It was a suicide mission.
"Sandra Gant… her current status is unknown!!" Armin dropped to his knees and screamed it out.
Mikasa's hand wouldn't stop shaking, the tremor like an open wound deep in her bones.
"…Even if I can't make it, Mikasa… you have to keep going…"
Those were words I had once said to her. And now, they echoed in her mind like thunder.
Mikasa suddenly steadied. As if she'd found footing on a crumbling cliff. But her eyes… were soulless.
She knelt beside Armin, gently lifting his hand in hers.
"Armin. Focus. This isn't the time for grief… Stand."
She pulled him up, her demeanor eerily calm—calmer than anyone around.
"Marco. If we take out the Titans surrounding the supply tower, we can refuel. Once we do that, we can scale the wall. I'm right, aren't I?"
She walked the rooftop, blade in hand, voice as sharp as steel.
"…That's true, but… even for you, Mikasa… taking on that many Titans is…" Marco hesitated.
"I can do it."
She turned, blades drawn.
"Because I'm strong. Stronger than all of you."
"Because Mikasa is a strong person…"
Words I had once told her.
"Much stronger. That's why I can kill those Titans."
"Let me be the one to drive out those who destroyed my home."
My words. Still with her.
"Even alone… You lack the skills. You're weak and afraid."
Her gaze pierced the others.
"What a pity. Just sit there and watch. Do what cowards do best."
Mikasa's words landed like cannon blasts.
"Wait, Mikasa, what are you saying?" one soldier stammered.
"You're not seriously going alone, are you?" another asked.
"That's impossible…" a third whispered.
Mikasa cast them a sideways glance. "If you can't do the impossible, then you'll only die."
"But—"
"Mikasa… Pick it up…! If you do nothing… you'll die! Fight…! If you win… you live…!"
My voice in her mind, once more.
"If I win, I survive. If I don't fight, I lose everything."
Mikasa leapt from the rooftop, slicing through the silence with her resolve.
Gas tanks nearly empty, but she flew.
Her figure grew smaller with every burst of gas. The soldiers could only watch.
But something inside them stirred.
Jean Kirstein clenched his teeth, drew both blades, and yelled, "Hey! Who taught us to let our comrades fight alone?! What the hell are you doing just sitting here?! You'll really be cowards if you let her go like this!"
He charged after her.
Connie followed without a second thought.
The others, ignited by their courage, surged forward.
"Move it! Stay close to Mikasa! We've gotta strike fast! Before the gas runs out, we break through to the supply tower!" Jean barked out commands from the rear, his voice full of resolve.
"Mikasa's amazing… How do we even catch up to someone like her?" Connie grinned. His hopelessness had vanished.
They raced after her.
Mikasa darted across rooftops, using the last of her gas with precision. Every Titan she encountered fell in a single flash of steel.
But Armin, following close behind, could see it—something was off. Mikasa wasn't calm. She wasn't focused. She was pushing herself to the edge to suppress her grief.
And then… it happened.
She'd used too much gas. Too fast.
Her tanks hissed dry.
Her movement failed in mid-air.
She plummeted.
"Mikasa!!"
–––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––
[Flashback — Minutes Earlier]
"Huff… Huff…"
My right eye had been struck by flying rubble. My left leg twisted badly. My jawbone was fractured. Blood soaked my face.
I stood alone… surrounded by corpses. Giant corpses.
Five Titans. I had killed them all.
My blades were broken. My gas was gone.
I had nothing left to fight with.
And yet, I was still standing.
I truly thought I would die. But somehow… I found a path.
Guided by those strange glimpses into the future—those flickering premonitions—I dodged their blows, struck their weak points, and lured them into the urban ruins. But the collapsing stone walls had crushed me in return.
The rain had finally stopped.
But then… I heard it.
That dreadful sound again.
Turning around, I saw more Titans. Pushing through the breach.
Two were fifteen meters tall.
Three were eight meters.
One was five.
Six Titans. Advancing toward me.
Was this where I died?
I gripped my dulled, shattered blades.
No gas meant no movement. No movement meant no survival.
Even with this strange foresight ability—even if I could see their next moves—I couldn't fight back.
They closed in.
Their faces grotesque. Hunger in their eyes.
"…Mother…"
My teeth were broken. Blood still poured from my shattered jaw.
"…Eren… Armin…"
"…Mikasa…"
My strength was fading. My vision blurred. Only the faint light from the blades remained—casting a glow like a distant god coming to claim me.
A massive hand reached forward.
It grabbed me.
A 15-meter Titan lifted me high into the sky. Its mouth opened wide… ready to devour me whole.
"Sandra…!"
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