Levi yells that Eren is taking too long to decide. In spite of his inner chaos, Eren decides to keep going along with the squad and apologizes as he hears the screams of the dying soldier. The Female Titan begins accelerating and when it is about to catch up, they reach the location of the other soldiers. Erwin gives a signal to fire hundreds of grappling hooks at the Titan, successfully trapping it. While the squad continues on horses, Levi leaves, having Eld to lead the squad.
Jean hears the commotion from his position on the outskirts of the forest, and Armin shares his theory that Erwin led the Female Titan into the forest in order to capture it and the human that is piloting it.
Inside the forest, Eren also reaches a similar conclusion, but wonders why is it that not even the elite soldiers knew about the plan. This angers Petra and Oruo as Eren implies that Erwin does not trust them. However, Eld agrees with Eren and concludes that it is because Erwin knew of a spy among the soldiers.
At the same time, discussing the same issue, Armin tells Jean that Erwin simply made his choice - whether to sacrifice hundreds of soldiers or all the people inside the Walls. He states that only those who do not hesitate to make sacrifices are able to change something.
Standing atop the captive Female Titan's head, Levi sarcastically remarks that the person inside should just come out as they have no time to waste. He then begins threatening the Titan, stating that there is no way of escape and also asking whether it is okay to cut off the hands and legs of the person inside. Hearing this, the Female Titan lets out a loud screech that can be heard all the way to the forest outskirts, much to everyone's surprise.
Still taken aback, the soldiers wonder if it was the Titan's dying scream, when Miche tells Erwin that he can smell Titans coming from every direction. The first group of approaching Titans reaches the Female Titan. Realizing that they are going to devour the Female Titan, Erwin orders everyone to engage in combat with them. However, upon seeing the upper hand of the Titans, Erwin signals a retreat. Knowing that he underestimated the enemy, Erwin then orders everyone to return into the formation. However, he orders Levi to refill his gas and blades beforehand.
The soldiers at the forest outskirts then notice the retreat signal, happy to finally be able to return home. Gunther Schultz also sees it, letting the rest of the squad know that they're going back. Wondering if they can finally see the person inside the Female Titan, Eren is told by Petra that it is all thanks to him as he decided to have faith in them back then.
The group then notices a signal flare, thinking it was fired by Levi. However, upon witnessing their own signal flare, the mysterious person readies their blades and heads their direction. Meanwhile, Hange asks Erwin about his decision to have Levi resupply, claiming there is no time for it. Erwin explains that while they saw the Female Titan being eaten, the person inside it was not seen. Deducing based on Hange's previous hypothesis, Erwin states that there is a possibility that the culprit managed to escape using the attire of the Scout Regiment. At the same time, the person nears Eren and others. Just as Gunther notices that it is not Levi, he is attacked. Eren, going to check on him, is horrified to see Gunther's corpse hanging from his mobility gear, his nape having been sliced off.
Eren and the squad attempt to escape from the mysterious attacker. The attacker then transforms, and the squad finds themselves being pursued by the Female Titan yet again. This time, Eren wants to fight it, but he is ordered to escape while the rest of the squad takes care of it. After a moment of uncertainty, Eren decides to trust them and heads for the HQ. From afar, he watches as Petra and Oruo manage to slice through the Titan's eyes and together with Eld continue attacking its arms until they are able to reach its neck. Eren considers the reason for them being able to fight in complete sync to be the trust they have each other. Believing to have made the right choice, Eren looks forward, but then he remembers Levi's words and looks back on more time to witness Eld rearing up to attack the Female Titan's neck muscles only to be suddenly caught by the Female Titan and bitten in half.
Witnessing Eld's death, Petra states that it should be impossible for the Titan to see again in such short time. She notices that the Female Titan prioritized one eye for faster healing. The Female Titan then sprints towards Petra as Oruo frantically tells her to regroup, but Petra is too shocked by Eld's death. She realizes her situation too late and can only stare as she is crushed against a tree by the Female Titan's foot. In a desperate last attempt, Oruo
grapples on to the Titan's neck and swings at its nape, but his blades are shattered by the Titan's hardened skin before the Female Titan knocks him out the sky with a roundhouse kick, breaking his spine and ribs. Seeing this, Eren yells out in horror and anger, wanting to kill the Titan and transforms. His roar is heard by Mikasa and Levi and both of them rush to Eren's location.
Eren takes the initiative and attacks the Female Titan, with the Female Titan trying to avoid Eren and kicking Eren to keep distance, as her arms have not healed yet. At the same time, Levi looks at the bloody corpses of his squad's members. Meanwhile, the fight continues and Eren manages to throw his foe down and attacks from above only to destroy both of his hands. Eren then blames himself for not transforming into a Titan and preventing the deaths of his squadmates and others in the Scout Regiment before remembering that the Female Titan is the real cause and roars at it in anger. Eren promises that he will tear the Female Titan as his Titan body begins seizing up and twitching as he loses control, seemingly moving his mouth along with his thoughts. At that moment, the Female Titan's injuries finish healing, she breaks from his mount, kicks him in the stomach, sending him into a tree, and
they resume combat. With Eren repeatedly swing and missing, until the Female Titan delivers a hardened punch through Eren's mouth, tearing it. However, Eren takes advantage of this and uppercuts the Female Titan hard enough to launch her into the air.
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