Her bloody finger lifted and a pile of crystals formed right underneath me. She had raised me to her height so that I could face her.

Smoke emerged from the sides of her face as she breathed heavily.

I needed to get up- to fight.

If I died, those two kids will die too and so will my family. My own life didn't matter as much as the lives of those who depended on me.

So I must fight.

I gulped down the ferrous tasting fluid filling my mouth and forced myself back up again. I needed to beat her and the horde of the titans behind her. The worst part was, that I didn't have nearly enough blades for that.

I needed to at least kill her and then look for help.

I attached the cord to the titan right behind her and blast off. The titans face got closer and closer and I landed straight at its eyes. Or rather, into it. Using the surface as a spring I release steam and jump straight towards the female titan's neck.

Being big made her reaction time incredibly slow.

I twirled around mid-air preparing myself for the perfect slice and as soon as I reached her neck a layer of blue crystals formed all over it, blocking any chance I had of slicing it.

Two sets of blades were instantly shattered and wasted. SHIT!

I could do three more. But a fight like this was pointless.

'If I can't get in through the back, I'll just bury my way through to her nape.'

I attached my body to a building to the side and ran across her neck to the front and stood atop her exposed pectoral girdle. Her reaction yet again was nothing but staying still.

"JUST DIE!" I buried two fresh blades right into her muscular neck. They shattered after coming in contact with the newly formed crystals.

HOW AM I SUPPOSED TO BEAT A TITAN IF MY BLADES CAN'T PIERCE IT?!

And then out of nowhere, a large translucent spike passed right through my back and came out of the front side. Right below my heart.

'Her counterattack wa..s just one attack.' I coughed up even more blood than before. The translucent crystal was crimson.

There really was no surviving this now. My insides turned into a mess and I was missing a third of my entire torso in the form of a hole in my abdomen.

"DAMN IT ALL!" I grabbed another fresh pair of blades and throw them right at her eyes. She instantly covered them with her hardened hands.

No, wait. She had to cover them, instead of hardening them. She did have a weak point!

"EREENNN!!!" Right behind her, I heard a nostalgic voice.

It was Mikasa. As she came closer more and more titans started to fall.

"THERE ARE KIDS IN THE BUILDING! CHECK ON THEM!" I shouted out of my bloody mouth.

She instantly took my words into account and flew past me onto the ground.

I still needed to beat the female titan. There was no way I could survive this with the hole in my chest, so I might as well give this everything I had.

If I was going down, this titan bitch was going down with me.

Mikasa will take care of the kids, Armin will take care of the family.

The scouts weren't evil people. They weren't heroes. But they did save us on multiple occasions. I could trust them not to discard Mom at the very least.

I made some right decisions, even though they were hard ones to make.

It was all fine. I came to accept my tragedy so quickly that it felt like I was welcoming it. Did I want to be free that bad?

"AAAAARRRGHHH!!!" I forced the tip of the crystal to break off with my sheer strength.

'This body sure is convenient.'

I twisted my back and the crystal detached itself from there as well.

I needed to bury through her eyes. Using my gear I flew straight into them and before her hand could react, I dove inside blades first.

Eyes lead to sockets and sockets to the brain. That would lead to the brainstem and the nape.

I dug and dug and dug while her body shook from what I can only assume was pain. I never knew that titans could feel pain. But it was nice that she was feeling the same amount of torment I felt with the gaping hole in my stomach.

The further I got, the higher the temperature rose, until it became hot enough for even me to react. And then all too quickly, flashes of blinding light started to permeate through the flesh, making me reflexively close my eyes.

The next second, I was in the middle of the air squirming around.

The female titan had disappeared out to nowhere.

'Did I kill it? No way... I was still nowhere near the stem, I barely made it to her brain.

She ran away.'

"FUUCKKK!!" I released the steam from my gear to break my fall, but still end up falling and rolling over. I really was going to die and had nothing to show for it!

The fight made an even bigger horde of titans surround us. The hole in my stomach left me completely immobile. There were two kids and Mikasa inside the building behind me. There was no way she could carry them while fighting titans.

'Where the hell are the others?!'

I tried to push my body back up.

"MIKASA!"

Once I gave her the signal she came out with the kids in her arms.

"GET OUT OF HERE! Over the walls. I'll hold them back!"

"Eren! What's wrong with your chest?!"

"I don't have a lot of time... so just get out already. Erwin will still take care of you all if I died, that was the deal."

"I won't leave you behind!!" Her voice was more terrifying than a titan's roar.

"There's no point in all of us dying together. Just get lost already!"

I got back up. Fractures, ruptures, burns. Yep, I was going to die anyway. At least I could die knowing that the rest will live on for a bit more.

"But-" She tried to retaliate.

"I will kill every titan here. If the other's come back, maybe I could live too."

"They won't! They are fighting the armoured titan."

Ah... so that's what it was. A shame. Her words snatched the little hope I had left. Well, I already accepted my fate and was satisfied with all I had done.

"Whatever... the titans are here, just leave already."

"I'll be back after I drop them off." Mikasa bit her lips and said as if there was a tonne worth of weight on her back.

"You better not come back here!"

"YOU CAN'T STOP ME!"

She shouted while throwing her blades over to me. Before I could retaliate, she took off towards the wall.

Coming back here would be a suicide mission. But I was neither in the state nor had the ability to stop her.

'This is exasperating.'

There was only one choice left then.

Still lying on the ground with one hand around the hole, I lifted my blade at the titans.

"I will clean every last bit of you trash before she gets back."

I had to fight. FIGHT!