Oaths In Crimson

"Take care, Armin. Mikasa..." Eren's voice lingered in their minds as he pulled them into a tight embrace, holding them as if he didn't want to let go.

"Yeah... you too..." they both replied, though their voices carried the weight of everything unsaid. Armin broke away first, joining his team—Reiner, Bertholdt, Samuel, and the others. But Mikasa's grip on Eren tightened, saying more than words ever could. She knew they were running out of time.

"Hey... Mikasa..." Eren whispered, his breath warm against her ear now that Armin was gone. Slowly, he loosened their embrace, one hand resting on her waist, the other gently brushing her cheek.

Mikasa blushed, her face turning crimson as she stammered, "Ye... Yes, Eren...?"

Eren moved closer, so close their foreheads touched, and in a soft voice, he murmured, "There's something I have to tell you... Once this expedition is over, I'll take you to a beautiful place I went the other day... just the two of us. Okay?"

Mikasa nodded with a faint smile, but before she could mount her horse, Eren leaned in, gently adjusting her scarf. Her cheeks flushed even deeper at his gesture. Mikasa joined Sasha, Connie, Christa, Ymir, and a few senior cadets, who couldn't resist teasing her when they noticed her softened expression.

"Well, aren't you the happy one, Mikasa?" Ymir smirked, her tone sharp. "So, have you two done it yet or not?"

"Ymir, that's rude!" Historia snapped, her voice filled with annoyance. "Apologize to her right now."

Ymir raised her hands mockingly. "Sheesh... I'm sorry, princess," she said, her voice dripping with sarcasm.

Mikasa barely reacted. Ymir's words were nothing compared to the whirlwind of thoughts in her mind—Eren's promise echoed louder than any taunt could.

"Fellow scouts! This is it—do whatever it takes to survive!" Eren's voice called out, pulling Mikasa back to reality. He sat tall on his white horse, commanding attention.

With a fierce battle cry, the scouts set out on their long, treacherous journey. The sounds of rattling carts and horse hooves filled the air, but soon they faded as the scouts formed their groups, spreading out across a two-mile radius. Following the flare system, they skillfully avoided potential threats.

Any titans that did appear at the front lines would be swiftly dispatched—Eren and Levi will take them down one by one.

6 hour in the expedition

Sudden Attack Of Female Titan At Left Wing

The sun blazed overhead, its scorching heat draining the life from Armin and his squad who wore scout regiment cloaks hiding their identities however their faces were pale with terror in the center mid.

"What the hell..." Reiner muttered, as a black flare shot into the sky—a warning of an aberrant titan. Moments later, the horizon was filled with several purple flares, signaling something far worse: the entire left flank had been wiped out by a single titan.

Armin's breath came in ragged gasps as he fired black flares to the right, signaling an immediate shift in formation.

Suddenly, a distant voice reached their ears.

"Run! Run away... QUICK!"

Armin turned, spotting a senior scout racing toward them, his face twisted in fear. He'd just witnessed the slaughter of their comrades.

"She's onto us..." the scout gasped, but before he could say more, a distant rumble cut through the air.

Armin's eyes widened as he turned to face the source of the sound—the female titan with crimson eyes. The same blonde monster who had tried to kill Eren twice was back, and due to the open and wide field the scouts were in disadvantage.

But Armin's mind raced past his immediate fear. "How did she manage to go from the left flank to the rear so quickly?" Since the senior who approached them was from the center rear meaning that the entire left flank was killed and now the female titan aimed for the center flank. His heart pounded as the realization hit him like a sledgehammer. "There's no way... Does she know our formation? Is she wiping out the scouts from behind so she can reach Eren at center front?"

Panic flooded Armin's thoughts. "If she's targeting him, Eren won't have any backup from the rear since all of us will get killed."

His fists clenched in rage. "That bitch... I won't let you have your way..." Armin looked behind him just finding that the female titan was right behind their team.

But before Armin could even react, the blonde titan scooped up the exhausted senior scout with terrifying speed. As she sprinted, her cold eyes scanned him, searching for something. "Not Eren."

"Ahhhhh!" The scout's scream echoed through the air, but it was short-lived. The titan's grip tightened, crushing his body with sickening ease. Bones shattered in her hand, and she tossed his lifeless body aside like a ragdoll.

"What... what just happened..." Armin whispered, panic creeping into his voice. Desperation flared in his mind—maybe, just maybe, he could reach the nearest abandoned town, and set up a stealthy ambush with his comrades. But that hope faded as quickly as it came. The titan's speed was overwhelming, far outmatching the exhausted horses that had been running for six straight hours.

With brutal efficiency, the titan unleashed a series of swift punches, crushing the other senior scouts with horrifying ease. Blood and bone splattered across the field, their lives snuffed out in an instant. The only ones spared from her wrath were Reiner, Bertholdt, and Armin.

Reiner and Bertholdt, both without their hoods, stood out in the chaos—exposed, their identities unmistakable. But Armin, still cloaked beneath his hood, remained concealed. For now.

However, the Titan's gaze shifted at Armin who was at far left. "You're next..." Annie shivered and with a brutal kick, she struck Armin's horse, the impact sending the animal flying and Armin crashing hard onto the ground. His vision blurred as pain exploded in his head, blood pouring from a gash across his temple.

"Shit..." Reiner grunted, launching himself toward the titan, his ODM gear propelling him close enough to strike. But before he could land a blow, the titan effortlessly snatched him from the air, her fingers tightening around his body, squeezing the life out of him.

"Ugh..." Reiner struggled as Bertholdt, instead of aiming for the nape, slashed at the titan's wrist. The sharp cut forced her to release Reiner, who dropped to the ground, gasping for breath. But it was all part of their plan—a carefully executed act. Before Reiner was freed, he discreetly gestured toward Eren's location, directing the female titan's attention toward the center front.

Without hesitation, the titan turned and began advancing straight toward Eren.

Armin, barely conscious, watched in horror. "Why isn't it killing us...?" he muttered, confusion and dread flooding his mind. His vision began to blur, darkness closing in around him. The last thing he heard before everything went black was a voice shouting, "Hey, Armin, get up! We need to inform the higher-ups!"

But his body gave in, unable to fight the exhaustion any longer.

-------------------------------------

"Five titans approaching, Captain!" Petra shouted, launching five red flares into the horizon.

"Got it..." Levi muttered, standing tall on his horse. With swift precision, he fired his hooks toward the approaching titans, slicing through them in mere seconds. Before hitting the ground, he re-launched his hooks, seamlessly mounting his horse mid-air.

The Levi squad, always in awe of their captain's prowess, quickly fired blue flares to signal success in butchering the titans. But it felt hollow—there was no one left to see them. The previous flanks had been completely wiped out by the female titan, leaving 67 scouts dead in her brutal wake.

Suddenly, Petra's eyes caught something behind them. A wave of dread washed over her as she realized the sky was filled with black and purple flares.

"Levi..." Hange's voice rang out, sharp and urgent.

"Full speed ahead!" Levi commanded, his voice steady despite the chaos. "It's here..." he muttered, though his mind was already working through a plan.

Moments later, the ground rumbled beneath them. The squad turned, and there she was—the blonde titan with crimson eyes, sprinting toward them with terrifying speed.

"Captain, your orders!" Eld shouted, his teeth clenched, his expression mirroring the tense resolve of Gunther, Petra, and Oluo.

"Keep moving forward! That's my final order!" Levi's voice rang out, louder than usual, but unwavering. He knew the fight was far from over.

"Squad 4, move forward! Don't let her reach Vice Commander Eren!" Scouts from the right flank shouted, their eyes locked on the female titan.

"Rookies, aim for the legs! I'll go for the nape!" a senior scout called out, launching his hooks toward the titan, managing to halt her momentarily. Despite their fear, the rookies followed orders, tears in their eyes as they aimed for her ankles.

"Tch, Pieces of trash...." Annie her voice filled with venom knew that the scouts were headed to their doom and she'd kill them without a second thought.

Suddenly, the sound of blades shattering filled the air.

"What the hell...?" one of the rookies gasped. Crystal-like structures had appeared on the titan's skin, breaking their blades with ease.

Annie had activated her hardening ability, a power granted to her by the Warhammer Titan's wielder : Lara Tyber. This technique was born from injecting the wielder's spinal fluid into one of the nine titans, giving them hardening abilities and partial energy boost which stayed within them for a couple of weeks. Though the spinal fluid was quite hard to achieve from the noble family, but the boost was immense, allowing them to transform up to three times in a row without hesitation.

Before the three invaders could breach the walls, the Tybur family had generously offered a single capsule of Lara Tybur's spinal fluid. The lucky recipient? Annie, now possessing the hardening ability. But while her strength had initially been overwhelming due to the boost, it vanished in couple of days after she appeared within the walls.

"The hell...?" one of the rookies muttered, his eyes wide with disbelief as he watched the shimmering crystal form on the titan's skin, appearing out of thin air. His hand trembled on the hilt of his blade, but fear had frozen him in place. It was as if the female titan's skin had transformed into an impenetrable shield right before their eyes.

That was as far as Squad 4 would fight.

With ruthless precision, Annie lifted her foot and brought it down on the rookie who had hesitated. His scream was cut short as the massive foot crushed him into the ground. His body flattened under the immense weight, his bones snapping and blood pooling beneath him, staining the grass a deep crimson. The others watched in horror as his lifeless form lay there, the grass around him now a graveyard of broken dreams and wasted lives.

Annie's cold, emotionless gaze shifted to the senior scout who had dared to aim for her nape. She moved with terrifying speed. Before he could react, her elbow struck him with such force that his body crumpled in midair, his spine snapping on impact. His body dropped to the ground in a lifeless heap, eyes vacant, the last flicker of life snuffed out by a single blow.

Another rookie, his breath hitching in terror, made a desperate move for the titan's other ankle. But Annie was relentless. Her hand shot out, grasping him by the torso before he even reached his target. There was no hesitation, no mercy. With a sickening crack, she ripped his body apart at the waist, his agonized scream echoing in the air for only a moment before the sound was swallowed by the scouts agonizing screams to retreat. The two halves of his body were flung carelessly to the side, landing with a dull thud.

The remaining members of Squad 4 were little more than prey to her now. One by one, they fell in a merciless, grotesque display of power. Limbs were torn from sockets, eyes gouged out, and skulls crushed with sickening efficiency. Their blood painted the ground beneath them, mingling with the soil and staining the once-green landscape in shades of red and black. Their screams faded into the distance, replaced by the haunting silence of death.

"Tch... I never thought Eren and Levi would turn tail and run like that... Cowards" Annie muttered to herself, her tone cold and dispassionate. The scouts had been nothing more than obstacles in her path, delaying her from reaching her true goal. She cast a final glance at the scattered remains of Squad 4, their sacrifice now forgotten as her gaze fixed ahead.

Without a second thought, she began sprinting again, her eyes narrowing as she spotted the distant canopy of a massive forest. The towering trees loomed in the distance, their thick trunks and sprawling branches providing perfect cover for the Levi Squad. Their ODM gear would let them maneuver through the forest easily, but Annie wasn't concerned. She had the advantage of raw power, speed, hardening and her target was within reach.

The Levi Squad kept advancing, the dense canopy filtering the sunlight as they pushed deeper into the forest. But Annie was gaining on them, her thunderous footsteps echoing behind them as she tore through the open field, determined to reach Eren at any cost.

"Captain, why... why aren't we fighting back?" Petra's voice wavered, her fear barely concealed as she watched the towering figure of the female titan closing in on them with terrifying speed. Every instinct in her body screamed to strike, to fight, but Levi remained eerily calm, his expression unreadable. The others felt the same tension, the uncertainty gnawing at their resolve as the titan's footsteps grew louder.

"Who said we aren't?" Levi's voice was a low whisper, almost lost in the chaos, but there was a deadly edge to it. Without another word, he leaped off his horse, moving with an effortless grace that belied the storm of fury brewing inside him. His eyes, though calm on the surface, reflected the fire of his rage—a quiet, controlled anger that gave him an almost supernatural focus as he maneuvered right in front of the titan.

"FIREEEEEEEE!!!!!" A voice pierced through the menacingly quiet forest.