The battlefield was chaos incarnate. Titans thundered across the earth, their massive forms blotting out the sun as Marley’s forces and the remnants of Paradis clashed in fire and blood. Cannons roared, soldiers screamed, and the stench of death suffocated the air. Eren Yeager sprinted desperately toward his brother, every step driving him closer to Zeke and the power that waited beyond. His face was twisted with exhaustion and rage, but his determination shone brighter than the flames consuming the ground behind him.

And then—the blade came. A flash of steel cut through smoke and ash, arcing down toward Eren’s neck with lethal precision. Mikasa’s throat tore in a scream, Armin’s hands reached helplessly toward him, and Levi, battered and broken, could only watch as time slowed to its cruelest point.

But the strike never landed.

Out of nowhere, a figure had appeared—no warning, no sound, no explanation. The blade that sought Eren’s neck had been stopped effortlessly, caught in a hand that seemed carved with faint, glowing patterns like fire buried beneath skin. In a single motion, the attacker was hurled back into the ruins, stone shattering under the impact.

The field froze. Even the Titans seemed to hesitate.

The stranger stood there, silent amid the storm of dust and fire. Their presence radiated something ancient, something overwhelming—a force that weighed heavier than the very air. Cloaked in tattered remnants that fluttered in the hot wind, eyes burning with a light none of them had ever seen, the being moved with purpose.

The Titans reacted first. A dozen of them howled, their thunderous steps shaking the ruined earth as they surged forward to crush the intruder. Soldiers braced themselves, knowing it was already too late. But then—the impossible happened.

One Titan fell. Its head was severed before anyone even registered movement. Another collapsed with a guttural cry, its nape torn open in a blur of motion. Again and again, Titans dropped like flies, their massive forms crumbling into steaming heaps before their killers’ eyes could even track what had happened. In less than a minute, the battlefield was carpeted with corpses, steam rising in dense, suffocating clouds.

The soldiers of Paradis stood frozen in disbelief. Jean’s mouth fell open, his blade trembling in his hand. Connie whispered something that didn’t even sound like words. Mikasa stepped protectively in front of Eren, her eyes wide—not in fear, but in sheer shock at what she had just witnessed. Armin’s mind raced, struggling to process, and even he could only mutter, “That… that was faster than Levi…”

Levi himself, battered though he was, narrowed his eyes with a flicker of something that wasn’t quite suspicion—more like recognition of strength. Even he couldn’t follow the movements.

Eren stood frozen, his chest heaving, staring at the figure who had saved him from certain death. His mouth opened as if to speak, but no words came out. For once, the boy who carried the weight of the world looked small, like a soldier staring into the unknown.

No one spoke. The air itself seemed to hold its breath.

The stranger stood among the steaming ruins of slain Titans, silent, unmoving. The battlefield—just moments ago consumed by chaos—was quiet now. The only sounds were the crackle of fire, the hiss of evaporating Titan flesh, and the hearts of Paradis’ soldiers pounding in their ears.

Whoever this being was, they had turned the tide of battle in an instant. And for the first time in their endless war against monsters, the Survey Corps looked at someone not with distrust, not with suspicion—but with awe.