Chapter 88: Armin, Why Did You Wish... to Take Away Annie's Titan Power?
Seeing Levi blocked, Eren immediately shot a green energy beam from his fingertip.
Annie flickered again, appearing on the other side of the Armin Titan.
The Armin Titan "clumsily" turned, its giant arm swinging out again as if to stop her. This time, the arm's trajectory "just so happened" to block the energy beam Eren had fired.
BOOM!!
The energy beam slammed into the Titan's arm, which was covered in sea-blue energy, creating a deafening roar. The energy splashed in all directions but failed to break through the strange energy armor.
[Thank you, Armin—] Annie's thought echoed in his mind. [Back then… I'm so glad… I could be a good person in your eyes.]
The Armin Titan's movements paused for a split second. No expression could be seen on its face of blue energy.
The next moment, the ice-crystal light around Annie flared to its maximum intensity. Her body became a streak of white light, performing several short, explosive bursts of movement, her trajectory erratic as she used the ruins for cover.
"Don't even think about it!" Levi's figure gave chase again, a deep blue streak of light sticking close behind her.
Just as Levi was about to reach Annie again, the Armin Titan suddenly raised its hand. Sea-blue energy gathered and compressed wildly in its palm. The light grew brighter and brighter, looking like some kind of high-powered ranged attack or control ability. The energy fluctuations were so intense that even Hange, in the distance, felt a jolt of alarm.
"Armin! We're inside the Walls!" Hange's voice suddenly shot up. "Don't use a wide-area attack!"
The Armin Titan was "startled" by the sudden warning. The violent blue energy that had been gathering in its palm seemed to destabilize from this momentary "distraction."
BOOM—!!!
The energy didn't shoot out as expected. Instead, it exploded outward, creating a brief but blinding flash of light between Annie and Levi, completely obscuring everyone's vision.
In that split-second of chaos, under the cover of the turbulent energy, Annie used her last burst of movement. This was her longest flicker yet. The ice-crystal light flared, tearing through the air and crossing a vast distance in an instant. She vanished completely at the far end of the plaza, gone without a trace.
The energy slowly dissipated. Only Eren, Levi, and the Armin Titan were left in the plaza. The Armin Titan slowly lowered its arm, its movements a bit "sluggish." Its massive body began to rapidly evaporate in a cloud of white steam.
When the steam cleared, Armin was revealed, still in his sea-blue Magical Girl outfit. He was pale and breathing heavily.
"Sorry…" Armin lowered his head, his voice filled with regret. It was also tinged with a nearly imperceptible note of relief. Relief that Annie had survived. "I—I haven't fully mastered this power yet… I couldn't… stop her—"
"Armin! What the hell were you doing?!" Eren rushed over and angrily grabbed the collar of his strange outfit. "Because you suddenly turned into this weird thing and got in the way with your clumsy movements, Annie got away! Do you have any idea what that means?! So many of our people died! We finally caught her, and now you've screwed it all up!"
Armin didn't resist, letting Eren shake him. His eyes were filled with the perfect amount of "guilt" and "confusion."
Levi walked over. He didn't roar. He just stared at Armin with his cold eyes, not saying a word. He stared for a long time.
In the end, he said nothing at all, simply turned, and walked away from the ruined plaza without looking back. His silhouette was even colder and lonelier than the long shadows of the setting sun.
Eren watched Levi leave and didn't follow. He kicked a piece of rubble at his feet in frustration and walked to the side, turning his back to Armin and sulking.
Hange rushed over excitedly. "Armin! That was incredible!" she yelled, running up to him, her eyes shining with a fanatical light, completely ignoring the tense atmosphere. "Titan power! Magical Girl power! And the ability to make a Titan wear clothes! Your control looks terrible, but the potential is enormous!"
She excitedly circled him, wanting to touch his Magical Girl outfit. "Quick, tell me! What did it feel like when you transformed? How is the energy flow different from a normal Titan shift? Is your outfit made of energy? Can it change shape at will? The location of the Soul Gem and its function—"
Armin was getting dizzy from Hange's barrage of questions and could only barely keep up. He looked at Hange's excited face, then in the direction Annie had disappeared, then at Eren's still-angry back, his thoughts a jumble.
Eren, hearing Hange's chatter and Armin's replies, couldn't help but glance back. He saw Armin's exhausted, dazed, and "guilty" expression. Somehow, his anger subsided a little, replaced by a more complex frustration.
"Hey! Section Commander Hange!" Eren interrupted impatiently. "Now's not the time to be asking all this! Let him catch his breath!"
Hange looked at Eren, annoyed at being interrupted. But seeing his grim face and Armin's genuinely poor condition, she just shrugged and temporarily suppressed her curiosity. "Alright, alright, the condition of the test subject is also important. Armin, you rest up. I'll come find you for a detailed talk later!" she said, giving Armin another thorough, research-hungry look-over before turning to examine the traces of the battle.
The plaza fell silent. Eren stood there for a while. Finally, he walked back and stood in front of Armin. His expression was still sour, but his tone was a little awkward.
"Was that… your first time shifting? Are you still not used to it?" he asked, frowning as he recalled the Armin Titan's clumsy movements. "That's not how you use the power after you shift! You have to—"
Eren began to stiffly explain some of the tips he had learned from his own early experiences, his voice still tinged with annoyance. "…Anyway, with you being so clumsy, the next time we face an enemy, you'll be dead before you know it."
Armin looked up at Eren, then lowered his head, his voice a little hoarse. "…Thanks, Eren."
…
That night, on a quiet street within Wall Rose.
The moonlight was cold, spilling onto the stone-paved road. Armin, Eren, and Mikasa walked side-by-side. The clamor of the day's battle was long gone, leaving only a heavy silence.
Mikasa walked quietly between them, her worried gaze occasionally flitting between the two boys. Eren was still angry about what had happened. Armin had his head down, lost in thought.
After walking for a long time, Eren finally stopped. He turned to face Armin. In the moonlight, his green eyes looked especially serious, even a little probing.
The question that had been weighing on him all day finally came out.
"Armin—"
"By the way,"
"Why did you wish to take away Annie's Titan power?"