"..." Annie blinked in confusion, unable to grasp why she wasn't the one unconscious.
After arranging their bound heads and the gun, Zeke prepared to rouse Reiner and Bertolt. He drew the knife from Reiner's waist.
Looking at the blade—closer to a box cutter than a sword—he sighed. "The Survey Corps' blades slice through Titans so smoothly."
Then, with one sudden slash, and Bertolt's howl tearing through the room, Zeke added coldly: "It works just the same on people."
"Ahhh—!"
The scream jolted Reiner awake.
Annie's eyes widened. She couldn't believe what she was seeing—their commander, their warrior leader, waking up his comrades by slicing off Bertolt's left foot.
What kind of captain did that?
Zeke studied the bloodied knife in his hand, frowning. "That shorty carved through the nape of Titans like it was nothing. So why does it take so much effort for me to cut through a person?"
He looked genuinely puzzled.
Annie was too terrified to speak. Her eyes brimmed with tears, but she didn't dare make a sound.
Bertolt screamed on, body shaking. His bindings prevented him from curling up or clutching his severed leg. He could only tremble where he lay.
Reiner, fully awake now, stared in horror. "Wh-what's going on? Captain, why—why would you cut Bertolt? Why tie us up like this?"
Zeke froze, staring at him. His voice came low, curious: "What? Has he started turning into Marcel now?"
"?!" Annie and Bertolt, stunned, studied Reiner again.
Reiner's crying tone, the look in his eyes—it was uncanny. He resembled Marcel, the long-dead comrade, though they'd shared no blood and never looked alike. His voice now was that of the boy who had once led them.
"What's happening?" Annie whispered. Bertolt's face twisted in the same confusion.
Reiner's sobs spilled out in a flood. "Captain, what are you doing? Annie—half her body is gone… me too… that knife—"
Blood ran freely.
Bertolt's leg—just hacked off.
The conclusion was obvious: Zeke had cut Bertolt's legs, and Reiner's body, and Annie's too.
Reiner's face crumpled with pain and betrayal. "Captain… why would you hurt us?"
Zeke only crouched down, seizing Reiner by the hair, voice merciless. "Kid, now is not the time to dodge responsibility with your little personality games."
Reiner froze.
Zeke whispered harshly into his ear: "Don't hide behind that so-called 'Soldier.' I know everything. Marcel died because of you. So did the people of Shiganshina. Don't think you can escape guilt by pretending to be innocent."
Reiner trembled.
"Wake up, Warrior," Zeke hissed. "You still want to return to your homeland, don't you?"
The word struck him like a switch. Hometown.
Reiner roared, the half of his body still intact bubbling as muscle fibers surged. New flesh and bone began to knit themselves together.
But before the transformation could take root, Zeke swung the knife again. One stroke. The regenerating body was severed.
Reiner wailed.
Zeke sighed, wiping the blade. "So it's not the sharpness. That dwarf's terrifying strength… that's the secret."
Cut twice now, and he was convinced. Levi's terrifying power had nothing to do with his blade.
Zeke leaned close, his tone almost casual. "Try to heal faster, and I'll slice you again before you finish. You don't want to be cut to pieces, do you?"
Lingchi. Death by a thousand cuts.
The word alone made all three of them pale. He wasn't joking.
Zeke's reasoning was simple. For a warrior to transform, their body had to be whole. A half-mutilated host couldn't shift. Bertolt's feet were gone—Zeke had ensured that.
He knew the Colossal Titan consumed immense energy and Bertolt couldn't possibly transform again so soon.
But Zeke wasn't taking chances. Not with them.
No more patience. No more repeat fights.
Reiner's despair deepened, twisting into rage. The soldier personality cracked, and the warrior within howled through the pain:
"Zeke Yeager! Traitor! I knew you were lying all along! You never wanted to find the Founding Titan! You've been leading us step by step into the devils' trap! You monster! Eldians are devils—purebloods are devils after all!"
The word "devil" lit a fuse inside Zeke.
His fury burst.
He threw the knife aside and grabbed Reiner's head, then pressed down on all three of them at once. Their faces were forced against the dirt, eyes dragged up toward the shattered ruins of Shiganshina.
"Look." His voice was molten iron.
They were made to see.
See the Abnormal Titans staggering across the broken streets.
See innocent civilians, caught and devoured, their cries echoing until nothing was left.
Reiner squeezed his eyes shut. Annie turned her head away in disgust. Bertolt whimpered.
But Zeke forced them back. His hand locked Annie's jaw, prying open her eyelids with cruel fingers. "No. Watch. Don't look away."
They stared, helpless, at the ruined district.
Zeke's words thundered over the devastation.
"I didn't do this."
His grip tightened, slamming their faces closer to the sight of blood and rubble.
"You did this."
The silence afterward was heavier than the smoke over the city.
Zeke's voice dropped to a near growl. "It's good now. You're the ones who've become the demons."