Armin's POV
The pain crushing his arm was a white-hot burn, an obsession that consumed every thought. Armin gritted his teeth, fighting not to sink into unconsciousness, each beat of the creature's core resonating like a hammer on his fractured arm. Through a veil of tears and sweat, he saw his companions lying broken. Despair, thick and slimy, threatened to swallow him.
Then, the atmosphere changed.
It wasn't a sound, but a new silence, heavier than the moans. A silence charged with murderous intent. Armin painfully raised his head.
He saw Maggie, standing upright like a standing stone, take her halberd. And he saw Elisa transform.
Her eyes. Those golden, soft eyes he knew, which he'd sometimes caught laughing by the campfire, were now two burning suns, implacable, inhuman. The air around her crackled, and the lead pellets were now just dancing grey streaks. Armin felt a weight form in his chest, different from the pain. One of disbelief. Of betrayal.
