— Between Corruption and Salvation —
Carlos let out a jagged, tearing laugh—so twisted by the black mist that it scraped against everyone's nerves.
"Do you see it now? The old me could never defeat the Field Commander."
He stepped onto the fallen Shadefiend, eyes glittering with manic delight.
"But now? Killing her is effortless. Don't be sad—she'll be reborn soon in the mist."
Eren lowered his gaze to the writhing creature on the ground, his eyes sharp as a blade of winter frost.
"Reborn? You mean twisted into these mindless corpses after the black mist corrodes them?"
"What's wrong with becoming part of the darkness?"
Carlos spread his arms wide, as if basking in divine revelation. The mist around him churned violently in response—as though whispering back to the "sin" festering inside him.
Ethan stepped forward, brows knitted, voice steady but tinged with urgent grief.
"Carlos, stop this. You're not yourself. If you let Eren drain the corruption out of you, you can still return to normal."
"Return?"
Carlos's broken grin looked like a cracked mask about to fall apart.
"You'll never understand! For the first time in my life, I feel alive!"
He clutched the swirling mist as if it were pure oxygen.
"This power... this freedom... Only those embraced by the mist can comprehend how beautiful it truly is..."
For a moment, the air grew terrifyingly still.
Eren didn't answer.
He only lifted his hands—fingers snapping into a seal.
Silver threads exploded outward like lightning, tearing apart the mist strangling the others.
Carlos's pupils shrank.
"What is that power!? You really are a curse—something the mist despises!"
Before he could finish—
Three cold flashes sliced through the air.
Rowan's throwing knives struck, but the dark shield around Carlos absorbed them with barely a ripple.
Ethan, Aveline, and Cael moved at once.
Their coordinated assault hit like a storm, aimed straight at Carlos's vital points.
Carlos snarled, voice more beast than man.
"In front of me now, you're nothing but insects!"
His spine split open with a sound like shattering bone.
Dozens of black spikes erupted from his back, launching at blinding speed—each one slicing the air with a shrill whistle.
Even with their combined skill, the three were forced into retreat.
"Holy crap, he really got ten times stronger after going dark!"
Cael rolled away mid-complaint, somehow terrified and snarky at the same time.
Just as the battle threatened to spiral out of control—
a spike skimmed low across the ground, shooting straight toward Rowan, who was too occupied to dodge.
The freezing point of the spike was already touching his chest—
A heartbeat from death.
Suddenly his waist tightened—someone yanked him backward with brutal force.
The black spike slashed through the space he had been standing, shrieking as it passed.
Once Rowan regained his balance, he spun around—
and found himself beside Eren.
"When death is in your face, retreating isn't shameful."
Eren said it calmly, then vanished into the fray again without a hint of hesitation.
Rowan stood there, blank for several seconds.
The guy who never held back a sharp remark—
had just saved his life.
Something twisted in his chest, hard to name.
All their arguments, posturing, and petty pride suddenly felt... small.
Watching Eren carve into the dark haze like a blade through chaos, Rowan's lips curled into a conflicted, softened smile—
as if seeing him clearly for the first time.
— Wits Against Madness —
With Eren entering the fight, Carlos's focus snapped almost entirely onto him.
The pressure crushing the others lifted like a weight torn from their shoulders.
Black spikes rained toward Eren, yet he slid between the shadows with serpentine grace.
Each dodge skimmed impossibly close, danger brushing past him like cold fingertips.
Strangely—he never counterattacked.
He simply kept circling Carlos.
Carlos's roar was raw and feral.
"Damn you! Is running all you can do!?"
The mist surged with him as he raised a hand, forming a giant black phantom hand—jagged like a demon's talons, every edge dripping corrosive mist.
The hand crashed downward, warping the air with pressure.
Everyone felt their chest seize—breath strangled.
Then—
"Close!"
Eren's voice sliced through the suffocating fog like a drawn blade.
The phantom hand imploded into mist.
In the same instant, Carlos's body lurched—strung up and immobilized by layers of silver threads that had silently woven a trap around him.
Eren had set the snare while dodging.
Carlos thrashed, frothing with rage.
"Damn it! Let me go!!"
But the threads—condensed from pure qi—only tightened the more he struggled, digging into muscle with faint, tearing whispers.
Rowan ran a hand through his mist-ruined hair, stars of admiration in his eyes.
"Eren, you're something else! As thanks for saving my life, want me to fix your hair later?"
"Stay away."
Eren took three immediate steps back—as if Rowan was more dangerous than the spikes earlier.
Rowan sighed dramatically and folded his arms.
"Rejected again. Truly tragic."
"Enough," Ethan cut in, rolling his eyes.
He glanced at his watch—and his expression tensed.
"Time's almost up. We have to get Carlos back. Now."
No one disagreed.
Cael and Rowan didn't waste a second.
One grabbed Carlos from the left, the other from the right, hauling him up like a loudly protesting, overfed hog on slaughter day.
Carlos screeched, voice cracking with hysteria,
"You idiots! Let me go! I can't leave! Out there is hell—hell that isn't mine—NO!"
His cries twisted with a despair so raw it sounded like someone being torn away from the very source of their life.
Cael rolled his eyes and kicked him square on the backside.
"Quit squirming."
"You stupid bear! When I get out of here, I'll turn you into my puppet."
Before he could finish, something was stuffed into his mouth.
Ethan shook out the sock he had just peeled off.
"Too noisy."
Cael gave a big thumbs-up.
"Leader, that's what I call ruthless."
---
Soon, they reached the edge of the haze.
The moment they stepped out.
Carlos let out a choked groan. His body spasmed violently, like his soul was being torn away, and then he collapsed into unconsciousness.
Eren watched carefully, expression thoughtful.
"As expected... once those corrupted by the yin spirits leave the mist, they go down instantly. Like a fish pulled out of water."
Ethan nodded grimly.
"If we can purify the mist, everyone trapped inside can be saved."
A spark flickered in Eren's mind—
maybe... he should sneak in alone and absorb all the black mist himself.
Rowan burst out laughing, practically glowing with delight.
"I'd call that a win! Beat the enemy, saved a teammate—textbook mission."
Then he threw a grin at Eren.
"And you, man—once you step in, you're worth two people easy!"
But the smile that touched Eren's lips was swallowed instantly by a shadow.
"Too bad... Sister Nadia."
His voice dropped.
Save one, lose one.
Victory?
Or failure?
Why did it feel like something had been carved out of his chest?
He lifted his head—
Everyone else was smiling in relief.
Only he was drowning in grief.