(End of the Third Day in the Cabin — Return to Town)

When Eren stepped into the town…

he instantly felt that something was wrong.

The streets were still.

But not with a natural stillness.

He walked through the stone-paved roads.

His eyes drifted to the houses:

Shuttered windows.

Doors left open.

Empty.

He reached his home.

The door was slightly open.

With a heavy heartbeat, Eren pushed it.

Inside—nothing.

The wooden table was overturned, chairs scattered across the floor.

In the middle of the room, a curtain swayed gently in the breeze.

No one was there.

> "Grandpa...

Dad...

Mom..."

Eren’s voice echoed within himself.

But no answer came.

He swallowed hard.

His face tightened as he stepped back out onto the streets.

And that’s when he saw it...

A crowd had gathered near the large stone manor at the northern edge of the town.

Mert’s father’s estate.

People were silently standing together.

As if some invisible force had summoned them.

Eren set his jaw.

He began pushing through the crowd, shoulder first.

The faces around him were pale.

Some filled with fear.

Others with awe.

And some... completely blank.

In the center of the manor’s wide stone courtyard—

stood his mother.

---

A pale greenish-purple aura rippled around her.

Her eyes...

were no longer the eyes he remembered.

Sharper, brighter, glowing with a sickly light.

Her hair drifted slightly, though there was no wind.

Her nails had grown subtly pointed.

Her stance was taller, more imposing—almost threatening.

And her voice...

was no longer a whisper.

It echoed through the town’s streets like a haunting call.