CHAPTER 26: THE TEST
The vial sat in Sukuna's drawer for three days.
Golden. Glowing. Waiting.
He looked at it every night before sleep. Every morning after waking.
"A cure," he thought. "Or a trap."
On the fourth day, he made a decision.
He found Armin in the library.
"I need your help."
Armin looked up from his book.
"With what?"
"The vial. I want to test it."
"On who?"
"I don't know yet. Someone who won't be missed."
Armin's face hardened.
"That's cold, Eren."
"Sukuna."
"What?"
"My name. Call me Sukuna."
Armin stared at him.
"Sukuna," he said slowly. "Where did that come from?"
"A different world. A different life. I'll explain someday."
Armin nodded.
"Okay, Sukuna. Who do you want to test it on?"
That night, they snuck out of the barracks.
Mikasa followed. She always followed.
They rode to the outskirts of Wall Rose. To a small village. Abandoned since the fall of Wall Maria.
In the village square, a Titan.
A small one. Three meters. Trapped in a well. It had been there for years. No one cared.
"This is cruel," Armin said.
"This is necessary," Sukuna replied.
He took the vial from his pocket.
Sukuna approached the well.
The Titan stared at him with empty eyes. Its mouth opened. Closed. Opened.
"If this works, you become human again. If it doesn't... you die."
The Titan didn't understand.
Sukuna uncorked the vial.
"Here goes nothing."
He poured the golden liquid into the Titan's mouth.
Nothing happened.
Seconds passed. Minutes.
"It didn't work," Armin said.
"Wait."
Steam began to rise from the Titan's body.
It screamed.
Not a Titan scream. A human scream.
The flesh melted. The bones cracked. The body shrunk.
And then...
A man. Naked. Shivering. Human.
He looked at his hands. He looked at Sukuna.
"Where... am I?"
"Welcome back," Sukuna said.
The man's name was Klaus.
He had been a soldier. Captured by Marley. Turned into a Titan. Sent to Paradise.
"How long?" he asked.
"Years," Armin said.
"My family... my wife... my children..."
"I'm sorry."
Klaus wept.
Sukuna watched.
"The cure works," he said. "Zeke wasn't lying."
"About the cure," Armin said. "But maybe not about everything else."
They brought Klaus to the barracks in secret.
Shadis was not told. No one was told.
Klaus stayed in an abandoned storage room. Armin brought him food. Mikasa brought him clothes.
Sukuna brought him questions.
"Tell me about Marley."
"What do you want to know?"
"Everything."
Klaus talked for hours.
About the internment zones. About the warrior program. About the hatred for Eldians.
"They fear you," he said. "They fear the Titans. They fear what you can do."
"And Zeke?"
Klaus's face darkened.
"Zeke is... complicated. He wants to save Eldians. But his way... it's not salvation. It's extinction."
"The euthanasia plan."
"Yes."
"Do you think it will work?"
Klaus looked at the floor.
"I think it will kill us all. Just slowly."
Sukuna left the room.
Mikasa was waiting outside.
"What now?"
"Now I need to decide."
"About Zeke's plan?"
"About everything."
He walked to the roof.
The stars were bright.
That night, Sukuna dreamed.
Not of curses. Not of Titans.
Of fire.
A world burning. Cities crumbling. People screaming.
And in the center of it all...
Himself.
Not Eren. Sukuna. The King of Curses.
Smiling.
He woke up covered in sweat.
"What was that?" he whispered. "A vision? A memory?"
He looked at his hands.
"Am I destined to destroy this world too?"
The next morning, a messenger arrived.
Not from the Interior Police. Not from Zeke.
From the walls.
A soldier in a white uniform.
"Eren Yeager, you are summoned to the capital. The king requests your presence. Immediately."
Sukuna looked at the messenger.
"Again?"
"This is not a request."
"It never is."
Mikasa stepped forward.
"I'm coming."
"No. You're not."
"Sukuna—"
"If I don't come back, you know what to do."
Her eyes widened.
"What do you mean?"
He leaned close and whispered in her ear.
"The books. The vial. Klaus. Tell Armin. He'll know what to do."
"Sukuna..."
"I'll come back. I always do."
He climbed into the carriage.
The windows were covered. The horses started moving.
Sukuna sat in the darkness.
"The king wants to see me again. After everything that's happened."
"This time... I'll ask the questions."
END OF CHAPTER 26