Losers

"No matter where she goes, I'll kill her...slice up her body...and drag you out of that filthy place!"

- Mikasa vows to save Eren

Losers (敗者達) is the 4th and final chapter of the 7th volume and the 30th chapter overall of the Attack on Titan manga, written and illustrated by Hajime Isayama.

Overview
Captain Levi is heading to the location of Eren after hearing him roar from the distance, assuming he had turned into a Titan. While traveling, Levi passes by the bodies of his fallen squad. After seeing the Female Titan rip Eren out of his Titan's neck, Mikasa becomes enraged and attacks it, trying to free Eren. Levi appears and grabs Mikasa, telling her to fall back. The two devise a plan and Mikasa distract the Female Titan while Levi prepares to attack it. When it tries to swing at Levi he takes the opportunity to attack it. During his attack, Mikasa attempts to kill the Titan and it raises its hand to hit her. However, Levi is able to intercept the hand but in doing so injures his ankle. Levi then uses this chance to cut the Titan's mouth open and retrieve Eren, followed by the group retreating. During their return Eren awakes only to hear that the mission had failed. When they return to the city they are hazed for doing a poor job. Petra's father briefly speaks with Levi, much to his agony. It is later decided that Eren was to be handed over.

Summary
Captain Levi, on his way to find Eren, sees the mangled bodies of his squad. He takes a moment to visit Petra's corpse and stares at her solemnly before carrying on. After witnessing the Female Titan tear Eren from his Titan body and take him in her mouth, Mikasa has been chasing her to exhaustion and attempting to attack her along the way. When the Titan collapses, Mikasa seizes the opportunity and goes for her weak spot. However, she again hardens her skin, breaking Mikasa's blades. Determined to save Eren, Mikasa reloads her sword and prepares for combat again. The Female Titan launches an unsuccessful attack and goes on the retreat again. Mikasa attempts to pursue her, only to be caught mid-air by Levi who orders her to fall back. His plan is to trail her from a distance for the time being.

Levi asks Mikasa about Eren. She insists that he is still alive, as the Female Titan could have simply crushed him but instead extracted his body. With this information, she believes that her mission was to kidnap Eren instead. Levi makes another comment considering Eren to be dead, which draws a dirty look from Mikasa. Angry from the whole ordeal, Mikasa blames Levi for Eren's kidnapping. Seeing the closeness between the two, Levi says that they will have to forget about taking the Titan down and instead put all of their effort into rescuing Eren. Initially wanting revenge for Levi's fallen squad, she agrees that they must save him before the Titan leaves the forest. Levi devises a plan; he will focus on cutting her up and Mikasa will draw her attention.

With everything planned, Mikasa charges out to distract the Titan and Levi quickly moves in from behind. The Titan does not fall for it and turns to attack Levi. He dodges the strike and with astounding speed, slices her up nearly the entire length of her arm. He then runs up her shoulder and stabs her in both of her eyes. With her briefly blinded, Levi continues his assault, slicing through the muscles in her legs causing her to fall to the ground. Mikasa watches in amazement at his speed, noting that the Titan does not even have time to harden her skin to defend against it. Believing she has an opening, she moves in to attack the nape of her neck. Noticing what she is doing, Levi calls out for her to stop. Either not hearing or not caring, Mikasa continues on course, too late in noticing the left hand of the Titan moving toward her. Immediately, Levi is there to throw Mikasa out of the way and stop the left hand by kicking it, injuring his ankle in the process. Mikasa looks up at him in amazement but also worry for his injury. In almost the same instant, he takes advantage of the Titan's helpless state and cuts through both of her cheeks and the muscles in her jaw. Unable to keep him hidden any longer, her mouth falls open and Eren starts to slide out. Levi swoops in and grabs him. Carrying Eren's unconscious body, he orders Mikasa to withdraw. Noticing the worry on her face, he ensures her that Eren is alive. As they head back to the other soldiers, Levi takes a look back and sees what appear to be tears in the Female Titan's eyes.

Regaining consciousness, Eren finds himself in the back of a cart on his way back to the Walls of the city. Still reeling from everything that happened, he sees Mikasa and asks what happened. After she delivers the upsetting news that the mission was a failure, they reach Karanes District. With the soldiers visibly broken and mournful, the city is surprised to have them back so soon, with many mocking and complaining that their taxes are wasted on the Survey Corps. Spotting a young boy and girl on a ladder to see the soldiers, Mikasa and Eren are upset as memories of their childhood surface. Petra's father, unaware of the news, spots Levi. He thanks him for taking care of his daughter and talks about his future hopes for her. Other people in the crowd begin to yell at Commander Erwin, bringing up the soldiers that were lost and making sarcastic remarks about his plans to recover Wall Maria. Eren begins to weep in the back of the cart. Due to the massive failure, the Survey Corps lose supporters. Commander Erwin is summoned to the capital and held accountable, while Eren is handed over to the Military Police Brigade.

Navigation
Chapitre 30