The Deadly Greenwood (緑林の死地 Ryokurin no Shichi?) is the 3rd chapter of the 17th volume and the 63rd chapter overall of the Attack on Titan: Before the Fall manga, written by Ryō Suzukaze and illustrated by Satoshi Shiki.
Overview[]
Carlo is told the fates of teams seven and eight, but is glad to hear the vertical maneuvering equipment was successful in killing a few Titans. When another red signal flare is sent, Carlo orders all surviving soldiers to mobilize, and they end up battling a five meter Titan. Meanwhile, Kuklo goes off to find Xavi and is nearly killed by him in an ambush. The two foes prepare for a final fight that will settle their long running feud.
Summary[]
After teams nine and ten regroup with Carlo and the other Survey Corps soldiers, they update them on the status of teams seven and eight, along with the effectiveness of the vertical maneuvering equipment. Acknowledging Felix's condition, Carlo decides to return back to the Wall and abort their secondary goal of mapping the territory; Rosa objects and states her belief that the Titans they encountered were not the cause of the red signal flare and at least two more are in the vicinity. Cardina agrees and notes the ground near the oasis was not as affected by the rain, enabling their coordinated attacks against the two Titans.
Kuklo notices the rain will soon stop and any Titans nearby will be able to smell their presence. Carlo decides to ultimately continue the operation and orders teams one through nine to assist team ten in taking down the Titan responsible for the red signal flare. Kuklo then asks Carlo to go on alone and track down Xavi; Carlo agrees and Kuklo is given the location of where Xavi's horse was found. Wishing both Rosa and Cardina good luck, Kuklo departs and picks up the trail.
As the rain disappears, Carlo prepares the soldiers to move out. When Ivo notices another red signal flare, the soldiers mobilize and head towards it. Rosa orders team ten to have their blades ready and they find a five meter Titan crushing the body of a Survey Corps soldier. Rosa and Cardina coordinate the attack when Rosa notices the Titan display abnormal features and it leaps in the air; she is horrified to see it land near the unconscious Felix and screams out to him.
Coming upon the location where Xavi found a set of Titan footprints, Kuklo continues on foot for sometime before flying up into the trees. Noticing more footprints, Kuklo suddenly hears something fly towards him and narrowly avoids Xavi's attack. He glares at his tormentor, who is wearing Felix's set of vertical maneuvering equipment and blatantly asks Xavi why he has hated him for so many years. Xavi mentions that he always saw Kuklo as an eyesore and never believed him to be an actual spawn of a Titan. Taunting him, Xavi admits everything he did before the expedition was to solely favor himself and improve his own standing with Gloria Bernhart, which would lead to his family's business to prosper. Drawing swords, Xavi vows to kill Kuklo and leave his body to be eaten by the Titans.