Although they had escaped the sight of the Eldian soldiers, Asahi did not relax his guard in the slightest, constantly urging Ymir to run.
Even though they didn't seem to be pursuing anyone, given they hadn't brought hunting dogs, the appearance of a fully armed squad of soldiers here was highly unusual.
And there was another thing: from the moment he encountered the Eldian squad until now, his rate of fading suddenly increased drastically. It no longer seemed like his will-body was disintegrating naturally from losing its source; it was as if some force was forcefully erasing his existence.
"Is it because I'm about to change history? No, shouldn't my appearance have already caused history to deviate?"
Asahi tried to piece together the scattered clues that had appeared from the beginning into a coherent narrative, or at least something he could understand. Unfortunately, there were still too few pieces of information, and almost half of them were incomprehensible to him.
Hearing the increasingly heavy breathing beside him, he regained his focus. Regardless of the circumstances, Ymir's life was linked to his guidance; if he lost focus, everything would end.
After running with all her might for a few minutes, the little girl breathed a sigh of relief and sat down on the grass, her back leaning against the tree trunk behind her. However, when she turned to the side, Ymir's expression shifted to vague fear.
Asahi's form was faint, like a bubble about to burst, so much so that several parts had completely vanished, leaving only outlines in her memory.
She tremblingly reached out her hand, wanting to touch him, but immediately passed right through. At this point, Asahi could no longer pretend that nothing was wrong.
"Ymir, don't be sad. This is inevitable. You must continue to go now."
"It's not difficult, is it? Just like when we first started..."
He then stated the three things that young Eren had conveyed to him before entering the Coordinate, and very likely, the boy had been conveyed the message by someone else even earlier. This message was not for Eren, nor for him, but for Ymir.
"The first thing, directed to me, 2000 years later."
"The second thing, stop the future."
"The third thing, seek freedom."
"Ymir... these are three things someone asked me to relay to you. Perhaps you won't remember, perhaps in some distant future you will understand..."
"As for me... just..."
Swish!
Asahi's will was eroded to the extreme. His form was torn into countless points of light. From Ymir's confused perspective, he looked like a giant glowing ancient tree burning its final life to see itself off. It was beautiful, but also truly painful. His brief journey in this era, like an interlude, officially ended.
Asahi had no idea that the scene of his disappearance, in Ymir's eyes, was exactly like the image of the giant glowing tree in the Coordinate, the Paths of the Eldian people later on.
Ymir... just smile. Remember when you caught the first fish? Smile... yes... that's how it is...
The little girl looked at the empty scene in front of her, feeling an equally profound emptiness in her heart. The goal of survival suddenly became distant, beyond her reach.
Because this will-body was eliminated and submerged into the flow of time, the truth about this era would not be revealed to anyone, even Asahi's main body in the future.
No one knew that there was once a little girl who ran out there to see the world.
No one knew that that little girl had lost a companion.
No one knew that that little girl still struggled to continue, finally arriving at a village. A village that was being invaded by the Eldian people.
The little girl had to run for her life once again.
No one knew that the little girl fell down within the heart of a giant tree, where something akin to destiny had been watching for a long time. A fate full of suffering, combined with the thing that would bring disaster upon this world. And when the silhouette, taller than mountains and with arms longer than rivers, reached out from the forest, everything changed.
...
Puff!
Asahi suddenly felt like half of his head was empty. He almost lost focus and was barely able to pull Frieda out from the nape of the Founding Titan.
Just then, the pulling force of tons of flesh suddenly... vanished. Smoke began to rise from the Founding Titan's body as it sat down, similar to the decomposition process of all other Titans.
Rumble!!!
Half the town and the surrounding area shuddered. The Founding Titan had completely settled down, anticipating its end. Just as Asahi managed to drag Frieda out and bring her back to rendezvous with the survey squad, the Founding Titan, which had gradually decomposed into a skeleton, and which should have dissolved when the host was removed from the Titan body, suddenly made a move.
The pupil deep within the eye socket of the Founding Titan moved. It seemed to be looking towards Asahi. Tears flowed from the withered body but were immediately obscured by the evaporating smoke, and even the pupil vanished.
The battle with the Founding Titan could finally be considered temporarily closed.
The time for reorganization passed quickly. After confirming there was no longer any danger, the work of treating injuries began.
In the clearing next to a partially intact well, Asahi, the only one who still had strength, was drawing up buckets of water for everyone, then dousing himself. An incredible amount of heat rose off him, not because he transformed into a Titan or anything, but because the heat generated from extreme exertion was truly terrifying.
"My body..."
Asahi mumbled, subtly controlling his calloused hands. He felt the heat from his blood and breath surging and contracting, spreading throughout his entire body. He could even finely distribute 100% of his power into a small area.
Putting his clothes back on, he returned to the "camp" not far away, or rather, just a gathering spot where five people were resting. Frieda was still unconscious and had been laid on an intact wooden plank so she didn't have to sit on the ground.
The others were all extremely fatigued. Even the composed Erwin nearly scalded his hand while holding the recently boiled cup of water. Hange lamented the "magnificent" body of the Founding Titan, occasionally glancing at Frieda with a greedy expression, as if she were plotting something. Levi was silently wiping the dirt from his body, his eyes fixed on Kenny, who had only half his face exposed and was enjoying the first sip of water after a night of leg cramps from running away. As for the soldier whose name Asahi didn't know, he... looked quite normal, by contrast.
In general, these five people were sitting together quite peacefully, or perhaps no one had the energy left to cause trouble. They were thinking about how to get back to the headquarters. The carriage was ruined along with the supplies, the horses were crushed or had run away, their gas was depleted, and they had an injured person in tow.