Breaking through layer after layer of obstacles, Yago finally saw the Attack Titan charging toward them in the distance.
"Great! Historia, get to that rooftop over there!" Yago shouted.
The Jaw Titan immediately leapt up, climbed straight onto the nearby rooftop, then continuously jumped and sprinted between rooftops.
Very quickly, the Jaw Titan landed on the flat rooftop Yago had pointed out.
"It works! Historia, come out first, we— I'll go!" Yago tried to jump down from the Jaw Titan's head, but when he reached the back of its neck, he felt as if he had stepped on something.
"Ow!" A painful cry came from under Yago's foot. He lifted his foot and looked down.
Historia's face was smeared with strands of muscle, and at the same time, the shoe print on her cheek was glaringly obvious.
Yago hurriedly jumped down from the back of the Jaw Titan's neck, apologizing nonstop.
"Historia, I didn't mean to do it, I'm really sorry!"
Historia said nothing. After climbing out from the back of the Jaw Titan's neck, she stared at Yago with puffed cheeks. This grudge—Historia was remembering it. Not only did he step on her Titanized head, he had just stepped on her face too!
Yago could only awkwardly turn his head away and wave his arms toward the Attack Titan.
Hiss! Hiss! Several bursts of gas sounded as Levi brought everyone onto the rooftop, while Mikasa and Annie also jumped down from the Attack Titan's shoulder.
"What needs to be done?" Levi asked bluntly.
Yago nodded and spoke quickly.
"Have Eren come over. We need to rely on the power of the Founder. Captain, the surrounding security is up to you."
Levi: "What? The power of the Founder? What are you talking about? That Founder power the nobles talked about?"
Yago: "There's no time to explain, Captain, please. Eren! Get over here!" Yago shouted at the Attack Titan.
Eren cooperatively bent his waist and brought the massive Titan head close to Yago.
Yago's breath caught, and he yelled angrily,
"Idiot! I mean you as a person! Not the Titan's head!"
Mikasa was displeased when she heard Yago call Eren an idiot. She poked Annie beside her and said unhappily,
"Yago is really too much. He didn't explain it clearly himself—how can he scold Eren?"
Annie said nothing and simply stepped a bit to the side.
Eren climbed out from the back of the Attack Titan's neck, jumped in front of Yago, and said,
"Sorry, sorry, Yago, I didn't hear clearly. What should we do now?"
Without another word, Yago grabbed Eren's arm and started walking, saying as he went,
"There's no time. Right now we can only rely on the power of the Founder."
Eren was startled. "The Founder? How do you use the Founder's power? Wasn't it said that I can't use the Founder's power? Could it be… Yago, are you going to have Historia eat me?!"
Yago didn't turn around and instead asked back,
"What? Back in the underground of the Reiss estate, weren't you constantly telling Historia to eat you? Now you're unwilling?"
Eren hesitated for a moment, then turned his head to glance at Mikasa. If he really was going to be sacrificed, he should say what was in his heart before that! Eren stopped and said,
"Yago, give me a little time. I still have some last words to say!"
Yago impatiently yanked Eren along.
"I'm messing with you. Hurry up—no time to waste!"
"Huh??"
Mikasa was a bit baffled. The look Eren had just given her felt really strange.
Dragging Eren in front of Historia, Yago shouted, "Captain!"
Levi drew a fresh blade and ordered, "Everyone, form a defensive perimeter around Eren and the others. Don't let any Titans get close!"
"Yes!"
As everyone scattered into position, Eren and Historia both looked at Yago. Historia asked,
"What do we do next, Yago?"
Yago took a deep breath. With one hand on each side, he grabbed Eren's and Historia's hands, slowly bringing their hands closer together, and said,
"Eren, Historia, if you see a little girl in a moment, you must let her…"
Before he could finish, Yago suddenly felt as if he had been electrocuted. His body spasmed violently, his head sank, and his vision went black.
Looking again, Eren and Historia were also wearing expressions of pain. But strangely, Eren's and Historia's hands still had not touched.
The three of them lowered their heads at the same time, their hands still held together.
...
A deep blue night sky, glittering with brilliant stars. Beneath the gentle starlight lay an endless expanse of white desert. In a place that felt both distant and yet within arm's reach, a pillar of light stretched from heaven to earth. In the starry sky, eight paths of light branched out from the top of the pillar.
Yago suddenly opened his eyes. The familiar scene filled his vision. He moved a bit, sensed his body, then stood up from the sand.
"So I've come here again. This place is… Coordinate Space?" Yago extended his hand and clenched his fist, feeling an odd sense of unreality.
"That's not right! I clearly remember that Eren's hand hadn't touched Historia's yet. So how did we enter Coordinate Space? And how did I end up here?" Yago pondered for a while, but in the end found no answer.
Without thinking further, Yago started sprinting wildly across the desert. He needed to find Eren and the others as soon as possible—and that little girl piling up sand, the Founder!
Coordinate Space had no concept of time or space. Yago didn't know whether he had run for five minutes or five hours, but in the end, he saw the scene before him.
Eren and Historia lay unconscious on the ground. Not far from them was a small human figure, its face indistinct.
"Founder Ymir…" Yago murmured as he looked at the small figure, then instinctively moved to approach her.
But after only a few steps, the figure—originally with her back to Yago—suddenly turned around. Yago saw Founder Ymir's face clearly: big eyes, neat bangs, the look of a well-behaved little girl next door.
Yago opened his mouth, about to say something, when Founder Ymir suddenly glared at him. In the next instant, Yago felt a terrifying force blast him away.
A metallic sweetness surged up his throat, and he spat out a mouthful of blood.
"You can bleed in Coordinate Space too?" Yago thought bitterly, clutching his chest.
At the same time, he couldn't understand why Founder Ymir had attacked him.
After blasting Yago away with a single glare, Founder Ymir turned back toward Eren lying on the ground. Then, Eren's eyelids trembled a few times, and his body slowly began to move.