"Pah!" Spitting out the sand in his mouth, Yago's face looked grim.
This was already the third time he had been blasted away by the Founder Ymir. His whole body ached as if it were about to fall apart, and it felt as though his internal organs had all shifted out of place.
Yago couldn't understand why the Founder Ymir harbored such great malice toward him. Yes—Yago believed that the Founder Ymir was hostile to him. He only wanted to get a little closer, only wanted to awaken Eren and Historia.
Yago didn't notice that a trace of eerie red light had appeared in his eyes.
"Founder, why?!" A hint of dissatisfaction surfaced in Yago's heart, and the way he looked at the Founder Ymir grew fierce as well.
But very quickly, the red light in Yago's eyes and that ferocity faded away. He himself didn't notice these subtle changes.
At that moment, Eren, who had been lying in front of the Founder Ymir, sat up. His eyes were half-lidded, his expression somewhat vacant.
Then, something happened that shocked Yago, who was struggling to get up.
An ethereal voice appeared out of nowhere.
"Do you want all the power of the Titans to disappear?"
The voice seemed to possess a kind of magic as it echoed wildly beside Yago's ears. Though it sounded hollow and distant, to Yago it was as piercing as demonic noise.
The vibration stabbed into his head, making Yago instinctively clutch his head in pain.
The voice came from all directions. The Founder Ymir hadn't opened her mouth, yet by instinct Yago guessed that this was her voice. It was very strange— even in older Eren's memories, the Founder Ymir had never been seen speaking.
"Do you want all the power of the Titans to disappear? Do you want all the power of the Titans to disappear? ..."
Gradually, even Eren's lips began to move as he stared blankly.
"Do… you… want… the power… of the Titans… to disappear?"
As Eren spoke those words, it felt as if a knife had been driven deep into Yago's heart. A terrifying sense of suffocation enveloped him—that was the feeling of death.
He didn't know where the feeling came from, but Yago was certain: if Eren said those words—if he chose to make the power of the Titans disappear—he would die. Yago was absolutely sure of it.
"No! Eren! That's not it—wait!" Facing a life-and-death crisis, Yago endured the pain, stood up, and once again moved toward Eren.
This time, the Founder Ymir did not stop him. Yago successfully reached Eren's side, but there was still an invisible wall of air blocking him.
"Founder, shouldn't you obey the commands of the royal bloodline? Why are you fixated on Eren?!"
The Founder Ymir did not answer Yago's question. She only stared at Eren, as if waiting for him to speak that decision.
Yago was utterly confused. At this point, Eren had never come into contact with the Founder Ymir, nor should the event from older Eren's memories—Eren persuading the Founder—have occurred yet.
That had been Yago's original plan as well. Since Eren had not contacted the Founder, the Founder should still obey the royal bloodline's commands. Thus, Yago's plan had been to use Historia to have the Founder first quell the unrest in the Shiganshina District. But now...
"How is this possible?" Yago still couldn't figure it out. With the Founder ignoring him, Yago could only frantically pound on the wall of air and shout Eren's name.
...
"Yago, are you trying to imitate my final choice?"
A familiar voice suddenly came from behind him.
Yago turned around. That person wore a black coat, had half-long hair tied back, drooping eyelids, and a gloomy expression. Wasn't this older Eren? Or rather, the Eren who claimed to come from a world without Yago.
"Eren? You—you didn't disappear? Wait, all of this—was it your doing? Could it be that everything you said before about entrusting fate to me was a lie? You still influenced the current Eren and made contact with the Founder?" A terrifying guess suddenly surfaced in Yago's mind.
Could the older Eren before him have been deceiving him all along? Memories couldn't be faked—he might indeed come from a world without Yago. But his purpose in coming to this world might still be the same as in his original world: to make the power of the Titans disappear, rather than truly entrusting fate to Yago as he had once said.
As if seeing through Yago's thoughts, older Eren raised both hands in a gesture of innocence.
"Yago, don't overthink it. I haven't deceived you in any way. I only happened to come to the Coordinate Space because of you. I've never made contact with Ymir."
"You…" Yago remained skeptical of older Eren's words. Aside from older Eren's involvement, Yago couldn't think of any other reason that could influence the Founder Ymir.
But Yago had no options left. If Eren spoke the words to make the power of the Titans disappear, Yago would also vanish along with it. Why? Yago didn't know.
"Because you are the Fate Titan itself."
The Founder Ymir suddenly turned her head, and a faint voice entered Yago's ears.
What was going on? Was the Founder talking to me?
Before Yago could react, the Founder Ymir turned her head back to stare at Eren. That sentence—"Do you want all the power of the Titans to disappear?"—continued to echo endlessly around them.
"Eren! Eren! Eren!" Yago shouted frantically, but the seated Eren showed no reaction at all, as if he hadn't heard Yago's voice. He merely repeated slowly, "Do you want all the power of the Titans to disappear?" His voice was gradually becoming firm, as though he were about to give a definitive answer the next moment.
Yago was frantic. He twisted his head and roared at the older Eren who was watching the spectacle.
"You bastard! Stop just watching! Is there any way? Help out! Prove that this isn't your doing!"
The older Eren glanced at Yago, then at the Founder Ymir, and shrugged helplessly. Then, under Yago's murderous glare, he walked behind the Founder Ymir.
Next, older Eren bent down and wrapped his arms around the Founder Ymir.
He didn't seem to take any further action, but the voice that had been echoing around them vanished, and the wall of air blocking Yago also disappeared.
Yago's expression brightened with joy. He hurried over to Eren and vigorously shook him, trying to wake him up.
"Eren! Eren! ... Damn it! Wake up already!"
After repeated calls failed, Yago snapped. He raised his hand—
Smack!!
A clear handprint appeared on Eren's face.