The dust had barely settled when the entire district erupted.
A thunderous cheer echoed across Trost.
"We did it!"
"The gate is sealed!"
"Humanity... won!"
For the first time since the Colossal Titan appeared, soldiers laughed through their tears.
Some collapsed onto the rooftops, exhausted beyond words.
Others simply stared at the massive boulder lodged perfectly into the breach, unable to believe it was real.
---
On top of Wall Rose, Commander Pixis lowered his telescope.
"...Magnificent."
One corner of his mouth curled upward.
"Signal all divisions."
"The operation has succeeded."
Red flares disappeared.
Yellow and green flares filled the sky.
The soldiers around him erupted into relieved smiles.
"We survived..."
Pixis, however, wasn't looking at the boulder anymore.
His eyes searched the rooftops.
"...Where did that white-haired fellow go?"
No answer.
Only empty rooftops.
Almost as though he had never existed.
---
Far below, Mikasa gently pulled Eren's unconscious body from the steaming Titan's nape.
"Eren..."
Her hands trembled.
"You're alive..."
Armin dropped to his knees beside them, breathing so hard his lungs burned.
"We..."
He laughed weakly.
"We actually did it."
Jean walked over, covered in blood and dust.
"I seriously thought we were dead."
Connie nodded.
"I already accepted my funeral."
Sasha quietly raised a piece of bread she'd somehow managed to keep.
"...Victory bread?"
Everyone stared.
Even Jean blinked.
"...How did you still have bread?"
"...Priorities."
For a brief moment...
Everyone laughed.
The laughter stopped.
A deep voice echoed behind them.
"You children fought well."
The surviving members of the Garrison immediately straightened.
Captain Ian Dietrich stood battered and bloodied, his ODM gear barely functional.
"So many lives..."
He looked toward the fallen soldiers scattered across Trost.
"...But they weren't in vain."
Silence answered him.
Every survivor looked toward the bodies of their comrades.
No celebration could erase that cost.
---
Meanwhile...
Several streets away...
Inside the shadow of a collapsed church...
Alex sat against a broken pillar.
"...Ow."
He pinched the bridge of his nose.
Blood dripped steadily onto the stone floor.
The invisible barriers covering Wall Maria finally dissolved.
The immense strain disappeared all at once.
"...That's better."
His Six Eyes dimmed slightly.
"I really pushed it today..."
A familiar voice suddenly echoed inside his head.
"You overused Limitless."
Alex sighed.
"I know."
"You'll collapse if you keep forcing it."
"I know."
"You should stop pretending you're invincible."
"...Rude."
He closed his eyes.
"...You're starting to sound like Shoko."
---
Elsewhere...
Deep beneath the streets...
Far below Trost...
A pair of golden eyes slowly opened inside the darkness.
"...Interesting."
A quiet laugh echoed through the underground tunnels.
"So..."
"The Coordinate has awakened..."
"And..."
"...another monster has appeared."
A pale hand rested against ancient stone.
"The one with white hair..."
"...he isn't an Eldian."
"...Nor a Titan."
Silence.
Then—
"...We'll be watching."
---
Hours later...
The battlefield had become a graveyard.
Medical teams rushed through the streets.
Bodies were covered with white cloth.
The wounded cried out in pain.
The smell of blood still lingered.
Commander Pixis arrived personally.
He walked directly toward Eren.
The surrounding soldiers instinctively stepped aside.
Pixis looked down at the unconscious boy.
"...You fulfilled your promise."
Then his gaze shifted.
"...But someone else changed the course of this battle."
He looked toward the rooftops once more.
"...Find him."
One officer blinked.
"The white-haired man?"
Pixis nodded.
"I want answers."
"Who is he?"
"Where did he come from?"
"And..."
"...how did he erase Titans?"
No one had an answer.
---
Not far away...
Levi stood silently atop a ruined roof.
His eyes scanned the city.
Nothing.
No white hair.
No strange energy.
Nothing.
"...Tch."
He clicked his tongue.
"I hate mysteries."
For the first time in years...
Humanity had won.
Yet Levi couldn't shake the feeling that the greatest unknown on the battlefield had never been the Titans.
It had been the smiling man dressed in white who joked in the middle of the apocalypse...
...and vanished before anyone could learn his name.
The celebration in Trost slowly faded into the quiet sounds of recovery.
Stretchers carried the wounded.
Smoke drifted lazily into the evening sky.
For the first time in years...
Humanity had survived.
---
Hidden inside the remains of an abandoned chapel, Alex sat cross-legged on a broken pew, one hand pressed against his forehead.
"...Ouch."
His nose had finally stopped bleeding, but his head still throbbed.
The Limitless disappearing from around Wall Maria felt like removing a mountain from his shoulders.
He let out a long sigh.
"...I definitely overdid it."
He replayed the battle in his mind.
Walking on air.
Crushing Titans.
Using Limitless in front of dozens of soldiers.
"..."
"...Yeah."
He scratched the back of his head.
"The geezer definitely noticed."
Commander Pixis wasn't stupid.
Far from it.
Alex remembered the old commander's eyes following him from the Wall.
"...He was looking right at me."
He groaned dramatically and leaned backward until his head hit the wall.
"Ughhh..."
"Why did I have to show off?"
"...Because it looked cool."
"...Worth it."
A beat.
"...Actually..."
"...Maybe not."
He imagined Pixis calmly sipping from his flask while saying,
"Find the mysterious white-haired man who deletes Titans from existence."
Alex buried his face in both hands.
"They're going to investigate me..."
"They're going to ask questions..."
"They're going to do paperwork."
He gasped in horror.
"...Paperwork."
"No."
"Anything but paperwork."
He shot to his feet.
"Emergency disguise!"
---
Alex rummaged through an old travel bag tucked beneath the chapel's broken altar.
A grin slowly spread across his face.
"There you are."
He pulled out a small clay container with a tightly sealed lid.
A few days ago, he'd made it himself.
Back when he first realized that snow-white hair and glowing blue eyes weren't exactly subtle in a world where everyone had ordinary appearances.
Using crushed charcoal, soot, dark plant pigments, and lamp oil, he had mixed everything into a thick black paste.
It had taken him three attempts.
The first turned his hair gray.
The second turned it slightly green.
"...We don't talk about the second one."
The third...
The third was perfect.
He had packed it away just in case.
"...See?" Alex muttered proudly.
"Being paranoid pays off."
Using a cracked mirror hanging from the wall, he carefully worked the homemade dye through his white hair.
Minutes later...
The brilliant white was gone.
In its place was smooth, jet-black hair.
He leaned closer to the mirror.
"..."
"It honestly doesn't look bad."
He tilted his head.
"...Still handsome."
Another pause.
"...Just..."
"...Mysterious handsome."
He gave himself a smug thumbs-up.
"Perfect."
"...No one will ever recognize me."
---
"...Alex?"
His entire body froze.
"..."
"..."
"...Crap."
Slowly...
Very slowly...
He turned around.
Standing in the doorway was Historia Reiss.
She blinked once.
Twice.
Then frowned.
"...What are you doing?"
Alex smiled far too quickly.
"Haha!"
"...Nothing."
Historia looked at him.
Then at his hair.
Then back at him again.
"...Your hair."
"What happened to it?"
Alex instinctively grabbed a handful of it.
"...This?"
"Uh..."
"...Lighting?"
Historia blinked.
"...Lighting."
"Yeah."
"The sun."
"There isn't any sun."
Alex glanced outside.
Gray clouds covered the sky.
"...Moonlight?"
Historia crossed her arms.
"...It's daytime."
"...Right."
Alex laughed nervously.
"Hahaha..."
"...Good point."
Historia walked closer, eyes narrowing.
"You painted it."
"...Maybe."
"Why?"
Alex's brain immediately abandoned him.
He opened his mouth.
Nothing came out.
"...Fashion?"
Historia stared.
"...Fashion."
"Very trendy."
"...Where?"
"...Uh..."
He pointed somewhere beyond the chapel.
"...Over there."
"There are fashion trends in Trost?"
"...The Titans started them?"
Silence.
Historia's eyebrow twitched.
"...Really?"
Alex immediately regretted every decision that had led him to this moment.
"...That sounded smarter in my head."
"A little."
"...Very little."
Historia sighed.
"You've never been able to lie."
"I can lie."
"No."
"I absolutely can."
"You blush every time."
Alex instinctively covered his face.
"I do not."
"You just did."
"..."
"...Traitor."
"Who?"
"My face."
Historia couldn't stop herself anymore.
A quiet laugh escaped her lips.
Alex looked away, cheeks faintly pink.
"...Don't laugh."
"I'm trying not to."
"You're failing."
"I know."
She smiled warmly.
"...So."
"What's the real reason?"
Alex hesitated.
For once...
His usual joking expression faded.
He rubbed the back of his neck.
"...Let's just say..."
"I didn't want people asking too many questions."
Historia studied him carefully.
She remembered seeing flashes of white during the battle.
She remembered hearing impossible stories from frightened soldiers.
A man walking through the air.
Titans disappearing without blades.
Space itself crushing monsters.
"...Were you..." she began quietly.
Alex's eyes widened just a fraction.
He immediately cut her off with a laugh.
"Whoa!"
"Look at the time!"
"I just remembered I have..."
He glanced around the empty chapel.
"...Something."
Historia folded her arms.
"...Something."
"Very important something."
"What kind of something?"
"...Emergency..."
He paused.
"...Bird watching."
Historia looked outside.
"There aren't any birds."
Almost on cue...
A lone crow landed on the broken window.
"Caw."
Alex pointed dramatically.
"SEE?!"
"My appointment is here."
The crow stared at him.
Then flew away.
"..."
"...It cancelled."
Historia laughed so hard she had to cover her mouth.
Alex groaned.
"...Even the crow betrayed me."
When she finally calmed down, she looked at him with a gentle smile.
"...Your old hair looked better."
Alex gasped dramatically, placing a hand over his heart.
"...You wound me."
"It's true."
"I spent almost ten minutes on this masterpiece!"
Historia giggled.
"It still looks nice."
Alex folded his arms proudly.
"Hah."
"I knew it."
He glanced at his reflection one last time before sighing.
"...Guess I'll have to think of an even better disguise next time."
Historia tilted her head.
"...Next time?"
Alex froze.
"..."
"...Forget I said that."
Historia smiled knowingly.
"...Too late."
Alex let out one long, defeated groan.
"...Aw, man..."
Outside, the evening wind swept across the ruined streets of Trost.
Somewhere atop Wall Rose, Commander Pixis quietly took another sip from his flask, already piecing together the mystery of the impossible white-haired man.
And without realizing it...
Alex became hope in the old man's eyes.