Chapter 107: My Battlefield… Isn't Here!
Boundless sand dunes stretched underfoot, shimmering with a faint light. The sky above was a shifting tapestry of billions of stars interwoven with flowing auroras, radiating a mystical glow. Linear time did not exist here. Past, present, and future intertwined and flowed in ways incomprehensible to humans.
At the absolute center of the dunes stood an immense pillar of light, like a Tree of Life, extending countless luminous branches upward. Each path of light connected to a Subject of Ymir. All "Paths" converged here. Vast, empty, utterly desolate.
Eren's consciousness arrived. He saw the lonely little girl, the Founder Ymir, kneeling in the sand, tirelessly sculpting something from the sand of life itself—seemingly repairing the body of some Titan in the outside world.
Eren's Soul Gem entered this space along with him, its emerald light pulsing faintly in his ethereal hand.
Zeke Jaeger's consciousness also materialized nearby, sitting up. He looked around, a sense of final, peaceful relief on his face. "We made it, Eren," Zeke's voice echoed in the emptiness. "This is the place where the Paths converge." He looked at Eren kindly.
"Look outside, little brother," he said. "Reiner became that pitiful monster. That's the end result of the cycle of hatred. I saw that little white thing, Kyubey. Most of its contracts were with our fellow Eldians. But there's still time. You can erase their memories."
"However," Zeke continued, his tone becoming graver, "as long as the Subjects of Ymir exist, as long as the Power of the Titans exists, this cycle of slaughter and suffering for Eldians will never end." He spread his arms as if to embrace the world of light. "Now, we might finally have a chance to end it all! Using the Founder's power, erase the parts of Eldian memory related to hatred. The killing outside will stop, temporarily. Activate the Rumbling with the outermost Wall Titans and use the memory-wiped Eldian Magical Girls as a deterrent!"
"And then," Zeke's voice lowered, filled with conviction, "implement the 'euthanasia' plan! Ensure that after our generation, no more Eldians will be born into this world! Break the chains of hatred, stop this cycle of pain! Eren! This has always been our dream! Make it happen!"
Eren listened silently, his eyes showing no emotion. Euthanasia? Ending the suffering of our entire race through sterilization? How laughable. How absurd.
"I cannot accept," Eren's voice rang out, calm yet unyieldingly resolute, "such a ludicrous plan." He looked at Zeke, a hint of something almost like pity in his eyes for the first time. "I'm sorry, Nii-san."
Zeke's expression froze. "Why?! Eren! Why?!" he cried, unable to comprehend, his voice cracking with emotion. "Do you want this endless cycle of pain to continue?! Look at everything we've been through! Look at the tragedy unfolding for the Eldians right now!"
Eren slowly looked up at the coordinate of light that pierced the heavens, his voice low but carrying a strength that cut through everything. "Because… I was born into this world."
Zeke was stunned. "Is that so…" His heart grew heavy, his tone laced with disappointment. "I always believed in you… So, in the end, you couldn't escape Father's influence after all?" He shook his head, regaining some composure, but his sense of control was gone. "But you miscalculated, Eren. Because of you, I am not bound by the Vow Renouncing War. I can directly command the Founder Ymir." He pointed to the little girl still silently sculpting sand. "Look. She's just a slave. She only obeys me, the one with royal blood. She won't accept your commands. It doesn't matter what you want to do. Everything ends here."
Hearing this, a cold smile touched Eren's lips. "Is that so? Then it looks like… you're the one who miscalculated, Nii-san."
Zeke frowned. "What do you mean?"
Eren no longer looked at him, instead focusing on the Soul Gem clutched in his ethereal hand. Its emerald light shone brighter than ever before. "Just reaching this place was enough. My battlefield…" he whispered, "isn't here."
As the words faded, Eren thrust the Soul Gem upward! The potential of the [Magical Girl] and the future-seeing aspect of the [Attack Titan] combined perfectly in this moment. The Soul Gem erupted in a blinding light. His Soul Gem responded to his memory-recall, absorbing his power to rewind. His return no longer needed the Attack Titan or the Paths.
And this time, it wouldn't just be his memories going back. It would be his power too. His Magical Girl abilities.
VMMMMMM!!!!
The Coordinate space trembled violently. Countless memory fragments erupted from Eren's Soul Gem like a raging flood—everything he had experienced in this world. The moment his mother was eaten. The sweat and arguments of the Cadet Corps. The despair and counterattack in Trost. The sacrifice of Levi Squad. The deathmatch with Annie. The brutal battle to retake Wall Maria. The enemies across the sea. The lights of contract as his comrades became Magical Girls. Reiner's despairing shriek as he became a Witch. The truth of Witchification. And the inevitable fate of his comrades becoming Witches themselves.
All the memories, all the emotions, all the resolve, along with the very essence of the Magical Girl power that had been granted to him, and the Soul Gem that carried it all—they became an unstoppable torrent, surging into the Paths of light connecting all Subjects of Ymir, flowing against the current, towards the earliest point this magic could reach.
Target: a point in the "past," Shiganshina District. The consciousness of the ignorant boy beneath that familiar tree.
Zeke watched in shock, unable to comprehend this power that transcended his understanding. "Eren! What are you doing?!" But his voice was already swallowed by the flood of memories.
The cycle had begun.
Eren's consciousness felt time shatter and reform as he was washed by the endless memories. This magic, triggered by accident, which seemed to offer a turning point, also quietly engraved its price. The emerald Soul Gem was almost completely reset as it crossed the river of time, but it was branded with a faint stain of corruption—the residual echo of the previous playthrough, impossible to completely erase. It would accompany Eren, back to before everything began.
…
When all fell silent again, Eren snapped his eyes open. Warm sunlight filtered through the leaves above. Birds chirped nearby. And—the faint sound of voices drifted from the distant Walls.
He found himself lying beneath that familiar tree outside the Walls of Shiganshina District, as if waking from an incredibly long, incredibly real nightmare.
Why is Mikasa's hair so long?
He slowly raised his hand. An emerald-green gem rested quietly in his palm.