But just as hope surged, a rock, completely unforeseen by anyone, struck. With a collision that shook the heavens and earth, it nearly knocked down the colossal Jaeger that was still clumsily trying to stand. The one who struck was the gorilla-shaped Beast Titan—Zeke.
"It's futile."
"The Founder now... is unstoppable."
Whoosh!
He threw another large rock, accurately hitting the temporal region of Gipsy Danger. Fortunately, the Jaeger was entirely layered with composite alloys, so the damage from the rock fundamentally failed to destabilize the internal structure of the Jaeger.
Looking at this monster, Erwin, the pilot Levi, and the remaining Survey Corps members gnashed their teeth with hatred. If Frieda was the villain who caused nearly the entire Survey Corps and their comrades to die, then Zeke and Darius Zackly were the ones who directly carried out the act. This hatred could never be fully resolved.
"Damn you!!!"
Levi roared, exerting himself to lift the magnificent body of the machine. He wanted to crush this beast into a pile of flesh!
The Beast Titan, however, seemed to have gone mad, continuously muttering about the Founder being unstoppable, and kept scooping up fragments of rock from the Wall and throwing them. Its powerful throws were completely ineffective against a machine built to combat true monsters.
This confrontation was nothing short of suicidal.
This was exactly what Zeke intended.
He was in despair. Because his goal was not this.
He wanted to utilize the Founding Titan, or definitively become the Founding Titan himself, to modify the body structure of the Eldian people so they could no longer reproduce, similar to the legendary King who modified the bodies of the Eldians so they no longer suffered from strange diseases.
The question was, the world feared the Eldians because they could be transformed into Titans, so why not modify them so they could no longer transform into Titans?
Zeke had once thought of this, but the answer only plunged him into despair.
The hatred of Eldia for Marley, of Eldia for the whole world, was not merely about "transforming into Titans or not." The root of the hatred was two thousand years drenched in the blood and death brought by the Titans. As long as those memories existed, the Eldian people would forever be cursed.
And if Zeke eradicated the Titans, that would not only fail to be a way out but would be the final straw pushing the entire race toward extinction. Losing the ability to transform into Titans, the Eldians would lose their last value in war and would be slaughtered by Marley. Losing the Titans, Paradis would also lose its shield against external forces, and the outcome would be no different.
Therefore, the most optimal outcome Zeke could think of was only to eliminate the Eldians' ability to reproduce. It was nothing short of cutting off the race's future, leading the race to extinction, but it would also keep the current generation safe until they died of old age.
Just like his grandfather and grandmother.
But the moment he heard the voice of the Founder, not the Founding Titan, but the true Founder, Zeke knew that his plan, goal, and struggles no longer held any meaning.
And the whole world was about to be destroyed.
"I'm sorry... Grandpa... Grandma... Uncle Xavier..."
Now, he just wanted to die.
But right at this moment, a man suddenly appeared on the battlefield. A doctor, but covered in mud and grime, holding a sharp scalpel in his hand—a tool that had saved countless people. Today, it would save one more.
"Zeke!!!"
Grisha shouted.
The Beast Titan, Zeke, looked down at this moment. Inside the Titan's flesh, his eyes were a chaotic blur, as if containing everything and nothing at all.
"Zeke, I'm sorry!"
Zeke didn't care, or perhaps didn't want to care.
At this moment, the colossal Titan army was about to arrive. A normal human like Grisha wandering here had almost a 100% chance of being trampled to death. Even if he merely stumbled into a hole or a ruin, it would be enough to take his life.
Therefore, he finally made a decision.
A syringe was pulled out from Grisha's person. It was literally the "Attack Titan" that Asahi had withdrawn from his body.
"I apologize for wasting your effort, Asahi. But I... have to save him!"
"I have to atone!"
Before Zeke could realize it, an Attack Titan materialized out of thin air, and to his astonishment, delivered a punch right to his face. This pushed both of them away from the battleground between the war machine Gipsy Danger and the array of Colossal Titans.
At the very front of the entire formation of Colossal Titans, a small figure stood on the shoulder of a giant.
That individual had Frieda's form, and the body's proportions were strangely perfect, naked and uncovered.
But she didn't care, because she was the Founder.
Having reached the Founder tier, the control over these things had reached an unimaginable level. Size no longer mattered, as long as the Paths still had "sand."
And unlike those with Titan power, in a sense, she was the Titan, not needing to rely on this body, able to regenerate almost infinitely from nothingness.
This is the Titan, this is the god.
And now, the Founder was one step closer to her goal. She had seen the edge of Paradis Island. Crossing the sea that separates the island from the continent would mark the beginning of destruction.
However, next to the Founder, a dark figure suddenly materialized, traversing space.
It was Asahi, chasing after her from thousands of miles away.
Despite this, the Founder showed no surprise, fear, or any other emotion. Only her steady voice rang out.
"As expected, you remain stubborn, don't you?"
"You left those people to control that machine for you, and then you ran here. It's truly useless. Even if you destroy this body, I will not be harmed, and the Rumbling will still occur. And those disobedient ones will be crushed along with everyone inside, is that your idea?"
In a single instance, the Founder articulated the entire cause and consequence. She didn't have to know, but if she wanted to know something, one second was more than enough time.
Therefore, Asahi's calculations, in her eyes, were pitiable and laughable.
She could let him kill her all day; it still wouldn't change the final outcome.
"That's right."
Asahi readily admitted it. After all... for the situation to have developed to this point, it wasn't unfair to say he had lost every card on the table.
"But a fool like me has a fool's move. Even if every card is lost, it's not entirely over, is it?"
He was about to flip his last card.
Asahi's accumulated points had dropped to a perfect zero. At this moment, his body was filled with all sorts of elixirs, drugs, enchanted water, and stimulants targeting the spirit, psyche, and will. Finally, he stopped suppressing it and lunged toward the Founder.
"Killing me is pointless."
"I don't intend to."
His two hands gripped the Founder tight. An incredibly powerful surge of will erupted, like a tank charging straight into her mind.
He wanted to use the Founder's will as a medium to smash a path straight into the Paths.
Only now did she realize, horrified, and attempted to withdraw her will from this body to return to the Paths. However, the mysterious young man inside the coordinate had been ready and waiting. This caused that portion of the Founder's will to be trapped at the boundary between the Paths and consciousness.
The existence within the Paths was known to the Founder for a long time but could not be dismissed. The Paths are the root of everything. The Founder is the will of the Paths, but that young man also has a close connection to the Paths. In terms of authority, she might be superior, but in terms of disposition, both are equal. Without Asahi, the other person would be helpless, but with him...
"You won't escape!"
Asahi ground out each word, his will breakthrough destroying the final barrier.
Everything seemed to have faded into the past. Immediately afterward, the sand dunes of the Paths once again appeared in his "vision."
He succeeded.
Nearby, the young man was already providing support.
Almost instantly, both sides understood the final plan.
"This is suicide."
"I know, but this is also the only way, the only way I could think of."
Asahi smirked.
The young man was silent. His blurred face, which always seemed obscured by a layer of mist, now became completely clear. A youthful face, but without any vitality, only filled with utter stillness, pain, and torment. He looked directly at Asahi, who was genuinely smiling.
"Grisha?"
He asked doubtfully. Although different, this person looked very familiar.
"I am... his son. You must have seen the younger version of me."
"It's Eren... I see..."
Eren shook his head. He was Eren, but also no longer Eren. Along the timeline, there was only one Eren Yeager from start to finish, but there existed many different segments of consciousness. He was the part that had detached from the main subject, achieving eternal life in the Paths.
Afterward, the two people walked along the sand dunes, heading toward the giant glowing Tree of Life at the center of the sandy desert.
No one said anything. Asahi didn't ask what Eren had been through, and he didn't tell him.
Finally, the two people stepped into the column of light together.