"Hahaha, drifting outside of fate, so does that make me the Fate Titan?" No one knew what Yago and the older Eren had been talking about; they only saw smiles appear on both of their faces at the same time.
"Eren, let me ask you something. After the battle to retake Wall Maria, how many times have you truly smiled?" Yago suddenly threw out this completely random question.
The smile on the older Eren's face froze for a few seconds, as if he were thinking. Then, a few seconds later, he said with relief, "Three times."
Yago didn't ask which three times. Having browsed through the older Eren's memories, Yago already knew exactly which ones.
When Sasha and her companions fought over the food cooked by the Marleyan soldier Nicolo;during a warm banquet hosted by foreigners in a distant land; and when the person in his eyes personally severed his head.
"This is the power of the Attack Titan. Unfortunately, it seems I can't give you the power of the Founding Titan—only this cluster of the Attack Titan's power." The older Eren lifted the green glow beside him.
As if drawn by something, the light flew toward Yago.
At the same time, several other clusters of light appeared around Yago and began to circle him.
The golden power of the Female Titan, the earthy-yellow power of the Jaw Titan, the pure-white power of the Fate Titan—then the green power of the Attack Titan also joined the rotating group.
Looking at the green light, Yago said, "The power of a Titan that forever seeks freedom? Eren, are you free?"
"I am free."
Hearing the older Eren's words, Yago couldn't help but laugh.
"What is this—you're not honest at all, this Eren."
Whether the Eren before him was truly free—everyone knew the answer.
"That's about it. Time to say goodbye." The older Eren stood up.
Yago stood as well and asked, "Wait. Will you disappear?"
The older Eren's emerald-green eyes looked at Yago.
"When your Fate Titan truly changes fate, perhaps I will."
Yago thought for a moment, then asked, "Do you believe in me?"
Without waiting for the older Eren to answer, Yago continued,
"If you believe in me, then don't interfere with the present Eren anymore. The current Eren has family, companions, and someone he loves. He doesn't need to bear too much. Do you understand what I mean?"
Perhaps he hadn't expected Yago to say this. The older Eren was stunned for a long time before finally saying,
"Thank you, Yago."
The older Eren's figure gradually dispersed.
Before it vanished completely, Yago asked his final question.
"Eren, if that day Mikasa's answer hadn't been 'family,' what would you have done?"
"Not family… then perhaps I would have lived the four years Mikasa hoped for." After saying those last words, the older Eren's figure completely disappeared.
...
"Heh, even a blockhead like Eren can finally get a clue?" Yago looked at the empty, pure-white space before him, smiling as he shook his head. Recalling that initial conversation with the older Eren and the series of events from the older Eren's memories, Yago closed his eyes.
When he opened them again, what appeared before him were five fair, delicate fingers waving back and forth.
Grabbing Annie's small hand in one motion, Yago said, "What are you doing?"
Annie tugged at her hand, but found Yago's grip was tight, and she couldn't break free right away.
"I saw you close your eyes and space out just now, so I came to ask what was wrong."
Thinking of the Annie in the older Eren's memories—trapped in crystallization for four years, enduring four years of loneliness—Yago felt a slight ache in his heart.
Yago smiled, reached out, and pinched Annie's cheek.
"I'm fine. Thanks for your concern, Annie." As long as he was here, he absolutely wouldn't let Annie suffer any harm. Not a single bit. Fate would be changed by the Fate Titan.
Annie slapped away Yago's intrusive hand and said with mild disdain,
"You talk so strangely."
No longer teasing Annie, Yago walked over to Eren, who was rubbing his head.
"Hey, Eren, are you okay? What just happened?"
Eren looked up. His originally emerald-green eyes now seemed even purer, and some unknown gloomy aura had completely vanished from him.
"I'm fine. It's just that it felt like something was stuffed into my head earlier, and now I can't remember anything at all. Really strange." Eren rubbed his hair in frustration.
"But Yago, your crystallization ability is insanely strong. It's as hard as the Armored Titan's skin—I couldn't break through its defense at all. Damn it!" The more Eren thought about it, the angrier he got, and he hammered the ground resentfully.
Seeing this, Mikasa comforted him.
"It's okay, Eren. Next time I see Reiner, I'll cut off the back of his neck before he can transform!"
"Mikasa! Are you looking down on me?!" Eren shouted, a little annoyed.
Yago's expression shifted slightly. Crystallization? That reminded him of something he'd seen in the older Eren's memories.
Reaching into the pocket of his uniform jacket, Yago pulled out a small bottle with a label reading "Armor."
This was the bottle Yago had picked up at the underground chapel of the Reiss family during the operation to rescue Historia and Eren. At the time, he'd grabbed it on a whim simply because it had a marking (see Chapter 128). He hadn't expected that accident to turn into such a big help.
In his memories, Eren swallowed this serum, gaining the ability to harden his entire Titan body. That ability even became the core of the plan to retake Wall Maria—using Eren's full-body hardening to plug the breach in Wall Maria and reclaim the land humanity had lost.
"Is this the inevitability of fate?" Yago laughed helplessly, but still handed the serum to Eren. Something that could boost strength was naturally worth giving.
"What? There's something like this? Don't we Historia have one too?" Ymir asked as she tugged on Historia's hand.
"Ymir, don't joke around. Give it to Eren—he needs it more. The Jaw Titan I inherited is already strong enough," Historia said.
But her words carried a faint implication that Eren was weaker. You could tell just by looking at Eren's face, now full of black lines, standing off to the side.