The forest in southern Maria swallowed their footsteps like a living thing. Branches clawed at the sky, thick and ancient, blocking most of the fading daylight. Yagami ran ahead, Haruka cradled in his arms, her injured hand pressed against his chest. Yuri stumbled behind, breathing hard, eyes wide with a mix of fear and fascination.
They stopped only when the sounds of Jimmy and his gang faded completely. Under the massive tree again, its trunk loomed even larger in the dim light, the small cavity still glowing faintly blue. The thing inside had grown—now the size of a fist, pulsing slowly like a heartbeat made of light.
Yagami gently lowered Haruka to the ground, leaning her back against the bark. She winced but managed a weak smile.
"You okay?" he asked, voice low.
She nodded, clutching her bandaged hand. "It hurts… but it's not bleeding anymore. Weird, right?"
Yuri knelt beside her, staring at the cavity. "It's not just weird. Look."
He pointed. The drops of Haruka's blood that had fallen earlier were no longer red—they had turned dark, almost black, and were spreading through the wood like veins. The glowing orb inside responded, swelling slightly with each pulse.
Yagami felt it again—that strange tug in his chest. The red scarf around his neck suddenly felt warm, almost alive. He reached out instinctively and touched the edge of the cavity.
The moment his fingers brushed the bark, the world tilted.
A voice—not sound, but thought—slipped into his mind. Soft. Ancient. Tired.
Blood of the royal line… blood of the blade… you have returned.
Images flashed behind his eyes, fast and disjointed:
A boy with fierce green eyes screaming as walls crumbled.
A girl with the same red scarf wrapping it tighter around her neck, tears frozen on her face.
A colossal shadow sweeping across the sea, flattening cities.
And then—silence. A tree in a wasteland. A boy approaching it, dog at his side.
The same tree. This tree.
Yagami jerked back, gasping. His hand trembled.
"What… what was that?"
Yuri's voice shook. "You saw something, didn't you? Your eyes—they went blank for a second."
Haruka stared at him, worried. "Yagami?"
He shook his head, trying to clear the fog. "I… I saw things. Old things. A war. Walls falling. A boy who destroyed everything… and a girl who stopped him." He looked down at his scarf. "She wore this. Exactly like this."
Yuri swallowed. "Eren Yeager. The legend. The one Grandpa Minato always talks about when he's drunk. The one who ended the Titans… or started the end of everything."
Haruka's voice was small. "My father says it's just a story to scare children. But… my blood did this. The tree reacted to me."
Yagami looked at the orb again. It had grown a little more. Now it looked almost like a seed—smooth, crystalline, with faint cracks of light running through it.
"We can't stay here," he said finally. "Jimmy's not going to give up. And if soldiers come…"
But before he could finish, the orb pulsed brighter.
A thin thread of blue light extended from it, wrapping gently around Haruka's injured hand. She gasped, but not in pain—the wound closed before their eyes, skin knitting together in seconds, leaving only a faint pink line.
Yuri's mouth fell open. "That's… impossible."
Haruka flexed her fingers. "It doesn't hurt anymore. It feels… warm."
Yagami stared at the tree, then at his own hand. The cuts he'd taken protecting her were also fading—slowly, but noticeably.
A whisper again, clearer this time:
The Fourth Path opens. Choose.
Yagami clenched his fist. "What choice? What path?"
The light dimmed slightly, as if waiting.
Yuri stood up suddenly. "We need to go. Now. Before—"
Voices. Closer.
Jimmy.
And more footsteps. Too many.
Yagami pulled Haruka to her feet. "Run. Back toward Sina. Stay close."
They bolted again, weaving through the trees.
But the forest felt different now—alive, watching. Branches seemed to shift, guiding them, hiding them.
Behind them, Jimmy shouted: "They're here! I saw the light!"
Yagami glanced back once.
The tree was still visible through the trunks.
The orb inside had grown again.
And this time, it looked like it was reaching out—toward him.