Chapter 12: For he was Mahoraga

Eren looked at the bright sky with an odd expression, a line of glittering light on his cheek.

"You were crying?" Mikasa asked while holding a bundle of firewood, looking at him with a calm expression.

"Huh?" He touched his face and realised he had been crying… but couldn't remember why…

"…" Mikasa remained silent, patiently waiting for him to respond.

"I- I had a dream. A really long dream… and I remember what its about…!" Memories rushed into his mind, as his innocent expression rapidly morphed into a deeply pained and sorrowful one.

His eyes lay half-opened, filled with grief and resignation, as if he had already seen the inevitable horrors that would unfold. His face conveyed a mix of regret, sadness, and determination, reflecting his awareness of the tragic fate awaiting humanity and himself.

He turned his gaze upwards, and Mikasa followed suit. For a moment, nothing much happened, but then, it appeared.

The disaster of their future and his past.

The ever-adapting infinite being.

The endless inevitability.

Divine General Mahoraga.

He appeared as a meteorite, burning a line of yellow smoke into the morning. The large Colossal Titan that was meant to break through the wall… had formed just moments ago, but the meteorite crashed straight into it, killing it on the spot.

'And so, it begins…' Eren's determined figure stood up as he walked towards his home. He had to get his father to inject him… and he had to eat him if he wanted to continue the endless cycle in the hopes of defeating the alien being in white.

…

"Hmm?" Mahoraga frowned as he finally found the brain of the skin-less giant. Crushing the neck of the human inside, he had felt satisfied at his victory until only moments ago.

He felt it. And so did his body. An enormous golden helm appeared in the sky. This one was larger than the one he had gained while adapting to Beyonder characteristics and killing the Blood Ocean.

Almost as large as the planet itself, the giant helm turned. However, unlike other helms, the speed of its turning was insanely slow. Looking at it for a few moments, he realised it would take a few hours to complete and entire turn.

Whatever was causing this was most likely the source of Ravings. So, he did not search for it. He just sad down atop the rapidly sublimating body of the skinless giant. He knew, with his intellect, that such a large helm was bound to give him an insanely powerful adaptation. Simply killing the source would take that from him, which he would not do.

"Hehe~" Mahoraga's grin reappeared on his face and he turned his attention to the giant wall that the skinless creature was trying to break.

"As recognition for your accomplishments as a creature capable of taking 10 blows from me, I shall help you," he pulled his fist back before punching out at the concrete wall in the distance.

*Boom*

And explosion caused by the energy wave hitting the wall reverberated throughout the area.

*Rumble*

A large section of the wall collapsed, as hundreds of dwarf-giants entered through the massive hole created by Mahoraga's punch.

The cause of this entire situation leaned back with his hands folded below his head on the corpse as hundreds of thousands of humans were killed in the distance by the hungry dwarf-giants.

This was none of his concern.

What he did care about was how long it would take for the helm to complete an entire rotation.

…

"I- I can't do this! Not to my own son!" Grisha Yeager mumbled to himself with the syringe of pale-yellow liquid in his hand trembling, as his other hand held onto that of a child Eren who was not struggling.

"What in the… where is Eren?" Zeke, the invisible blonde-bearded man with round spectacles muttered as he looked at the reflection of the past. The Eren from the future he had brought with him who had taken control of the memory for a while now suddenly went missing.

And then, the child Eren turned his head to Zeke with an expression full of unadulterated hate.

"What are you waiting for father. Do it. Have you forgotten the fate of those you left behind? Their sacrifices? Do it. It is the only way. Without it, everything will be lost. Give it to me. Give me the power to move forward, by going backwards," Eren's words caused Grisha to hesitate, before he grit his teeth and stabbed the injection into Eren's skin.

"What is going on!!!!!!" Zeke yelled as he realised not only had Eren interacted with past memories, and taken over control of it from himself, but he had somehow also directly taken control of his past body.

It was so Ludacris. Theoretically, this should not be possible. If he took control of his own body, then he had directly inherited all the memories of his past, his young version's future.

If he had only interacted with Grisha, then it would create a closed loop of time. No matter how much he hated it, it was still possible. But doing this… this created a false loop. Which meant, there had to be a beginning to the loop… and there had to be an end.

Was he in the final loop? Or not?

'I must behave like it is the final loop. That is what past versions of myself would have done. If I am not in the last loop, it would be fine, but whichever version of me is in the final loop, it will be vital for him,' Zeke quickly came to multiple conclusions, and decided a few important things.

Unfortunately, he no longer had any power to influence anything, and could only leave it up to Eren's hands.

*Chomp*

Meanwhile, Young Eren with future Eren's memories ate his father, but did not sublimate his body. Instead, he broke out of it as the full Attack Titan. And then, he turned to the central region of the walled city, Mitras, where the remnants of the royal family resided.

"Nooo!" Zeke yelled and followed Eren.

Surprisingly, his reality did not recall him from these memories, which could only mean that that hi future-self had died, he was just a part of his future-self stuck in his own memories… or his future had been destroyed, neither of which he liked.

Still, with nothing better to do, this ghost of the future followed behind the titan Eren as they rushed towards Wall Sheena.

…

Meanwhile, Mahoraga watched with anticipation as another spoke of the golden helm turned an eighth of a full rotation, sending a resounding sound throughout the world he had landed on. The Ravings had yet to show itself, so Mahoraga just continued waiting as the wheel did not stop. Clearly, whatever was affecting him did not stop, and neither did he.

Nothing could stop him.

Nothing could hold him.

For he was inevitable.

For he was Mahoraga.