Chapter 1626

"I don't know either, after all, the nodes that affect human fate are simply too many."

Eren slowly raised his head, his eyes as if ignited with a ball of fire, burning fiercely, "But if it were me, if I were the hero bearing humanity's fate... when my mother was eaten by the Titan, I made up my mind to walk this path of resisting the Titans."

"If my mother had been saved back then, if that Titan hadn't discovered my mother..." He spoke to this point, Eren's voice sounded as if choked by a hand, abruptly cut off.

He gritted his teeth tightly, the muscles in his jaw even began to tremble slightly from excessive force. That deep sense of powerlessness and despair, like a rusted saw, repeatedly pulled at his heart.

"Eren, Eren..."

Only when Armin shook his shoulders did Eren suddenly come to his senses.

"Sorry, Eren, I shouldn't have brought up this topic." Armin lowered his head guiltily, unconsciously loosening his grip on Eren's shoulder, "You've always admired the Survey Corps since childhood; if not for that incident, you probably would have walked the same path... it's just that disaster made you firm in your resolve."

—

""The first ripple, is the beginning of everything for people, one two three four five six seven... I thought it was a note fallen into memory, but actually... they have long merged into this world.""

""No matter how Wengfaluo Si came into being, but now, it has become so gentle... when I return, it wishes to once again offer me that melody from when we met. Simple... yet beautiful melody.""

"At the end of the road, a purple door appeared before the two of them."

""Behind this door..." Xilian gently closed her eyes, "A waft of... wheat field fragrance came.""

""You clever one, you should have guessed long ago, right? The endpoint of looking back, the final gap of '∞'... is our shared homeland (Aolixie).""

""We can... go home now.""

""Are you ready?" Taizi gazed at the ritual sword planted in the stone ahead, "If you leave 'memory' at the beginning of all stories, casting that initial stone—'∞'s final gap will close: Wengfaluo Si's causal loop, will forever anchor in the Galaxy.""

Xilian whispered: ""If... I hadn't done that...""

""Then... this world, and the vast Galaxy beyond... might still fall into 'Destruction'. ""

""How could we possibly let this happen?""

""Of course.""

Xilian raised her head to recall: ""I remember, the tree in Aolixie... it grew alone... nowhere to go. It gazed alone at the sea surface, imagining... forever unable to reach the other shore...""

""But now... there is a small boat... carrying the seed of wishes picked from the tree... sailing toward the distance... even if the boat's shadow will soon vanish, but knowing one's wish, will bloom and bear fruit on the other side of the sea...""

""At that moment, it... must have been happy, right?""

—

Frieren's Funeral.

""You will harvest at bloom, just as beginning and end." Filien murmured repeatedly in her mouth, ""So 'beginning and end' means this...""

I didn't expect this most obscure half-sentence to actually still be literal.

From beginning to end, and then from end to beginning. Like the shape of the Wengfaluo Si Celestial, it underwent a long cycle... Xilian returned to the place where everything began.

Now thinking back, when San Yue Qi first arrived at the Unnamed Titan Great Tomb, that familiar alert tone was exactly Xilian's voice. This also explains why Xingzhou hadn't yet arrived at Wengfaluo Si, yet Wengfaluo Si had already left her traces.

""Once Wengfaluo Si's causal loop is sealed, she will never again have the chance to set foot in the Galaxy."" Restalk sorrowfully rubbed his eyes, ""This is the last chance to turn back, don't walk through this door...""

His thought from beginning to end was simple: the Galaxy's death knell must ring so many times, the Iron Tomb is merely the first sound; surely we can't have someone sacrifice themselves every time the death knell rings?

The Star Rail Church taught him the most important truth: the importance of companions. Even if the Iron Tomb returns in force, the Train Society will surely meet new companions, and then everyone will pool their wisdom and surely find a new solution.

The death knell must ring countless times, but Xilian is the only one in the entire universe. Once lost, she can never return.

—

""You've made me start missing that tree. Come on, let's go home together.""

Xilian walked to the ritual sword: ""Take it, return to the Festival Courtyard—let it become the wedge of 'memory', connecting the familiar years.""

""And that final note..."" As she was about to depart, Xilian suddenly remembered.

""Oh right. Actually, it has always been on people.""

The clear sound of the wind chime rang in her ears, Taizi softly said: ""This is 'do', also 'one', just like our first meeting's one...""

""Also, from one to end, one.""

Xilian opened her eyes, discovering she and Taizi had returned to the familiar homeland.

The wind carried the scent of wheat, through the gate of the Festival Courtyard, distant low farmhouses could be seen, cooking smoke curled upward, rising into the clear, cloudless sky.

""Aolixie... the starting point of everything. Like stagnant time... plus the ever-tireless breeze and wave sounds."" Taizi scanned the surroundings, arrived at a high table laden with fruit platters as offerings, ""Festival Courtyard, we have arrived. This is where we first picked up the ritual sword...""

""Also where we first... wrote the diary.""

""Thus, the journey of memory has reached its endpoint. After driving in the wedge, what awaits us... is another reunion across thirty million generations.""

Mentioning this, Xilian's eyes also welled with a hint of sorrow: ""Endless cycles, boundless farewells...""

""Do, re, mi, fa, so, la, ti."" Taizi softly began to hum.

Xilian immediately understood Taizi's meaning, smiled knowingly: ""Also accompanied by, boundless encounters.""

Taizi placed the back of her hand behind her back, continuing to hum: ""Ti, la, so, fa, mi, re, do~""

""What a happy scale. Whether for Xilian, the Savior, or every branch of Wengfaluo Si, I will leave this tale of 'love' here. May the long river of time flow backward, sending future scenery before our eyes. In that forgotten eternal land, the myth of 'pioneering' will begin...""