"Strip away a certain part of the soul. Scott replied, "...... Probably like cutting off bound hands and feet. ”

“...... Who told you you could do that?" Alan trembled with anger, "what do you think of your soul, a rotten rag that can be torn casually?"

"Ankeland. Scott replied calmly, "...... and Keller Brian. ”

The two names, perhaps more of the latter, silenced the air.

“...... No way!" Alan snapped, "Keller Brian would never let you do such a thing!"

"He didn't. Scott admitted, "He just told me something...... The options that exist. ”

"I don't believe it. Alan stared at him deadly, "Unless he stands in front of me and tells me this." ”

"He's dead. Scott whispered, "Died a long, long time ago...... I think you know. Ankelan summoned his soul, and I couldn't. ”

Alan's clenched hands trembled unconsciously.

"I don't believe it. He insisted, "Wouldn't that be some kind of phantom created by Ankland?

“...... I think I can at least recognize Karen. "Whatever has become of him." ”

Alan closed his lips tightly and couldn't speak for a moment. Ed looked left and right uneasily, not knowing what to say.

Keller Brian ...... Is that half-elf priest who seems to be omnipotent and omniscient dead?...... Maybe.

But sometime after he "died," he may still be alive. If he can find him...... Even if he were able to find him, it was possible that the half-elf would not know him at all, let alone the secrets he was about to learn in his long, confused time.

"So......" said Allen with difficulty, "what will you become at the end?"

"I'll still be me. Scott replied, "Don't worry, Alan. I will engrave certain things in the deepest part of my soul and they will never disappear...... Like I will never hurt or betray you, like ......"

"You've hurt me. Alan wearily noted, "You've hurt everyone who cares about you...... You made such a decision without caring how we would feel. ”

"But......" Scott hesitated, "you won't agree. ”

"yes. Alan smiled sarcastically, "So you know this...... But you did it anyway. Celebryan is right, you're as stupid as a donkey...... And Lydia is at least right in one sentence, you are really selfish. ”

Scott looked down to avoid his gaze.

"I'm sorry......" he instinctively apologized, a little embarrassed, but also a little dazed.

Ed looked at him and could probably guess what he had "stripped away"—his soul, once with emotions as hot as fire, was now as lifeless as a desert. He even lost the ability to feel, like he would know why Eren was angry, but he couldn't fully understand it.

Would that hurt?, he thought.

Wouldn't stripping off a part of the soul be like cutting flesh and bones...... It hurts, right?

Then Ed realizes that Is, who should have been furious, is too silent.

He stole a glance at him. Isis stood there in a daze, his eyes confused, as if all his anger had been vented by Alan, and as if he couldn't...... or unwilling to accept what really happened.

“...... Does Filly know?" Alan suddenly thought.

"I didn't tell him all. Scott honestly replied, "He thought it was temporary." ”

Alan chuckled, but there was no smile in his eyes: "How many years have you known him? Do you think he's so easy to deceive?" The only reason he didn't open your head to see what was in it was because he already had another idea—you better pray it was a good idea." ”

Scott could only remain silent.

"If I ask you to stop this stupidity now, can you do it?" asked Allen.

“...... No. Scott said, "It's already ...... It's too late. ”

“...... Guessed. Alan sighed and slumped back in his chair, "You're really...... Never leave yourself a little leeway. ”

Ed, however, somehow felt that things might not have gotten that bad—at least, Scott hadn't dared to look at Ise directly from beginning to end. Whether it was guilt or something else, he wasn't without a bit of emotion...... And flesh will always regenerate.

"Now what are you going to do. When it was irretrievable, Eren calmed down instead, "If Blazing Wing can't control you anymore...... Are you going to continue to be its 'Sage' in name only?"

"Maybe the approach will be different, but I still have to pull it into the world. Scott replied, "Otherwise we can't really destroy it." ”

“...... Do you have to destroy it?" Ed blurted out without thinking, "I mean...... As long as you can stop it from coming back, you don't have to destroy it completely, do you?"

He remembered the flame dragon that appeared in the apparition of Ankelan City, and the red-haired young man it conjured. It is indeed arrogant, cold, dangerous, but also irresistible charm...... That's, such a brilliant creature.

“...... With all our might, we may be able to stop it. Scott replied, "But it's the only god-like being in the Sea of Nothingness, and it's only there that it grows stronger with the passage of time, just as it has been for millennia." And then one day, it will return, and the gods of old will be gone, and the blood of the dragon will be severed, and there will be no one to do it in a world where even magic may be dying...... Even if the world still needs a god, it definitely doesn't need a unique, irreversible god - that's exactly what it wants. ”

He paused for a moment, and his voice lowered slightly: "I must not throw the mistakes I have made to future generations to bear." ”

“...... What if there is more than one?"

It was only when Ed said that he realized what he had said. However, the ridiculous idea that came out of nowhere became clearer and clearer...... Every symbol carved into the stone tablet that hovered in his mind these days thundered and roared at him of their existence that could not be ignored.

“...... What if there was more than one 'god' that was created?" he murmured, feeling only a tingling in his scalp.

Scott may have been an accident, but the names carved on the stone tablets may not have been—the countless experiments that Ancrane had done in different ways, perhaps from a certain moment in point, had a definite purpose.

"He's creating gods. ”

He uttered his mouth blankly.

. [.]