A forest unlike any other sprawled beyond the far eastern ridge of Wall Sina.
Its trees grew in spirals, branches coiled like serpents reaching toward the sky. The bark was pale as bone. The leaves shimmered in hues no one had words for. They called it the Spiral Garden, though its name was older than any record still known.
And that was where they were going.
---
Expedition Squad – Eastward
Six horses cut through the wind, their riders cloaked in Survey Corps green. On point was Captain Levi, silent and sharp-eyed as ever. Behind him:
Arata, now clad in black beneath the green, his Sharingan active since they left the Wall.
Eren, jaw tight, thoughts heavy.
Mikasa, ever his shadow.
Annie, riding with her usual quiet intensity.
And Armin, holding the last translated pages of Ymir's journal.
No scouts. No rookies. This wasn't a mission—they called it what it was:
A reckoning.
---
Hours Later – Spiral Garden Perimeter
They arrived at the edge of the forest just before dusk. No birds. No wind. Just an unnatural stillness that set Levi's instincts screaming.
"It's too quiet," he muttered.
Armin nodded. "Ymir's notes said the Spiral Garden is a place 'outside of time.' No Titans. No animals. No life… but echoes."
They pressed inward.
The deeper they went, the more the world twisted.
Gravity bent subtly. Trees leaned against logic. Even their horses grew restless.
But Arata? He felt stronger.
As if the earth itself was feeding him.
---
Spiral Garden – The Altar
At the center, they found it: a circular stone altar overgrown with spiraling roots. Symbols like those on Arata's Mangekyō were carved into the ground.
In the middle stood a sword. Not just any sword.
The Kuroyasha Blade—black as night, humming with raw chakra.
Arata approached it.
"It's calling to you," Annie said.
"It's warning me," Arata replied.
When his hand touched the hilt, visions exploded behind his eyes—
A battlefield not yet real.
Eren in Titan form—but twisted, monstrous.
Annie on her knees, bleeding from the mouth.
Mikasa's scarf soaked in ash.
And overhead, a figure cloaked in red and black, with a spiral eye in the center of its forehead.
The Spiral King.
He dropped the blade.
---
Levi's Past – Flashback
Far away, Levi paused. The hairs on the back of his neck rose.
Something wasn't right.
He stepped away from the group.
Into the mist.
There, waiting for him among the twisted trees…
"Kuro," he whispered.
The man before him smiled. Older now. Hair longer. Left eye glowing with a blood-red Mangekyō, identical to Arata's.
"Hello, brother."
---
Present – Spiral Garden Altar
Arata gasped and fell to one knee. The visions faded.
Eren helped him up.
"What did you see?" he asked.
"A future that already happened."
Armin was flipping through the journal again. "Ymir wrote this—'The Spiral King lives in the space between timelines. Each convergence brings him closer to full form. Only a soul wielding all three legacies can destroy him.'"
"What legacies?" Annie asked.
Arata looked at her. Then at Eren.
And finally, at Mikasa.
"You already know," Mikasa said.
"Yes," Arata said quietly. "Me, Eren, and… someone with the curse mark. The Spiral. That's what we need to find next."
But before they could speak further—
A tremor.
No—not from the ground.
From the air.
The trees all bent inward, toward the altar.
And then—he stepped out of the forest.
Tall. Robed in black. Face hidden by a mask carved with swirling rings.
"The Spiral King," Arata whispered.
But Levi's voice called out first—from behind them.
"That's not the King."
He stepped forward, bloodied, panting.
"That's my brother."
---
Kuro's Revelation
The man—Kuro Ackerman—lifted his mask.
A face like Levi's. But twisted by madness and time.
"Levi never told you, did he?" Kuro said. "We both came from the underground. But I saw the truth first."
He raised his hand.
A spiral of black chakra formed in his palm.
"The Spiral King gave me sight. And I gave him my blood."
He turned to Arata.
"You and I are the same."
"No," Arata said, stepping forward. "You chose this."
Kuro grinned.
"And you're about to choose, too. Because the King is coming. And when he does…"
He snapped his fingers.
The altar cracked.
Roots exploded upward like spears.
"…you'll need me."
And then—he vanished into mist.
---
Aftermath – That Night
Camped on the edge of the Spiral Garden, the squad regrouped.
Levi sat alone.
Armin studied the blade Arata had touched—it was no ordinary weapon. It wasn't forged. It was grown.
Eren watched the fire.
"Do you think we can stop him?" he asked.
Arata looked at the stars.
"We're not meant to stop him."
Eren frowned. "Then what are we meant to do?"
Arata's Sharingan spun slowly.
"We're meant to finish what Ymir started."