The World after the Fall

“Block that area!”

“This area’s fine!”

Runald shouted as he blocked the Vicegerents trying to rush in from all four doors of the Great Arena.

“We got it here too!”

One year ago, when Jaehwan disappeared and left for the [Nest], a lot of things changed within <Depth>. The battle between the Gods that seemed to have solved was starting again, and it was hard to enforce the rules upon the powerful Gods that appeared with just the power of Council.

“Move out! Council dogs!”

Runald recognized the Vicegerent trying to break into the gate of the Great Arena right away. It was Vicegerent of God Bergetz, who was ranked second at the 2nd site next to Droyan, the God of Dragons. He was not powerful like the Three Ancient Gods, but he quickly gained his power while the others were weak. Now, he had power equal to the former 8 Gods of <Depth>. His organization [White Revolutionaries] in particular was an organization with Gods who opposed the Council that worked to oppose all policies that the Council tried to enforce.

“Dammit! There’s too many of them!”

Runald shouted as he gritted his teeth. They attacked just when Yoo Surha, Pierre, and the most powerful members of the Council were out. Karlton shouted from the west.

“Runald! Hang in there! Leader will be here within 30 minutes!”

“Hang on there, kid!”

Chunghuh also shouted from the east. They were all trying hard to block entry. But the situation wasn’t all that hopeful. 30 minutes was enough time to give in and have them take control of this Great Arena. Runald frowned as he deflected the world power being thrown at him.

‘Dammit! They are trying to make a new [Giant Setting] after taking control of this place!’

The Great Arena was a place the Council created to place a law in effect in <Depth>. If a certain number of Gods were to enter the Giant Arena, an automatic [Great Meeting] would start to place a new law in effect.

‘We have to stop them from starting a [Great Meeting] at all costs!’

The [Giant Setting] that was placed within the [Great Meeting] was allowed to influence the entire <Depth>. It was a system that was in place to have the Council as the most influential organization but also keep the freedom of power within. That was what Yoo Surha and the Council tried to achieve through this Great Arena.

But it was now trying to be used to achieve an adverse effect.

If the [White Revolutionaries] who claimed the power-based world were to enter, it was evident as to what might come next. It was the return to the world of power. They would reset every Setting that the Council had placed and change <Depth> back to a place where Gods had absolute power.

‘Dammit… Jaehwan…’

Runald remembered the familiar name as he saw waves of Vicegerents. It was the only name he remembered in a situation like this. It had only been one year after he left. Everyone in <Depth> expected Jaehwan to fail. Mulack failed, and so did Myad. They all thought Jaehwan also would never come back. But Runald did not think that way.

‘The signal became weak, but the link between me and Jaehwan has not been broken yet.’

A year had passed, but even if it was 10 years, Runald still trusted Jaehwan. He believed Jaehwan would accomplish what he set out to do and would never give up. Even if he was wrong, however, even if this world did not change, Jaehwan would never give up.

That’s why Runald longed for Jaehwan.

‘If only he didn’t go up…’ Runald thought. If Jaehwan was here, this world might have been more peaceful. If Jaehwan stayed in <Depth>, this absurd organization that only sought power and fulfilling their desires would not have appeared.

It was when it was hard to fight against world power any longer that Runald stopped thinking. He placed his back on the gate and bit his lips.

‘If Jaehwan was only here, these fools would’ve been swept by a stab…’

It was then that Runald looked up to the sky. Something flashed in the sky and fell, then came a thundering sound that penetrated the sky and the ground.

Screaming followed from all sides.

“AAAAAARGH!”

Then Runald heard Chunghuh and Karlton’s shouts.

“Runald! Get down!”

But Runald couldn’t get down. All he could do was to look up to the sky in dumbfoundedly. The sky was blinking as if it wasn’t sure whether it was night or day, or a giant light bulb flashing. And after a few more thundering sounds, Runald came back to his senses.

Everywhere around him was laid in ruins. The powerful God Bergetz and his thousands of Followers were no more. They all were killed by just a few claps of thunder.

“…What is going on? What happened?”

“Runald!”

Chunghuh and Karlton were running toward Runald at the north gate. They too seemed shocked by what just happened. They were looking around in disbelief at the result. They found Bergetz’s spirit turning into dust due to the lightning that struck down from the sky.

A flash of lightning striking down all of a sudden? It wasn’t possible unless someone made a hole in the sky.

…Wait. A hole?

“Wait! Is this him? Is it HIM?!”

“Are you serious…?!”

Chunghuh, Karlton, and Runald looked up into the sky. But the sky didn’t have any difference other than having a weird ominous feeling within it. Chunghuh and Karlton shrugged and looked at each other. But Runald was still looking up to the sky.

“Hey, kid. Do you see something?”

“Runald. What do you see? Is there something up there?”

It was only Runald who had a direct link with Jaehwan here. His eyes were shaking violently. Chunghuh realized that something serious was happening so he tried to shake Runald back, but Karlton shook his head and held his shoulder. This wasn’t a good time to rush.

Runald seemed completely out of his mind right now. And after a while, Runald spoke slowly.

“The eye….”

“Eye? What’s with the eye?”

But even with Chunghuh’s frantic voice, Runald wasn’t sure what word could describe the sight he was seeing. It was unbelievable.

There was a giant eye bleeding painfully all over. And within it, there was a giant hole all over the place, shooting lightning out from within the hole.

And it was falling down.

Runald tried hard to explain what he was seeing but he couldn’t make the words out of his mouth. And after a while, he was barely able to speak.

“He did it.”