The World After the Fall

The 3rd World Federation.

Jaehwan didn't really give much thought to the name, but now he was getting an idea of what it was supposed to be.

"Andersen, what is the 3rd World?"

[It refers to Gods who are not registered with [Big Brother].]

Why couldn't he think of this when he first saw Myad? No, Jaehwan expected it but he didn't have proof to confirm it. Jaehwan knew these people. He even fought one of them when he was on the way into the [Depths] to begin with.

The 3rd world was [Rupture].

Gods with their own world, but they were not registered with [Big Brother]. And with such gloomy worlds...

"HAHAHA! Kill them all!"

"I'll get more world power thanks to the Master!"

They didn't have as many Followers as the high-ranking Gods, but each of them had power close to that of Commanders. The organization that had the woman named Yoo Surha as their 2nd Captain, or the Myad Federation, was called [Rupture].

'Then is Myad the Master of [Rupture]?'

Jaehwan began to understand the strength of Myad. 2 million world power was beyond the power of the Commanders that Jaehwan had a hard time dealing with. The only beings with such power were the Lords of the [Great Lands].

'No, he's probably stronger than them now.'

As the Machina moved, tens of Gigantes was destroyed with just one swing. It was a terrifying power.

"Hey, you."

When did he approach? Jaehwan realized someone was right behind him. He quickly gripped his sword to stand up, but the man backed away as he waved his hands.

"Oh! Calm down. I'm not your enemy. I'm on your side!"

It was a man with fiery red hair. He had strong features, with scars all over his body. But he didn't seem to be hostile. The man glanced at the Machina and spoke.

"Can't you do something about him? Like by using the [Setting] that you used to destroy those Gigantes, while you were dangling your thing…"

It was Andersen who interrupted the man's question.

[You. Aren't you Karavan of Flame, Vicegerent of Ignis…?]

"Oh? I never realized someone would recognize me. Hmm? But what's going on? Weren't you guys fighting each other a while ago?"

Karavan seemed confused as he did not know Andersen was now inside X. Jaehwan said, "It's complicated. But what do you want? It doesn't seem like you've come to fight me."

"Oh… that."

Karavan was hesitant as Andersen asked,

[Did your link to your God also disconnect?]

"…H-how did you know?"

[I see… so the power of the Ancient Gods is that powerful. Didn't think that cutting the link to a top-grade God was possible.]

"Do you know something? Do you know what happened to me?"

[You won't recover for a while. You will have to live a few months like this, at least.]

"…Is that for real?"

Karavan was shocked. He was the Vicegerent of one of the highest-ranking Gods, but even he didn't know much about the [Settings] of the legendary Three Ancient Gods. Yet this Gigantes was now talking about Machina all of a sudden, so it was natural for Karavan to grow wary.

"Who are you and how can I believe… wait- are you-"

Andersen quickly waved her hand, stopping Karavan from saying something unnecessary.

[You want to know how to recover the connection?]

"…uh, yeah."

[There is a way. We can't do it here though…]

She glanced at the fighting scene. Karavan realized what she meant. They had to go through the battlefield to get to where they needed to go.

[Let's look for a chance to…]

Move. But she couldn't finish as Jaehwan began unleashing world energy. Jaehwan was walking towards the battlefield. Andersen looked at him dumbfoundedly for a few seconds and ran out to grab his shoulder.

[Hey- don't you dare.]

"That Machina-thing is a Gigantes after all, right?"

Andersen bit her lip. No, she thought she bit her lip, but the Gigantes she was now inhabiting did not have lips.

She had expected Jaehwan to do such a thing, but she was frustrated at him for doing such a thing at this time.

[In this situation, you still…]

Her voice stopped and Jaehwan's memories flashed within her. It was a certain feeling that only she, who knew Jaehwan the best, could feel.

It was very like him. This choice was definitely something that Jaehwan would make.

But...

[…I knew this all along, but you're reckless.]

Jaehwan did not answer and instead turned to look at somewhere far away. Andersen then saw a small boy within Jaehwan — an innocent boy who still had not given up on his dream. He did not know what was possible or not, so he kept on trying to achieve his goal.

Andersen was then struck with a thought. Ever since she had abandoned 'presence' to become a Goddess, it was the first time she felt such a thing. Then she accepted her realization.

This innocent man. Yes. Maybe it was good to have this kind of man around. Maybe everything would eventually…

A golden light began to shine from Jaehwan.

"I will fight. I need to get at least one smack on his face."

[…Yeah. Right. That is you.]

Why?

For the first time, Andersen answered something entirely different from her will.

"I'm counting on you."

With those words, Jaehwan charged toward Machina.

Coming back to this decision, he made the right choice. Because of this, Jaehwan and others eventually were allowed to get out of the Hatchnold disaster. However, Jaehwan did not know what he would lose as a result of his choice.

Sometimes, innocence required the help of others to be protected.

When someone needed innocence, there had to be someone who could withstand the bottom of innocence. It would be a very long time later that Jaehwan would realize this.