The World after the Fall

[Sorry? For me?]

Myad burst into laughter, but Jaehwan did not laugh or smile.

“You destroyed your eyes just because you couldn’t lay your hand on the star.”

[…]

“It’s as if… your eyes were the problem because you can see the star.”

Jaehwan looked up to the sky. Red clouds were covering the sky as if they were trying to hide the fact that there was a sky up there. But the harder the clouds tried to hide it, the more it conveyed that there was something hiding behind it.

[Are you a poet or something now? I am not sure what you are talking about.]

“Don’t pretend.”

[…Haha. Jaehwan, I am the ‘star’. The star is within me now.]

“No, there is no star anymore. You’ve lost it forever.”

[…Well, this is getting boring. I will finish this once and for all.]

The world suddenly charged toward Jaehwan. Red blades popped from nowhere and the part of the sky struck down against Jaehwan. Hands shot out from the ground to grab Jaehwan’s legs and the light that Machina unleashed was fired against Jaehwan.

Jaehwan used all of his might to get out of the grasp of the world power.

[Naked]

Golden light exploded against Machina’s ray of light.

[Fall]

His swords fought against the countless red blades flying in against him. But even after all this, Jaehwan’s spirit was struck mercilessly.

The power of the Parts that Myad was using was a much weaker version of the Eye of Geshtalt or the Void Sword. But the sheer amount of world power made up for the loss of power. Jaehwan’s entire body was now filled with wounds. His muscles were ripped and his shoulder had been pulled apart. But even then, Jaehwan did not stop.

He destroyed, slashed, and stabbed. He fell and rose again.

He was a naked man resisting against a world. All of <Depth> was now watching his fight.

-Dammit!

-If we only had more time…

-I’m sorry.

It was Jaehwan’s clothes that perished instead of Jaehwan. They were losing power. Even at 20 million world power, it was impossible to fight against the entire <Depth>.

The last battle of <Depth> was running straight into a tragic end.

Was it a 100 million? Or maybe a billion?

Karlton felt his spirit being torn down as he watched the fight unfold in front of him. It was a world power that a single spirit could not withstand. Jaehwan fighting back was a miracle in itself. The enemy really represented one true world, and Jaehwan was fighting against that.

‘Master.’

Karlton felt ashamed of himself. Unlike Chunghuh, he was still conscious. If it wasn’t for the link he made to send his world power to Jaehwan, and if it wasn’t for Jaehwan who recovered the link when it was being destroyed by the [Link Destroy], Karlton would have been on the ground with a seizure.

The only reason Karlton was himself now was because Jaehwan was fighting against that world. The link that was in place to help Jaehwan was actually saving his life now.

‘This is shameful…’

Karlton provided the last of his world power to Jaehwan, a world power of merely a 100 thousand. It was a weak power which provided no help in changing the situation.

‘We came so far for this…’

Karlton felt his eyes becoming hot from tears as he watched Jaehwan falling down. He had guessed that it was over. The days that he lived had passed through him.

A boy who had been abandoned as a half breed between a human and an angel. One who had to be a part of Gorgon Fortress to survive. It was ‘justice’ that kept Karlton alive, or the laws set in place to govern Gorgon.

-Only justice could save a being.

The former Master of Gorgon Aimel, who raised Karlton, taught him that. Karlton remembered the days of when he first learned to use the word of law.

Those were the invincible words that enforced justice.

Karlton used it to protect the Gorgon. He had memorized it all to be a protector of justice. And thus, he became the Silver Bind of Gorgon.

His justice created righteousness, and protected justice.

He thought that it was enough.

“Dammit…”

But it was useless. There was no justice.

Justice was about to fall in front of his eyes. The man who represented justice more than anyone else was about to die. Why did he have to die?

Karlton couldn’t understand the unfairness of this world as he looked at Jaehwan. Karlton then fell onto the ground. The book of law that he treasured fell out from his pocket. He smiled grimly.

The power he trusted most had no use anymore.

No laws were here to protect that man, and no laws were able to fight against the world.

His tears turned silver as they trailed down his cheek. The book turned into silver as the drops touched the cover. Karlton thought as he looked down.

If this world was fair, and if there were law and order in this world, then why wasn’t Jaehwan being rewarded for his past?

Even the being who deceived everyone and massacred countless of people was given a world despite the fact that the being had to acquire powerful faith to open up a world.

Why did Jaehan have no Followers? Why — did no one believe in him?

That’s when something popped up in his head.

‘No one believes in him?’

Karlton immediately stood still in his place. And then he began to walk toward Jaehwan. He walked through the storm of blood, and even when the debris destroyed his body, he did not stop. Jaehwan found Karlton approaching and tried to stop him.

The unique world was based off one’s ‘dream.’

Karlton’s body began to shine in silver. All this time, the justice inside him was now born.

Karlton was always curious. Why didn’t his unique world appear? Was it because his ‘dream’ was not certain? If then… what was a dream?

To Chunghuh, his dream was his longing for his homeworld, and to Myad, it was the hatred and anger that had lost direction.

Then what about Karlton? He closed his eyes to find the answer. And he then he saw a familiar place.

He saw the giant fortress with walls. It was the place he had lived in for so long, the place he had protected against Dead Men and horned monsters. It was the place where people had lost ‘death’ but still had ‘life’. The place of small justice and life.

It was far from being grandeur, but it was the most precious thing to Karlton.

Karlton opened his eyes. They shined in silver. Myad spoke.

[And what the hell…]

The silver light exploded out from Karlton, and an entrance to a giant world was opened.

The grand wall of the outer fortress extended hundreds of miles. The shape of guardian horns were engraved on all the spires. The inner fortress was tucked away inside like a giant monster.

[Gorgon Fortress]

One of the four fortresses of <Chaos>. It appeared in the shape of Karlton’s unique world.