The World after the Fall

Karavan was shocked.

“A God who hates Daeus?”

[Yeah.]

210 thousand years ago. It was long before Karavan was born, but he had heard about the legends of the Three Ancient Gods many times. However, it was actually strange for Karavan, who had lived barely 5 thousand years, to know about the stories that happened 210 thousand years ago.

Those legends were not often told within the <Depth> since they were too old; most of the Gods who had lived in that era had perished. If a rumor spread within <Depth> during the age of the Three Ancient Gods that a [Part] of the Three Ancient Gods was on auction, everyone would’ve scoffed and said-

‘No way. There’s no way their [Parts] would be up on the auction house. That’s for high-ranking Gods. It’s probably a hoax.’

It was only speculation and things might’ve turned out differently, but it was probably different than what was happening right now. People would try to see if the hoax was real, but there was no way that the fools from the middle-rank would dish out their entire savings of 12 thousand soul stones to try and purchase the [Part].

“Who was that God? Who fought Daeus?”

Karavan wasn’t like those foolish Gods. He was a Vicegerent, but he knew about the legends of the Three Ancient Gods more than any high-ranking God.

It was all because of Ignis.

The God of the 7 Gods, Ignis the Flame, was one of the few Gods who existed in the age of the Three Ancient Gods. Ignis also loved to boast about his past deeds in that era.

[That’s…]

However, this wasn’t like him. He seemed to be hesitant, as if there was a bad memory linked to the question. This wasn’t like his usual boasting self.

Karavan became more curious. What could make this hot-tempered God of Flame be this hesitant? It was only after a while that Ignis spoke.

[…Only beings that can face the Three Ancient Gods are themselves. There was this saying 210 thousand years ago, but it’s all history now though.]

Rip it off. And take it off.

The naked Jaehwan only seemed to exist for those two purposes. A Gigantes’s arm was pulled out like a rag doll and its armor was torn apart like paper. The Vicegerents of middle-ranking Gods were powerless against Jaehwan.

Their Gigantes were ripped away, and they became naked.

The instant the Vicegerents were brought out of their Gigantes, they were buttnaked. They did not take any damage or have wounds on them, but many fell unconscious with the frothing at their mouths. No one knew if it was caused by shame or another reason, but one thing was for sure.

They would not be the same as before. Those Vicegerents had hollow looks on their faces. They were naked, but their eyes seemed to indicate that they had lost everything.

“Ah…ahhhhhh!”

“L-let me live!”

Their screams weren’t directed at Jaehwan, however. They were afraid of something invisible, as if familiar things to them had suddenly become symbols of fear.

“What are they…”

The Vicegerents of the high-ranking Gods were confused. They had heard about the [Naked] Setting, but it was the first time they had truly witnessed its power. However, only a few among them realized exactly what those middle-ranking Vicegerents had faced.

‘That can’t be…’

The Gigantes were the best protection for any God or Vicegerent. If one was within a Gigantes, it was always guaranteed that one would avoid sudden death, no matter how powerful the attack was. Yet Jaehwan ripped them apart as if they were nothing.

He did it as if there was no such protection in this world. The ‘safety’ they felt was that weak.

Destroying the Gigantes was more than just the destruction of a [Part]. As the Gigantes were ripped apart, the Vicegerents inside felt something in them being ripped apart. And a few Gods had heard about this symptom before.

‘…World collapse?’

World collapse.

It was the disease that made one feel distant from their God’s world and they would lose the world power. It was also called the ‘Geshtalt Destruction’.

‘But that’s impossible.’

Even when they saw the Vicegerents falling apart in front of them, they couldn’t believe it. The Ancient God that could cause ‘Geshtalt Destruction’ had long disappeared. The one they were seeing was a Vicegerent of about 20 thousand world power, at best.

So, instead of believing their own crude guesses, they decided to rely on their experience.

Then, it was followed by humiliation. There was a being defiling their holy crusade. There was the one who destroyed Gigantes as if they were toys and unclothed Vicegerents. This act that the man ‘Jaehwan’ was doing, wasn’t going to end with just the middle-ranking Vicegerents.

“This is madness… what are you trying to do?!”

One of the high-ranking God’s Vicegerents shouted angrily. However, it was also what Jaehwan actually wanted to ask. No, he wanted to ask Andersen.

‘Tell me before doing something like this.’

For a short three minutes, it was Andersen who controlled Jaehwan’s body as he wasn’t familiar enough with the [Naked] Setting to use it to its full potential. There was no way that Jaehwan would know such a humiliating song either.

[Don’t worry. I had to sing it. The Setting doesn’t fully activate unless I finish singing. But I didn’t make you sing it, did I? It’s me who sang, so don’t be too…]

‘You sang it through me so it’s the same thing!’

[…Haha. I-I think you have a good voice!]

Andersen spoke with an awkward laugh.

‘Anyway. Why didn’t you kill them?’ Jaehwan asked as he turned to glance at the Vicegerents on the ground. ‘I thought you hated them?’

As Jaehwan was connected to Andersen, he felt her hatred toward the other Gods. The high-ranking Goddess, who had lost all of her Followers due to her friends’ betrayal, and fell to the lowest ranking of the Gods.

The Goddess who hated the other Gods. That was [Naked] Andersen.

[I can’t kill them.]