"So, can we begin the meeting now?"

Gerome gritted his teeth.

The 1st Captain of Rupture, Budda.

The mysterious 1st Captain that Yoonhwan did not know of. He was one of the 8 G.o.ds of .

"Shall we begin?"

After recovering everything within the [Record of the Depth], Jaehwan finally opened his eyes. All of the history, along with its long and epic story, filled him and calmed his mind.

"You're awake."

When he opened his eyes, Runald, Karavan and the entire Long Living race surrounded him. Jaehwan asked, "How long have I been asleep?"

"…Almost a month. The Great Warrior said you would wake up today. He was right."

A month. Jaehwan realized he had spent much more than expected for reading Record of the . But it had to be done. Just by reading all those memories, Jaehwan was able to enter an entirely different world.

Jaehwan now seemed very different. Runald, Jaehwan's Follower, felt this the most. He also noticed a certain emotion that had grown within Jaehwan.

'He seems lonely.'

It was as if he had found a secret that this world had hidden and he was the only one who could know. Runald wanted to ask what truth Jaehwan had found, but he couldn't ask. There seemed to be some kind of wall between them. Runald felt like Jaehwan was now an entirely different being.

Soon after, Jaehwan and the others were at the entrance of Forest of Madness.

Jaehwan said his goodbyes to Long Living race and Rhamad for the last time. What he was talking about wasn't obvious, but it seemed like he promised them something.

"I never thought I would get out of this place after 100 days," Karavan commented as he threw away his scrubbing glove. He now had recovered his link with Ignis through Jaehwan's help. His world power after recovering the link didn't fall behind Jaehwan's at all.

"You grew a lot too. Feels like my world power."

"…I just repeated Ouroboros."

"Yeah. I wonder what it actually means."

"…I don't even want to know."

Runald saw Jaehwan walking toward them and asked, "Are we going now?"

"No. We need to wait for someone."

"Who? Who are we waiting for?"

Runald became surprised. Jaehwan said, "My friends."

Runald became worried if he made a face that might've been rude, but he couldn't help it.

A friend? Jaehwan had no friends. He was alone ever since he came up to . That's when he met Andersen and Runald. And Karavan. If he had a friend, only the two of them were here.

But other friends? Runald felt as if he had been betrayed and asked, "Who are you talking about…"

"They'll be here soon. I can feel it."

And at that moment, a giant shadow-like figure appeared from the sky. Karavan screamed.

"W-what is that!"

There was a giant s.h.i.+p in the air, a s.h.i.+p that colored in pitch black. Runald remembered he heard the name of the s.h.i.+p before entering the Forest of Madness. There were the pirates who called themselves the 'Fallbringers'.

"Cheesy name," Jaehwan laughed. As they saw the name, Runald remembered he was right.

The name of the s.h.i.+p was…

-Jaehwan!!

It was 'Fall'.

-Jaehwan!

-Master!

Voices came from the sky. Runald felt the emotions within the voices. It was the voice of longing and waiting that Runald knew very well.

The voices of ones who had waited for one person for a long time.

Jaehwan then saw the people running toward him, two men and one woman.

As he saw them running, Runald became lonely. They were in the same place, but it felt like they were in different places. Runald then realized what was most important thing in human relations.h.i.+ps.

This was a wall of time. A wall he could never break. Was this the wall he had been feeling all along?

He wanted to meet Andersen so much. His instincts told him that he could never cross that wall. He will never… he felt as if he was being swept away into darkness, into loneliness.

And at that moment-

"What are you doing?"

A voice saved him as if it was nothing.

"Let's go."

Jaehwan's large hand grabbed his shoulder. Runald realized he was overcoming a wall so easily. He also realized something was going to begin now.

Runald looked back. He couldn't see the Long Living race saying their goodbyes anymore. They were getting further away from the forest.

He had learned a lot within the forest, and he left many things there. He turned again toward Jaehwan's people. Just like wearing clothes, one was gone and a new one had arrived.

Runald then thought he understood a bit more about Ouroboros. He wasn't sure if he was understanding it correctly, but he didn't want to hide this feeling.

He closed his eyes.

He could hear Andersen's song. It was a warm song that she sang to him before.

A poor naked G.o.d.

As he walked back home alone,

He thought about it all along.

At least one person.

At least once.

As Runald heard the song, he had mumbled the word for the last time.

"Ouroboros."