Elysium. The Hall of Divinity where the gods convened.Columns of radiant gold speared the heavens, and the air itself brimmed with the luminance that testified to their being.
Today, however, the mood was different.Unease rippled among them.Their balance was trembling.
At the center of it all stood—two mere humans.
"Humans mean to become gods."
The words rolled through the hall.On any other day it would have been dismissed as absurd, a trifle not worth a hearing.No one dismissed it now.
One god rose. His presence cleaved outward through the space.
"They trespass upon our domain.""We can no longer simply watch!"
Several deities sprang to their feet in assent."Indeed. They have come too far already.""We must protect ourselves.""We must keep the order."
Others answered with a cold curl of the lip."Since when did we learn to fear humans?""They will meet their limit, as all things do.""There is no need for us to move."
The chamber split.
One side urged an absolute severing of human potential.The other trusted in human limits and argued for non‑intervention.
What rattled them most, however, were the gods who spoke from an entirely different place.
A goddess stood and spoke softly."Do you believe they cannot become as we are?""I do not."
A murmur swelled.She had long watched humanity up close.And now, she had chosen.
"I will relinquish my godhood."
Silence fell—pure and sudden.Then, as if to cleave that stillness, another god rose."I will do the same."
They would no longer reign as gods.They chose instead to walk with humankind.
"Is our essence as gods sufficient reason to be forever set apart?""We merely came first. Must that difference place us above, without end?"
Rage flared among some."Traitors!""Abandon your divinity, and you are no longer of us!"
They did not waver."Then we will become something new—not gods."
Light wavered.They laid down their divine authority.Power bled from them by degrees, yet there was no regret upon their faces.
They were no longer gods.And yet followers remained—those who remembered what they had once been.
A new name rose for them: Those Who Laid Down Divinity.
Amid the roil, Yerebos, seated in the shadows, finally stood.
The hall sank under the weight of his mere presence.Every gaze fixed upon his lips.
"I have known," he said, voice tranquil, "from the beginning."
"The possibility that humans might become gods—it has always existed."
He looked slowly around:at those who had just cast aside their godhood,at the gods who believed in human possibility,and at those who held that mortals could never trespass upon the divine.
"I have never permitted that possibility," he said."Nor will I."
His eyes deepened.
"Order must be kept."
Some gods stared, startled.Yerebos was among the most powerful.He had just declared that he would act.
"I cut this possibility off before," he said."I will render the same judgment now."
He extended a hand.From his fingertips poured a cold, black current—not mere sorcery, but order itself.
"Humans must have limits.""That is the principle of order."
The rift widened.
"I will not intervene directly," he added."But do not mistake my restraint for leave to ascend."
His gaze did not quiver.He was looking far ahead.
"To maintain order is my charge," he said."And I will fulfill it to the end."
He sat.But his words cast a long shadow across the hall.
The gods were now divided,and between those fractures, the fate of humans began to shift.
Lee Do-hyeon and Reina—they did not yet know of this debate.Yet their choices were already shaking even the order of the gods.
***
Chapter : Titan's Trace — The Fragment Bearer
The sky was unsettling.It wasn't merely overcast.An ominous aura—like a colossal being stirring—enveloped the land.
And there was one who felt that change more keenly than anyone else.
He lay hidden deep in the mountains.No, he wasn't hiding—he was transforming.
Even the breeze that brushed his fingertips felt different.His body—no, his very existence—was shifting.
"This is… the power of the Titan."
He closed his hand slowly.A tremendous surge of energy welled up from his palm.As if an ancient chain had snapped.
A sense of liberation.
A sensation he had never known in all his life.No longer did he need to worship gods.No longer did he have to be bound by anyone.
He laughed.
What he had gained was not mere strength.It was neither divinity nor mana nor Naegong—but energy from an entirely different dimension.
His skin grew as tough as armor.His strength and reflexes surpassed human limits.Even his thoughts were no longer those of a man.
He was no longer human.Yet he was not fully a Titan, either.
He had become something new.
He had once been one who worshipped the gods.In his past, he learned divine power in the temple and fought with that blessing.
But now—
"Gods do not exist for humans.""We are not beings meant to live by worship.""Titans were the true creators who granted us power."
The gods had imposed order upon humanity.But the Titan's power rejected order.
Freedom.
That was the euphoria he felt.
He laughed again.What becomes of a human who rejects the gods?He would prove it for himself.
Suddenly, Reina halted in her tracks.Though the source was unseen, a fierce aura was closing in.
She murmured softly,"…This is—"
Lee Do-hyeon tightened his grip on his sword.Ego's Blade pulsed faintly, sending a warning.
Danger.Be cautious. This is not a mere human.
And then—
He emerged.
A man wreathed in immense power.His eyes were no longer human, and the energy flowing from his fingertips was neither divine nor mana.
He spoke, low and gravelly.
"You who would defy the gods' order—are you prepared?"
Lee Do-hyeon and Reina exchanged a glance.They sensed it instinctively:
This battle would be nothing like any before.
***
Chapter : The Power of the Void — The Titan's Trace Awakens
The Titan's Trace – Power of the Void
The sky was wrong.It wasn't just cloudy—an oppressive tension pressed over the land, as if some immense being were about to awaken. Clouds hung unnaturally low, and beneath them, something unseen seemed to writhe, casting a heavy shadow. There wasn't a breath of wind, yet leaves scraped together with a dry, uneasy whisper. The air smelled faintly of earth and iron.
Deep in the mountains, someone felt this change more keenly than anyone else.
He wasn't merely hiding there—he was changing.
Even the air brushing his fingertips felt different. The cold wind stabbed his skin, and a faint electric tingle crawled up his arms.His body—no, his very existence—was transforming.
'This… is the power of the Titan.'
Slowly, he closed his fist.A surge of raw energy flooded from his fingertips. The air rippled like disturbed water, and somewhere deep below, an ancient chain snapped with a dull crack.
Liberation.
It was a sensation he had never known.Every breath felt heavier, and the faint taste of iron lingered on his tongue.He no longer needed to worship the gods.He no longer needed to be bound by anyone.
He smiled.
What he had gained was not mere strength.It was not divinity, nor mana, nor even Naegong—it was an energy from an entirely different plane.
His skin hardened like armor; when he flexed his wrist, his joints creaked under the strain. His strength and reflexes surpassed human limits, and even his thoughts no longer belonged wholly to humankind.
He was no longer human.Yet he wasn't fully Titan either.
He had become something new.
Once, he had worshipped the gods. He had learned divine power in the temple and fought under its banner.But now—
"Gods do not exist for humans.""We are not meant to live in worship.""The Titans—they were the true creators who gave us power."
His voice rolled through the air, loosening dust from cracks in the rocks.
The gods had forced order upon humankind.The Titan's power rejected that order.
Freedom.
That was the liberation he felt.
He smiled again.What becomes of a human who rejects the gods?He would prove it himself.
Reina halted abruptly.Something unseen brushed against her skin—a raw, closing presence. The air trembled faintly, carrying a low, bone-deep hum.
She whispered softly,"…This is…"
Lee Do-hyeon tightened his grip on his sword.Ego's Blade trembled faintly in his hand, sending out a warning. The vibration ran up his wrist, striking at his heart.
— Danger. —— Be cautious. This is no mere human. —
And then—
He appeared.
A man wreathed in immense power.His eyes were no longer human, and the energy streaming from his fingertips was neither divine, nor mana. The air warped subtly around him; for an instant, the world blurred.
He spoke, his voice low and harsh.
"You… are you the ones who would defy the order of the gods?"
As the words left his lips, the air split with a sharp, snapping hiss.Lee Do-hyeon and Reina knew instantly.
This battle would be unlike any before.
A deafening CRAAACK!
The man thrust out his hand, and the space he stood in tore and twisted. Trees buckled and wavered, stones rose and fell as if gravity had been undone. The air turned knife-cold; each breath scraped down their throats with a bitter chill.
Lee Do-hyeon leapt aside on instinct, but even his honed senses were confounded.This was no ordinary spell—it was a force shaking the very fabric of existence.
He steadied his sword.'I can't think of this as just another attack.'
Ego's Blade pulsed in his hand.
—"You feel it too? This power is nothing like the magic we know."—"But if you swing me with all your strength, even this power can be cut!"
A faint resonance rang from the blade.Warmth spread into his palm, as if urging him, "Swing me now."
But Lee Do-hyeon's eyes narrowed.Should this power really just be destroyed?Or could it somehow be used?
Reina's thoughts darkened.The Void does not vanish.It changes.
Her martial instincts whispered:This was not merely an "attack"—it was a shift in order.
Then perhaps blindly destroying it wasn't the answer.The Void shattered order—but in its wake, something new could be made.
Their eyes met.No words were needed—their resolve passed between them.
They would not simply cut through the Void.They would find a way to turn it back upon itself.
Lee Do-hyeon's sword moved again.But this time, he did not simply strike.
His arcane magic bloomed with soft light.And in that moment, he understood.
Arcane energy was not just magic.It was the origin of all sorcery, aligned with Naegong—and now, it even brushed the power of the Void.
The Void was not mere destruction.It erased the existing orderto make room for the new.
But if the Void erased everything, nothing could take root.The Void was the possibility of creation—but it was not creation itself.
Lee Do-hyeon chose to embrace the Void.
As his sword cut the air, his arcane power read the flow of the Void.The aura from the blade wove with the dark energy, shivering softly.
In that instant, the Void's power trembled in his grasp.It did not resist.
Not destruction—attunement.
Lee Do-hyeon turned the Void against itself.He took the "order" the Void had stolen and sent it spiraling back,splitting the fragment-bearer from within.
"What… what is this?"
The man clutched his body, groaning.His power surged out of control.It was not a simple explosion—it was a collapse from the inside.
Arcane's creative flow and the Void's destructive current collided.That collision forged something new.
The Void's power spread no further.It faded—quietly, naturally.
With one last, anguished scream,the man who had absorbed the Titan fragment crumbled—and vanished.
The darkness that lingered scattered like morning mist.
And in the clearing, only silence remained—the stillness of power transformed,and the echo of a battle that had rewritten the balance itself.