Clark was falling into the abyss, his existence overlapping with infinite universes, before suddenly being transported into one of them—a universe completely unlike anything he had ever seen before.
Meanwhile, in the universe where the World Tree stood…
The Lost One sat atop the tree, while everyone else had awakened inside the room overlooking its front, where a somewhat spacious area stretched out before the branches came to an end.
Guanda spoke:
“I wonder how Clark is doing right now.
I’m really worried about him.”
Nerv replied:
“Don’t worry.
He’s probably still alive…
As for us, we also need to stay alive until we find him.”
Ben remained seated in silence, barely able to process any of what had happened.
Just one day ago, he had been at home beside his loving parents, lying beneath a warm blanket, living the life he had always known.
And now…
Nothing was the same anymore.
They had found themselves in a world governed by none of the laws humanity knew; a world unlike anything they had ever encountered, a world whose true nature even language itself seemed incapable of encompassing.
White said:
“Alright, ever since we woke up, that entity hasn’t moved at all…
It hasn’t even blinked.
What are we supposed to do now?”
Nerv smiled faintly.
“Don’t worry…
He’s gentle.”
Then Nerv and White left the room.
Guanda noticed Ben’s condition, so she approached him and sat down beside him.
“What’s wrong?…
Are you upset about everything that happened?”
Ben answered:
“I’m not upset…”
He fell silent for a moment, as though the words were caught in his throat, then continued hesitantly:
“I just feel strange.
I completely believed that everything in our world, in that universe, was real, and that there was nothing beyond it.
I believed with absolute certainty that there was only one universe, stretching and expanding without end.”
He lowered his head slightly.
“But now…
everything has become uncertain.
I don’t even know whether our goal of protecting our world from chaos was ever a real goal in the first place.”
Silence settled over them for a few moments before he said bitterly:
“Maybe everything we did was just meaningless nonsense.”
Ben blinked.
And suddenly…
He found himself standing beside the Lost One.
He froze in place, his eyes widening as he stared at him, unable to understand how he had gone from inside the house to here without feeling anything at all.
At that moment, Guanda stepped outside the house, where Nerv and White were standing beside Ben.
The Lost One looked at all of them, then smiled calmly.
“Maybe there is no meaning in what we’re trying to protect, and maybe there is no meaning to our existence in the first place…
But which is better?
To stop, or to create meaning in the midst of all this chaos?”
Ben remained silent for several moments, repeating the Lost One’s words in his mind, as though they had touched something deep inside him that he had never been able to name.
Then he raised his eyes toward him.
“You’re right…
Stopping is easier than creating meaning.”
The Lost One stood, as though he had finally made up his mind, then looked at everyone and said calmly:
“Now, since you’re all ready…
let’s head to the Lake of Pure Souls.
There, you’ll find powerful souls you can merge with.”
They exchanged glances, each of them beginning to prepare for what lay ahead.
And suddenly…
Everyone vanished from where they stood.
In the next moment, they appeared at the edge of a vast forest, its dense trees stretching before them until they were swallowed by the distant mist.
Deep within it, a calm blue glow could be seen threading its way between the trees.
That was the Lake of Souls.
The Lost One stood before them, then said:
“You go ahead.
I cannot force any of you to choose a particular soul.”
Then he added:
“Every entity has a soul that resonates with its existence, and the soul that chooses you is not necessarily the strongest…
but the one most compatible with you.”
The Lost One sat calmly at the edge of the forest, and a few small flowers appeared around him, as though the earth itself had responded to his presence.
They exchanged glances.
The tension was plainly visible on their faces.
Ben took a deep breath, then clenched his fist, trying to gather himself.
He fixed his gaze on the forest ahead and said:
“Come on…
follow me.”
Meanwhile, deep within the abyss…
Clark stood in that world, staring around him as though he had found himself inside some surreal, absurd dream unlike anything he had ever known.
The sky above stretched endlessly, glittering with billions of stars and radiant meteors scattered like jewels across a pitch-black expanse.
At the heart of that darkness, luminous blue pathways and mysterious nebulae intersected, resembling viscous galaxies formed from crystallized light.
Everything felt like a dream.
And yet, a strange feeling weighed heavily upon Clark.
Nihilism.
A quiet, empty sensation that carried neither fear nor sorrow, only the feeling that everything around him existed without purpose, and that this overwhelming beauty concealed no meaning behind it.
On the distant horizon, a luminous crescent moon appeared, surrounded by a warm halo.
Beside it hung a still, dark planet that inspired a strange sense of tranquility and awe.
Below, dark mountainous and rocky terrain stretched into the distance, broken by thick clouds edged with a glowing golden light.
Through those clouds, scattered lights could be seen far away, resembling cities or luminous lakes spread across the land like points of starlight.
The entire scene looked like a fragment of an ancient legend placed somewhere that belonged to no world Clark had ever known.
He stared at it for a long time.
And for the first time, it was not the beauty of the place that amazed him…
It was the strange feeling that came with it.
As though this beautiful world was not alive…
but dreaming of its own existence.
Clark walked through that strange world, the lights of a distant city swaying before him, its streets illuminated by dim yellow lamps, while thick black fog surrounded the buildings and roads, slowly swallowing the city’s edges.
Above it all hung a massive gray moon, strangely unsettling in a way that was difficult to explain, as though it were watching the world below.
Clark entered the city.
There was no one around him.
He was alone, facing that unknown world as he walked through its silent streets, while the city’s features faded into the mist.
He raised his gaze slightly, then thought to himself:
“I wonder what is happening in that world right now…
Will I be able to get back in and out of the depths of chaos?”
Suddenly, Frost’s voice came from within him:
“Greetings, my lord.
I can communicate with you internally…
And by the way, there is a classic carriage that is supposedly located somewhere within the depths of chaos.
That carriage can transport you to any place.”
Clark’s footsteps stopped for a moment.
For the first time since entering this world, he felt a measure of relief at having someone he could communicate with, even if it was only from within his own mind.
He said:
“Thank you.
So I’ve found the objective.”
Silence returned once more.
Clark continued walking, but he could not stop the thoughts from crowding his mind.
After a while, he slowed his pace and whispered:
“Since I found a picture of my father and mother in that world…
that means the darkness is close to the material world, where my grandfather and the humans are.”
He stopped for a moment, then furrowed his brows.
“I don’t know how much time has passed since I disappeared, but…”
His voice trailed off.
Something moved behind the thick black fog.
Its nature remained unclear.
Just a movement…
slight, but enough to make Clark stop where he stood.
His eyes locked onto the mist.
He did not move.
Suddenly, someone emerged from the heart of the darkness.
His eyes glowed golden, while golden hair streamed behind him, and in his hand was a sword forged from brilliant white light.
Without the slightest hesitation, he lunged at Clark with incredible speed, until the distance between them seemed to vanish in an instant.
Clark quickly stepped backward, causing the sword to miss his body by a narrow margin.
The attacker stopped.
He remained standing where he was, staring at Clark in clear astonishment, while Clark regarded him with equal caution and confusion.
A brief silence followed.
Then, at the exact same moment, they both said:
“Another entity?”
The golden-haired man broke the silence surrounding them.
“Who are you?”
Clark held his gaze for several moments before answering cautiously:
“Who are you first…
You’re the one who attacked me.”
Silence lingered for a moment.
Then the man answered calmly, as though the matter hardly deserved more consideration:
“I’m someone who fell into the depths of chaos, and I don’t know how long I’ve been trapped here.”
The two remained standing in silence for several moments, cautiously watching one another, before Clark spoke:
“I’m Clark…
Nice to meet you.
I would have died moments ago if not for the strange sense I possess.”
A faint smile appeared on the man’s face, with a trace of apology passing over his features.
“Sorry for attacking you.
I thought you were another one of those rotten entities.”
Then he added more calmly:
“By the way, I’m Mister Sun.”
Clark was slightly surprised, furrowing his brows as he stared at the man before him.
“Mister Sun?…
Is that your name or a title?
And what are those entities you were talking about?”
Mister Sun answered calmly, his expression unchanged:
“That’s my name.
As for those entities, chaos transforms any being that enters its depths—if it doesn’t possess enough power or evolve through the stages of Soul Awakening—into something else.”
He fell silent for a moment, then continued:
“It destroys them and reconstructs them…
mentally and physically.”
Clark replied:
“That sounds complicated…
and kind of tragic.”
Mister Sun nodded in confirmation, then said:
“You’re forced to kill innocent beings who have turned into monsters…
By the way, how did you get here?”
Clark answered:
“I fell into a black abyss that led me here…
into the depths of chaos.”
Mister Sun approached him, then raised his hand in greeting.
Clark hesitated for a brief moment before extending his own hand and shaking it.
But the handshake did not last long.
Suddenly, something in the atmosphere changed.
Both of them stopped where they stood, sensing a terrifying aura emanating from somewhere nearby at the exact same moment.
It was not merely a force that could be sensed, but a heavy presence that made the air itself seem denser.
From within the depths of the fog, strange entities began to emerge one after another.
Mister Sun watched them for a few moments, then turned toward Clark and said:
“You seem to be in the Naming Stage, aren’t you?”
Clark’s brows drew together slightly at the unfamiliar term before he answered:
“If you mean my power level, I’m in the Awakening Stage…
and at its lowest level so far.”
A hint of surprise appeared on Mister Sun’s face, but he did not dwell on it.
He extended his hand, and in the next moment, a sword of pure white light formed within his grasp, illuminating the surrounding fog.
He said calmly:
“Alright, no problem.
You seem strong…
Watch my back, and I’ll watch yours.”