The Beginning of the Defiance Plan

Gawain had always been deeply interested in the Ancient Gandor Empire's enormous "Defiance Plan"—in a sense, enormous was no longer enough to describe it in his eyes. It... could even be called great.

This was a plan conceived by humanity after confirming the existence of gods, based on the reality of a world ruled by Supernatural Power—a plan to seek survival by actively resisting the gods. In the modern age a thousand years later, Human Civilization had declined, and the other races seemed trapped in the mire as well. Gawain had seen too much rigidity, backwardness, ignorance, and decline in this era, yet a few sparks of the Defiance Plan still endured amid this dark chaos. Even if they were only the faintest embers, they proved one thing to Gawain:

Humanity in this world possessed the instinct to resist and survive in its bones.

Yet upon closer examination and reflection, Gawain found far too many doubts surrounding the Defiance Plan. This colossal undertaking seemed from beginning to end to revolve around "Defying the Gods." Although its ultimate purpose appeared to be resisting the Magic Tide, was it truly only meant to help humanity survive it?

The Gondor Empire had attempted to oppose the gods with such absolute resolve. Even after the Magic Tide ended and new nations emerged, Defiers like Ophelia continued the old empire's research. The focus of that research seemed to have completely shifted toward simply analyzing the gods. Resisting the Magic Tide... instead felt more like a byproduct of this series of plans.

Even setting those doubts aside, with a living Defier like Ophelia before him, Gawain could not help wanting to hear those ancient secrets from an "insider." After all... gossip was one of humanity's instincts. Becoming a Satellite Spirit changed nothing.

"The Defiance Plan... I