0 years, there were no Heaven, no Underworld, and no Human Realm in the world.
The land was one, and the sky was one. The winged race, later called angels, and the race of magic, later called demons, along with elves, dwarves, beastmen, dragonkin, spirits, and humans, were all born under the same sun and lived gazing at the same sea. Although there were differences in appearance, lifespan, physique, and magic among the races, the world they inhabited had not yet established clear boundaries.
The continent before unification was far from peaceful. Races with long lifespans viewed those with short lifespans as immature, and those born with immense magical power looked down upon those who relied on physical strength and technology. Disputes over forests, rivers, mines, and ley lines were incessant, and it was rare for different races to live within the same city. Small conflicts led to revenge, and revenge, in turn, bred war.
To end such an era, representatives from each race gathered on the plains in the center of the continent. The talks lasted for years, and numerous representatives stormed out only to return. No race wished to fall under the laws of another, but the continuous wars were exhausting everyone.
Finally, they reached an agreement.
Each race would govern its internal affairs, but disputes transcending racial boundaries would be resolved in a joint council. No single race would unilaterally dominate another, and all races would send at least one representative to the council.
Later scholars designated that day as the beginning of the World Calendar.
Thus, in year 0, the World Council was established.
The World Council was not perfect from the start. Powerful races like angels and demons demanded more speaking rights, while weaker races like humans argued for equal seats based on their numbers. Elves demanded the inviolability of forests, and dwarves insisted on the independence of mines and underground cities. Dragonkin were offended by being categorized with other races.
However, the council survived numerous conflicts.
A common currency was created, and roads and magical transportation networks connecting the entire continent were built. Units of length and weight, which differed by race, were unified, and a magical system for translating different languages was developed. The administrative capabilities of angels, the magical research of demons, the engineering of dwarves, the spirit arts of elves, and the rapid learning ability of humans combined within a single civilization.
For thousands of years, the world enjoyed unprecedented prosperity.
Great cities shone with magical lights that never extinguished, and airships traversed the skies. Gates that folded space to connect distant regions were built, and diseases and famines became horrors of the past. Angels and demons explored the structure of dimensions in the same laboratory, and human merchants traded goods between elven forests and dwarven underground cities.
Reading only the records from that era, no one would have imagined that this civilization would split in two and point weapons at each other for tens of thousands of years.
However, all prosperity breeds new problems.
As cities grew larger and society became more complex, the World Council's authority also strengthened. Initially, it was merely an institution to mediate inter-racial disputes, but over time, the council began to interfere in taxation, military affairs, magical research, education, professions, and even residency.
Angels viewed this as natural progress.
They believed that unchecked individual and racial desires would inevitably lead to conflict. They argued that civilization could only endure if every being was assigned an appropriate role, dangerous magic and weapons were controlled, and resources were allocated under a grand plan. Freedom was important, but it could not precede order. If one being's choice could harm thousands, that choice must be restricted.
Demons disagreed.
To them, civilization only had meaning when all beings could choose their own lives. A society that controlled thoughts and desires for the sake of safety, and determined professions and residences under the guise of stability, was no different from a giant prison. They believed that free choices came with responsibility, but the choice itself should not be taken away out of fear of that responsibility.
At first, it was merely a philosophical debate.
But when philosophy became law, and law became military orders, the debate became a matter of survival.
In the year 18,927, the World Council passed a bill requiring the registration of high-risk magic and mental abilities with the state. The Angelic faction explained it as a minimal measure to prevent large-scale disasters. The Demonic faction criticized it as the beginning of surveillance over individual minds and bloodlines.
The following year, the scope of registration expanded. A few years later, the council's permission was required to travel between certain regions. Later, a clause was added allowing for the magical suppression of emotions of individuals classified as dangerous.
The Angelic faction claimed these were systems to protect stability and life.
The Demonic faction saw it as a process of dismantling freedom.
The World Council gradually split into two factions. The Central Order faction, centered around the angels, sought to unify all races under a single law and administrative system. The Free Alliance faction, centered around the demons, sought to protect the autonomy of races and cities, and the freedom of individual movement and contracts.
Elves, dwarves, beastmen, and dragonkin did not fully belong to either side. Some elven nations expected angelic order to protect their forests, while others joined the demons, arguing that the central government sought to control even the laws of nature. Dwarven cities were also divided between those who desired stable trade and those who wished to protect independent mining rights.
Humans, despite being the most numerous race, had the least influence.
Their lifespans were short, and their magic was weak. By the time a generation of humans gained political experience, only a few years had passed for angels and demons. Human representatives proposed compromises between the two factions, but the powerful races did not take their opinions seriously.
In 20,314, the conflict finally erupted into war.
The trigger was an order to disarm a small city. The World Council ordered the confiscation of the armory of a demon city that had joined the Free Alliance. The city refused, and the enforcement army of the Central Order broke through the city gates. Hundreds died, and the testimonies of the survivors spread across the continent.
The Demonic faction viewed this as a declaration of war on freedom.
The Angelic faction defined it as a violent rebellion against the law.
After that, neither side could back down.
The Great Schism War lasted for 227 years. In the early stages of the war, it was primarily conventional battles for cities and territories, but as time went on, both sides began to deploy dimensional magic, soul weapons, spirits, and ancient beasts. In a single battle, mountain ranges collapsed, seas turned black, and lands became uninhabitable for centuries.
The World Council held its last meeting in 20,503.
Representatives of angels and demons sat at the same round table, but armies already stood behind them. The human representative pleaded for a ceasefire from both sides, and the elven representative warned that the continent could no longer withstand the war. However, the meeting ended without any agreement.
After that day, the World Council never met again.
The war did not end because one side won.
Both sides realized they could not subjugate their enemies.
In 20,541, the leader of the Angelic faction declared himself the First Archangel. He concluded that achieving complete order on the existing continent was impossible. As long as demons and their supporters existed, all laws would face resistance, and the more they tried to eliminate resistance, the more the world would be destroyed.
He led his followers, angels and order-aligned forces, to a new dimension. The world they arrived in was a place of endlessly high skies, floating continents, and pure light magic.
They named it Heaven.
In the same year, the leader of the Demonic faction ascended to the position of First Great Demon. He declared that freedom could not be preserved in a world where one had to seek permission to breathe and move. Demons and the races of the Free Alliance departed for another dimension. The place they arrived in was a world of black earth, red skies, endlessly towering mountains, and deep seas of magic.
They named it the Underworld.
When the two factions departed, no one expected it to be an eternal separation. Heaven and the Underworld were intended to be connected through the dimensional gates left on the original continent. If necessary, diplomacy and trade could continue, and there was even the possibility of seeking a new form of coexistence someday.
However, in 20,542, the moment the last large-scale migration ended, the entire dimensional network collapsed.
This was caused by the dimensional magic used in the war for centuries and the forced separation of the two worlds.
The path directly connecting Heaven and the Underworld disappeared, and all attempts to open new passages failed.
To go from Heaven to the Underworld, one had to pass through the original continent.
The same was true when going from the Underworld to Heaven.
And on the original continent, humans remained.
Humans remained not because they chose neutrality. It was because neither Heaven nor the Underworld wanted them. Angels deemed humans, with their short lifespans and unstable emotions, a burden to the new order. Demons also considered humans, with their weak strength and lack of magic, of no practical help to the Free Alliance.
Some humans followed them to Heaven and the Underworld, but most did not even make it onto the migration lists.
Thus, the weakest race inherited the largest continent.
Of course, it was not a blessing.
The continent was devastated by war. Farmland was burned, rivers were polluted, and uncontrolled magic and monsters remained in the old cities. Debris from collapsed dimensional gates floated in the sky, and at night, the souls of those who died in the war wandered the ruins.
Humans united to survive.
They repaired abandoned walls and dismantled weapons left by angels and demons to create tools. Those who could not use magic learned technology, and those with weak magic studied records accumulated over centuries. Humans were weaker than any other race, but they changed faster than any other race.
They had to learn within their short lifespans and pass on their knowledge to the next generation.
After centuries, small settlements became cities, and cities grew into kingdoms. Humans began to call the continent they lived on the Human Realm. At first, it was a self-deprecating name for the land abandoned by Heaven and the Underworld, but over time, it became a name symbolizing an independent world.
However, peace in the Human Realm did not last long.
With the disappearance of the direct connection between Heaven and the Underworld, the two worlds had to pass through the Human Realm to exert influence on each other. Old dimensional gates remained scattered throughout the Human Realm, and temporary passages to Heaven and the Underworld could be opened in certain regions.
Heaven declared it would provide order and protection to the Human Realm. They imparted laws and administrative systems to human nations and protected cities from monsters and diseases. In return, they demanded that human nations accept angelic regulations and reorganize society according to designated roles.
The Underworld proposed contracts and trade. They provided humans with magic, weapons, and resources, and in return, gained ports, gates, and military passage rights. The Underworld did not directly interfere with the internal systems of human nations, but it demanded harsh penalties for those who broke contracts.
The Human Realm began to divide again.
Some kingdoms enjoyed stability and prosperity under Heaven's protection. Crime decreased and famine disappeared, but citizens' professions and residences were assigned according to Heaven's standards. Some cities gained immense wealth by allying with the Underworld. Commerce and scholarship flourished, but individuals also bore the responsibility for failure and risk.
Heaven and the Underworld claimed they were saving humanity.
Humans felt they had become a battlefield once more.
From 20,542 to 35,900, countless wars were fought in the Human Realm. There were times when angelic legions and demonic legions clashed directly, and times when human nations fought on behalf of each side with their support. Behind succession wars, religious conflicts, and commercial city rivalries, the interests of Heaven and the Underworld were always intertwined.
However, humans were no longer the weak race that no one wanted.
They learned the laws of angels and mastered the magic of demons. They restored machines left by dwarves and adapted elven spirit arts. The short generations of humans actually accelerated the pace of change. While Heaven and the Underworld debated for centuries, humans created new nations and weapons within a few generations.
In 35,901, the three worlds finally reached their limit.
The last great battle fought in the center of the Human Realm erased dozens of cities and three kingdoms from the map. When the Archangel of Heaven and the Great Demon of the Underworld directly used their powers, the boundaries of dimensions collapsed, and cracks appeared even within Heaven and the Underworld themselves.
If the war continued, there was a high probability that all three worlds would collapse before either side could achieve victory.
Heaven and the Underworld began negotiations in a neutral city in the Human Realm. The negotiations lasted for 23 years, resulting in the Non-Interference Pact.
High-ranking beings, including the Archangel and the Great Demon, could not directly participate in the wars of the Human Realm. Powers that could annihilate entire cities and nations were prohibited, and large-scale stationing of legions without the consent of human nations was restricted. Anyone who used magic that destabilized the dimensional balance would be considered a common enemy, regardless of their faction.
The Non-Interference Pact did not end the war.
However, it changed the nature of the war.
Heaven exerted influence through religious orders, apostles, and pro-Heaven nations. The Underworld formed alliances with contractors, merchant guilds, and free cities. Full-scale wars where swords and magic clashed decreased, but diplomacy, espionage, assassination, and proxy wars became more intense.
Numerous changes also occurred within the Underworld.
After the First Great Demon, the throne of the Great Demon was not passed down solely by bloodline. To become the supreme ruler of the Underworld, one needed not only overwhelming power but also the approval of the major lords, races, and legions. Incompetent successors could not ascend to the throne, and tyrannical rulers with only strength could not last long.
The Great Demon was the absolute ruler of the Underworld, but unlike Heaven, the Underworld did not control the lives of all beings. Each territory and race was guaranteed broad autonomy. Laws primarily regulated contracts, ownership, and responsibility for violence, with little intervention in individual professions, residences, beliefs, and relationships.
That freedom was not always peaceful.
There were instances where the strong oppressed the weak, and disputes between territories and races were incessant. However, the inhabitants of the Underworld chose the freedom to take risks over controlled safety. The most important role of the Great Demon was not to make all demons live in one way, but to establish the final boundary so that different ways of life would not destroy the entire Underworld.
Over tens of thousands of years, 66 rulers ascended to the throne of the Great Demon.
Some died in battle, some were defeated in challenges, some abdicated voluntarily, and some disappeared and never returned. The average reign lasted for hundreds of years, and during the reign and abdication of one Great Demon, several dynasties rose and fell in the Human Realm.
In 44,452, Lucifer ascended as the 66th Great Demon.
Lucifer was neither a tyrant nor a reformer. He maintained the existing order stably rather than causing great changes that would shake the Underworld. He mediated disputes among the Seven Lords, upheld the pacts with Heaven, yet did not compromise the interests of the Underworld. His reign lasted 359 years, neither particularly long nor short compared to previous Great Demons.
However, an ordinary reign did not mean ordinary rule.
During Lucifer's era, the Underworld prospered without major wars. Trade with the Human Realm expanded, and clashes with Heaven were suppressed to a localized level. The nobles of the Underworld respected him but did not fear him, and the citizens accepted his name as a symbol of stability rather than worship.
Sixty-one years before his reign began, in 44,391, a demon was born.
He was Utilisateur, who would later become the 67th Great Demon.
Utilisateur's birth was not marked by thunder or prophecy. There was no legend of the sky splitting open at the moment of his birth. He was not a direct descendant of an ancient Great Demon, nor was he destined for the throne.
However, as he grew, his power and influence became undeniable.
He commanded countless legions on the battlefield and brought hostile nobles to the same negotiation table. He resolved dimensional disputes that arose in the Human Realm, and when hardliners in Heaven attempted to break the treaty, he made them retreat without moving the Underworld's army.
The lords of the Underworld saw more than just a strong individual in him.
A ruler who could unite the free Underworld without controlling it like Heaven. A being who possessed power but did not use it to demand trivial obedience. A successor who could endure the contradictions required by the throne of the Great Demon.
In 44,527, Seraphina Morbiel was born.
Succubi were an ancient race even in the Underworld. Their ability to manipulate dreams, emotions, desires, and minds proved more powerful in diplomacy and espionage than in war. However, only a very few top-tier succubi were born in any given era.
From childhood, Seraphina was different from other succubi.
She did not merely read the desires of others. She could distinguish the source of emotions from falsehoods and find memories hidden within dreams. She could read subtle emotional changes even in beings immune to mental abilities, and she showed exceptional talent not only in illusions and magic but also in politics and negotiation.
Upon reaching adulthood, Seraphina entered the court of the Underworld.
Many lords and nobles desired her. Simply having a top-tier succubus as a confidante could elevate one's political standing. However, Seraphina accepted no offers from any family.
The being to whom she pledged her loyalty was Utilisateur.
It wasn't love from the start. At least, Seraphina believed so.
She judged that Utilisateur was the one who would lead the next era of the Underworld, and she thought serving the most capable lord was fitting for her abilities. Utilisateur also treated her not as a beautiful succubus but as a strategist and diplomat. He assigned her missions and demanded results, and when she succeeded, he precisely acknowledged her contributions.
As time passed, loyalty transformed into another emotion.
Seraphina could read the emotions of countless beings, but she herself did not acknowledge her own feelings for a long time. She lost her composure whenever she thought of the possibility of Utilisateur not returning from the battlefield, and she would unconsciously give a cold smile when another noble acted too intimately by his side.
In public, she called Utilisateur 'Your Excellency'.
During missions, she called him 'Lord'.
When they were alone, she called him 'Master' in a low voice.
And Utilisateur called Seraphina 'Pi' only between the two of them.
Underworld Slogan: People of all realms, unite!
Heaven Slogan: War is peace, freedom is enslavement, ignorance is strength!