The history of the 1st and 2nd Holy Wars are known far and wide, and with them, the rise and fall of the different races and kingdoms. However, how many really know about the time that preceded the 1st Holy War, or more specifically, the origins of this world we call home?
The truth is, little is known about how this world came into existence, thus, historians have aptly named this period of time, the "Lost Ages". Today, however, I shall share everything I know that transpired during the "Lost Ages", as well as important events that occurred behind the scenes during the period of the 1st Holy War.
I believe many of you have heard the legend of the Goddess of Order and Creation, Amaterasu, how she was the creator of this very world we're standing on as well as being the mother to all forms of life. This is essentially fact, and not simply heresy.
However, how many of you actually know that she had a brother, the God of Chaos and Destruction, Astaroth, whose role was equally important in maintaining the balance and functionality of the world? After all, his primary role was to govern the death and destruction of all living things in the world, so that the old may go and the new might take their place, ensuring balance with a constant and well-maintained cycle of life and death.
Initially, life on this world was simply confined to plants, animals etc with no thinking or learning ability, as all their actions were solely governed by instinct. However, one fine day, Amaterasu decided to liven the world by creating a race similar to herself, the first sentient race with the ability to think, learn and feel. This race would be known as the Celestials and like their creator, they revered peace, order and life.
At the beginning, Astaroth had nothing against the creation of the Celestials, for they were ultimately mortal and susceptible to death like all other creatures. However, the turning point came when the source of each deity's powers were discovered.
It turned out that positivity brought about by love and peace possessed by the Celestials with their perfect saint-like behaviour strengthened Amaterasu while weakening Astaroth, angering him as the balance was tilted to his sister's favour.
To appease her brother and maintain the balance, Amaterasu allowed her brother to create a sentient race himself, a race that would revere his work through negativity and hence achieve balance. Astaroth subsequently created the Demon race, and the Demons would be the antithesis of the Celestials, valuing strength, individuality and destruction.
The balance was achieved momentarily, since the negativity borne from hatred and bloodshed during the infighting among the Demons offset the positivity generated from the Celestials. However, all this changed once again due to 2 big factors.
Firstly, the birth of a 3rd sentient race, the Sylphs. The Sylphs were actually descended from the Celestials, since the 1st Sylph was an anomalous Celestial, as he was born naturally wingless with pointed ears and blue eyes instead. This man, who would go on to be the ancestor of all Sylphs today, was initially treated as an outcast, because of both his physical appearance and beliefs on how to best revere their creator, the Goddess Amaterasu.
While the other Celestials believed that the best way to show their love for the Goddess is to embrace her ideology by seeking self-perfection through cultivation, this man believed that more concrete action should be taken by being proactive in the protection of all life created by the Goddess, especially plants which he believed needed a voice and hand to act on their behalf. Due to those differences, he was eventually expelled from his home, being exiled and left with no one to care for him.
Despite being exiled, this man was optimistic, choosing to focus his energy on practising his beliefs rather than lamenting his fate. He took time and energy to study every animal and plant he chanced across, eventually single-handedly growing an entire forest and habitat for his precious flora and fauna.
Amaterasu was intrigued by his experience all the while, as she paid special attention to him. Amazed by his achievement, she visited him one day to his surprise, rewarding him with a companion of the opposite gender that was modelled after him. The couple would eventually become the progenitors of all Sylphs, and their love for Mother Nature and all life run strong till today.
The 2nd factor that caused a major change was the encounter between members of the Demon and Celestial races. Initially unaware of each other's existence since they lived in separate territories, it was only when the demons were expanding their territory did they realise that there were other sentient races apart from themselves.
True to their bloodthirsty nature, they slaughtered the Celestials they had seen, much to the horror of the Celestials who were at a loss at what to do since their teachings taught them that all life were sacred. When the demons thought that they could do whatever they wanted after witnessing the weakness of the Celestials, it was only when they infringed upon Sylph territory did they encounter fierce opposition.
Unlike the saintly Celestials, the Sylphs were not afraid to use violence to protect their forest home and the animals that resided within, much to the surprise of the demons who were initially overwhelmed. The demons fought back, this time much stronger as the 2 races tore at each other's throats.
The Celestials were forced to make a decision, stand by and idly watch the demons snuff out all life on the world, or go against their prohibition to kill in order to save more lives. The Celestials eventually chose the latter, realising that sometimes, hard intervention was required for those who didn't respect the sanctity of life.
The resultant war between the alliance of Sylphs and Celestials against the demons raged on for several decades, but gradually, the Celestials gained the upper hand as they slowly drove the demons to extinction. The demons, realising their mistake, retreated back to their original territory and barricaded themselves within, refusing to fight any further.
The Celestials and Sylphs agreed to stop the invasion, since the demons were no longer willing to fight, sparing unnecessary bloodshed. This ushered an age of peace and prosperity, but Astaroth was angered, for his precious Demon race was left endangered by the Celestial-Sylph Alliance.
In order to appease her brother once again, realising that the creation of another bloodthirsty race wasn't the solution to their conundrum, Amaterasu proposed to create a new race together, a race that can create and destroy at the same time, ensuring the perfect balance between positivity and negativity without the interference of the deities.
Thus, the Human race was born, a race filled with individuals of varying beliefs across a wide spectrum. Now, the creation of the Human race was indeed the ideal solution to the problem of balance in the world, since the humans, with their far larger population than the other races, contributed to a majority share of both positivity and negativity, becoming the key custodian of the balance.
However, despite the balance being restored and both deities having equal amount of power and sway over the world, something insidious crept into the mind of Astaroth, changing him forever. Unlike Amaterasu who had to pay attention to all living things, Astaroth had spent his time observing the humans.
Astaroth learnt that those who embraced contentment and moderation would forever be thumbed down by those who sought power and influence, so in other words, balance was weakness and he should be proactive in seizing what he wanted instead of giving a hoot about balance. Astaroth, with his newfound zeal to be at the zenith, started making preparations to ensure world domination.
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Knowing that the demons, his 1st creation, were still too weak and outnumbered to carry out his will, he adopted a 2 pronged approach instead. Firstly, he created more abominations and various monsters such as trolls, Titans and vampires, sending them rampaging amidst the indigenous fauna population. Among these monsters, the most feared were the Armageddon, because of their titanic size, near indestructible bodies and insane destructive capabilities.
Astaroth's monsters ran riot amidst all the territories, forcing the Sylphs and Celestials to devote their attention to containing them. The humans and demons were not spared from the scourge of these monsters, but they were less badly affected due to Astaroth's interference, not because of pity but because they were pawns in his plan too.
After all, the 2nd approach was to entice the humans and demons to his side to fight for him, with promises of power and influence in the new world he would usher. This would be the origins of the organisation named the Chaos Legion, where members zealously believed that they were the chosen ones of Astaroth to rule the world.
Recognising that her brother had fallen beyond salvation despite her multiple attempts to appease him, Amaterasu decided to take the fight to Astaroth, igniting an all-out war between the 2 deities and their respective supporters, which was catastrophic as the world was extremely devastated.
After nearly 3 centuries of war, Amaterasu finally seized the upper hand against Astaroth, as her forces successfully destroyed the last of the Armageddon. Now, all that was left was the showdown between Amaterasu and Astaroth. The duel between the deities lasted for weeks, none daring to intervene due to the immense amount of power wielded by the two which could instantly decimate anyone who was careless enough to step into the fray.
Their battle was so immense that it changed the landscape of the world forever, most noticeably seen in the formation of the Northern Continent, which was actually part of the Central Continent before the seismic waves from their clash broke the piece of land they were fighting on from the rest of the mainland.
The Northern Continent would later on become known as the Dark Continent, as the residual amount of energy left by the deities in their fight transformed the physical environment of the island continent completely, most noticeably the shroud of miasma that covered the entire island. Finally, Amaterasu was eventually victorious over her brother, albeit at high personal cost. Knowing that she was too weak to deal the finishing blow on Astaroth, Amaterasu merely sealed him away from the world, barring his return to it.
However, before Amaterasu performed the sealing, as a contingency measure, she managed to extract Astaroth's power over death, merging it with her own power over life to give birth to her final creation, the 3rd deity, me. When I was born, since I was born from the powers of both deities, I already possessed knowledge of events that had transpired from the perspectives of both deities.
Before she succumbed to her injuries and entered a slumber so long that it stretches till today, Amaterasu entrusted me as the sole remaining deity to maintain the balance of all life, regardless of race, with impartiality. Thus, this concludes the clash between the two founding deities of the world we call home.
However, the story is far from over. The seal on Astaroth isn't perfect and infallible, and before he was sealed, he actually took a part of his indomitable soul and split it into seven parts, each culminating in one of the greatest sins mortals could commit.
That was how the 7 Chaos Generals were born and this explained their apparent immortality all this time, since I cannot govern the movement of their souls which gave them the ability to be reincarnated over and over again with perfect memories of their past lives. The Chaos Generals, however, weren't the only issue.
As I mentioned earlier, the seal on Astaroth isn't infallible. This means that he can still exert some influence over this world, albeit to a very small extent. However, just as a small drop of ink is sufficient to dye an entire cup of water, Astaroth's influence could still yield disaster for this world.
There are 2 very good examples in both Holy Wars. Back in those times, the Chaos Generals and their lackeys within the Chaos Legion were still rather inactive since the Chaos Generals weren't as powerful and influential as Astaroth in his prime. However, Astaroth was intelligent and cunning; he hadn't forgotten about his creations in the demon and human races.
Hence, he created the World Class weapons, [Nightmare] and [Catastrophe] with whatever limited power he possessed and sent them as tempting gifts to both races. The end result? Look at the aftermath of both wars and you'll get your answer.
At the end of the 1st Holy War, when the demons retreated to the Dark Continent where I resided all this while, I quickly intercepted them, attempting to rid Astaroth's influence off them. What better way than to demonstrate power to a group of power-hungry zealots? I killed off several of their leaders, much to my distaste since I had a delicate balance to maintain.
However, I soon realised that I was being haughty (deities are and never will be perfect), since I'd not eliminated the root cause of their wanton bloodlust. Yes, that was the World Class weapon, [Nightmare], still held by their so-called King like a holy bible as he attempted to use such a feeble weapon on me.
Laughing, I struck him down on the spot and crushed the weapon instantly to smithereens, much to the astonishment of all the demons present. In an attempt to appease my apparent anger, the demons, who recognised they were powerless before me, started grovelling before me, all except a little girl and her attendant, a teenage boy slightly older than her.
The girl had tears in her eyes as she shrieked defiantly, "The Demon clan may have lost its King, but it must never lose its pride! Even if I lose my life, I shall not be bound to the will of others! For my father, the King!"
Before the little girl could rush forward and hurl several punches at me, her attendant quickly grabbed her, telling her softly, "Princess Morgana, you're the heir of the Demon Clan now that King Menon is dead. Don't go throwing your life so hastily, let me, your Right Hand, go instead." The boy glared at me fiercely, but amidst anger, I could sense fear, for he knew his limits well after all.
Drawing a deep breath, I calmed myself down from the heat of battle as I realised that I've already achieved my aim of removing the last vestiges of Astaroth's influence. However, I also knew that a strong leadership in the Demon race was required in order for them to steer away from Astaroth's influence in the future. I made up my mind quickly, the two who stood before me definitely possessed the mental fortitude required.
Thus, I instantly appeared in front of both of them, putting my hands on their shoulders as I threatened with a little smile, "How about this, I offer you both a deal. I'll let you be the Queen of the Demon race, and you, young man, to be my Right Hand so long as you two become my flagbearers and follow my bare minimal requirements. I'll not intervene with your decisions and rulings, for my only role is to ensure that you guys do not fall back onto the path of ruin once again. Do we have an agreement?"
The girl appeared reluctant initially but upon the boy's assurance that the deal was in the best favour of the Demon Clan, the girl agreed. That was how I'd met the current Demon Queen Morgana and my Right Hand of Death, Balthazar. The pair had served me extremely well and helped steer the Demon race onto a better path.
However, the demons weren't my sole issue on the Dark Continent, for it turned out that the Celestials had actually arrived looking for the World Class weapon [Nightmare]. Even though the Celestials had convinced its allies to stop pursuing the demons after the 1st Holy War, the reason for this was to prevent any more casualties on the side of their allies.
Yes, the Celestials themselves were heavily weakened from the 1st Holy War, but they were resolute in eliminating the demons and [Nightmare] once and for all to remove any potential sources of conflict in the future.
The Celestials were surprised that the behaviour of the Demons had changed drastically overnight, focusing on rebuilding their homes and community instead of challenging each other for supremacy like how they would have done in the past. I quickly intercepted the leader of the Celestials, whom was named the Executioner but who I later knew was actually named Mikael.
Now, Mikael was wise as he knew instantly that my power was comparable to his creator, my mother, Amaterasu. Therefore, upon seeing me, he immediately knelt in reverence to the surprise of his brethren. Of course, I immediately told him to rise as I introduced myself and recounted what had happened on this continent, requesting that he buried the hatchet between the Celestials and the Demons since there was no longer any reason for conflict.
Mikael readily agreed, after all, the Celestials were weary of conflict and would rather not intervene if all was in order. Hence, I became the chief broker of the peace agreement between the Celestials and the Demons, with both sides agreeing to listen to my view whenever there was a disagreement or dispute between them before taking action.
To facilitate this agreement, I requested a representative from each race to be my personal assistant, so that they may convey my instructions to their respective races as well as to carry out special missions for the sake of maintaining the balance of life and death in this world. Thus, I established the appointments aptly named as the Left Hand and Right Hand of Death respectively, where the Left Hand would be a Celestial while the Right Hand would be a Demon.
The 1st Left Hand of Death was a Celestial named Rainer, who subsequently passed down the mantle to his daughter, Reina. With these 2 assistants, I have been able to keep the peace between 2 races completely opposite of and antagonistic to each other, while maintaining the balance of the world by constantly keeping tabs on the evolving situation on the Central Continent.
Now, the biggest question of this tale. Who am I? Some call me the Grim Reaper, others call me the Giver of Life. Well, both answers are incomplete as I prefer to be known as the God of Life and Death, Grimm Haven.