Prologue: A World Three Hundred Years Old

    The sky was a deep blue, the seas vast and expansive, the lands lush and green as far as the eye could see.

    Nearly everything looked as humans once remembered, but this was not the same world they once lived in.

    This was a new world, created after the collapse, and it was just over three hundred years old.

    While the decay of the old world was largely due to human actions, it was the demons who dealt the final blow, having long waited to turn the world into their hellish realm.

    In the past, Hell challenged Heaven with a question: “If humans were left to their own devices without any intervention from either side, would their future be one of prosperity or ruin?"

    This was not just a question but a challenge and a test of conviction between two sides: darkness and light, with the answer determining their stances and stakes.

    Heaven, representing light, had faith in humanity’s goodness and bet on their prosperity, while Hell bet on their inevitable ruin.

    As time passed, barely two thousand years, the world where humans were left alone neared its end.

    Wars, famine, pandemics, and countless other human-induced disasters ravaged the earth, nearly rendering it uninhabitable.

    The collapse of the earth was just a matter of time.

    Even though the angels suspected that demons had a hand in leading humanity to this collapse, there was no evidence to prove it. All they could do was watch the world’s demise in agony.

    However, in the last minute, it seemed the demons lost their patience with the long wait, or perhaps they thought they had already won the bet. They assembled their armies on Earth to crush the few remaining humans and establish a new Hell there.

    Demons, born of darkness and evil, thrived in the darkest times, giving rise to more demons than one could imagine. As Hell’s armies ascended, they obscured the sky, almost extinguishing any light that might shine down to the earth.

    This act was a breach of the wager, allowing Heaven to send down its armies to aid the humans.

    Contrary to the demons, angels were born of light and goodness. With the world in decay, Heaven’s forces were fewer than Hell’s, but the angels bravely clashed with Hell’s armies.

    Hell’s forces were dense and moved like swirling waves, turning the sky into a dark oceanic abyss. In contrast, Heaven’s forces sparkled brightly, numerous like stars in the night sky. As they approached Hell’s forces, it looked like a meteor shower raining down on a raging dark sea.

    Each point of light, upon striking the dark waves, either created huge hollows or was swallowed by the darkness, disappearing entirely.

    This battle lasted for seven days and nights. The dark oceanic abyss created by the layered demons remained dense. In contrast, the dwindling lights that streaked against the swirling waves continued to diminish in number over time. However, just as the demons were on the brink of savoring their imminent victory, they began to notice some changes.

    The remaining lights only grew brighter and pierced through the dark curtain in streaks, like it was torn paper. No matter how much the demons attempted to overwhelm and engulf these lights, they refused to be extinguished.

    Even though the situation was changing, the demons did not find it strange because the angels that had endured until now were of a high order, possessing strong powers, and not easily defeated. The demonic masses, forming an ocean of darkness, were merely lower-tier demons and thus no match for the higher-order angels. This shift was somewhat expected.

    The strongest forces of Hell, the Prime Evils, who had merely observed the battle, saw that Heaven's forces had lost more than half of their numbers, and the remaining angels were exhausted from the prolonged conflict. Diablo, the Lord of Hell, led the foremost forty-nine high-ranking demons in a final charge to crush the surviving angels.

    Despite the demons intensifying their attack, causing many lights to extinguish, some sparks of light remained resilient, dimly twinkling no matter how overwhelmed they were. Conversely, Diablo, the Lord of Hell, was unexpectedly killed in the chaotic battle.

    Even after losing their leader, the demonic ranks continued their onslaught as if nothing had happened. Several high-ranking demons became even more eager, seeing this as an opportunity to ascend to leadership after the war. They continued to attack relentlessly, without a thought of defeat, until on the twenty-ninth day of the war, sunlight began to touch the earth for the first time in a month, as the demonic forces were diminished enough that they could no longer cover the entire sky.

    This was the moment when the high-ranking demons realized that things had not gone as planned.

    No matter how much effort Hell poured into the battle, they could not extinguish the remaining lights of the angels. Even though these lights were dim, as if they could be snuffed out at any moment, which tempted the demon to attack again. However, despite their continual assault, that dimming lights always shone brightly once more. It was like a taunt, enticing the foolish demons to sacrifice more of their numbers.

    It was said that righteousness would always overcome evil, that darkness would always be defeated by light. Although the demons had never believed this before, considering it merely comforting words that humans and believers of the light used to deceive themselves, at this moment, they could not help but recall these words.

    Could it be that this saying was true, that this was the fate of those born in darkness

    —a fate that destined them never to find victory?

    Even though only a handful of angels remained, the demons filling the skies were struck with panic, fear, and resignation about the situation before them. Eventually, some began to flee from the battle to save their lives, as there seemed no way to extinguish the remaining light.

    The high-ranking demons did not believe in this fickle fate. They rallied together to attack the remaining angels once more, but the result was that over half of the foremost forty-nine Pure Evils of Hell fell, worsening their plight.

    The demons' fear and despair spread like wildfire. The vigor and enthusiasm with which they had ascended to the world, believing they would be victorious, vanished as quickly as it had come. Before the day was over, the amount of demon that had deserted back to Hell was more than those who had perished during the entire conflict.

    Reluctantly, the high-ranking demons finally had to retreat from this battlefield, bitter with defeat.

    Thus, the war that was meant to decide the fate of the world ended with Heaven's victory.

    Although Heaven was victorious, the world had deteriorated to the point where it was no longer a place suitable for human habitation. The rulers of Heaven then created a new world and relocated the surviving humans there, intending to protect and look after them to prevent further calamity.

    With guidance from the angels, humans learned to use magic for the first time, ushering in an unprecedented era. The restoration of civilization progressed rapidly with the power of magic and science. In just a few centuries, humans were able to return to a state of prosperity akin to the times before the decay.

    The outcome of the war also allowed Heaven to block the connection between the world and Hell, significantly weakening Hell as it could no longer absorb negative energy from the world to create demons. In return, humans had to deal with monsters—creatures mutated from animals that absorbed the residual negative energy on the world—but this was an exchange that humans were willing to accept.

    Nevertheless, demons still found ways to ascend to the world to lead humanity toward decay whenever possible. One of their methods was to dominate or deceive humans to act as agents in the destruction of the world. Those led by Hell in this way were called 'Doombringer' or 'Creator of Calamity.'

    Doombringers led the world into disaster. Each appearance came with the creation of a new link between the world and Hell, allowing demon armies to invade human realm. By the time humans unite to counter the invasion or a hero successfully eliminated the Doombringer, significant damage had already occurred.

    After the invasion by the third Doombringer, leaders from around the world convened to discuss how to prevent and curb future invasions.

    They agreed that being merely defensive and waiting for the appearance of a Doombringer was inadequate, as it could take too long to gather people or armies for a response, by which time the realms near the gates of Hell could already be devastated. Therefore, the world needed a dedicated organization for defense.

    Thus, the 'Peace Keepers' organization was established.

    Besides working as a central body to counter invasions, the Peace Keepers also proactively engaged in mediation and resolution of conflicts between kingdoms that might give demons an opportunity to intervene. They also sought out and suppressed gatherings of people who might pose a threat to the world.

    Under the efforts of the Peace Keepers, the world had experienced centuries of prolonged peace.

    Even when the fourth Doombringer appeared, the invasion was halted within just one day, with virtually no harm coming to humans, further affirming the organization's effectiveness.

    This era was known as the 'Era of Glory,' when light and justice flourished at their zenith. Heroes and adventurers dedicated themselves to eradicating human threats almost entirely, and tales of evil and demons became nothing more than bedtime stories used to frighten children.