Two Sides of the Same Coin - Humans, Demons

"Those who sit atop thrones can fall the farthest, yet their ambitions seldom wane."

(The Demon Realm...)

The land of demons, which is like a twin to the human world... two dimensions closely connected to each other.

There is always a balance between the demon and human realms. It is akin to a law of nature itself.

If the human world becomes too strong, the demon world will too. If the human world becomes weak, it'll drag down the demon world too.

The interesting fact, however, is that even though these two worlds are 'twins', they are completely different.

The demon realm is more focused on strength, with minimal advancements in technology.

For traveling, there are no cars, but horses and horse-carts. Though, demons tend to walk or fly themselves, instead of taking these alternatives.

The rulers of this world, the ones who stand on top, are but a few, a few extremely powerful and influential individuals, who were all gathered in one place.

This place, called the Holy Garden of Life, was a place usually closed, but is being used for an important conversation, to wish good luck to the demon realm for the current situation.

The Holy Garden of Life is a huge area, and the most beautiful in the whole world.

There were numerous hills with pretty vegetation scattered all around. The grass was a pure shade of green, merely looking at which sends comfort through one's mind.

From almost every hill fell a waterfall, the water crystal-clear, as if it had never been touched by anything.

Flowers bloomed all around the grounds, their colors varying, painting the place in a picturesque beauty that one would kill oneself just to witness once.

These flowers never dried, they were always present, and were probably hundreds of years old, living since when this Garden was created.

This garden, however, occupied less than a house's worth of area, since at its entrance, spatial magic was used carefully and precisely, allowing the massive hills to exist in such a minuscule space.

The hills surrounded a small valley, where there was a huge lake, its water so clear that one could see the bottom. The waterfalls all provided water to this lake, causing gentle ripples to go through it.

Right in the middle of this pond was a platform, made of clear and polished marble, one which looked like it could buy cities by itself, worthy of being in God's castle.

There was an intricate pattern on this platform, symbolizing the seven sects that ran the demon realm, the groups that were on top of the world.

There was a table in the middle, its color matching the floor, as if the platform itself had risen to give place for the leaders to place their hands on.

Around the table sat seven people, their appearances and personalities differing like earth and sky.

These were representing their sects in a meeting about the connection formed between the human and demon realms.

"...and that was the result." A man, standing behind the representative of the Heavenly Dragon Sect, finished reading the report, a bead of sweat on his brow as he respectfully stepped back.

He stared at the floor, not daring to look up at any of the people present, his hands slightly trembling.

"Do you hear that?" An almost soothing, female voice rang out. This was the representative of the Azure Blossom Sect. Her aura was royal, as if she was above everyone, her beauty unparalleled. "Humans could not even fight against mere slaves."

"That is true, however," A deep voice followed, the representative of the Heavenly Sword Sect. He was a well-built man, a white beard on his face as he stared at her with his sharp eyes. "We must not underestimate our enemy."

"I agree, we should proceed with caution, and as planned." Another male voice rang out, but it felt much younger. This was the representative of the Divine Mist Sect.

There was a pause, the tension in the air rising as everyone placed their opinions.

The representative of the Heavenly Dragon Sect was silent. He was the youngest one there, his age merely in his twenties.

"We should send our weak disciples," the representative of the Heavenly Dragon Sect spoke, his voice both authoritative and soft at the same time. "The iron is hot, and we must strike."

Without missing a beat, the representative of the Azure Blossom Sect agreed. "I agree with the proposal."

Her voice rang out, the representatives of the Heavenly Sword Sect and the Divine Mist sect going silent for a moment, thinking deeply of the matter.

Even though the representative of the Heavenly Dragon Sect was young, he was undeniably as strong as, if not stronger than them, and the Heavenly Dragon Sect was the most influential out of the four.

The other three were there just for show, in actuality, it was these four that controlled the demon realm in its entirety.

"Very well then," the voice of the representative of the Divine Mist Sect rang out, the Heavenly Sword Sect agreeing.

The four didn't even glance at the other three sects, as if they were not even there.

The representative of the Heavenly Dragon Sect rose, slowly walking away. his robe waved in the air, his long hair moving with the wind, giving him an ethereal appearance.

Without a word, he tapped the floor with his foot, slowly floating up. "It was nice conversing with you."

He floated away, the messenger following behind him, making sure to be at a height lower than his, to show respect.

As he left, the other three sects got up, the unimportant ones following soon after.

"That boy," the representative of the Azure Blossom Sect spoke, her foot tapping the floor as she floated upwards. "He will be dangerous."

She slowly floated away, the others nodding in agreement as they followed her out.

The demon realm was in as much chaos as the human world was, the demons being forced to evacuate from the spots where the portals appeared, leaving many homeless.

Many of these, who could not prove their worth, were turned into slaves, used for work or entertainment.

Slavery was quite common, and all humans found in this world were made into slaves, being used for work, entertainment, or as food.

In the Northern Forests, a revolt was brewing. Johan was living in the main base of the Revolters, trying to fight himself, conflicted about joining his enemies for their cause... but he had nowhere else to go.

In the Southern cities, human slavery had increased manifold. Humans were brought from the human realm and sold off for high prices to the Central Capital.

The Western Desert had no hand in the current situation, since it was a place only scantily populated and didn't affect the demons much.

The Central Capital was the place where all sects were, the place where one had to go if he wanted to become great.

Lucas had joined the Heavenly Dragon Sect, his mind still fixed on avenging his father... on killing Sukuna.

His growth in strength had surprised many. He was quickly rising in ranks, becoming a well-known person in his sect.

Meanwhile, in the human realm, Aiden's underling was doing his work diligently. If one were to look at him without context, he would be said to be more demonic than the demons themselves.

.

Far away from all the chaos, deep underground, there was a facility, a facility so vile and disgusting that one's stomach would churn just hearing of it.

Here, people were treated like cattle, used for their purpose, and ruthlessly killed if they failed.

The supervisor of this facility, Garu, working under the command of Aiden Arceid, was walking around the place, checking for any inconsistencies and doing the job Aiden had told him to do.

It was a grotesque scene, children were kept in bars, a foul stench of blood filling the air.

Numerous groans and screams were echoing in the hallways as the children were mercilessly experimented on and molded as Aiden saw fit.

Garu walked through a hallway, lit dimly by bulbs hanging from the roof, casting long, eerie shadows as his loud footsteps echoed, reflected by the cold stone walls.

There were cells on either side of the hall, children covering away, huddling into a corner as they felt Garu approaching, their naked bodies trembling in fear.

Their clothes had been torn away a long time ago from the torment they had to go through, Garu not even bothering to get them new ones, since they would be ripped apart soon enough.

Garu walked with a smile on his face, enjoying these poor souls' suffering.

Aiden had said that he was mentally ill, and this is exactly why he had made him his underling. he enjoyed tormenting these people, and that would ensure that he doesn't revolt against him.

His steps abruptly halted in front of a cell, the child inside sitting on the floor, hugging his knees as his back pushed into the wall.

Despite his sorry state, there was a fire in his eyes, a fire of resentment, and of hope too.

His cell seemed to be much stronger than the rest, made of higher quality mana stones.

"Yaen, was it?" Garu's deep voice echoed in the hall as he turned to the boy, his gaze fixed on his figure.

The boy... Yaen's eyes were fixed onto Garu's, his gaze unwavering as he didn't respond, his bare body glistening with sweat.

Garu's smile only widened, he turned away, continuing his walk. He glanced back at him for a moment, saying: "You're gonna make Sir Ryomen Sukuna very happy."

Yaen's eyes seemed to widen, his fists clenching just hearing that name, his teeth grit hard as the resentment in his eyes seemed to double.

His whole body trembled in anger. His life had been ruined all because of this 'Sukuna' and he had vowed to tear him apart with his own hands, to make him suffer like he did.

Garu turned back away, a huge grin on his face.

He had done just as Aiden told him, plant resentment against Ryomen Sukuna in the hearts of the children.

So, he made them believe that the mastermind behind their suffering, the cause for all this, was Sukuna.

He walked for a few more minutes, finally reaching the end of the hallway, his footsteps halting before a huge chamber, covered in the highest quality mana stones and reinforced glass.

This security was done just to contain this teen, who was in it, sitting idly, his eyes staring at the ceiling.

Taking a remote out of his pocket, Garu clicked a button, a huge grin on his face as he looked at the boy in anticipation.

The boy's eyes widened, a primal scream escaping his throat as his body convulsed, his nails scratching the walls.

With a single click, Garu had activated the device on the boy's neck, shocking him with electricity.

The boy's eyes changed, his sclera suddenly turning black as his movements slowed down.

He fell to the floor, his sclera turning back to white, his body twitching slightly as his gaze met Garu's.

"No good, huh?" Garu mused, putting the remote back into his pocket. "This won't make Sir Ryomen Sukuna happy, will it?"

Even though using his full name to refer to him every time was quite abnormal, the children here didn't suspect a thing.

The boy's fists clenched, his eyes drooping slightly as he stared at Garu, his eyes glinting with a dim light of anger and desperation.

This was the boy—Krest—who had achieved partial UI. Electric shocks were the catalyst to putting him into the state of True Instinct, and now, he was being trained to stay in that state for as long as possible.

Garu turned away, leaving the boy lying on the floor, the only sound being the ragged breathing of the boy as he slowly went to a deep sleep.

Inciting hate in their minds against Sukuna was just a backup plan. If Sukuna went against Aiden in the future, he could use these subjects to help him in facing him.

Now, with the demons planning another invasion, a revolt brewing in the demon realm, Sukuna's ego being shattered, Eva's breakdown, Sukuna's mother being seriously injured, Krest achieving partial UI, Johan's presence in the demon realm, and Lucas's path to revenge slowly being paved, how will the story play out?

===

Made it Xianxia-like for no reason xd

OF COURSE the power scaling won't be like it... I'd die.

Anyhow, do you want Chinese names for demons too? I mean... it'll get just TOO confusing xD

Welp, gimme POWER STONES :3