Humans didn't know if gods existed. They had yet to find any concrete proof.
Yet, Devas were treated as beings that touched divinity, with their name literally meaning god or demi-god in an ancient earth language.
Not much remained of these near-divinities. Their language, their culture, their deeds—they all turned into dust.
Save for their small worlds.
Unlike humans who used to only live on earth, devas resided not just on planets, but also in small worlds.
According to the scientific community, there were at least ten thousand small worlds when devas perished.
These small words also 'slipped' away from outer space due to some reason, perhaps lack of aura.
As time passed mercilessly, the small worlds began to collapse one by one.
Almost six thousand years after the last deva's death, there were only a fraction of the small worlds left.