Human and Demon

Listening to Hela only made Cien more confused.

First of all, what was the Demon God?

Cien had always thought that the Abyss race worshiped the God of Darkness, but the Demon God? He had never heard of it.

Even his demon friends never mentioned this God. Cien was even sure that his friend, Grotto, worshiped the God of Darkness.

"What is the Demon God?"

Cien asked, growing more curious while waiting for his body to calm down.

Hela then explained that the Demon God was not actually a God of Kastia. That's why not many people knew about it.

Hela knew the story of the Demon God based on myths passed down among the Dragonkind.

Thousands of years ago, when Kastia was still a world inhabited only by mindless monsters, a massive meteor fell, destroying parts of the land and its inhabitants. From that massive meteor emerged a new race, now known as demons.

A group of demons emerged from the meteor and began to inhabit the lands of Kastia.

The leader of that group eventually became the Demon God, worshiped by the Abyss race today.

The first demon race was fascinated by Kastia from the moment they arrived.

The dragons believed that the demon race was a species that roamed through planets, exploiting the natural resources of those planets.

That was the Demon God's purpose when it first landed. It aimed to absorb all the mana and rare materials in Kastia.

Of course, the Seven Gods of Kastia wouldn't allow the demon race to exploit their world as they pleased.

The Seven Gods descended upon Kastia with the intent to eliminate the invaders.

Unfortunately, the Gods didn't anticipate that the Demon God possessed an artifact capable of sealing their powers.

The artifact powers render them powerless against the Demon God. On the contrary, little by little, the Demon God siphoned their strength.

Realizing their existence could vanish, the Gods decided to retreat and create a new race – one that could match the demons and whose power couldn't be sealed by the Demon God's artifact.

Humans.

The seven Gods created humans with the primary purpose of being protectors and leaders of the world.

Humans were fashioned to be creatures capable of rivaling the demon race, beings with intellect and limitless strength. Human potential was vast and perfect.

However, they couldn't simply create fully formed humans pop in thin air like that. There were stages that needed to be undergone.

They had to create creatures that would be born and grow naturally.

So for this, the God of Creation bestowed intellect upon the most powerful race in Kastia at that time.

Dragons.

God of Creation granted them intellect and instructed the dragon race to educate the new creatures that would hatch from two dragon eggs.

Nine months passed. The dragons, defending themselves against demon attacks while protecting the two sacred eggs, could finally witness a pair of new creatures created by the Seven Gods.

Two beings emerged from the eggs, born to the wife of the dragon leader.

The first pair of humans were born – a boy and a girl.

Over the following years, as they protected Kastia from the demons, the dragons taught the first two humans how to control mana.

A hundred years went by since the arrival of the demons.

Finally, the two humans, educated and bestowed with Blessings by the Seven Gods, managed to defeat the Demon God, whose power by then rivaled that of a real God.

Although they could defeat it, the two humans couldn't kill the Demon God. So, they resorted to another method to save Kastia.

They throw the Demon God out of the Kastian world, sealing it on a planet in outer space.

Meanwhile, the other demon race, which had started to proliferate significantly, scattered and hid across Kastia, making it difficult for the two pairs of humans and the dragons to completely eradicate the invading race from Kastia.

This marked the beginning of the conflict between humans and demons.

The two races started populating the world. The war between these two races continued throughout the ages.

The Seven Gods, half their strength siphoned by the Demon God, couldn't do much. They could only watch from their realm as Kastia developed.

"Wait a minute. Why couldn't the Seven Gods do anything? Why didn't they descend like before when they fought the Demon God?"

<It is said that the Seven Gods were punished by the Supreme Being.>

"Great, now there's a new God in the mix. This story is getting more confusing."

<Listen. The Supreme Being is the one who created the entire universe. Whereas the Seven Gods of Kastia are only Gods that govern in one of worlds in this entire universe.>

Hela then explained that, according to her ancestors' teachings, the Seven Gods were punished for directly intervening in the affairs of a world without the consent of its native inhabitants.

In this case, it can be interpreted that the inhabitants of Kastia at the time, the mindless creatures, didn't pray to the Seven Gods to expel the demons.

However, the Seven Gods descended on their own and confronted the Demon God. Up to this point, their punishment might have been just a warning.

But the problem arose when the Seven Gods descended and were defeated. Worse yet, their holy powers were seized by the Demon God, turning it into a threat to the Gods of other worlds.

This is what led to the punishment of the Seven Gods.

Unintentionally, they had created a being with the potential to bring about the end of the universe. The Gods of other realms cursed these Seven Gods.

Ultimately, the Supreme Being made it so that the Seven Gods could no longer directly intervene in conflicts in Kastia and the universe. Except when the majority of their followers sought their aid (prayed).

"Wow, a very interesting story that I definitely didn't want to know! Ugh, there's too much to digest from all of this. But before that, there's one question in my mind. Were those first two humans as powerful as the Demon God? Shouldn't their power also be feared by other Gods as it could endanger them?"

<Both of them were indeed powerful. But their lifespans were not long. Humans were created with limitless potential, yet the Seven Gods also realized that humans had the potential to become the next demon race.

So, they granted humans a relatively short lifespan. The first two humans only lived for about five hundred years. That's why the existence of humans wasn't considered a threat. Unlike the eternal and indestructible nature of the Demon God.>

"This is the first time I've heard five hundred years isn't considered a long life."

<Modern humans are too weak. A hundred years is a limit because they have been too comfortable during times of peace. If they willing to learn and mastering mana and its applications, their lives could be longer and they wouldn't struggle as much against demons as they do now.>

"Heh, thanks to you for bringing a few centuries of peace. Though I'm not sure if these centuries are peaceful just because there's been no movement from the Abyss."

< ... >

Cien then checked himself, no longer trembling and able to move normally again.

The terror caused by the Demon God's presence (well, just its hand) had truly left him shaken.

"Lily, are you okay?"

"Hn. Normal."

"Good. Let's get away from here. I don't want to deal with Demon God and the like."

<Oi! Stop that ritual!>

"Are you crazy?! I don't have time or bravery for this!"

<Kastia will vanish if the ritual continues!>

"..."

< … >

Both of them fell silent. Cien immediately grabbed his cellphone to check on the situation in Marina.

Almost similar to before, Ethel was still healthy without injuries, but Niles was barely hanging on.

As for the squad he had sent, the health point of Legia had decreased by about a quarter, with various knights from other Huntaras reduced by more than a quarter as well, but not to the point of near death.

And Kirana… had only a slight reduction. Only Reiss seemed to be fully fine.

Cien decided to call the man to assess the situation in Marina.

In the call, Cien learned that Legia had successfully established an evacuation route. Currently, she and half of the Blackwinter troops are guarding that path against demon attacks.

The Marina military had begun gathering the surviving citizens and would soon evacuate them from Marina.

These citizens would go to Death Valley according to Cien's original plan.

For Ethel's group, Vice Captain Brook was currently fetching them.

As for Captain Kirana, she had gone to the southern city gate, waiting for a formidable figure predicted to be the leader of the Abyss invasion.

"Demon General?"

<Hm, that's what Captain Kirana stated, Lord Millard.>

"That's too dangerous! What is Kirana thinking, trying to fight such a terrifying figure?!"

<She said it's to buy time for the citizens' evacuation.>

"Ugh, this complicates things."

Cien muttered as he ended the call, having learned about the critical situation in Marina.

He really wanted to go to Marina immediately. However, considering the amount of mana in his cloak, it wasn't sufficient to get there through the aerial route.

Cien then looked at the ritual site from his hiding place.

"Hela, I'll try to disrupt the ritual there. But if I find it impossible, I'll flee."

<Nothing is impossible for you.>

"...that's absurd."

Cien then lowered the coffin. He opened it, looking at Lilinette inside, who seemed pale.

Perhaps the effects of the terrifying presence of the Demon God hadn't completely faded.

Cien then explained the unsettling figure he encountered and told Lilinette to wait for him while he attempted to thwart the ritual procession.

However, Lilinette emerged from the coffin instead. With a bow and a quiver of arrows on her back, she stated that she was ready to help Cien.

Cien couldn't change his niece's mind. So, both of them immediately moved to a higher vantage point and began aiming their bows at the demons in the courtyard.

Shoot! Shoot! Shoot!

Arrow after arrow was released. Regular arrows struck the heads of the demon guards precisely, knocking them down and causing panic among the other demons.

Everyone froze and searched for the archers targeting them.

Cien and Lilinette separated and started bombarding the demon forces in the palace courtyard with various magical arrows.

As the chaos escalated, Cien handed the panicked demons over to Lilinette, while he himself headed to the rooftop of the palace where the purple light was emanating from.

When Cien arrived and was about to destroy the artifact emitting the purple light, a large three-headed dog monster, Cerberus, suddenly appeared behind him, revealing its sharp fangs.

"Oh, shit! So, there's Cerberus now, huh. What's next, a Manticore?"

After Cien said this…

Thud!

A powerful stomp resonated from behind Cerberus, and of course, the figure of a lion with a human head and a snake's tail emerged. A Manticore.

"Ugh, me and my big mouth."