Humanity was on the brink of extinction centuries ago. The losses were astronomical, the dead uncountable—an entire civilization stood on the edge of annihilation.
But because of the emergence of the few they called the Readers, mankind managed to breathe again, to rise on its feet against the brutal onslaught of the demons.
The Readers never hoarded their knowledge, never bound it by chains of secrecy. They shared freely, thinking of humanity’s survival before anything else. That was why so many chose to follow them.
"After learning so much from them, we finally managed to fight properly, to endure the invasion. But the war only grew harsher with time..." Liora spoke with a solemn face, showing glimpses of the demon invasion.
That vile race had two overwhelming advantages: their vast numbers and their terrifying vitality.
A demon was hard to kill unless utterly destroyed. Given time, they recovered from nearly any wound. Humans, by contrast, fell permanently when dealt a fatal blow.
These were the factors that made the war nearly impossible.
And yet, despite it all, humanity endured. At a certain point, the tide began to shift. Losses became fewer. Each day more demons fell than before. New champions rose—heroes whose strength rivaled legends.
Unlike the current age, where humanity had grown sheltered, with the Ultras as their greatest concern across the seas, the ancient war was an entirely different ordeal. Losses were counted not in millions, but in billions.
Before the Gates appeared, Earth’s population had reached eight billion. After years of ceaseless war, only a few hundred million remained. Humanity stood at the edge of extinction.
It was a merciless age—an era that forged monsters among men.
"Every race in this world has something that defines it. For humanity, it was our ability to adapt," Liora said, remembering the countless heroes who rose against despair, no matter the odds.
She had been one of them.
"No matter the suffering, no matter how life crushed us, we adapted. We moved forward."
In that age, countless warriors broke through to the SSS-rank. A rank many of this era dismissed as myth was, back then, not uncommon. Earth had many who reached such heights.
Because they were monsters forged in an age where only that strength could grant survival. Humanity’s ability to adapt was their sharpest weapon.
Perhaps it was even why the demons experimented on them—injecting their blood into humans alone.
Though demonic blood was poison and killed many, there were those who survived. Their bodies adapted, evolving from what should have been death into new power.
That became humanity’s greatest weapon—the edge they clung to in desperate times.
"After suffering humiliating defeats, after nearly being exterminated, we turned the tables. We slaughtered demons by the thousands and crushed the invasion that sought to wipe us out," Liora said, showing scenes of human triumph.
Beside the Readers, who were all terrifying in their own right, other humans rose to equal power. Kazis Valerion, chosen by the mysterious Lord of Light. The great family leaders. Even Liora herself, who bore the mantle of Saintess.
Frey and the others watched silently, stunned by the sheer scale of the victories humanity achieved at the end of that war.
"The humans of that era... they were truly strong," Snow muttered, astonished by the strength of his ancestors, a strength beyond what he had ever imagined.
A multitude of SSS-rank fighters. A strange group who knew the future. It was a generation that dwarfed the present by countless measures.
"With such strength... doesn’t that mean they weren’t just capable of surviving? Couldn’t they have actually won? To end the demons once and for all?"
Snow’s words carried conviction. In that terrifying generation, he saw power enough to accomplish it.
But both Frey and Liora wore expressions that made it clear: this was a grave misunderstanding. A foolish illusion.
"What you just said, Snow Lionheart, is precisely the thinking that led to the disaster which changed everything—what made us realize how weak, how powerless we truly were." Liora’s voice darkened as the memories shifted again.
If humanity, even then with so many SSS-rank warriors, was weak... what was true power? And how did the current generation compare—when no one had reached SSS at all, not even Frey Starlight, their strongest?
Liora answered patiently, from the very beginning.
"It began when we discovered that what we had faced then was only the vanguard of the demons. A mere fragment, not even a shadow, of the true army that race commands."
Even after humanity purged the world of demons, even after victory upon victory, the Gates above never closed. Which meant at any moment, more could come.
"In the moment of our greatest triumph, when we dared dream of salvation... came the First Schism. Humans turned upon each other as we tried to decide our next step."
The memory showed the moment humanity was forced into a fateful decision.
"Arrogance had taken root. We truly believed we were strong. That was when the faction arose—the one that demanded fire be answered with fire."
They were mighty warriors, yet blinded by arrogance—convinced their strength could accomplish anything.
"They were the ones who slaughtered the most demons in those days. Titans like Cheon Ma, the Sword God Avalon, or Rion Nightwave... all of them were SSS-rank warriors, some even surpassing Kazis Valerion himself."
"This faction was bloodthirsty for battle. They called upon all of humanity to carry the war into the demons’ world itself..."
The moment Liora uttered those words, everyone stiffened—even Frey’s eyes narrowed.
"To Helmund... where the Demon King himself resides, along with the highest Seats and the Dukes of Hell—the ones we rarely ever clashed with."
"That’s madness..." Frey said coldly, emphasizing just how reckless and insane such a decision was.
For men like Cheon Ma, it wasn’t bravery—it was lunacy. They truly believed they could invade Helmund and destroy the demons on their own ground, as they had done to humanity.
Snow and Uriel were struck by the sheer audacity of such warriors. But Frey saw only their folly—their arrogance.
Liora continued, unflinching.
"As I said, we split into two factions after once being united. One demanded we strike first, that we carry the war into Helmund itself."
"The other faction, led by the Readers who had guided us this far, opposed them fiercely. They argued we must hold the line, defend, and never provoke powers we could not contend with."
The Readers fought against the plan until the bitter end. They knew too much, and they feared what lay beyond the Gates.
But the debate became conflict, and conflict became division. Humanity fractured.
One faction yearned for war, to strike the demons on their own soil. The other called for unity on Earth and defense only, insisting we had no chance in Helmund.
"The Readers were our wisest, the very reason we survived the war at all. We should have all listened. But many were blinded by their own strength, intoxicated by the heights they had reached."