When the world first began, there was neither land nor sea. There was only darkness; from the darkness, the light was born. Soon, the light expanded and triumphed over the darkness.
The Supreme God Likha was the first-ever being to exist in the world. He was born from blinding light and dwelled in the centre of the realm. After going through millenniums of living in desolation and performing nothing apart from wandering the destitute universe, he developed a sense of impatience. In his desperation, Likha concentrated his power in his hand and slashed horizontally from the void, the impact was too powerful, and hence he created the skies and the sea, a vast stretch of water then.
Likha had noticed that particular darkness encompassed the upper and lower realms. Resolving to bring brightness to the domains, he created the sun, moon and stars, before sending them to the upper realm, and thus obliterating them from the gloom. The obscurity of the lower realm persisted.
After floating for several years in the sea, Likha created land out of his divine essence. He sacrificed half of his essence to the earth and the sea so that the world would develop by itself.
Likha utilised his vast power to flatten his back and closed his eyes, falling into a deep slumber. After some time had passed, a rampage of four-legged creatures caused him to awaken.
He wondered how many years had passed while he was asleep.
As he circled in the skies, numerous flying creatures comprising of various birds and winged beasts accompanied him. Surveying the area, he witnessed with his eyes how the lands now consisted of vegetation, along with its new inhabitants: animals, plants, trees, and other landmarks. He observed the then-single sea, which had now divided into lakes, rivers, waterfalls streams, more oceans and other aquatic structures. Likha was extremely pleased.
Likha had believed he had been in slumber for a thousand years, and hence he named the universe "Milanios" (Thousand Years). The universe comprised of two layers, one which he called Kahilwayan, and the other Ma-yi. The inhabitants of Milanios dwelled on Ma-yi.
He moulded the first mortals of the realms from varying soil samples that Likha collected from Ma-yi, in his image. He created both men and women, intending for them to multiply and colonise the lands, giving them life with a puff of air from his lips. He tasked the mortals with maintaining the waters and lands of Milanios. After hundreds of years had passed, the population of humans and other inhabitants of Milanios increased rapidly.
Likha returned to the realms above, creating an abode for himself where he ruled and overlooked Milanios, ensuring a balance in the world. His sovereignty caused him to worship by all of his living creations.
The presence of divine energy in Milanios allowed the humans and creatures to slowly achieve immortality over millenniums, by slowly absorbing this energy, made from Likha's divine essence. These immortals differed significantly from mortals in the sense that they could control their power and had a longer lifespan due to the superior properties of Likha's essence. The first generation of immortals respected Likha and perceived him as their ruler; they also acted loyally on his tasks, governing the domains he had assigned to them. Gradually, more batches of beasts and immortals also emerged, causing differences to their mindsets and disagreements to arise. Wars occurred, which threatened the lives of mortals.
The immortals who respected the lives of the mortals combined forces to create the mortal realms, and with Likha's power, he created a parallel world for mortals. The immortals who had made significant contributions in carrying out the tasks Likha had assigned to them, were allocated with precise roles and functions in the new realms. Likha also welcomed them to reside with him in Kahilwayan, forming his council in managing the Gemeste (the mortal realm).
The mortals worshipped the Diwata (deities) who had given them a new home. While this worship went on, the Diwata realised they were able to regain their lost cultivation swiftly, as well as gain enhanced powers, enabling them to cherish and shield the mortals much more than before. Connecting portals existed for the convenience of the Diwata visit Gemeste to perform tasks while Kahilwayan is omnipresent in both realms.
As time passed, there were more and more immortals born in Ma-Yi, so Likha assigned the least inhabited westernmost region in Ma-Yi known as Lapawan, as a place where Diwata and lesser immortals knew as Diwani, to be born or reborn. In the end, most of Lapawan was made into a sacred place, which Likha later called Balabac. Likha had reserved this place as a resting spot for himself; Babalac was also the exact location where he sprung from the light.