The year was 2036, and humans still dominated planet earth.

But that year, a month specifically, on October the 3rd, it all kick started when the skies that encompassed the blue planet changed.

Painted red, the skies remained so.

In the following days, fifteen to be exact, countless old diseases mutated, and new diseases were given birth to.

Humans, animals, plants, they all fell prey to change.

Some became weak, others grew sick, and a great many died, and from death, they rose once more, as the living dead, zombies.

This short fifteen days was known as the apocalypse at the time.

Yet, humanity remained unaware that if it was only this, things could've been considered as good, maybe even great.

With the red skies, day and night became obscured and on the eighteenth of October, strange drops of fluid fell from the skies.

When looking at the skies, or more so, the sun, something was different. Droplets poured out of it as the sun slowly transformed in a fiery rain.

This fiery rain encompassed the planet, and in the following days, it resulted in the deaths of billions.

Not much quicker than they made their appearance, the zombies were wiped off the face of the earth.

The fiery rain killed zombies, animals, and humans alike.

Humanity viewed the fiery rain as the cause of their seemingly inevitable extinction.

When all hope truly seemed lost, on the 31st, piercing the red sky were several dozens meteors.

These meteors exploded into multi-colored particles that swallowed earth entirely.

The red sky ruined human lives, the fiery rain brought only death, but the multi-colored particles descended with an overwhelming divine majesty, gifting the remaining humans a life beyond death.

When the lifeforms inhabiting earth took in a breath of air after the appearance of these particles, they all fell unconscious in unison.

It wasn't just humanity.

After all, humans weren't the only lifeforms on planet earth.

These particles, referred to as stellar cosmic energies in the future, altered the genetic structure of humans, animals, and even plants.

This unconscious state, this sleep, it was estimated to have lasted seven days, in which, all lifeforms had shed their old skin, transforming into, let's say, higher beings.

Evidently, there were still some humans who could not bear this great rebirth.

Some had their skin melt and their flesh rot.

Others transformed into bubbling puddles of acidic blood.

There were those who became fleshy bags; their bones deteriorating to nothing.

And some even bled from their pores continuously, their corpses bleeding for seven days.

For them who were asleep, it was their luck, or maybe they felt every second of their demise, it remained a mystery.

As for their remains, it haunted those who laid their eyes on it, but such things were quickly forgotten as these 'higher' humans were able to experience the altered world in full.

This marked the end of what is now known as the Period of Great Rebirth.

A process that needed living beings to experience death before they could enjoy the bliss on the other side.

But with the end of the great rebirth, the desolate era was established.

If the red sky that brought diseases was frightening, and the fiery rain that turned man, zombie, and animals to ash was terrifying, the desolate era was one of hopeless desperation and ruination.

As the number of humans inhabiting the planet shrunk dramatically, the confidence that they had acquired from their evolution was short-lived as the animals and plants brought their false egos that ascended to heaven, back down to earth.

In the years following, humanity was brought to its knees.

With the help of stellar cosmic energy, plants and animals underwent a period of constant evolution, growing more and more powerful.

One year passed, two, three, a decade went by.

It was the great rebirth previously, but this had become humanity's lowest point, where extinction was seemingly etched into stone!

And just then, when all hope was lost, the universe sent them.

Six individuals rose from the unknown.

They were of differing races, sharing no relation to one another, but their appearance to the unsuspecting humans were simultaneous as they led humanity out of the desolate era.

Just these six pairs of hands were enough to establish a new era, one of hope, one of lasting.

Like that, the victorious fighting country was formed, inhabited by all two hundred and fifty million or so humans, the last bit of humanity.

Currently, the year was 2081.

Lasting Land, Victorious Fighting Country.

The country was separated into six human cities, each overseen by a city lord.

As for the identities of these six city lords, it was rather obvious.

"Compared to the dull skies before the desolate era, this one is really beautiful."

It depended solely on one's taste.

After all, not everyone enjoyed skies painted in blood, nor the tens of planets and stars seemingly just outside the earth's atmosphere.

These were shattered planets that were clearly ruined, and damaged stars that were incomparable to the sun of the olden world.

Anon leisurely turned to the one who spoke a moment ago.

Usually, there weren't many people on the school's rooftop during lunch, much less now, when classes were still ongoing.

He leisurely sat atop a stairwell enclosure-like structure and stared intently at this boy.

Frowning, Anon asked in a low tone, "Why are you skipping your class?"

"Should you really be asking me that when you're doing the same?" The black-haired boy chuckled whilst gazing at the swarthy skinned youth.

The world had undergone drastic changes, and humans were no exception.

Something uncommon before may not necessarily be so now, so Anon wasn't surprised by the boy's blood red eyes.

"The name's Seth." He cupped his fist and bowed slightly.

Sitting atop the structure, Anon looked down, unamused, replying concisely, "Anon."

Seth approached the railing on the rooftop, commenting, "Earth, and by extension, the known universe, both contain a great number of mysteries."

Since Seth mumbled this under his breath, Anon couldn't hear his words from so far away.

So it should've been, but the amber eyed boy heard them, and his ears perked up as he replied with some emotion traceable in his voice.

"Indeed." He said, closing his eyes and smilingly replying, "I've always been curious about the nature of which can't be seen, the origin of the great many transformations that has taken place in the last forty-five years, and the cause."

"The cause?" Seth showed a strange expression, "What if there is a hand unseen, one that created this world and the universe. If it exists, I wonder what purpose it has for bringing forth such a calamity to this world?" Seth uttered, his eyes staring intently at the tens of planets and stars that could be seen outside of earth's atmosphere.

Some had chunks of its planet missing, and were ruined, some appeared ancient, desolate, and shattered.

There were stars that made one wonder as they released torrents of blissful lights, and others struck fear into one's hearts and almost seemed to be the very cause of one's nightmares as they devoured light, adorning an appearance akin to large masses of darkness.

"A creator eh." Anon grinned, "What if it is the death of this creator that has resulted in these calamitous changes?" He pondered outwardly.

"How can that be?" Seth questioned, giggling with amusement.

Retracting his gaze from the skies, he turned his back to the railings and gazed at Anon intently, "Do you think that an almighty being could possibly face such a fate? In fact, I'd think the creator of the world would have direct control over said concepts, like fate."

"Who knows?" Anon's fists were clenched, "No one is truly knowing."

"The nature of this world, us humans are unable to understand." And though Anon said this, his knitted brows revealed his opposing thoughts.

"Yes, undoubtedly, it is improbable and impossible for the humans to truly grasp the nature of this incomprehensible world." Seth's words made Anon frown.

Instead of saying "us humans," he said, "the humans", as if he separated himself from the term human.

Approaching Anon with a smile constantly tugging at his lips, countless thoughts swirled through his mind.

Anon knitted his brows further when observing this boy.

Seth, he was no taller than 5'7, but his gaze carried an obvious yet alluring mischief.

He had fair skin, no, more accurately, it was unusually pale, as if he used powder, and even more striking were his footsteps.

They were rhythmical and incredibly firm sounding, causing a sharp and powerful sensation to leak from his body.

But more than that, those crimson orbs flashed with a strange brilliance.

It was only for a moment, yet, in that instance, Anon felt a chill in his heart.