The world wasn't always like this...
People used to be happy...
But now…
The world is a shadow of itself, a forbidden sphere swallowing its own kind, devouring everything in sight.
Some say the earth is fighting back; others say this is a cleansing and only the righteous shall remain.
The truth is…
No one knows what this is. Nobody on earth could have ever predicted the turn of events.
To humans, it was something they watched on their screens. It might have been the plot of some paranormal movie or fantasy book.
But it was real…
Oh, so real.
---
FIFTY YEARS AGO
It was a regular day: children playing in the sandbox, women discussing the previous episode of some TV show, men standing on the corner, whistling at those they found pretty, trying to shoot their shots.
It was normal…
A typical day on earth.
"Mommy, what is that?"
A little boy had seen something out of the ordinary. He may not have seen much in his little life, but he had seen enough to know this was strange and… it wasn't supposed to be there.
"What is that thing?!"
"Is that real?!"
"Someone call the cops!!"
A loud roar emerged from the clouds, shaking the very core of the earth.
Monsters... or, as humans would later call them, Soul Eaters. The sky opened, the galaxy bared before all. The atmosphere became toxic for weaker humans.
The air turned hazardous. The water blackened and became contaminated. Some animals dropped dead, one by one. And worse…
These beasts began to appear from nowhere—rising from the ground, emerging from the sea, descending from the clouds. They came in different forms, but one could tell they were of the same kind.
Some had wings, some had long tails, some had twelve horns, and others had multiple eyes. But one thing was for sure… they were all here for one thing.
To destroy.
Mankind was thrown into utter chaos. The earth was in despair. These beasts would open their mouths and swallow humans whole. Some would touch the humans, and it was as though they sucked the very souls out of their bodies.
It was a horrid sight. A traumatic day.
That day was etched into the minds of all humankind.
It was called different names:
The Day of Death.
The Day of the Cleansing.
The Doom of Earth.
It was called whatever people believed it to be. But it was a day that changed the world forever.
--
Ten years after the appearance of Soul Eaters, the saviors of humanity emerged. Their wings shimmered like stars, their scales bright and beautiful as a million suns. Their horns were mighty, a testament to their regal nature.
Star Dragons, the deliverers of mankind.
They fought off the Soul Eaters, but there was only so much they could do.
The war was brutal and gruesome, but the Star Dragons emerged victorious. The Soul Eaters eventually retreated, but they weren't completely gone.
The Star Dragons feared their return, so they decided to form a new system to protect mankind.
The population had decreased significantly. Out of 8 billion people on earth, only 1 billion remained, with some nations wiped out entirely.
The global massacre left a devastating effect on the earth. Some humans were permanently injured, and others were driven into madness.
The dragons created a new world. They split the earth into four regions, and four significant figures from their realms set themselves up as rulers of each:
- The Land of Gamma
- The Tribe of Algol
- The Alnilam Valley
- The Kingdom of Altair
These four regions lived together in peace and harmony. Under the Star Dragons, humans began to thrive once more, even more than before. Everyone was united.
They had faced death, and escaping it gave them a new appreciation for life. There was no more resentment, no more disputes, no more wars. Everyone lived on, appreciating the gift of life.
---
But peace isn't always so fun…
Five years down the line, the earth began to change. Plants mutated, fungi gained life, animals appeared in strange colors, and even the sky started throwing its own party.
According to scientists, the blood of the Soul Eaters that spilled onto the earth during the war began to manifest and cause changes. It had always been happening, but it started from the core and worked its way to the surface.
Neither the dragons nor the humans knew how to handle this new information. Some were panicked, others curious—it was strange to everyone.
During this time, other beings were created. The effects of the Soul Eater blood affected some humans, transforming them into something else. They were called *Runes*.
They were called Runes because they were a mystery, fusions of either an animal and a human or a plant and a human.
It was weird, to say the least. And somewhat frightening. But they posed no immediate harm to mankind or the Star Dragons—at least, that's what everyone thought.
Though people were wary of them, they weren't executed. Instead, they were studied. Some people wanted to understand them, to learn more about how they came to be.
But at a terrible cost…
---
It had been five years since the Runes appeared, making it a total of 20 years since the earth changed.
And it was about to change even more.
One dreadful morning, the Runes went feral. No one knows why—they just did. They lost their humanity and began killing like mindless beasts, like the very Soul Eaters they had been born from.
The Star Dragons tried to fight them off again, but things were different this time.
Runes carried hidden poison, varying with each creature. Some poisons were potent enough to harm a Star Dragon, while others were mild, used merely as drugs for pleasure.
This was a devastating disadvantage to the dragons. The humans had to watch their saviors die, one by one, at the hands of these savage creatures.
There was no hope left.
But even in the darkest of nights, there is always a flicker of light.
Dragons, too, have a hierarchy, from the smallest to the largest—those who could control the very galaxy itself.
It turns out that the most powerful of the Star Dragons were immune to the poison, giving them the upper hand once again.
The Runes kept coming in an endless stream. Things had to change once more to ensure life thrived on earth.
The dragons had to create another system...