Aiden shuffled through the mountain of books, his fingers brushing over centuries-old tomes and scrolls as his frustration grew. He'd spent hours scouring the grand library, looking for anything that could give him a path toward acquiring the power the legendary humans once wielded. Yet all he found were histories, myths, and accounts of humanity's resilience against impossible odds. While these stories were awe-inspiring, they offered no tangible guidance.
His eyes landed on a thick, leather-bound book with an ornate demonic emblem embossed on the cover. It radiated a faint, ominous energy that made his stomach churn. With a reluctant sigh, he opened the book and began reading.
This one was different. It wasn't a celebration of humanity's resilience or divinely guided victories. Instead, it was a demon's perspective on humans—and it was horrifying.
The book began with an origin story, one that Aiden had not encountered before. In the beginning, the Gods, creators of all existence, grew weary of the first race they had made: the demons. The Demons, they were the unblessed often favoring the other sentient races and their efforts remained unawarded. They were neglected from the Gods guidance and faced many injustices yet the same very Gods they worship turned their backs against them. Unable to withstand this treatment the Demons took action but were merely silenced by their creators until, they were abused and conflict arise. The Demons took action against the same Gods they worship and war would ensue throughout the realms. The war brough chaos to the creation. The God steadily won but was unable to bring extinction to the Demon Race. The book described as to how these Gods view only Demons as cockroaches that would never die, to which it says that this was merely the great perseverance that the Demon's ancestor has to face through, it glorified their ancestors actions and bravery eventually the Gods had no choice but to give these Demons what they truly want and that is by bringing them all to another dimension. The Gods sealed every demon in a dimension apart from their own—a realm that would become known as Hell. But their ancestors never gave up, they built order and society to Hell. Hell was not like anything that the Gods themselves promised and was a desolate and barren place that could not support the entire race. The Demons were furious when they realized that they were banished in the land of creation.
However, the Gods' attempts to create perfect, harmonious races didn't go as planned. Over the centuries, any sentient species that the Gods deemed too problematic, too ambitious, or too unruly was cast into Hell. There, these exiled beings intermingled with the demons, forming new bloodlines, alliances, and hybrid creatures. Over time, all sentient beings in Hell, regardless of their original form or lineage, came to be known simply as "demons."
What the Gods don't realize is that Hell is more than just a prison for exiled races or a fiery wasteland of suffering—it is a living, breathing dimension that pulsates with malevolent intent. Though it has no voice, no singular consciousness to speak of, its presence is undeniable. Every demon, every creature cast into this forsaken realm, can feel its gaze upon them, its power coursing through their veins, and its unspoken will pushing them toward chaos and domination. The existence of hell is what these Demons came to worship.
Yet, Hell was far from an egalitarian society. The demons maintained a brutal hierarchy based on lineage, power, and purity of their demonic blood. Hybrids from the original demon race—those with the "purest" blood—occupied the highest rungs of power, while those descended from exiled races were seen as inferior and often enslaved or marginalized.
The book went on to detail the history of the Demon Kings, rulers chosen every century by Hell itself to receive a divine artifact called the "Keys." These keys, Aiden learned, were no ordinary objects. They unlocked the gates between Hell and the world of creation—the realms of humans, elves, dwarves, and other favored races.
With the keys in hand, each Demon King would lead an invasion into the other side, bringing destruction, terror, and what the demons considered "glory" to their name. These campaigns were celebrated in demonic culture, their victories immortalized in song and literature.
Each campaign ended with the spoils of war brought back to Hell—gold, jewels, enchanted artifacts, and, most importantly, captured beings from the other side. The demons reveled in their victories, seeing themselves not as invaders but as heroes reclaiming what they believed was unjustly denied to them by the Gods.
Aiden's stomach twisted as he read the demons' perspective on the various races of the other side.
The demons saw humans as frail, short-lived creatures whose greatest strength was their adaptability. Yet, they mocked humanity's ambition, calling it a futile attempt to reach heights they were never meant to attain. The messiah prophecy was mentioned frequently, though the demons dismissed it as "wishful thinking from a pathetic race." They regarded humans as prey—easy to manipulate, enslave, or destroy. They build kingdoms made in sands that would crumble. Their leaders are in constant lust for power and authority that would only last for a measly few years, they would kill one another like rats while their race and kingdom that they were supposed to support is in famine and suffer from plagues.
To the demons, elves were hypocrites, preaching harmony with nature while hoarding magical knowledge and artifacts for themselves. Their long lifespans and aloof demeanor made them prime targets for demon invasions, as their arrogance often led them to underestimate their enemies. Their long lifespan while commendable, it is also the thing that will doom their species. Their bodies could reach long lifespan but they can't develop their bodies much faster than other sentient species. An elven male would build his body for centuries yet it couldn't compare to the strength of a human that was merely born in just a few decades. While elven females are still pregnant for almost decades. The offspring of humans and other races could already be brought to war.
The dwarves were seen as stubborn, greedy, and overly reliant on their craftsmanship. Demons took particular pleasure in humiliating them, melting down their prized creations and enslaving their smiths to forge weapons for Hell.
Races like orcs, gnomes, and halflings were seen as inconsequential—a nuisance at best and fodder for sport at worst. The demons took no pride in conquering them, seeing it as an inevitability rather than an achievement.
The book also described the twisted pride demons took in their conquests. They viewed themselves as superior beings, chosen by the Hell itself to restore balance through chaos. To them, their actions weren't acts of cruelty but divine justice—a reclamation of their rightful place in the universe.
Aiden closed the book and leaned back in his chair, his head swimming with the horrifying details. The demons' arrogance and self-righteousness were staggering. To them, every act of cruelty was justified, every atrocity a badge of honor.
The messiah prophecy lingered in his mind. Could such a figure truly exist? And if so, what chance did humanity—or any of the other races—have against the might of Hell and its rulers?
He couldn't shake the feeling of dread as he thought about the academy. If these were the values demons held, what kind of life awaited him there? Would he be seen as prey, another weak human to be mocked and tormented? He had to prepare.
Steeling himself, Aiden decided to focus his efforts on understanding magic and survival. If there was one thing he knew for certain, it was that he couldn't rely on anyone but himself—not even Lilith, despite her promises of protection.
For now, his only hope lay in the knowledge buried within the library's endless shelves. He would keep searching, keep reading, and keep fighting to carve out a place for himself in this nightmarish world.