There are seven existing monarchs.
They were beings who possessed unparalleled power, who used that strength to rule the demon realm and be revered as gods. However, not all seven monarchs were like this. As an exception, there was one being who could be called a mutation among the seven monarchs.
The fourth monarch: Ferlnern.
He was weak. So weak compared to the other six monarchs that one might question whether he truly shared their pureblood lineage.
──The powerful dominion that a monarch possesses.
───The authority to unleash natural disasters.
────The astonishing physical ability to transform into a beast.
─────The immense mana sustaining it all.
He possessed none of these. All he possessed was a frail human body.
He was merely an ancient being with noble blood and mana.
Monarchs are rulers and tyrants who reigns over all beings in the demon realm.
None could have replaced them, nor should anyone have dared to try.
However, Ferlnern uniquely was 〈prey〉.
Countless high-ranking demons constantly challenged him, aiming to devour the him and take his pureblood throne for themselves. But no matter how weak he was, a monarch was still a monarch.
Unlike the other monarchs, he wielded a special power called 〈magic〉. He had honed the ability to manipulate elements through mana, mimic the powers of others, and develop an unmatched talent for understanding and analyzing them.
Yet despite his intellect and insight, the lack in mana always held him back.
Because of this, 〈death〉, which is a concept so foreign that the other monarchs couldn’t even fathom crept closer to him.
He had already faced countless crises.
Without aid from the other monarchs, he might have been devoured long ago and his title as the fourth monarch snatched by some ambitious demon. Surviving, he trembled in misery.
To survive, and to increase his meager mana even slightly, he tore out and devoured the hearts of the demons who challenged him. He gritted his teeth and endured. For hundreds of years, he survived.
Yet he was nothing.
While the other monarchs expanded their influence over time and ruled vast domains, he had nothing to show for it. His existence was reduced to wandering aimlessly from place to place.
It felt as though he were walking in circles. The gap between him and his siblings had grown too wide to bridge.
A deep sense of crisis gripped him, perhaps even a pang of relative deprivation.
─This won’t do.
Deprivation or not, once he felt it, stubbornly clinging to the same old ways was foolish. He could not fall further behind. His first priority became finding a way to increase his mana. Simply devouring demon hearts took too long. After countless thoughts, and long years of research, he finally succeeded.
An amplification using a new method of mana arrangement and spells that no one else could replicate.
Next, he began crafting artifacts to compensate for his fragile body. The concept of artifacts was utterly foreign. It was the dawn of time. The ideas of armor and weapons didn’t even exist. But to protect his weak flesh, he skinned the hides and shells of demons to create armor and pulled out their claws, grinding them into weapons.
He had talent.
And materials were abundant.
The countless high-ranking demons who challenged him became the materials for his research.
He crafted armor, weapons, and accessories, engraving them with a language of magic he created.
Thus, the first 〈Artifacts〉 were born by his hand, marking the turning point when the weak, scorned monarch transformed into a calamity like the other monarchs.
At first, they were crude of course. The other monarchs and demons mocked Ferlnern, calling it pointless labor. After all, a demon wasn’t something you could kill by carving and throwing a roadside stone. The weapons he made seemed meaningless.
But as time passed, his effort and talent combined to create something extraordinary.
Artifacts emerged that surpassed the demons’ reliance on their own bodies and strength. Responding to Ferlnern’s mana, countless artifacts pierced his enemies and shielded him from attacks.
Above all, he could now unleash techniques that he once used sparingly, only once or twice when the chance arose with far less mana. With a single gesture, the earth split open, a massive pillar of fire erupted from within, then froze in an instant. The sky parted, and dozens of lightning bolts rained down.
He became capable of everything. He became omnipotent.
He was no longer prey. Rumors spread that many high-ranking demons challenged him only to have their hearts devoured. Those bold enough to dismiss the rumors and charge at him saw the truth firsthand, reeling in shock as his wondrous power ripped their hearts alive.
Afterward, like the other monarchs, he came to rule over an unclaimed portion of the vast demon realm. To make it an inviolable domain of his own, he raised that land into the sky.
On that floating land in the sky, he built a castle, fortified with walls, and raised towers.
For a long time, he guarded that place and delivered death to all who dared trespass without fear. No longer was he the weakest among the monarchs or a foe to be trifled with lightly.
But one day, after many long years, he foresaw that death was approaching him.
His noticeably weakening body had given him some inkling, but the fact that an unavoidable death was coming for him felt utterly novel. Until now, death had only ever been a crisis, and there had always been ways to escape it.
But if death—eternal annihilation—could not be avoided—
What should he do?
He thought slowly. Since he wasn’t dying immediately, he had plenty of time. By chance, an amusing idea struck him. He had crafted artifacts using the bodies and hearts of countless high-ranking demons. So what kind of masterpiece might emerge if he used his own heart—the heart of a monarch who ruled over demons, bearer of the original bloodline?
If the hearts of high-ranking demons yielded such remarkable items, the heart of a monarch, the very source would surely produce something incomparable.
He tore out his own heart, leaving just enough function to sustain him and cut it into twenty-four pieces.
He processed the twenty-four pieces of his heart and stored them in glass containers, pondering what to create as he used them one by one. After many long years, he finally completed a set of extraordinary artifacts using all twenty-four pieces.
1-1. Holy Sword Armania 「Bastard Sword」「Light」
1-2. Magic Sword Carbenia 「Bastard Sword」 「Darkness」
Seven-Branched Sword 「Sword" "「Attack, Magic Defense」
Argal 「Longsword」 「Death」
Valentine 「Ring」 「Honor, Fate」
Requiem 「Longsword」 「Fire」
Frostblade 「Longsword」 「Ice」
Lysen Ardahan 「Golem」 「Protection」
Eisenster 「Full Armor」 「Glory」
Altemia 「Dagger」 「Blood」
Silverion 「Tachi」 「Speed」
Gaia 「Halberd」 「Earth」
Yakal 「Greatsword」 「Rage」
Lukete 「Great Spear」 「Lightning」
Memento Mori 「Great Spear」 「Disease」
Eilia 「Spear」 「Illusion」
Bulgari 「Lance」 「Metal」
Winter Wind 「Bastard Sword」 「Wind」
Moonlight 「Shield」 「Defense」
Ginnungagap 「Scythe」 「Darkness」
Red Petal 「Spear」 「Division」
Rudmilan 「Chain」 「Sealing」
Silver Cross 「Earring」 「Amplification」
Carpe Diem 「Ring」 「Charm, Subjugation」
When he completed the twenty-four artifacts, he stormed alone into the ranks of his fateful enemies, beings of an entirely opposite nature to himself and the other monarchs. The artifacts’ effects exceeded his expectations, and they became treasures coveted even by the other monarchs.
Yet, he was engulfed by a sense of emptiness after creating these incredible treasures.
He had made them on a whim after an amusing thought struck him, but death was already destined for him.
Since he had fragmented the heart that was the source of his mana, that time grew even shorter. Ferlnern thought he should pass his position to someone else. However, no demon caught his eye. After much deliberation, he concluded:
If he couldn’t find someone to his liking, he could simply select someone worthy.
The question then became how to choose his successor.
After much thought, he decided to use the twenty-four artifacts to find his heir.
“Why limit it to the demon realm?”
His mind turned to the Middle Realm, the land between the demon realm and the heavens.
A bridge between worlds, it teemed with humans who resembled him and a host of other races.
He released all twenty-four artifacts into the Middle Realm.
That day, twenty-four meteors fell sporadically from the sky of the Middle Realm.
Ferlnern’s unilateral and impulsive actions twisted countless fates, and the continent faced a new destiny. Ferlnern declared:
「Behold, weak beings. What has fallen into your world are artifacts crafted from the pieces of my heart. Twenty-four fragments imbued with my power as the fourth monarch.」
「To whoever gathers them all—be it demon, angel, or human, regardless of race or existence—I will bequeath everything I have. Collect them.」
「Those who would succeed me as an absolute being and claim the throne of the fourth monarch of the demon realm must gather these fragments by their own skill.」
「Do so, and you will be reborn as a new being, with all things beneath your command.」
Thus began the journey of the twenty-four hearts.
────────When twenty-four meteors fell from the sky.
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