Like this, Imperial Doula Miriam’s story progressed.

Several cycles of several one hundred million years ago, a world changing event took place on the highest Immortal Plane: The Shrine Plane. In an instant, a world that had been awashed in peace for so long became embroiled in war.

The details were unknown to those of the lower Planes, but the Shrine Plane essentially became sealed before being replaced by a new highest Plane. As matters stood now, there were still three Mortal Planes, but the Immortal Planes had become four – three open, and one sealed.

Of course, if there was a war, there was a victor. This winning army marched on the lower Planes, uprooting the previously laid foundations of Fate and building their own. In the end, old factions fell, and new ones rose up. However, this army never bothered to step onto the Mortal Planes. Considering it beneath them, they allowed mortals to wallow in chaos.

Without the familiar structures of Fate above them, mortals lost their belief systems, essentially becoming cut off from the world above. Although those with stronger foundations raised their families and Sects to the higher Planes to escape, the weak had no such option and could only bask in their own inferiority.

With this pain and strife came more, starting a vicious cycle of plains bathed in blood and gore. Since the Immortals had abandoned them, they had no choice but to forge their own paths, leading to masochistic wars for supremacy. Unfortunately, they were naïve to believe that they were in control of their own destinies.

The structure of Fate in any world was highly important. In the same way mortals benefitted from Immortals, the opposite can also be possible. It was because of this truth that while some Immortal Clans and Sects couldn’t be bothered to care about those of the Mortal Plane, others had eyes that flashed with greed, realizing that there lay an untapped reservoir of potential.

This shift in thought came with a time the competition within the Immortal Plane had reached a new height. With so many scrambling to enter their realm, the concentration of Clan and Sects far outweighed the concentration of resources. As a result, the Mortal Plane became a potential breeding ground.

Stories of virgins with special skeletal grades being whisked away became a matter of daily life. Often times, cults and religions would be formed, forcing devotion upon large groups of weak people in order to propagate Faith. At the same time, those who were arguably the most vicious made empty promises of grandeur, only to destroy the hopes and dreams of those unlucky enough to believe their words.

The concept of Fate and Faith was vast. But, the simplest truth was the it heavily relied on strong feelings of emotion. This said… Which was easier? To elicit feelings of true loyalty and love? Or to provoke feelings of deep animosity and hate? The answer was obvious.

With the previous structure of the martial world, those on the above Immortal Planes placed restrictions on the abilities of higher Planes to influence lower ones in this way. Instead, higher Immortal Planes usually created subordinate Clans to slowly foster feelings of loyalty and steadily grow a sustainable source of Faith. However… The Victor of the war didn’t care for such things.

The Victors believed that the marital world was an inherently cruel world. How had their ancestors defeated the Ancient Beasts? Was it not through absolute strength?

The stars foretold of a great calamity, the likes of which humans wouldn’t survive unless the weak were weeded out. This Star Reading wasn’t a new one. The return of the Ancient Beasts had been telegraphed for several Eras already. The problem was that no one knew when it was coming. Still, that didn’t stop The Victors from approaching the matter in their own way.

How could anyone refute them? Had they not overthrown the previous system with their own power? Had they not single-handedly ended the Golden Era to usher in the Martial Era? Their power was undeniable, their fists were the largest, so was it not logical that they were also correct? If the previous system was so great, why did it crumble so easily?

With these new beliefs in place, the mortal Plane had no choice but to suffer. However, this new philosophy brought about an unexpected change. After several billion years of being suppressed, Mental Realm Masters finally made a reappearance. Now that the stigma around foul methods had been removed, at least when they occurred out of sight, they came back in full force, establishing some of the most powerful Clans, Sects and Factions the martial world had to offer.

As could be expected, one of these Clans wreaked havoc on the Mortal Planes. Their cults and religions shone the brightest. After all, they could manipulate the very minds of their victims, making them truly believe that the bad done to them was actual good, while the vile will of their Clans would actually be beneficial to them.

Even to this day, stories of their horror still survived. Tales of daily public executions and tortures, of live mass burials, and of families turning on one another in murder and bloodshed.

Some said that the various cults became incestuous hubs, birthing deformed children to display as though they were some sort of circus act. Others said that these deformed children were actually taken as newborns to be tortured. Their limbs were slowly pulled apart, causing grotesque contortions. Their eyes to gouged out and placed into newly cut and unnatural holes in their bodies, then reconnected via disturbing medical techniques. Certain few even recollected stories of such newborns being sown together to forcefully live the rest of their lives conjoined.

The reality of the matter was that not just one, but all of these stories were true. These were the dark days of the Mortal Realm, a darkness that pervaded all three Planes. Some believed their remnants still remained in the form of small factions and abandoned ruins…

“These scum were known as the White Devil Cult.” A sad expression colored her features as she gently grasped Ryu’s hand. “Aside from their overwhelming Mental Realms, their only markers were their white hair and silver eyes…”

The answer was now obvious. If the people came to know that a Prince of their Kingdom looked like those who took the head during the darkest times in their history, how would they react? Maybe they’d start to question if those dark days were back, maybe they’d think that his mother had had an affair behind his father’s back… Along with a myriad of other things, there was no way their Fate could survive this…

Ryu couldn’t help but release a sad laugh.