There are seven monarchs.
They are beings who possess incomparably powerful authority, using that strength to rule the demon world and be worshipped as gods. However, not all seven monarchs were like that. Exceptionally, among those seven monarchs, there was one who could be called a mutant.
The fourth monarch, Perlneirn.
He was weak. Compared to the other six monarchs, he was so weak that it made one doubt whether he was truly the same pure-blood being.
──The overwhelming dominion that a monarch possesses.
───The authority to unleash natural disasters.
────The astonishing physical prowess to demonize beasts.
─────The enormous reserves of mana to support it all.
He lacked all of it. All he had was the frail body of a human.
He was merely an ancient existence bearing noble blood and mana.
A monarch is the ruler and tyrant who reigns supreme over all beings in the demon world.
No one can replace them, nor should anyone be allowed to.
Yet Perlneirn alone was the sole exception—he was mere 〈prey〉.
Countless high demons challenged him relentlessly, seeking to devour the monarch and claim his pure-blood seat for themselves. But no matter how feeble he was, a monarch is still a monarch. Unlike the other monarchs, he possessed a special power called 〈magic〉. He had developed the ability to wield mana through elemental manipulation, mimic the authorities of others, and no one could match his skill in understanding and analyzing them.
However, despite that insight and knowledge, his lack of mana always held him back.
Because of this, the unfamiliar concept of 〈death〉—something the other monarchs could never even dream of—came knocking on his door.
He had already weathered countless crises.
Without the aid of the other monarchs, he surely would have been devoured long ago, and the seat of the fourth monarch would have been taken by another demon. Having survived, he trembled in misery.
To survive, to increase his mana even a little, he tore out and devoured the hearts of the demons who challenged him. He gritted his teeth and endured. For hundreds of years, he clung to life.
Yet he was nothing.
While the other monarchs grew ever more influential with time, dominating vast regions, he had nothing. Wandering from place to place was all he knew.
It felt like he was walking in place. The gap between him and his siblings had already grown too wide to bridge.
He felt a profound sense of crisis. Perhaps it was mere relative deprivation.
─This won't do.
Relative deprivation or not, now that he felt it, clinging to the same methods would be foolish. He couldn't afford to fall further behind. Above all, he sought ways to bolster his scant mana. Devouring demon hearts took too much time. After countless thoughts, deliberations, and long research, he finally succeeded.
Amplification through a new method of mana arrays and incantations that no one else could replicate.
Next, he began crafting artifacts to replace his frail body. The very concept of artifacts was utterly novel. Primitive. There were no notions of armor or weapons. But to protect his weak flesh, he stripped the hides and shells from demons to forge plate armor, and ground their claws into blades.
He had talent.
And materials were plentiful.
The countless high demons who challenged him became his research subjects.
He crafted armor, weapons, and accessories, inscribing them with the language of magic.
Thus, the 〈Artifact〉 was born for the first time from his hands, and at the same time, it marked the moment when the feeble, scorned monarch transformed into a calamity like the others.
At first, they were naturally crude. The other monarchs and demons mocked Perlneirn for his pointless endeavors. Demons weren't foes to be slain by hurling crudely carved street stones. His weapons were meaningless.
But as time passed, his efforts and talent combined to produce marvels.
Artifacts stronger than the demons' trusted flesh and powers began to emerge. Reacting to Perlneirn's mana, countless artifacts pierced enemies and deflected attacks aimed at him.
Above all, now he could spam techniques that once required careful timing and minimal use, even with scant mana. With a mere gesture, the earth split open, spewing massive pillars of fire that instantly froze solid. The heavens parted, unleashing dozens of lightning bolts.
He could do anything. He became omnipotent.
He was no longer prey. Rumors spread that many high demons who challenged him had their hearts devoured. Those who doubted the rumors and charged in fearlessly witnessed them firsthand. Aghast before his wondrous power, they had their hearts ripped out while still alive.
Thereafter, like the other monarchs, he claimed a vast, ownerless swath of the demon world's land. To make it an inviolable domain of his own, he lifted it into the sky.
Upon that floating land in the heavens, he built a castle, raised walls, and erected towers.
For a long time, he held that seat, bestowing death upon all who dared trespass. No longer was he the weakest among the monarchs, nor a mere morsel to sample.
Yet one day, after ages had passed, he foresaw that death was approaching him.
He had somewhat anticipated it from his visibly wasting body, but the fact that he, a monarch, faced an inescapable death was strikingly novel. Until now, every brush with death had been a mere crisis, one he could always escape.
But if even eternal annihilation could not be evaded—
What should he do?
He pondered slowly. Death wasn't imminent, so time was plentiful. By chance, an amusing idea struck him. He had used the flesh and hearts of countless high demons to craft artifacts. So what masterpiece might emerge if he used his own heart—the heart of a monarch who ruled over demons, bearing the first bloodline?
If high demon hearts alone yielded such tremendous items, a monarch's origin heart needed no further praise.
He tore out his own heart, left it with minimal function, and sliced it into twenty-four pieces.
He processed the twenty-four heart fragments, preserved them in glass vials, and pondered their uses, employing them one by one. Ages passed again, and using the twenty-four hearts, he completed special artifacts.
1-1. Holy Sword Armania 「Bastard Sword」「Light」
1-2. Demon Sword Carvenia 「Bastard Sword」 「Darkness」
3. Chilji Map 「Shield」「Attack, Magic Defense」
4. Argal 「Longsword」「Death」
5. Valentine 「Ring」「Honor, Fate」
6. Requiem 「Longsword」「Fire」
7. Frostblade 「Longsword」「Ice」
8. Lusen Ardahan 「Golem」「Guardian」
9. Izenshtar 「Full Plate Armor」「Glory」
10. Artemisia 「Dagger」「Blood」
11. Silverion 「Greatsword」「Speed」
12. Gaia 「Halberd」「Earth」
13. Yakal 「Greatsword」「Rage」
14. Lucete 「Halberd」「Lightning」
15. Memento Mori 「Halberd」「Disease」
16. Aelia 「Spear」「Illusion」
17. Starfish 「Lance」「Metal」
18. Winterwind 「Bastard Sword」「Wind」
19. Moonlight 「Shield」「Defense」
20. Ginnungagap 「Scythe」「Abyss」
21. Crimson Petal 「Spear」「Fission」
22. Ludmilla 「Chain」「Seal」
23. Silver Cross 「Earring」「Amplification」
24. Carpe Diem 「Ring」「Charm, Subjugation」
Once the twenty-four artifacts were complete, he marched alone into the lairs of his mortal foes—the beings of natures diametrically opposed to his own and the artifacts'. Their effects exceeded his expectations, becoming treasures coveted even by the other monarchs.
But after creating these immense treasures, he was overcome by emptiness.
He had made them on a whim, but death was still fated for him.
Having fragmented the source of his mana—his heart—his time had shortened further. Perlneirn thought he must yield his seat to someone. Yet no demon caught his eye. After much deliberation, he decided.
If no suitable candidate could be found, he would select one who proved worthy.
The question remained: how to choose the successor.
After much thought, he resolved to use the twenty-four artifacts to find one.
'No need to search in the demon world, right?'
His thoughts extended to the middle world, between the demon world and the heavenly realm.
That land served as a passage connecting the two realms, home to humans resembling him and various other races.
He released all twenty-four artifacts into the middle world.
That day, twenty-four meteors rained sporadically from the skies of the middle world.
Perlneirn's arbitrary and impulsive act twisted countless fates, ushering the continent into a new destiny. Perlneirn proclaimed:
「Behold, weaklings. What has fallen upon your world are artifacts forged from fragments of my heart. There are twenty-four pieces, infused with the power of I, the fourth monarch.」
「Whoever gathers them all, regardless of race or being—demon, angel, human, it matters not—shall inherit everything I possess. Gather them.」
「If you aspire to succeed me as the absolute being, the fourth monarch of the demon world, collect the fragments with all your skill.」
「Do so, and you shall be reborn as a new existence, with all at your feet.」
And so, the saga of the twenty-four hearts began.
────────When twenty-four meteors fell from the heavens.