Cold sweat beading on her brow, Kannon began sharing what little she knew about circumstances of the world below. “The simple fact is that the gods don’t know much about the current situation in the kingdoms of the various races. We haven’t been able to speak to, or hear from, our believers for centuries. Anything I could see of the world below was obscured through thick fog. Same for Henna and my other brothers and sisters. Though, the fog thins a bit in areas where our believers are highly concentrated, like the capital and other big cities.” Shayna, not appreciating Kannon’s equivocating, raised her hand in threat. Seeing this, the tiny goddess quailed in fear. Powerful as her magic might be, her physical form was nothing but a frail fairy - too weak to resist even the smallest child. “N-No need for any of that! I-I was just explaining why I don’t have all the details. What I could see through all the obscuring fog was only the broad strokes…… The problem started with a human king, centuries ago. For some unknown reason, ambition bloomed in his heart. A cliched ambition, at that. He wanted to create an empire, dominate the world.” Tilting her head in confusion, Fae asked, “Is that really the case? From what I’ve learned, it was exactly the opposite. Didn’t the first Demon Queen want to crush all the other races and make us their slaves?” “Pffft! As if my children would want to do something like that. Especially my precious Lilith.” Henna scoffed. Nodding her head in agreement, Kannon continued. “She’s right…… The humans definitely started it. The king of that time, a repulsive man named Caelan, wanted to take out the easiest target first. The demon race is awfully insular, so he thought it’d be easy to unite the other races under his leadership and crush the isolated demons. He launched a great big propaganda campaign, poisoning the opinions of the ordinary citizens. Indoctrinating the people with things like 'demons are all uncivilized brutes' or 'demons eat nothing but human flesh.' Most people had never even seen a demon before, so it wasn't all that hard to stoke the flames of distrust. To get the human nobles and foreign kings on his side, he promised additional territory and valuable resources. Anything they wanted, all to feed their greed.” Squinting in doubt, Maven asked, “Is it really so easy to turn the entire world against a whole species?” Looking a bit ashamed, Kannon refused to meet anyone’s eyes. “I-I don’t know…… I’d like to think there was some secret force acting in the background, nudging the world to ruin… but I never saw it. The obscuring fog made it difficult to learn anything, especially not any secrets. Regardless, it ended with all the races of the world advancing on the demons.” “And what happened next? How in the world could the demons survive hundreds of years like that?” “I can answer this one!” Henna said, chest puffed in pride. “The original Demon Queen, Lilith! My cutest child that ever did live, she protected everyone. The strongest, kindest demon since the world began. She sacrificed herself, thoroughly crushed the united armies, burning her enormous life force in a great blaze to send them scurrying back home. Then, she used the last scraps of her life to erect enormous mountains around the northern end of the Demon Peninsula - protecting them even after she was gone. She was the greatest hero of the demon race to have ever lived. Even now, her bloodline continues to protect my people - her granddaughter sits on the throne to this day.” “I’ve heard of Lilith…… She was supposed to be the cruelest, most bloodthirsty Demon ever seen. The stories say she was taller than 100 men, covered in rotting green scales, exhaled poison with every breath, and that she enjoyed nothing more than eating any human who crossed her path - especially children.” “Pffft, is that what the humans think? Hahahahaha.” Henna laughed uproariously at the story Fae shared with the group. “Hehehe what would she say, if I could see her now? She used to be renowned as the greatest beauty of the demon realm. Before things fell apart, humans and elves alike used to travel the world over just to meet her. Gorgeous enough to entrance all who saw her, she was that beautiful. Beauty, power, and personality - she really had it all.” “Exactly…… Well, ever since that battle, things have pretty much been at a standstill. The Lilith Mountain Range made sure of that. Humans, elves, or dwarves would occasionally try to cross the mountains to take revenge for their ancestors, but they’d be repulsed every time. Those mountains are positively brimming with dark magic, buffing the demons and weakening any invaders.” “So, isn’t it fine?” Maven asked. “Sounds like they’re well protected, thanks to Lilith. Why the apocalypse?” Face serious, Kannon continued, “Well, it’s protected them well thus far…… but things won’t stay that way forever. Strong as she was, Lilith was no god..... The blessing has been weakening for years now, and it’s due to expire completely in 15 years. Everyone’s beginning to muster their forces, to prepare for that day. Armies are being built, new spells are being crafted, and powerful artifacts are being researched. It’s a slow process, so all this is probably underway as we speak.”