Because of their short lifespans and rapid reproduction, their rate of expansion is faster than the chosen races. Now, they believe themselves strong enough and have actively volunteered to join the war, aiming to directly acquire the knowledge and culture of the Demon Clan.
It is clear that such a species, filled with desire and ambition, is more aligned with the demons' tastes. The demons bestowed upon humanity assistance far exceeding that given to other races, and humanity did not disappoint their expectations—on the frontlines, they defeated the Titans and Elves, who were the main forces of the angels.
Over the next three thousand years, humans continued to flourish and grow increasingly valiant in battle. Due to humanity's involvement, the angelic forces were compelled to adopt a shrinking strategy, making humanity the model of "proxy," admired and emulated by all other races. The demons provided increasing support to humanity, resulting in a civilization and ideology of humans that rapidly expanded, spreading not only to allied races like the Dwarves, Beastmen, Mermen, but even to enemy races like the Titans and Elves. Naturally, the angels called this a form of contamination, as the races that learned human civilization did not become as strong as humans.
If nothing unexpected occurred, with humanity's assistance, the demons would surely defeat the angels and dominate this realm—though the time required would be immensely long. However, in the Second Epoch, Year 9215, a momentous event occurred that completely changed the situation: six northern Human Lords, serving as a mainstay under the demons, defected and joined the angelic forces.
In the Elven historical records, this event is referred to as the "Turning of Light." Marking "Turning of Light," the Second Epoch came to an end in the year 9215.
The beginning of the Third Epoch arrived.
As for the reasons behind humanity's betrayal of the demons, there is virtually no historical documentation. The Elf Clan went to great lengths to uncover the answer to this question, but unfortunately, there is no record in any racial archives, including those of humanity itself.
This upheaval caught the attention of both angels and demons. However, what they scrutinized was not humanity's motives for betrayal. In truth, the reasons for betrayal were deemed inconsequential by them. What mattered was that humanity as a species—lacked a sense of contract.
This brings us back to the growth histories of various races.
Angels and demons are born strong, and thus, whether it is the angels who advocate for order and justice, or the demons who believe in the law of elimination, they are inherently imbued with a strong sense of contractual obligation. For agreements they have signed, regardless of how unfavorable they may be to their own side, they will fulfill them. They have never even considered what the world would be like without a sense of contract.
For subordinate races of the angels and demons—the Elves, Titans, Dwarves, Beastmen, Mermen—though not as powerful as angels and demons, they were chosen and were gifted with civilization from the outset and placed under the protection of angels and demons. Thus, they naturally inherited the contractual spirit of angels and demons.
Humanity alone, this peculiar species, was not chosen. Hence, even after acquiring preliminary civilization through theft, they remained weak, unprotected, and desperate for power, interested in nothing other than strength. Therefore, they naturally developed a culture of opportunism. In this regard, they are even more malevolent than demons. One might say this is the root of their betrayal.
What's worse, due to the demons' assistance, humanity's growth caused this culture of lacking contractual spirit to be subtly and quietly spread to other races. Subsequently, other races adopted an entirely new worldview—opportunistic, just like humans.
No longer did they place angelic or demonic commands above all else; instead, they only cared about their own tribes. Who to fight for became a bargaining chip. If the demons paid more, they were willing to fight for the demons. If the angels offered a higher price, they could instantly defect to the enemy side.
This blatant violation of contractual spirit among all races gradually gave both angels and demons the sense that they had fallen into a ceaseless internal drain. Terms like deceiver, traitor, and so on began to emerge because of humanity's existence, though they were far from confined to humans. Even members of the angels and demons gradually became infected with such bad habits.
"A silent pollution—this is far more frightening than an enemy wielding a sword on the battlefield."
From the end of the Second Epoch to the beginning of the Third Epoch, spanning a total of 3172 years until Third Epoch 3172, rebellions across the continent arose endlessly. Angels and demons struggled to manage them and neglected the frontline battlefields. During this period, their proxies, who enjoyed their favor, grew even stronger and harder to control. The human empire, exploiting its ability to maneuver between both sides, gained immense benefits and gradually evolved into a force surpassing all other subordinate races—a presence capable of challenging both angels and demons.
Who would have thought? In the end, the proxies, humanity, grew stronger, while the overlords, angels, and demons weakened endlessly.
Finally, faced with this outcome, in Third Epoch 3172, angels and demons decided to call for another ceasefire. The Second God-Demon War, spanning two epochs, finally came to an end. Amid this calm, the world ushered in the Fourth Epoch.
After the Second God-Demon War ended, angels and demons unanimously withdrew all support they had granted humanity and all other races. Overnight, humanity's magical civilization regressed by millennia.
Why did humanity decline so severely? Again, this recalls the reasons why gods and demons did not initially choose them.
The essence of war lies in mastery of pure strength and magic—its two core pillars.
In terms of pure strength, compared to any known civilized race, humanity is extremely fragile.
As for magic, the disparity is even harder to convey.
Magic relies on knowledge and magic power. Knowledge requires time to learn; magic power requires time to accumulate. And humanity, as a species, lacks the key ingredient: time. With an average lifespan of just fifty years, humans are almost predestined to achieve nothing in magic. Their only option is to seek an external source willing to provide them with magic power—for instance, demons or angels.
When demons and angels, these higher-level magical beings, both refused to supply magic power to humanity and other civilized creatures, humanity's magical civilization naturally collapsed. Even other races experienced varying degrees of regression in their magical civilizations as a result.
Of course, though civilization regressed, the end of the God-Demon War and the return of peace to the continent was undeniably a positive outcome. However, this peace only lasted five hundred years. For humanity, it may have felt like an eternity, but in the scope of continental history, it was so brief as to be almost negligible.
In Fourth Epoch, Year 513, over five centuries after the Second God-Demon War ended, with the rise of new Divine Kings and Demon Gods, a new war began.
This time, angels and demons chose not to plunge into the mire of direct confrontation through iron and blood. Within the framework of ceasefire agreements, they adopted a new approach to conflict—faith.
Angels sought proxies among humanity, established the Church, imparted limited magic power to individuals whose faith was resolute enough, and through them, instilled new values to gradually control humanity.
Demons, on the other hand, used power and wealth as temptation, binding souls through magical contracts and forging so-called "Weasel Contracts," ultimately cultivating loyal servants.
A new, unprecedentedly different and prolonged war began.
...
Starting from Elf History Fourth Epoch Year 513, Holy Calendar Year One in human records, without direct interference from gods and demons, humanity, being the continent's ultimate troublemaker, committed countless audacious acts.
Including the "Moonlit Feud," the "Southern Campaign against the Elf Clan" and the "Devastation of the Elf Forest," the "Northern Expedition against the Dwarf Clan" and the "Devastation of Dwarf Valley," the "Chaos of the Twelve Kings," the "Raid on the Dragon's Nest" and the "Dragons' Furious Bloodbath in Northern Cities," the "Campaign against the Undead Clan" and the "Utter Defeat by the Undead Clan," the "Ambush on the Titan Clan" and the "Massacre of Fifteen Kings out of Sixteen in a Single Stroke"...
In short, countless deeds. Even after losing their magical civilization, humanity remained the most provocative race on the continent. Despite each endeavor ending in disastrous defeat, they would always recover swiftly, shamelessly mend ties with other races, only to pull off yet another outrageous feat. Strangely enough, their territorial scope continued to expand.
Finally, the time reached Elf History Fourth Epoch Year 11266, equivalent to Holy Calendar Year 10753 for humanity. On a night seemingly mundane to humanity, our story begins...