The battle between evil and virtue has persisted for as long as one can remember.
The world can be changed, but each one has one thing in common, which is this unending struggle.
Demons are referred to as the carriers of evil, and angels are seen as the carriers of virtue and truth, which is true but not universal.
A being is prone to a particular nature due to three things:
First, the way they are raised.
Second, the environment in which they are raised.
Third, the mindset they have raised.
These three factors play a major role than one's own race, but due to the presence of a drawback inside the known demonic energy, the balance of evil always tilts in favor of demons.
This drawback corrupts their minds.
Even if they control it, the resulting aggression gradually erodes their sanity until they adapt to it and try to calm down their overall personality by directing it towards someone repulsive.
So, demons, devils, and monsters are all aligned and seen as evil, but until one understands their fundamental workings, claiming all of them as evil is a mistake.
Just like angels, saints, or those who carry divinity, their divine energy emits an aura that paints their whole being in a color of purity, ignoring the malign hidden within them and giving birth to a drawback called Superiority.
Just like demonic energy corrupted one's mind, divine energy also inflated one's ego, leading its holder to pose themselves as gods.
An amusing fact was that both demons and saints were aware of their energy's drawback, but only a few really implemented countermeasures.
Among those few, only a handful were truly able to maintain control of themselves, even during the catastrophic war that occurred between demons and saints thousands of years ago, resulting in the decrease of more than half the population on each side.
This war led to the division of what was once called the Ascension Domain, now separated into several pieces, with half previously ruled by the Sanctum and the other half by the seventeen Demon Rulers.
The energy that had separated the entire landmass scattered the masses over great distances, each surrounded by their archenemies.
Some saints' lands were surrounded by demon continents, while some demon lands were surrounded by saints, each maintaining balance due to the strength of demons.
Unlike divinity, which purifies demonic energy, making it appear stronger in comparison, the truth was simply the opposite.
Demonic energy has remained far stronger, existing till this date with much more strength than that of the Divine Energy.
The reason is simply because Demonic energy is like fire in a forest, it can be suppressed but can't be extinguished completely without heavy rain.
And that Rain is 'The Sanctum'.
The highest floor where gods reside is just ten steps away from natives of this world.
There are several floors, and each can be accessed by the number of keys available in this world, scattered around the continents, which allows anyone having the needed key to enter the Sanctum to propose an Artifact which then chooses it's owner.
And this is only place which gives Saints advantage, since the most number of keys to the Sanctum is under their control.
Causing the whole world to call the Divine Energy followers the members of Sanctum.
Which technically isn't a single place but the derived name from the otherworldly existence which maintains the whole balance between the strength of Demonic and Divinity.
But very few people knew this, causing them to think of all Saint's domains being called the Sanctum.
A sharp cry echoed through the room, amplifying the sense of being in an unending space, as if existing within a completely different dimension.
The white sky and mirrored surfaces stretched endlessly, expanding until the eyes could meet the horizon.
"Wh-who exactly, Saintess?" The higher priest's voice quivered with a shivering tone, his eyes filled with anxiety, rapidly scanning for answers.
"Who else, Ryu—?!" Suddenly, Maria's eyes shot open, jolting her out of her trance-like state.
"Kuughh?!" A sharp pain bombarded her senses, originating from her divine core and stretching towards the very core of her being.
Thud
"AGGGGGGGHHHHHHHHH!" Maria's entire body collapsed onto the ground, her hands crossed over her chest as cries of pain emanated from the depths of her soul.
"AAGGgggHH!"
"S-SAINTESS!"
SWISH
The intensity of her agony caused even the man witnessing it to tremble as his body instantly closed the distance between him and her.
"He-help..sob..plea," a broken cry escaped from Maria's now crimson face, which was contorted with green veins bulging under the skin.
Drip Drip
WHOOSH
The intensity of the pain caused blood to ooze from her facial orifices, even seeping through the small skin pores, falling on the surface which, on contact, instantly glowed in a light that started to crawl over her body, covering it.
'...Demon seed is completely rooted into her soul,' the higher priest gritted his teeth, looking at the figure of the woman now slowly getting covered in the glow which was only support to preserve her life.
The center room inside Goddess Fela's domain filled with the most pure and divine presence soothed the effect of the dark demonic seed imbued inside the saintess's soul—a secret well kept from the outside world.
Four years ago, when the gates of Heindal opened to the outside world, two individuals were exchanged, leveraging the collateral of a thousand healers and priests needed on a newly opened continent.
The Sword Maiden proposed an offer to obtain the thousand healers in exchange for a Saintess and her assistant called Priest Kermit.
Such an offer would have been impossible to accept if it weren't for the strength and purity embodied by the Saintess, who now leads one of the four strongest divisions supporting Goddess Fela.
Surrounding Malevolia, joined by thin land, were four sides, each housing a division of Goddess Fela.
While each division had its advantages, only one possessed a Saintess, swiftly elevating its ranks.
But now, as the Higher Priest looked upon the dissapeared form of the saintess, his gaze turned cold, his jaws clenched tightly as his hands cradled her once shining body, now covered and dissolving within the mirror surface.
Five years ago, when they had brought the twelve-year-old girl to this divine land, it didn't take them long to recognize the presence of a Demonic seed within her, hindering her growth.
What frustrated the Higher Priest the most was that the seed had been implanted at the tender age of five.
"Cursed fiend! Planting a Demonic seed in a child!"
As exhaustion clouded his eyes, frustration turned them red. He couldn't fathom how someone could implant a demonic seed in a five-year-old girl. He cried out with all his lungs,
"Where is that damned, merciless monster!"