Demon

For the playable class, see Demon.

Demons are the major race of Tynerum. The demons are a race of proud and ambitious warriors, societally divided by blood purity, with pure-blood demons typically reigning at the top and half-bloods beneath them, with some notable exceptions. Currently, there are two playable classes of the demon race: Demon Slayer and Demon Avenger.

History

The Transcendent Experiments

The demons are a race of powerful warriors with ashen skin and dark, bat-like wings, hailing from the dimension of Tynerum. Under the harsh and unforgiving rule of the demons, Tynerum quickly became a world where the strong ruled on top, while the weak were broken. At the echelon of demon society were the pure-bloods, who used their overwhelming power to subjugate the weaker pure-bloods and half-bloods beneath them as slaves. Amidst the half-bloods, the stronger were those who had inherited demonic blood and wings, while the weaker were those who had been born without wings, leaving them to be detested by the other demons as powerless. The pure-bloods' unending thirst for power was such that they even attempted to steal the power of their world's Transcendents. For thousands of years, the pure-bloods conducted brutal experiments in order to obtain the Transcendents' power.

One pure-blood demon named Drak built a fortress in Azmoth Chasm, where he conducted twisted blood alchemy experiments in order to become a Transcendent and rule Tynerum. Under his rule, half-blood and weak pure-bloods were captured by slave hunters and forced to fight each other in an arena to shed a great amount of blood. These experiments resulted in a number of different creations, such as terrible monsters that roamed the fortress, as well as the Sword of Destruction, a powerful blade which contained the combined souls of countless half-blood demons who had been sacrificed over millennia. Ultimately, Drak succeeded in creating an entity known as Morghulas, rumored to be an artificially-created Transcendent. However, Morghulas's power was too great to handle, resulting in the death of Drak and all the demons of the fortress, as well as a curse being placed upon Azmoth Chasm. Over the ages, the last remnants of law and order began breaking down as the great war continued for hundreds of years, with the pure-bloods continuing to sacrifice weaker demons in order to gain the power of a Transcendent. As the Transcendent experiments continued, one pure-blood demon spoke out against them, warning that they would only lead to devastation and ruin. Though he attempted to put a stop to the experiments, he was ultimately killed in the process, leaving behind his human wife and their two half-blood children - the Demon and Damien. Just as the Demon's father had predicted, the countless failed experiments - along with the curse of Morghulas - resulted in Tynerum being turned into a desolate wasteland, where not even a single blade of grass could grow.

Demon Exodus

Around this time, a portal was created that led to Maple World, with a similar portal opening in the south of Maple World that led to Tynerum. Though it was unknown how this portal opened, it was theorized that Tynerum bordering on the verge of extinction had resulted in its appearance. With the portal's appearance, many demons began to migrate to Maple World, while some humans from Maple World crossed over to Tynerum. As the Transcendent experiments continued, one pure-blood demon spoke out against them, warning that they would only lead to devastation and ruin. Though he attempted to put a stop to the experiments, he was ultimately killed in the process, leaving behind his human wife and their two half-blood children - the Demon and Damien. Just as the Demon's father had predicted, the countless failed experiments resulted in Tynerum being turned into a desolate wasteland, where not even a single blade of grass could grow. The Demon would later bring his family to Maple World in order to escape their brutal life. Similarly, many other half-blood demons fled Tynerum in search of a better life, eventually settling in southern Leafre. Additionally, through unknown means, a pure-blood demon named Havoc left Tynerum and crossed over into Grandis, where he pledged himself to Gerand Darmoor and became one of his Apostles.

Around this time, the Black Mage began growing in power and started amassing together an army of darkness to conquer Maple World. Hoping to keep his family safe, the Demon swore allegiance to the Black Mage in exchange for the safety of his family. Becoming one of his Commanders, the Demon quickly grew in infamy as the Black Mage's right-hand, carrying out his mission with the utmost loyalty. Eventually, however, the Black Mage - after taking the power of time from Rhinne - broke his word to the Demon and ordered his other Commanders to lay waste to the rest of Ossyria, resulting in Arkarium killing the Demon's mother and taking Damien under his thumb. After rushing to his home and finding it aflame, the Demon came to believe that both his mother and brother had been killed, for which he betrayed the Black Mage and sent a letter to the Heroes, outlining his betrayal, before facing the Black Mage in battle. Though the Demon was defeated, his attack was instrumental in helping the Heroes seal the Black Mage away, with the Demon creating a protective egg to heal himself over centuries. Following the Black Mage's defeat, the people of Maple World came to fear and resent the peaceful half-blood demons after the Demon had helped the Black Mage destroy their homes. For this reason, the half-bloods - including Damien - were driven out of Maple World and sent back to a life of brutal slavery in Tynerum. Upon their return, the pure-bloods sacrificed all the wingless half-blood demons, tearing out their souls and sacrificing them to the Sword of Destruction. However, the sword spared Damien's life and chose him as its wielder, allowing him to claim the power of a weapon that bordered on the domain of the gods themselves. For centuries, Damien began amassing power and influence in Tynerum, uniting the half-blood demons under his banner and promising to create a world for their people away from the tyranny of the pure-bloods.

Invasion of Maple World

Centuries after the final battle, the Demon awakened in Edelstein, where the Black Wings had drained him of his power after finding the egg that he was recovering in. After being rescued by the Resistance, the Demon joined forces with them after realizing that they had a common enemy in the Black Mage. After the Black Mage was freed from his seal, Arkarium brought Damien back to Maple World in order to serve him. As a new Commander, Damien was tasked with finding and capturing the World Tree, for which he employed the demon army, bringing them over to Maple World as well. During this time, Damien ran into his long-lost brother while carrying out his missions for the Black Mage. Though Damien recognized his brother, he kept his identity secret from the Demon, who resolved to uncover the identity of the new demon Commander. As the Maple Alliance continued facing the Commanders, Damien began amassing his strength by using the Sword of Destruction to brand the creatures of Maple World, siphoning their power into himself. Eventually, Damien and his demon army discovered the World Tree sealed beneath Sleepywood. Damien created the Seal Guardians to keep Alicia imprisoned until she could regain her full strength, though the Alliance was able to defeat the Seal Guardians and bring Alicia to Ereve, where she came under Shinsoo's protection.

Soon after, Damien led the demon army to invade Ereve, where he dealt a mortal blow to Shinsoo with the power of the Sword of Destruction, allowing him to injure an Ancient God. Damien then kidnapped Alicia and brought her back to his camp, where he planned to take her power for himself. Following Black Heaven, the Black Mage tasked Damien with finding the Abyss Crystal to steal Alicia's powers, for which Damien led the demon army to attack the Rien Archipelago and conquer Turtle Island. There, he branded Afrien and exploited his connection to Evan and Mir in order to bait them into returning back and inherit the memories inside Afrien which Freud had left behind for his successor. Using the demon army to stand off against the Alliance, Damien manipulated the Heroes into searching for the Abyss Crystal, with the Demon soon tracking down Damien and learning his true identity. Though the Demon warned his brother that the Sword of Destruction would be his undoing, Damien refused to listen and attacked his brother before tracking the Heroes and taking the Abyss Crystal from them, absorbing it into his sword. Damien then stole Alicia's Transcendent powers with the sword and attempted to drain the vitality of Maple World, having been consumed by the sword's power. After a fierce battle, Damien was defeated by the Heroes, with the Demon destroying the spirits of the sword and killing Damien, whose life had grown intertwined with the sword. Following Damien's defeat, most of the demon army retreated back to Tynerum in shame, though some were consumed by the sword's vestigial power and corrupted, for which Alchetto of the demon army hoped to put them to rest.

Azmoth Chasm

In the months after the convergence of Maple World and Grandis, an enormous chasm appeared in southern Leafre, with demonic monsters from Azmoth Canyon emerging through dimensional cracks and invading Maple World. The Alliance quickly sent an investigation party, which began exploring the ruins in the chasm. Within the ruins, the team discovered that the ruins were part of Tynerum, home to a great fortress where twisted blood alchemy experiments had once taken place. Though the fearsome curse of Morghulas threated to instill madness and paranoia into those who entered the chasm, the Alliance nevertheless dispatched an elite team to investigate the ruins, where they came to find traces of Drak's experiments to become a Transcendent and rule Tynerum. Along the way, they also discovered other residents of Tynerum who had come to explore the ruins and claim the knowledge within the fortress for themselves. Though the Alliance discovered many clues about the nature of the experiments, they remained unsure of why Azmoth Chasm had appeared in Maple World, and why the two dimensions had been linking in such a way over the course of centuries.

Society and Culture

Very little is known about Tynerum or its civilization, though it is home to many fortresses as a result of the endless war for dominance over the realm. Currently, the only accessible region in Tynerum is Crimsonheart Castle, although the associated storyline for this region has been removed. Though not directly accessible, it is possible to enter Azmoth Chasm through a point of intersection between Tynerum and Maple World, though the fortress buried underground is abandoned after the curse of Morghulas laid waste to the demons within. Alchemy is an extremely prolific field amongst demons - particularly blood alchemy - which demons have been using for millennia, whereas alchemy was a relatively new field in Maple World, pioneered by the Black Mage himself. Ritual sacrifices appear to be intertwined with demon religion, as evidenced by the chapel and laboratory in Drak's fortress, though very little is known about the demons' religious beliefs. However it can be assumed that demons have historically worshiped the Ancient Gods, similar to the people of Maple World and Grandis. Though the demons appear to hold the power of the Transcendents in great regard, it is unknown whether they respect the Transcendents themselves, or whether they are seen merely as beings whose power exists to be coveted and exploited.

Although demons are the major race of Tynerum, the existence of half-bloods in demon society implies that existence of other races, seen especially in the case of several beings in Azmoth Chasm, who appears to have pointed ears in addition to demon horns, suggesting either mixed heritage or phenotypic variation within the demon race itself. However, it is unknown what other races exist in Tynerum, though given the presence of humans in both Maple World and Grandis - as well as the Demon and Damien's mother living in Tynerum - it is likely that at least some humans have existed there, even before the portal between Maple World and Tynerum appeared. Common physical attributes of the demon race is their ashen skin, facial markings, horns, and bat-like wings. However, there exists a great deal of variation in these traits, as some demons will have a mixture of one or more of these traits missing. In a very unique instance, the pure-blood demon Havoc appears to have two different forms, one being completely human - with no trace of demon traits - and the other being his demon form, with Havoc having the ability to freely shift between them. Additionally, there appears to be an unknown correlation between demons and cats, as seen with Mastema transforming into a cat with wings, as well as a mysterious demon cat in Azmoth Chasm holding a key to a safe, with this cat likely being a transformed demon.

Much like the Flora, wings are seen as a symbol of status, with half-bloods without wings being considered weaker and inferior. The inheritance of demon wings does not appear to be based solely on bloodline or genetics, as there exist pure-bloods without wings and half-blood families in which one sibling is born with wings, while the other is born without them. However, the absence of wings is inherently seen as a status of weakness, with many wingless demons being sacrificed by stronger demons for rituals to attain greater power. The existence of wings is strongly associated with Demon Fury, a special form of energy that demons use in the place of typical mana. The amount of Fury that demons possess is largely what shapes their societal worth, regardless of their ancestry, though stronger Demon Fury is typically associated with pure-bloods. There exists a concept of "blue blood" in regard to bloodline, in which certain demons appear to have innate strength passed down through their heritage, such as the Demon, whose father was a powerful pure-blood. However, it is also possible for a demon to eschew Demon Fury altogether, instead drawing on one's own life force to deal damage, as seen with the Demon Avenger.

Demon society, similar to High Flora society, is based solely on power and ambition, with those in power believing that their strength gives them the right to rule, with the unofficial law of Tynerum being that only the strong survived, while weakness was a sin. Similar to the High Flora caste system, the demons distinguish themselves on the purity of their blood, with pure-bloods holding greater influence than half-bloods. However, whereas the High Flora draw their pride in racial superiority, only pure power holds any significance to demons, meaning that even half-bloods can claim superiority and respect over pure-bloods who are weaker than them. In contrast, even High Flora commoners are seen as superior to other races, regardless of whether those commoners are weaker those of another race. Such is the intrinsic drive to seek greater power in demon society that many demons have even sought to become gods themselves, attempting to claim the power of the Transcendents and even performing experiments to replicate Transcendental abilities, as seen with the Sword of Destruction and the creation of the entity Morghulas in Azmoth Chasm. However, this short-sighted pursuit of power has led to the collapse of Tynerum altogether, with the land having become barren and lifeless from the curse of Morghulas.

Notable Members

• Winged Pure-Blooded Demons:
  • Havoc - an Apostle who abandoned Tynerum and pledged his allegiance to serve Gerand Darmoor in Grandis
  • Drak - a pure-blood who sought to become a Transcendent, conducting experiments in Azmoth Chasm before meeting his demise at the hands of his own creation: Morghulas
  • Mastema - a pure-blood who became the Demon's servant
  • Demon and Damien's father - a pure-blood who spoke out against the Transcendent experiments until he was exiled and perished in isolation
• Winged Half-Blooded Demons:
  • The Demon - a former Commander of the Black Mage who betrayed his master and joined the Maple Alliance
• Wingless Half-Blooded Demons:
  • Damien - the Demon's younger brother who became a Commander and wielded the Sword of Destruction to claim the Transcendent of Life's power
  • Alchetto - Damien's right-hand who led the efforts to put down his comrades who had been corrupted by the Sword of Destruction after Damien's death