The Great Catastrophe ended beneath a dying sky.
The battlefield where Baal had been sealed no longer resembled land. Mountains had vanished entirely beneath oceans of molten rock and shattered earth. Rivers of blood mixed with burning mana across the ruins while broken corpses of humans, elves, dwarves, monsters, and Celestrals covered the world like scattered debris after the end of creation itself.
The war was over.
But humanity had not won.
The five first-generation Mage Lords were gone.
Four died during the final battle against Baal, sacrificing their lives to immobilize a being that could never truly be killed. The surviving Mage Lord barely remained alive after activating the sealing artifact alongside the Mage Queen.
And yet…
One final task still remained.
Transporting Baal.
Even restrained beneath countless sealing chains, Baal remained a monster beyond understanding. The pressure leaking from his body poisoned the world itself. Low-ranking mages died instantly simply approaching him. Their veins burst before their bodies collapsed into pools of blood. Ordinary soldiers could not even look toward the battlefield without vomiting violently or losing consciousness.
Some lost their sanity entirely.
Yet leaving Baal there was impossible.
If the seal weakened even slightly, another catastrophe would begin.
Long before the final battle, the Mage Queen and first-generation Mage Lords had prepared a final prison in secret.
The Central Tower.
Far from civilization, above the center of a massive lake, an enormous floating island waited beneath layers of magical barriers and dwarven machinery. Constructed using floating mana crystals, ancient magical engineering, and resources gathered throughout the war, it existed for one purpose alone.
To imprison Baal forever.
The transportation operation began three days after the final battle.
Thousands volunteered.
Most never returned.
Massive suppression engines built by dwarven engineers surrounded Baal's sealed body while elite mages continuously reinforced containment formations to prevent the chains from collapsing. Even then, the surrounding air remained contaminated by corrupted mana.
The closer one approached Baal, the harder breathing became.
Mages coughed blood constantly during the journey. Some collapsed dead while merely carrying mana supplies to the escort teams. Others suddenly began clawing at their own faces after hearing whispers no one else could hear.
And through it all…
Baal laughed.
Even sealed, his laughter echoed from beneath the restraints like something inhuman trying to claw its way back into the world.
The surviving Mage Lord continued forward regardless.
For thirteen days, he continuously poured mana and life force into the sealing artifact to stabilize the prison. By the seventh day, his skin had already begun cracking from mana exhaustion. By the tenth, witnesses claimed parts of his body had started turning gray like ash.
Still he refused to stop.
Because everyone understood the truth.
If he failed…
Humanity would disappear.
The journey toward the floating island became a march through death itself.
Tower monsters drawn by Baal's overwhelming mana constantly attacked the transport convoy. Entire escort squads were slaughtered protecting the sealing engines from monster hordes. One night, an SS-class monster descended from storm clouds above the convoy and annihilated three hundred combat mages before the surviving Mage Lord personally destroyed it using the last remnants of his strength.
By the end of the journey, less than half the original escort force remained alive.
And finally…
The Central Tower appeared.
Rising above endless water beneath a darkened sky, the floating island resembled a massive fortress suspended between heaven and earth. Countless magical formations illuminated its underside while enormous dwarven engines maintained its position above the lake.
At its center stood the Tower itself.
Black.
Massive.
Silent.
A prison built for a god.
The surviving forces transported Baal through layer after layer of sealing barriers before finally reaching the highest chamber deep within the Central Tower.
The prison chamber.
Thousands of magical chains wrapped around Baal's motionless body while suppression formations covered every wall, floor, and ceiling. Dwarven engines roared beneath the structure while elite mages maintained continuous mana circulation through the prison.
Only then did the surviving Mage Lord finally release the final stage of the seal.
The entire floating island trembled.
Massive magical chains erupted from the Tower itself and pierced directly into the sealing formation surrounding Baal. For several terrifying seconds, Baal's eyes opened.
The pressure released from that single movement killed dozens instantly.
Blood exploded from their bodies before they even realized what happened.
Then the final seal activated completely.
Baal stopped moving.
Silence returned.
For the first time since his descent…
The world could breathe again.
The surviving Mage Lord stood motionless before the prison chamber.
His body was already dying.
Cracks of silver mana spread across his skin while blood continuously flowed from his eyes. Every remaining mage present understood he would not survive much longer.
But before his death…
The Mage Queen's final order still remained unfinished.
The truth about Baal could never spread.
Fear alone could destroy civilization before humanity even rebuilt itself. If ordinary people learned an immortal monster remained sealed above the world, panic and chaos would consume what little remained of humanity.
So the Mage Queen had prepared one final spell before sealing the heavens herself.
A memory seal.
The surviving Mage Lord slowly raised his trembling hand.
An enormous magic formation appeared across the sky.
Runes large enough to cover entire cities illuminated the heavens themselves while silver light spread across the world like flowing water.
Every surviving person felt it.
A gentle pressure.
Like a fading dream.
People still remembered the Great Catastrophe.
They remembered the war against the Celestrals.
They remembered the destruction of the world and the sealing of the heavens.
But memories connected directly to Baal slowly began disappearing.
His name.
His appearance.
His existence.
The prison beneath the Central Tower.
All faded from ordinary minds like fragments of forgotten nightmares.
Only select individuals retained complete knowledge:
the highest authorities of the Mage Places future Mage Lords chosen guardians forbidden archivists
The truth became buried beneath secrecy.
The surviving Mage Lord looked one final time toward the sealed prison.
Then his body collapsed into ash beneath the floating sky.
And thus…
The first generation disappeared from history forever.