Chapter 10: Home and SSA
Since the beginning of time on Earth, supernatural entities have existed. In the earliest ages, they lived beside humans in a fragile but peaceful coexistence. Their powers were wondrous, strange, and often misunderstood—but the world was still young, and harmony was possible.
However, as centuries passed, the abilities of these Supernatural Entities—SEs—grew far beyond human comprehension. What humans couldn’t understand, they feared. And what they feared, they sought to either control… or destroy.
Yet humans lacked the strength, tools, or knowledge to challenge these beings outright. So they did what humans were often best at:
They pretended.
They hid their intentions.
They acted friendly.
They lived among the SEs, learned from them, gained their trust—while quietly gathering information.
For generations, humans studied them, waiting for the moment when knowledge would turn into power.
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Centuries later, during the rise of new religions in the medieval era, something shifted. Faith needed unity. Leaders needed control. And every religion required an enemy to rally its followers.
In the shadow of temples, monasteries, and grand halls, an unprecedented meeting took place. The highest leaders of various religious sects came together in a gathering that was never written in any official records. Behind sealed chambers, in the presence of candles and whispered oaths, the long-buried ambition was voiced again:
Eliminate the Supernatural Entities.
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Not one leader opposed it.
Not one questioned it.
Humans by then had grown in number, in strategy, in ambition. Their understanding of SEs—thanks to centuries of disguised observation—was far greater. And with that came confidence. They declared that supernatural beings were not divine, not protectors, not guardians, but threats to the future of humanity.
Soon, followers across different regions were instructed to take part in "cleansings," "purifications," "holy wars," and "revolutions."
But in truth, they were coordinated exterminations.
The Great Supernatural Extinction had begun.
Wars that are celebrated today in human history books were often nothing more than hidden hunts. Battles attributed to politics or rebellion were simply cover-ups for mass purges. But even during this chaos, neither side was united. Some humans tried to protect the SEs while some SEs betrayed their own kind for security, power, or personal beliefs.
Still, human numbers were overwhelming. Slowly, relentlessly, the SE population dwindled.
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Among the many arms of the human war machine, one organization played an extraordinary, decisive role.
SSA — Seven Shadow Association
Born in secrecy, the SSA had existed far earlier than most humans realized. Their roots traced back to the earliest kingdoms—shadow operatives who carried out political executions, rival eliminations, and high-stakes assassinations long before the idea of "countries" existed.
But during the supernatural extinction, the SSA entered a new era.
They became humanity’s silent weapon.
Operating across continents, crossing seas and deserts, the eleven highest-ranking operatives—known as the Seven Shadows and their four Support Blades—executed targets with unmatched precision. Their involvement turned the tide of many battles. Even supernatural beings who could bend elements, sense minds, or manipulate forces fell to the strategic brilliance of the SSA.
For the first time in history, the Seven Shadow Association stepped out from myth and into whispered rumor.
And soon after, into worldwide demand.
Nobles, kings, and religious leaders all sought their services.
Not for war.
Not for protection.
But for power.
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Backed into a corner, the remaining SEs made one final desperate attempt to survive.
Pooling every ounce of their collective power—magic, essence, life force—they constructed a sanctuary unlike anything the world had ever seen: a hidden environment sealed from human detection, woven between reality and the unknown.
A place they could call home.
A city forged from their last hope.
But the cost was devastating.
Most of them died giving birth to it.
The few who survived were either discovered later, enslaved, or executed.
Only the sanctuary remained—vast, untouched, concealed. A monument of their final stand.
According to recorded human history, Vasco da Gama reached India in 1498. But history never mentions what happened just a few years later in 1502.
Another Portuguese traveler—lost, curious, perhaps guided by fate—wandered deeper into the unexplored lands and stumbled upon something extraordinary: the remnants of the hidden supernatural environment.
The last echo of a lost civilization.
Though he didn’t understand what he had found, he built upon it.
He shaped a settlement around it.
A settlement that grew, transformed, and evolved over centuries.
A settlement that would one day beco
me the place known to Devil Quake and his family as—
Home.
