-Prologue-

In the beginning, God created the Heavens and all of the Angels. He then separated the light from the dark, and from the light, God created the elements of Void, Air, and Water, and from the dark, he created the elements of Fire, Earth, and Shadow. Knowing of the power held within each element was great, God entrusted them with six of his most faithful and loyal Archangels.

Void, the Power of the Cosmos and the Light beyond Light, was entrusted to Tsukedo Inasumamaru. To him was given the Holy Sword of Thunder, a blade of perfect balance and blinding speed, able to unleash bolts of lightning with every strike. He was charged not only with guarding the mysteries of the stars, but with leading the other Elemental Archangels, guiding their purpose with the clarity of celestial light and the strength of divine command. Where the heavens stretched endless and eternal, his watch began.

Air, the Breath of Life, was entrusted to Sun Kazemishi. To her was given the Bow of Clouds, a weapon of unmatched precision, whose arrows flew with the swiftness of the wind and struck with the force of divine justice. She was appointed guardian of the skies, from the highest heavens to the gentlest breeze, watching over every whisper of wind that stirred the world.

Earth, the Sacred Foundation, was entrusted to Jirobo Chikyako. To him was given the Stone Spear, its unbreakable shaft forged from the bones of the world, and its blade sharp enough to cleave through any substance in its path. He was charged with guarding the land itself, the mountains, valleys, and every grain of soil beneath Creation’s sky. Where the ground held firm, his strength endured.

Fire, the Wrath of God, was entrusted to Haidomaru Kazuki. To him was given the Axe of Righteous Flame, its burning edge cleaving the air in furious arcs of divine fire. He was appointed guardian of all flame, of every volcano, every spark, and every blaze that would ever rise upon the world. Where fire burned, his watchful gaze would follow.

Water, the Healing Blood, was entrusted to Takasu Mizumaru. To her was given the Kamas of the Tides, twin crescent blades that could just as easily mend flesh as drag enemies beneath the waves. She was charged with guarding the oceans and rivers, the lifeblood of the world, where calm hides fury and depth conceals power.

Shadow, the Dark Mysteries of the Universe, was entrusted to Lucifer Natas, the brightest of the stars. To him was given the Moon Scythe, its hypnotic, curved blade shimmering with otherworldly allure. He was tasked with watching over the hidden corners of Creation, the unseen depths where light dared not tread. Though faithful, Lucifer gazed too long into the mystery he was meant to guard. The beauty of the scythe, its pull, its secrets whispered to the brightest of God's stars promises of power beyond his station. In time, the scythe’s elegant arc and obsidian edge began to consume his thoughts, its darkness whispering secrets only he could hear.

Then God spoke, and the Angels were tasked to breathe life into His design. With newfound power granted by His will, the Six Elemental Archangels moved across the void, shaping the formless into form. At their touch, reality awakened, stars were born, galaxies stretched like threads of light across the heavens, and order rose from the silence.

From His throne above, God beheld their work and saw that it was good. Then He gave a new command, His voice ringing like thunder and piercing light:

“Look below the heavens, Haidomaru. Create fire.”

And Haidomaru Kazuki obeyed. He struck the darkness with divine flame, and from it burst forth the first great star. It was a radiant sphere of unending fire, and it was named Sol.

At God’s further command, the other Archangels joined in the shaping of the cosmos. Takasu Mizumaru stretched out her hands and pulled the waters into the cold places. Jirobo Chikyako pressed his palms to the firmament and formed the bones of distant worlds. Sun Kazemishi scattered the breath of air into the skies, so that every world might one day know the whisper of wind. Together they wove a celestial dance of stars, moons, and orbits. And among all these worlds, one was unlike the rest, set apart by design. A sacred sphere, waiting in stillness, destined to carry the breath of life. It would one day be called Earth.

 -Lucifer’s Rebellion-

Jealous of the Almighty's boundless power and consumed by pride, Lucifer dared to covet the Throne of Heaven. He saw in himself a brilliance equal to God's, a light unfairly shadowed. Why should only one bear dominion, when he too burned with divine fire?

In secret, he sowed seeds of deceit, whispering promises of glory to those willing to turn away from the Light. Even mighty Seraphim and guardians of distant stars bent the knee, enticed by his silver tongue. At last, the day of rebellion dawned. Heaven shook as Lucifer unleashed his assault, his followers clashing with the loyal host amidst the golden spires of the Holy City. Amid the chaos, Lucifer ascended toward the Throne Room, his eyes ablaze with stolen hope.

But he was not alone.

There, before the Throne, stood the Five Archangels of the Elements, Void, Air, Earth, Fire, and Water radiant and resolute. Their voices thundered in defiance, and the battle began. A tempest of wrath tore through the heart of Heaven. Divine blades rang against one another. Fire clashed with darkness. Water surged against chaos. Earth stood immovable. Air struck faster than thought. And Void, formless and infinite, turned every strike aside.

Lucifer fought like a storm unleashed, but the Archangels stood united, a living covenant of balance and purpose. Their powers, intertwined in perfect harmony, turned aside every blow.

At last, Lucifer's weapon shattered under their onslaught. Disarmed and outmatched, his pride collapsed into despair. The Five bound him in chains of pure Light, unbreakable and eternal.
Judgment was swift. Cast down from the heavens, Lucifer fell like a blazing star. His followers were hurled after him, their forms scorched and twisted by the very glory they once shared. Heaven stood unbroken. The Holy City endured, its brilliance undimmed. The Five Archangels remained its eternal guardians, a testament to loyalty and divine order.

And below, on the still-empty Earth, Lucifer stirred amid the ashes of his pride. His power, though diminished, had not vanished. In the silence, he bided his time… and waited.

-Garden of Eden-

Soon after, God created the land of Eden. Within this sacred land, He shaped a Garden, a paradise nestled between Heaven and Earth. It was to be the cradle of His newest creation: Man.

The first among them were Adam and Lilith, followed by seven other pairs, each crafted to tend the Garden and let it flourish. God commanded them to eat freely from the trees and plants that grew in abundance, except one. At the center of the Garden stood a tree unlike any other, radiant and terrible in its beauty. This was the Tree of Divine Knowledge, its fruit forbidden.

From the shadows, Lucifer watched the rise of Man with growing contempt. He turned his attention to Lilith, whispering in her dreams, feeding her doubts. “Why should you submit to another?” he asked. “You were born equal.” Lilith, proud and unyielding, refused to bow to Adam. That night, she fled the Garden, her heart burning with defiance. God saw Adam’s sorrow and his loneliness, and so while he slept, God drew from his flesh and formed a new bride, Eve.

When Lilith learned she had been replaced so swiftly, anger kindled within her. Lucifer returned to her then, fanning the flames of her resentment. “Would you like to make them see?” he whispered. “Would you like to open their eyes?” She agreed.

As a gift, and a curse, Lucifer gave her the power to take the form of a serpent, a shape ancient and cunning. Slithering beneath the Garden’s canopy, Lilith found Eve standing beneath the Tree. The serpent spoke softly. “God fears what you might become,” it hissed. “This fruit, this knowledge, will bring you closer to Him. You will not die. You will awaken.” Eve hesitated. The wind stilled. She reached out and took the fruit, its skin warm to the touch. She ate.

Then she turned to Adam.

He saw the light in her eyes and the fear in her hands, and he, too, ate.

The others saw and followed.

When the shadows deepened and God came walking in the cool of the day, they hid from Him. But nothing is hidden from the Almighty. He beheld what had been done, and sorrow gripped His heart. One by one, He cast them from Eden. At its gates, He placed a mighty Angel, sword drawn, barring the way forevermore.

 -Pre-Diluvian Society-

God commanded the Watchers to observe the human race and report their deeds to Him. From the heavens, they looked down upon Eden, where Adam and Eve raised their sons, Cain and his younger brother Abel. The boys grew under the shadow of exile, taught by their parents of the paradise they had lost and the price of disobedience.

As they came of age, Cain tended the land while Abel watched over flocks. In gratitude for life and sustenance, the people of Eden offered sacrifices to God. Flames marked divine favor, rising higher with each worthy gift. Abel brought a newborn lamb, pure and unblemished. The fire blazed in approval. But Cain, offering only a withered apple fallen from a tree, saw the fire choke in black smoke, dying before the altar.

Shame consumed him. In silence, he fled to his farm. Seasons passed. Abel’s herds flourished while Cain’s crops withered. Bitterness grew in his heart. Lucifer, watching from afar, found a vessel for his whispers. Into Cain’s thoughts he poured doubt, envy, and rage.

Cain’s love turned to resentment. He called to Abel one morning and asked him to walk the fields with him. As they wandered the quiet land, Cain reached for a stone. With a trembling hand, he struck his brother down. In that moment, all voices ceased. The sky held its breath. Cain buried Abel’s body beneath the earth and tried to silence the guilt rising in his chest.

The Watchers searched but could not find Abel. One descended to God and spoke of his absence. God came to Cain and asked where his brother was. Cain answered, "Am I my brother’s keeper?" The lie hung heavy in the air. God asked again, and Cain still refused to confess.

Anger kindled in the presence of deceit. God marked Cain with a sign that none would forget, a symbol of guilt that could not be hidden. He cursed the soil beneath Cain’s feet. Wherever he walked, the earth would yield nothing. His bloodline would fall before his eyes. And so Cain was cast out, along with his wife Aclima, who carried his unborn child.

Many from Eden, uncertain of God’s judgment, chose to follow them. They journeyed east, across the burning sands of the Land of Nod, until Aclima went into labor beside a river. There she bore a son, and Cain named the place Enoch, after the child. Homes rose beside the waters. A city took root.

The Watchers looked down and wept. They had watched Cain fall. They had watched a city grow from the soil of blood. And they questioned the harshness of divine punishment. Moved by pity, or perhaps pride, they descended from the heavens. They walked among men and shared their knowledge, gifts meant only for angels.

With this knowledge, humanity blossomed. Cities rose, empires formed, and Man began to forget his limits. But not all gifts come without a price.

 -Birth of the Nephilim-

In the seventh generation from Adam, deep within the Land of Nod and the city built in his name, Enoch, Lucifer summoned The Watchers. He spoke not with fire or wrath, but with poison wrapped in reason. He showed them the curse God had laid upon Cain and his bloodline, how he toiled under barren soil, how he was cast aside, marked and forgotten. In these wounds, Lucifer sowed seeds of resentment.

He drew their gaze downward, to the daughters of man. Mortal women, radiant and unguarded, living beneath the stars with a beauty not found in Heaven. Whispering into the ears of the Watchers, he fanned their curiosity into longing.

Over time, the Watchers broke their oaths. One by one, they descended from their heavenly posts, abandoning their sacred duty. They walked among mankind, took wives for themselves, and from these forbidden unions, the Nephilim were born. Towering above the hills and wielding strength beyond comprehension, these giants were the echoes of divine rebellion, children of heaven and earth, never meant to be, but the corruption did not end with them. Angels, Nephilim, and humans intermingled across generations, their bloodlines tangling like roots in poisoned soil. From these unions came creatures both wondrous and damned.

Vampires, cursed with eternal hunger and eyes that never close.
Werewolves, slaves to the pull of the moon, torn between man and beast.
Cyclopes, their single eyes burning with fragments of divine knowledge.
And creatures of majesty, winged horses, fire-breathing beasts, and monsters born of pride and forgotten covenants.

The world was no longer as it had been. Heaven’s order was fractured, and Earth had become a realm of miracles and abominations, of forgotten glories and whispered nightmares.

-Lucifer’s Rise to Power & Legion’s Creation-

As the centuries passed, Lucifer brooded in the silence between worlds, his hatred festering like a wound that would not heal. Hidden from the eyes of Heaven, he toiled in the shadows, reforging his ancient weapon in secret. Each strike of the hammer echoed with defiance. Each ember of power drawn from the abyss swelled with his darkness. With every breath, his strength grew, a poison bleeding slowly into the fabric of creation. Despite his efforts, mankind endured. They stumbled, they sinned, but time and again, they rose seeking forgiveness, clinging to hope, calling upon the very God he had forsaken. Lucifer watched with growing contempt. He believed they would fall as he had, that their faith would fracture under the weight of suffering. But they endured. And that, he could not abide. He would no longer wait for their fall. He would bring it.

But to shatter the world, Lucifer needed more than shadows, he needed a vessel. Not merely a servant, but a Conduit: a living instrument of his wrath, capable of bearing the full force of his power.
He turned his gaze to the Nephilim, the giants born of angelic rebellion and mortal sin. Among them, one stood above the rest, a colossus who reveled in carnage, whose path was littered with the ruins of cities and the bones of the defiant. This one lived only for destruction, his soul a furnace of rage and ruin. He was the perfect choice.

Descending in a cloak of darkness, Lucifer spoke into the heart of the beast. His voice was not heard, it was felt, like thunder that cracked the soul. “I see your hunger. Your fury. Your thirst to tear down the world. Pledge yourself to me, and I will give you the strength to consume it. Become my Avatar, and through you, the world will drown in shadow.”

The Nephilim, driven by lust for power and blood, did not hesitate. He knelt. He submitted. Lucifer smiled.

Darkness surged. A storm of shadows erupted, swirling around the Nephilim like a maelstrom. Into him Lucifer poured his essence, not alone, but multiplied. Six thousand demons, bound to his will, poured like liquid malice into the creature’s soul. Each one a spirit of vengeance. Each one an echo of the fall. The Nephilim screamed, not in pain, but in transformation.

When it was done, Lucifer placed upon his brow the Helm of Darkness, a relic born from the shadows of the abyss, shaped by hatred, and bound by the first curse. It wrapped around the giant’s head like a crown of the damned. Through it, he could vanish, strike without warning, and spread terror like a plague.

The earth trembled as the Nephilim rose. His body surged with infernal might, and his eyes burned with cold, unholy flame. “I am Legion,” he thundered, his voice rolling across the land like the roar of an angry god. “For we are many.”

Lucifer raised his weapon, a scythe wreathed in eternal night. Its edge shimmered like oblivion. It would sever not only flesh, but the very souls of men. He named it the Death Scythe, a weapon of the end. But a weapon is nothing without an army. And so he called them, the fallen, the twisted, the forgotten nightmares of the world. Vampires and werewolves, wraiths and beasts, things that skulked in myth and shadow. They answered his call, drawn by promises of vengeance and dominion.

Under Lucifer's banner, they became one host: a legion of darkness.

 -The First Guardians are Chosen-

Seeing the corruption spreading across the Earth, God summoned the Five Archangels of the Elements and commanded them to descend. Their mission: to seek out five rare souls, be they Nephilim or mortal, whose hearts still shone with purity and strength, and to forge from them champions of balance and power.

Atop the sacred heights of Mount Olympus, stood Astrapeon, a Nephilim of celestial heritage, chosen by Tsukedo Inasumamaru, Archangel of Void. To him was given the Lightning Bolt of the Cosmos, a weapon of starfire and silence, capable of tearing the fabric of reality asunder. He became the Avatar of Void, radiant as the heavens, and terrible as the empty dark between them.

In the soaring city of Ephesus dwelled the Nephlim Zephyros, child of sky and spirit, chosen by Sun Kazemishi, Archangel of Air. She was entrusted with the Whip of the Winds, a living current, swift as breath and sharp as the mountain breeze. She became the Avatar of Air, dancing with storms and commanding the skies like a goddess reborn.

Within the marble halls of ancient Athens stood the Nephilim Terron, sculpted in strength and patience, chosen by Jirobo Chikyako, Archangel of Earth. To her was given the Shield and Javelin of Gaia, weapons of harmony, one to guard, one to strike. She became the Avatar of Earth, as immovable as stone and enduring as the roots of the world.

Deep within the shadowed Temple of Styx rose the Nephilim Pyra, soul of flame and fury, chosen by Haidomaru Kazuki, Archangel of Fire. He received the Bident of the Underworld, forged in divine flame, searing both flesh and soul. He became the Avatar of Fire, the burning wrath of divine judgment.

And in the gleaming depths of Atlantis reigned the Nephilim Aqualis, shaped by tide and time, chosen by Takasu Mizumaru, Archangel of Water. To him was given the Trident of the Deep, a relic that could calm tempests or summon tidal cataclysms. He became the Avatar of Water, voice of the ocean and hand of the flood.

These Five Nephilim Avatars proclaimed the name “Guardians”. Each was tasked with gathering an army, not of conquest, but of protection. For a great darkness loomed: Lucifer and Legion were rising, and the balance of the world now rested in the hands of the Guardians.

 -Fall of Man - The Flood-

The Guardians stood as protectors of creation, entrusted by God with the elemental forces of Void, Air, Earth, Fire, and Water. Their duty was balance. Their power, divine. But even they were unprepared for the shadow that fell upon Atlantis.

He came like a nightmare, cloaked in darkness that devoured light itself. Legion. Towering, monstrous, and wreathed in swirling shadows, he was no mere wielder of darkness.

Under Lucifer's tutelage, Legion had mastered the forbidden, he could forge perfect shadow imitations of the elemental powers. From his hands came corrupted echoes: shadowed air that screamed with unseen winds, flames that burned with cold malice, waters black as oblivion, and earth harder and hungrier than stone. With a roar that shook the ocean’s floor, Legion unleashed his abominations upon the city. The Guardians rallied.

Zephyros, Guardian of Air, lashed her whip in a spiraling vortex, summoning fierce gales to scatter the darkness. But the corrupted winds multiplied, twisting with a will of their own.

Pyra, Guardian of Fire, raised his bident, unleashing infernos to burn away the shadow. But the dark flames surged in retaliation, hotter and crueler.

Terron, Guardian of Earth, struck the ground with her spear, commanding mountains to rise and shield the city. The shadows responded with spires of obsidian that shattered her defenses with brutal precision.

Aqualis, Guardian of Water, summoned titanic waves with his trident, attempting to wash Legion away. But Legion stood unyielding, his Helm of Darkness gleaming with malevolent power. With a gesture, he conjured a mirror wave of black water that crashed down, breaking through Aqualis's tide and reducing Atlantis’s walls to rubble.

Then came Astrapeon, Guardian of Void. Lightning danced in his grip, wild and cosmic. He hurled divine storms, bolts of pure destruction that scorched the earth around Legion. Many of Legion's followers were obliterated. But the Shadow had learned well—he conjured dark lightning, equal in fury, meeting Astrapeon's storm bolt for bolt.

The battle raged. The Guardians fought with all their might. Still, it was not enough. From the heavens, God watched as balance faltered. His Guardians, His chosen, were falling. The world teetered on the edge of annihilation. Then came the voice.

“Enough.”

Thunder shook the sky. The clouds split. Rain poured in torrents as if the heavens themselves wept. Oceans surged. Rivers broke their bounds. The waters of creation rose in divine fury, crashing down upon the earth. Legion roared in defiance. His armies stood fast, cloaked in shadow, but not even they could withstand the will of the Creator. The flood rose higher, sweeping away his legions, encircling him in a vortex of wrath. In the midst of the chaos, God turned His gaze to Noah, the great-great-great-grandson of Seth, Adam’s third son. To him, given a task: build an ark. Noah obeyed, working without rest, his hands guided by divine vision while the world crumbled around him. The Guardians bought him time. Shielding him from the rising waters. Defending his ark as the last bastion of life. And then, sealed and afloat, Noah and his family rose upon the flood.

As Atlantis sank beneath the waves, Legion was pulled down with it, thrashing, roaring, but cursed with immortality. He could not die. He was imprisoned beneath the ocean floor, sealed in eternal darkness, his Helm torn from him by divine hand and bestowed upon Pyra. Mountains and valleys disappeared beneath the water. The old world was no more. Only the ark remained, adrift upon an endless sea, a promise of survival, and a symbol of judgment.

 -Post-Diluvian Society-

After the Deluge, the Ark came to rest upon the peaks of Mount Ararat. From its weathered hull stepped Noah and his family, survivors of a world washed clean. With reverence, they offered sacrifices of thanksgiving. In response, a bow of many colors appeared across the sky, a covenant, a promise that balance had been restored. Yet beneath the depths of the ocean, Legion remained. His spirit festered in the black silence, seething with hatred, plotting his return. The Guardians, stewards of the divine elements, remained watchful, knowing well that the shadow had not been vanquished, only delayed. One day, Legion would rise again, and with him, the war for creation would begin again.

In the shadow of Ararat, Noah's family rebuilt. They nurtured the land, raised children, and carved out a fragile peace. From his sons, Shem, Ham, and Japheth, came the great tribes that would repopulate the world. But the mountains were not meant to be their final home. Guided by providence and stirred by the whispering winds, they journeyed down from the heights, following the rivers that wound like veins through the land. As the years passed, four great civilizations emerged: Mesopotamian, Egyptian, Greek/Roman, and Hebrew. Each carried remnants of the old world and echoes of the Deluge. They built cities, formed empires, recorded their stories in stone and script, and shaped the fate of mankind.

Their journey led them to the land of Shinar, where the Tigris and Euphrates flowed in harmony, turning dust into fertile soil. There, the descendants of Shem and Japheth settled and built Sumer, cradle of civilization. They raised ziggurats to touch the heavens and carved their language into clay, birthing the art of writing. Myths of Utnapishtim and Ziusudra, tales of those who survived the storm, preserved memories of the Flood. The Guardians, watching from afar, walked among them, adopting new names: Enlil for Void, Nanna for Air, Ishtar for Earth, Nergal for Fire, and Enki for Water.

Shem, keeper of the covenant, carried with him the wisdom of his father Noah and his forefather Enoch II. From his line would rise the Hebrew people, wanderers and prophets who bore the memory of the Deluge as a divine testament. Guided by faith, they journeyed through deserts and across generations until they reached Canaan, where their legacy would become a cornerstone of spiritual history. God walked beside them.

To the west, along the Nile, the descendants of Ham made their home. They learned to read the stars and to live by the rhythm of the river, planting crops in the black silt left behind by the floodwaters. Their tales spoke of Oppehnaboon and Saisiyat, Egyptian survivors who crossed the storm in sacred vessels. The Guardians again adopted new identities: Amun for Void, Bastet for Air, Neith for Earth, Osiris for Fire, and Sobek for Water. Pyramids rose like stairways to the afterlife, and temple walls bore the stories of gods and floods. The Nile bound their people together, and from its banks grew a civilization of enduring strength and mystery.

Farther still, the children of Japheth crossed the Mediterranean, settling on distant shores. Their descendants gave rise to Greece and, later, Rome. In these lands, too, myths of survival endured, Deucalion and Pyrrha, saved from Zeus's wrath, floated atop Mount Parnassus, and repopulated the world with stones turned to flesh. Here, the Guardians became gods anew: Zeus for Void, Artemis for Air, Athena for Earth, Hades for Fire, and Poseidon for Water. Greece flourished with its epics, philosophies, and city-states. Rome followed, shaping law, warfare, and empire. The Guardians’ names changed once more: Jupiter, Diana, Minerva, Pluto, and Neptune.

Though divided by language, custom, and geography, these civilizations were linked by a common memory, of waters that once drowned the world, and of beings who walked among them. The Flood had been a judgment, but also a genesis. From its aftermath, humanity was reborn.

-The Guardians take a step back and fade into history-

When the people began to worship them as gods, the Guardians grew uneasy. They had been chosen not to be deified, but to protect, to guide humanity through its most fragile beginnings. Yet as the years passed, their deeds were no longer seen as acts of service, but of divine intervention. Temples rose in their honor. Statues were carved with reverent hands. Prayers were whispered not to God, but to them. It was never meant to be this way. Fearing that pride and idolatry would taint their purpose, the Guardians made a solemn choice. One by one, they vanished from the public eye. Not in anger, but in sorrow. They withdrew from the affairs of mortals, choosing silence over sovereignty, humility over praise. For their power had been given, not to rule, but to defend. And if they remained, the line between protector and tyrant would soon blur.

The world, left to its own devices, flourished and faltered in equal measure. Kingdoms were built atop the ruins of old ones, driven by ambition and faith. Humanity began to forget. Without the Guardians' presence, their stories faded into fable. Their names became little more than symbols in crumbling manuscripts or etched into the weathered stones of long-lost sanctuaries. But the Guardians did not sleep.

They became wanderers in the quiet spaces of the Earth, watching from mountaintops, from the depths of the forests, from beneath the seas and behind veils of starlight. Though the world no longer saw them, they saw all. They studied the winds, the tremors of the land, the shifting of the tides, and the silence between heartbeats, for within these signs lay warnings of what was to come. They knew what others did not: that Legion had not been destroyed, only delayed. Beneath the surface of history, he stirred. In whispered nightmares and distant storms, in sudden violence and growing despair, his shadow crept closer.

Time passed. Generations turned into millennia. Great empires collapsed into dust, their achievements forgotten. And still, the Guardians endured. Ever patient. Ever watchful. Their forms untouched by age, their resolve forged in the fires of the first war. They became myths. Then memory. Then silence. But they are still here, eternal, unseen, and waiting for the day when the shadows rise again.

-End of Prologue - Modern Time-

But history is not only shaped by kings and empires. Beneath the surface of recorded time, the Guardians have stirred. Not all remained hidden. Across the ages, a few were called forth once more, chosen by the angels to wield the divine elements and hold back the tide of encroaching darkness.

Some answered the call in silence, living and dying unknown, their names lost to war, plague, or martyrdom. Others became legends, knights in forgotten wars, sages burned as heretics, warriors misremembered as monsters. And so too did the Shadows rise. Lucifer, though banished from Heaven, never ceased his work. Where the angels of God sought worthy hearts, Lucifer sought the broken, the embittered, the brilliant, the betrayed. He whispered to those teetering on the edge, offering purpose in place of pain, vengeance in place of peace. Some resisted. Others fell. Over the centuries, dark Avatars emerged in every era: a desert assassin who bent flame like a whip during the Crusades; a Norse raider who split the oceans to sink coastal kingdoms; an Italian noblewoman who brought entire cities to ruin beneath earthquakes. Each time, the balance teetered. And each time, a Guardian rose to meet the threat, sometimes victorious, sometimes at great cost. But the victories grew fewer. The Shadows, more cunning. The world, less believing. And now, in the age of satellites and disbelief, humanity no longer sees the war. But it rages still, in the hidden corners of the earth, in the quiet dreams of prophets and the haunted pasts of soldiers. The Guardians may be chosen, but they are not always prepared.

And the Shadows… they are always watching.

Fast forward to the modern era: a new generation of Guardians has been chosen to protect Creation from the looming threat of Lucifer and his Shadows. Though Legion remains imprisoned, Lucifer has begun his return, this time by choosing five humans to serve as his dark Avatars.

For Shadow, he chose an immortal vampire born in 12th-century Scotland, once known as Elspeth of Gordon, reborn as Vetra Salauzts, a creature of cunning and cruelty to become the Guardian Hunter.

For Air and Earth, he turned to the Elania twins, Britani and Carmain, sisters born to a Catholic priest in Barcelona, Spain. Twisted by darkness and fueled by hatred, Britani commands the skies, while Carmain bends the earth to her will.

For Fire, Lucifer chose Jacob Ramirez, a Marine who disappeared after his first deployment, leaving behind a trail of devastation. He reduced a mosque to ash, killing hundreds within, and vanished into legend. He is also the disgraced brother of Alex Ramirez, a Guardian yet unaware of the dark shadow tied to his own blood.

For Water, Lucifer turned to Mitchell Taylor, a skilled F-35 pilot thought to have perished after being shot down over the Pacific Ocean. Unbeknownst to the world, he survived, and was claimed by darkness. He is the lost brother of Nathan Taylor, who now stands on the side of light, unaware that his greatest battle is yet to come.

With these five Avatars, the new Shadows, Lucifer prepares to unleash his wrath once more. The war for Creation is no longer ancient history.