RISE OF EROS

During their few days of existence, the names of Luza, Esternet, and Lismat were whispered in the darkest corners of the world, barely known by Samanuel and the other angels who participated in the ritual that led to their birth.

All three had once been angels of balance, guardians of the divine pillars that upheld the order of the continent, but their hearts, corroded by desire, greed, and power, had found in their fall not a condemnation, but a liberation.

None of them had sought companionship after their fall. Luza hid among the burning temples of the kingdom of Darvath, disguised as a mute prophetess who spoke to the gods through visions of blood.

Esternet chose the sophistication of Solquaria, hidden behind the veil of a wandering nobleman, ever present in royal courts, ever in the ear of the powerful. Lismat, for her part, took refuge in the frozen wastelands of Kragver, an isolated country, rife with superstitions and ruled by a weak king.

There, she took the form of an ancient oracle whose wisdom was respected even by the throne. Three distant places. Three corrupted souls. Three enemies of order who began to weave their webs separately.

But there was something that united them: greed and power, and their enemies Crhono and Andrew. Two names that could thwart their attempts at subversion on the continent. Two heroes who, with the strength of their allies, held together a world torn apart by ancient wars.

Both were the reason why the plans of the Fallen, though complex and calculated, had never gone beyond mere local disturbances. Luza, Esternet, and Lismat knew this. And though their pride was immense, their ambition was greater.

So, one night, when the stars aligned in the forbidden constellation of Othramar, the three appeared in a place that didn't exist on maps, a dimensional crossroads between light and shadow. There, without words, they sealed a pact not of friendship, but of purpose.

"If the world burns from three fires at the same time, not even the wisest will know which to put out first," was their thought, and so it all began. Luza had long been fueling distrust between Queen Azaneth of Darvath and the Veiled Council, the body that regulated the use of magic in the region.

Using her influence as a prophetess, Luza planted seeds of paranoia with false visions and cryptic messages, while offering comfort only to the queen, making herself indispensable.

"The arcanists plot to dethrone you," she whispered to him one night in the darkness, adding, "They will use the nobles of the south. I've seen it. Blood on the throne. Fire in the streets". Azaneth, young but inexperienced, already doubted the sages around her. The presence of Luza, always accurate in minor predictions, had won her absolute faith.

Weeks later, the queen ordered a purge of the Veiled Council, accusing them of conspiracy and treason. The blow was brutal. Arcanists, mages, and sages were arrested or executed, and the few who managed to escape crossed the border into Teyr, a historically rival country that had recently signed a peace truce with Darvath.

When the first magical refugees arrived in Teyr with stories of persecution, the Teyrian High Council called an emergency meeting. There, public pressure and the presence of powerful exiled mages prompted a swift response: mobilization of troops on the border. Darvath, seeing this as a direct threat, responded with artillery.

War was inevitable. What began as a supposed internal betrayal ended in open conflict between Darvath and Teyr, two powers of fire and steel, and as the armies marched, Luza disappeared among the ruins of her temple, smiling in the shadows.

Esternet did not use visions or prophecies. He was a master of subtle deception, of the rumor in the wine cup, of the insinuation in the ears of power. In Solquaria, a nation rich in trade and diplomacy, he sowed discord from within the Senate, disguised as Viscount Ralorn, a minor noble with refined manners and a sharp tongue.

For months, he slowly pushed Prince Regent Galwin toward an expansionist vision. He presented him with false reports of foreign treachery, exaggerated pirate attacks attributed to Eslare, a small but valuable neighboring coastal country, and bought support within the Senate to pass aggressive trade control laws.

But his masterstroke was the assassination of the Eslare ambassador on Solquarian soil. A perfectly executed crime, with falsified evidence, paid witnesses, and the scene prepared with the signature of a supposed Eslare commando.

The news made the front page of every newspaper in the kingdom in a single morning. Galwin, young and afraid of appearing weak, publicly declared that Eslare had committed an act of war.

Within weeks, the Eslarian ports were bombarded by Solquarian ships. Solquaria, the jewel of continental diplomacy, suddenly became an empire thirsty for conquest. Nearby countries didn't know how to respond.

Economic alliances shattered. Trade routes collapsed. Esternet, from his mansion in the heart of the city, raised his glass of dark wine and whispered, "An empire is not built on gold, but on fear."

Lismat was the quietest, the most reserved. He moved with the slowness of snow falling in silence, but his poison was just as lethal. In Kragver, where the cold killed more than war, King Vorund had lost his heir months before, and his grief made him manipulable.

Lismat, in the guise of an ancient oracle, whispered to him that the blame for his son's death lay with Valthea, the southern kingdom, which was secretly experimenting with forbidden magic that had weakened the veil between the worlds.

That magic, according to the "oracle," had cursed his son's blood, causing him to develop an incurable fever. "You must punish them, or your son's soul will never rest," she told him, night after night.

Vorund, his heart broken, needed no further proof. He prepared an expedition toward Valthea under the guise of protecting his border, but with secret orders to raze any arcane tower they found.

The Valtheans responded with a fury fueled by centuries of contempt for the Kragverians, and soon, a war of ice and shadows raged. The ancient sacred mountains were defiled.

Ancient creatures awoke to the screams for blood. And while both countries fell into a ritualistic and savage war, Lismat returned to her cavern, summoning the spirits of the abyss with the energy of chaos.

The three wars erupted within days of each other. In the council chambers of the central kingdoms, the maps were filled with red markings. Diplomatic envoys spoke of betrayals, conspiracies, and historical retaliation. No one understood how nations at peace had gone to war so suddenly.

Crhono, from his territory where the dragons dwell, watched the reports with a frown. Andrew in Comers also received reports, but still didn't know the cause or the consequences.

The allies were scattered. The troops didn't know where to turn. And amid the confusion, the creatures that had lain dormant since the last ages began to stir. There weren't just wars between humans. Something else stirred in the cracks of the world. The three fallen angels were no longer found. They didn't need it. They had already lit the fuses.

The continent, unable to react in time, burned in a crossfire of hatred, ambition, and desperation. The continent's watchdogs and rulers were unaware of the causes of the conflict, but it was definitely strange.

The warring countries were previously allies, or at least there were no hard feelings, so the sudden outbreak of war alarmed them. At first, not even Crhono, with all his power and experience, suspected it.

Wars are not abnormal in this world, and conflicts arise every few years. While these wars were strange due to the way they started and the people who started them, no one suspected it.

The three fallen angels now just had to wait for things to escalate and then make their moves. They wanted to seize the bodies of the gods who had died in the war a thousand years ago.

They knew that even with this, it would be difficult to obtain what they wanted, but it was still the best chance they had. Only Samanuel and his group of fellow angels understood a little of what was happening.

It's true that they couldn't stop their fellow fallen angels from falling into disgrace, but they knew of their existence. They hid their knowledge, not wanting to discredit their names, as they had been born of their greed and selfishness.

The failed ritual was performed because of their resentment and selfishness. The birth of the three fallen angels was the consequence, but even after their mistake, they chose to remain silent, bringing danger to the continent.

To think that the angels who were known for their enormous sacrifices and pure values ​​now concealed the enormous danger the fallen angels represented, just to protect their reputations.

Well, it wasn't just their reputations they were protecting, because if the continent found out what they had done, they would become enemies of everyone, and it would no longer be a matter of whether they would be repudiated, but whether they would survive.

The war escalated rapidly. The three fallen angels continued their machinations in the darkness, causing chaos as they waited for their opportunity to make their moves. It wasn't long before Crhono realized something was wrong. While war isn't unusual in this world, the news that was coming in made him suspect something strange was happening.

The first thing he thought of was the remnants of the Purgatory organization. This organization had long since disappeared due to the loss of its leaders and powerful figures, but it had always been a threat, and these wars seemed like part of its agenda, so he decided to investigate.