Rolling wooden wheels clacked against the hard stone brick floor. The scent of fresh baked goods was then overwhelmed by the tang of fresh fruits wafting through the air. The chirping of seagulls bellowed in my ears, and the slight flavor of salt spread across my tongue.
"This is the first Eon—the Eon of Nobility," Satan spoke next to me, his suit changing into a tattered cloak with my clothes changing in tandem with his. We both donned two black cloaks wisping behind us with the fluttering wind while two black top hats sat on our heads neatly, perfectly crafted to our sizes.
Surrounding me was a polluted coastal town leading down to a beach. Everybody was in neat suits and beautiful long dresses. There wasn't much casual style here, and just judging from the state of the buildings, it was easy to tell we were in the past.
They were small, made of wood and stone brick while being no bigger than a large tree. It kind of reminded me of something as not only was there a thick smog of newly built factories made completely out of metal, outshining the flimsy buildings around us, but the pollution in what looked to be the ocean was overwhelming.
"An Eon is a billion years… this just looks like the Victorian era. Are you sure this is during an Eon?" I asked, only to see the demon take a few steps away from me and then look me dead in the eyes. And in an instant, I almost died. The people around me held so much mana in their bodies that were convoluting into what we would now call air… no, oxygen itself.
Just being in their presence was like standing next to a god. Every single one of them was so powerful that when their auras mashed together and the mana that ripped off of their skin directed itself right toward me, I felt my last breath leave my body.
"*gasp*... huff… huff… huff…"
Satan stepped back next to me, alleviating the crushing pressure of the simple humans walking beside me. In this world of steampunk and long black trench coats, I was nothing but a mere bug beneath everyone. I was absolutely nothing.
"H-How… how are they so strong?"
"Because existence has yet to be reset. Every eon, a billion years, the amount of mana injected into all living beings, plants, animals, fungi, protists, and bacteria… lowers. The first eon, of course being the first eon, received the most energy from the primordial beings. More specifically, the Angel of Existence."
"An angel? But weren't those created by the gods as servants to help them for all eternity? How could an angel ever achieve something like that."
"Well, the Angel of Existence is just a title. It's not really what you would imagine it to be when you see an angel. Unfortunately, I cannot show you what he looks like as you'll just die upon seeing even an image of him… but there are certain exceptions."
"Like what?" I asked, but the man didn't reply, and as I didn't want to get crushed again, I followed right after him, staying close as we walked down the heavily smogged streets.
Everybody was smoking. Even some children were smoking cigarettes while the adults, with the more refined and finer tastes, smoked pipes. All were equally as horrible smelling, and all were equally as bad for each other, yet they didn't care.
"Hey, did anybody ever know to use mana?" I asked yet another question as Satan had yet to reply to my other.
"People of this age do use mana, but there is a disparity in rights of using mana. This is just a simple continent, yet there are people that rule over the entire continent. And not just continents, but worlds. These are all bugs beneath the true rulers, otherwise known as galaxy royals and galaxy-nobility. Also most commonly known as gala-royals and gala-nobles."
"There are people more powerful than these things? Even the babies could fuck me up with just their presence… and, wait, what eon are we even on if the disparity is this wide?"
"Yes, there are beings more powerful than these people, and we are currently on an estimated eon of four to six. Most information has been lost with each reset…."
"So then, how did you figure out about these eons if there is a hard reset of life?"
"Fragments."
"What? Fragments? You have to explain more than that. You can't just blue ball me with that simple amount of information and expect me to be satisfied?" I asked, but the man only got faster and faster until our legs carried us with a full-on sprint through the massive crowd. "Hey! Wait! Slow down!"
The demon lord was so fast that I could hardly keep up with him, but as soon as he turned around to get a glimpse at where I was, he realized I was gone. And well, I exited his range and was now suffering on the dirt ground; a few people came close to check up on me, but that only made the pressure worse.
Each time I looked at them, all I saw was a mass of power. Nothing more, nothing less. They were all simple commoners, farmers, workers, slaves, and humans… yet they overpowered with just their presence. It was getting harder to breathe. It was getting harder to see. I was losing all of my senses with each passing second, and then… it all came back.
The scenery surrounding me had changed, allowing me to get a glimpse at the entire city built on a slight incline. Going further down, you reached the port filled with massive ships instantly and mercilessly polluting everything its steam, oil, and toxins could leech into.
Satan tapped my head lightly as I quickly caught my breath. Looking up, he gestured for me to follow him, but I was too exhausted. Not only did the heavy amounts of smog clog my lungs, but the feeling of those demons next to me just wouldn't rid itself from my body.
