In the years after the demons tore through the skies, and invaded the world.
the world became a battlefield between humans and demons.
The air was no longer as light as it used to be. Time no longer flowed in a straight line. The creatures that had come through— the demons —now occupied their own twisted realms, the world divided into two.
And The humans, who have never encountered such catastrophic events were at a disadvantage— losing.
But to their surprise, the demons didn't continue attacking, choosing to retreat in silence.
And so, humans avoided the Shattered Zone, where it is the demons domain.
However, after 10 years of apocalypse, the demons, as sudden as they appeared —left.
Even after their departure, the aftereffects still remains, the unimaginable magical powers in fantasies is also within reach.
But above all, human beings found out just shallow their knowledge with the word "universe" truly was.
With the manifestation of magic, and the appearance of powerful demons, earth became listed among the ranks of the galactic worlds.
It felt like humans ushered in an intergalactic era, except the technology remains the same and there aren't any weird aliens—well, except for demons.
———
Deep beneath the ruins of the old capital, was Laboratory Sector Nine—an experimental facility funded by the Council of magic Guild.
There, they collected miracles. Orphans with rare magical traits, ancient relics, And one egg.
No one knew where the egg came from, except Dr Yan.
of course he wouldn't tell the truth, He did what every other mad scientist would do... he found an egg under the ruin of the Shattered Zone, ignored his heart's warnings and bought it to be experimented on.
The egg pulsed with warmth and It was heavy, heavier than it should be. It made machines malfunction when they came too close.
For three years, it sat on a pedestal of enchanted steel, watched by machines and mages.
Until the day it cracked.
BANG.
The sound was muffled, but unmistakable.
Lights flickered and died. Power crashed. Magic runes fizzled, and the backup wards flared to life, casting jagged shadows across the walls.
Then came the cry. Small. Soft. Almost... offended.
When the backup lights buzzed back on, the egg was gone. In its place was a child.
She was naked,no bigger than a three month's old baby curled up like a kitten in the ruins of the shell, dust clinging to her skin. small puff of Hair as dark as ink,Pale skin. Wide black eyes blinking up at the ceiling. And a smile.
She giggled.
And everyone froze.
Dr. Yan, normally as unreadable as the machines he tinkered with, knelt beside the containment unit, peering at the child with a look that flickered between disbelief and awe.
"There was no life magic," he muttered. "No Aether pulse. This is... not possible."
The assistant beside him cleared her throat. "Sir... She's smiling. That's a social response. Shouldn't she... be crying?"
"She shouldn't be alive."
The girl looked at them, Her smile widened when she saw Dr Yan look at her.
"...Put her in with the other subjects," Yan finally said. "Assign her a number."
"But she's not—"
With a glare, Dr yan turned to look at the ignorant scientist who spoke, cutting him off.
"Not human? I'm aware. But she looks like one. More than most of the others. besides, the Council will demand results."
"But... she's a baby and a girl."
Dr. Yan's eyes narrowed his eyes at the ignorant scientist. "Then call her a boy. See if the gods care."
The assistant scientist hurriedly took the baby into her hands and scurried away.
It was surprising, but in the entire research facility there is no girl experimental subjects, the reason is they cannot stand the rapid increase in magical space shards which they inject into them on daily basis.
They either explode or dies with blood flowing out of their seven orifices. And The reason is still unknown.except for gifted geniuses who were born with immense magic power, it is almost impossible to survive the experiment.
Yet, it is also near impossible to bring those geniuses to be experimented on, because there are always in the limelight from birth.
To be precise, there is one, but she was regarded as a research treasure, so she is not put together with the others.
———
"Brother two, can you just move?"
A girl, about fifteen years old, with a pony tail asked, with a hint of annoyance in her jade like face.
"Nine, be obedient, its not good to watch...you will get nightmares".
Responded a boy about sixteen to seventeen years old, His face gentle yet sickly.
Nine looked at number two, putting on an exaggerated expression of surprise.
"Oh thanks! Wouldn't have known, SINCE THIS IS MY FIRST TIME!"
Number two look at the girl's face and could only sigh, knowing full well it's a sarcasm.
he really didn't want a kid to watch these animal torture.
They are usually living their lives in a fixed routine, as experimental subjects,everything is fixed at a schedule.
One of the rare "relaxing " free activity is watching magical animals experimented on.
Although not all experimental subjects have interest in watching it, most of them preferred being in their rooms.
But because number nine likes watching it, number two will accompany her.
Number two is the big brother figure of these children and perhaps the mentally sane one among them.
"Nine, you...."
Before number two could finish his sentence, he heard footsteps approaching.
They both turned around and saw it is one of Dr Yan's personal assistant.
"Number nine, Dr yan is expecting you in the observation room"
Number nine and number two looked at each other almost at the same time. It's not because she is called to the observation room but because it's not her turn to be called.
"Brother two, go on. I will be back soon"
Number two looked at the heartless girl who had no sense of crises and for the Nth time today, sighed.
However, he was not too worried, he knew that although nine doesn't have any magical powers, she was definitely the most abnormal among them.
All kinds of weird things happened since she was bought to the facility, she sometimes talks to herself, anybody who offended her ends up with a bad ending, learning ancient languages when nobody taught her.
Coincidences?
Too many to count.
And when there are too many coincidences... it's no longer a coincidence.