The First Rift (62 Years Ago)
It began without warning. A tear in the sky opened above Eastern Africa, a scar of swirling red light that the locals mistook for an atmospheric anomaly. At first, it was harmless
just a glowing shimmer suspended in the heavens. But within days, the air around it grew heavier, the light expanded, and reality itself began to twist.
The world called it a "rift."
Authorities quarantined the region, assuming it was environmental. But then the creatures came.
First, the Echoes—feral, primal, low-level organisms with shifting bodies of plasma and raw matter. Then came the Aberrants, humanoid and intelligent, cruel and calculated. Within weeks, the Rift transformed from mystery to massacre.
By the time the international community acted, it was too late. The Rift had widened, consuming cities. When it finally collapsed and became a full-scale breach, millions were already dead. And it wasn't alone. Other Rifts began opening worldwide, destabilizing entire nations.
The War Against the Variants
For two years, humanity fought a losing battle. Traditional weapons were effective only against Echoes, and barely so. Aberrants were nearly unstoppable, capable of using elemental abilities and human-level intelligence. Titans followed—massive, towering beasts that leveled cities.
Then came the worst: Diavolos. No one knew where they came from. They were beyond comprehension, beyond language. Entire continents were lost to a single Diavolo.
Humanity was on the brink. 44% of the global population was wiped out. Governments fell. Economies crumbled. The world fractured.
The Emergence of Crests
It happened slowly. Survivors of Rift exposure began manifesting strange powers—from telekinesis to bioluminescence, magnetism to elemental control. These were not mutations, but evolutions. The marks on their bodies, known as Crest Signets, glowed when powers were used.
They were humanity's last hope.
They were called Topplers.
The earliest of these gifted individuals, later known as the Prime Topplers, were few but very powerful. They organized militias and turned the tide. Using their abilities, they were able to push back the Variants, collapse some of the breaches, and retake parts of the Earth.
But victory came at great cost. By the end of the Rift War, only 45% of Earth's original population remained.
The Arcana Order and the Division of Earth
In the ashes of victory, a new world order was born.
The Arcana Order was formed: a global regulatory body tasked with Rift management, Toppler regulation, and Crest research. They established the three governing empires:
Arcana - the political and diplomatic power
Fortizo - the military and technological hub
Vitalis - the scientific and educational capital
Each territory governed its own affairs, but answered to the Arcana Order, which had the authority to intervene in any Rift-related affairs.
Crests, Academia, and the New World
The Arcana Order created universities to train young Crest bearers—not only for combat, but for research, policy, and innovation. These institutions became the backbone of the new world.
One stood above all others: The Virelia Institute. Built on the ruins of one of the first breach sites, it became the most prestigious crest-training academy in the world. It was said that if you graduated from Virelia, you were destined for greatness.
But not everything that rises from ashes is pure. Behind the government, the Arcana Order, and the universities, rumors of crest trafficking, experimentation, and syndicates like Kaiser began to surface. Monsters didn't just come from the Rifts anymore. Some were made in labs.
The war ended. But the real mystery had only just begun.
Unresolved Myths and the Omega Enigma
Legends speak of a classification of Crest beyond Level 5. Those born with ever pitch-black sclera and ring-shaped glowing irises. The Omega-class Topplers. Only a few have ever been recorded.
What makes them different isn't just power—but potential. Omega Crest bearers are said to grow stronger without limit, eventually becoming as dangerous as the very Diavolos they were created to stop.
Some say the Arcana Order fears them. Some say they created them.
What is clear is this: the Rifts may have opened long ago. But humanity's understanding of what lies beyond is still only beginning.
And for those who dare to seek the truth...
Only more riddles await.