Fourth Epoch: the Epoch of The Gods

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Fourth Epoch

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“There are some things that make it easier to be ‘infected’ the more you know.”

This article contains MAJOR SPOILERS relating to some of the most pivotal parts of the "Lord of Mysteries" and "Circle of Inevitability".

“	Back then, deities walked the land, and not in the astral world.	„
— Mobet Zoroast on Lord of Mysteries, Chapter 697

History

In this era, Gods walked the land and frequently performed miracles. The Primordial Demoness and the God of Craftsmanship (later known as the God of Steam and Machinery) were born in this time period, with the latter towards the late stage of this epoch. Various current-day secret organizations were formed around this time, including the Moses Ascetic Order, the Secret Order, the Blood Sanctify Sect, and the Demoness Sect.

Warring Era

According to Mobet Zoroast, the Warring Era referred to the period after the Cataclysm ended and before the establishment of the first Solomon Empire. This era lasted for 112 years. In this era, the Zoroast family's first Angel fell in the conflicts. With the help of Solomon who had yet to become a God at that time, the Zoroast Family managed to hold on to the Beyonder characteristic.

Some time around here, the Second Blasphemy Slate appeared, and many Angels saw the complete Slate: Bethel Abraham, Solomon, Zaratul, Alista Tudor, Trunsoest, Augustus, Einhorn, Sauron, Castiya, Zoroast (Pallez Zoroast's great grandfather), Stiano, and Constantine. All of them later became some of the most powerful Beyonders in Fourth Epoch. According to Mr. Door, the Primordial Demoness and God of Craftsmanship also looked at the Slate with "Him". The Slate was then taken by Adam.

Solomon Empire and Tudor-Trunsoest United Empire

For a long time, the Northern Continent was ruled by the Solomon Empire, led by the Black Emperor Solomon who was Sequence 0 Black Emperor. "He" was supported by multiple Angel Families and by the True Creator. The high nobles at that time (i.e. families with dukes) included the Zoroast Family, Abraham Family, and Zaratul Family, plus the Medici Family and Ouroboros. Tudor, Trunsoest, Augustus, and Castiya were also nobles, albeit ranked lower than others. Most of them believed in Black Emperor, except for Medici and Ouroboros who believed in the True Creator and Bethel Abraham who only believed in "Himself".

At this time, the other deities all have countries that belong to "Them' in poorer places and acknowledged the Black Emperor's rule in order to fight against opposing factions. The Evernight Goddess, the God of Combat and Death were confronting each other; the Lord of Storms, the Eternal Blazing Sun and the God of Knowledge and Wisdom had great disputes; the Earth Mother's attitude was ambiguous, though "She" was slightly leaned towards the God of Combat. This made "Them" unable to cooperate in a stable fashion and thus, couldn't form an alliance to fight the Black Emperor and the True Creator.

For the sake of balance, the Black Emperor didn’t attack the Southern Continent, allowing Death to unite the Southern Continent to build the Balam Empire. The Balam Empire was ruled by the Eggers Family, descendants of Death, with Azik Eggers being the emperor. They had their religion based on the teachings of the Underworld Emperor that defied death.

Later on, the Six Orthodox Gods eventually came to an agreement. Tudor and Trunsoest, who were later known as the Blood Emperor and the Night Emperor, rebelled against the Black Emperor and the Solomon Empire with the support of the Six Orthodox Gods. The Black Emperor perished, and "They" successfully established the Tudor-Trunsoest United Empire that ruled over the Northern Continent. Angel Families mostly turned to support "Them", except the Zaratul Family and the Zoroast Family which still faithfully believed in the Black Emperor.

War of the Four Emperors

Emperor	Pathway	Empire	Angel Families
Black Emperor	Black Emperor	Solomon Empire	Solomon, Zaratul, Zoroast, Medici
Blood Emperor	Red Priest	Tudor Empire	Tudor, Abraham, Antigonus, Amon, Jacob, Tamara
Night Emperor	Justiciar	Trunsoest Empire	Trunsoest, Augustus, Castiya, Einhorn, Sauron
Underworld Emperor	Death	Balam Empire	Eggers

Later on, the Black Emperor managed to resurrect and rebuild the Solomon Empire. As a result, the Night Emperor and the Blood Emperor, who were both Sequence 1 Prince of Abolition of the Black Emperor Pathway, had to switch pathways, or "They" might instantly perish or drop to Sequence 2. The Night Emperor successfully advanced to Sequence 0 Justiciar with the help of the Six Orthodox Gods. "He" also gained the support of the Sanguines through "His" marriage with the Blood Moon Queen Auernia. The Blood Emperor also managed to advance to Sequence 0 Red Priest with support from Adam and Amon (by laying a trap to Medici, Sauron, and Einhorn), but went mad in the process. The Tudor-Trunsoest Empire was divided into two, led by the two Emperors. The Underworld Emperor who was Sequence 0 Death, also joined the war.

537 years after Alista Tudor's ascension to Red Priest, the War of the Four Emperors began. The Four Emperors, who were all Sequence 0, fought against each other along with their subordinate Angel Families. The result was a disaster:

• The Black Emperor, Blood Emperor, and Night Emperor fell one after another.
• The Blood Emperor met "His" end in the submerged Fourth Epoch Trier, which also caused the capital to sink underground. Rumor has it that "He" nearly entombed all the deities who participated in the war alongside Him. Many Angels also perished in Underground Trier:
  • Marianne: The Pope of the Church of the Evernight Goddess.
  • Lius: A Blessed of ancient Death.
  • Krismona: A member of the Demoness Family and the daughter of the Blood Emperor and the Primordial Demoness.
  • Many Angels that followed the Blood Emperor.
• Queen Auernia perished, and the Sanguines suffered a terrible blow because of this.
• The True Creator was sealed by the current-day Seven Deities at some point.
• The angel of the Zaratul Family was killed by Antigonus and Bethel Abraham.
• Bethel was banished and sealed by the Evernight Goddess and the Lord of Storms.
• All the Angel Families under the Tudor Empire declined and were hunted by the Seven Gods.
  • The Church of the Evernight Goddess eliminated the Antigonus Family and the Nation of the Evernight, and the Evernight Goddess sealed Antigonus in Foggy Town after "He" lost control and went mad.
• The Underworld Emperor was said to benefit the most from the war, gaining the Uniqueness of Red Priest. "He" would spend over a century trying to "digest" the Uniqueness.

In the Northern Continent, only the Trunsoest Empire left behind by the Night Emperor remained. However, while trying to reap the final fruits of victory, the four noble families under the Trunsoest Empire - Augustus, Einhorn, Sauron, and Castiya⁠ - split the empire, destroying the royal Trunsoest Family which was lacking in high-level members. These four families established the Four Great Nations of the Northern Continent, under the support of different Orthodox Gods. The Seven Orthodox Gods "Themselves" were also already fractured and the four countries ended up attacking each other. After paying a certain price, the Sanguines managed to escape the disaster.

Angel Family	Nation Founded	Gods worshipped
Augustus Family	Loen Kingdom	Lord of Storms, Evernight Goddess, God of Craftsmanship
Castiya Family	Feynapotter Kingdom	Earth Mother, God of Knowledge and Wisdom
Einhorn Family	Feysac Kingdom (later known as the Feysac Empire)	God of Combat
Sauron Family	Intis Kingdom (later known as the Intis Republic)	Eternal Blazing Sun, God of Craftsmanship

Note: The gods in bold and underline are the official gods worshipped by the royal family of each nation e.g. the Augustus Family's official religion is the Lord of Storms.

The Augustus and Castiya dynasties held the Justiciar and Black Emperor Pathways. Meanwhile, the Einhorn and Sauron dynasties held the Red Priest Pathway. These pathways were considered as the pathway of royalties. Therefore the ingredients and the formulas were heavily controlled. Only their respective royalties, military, or intelligence agencies have access to it.

Aside from the 4 Empires, the history of this Era also has the influences of the Demoness Sect, the Moses Ascetic Order, the Abyss' infiltration, the secretly developed Artisans (under the God of Craftsmanship), among other factors.

Pale Era

Near the end of the Fourth Epoch, Death went mad from attempting to accommodate the Uniqueness of Red Priest with the help of the River of Eternal Darkness after over a century of "digestion". "He" wasn’t able to resist the desire for converging the Twilight and Evernight pathways and joined forces with the Primordial Demoness to wreak havoc and create a catastrophe on the Northern Continent.

There was a gap of over a 100 years between the end of the War of the Four Emperors and the beginning of the Pale Disaster. The Primordial Demoness' arrival was somewhere in the middle of this period. She declared to Death Her intention to avenge the Blood Emperor, to make all seven gods of the Northern Continent perish, and to bring the Blood Emperor's deity corpse back to the surface from Underground Trier.

Although the Seven Orthodox Gods were already fractured back then, "They" eventually joined forces in the end, leading to the destruction of Death early in the Fifth Epoch, the collapse of the Balam Empire, and a power vacuum in the Southern Continent. "His" death also created the Berserk Sea that separated the Northern and Southern Continent. The Primordial Demoness was also heavily injured, and "She" had only managed to descend near the end of Book 1.

The Weakening Barrier

The residual power of the Original Creator constituted an invisible barrier outside the planet so that Outer Deities cannot invade directly. Over time, the barrier was weakening with the fading will of the Original Creator. As a result (and with the death of the Ancient Sun God), the invasion of reality by the Outer Deities deepened, which is one of the factors influencing the history of the Fourth Epoch. At the end of Fourth Epoch, cracks appeared on the barrier, and the Seven Orthodox Gods had to move "Their" Divine Kingdoms to the Astral World to fill in the gap. When the barrier is completely gone, the Outer Deities will be able to descend, and the apocalypse will arrive. This is prophesied to happen in the year 1368 of the Fifth Epoch.

Moreover, along with the fading will of the Original Creator, the seal on the Western Continent by the Celestial Worthy is gradually weakening with time. The Sefirot instinctively (or consciously) use "Their" symbolism to corrode their respective Uniqueness and High-Sequence Beyonder characteristics in an attempt to influence the outside world. The first to seep out energy was the River of Eternal Darkness, which formed a distributary through the Phoenix Ancestor Gregrace in the Second Epoch. In the Fourth Epoch, traces of more Sefirot began to appear on the Northern and Southern Continents and the islands over the Five Seas. This is an important factor hidden behind many of the anomalies in this era.

Timeline

Main article: Timeline § Fourth Epoch: the Epoch of The Gods