"Of course he's not a Devil," Luri rebuked her. "Where's his tail, or his horns? Or his demonic aura. Devil's can't hide those. You should know that."
Suri blushed, as if she knew she had asked a stupid question. Face downwards, she looked upwards at John, cheeks red.
"Sorry," she said to John, as if she had just insulted him.
"It's fine," John waved his hand, "but what are Devils?" John asked, wanting to know more about the so-called 'Devils'. He knew it would be a stupid question to ask based on how Luri reacted, but he decided to fake memory loss from the fall going forward.
The two looked at him as if he were stupid, and John explained his reasoning to them.
"The fall seems to have caused some memory loss for me," John said, his expression saddened as if he were truly troubled by this. "I can only recall bits and pieces of my life thus far, and don't remember much at all. If I am to survive going forward, I'll need to relearn everything important about this world."
"So that's how it is," Luri said, his expression apologetic. Suri looked at John with an even more apologetic gaze, as if she were sharing this heartbreak with him. Losing your memory was like losing yourself, almost as if you died and were replaced by a clone. No one wanted that to happen to them, or anyone else for that matter.
John studied the two, their reactions real and sincere. He could tell these two youths were good people, based on the emotions they were feeling for a complete stranger.
"Well then, ask away, and I'll answer any questions I have the answers to," Luri said, his voice cheery as if to raise John's spirits. John was sure Luri was using this moment to distract himself from his fate as a slave, indulging in the opportunity to forget about it for even a moment. John smiled and nodded in thanks, and then asked about the Devils again.
"Ah, yes, the Devils," Luri said, clearing his throat. "Since you don't remember much at all, I might as well explain things as if you just came to this world. That should explain things clearly while minimizing the number of questions you need to ask."
'If only you knew the truth,' John mumbled internally. He nodded his thanks to Luri, who started to explain the details he knew of the world.
"This world consists of three major continents," Luri said.
"Four," Suri corrected him.
"Yes, I know," Luri replied, "but I'm starting with the…ah…fine. This world has four major continents," Luri started again, while Suri smiled with satisfaction.
"These continents are the Human Continent, which you are on now. The Beast Continent. And the Devil Continent. Each of the three continents is dominated by that particular race, with you being on the Human Continent right now," Luri explained.
John sighed with relief.
'Seems like I landed in a pretty good spot. Wonder what sort of trouble I would have ran into if I landed on the others.'
He then winced, thinking of Lilian. He had no idea where she had landed, and if she landed on the other continents. He pushed away the thought. Based on what Kirii had shown him, Lilian should have landed on the other side of this Human continent.
'Hopefully.'
"The Beast Continent is naturally dominated by the beast race, while the Devil continent is dominated by the Devils," Luri continued. "The Beasts are self-explanatory, while the Devils are…"
"Monsters," Suri mumbled, her voice gloomy and slightly fearful, as if thinking of the Devils was something of a nightmare.
Luri nodded.
"They can be described as that. Monsters," he agreed. "Vicious, cruel creatures who indulge in pain, suffering, and death."
'Sounds a lot like the Asura,' John mused, an eyebrow raised.
Luri looked at John's flat expression and remembered the initial question.
"Ah yes, as for what Devil's are," Luri said, brow furrowed. "They are humans, or at least, they were humans, until they merged with Demons to become half-human, half-demon hybrids."
"Merged with Demons?" John asked curiously. "Did the humans and demons…?"
Luri chuckled at the question, while Suri blushed at the boldness of it.
"No one knows exactly," Luri said. "Some say the demons found a way to mate with humans, forming the hybrids, while others say some humans found a way to absorb demon blood and make it their own, creating their own hybrid race. Whatever the reason, they succeeded, and formed the Devil Race."
'Demons. Not Asuras.' John sighed in relief. Demons and Asura's were similar, but not the same. Based on his encounter with the Abyssal Demon, Demons feared the Asura's, and were most likely lesser beings in comparison.
"I see," he said thoughtfully.
"Naturally," Luri said. "We humans are at war with the Demon Race. A war that has lasted since…forever, really."
"At war? For that long? How has one side not won outright already?" John asked.
"It's not as simple as it seems," Luri shook his head. "The two sides are relatively evenly matched. Humans have greater numbers, while the Devils have more powerful cultivators, on average. With the powers relatively evenly matched that way, the real balance comes from the Dao-Sovereigns. The Dao Sovereigns of the human race and devil race are equal in power, and thus neither can fully overwhelm the other race."
"Dao-Sovereigns?" John asked curiously. They sounded quite impressive.
Luri raised an eyebrow at John's question, his face surprised at John how little John remembered.
"Dao Sovereigns," Luri nodded. "The leaders of the Dao Sects, or Clans. The nine strongest powers in the world. There are three on the Human Continent; The Sword Dao Sect, the Mage Dao Sect, and the Yang Dao Sect. There are three on the Beast Continent; The Serpentbeast Clan, the Phoenixbeast Clan, and the Oceanbeast Clan. And lastly, three on the Devil Continent; The Abyssal-Devil Sect, The Blood-Devil Sect, and the Giant-Devil Sect.
These nine powers make up the ultimate powers of the world, hence the name of the world itself, the Nine Dao World. And each of these nine powers are led by the nine Dao-Sovereigns, the Holy Manifestation powerhouses of the world."
