Before 856, this world was identical to ours:

  Plague is spreading throughout Eastern Europe. Japan has introduced a new administration system and syllabary—both heavily inspired by China’s. And lastly, the Treaty of Verdun has just divided the Carolingian Empire into three kingdoms.

  However, this particular year, a series of devastating earthquakes occurred in Corinth, Tunisia, Iran, and Kyoto, killing hundreds of thousands of people all around the world. Those were the first sign of an unprecedented event: “The Great Disaster” (also called “The Cataclysm”). This term refers to a giant earthquake that shook the Iberian Peninsula from which a mysterious metropolis has risen seemingly out of thin air: a city that will later be called “Cathedral City” (as seen on the left).

  The event brought powerful creatures to the world, such as Dragons and otherworldly beings like the Watchers. But even more concerning is the apparition of the Black Flower: a powerful entity that may be a tool of the “Gods” or even a deity itself. We will learn more about this Flower in the coming chapters as its effects are scattered all over the Yokoverse.

  Back to the world of Drakengard. The Dragons have caused havoc in the years immediately after the event which topple and destroy the empires. In year 865, the continent of Europe casts aside the concept of individual countries and became one unified body known as Midgard. Riots erupt in most cities. People are fleeing from their ruined home towns. They are heading toward Cathedral City, that many consider as Humanity’s last shelter. Nobles and intellectuals from the former kingdoms also escaped to the Cathedral City with little more than their lives and set up the Pythagoras Institute to study the disaster, calamity, and rise in abnormalities throughout the world. They claim the empty city as their own and prevent refugees from entering the metropolis: Cathedral City could not accept all the refugees for lack of food. In order to regulate how many people were allowed to enter the city, they built the Chaldea Gate in three days. Rioting broke out between the refugees and the City’s Self-Defense Forces, which continued to rage on for the following week. This massacre is referred to as the “Ten Days of Tragedy”.

  For the next 10 years, Cathedral City would have a no immigrant policy because of the event. During that period of complete isolationism, a few people in Midgard have realized their ability to use strange powers, called Miracles by the population; Magic is real, and those able to use it are called “Users”.

  Users quickly climbed the social hierarchy, becoming vital figures in the social and political sphere. Faith and religions of the past begin to deteriorate as the new concept of “Users and Miracles of the Pythagoras Institute Church” spread throughout the community. The Church will be experimenting increasingly on Magical techniques in the following years.

  Chaldea Gate is reopened in the year 878 and the Cathedral City function expands. Using Magic to overthrow the autonomous regions of Midgard, the Church place its own Rulers at the head of each section of the continent. This mark the beginning of the Feudal Kingdom Era.

  Midgard is divided into 5 sections:

  Austria-Hungary, Italy, Serbia, Bulgaria, and Greece all form together the Land of Forest. Shaxor, the young local Ruler, is living inside the Forest Shrine ①, located inside a giant tree. The Lost Forest ②, an inextricable and foggy forest, can be found further South. In its center, the Forest of Light ③ is filled with wolves and trees with creepy faces. Lastly, the Forest of Faeries ④, homeland of the Faeries and kingdom of the Faerie King. Speaking of Faeries, the Land of Forest is filled with “subhuman“ species, created from humans exposed to high concentrations of Maso particles (magic). Those also include Trolls, Elves, Minotaurs, and Orcs.

  The East of Europe, including our current Sweden, Norway, and Finland, form the Land of Mountain. Its Ruler is living in the Mountain Fortress ⑦. The Snowy Peaks ⑥ and Mt. Bernstein of the Vice Norden ⑤ are situated further North.

  Poland, Czechia, Germany, Netherlands, Belgium, Luxemburg, Switzerland, and France form together the Land of Sands. The Ruler, called Nass, lives in the East inside the Shrine of Sands ⑩. In the middle, the Surface Ruins ⑨, and further West is the Underground Ruins ⑧. It is a large nation mostly covered in desert, making it unsuitable for farming. Magnetite is its main export. While far from a wealthy land, its many ruins have seen tourism interest from wealthy merchants in recent years.

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  The British Isles host the Land of Seas, ruled by Caerula, a skilled User. She keeps her beautiful looks through a savage form of magic by stealing the youth of others, allowing her to rule over the nation for almost a century. She is living at the Shrine of Seas ?, a giant colosseum inside Sunken City. Much later, more than a century later, Zero will take refuge here, at her secret cottage ?.

  Lastly, Cathedral City ?, in the middle of the Iberian Peninsula: we already talked a lot about the metropolis.

  Please note that Midgard is identical in shape to real-world Europe, albeit flipped upside down.

  During the next century, there was a huge gap between the poor and the rich, it is known that crime was rampant during this time and murder, extortion and torture was common practice at the time. It was said that soldiers often stole and extorted the peasant class for food and money and rape was also common among soldiers against women and children. Feudal Lords, had few to no restrictions on their actions as Bass would often kill children and use their parts as decorations and Caerula was known to sap people of their use to extend her life. The Church, and more precisely, The Central Magic Academy of Cathedral City became the main actor in all political, technical, and social decisions. It assures its authority throughout Midgard by placing Magic Academy in all four other regions.

  In 960, more than a century after the Great Disaster, the first Magic Academy President is elected. Since the newly elected president is not familiar with magic at all, this causes a void between the Church echelon and the Lords of the Land. Unease among the magicians in the Magic Academy begins to fester. Eventually, in 971, many disgruntled students decided to revolt against the Lords in an event called the “White Rebellion”. Although incensed magicians rally for the replacement of the president within the Central Magic Academy located in the Cathedral City, they are suppressed in a single night.

  The White Rebellion, although short-lived was the catalyst for the Blue Revolt in which Magicians dissatisfied with the corruption going on within the Magic Academy and the politics regarding the food shortage for poor class decided to form an underground organization to start a revolution. This group became known as the "Blue Corps". Many young magicians approve them. Even some of the Lords of the Land who are dissatisfied with the Church approved. The Church is said to be weakening as their armaments and talented people dwindle under the food shortage and engaging in bribery for many years.

  In 991, a large-scale revolt (the Blue Rebellion) breaks out in the Cathedral City by the Blue Corps. The Blue Corps occupies the Central Magic Academy with the hope to put a halt to the government and the Church. Their long-term goals include "abolishing the Lords of the Lands' power while establishing freedom and independence of the Magic Academy". Nonetheless, the Blue Corps are entirely decimated overnight by a Seal Magic attack that encompasses the entire city. At the same time, 80% of the citizens who live in two wards of the city die as catalysts for the Seal Magic. Even though there were some survivors, they appeared to have lost their minds in the confusion, construction to bury them alive was underway. To appease the remaining tensions, the Church decided to grant the Magic Academy’s independence.

  After the Rebellion, the number of applicants approved by the Magic Academy to become legal magicians decreases sharply. The government and Church increasingly depend upon the military prowess of the Lords of the Land. Invested by the Lords, magical experiments by the opposition rapidly increases. The situation of the Magic Academy and the Church falls into uncertainty. Even though they managed to obtain independence, the Magic Academies end up losing the support from the Lords of the Land, and follow the same path toward decline. Magical experiments by the opposition continue vigorously. The Magic Academy lifts a ban on a previously forbidden magical art. The balance of magical power in Midgard falls into chaos.

  In 995, an unprecedented large-scale accident occurs within the Central Magic Academy in the Cathedral City. It is said to be a singing error of the forbidden art by a female magician, but the details of the accident are unclear. It is discovered later that dust from the explosion appeared to resemble a gigantic flower in the night sky. The scale of destruction from the accident encompasses the entire city; all trace of people within the city fades away as the city is reduced to ruins. The Black Flower is then sealed behind the Mercurius Gate once again. Unfortunately, a small portion of this entity escaped. The Gate is kept by Baltas, a very mysterious entity capable of reading and speaking the language of the Old World. He was originally discovered sleeping within the inner walls of the Cathedral City leading up to the Mercurius Gate. Exactly who he is and where he gets his incredible power from is unknown, but both he and the Gate appeared in 856 as part of the city.

  Two years later, a young girl slowly dying of illness is caught and placed in a cell with five other girls. She is called Rose (or Usubeni in Japanese). These girls were subject to horrible torture, unlike her, who was simply given a few lashes instead. The girls all died one by one, with Rose being the last one alive. In her last moments, she gazed upon a beautiful pink flower that rose from the ground. Rose is dead, Zero is born.?