In the nineteenth century, a certain grimoire was discovered, bearing the name The Lesser Key of Solomon.
The book was divided into five parts, of which the most famous was a catalogue of demons, called Goetia.
This book recorded the seventy-two Demon Gods of Solomon, and thus came to be known as the Demon Catalogue.
Now, as one of the Seven Evils of Humanity, the First Beast, Beast I, has chosen to call itself by this very name.
The reason was simple.
"Originally, the Seventy-Two Demon Gods were nothing more than a system created by the Mage King, Solomon, designed to more effectively advance proper reason, to perfect humanity, and to weave magecraft for the sake of protecting mankind."
At that very moment, while desperately monitoring the battles raging throughout the Temple of Time and keeping Chaldea operating within this perilous battlefield, Roman spoke these words from the Command Room.
"Its essence is the very first familiar in human history, driven by King Solomon, dwelling within Solomon's body. Though it was not life itself, it was a summoning ritual that possessed will."
This ritual was the Seventy-Two Demon Gods themselves, and at the same time, the governing bureau that oversaw them.
Bound as one with King Solomon, this art was like Solomon himself—or rather, through borrowing Solomon's qualities, it used his Clairvoyance to see through past and future.
"Perhaps, from the very beginning, Solomon made a mistake in its design?"
Roman spoke as though he were talking about someone else—or perhaps simply to himself.
"Because its very definition was to safeguard humanity and contribute to the proper course of human history, in the end, even though it acquired the same vision as Solomon, what it saw was completely different."
Solomon saw the whole of human history: the good and the bad, the joy and the sorrow. His conclusion was that there should be no excessive interference—that mankind must grow by enduring pain and suffering on its own.
The Seventy-Two Demon Gods, however, saw only sorrow upon sorrow, endless suffering, countless acts of plunder, countless tears. They pitied and lamented this darkness within human history.
"Thus, it became a lament and rage against the relationship between Solomon and humanity, and turned into a curse that sought to overcome the 'incompleteness of mankind' which Solomon always ignored."
Roman revealed the true identity of the hand behind this catastrophe.
"It is known as the Human Order Incineration Ritual: Goetia. The Demon God King. A magecraft with will, woven to achieve true wisdom, using all of human history to reach the Origin."
In other words, it is the King of the Seventy-Two Demon Gods, the Seventy-Two Demon Gods themselves, the very collective that governed them.
"It was set as a higher-dimensional concept above humanity, even beyond what Solomon could reach—an omnipotent existence, qualified to rule mankind. Yet it could only protect and serve humanity. So of course it must have hated Solomon. It must have been in pain."
And so, it witnessed countless tragedies:
"The one who killed my child, the one killed by my child."
"The one who knew not love, the one who cast love away."
"The one who laments betrayal, the one who lives by betrayal."
"The one who knew not family, the one who abandoned family."
"The one who lost wealth, the one destroyed by wealth."
"The one who never knew love, the one who mocked love."
"The one who sought success, the one who hated success."
"The one who clung to faith, the one who despised faith."
"The one who loved his brethren, the one who scorned other races. The one who studied wisdom, the one who spread ignorance. The one who nurtured hatred, the one who misunderstood others. The one who adored division, the one who indulged in persecution, the one who pitied the pitiful."
"This is mankind. A pitiful and ugly race."
Having borne witness to so many tragedies, this existence reached such a conclusion.
Yet Solomon had turned a blind eye, letting it be.
Thus, it would never forgive Solomon—nor would it ever forgive mankind.
"It declared that humanity had no value. Yet, as Demon Gods, without being commanded by humans, they could not exist."
"Though they are higher-dimensional beings, they must reside beneath mankind—the greatest waste in the universe. That must have been their deepest humiliation."
"So, Goetia refused to accept such contradiction and dishonesty, and initiated its own transformation. The result was that, after Solomon's death, it seized Solomon's corpse—like Kingu, reconstructing its existence from another's remains. Donning a false Grand, it summoned the Temple of Time within Imaginary Space, and began the incineration of Human Order."
Thus, Goetia implanted the Demon Gods into the bodies of magi who styled themselves Solomon's descendants and successors. Generation after generation, through the inheritance of bloodlines, they proliferated.
Eventually, in certain eras, they awakened as Demon God Pillars. Using the Holy Grail as their means, they disrupted Human Order, twisted history, and set fire to mankind's record.
"The incinerated human history was converted into vast mana, gathered by the Temple of Time, and finally converged into a great light ring."
Roman fixed his eyes on the many screens unfolding in the Command Room, gazing upon the Demon God King Goetia enthroned.
"By using that light—that immense mana—there must be some purpose he seeks to achieve, one beyond human imagination."
That purpose ultimately defined Goetia as the great calamity threatening the world of man, the Beast of Original Sin, the Evil of Humanity—Beast I.
"What exactly does he intend to do?"
Da Vinci could not help but voice the question aloud.
Roman gave no reply. He only kept watching the screen—watching Goetia.
No… what he was really watching was Rozen.
Faced with the true form of Goetia, Mash gripped her shield so tightly her hands turned white.
Only Rozen, as if having already seen through everything, stared straight at Goetia.
That gaze was both honest and resolute.
"What will you do, Rozen?"
Roman thus resolved to watch until the very end.
Time Temple — Throne.
With Goetia's manifestation, heaven and earth seemed to change color, turning the skies into hellish darkness.
The light ring in the heavens began to rotate and descend.
A monstrous and terrifying mana spread outward from the Demon God King like a noxious miasma.
"Beast I…!"
Mash held her breath.
For the true identity of the enemy had far surpassed her imagination.
"As expected, you could never have been a Grand. You could only be a great calamity that threatens the world of man."
Rozen, standing firm as if the trembling heavens and earth could not shake him, even murmured aloud:
"I had been wondering… since Beast II has already appeared, then where exactly was Beast I?"
Of course, "II" could never have appeared before "I."
So the truth was, "I" had already appeared—and it was this very being who had awakened "II."
"Bearing witness to so much sorrow, to endless betrayals…"
"Bearing witness to so much plunder, to countless ends…"
"I… no, we have already seen far too much of mankind's ugliness and corruption. Truly, we have grown tired of it."
The Demon God King Goetia gazed down upon Rozen from on high, declaring thus:
"And now, it is time to begin our great enterprise—to reset the world, to reset the stars themselves."
For this reason, Goetia had devised the Incineration of Human Order.