| “ | "...I often think about that terrible time. They call it the "Great Disaster" now." | ” |
—Alec reminiscing | ||
The Great Disaster (大災害 Daisaigai) is an event that occurred throughout various points in the Arc The Lad series. Triggered by The Lord of the Black Abyss, The Great Diaster occurs when enough dark power and negative thoughts such as greedy desires and hate from humanity plague the world that The Lord of the Black Abyss is able to come to full power via the power of the Ark, controlled by one with a dark heart, and unleashes various natural disasters throughout the world, causing mass deaths and pure destruction of living areas. Once The Great Disaster has been triggered, it is impossible to stop unless The Lord of the Black Abyss' power is sealed, which is often moot, as the damage has already been done.
There have been two known Great Disasters. The first occured during the time of the Seven Braves of Old, which nearly caused the entire world to be destroyed as well as complete extinction of all living species after humans. The second occurs during the end of Arc The Lad II, caused by Romalia's lust for power and Gaidel's mental instability spurred by The Lord of the Black Abyss taking advantage of his fears of losing his power. It is here that many around the world would refer to the situation as, 'The Great Disaster'.
Since the second Great Disaster, the world continues to attempt to rebuild, and while many places continue to thrive and new towns and cities were built, others were completely destroyed and many would lose loved ones from either the natural disasters, or the explosion of the Romalia Sky Castle. However, with each attempt at causing a Great Disaster, the damage lessens less and less each time, signifying a weakening in The Lord of the Black Abyss' power.
History[]
Prior to Arc the Lad[]
| “ | "In ancient times of old, the world belonged to no
one. People respected and sometimes even feared nature. And they lived alongside the Spirits that existed all around...The weak humans were under the divine protection of the Spirits. And they lived their lives in gratitude. After a while, the humans became dissatisfied, and began to seek prosperity. They developed a civilization of their own, without the help of the Spirits... The development of their new civilization broughtdestruction to nature. And the world becamepolluted. As a result, the bonds between Spirits and humans were broken. An eternity passed, and the Spirits disappeared from the world, leaving their powers in the stones...The humans sought more prosperity and development. And soon they had used up nearly all of the world’s resources. Their civilization was destroyed and the world fell to ruin. But then they discovered there was energy in the Spirit Stones. Since then, people have been using Spirit Stones for fuel..." |
” |
—The Brillance of Truth, discussing one of the several catalysts for the initial Great Diaster in Arc the Lad: Twilight of the Spirits | ||
Arc the Lad II[]
Arc The Lad III[]
Arc The Lad: Kishin Fukkatsu[]
Arc The Lad: Twilight of the Spirits[]
One thousand years after the initial attempt to create a third Great Disaster, a second attempt would be started, this time by The Lord of the Black Abyss after taking control of Zev. To create this Great Disaster, the Divine Ruler devised a new method to further hatred and division for the purpose of gaining dark power; the creation of the Deimos race and the ensuing wars between humans and Deimos. With the centuries long strife between the two races, the Divine Ruler would bide his time allowing the dark power sealed in the ark within the Romalia Sky Castle to accumilate until the time was right, this time, using Lilia's status as the Friend of the Spirits to unleash the power of the ark and become The Lord of the Black Abyss.
Despite this attempt, however, he would fall to Kharg, Darc, and their allies, unable to unleash another Great Disaster in time due to the Five Great Spirits sealing both themselves and The Lord of the Black Abyss forever, ensuring that his revival is completely impossible, and therefore, the possiblity of another Great Disaster being null.