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Underworld 1/5 - Sword Art Online

This article details the specifics of Underworld. For more background and behind-the-scenes details, please refer to Project Alicization 1/4 None

This is page 1/5 of the article.

Summary

Underworld (TV Series) andāwārudo ) is the world created in Project Alicization 1/4 which is described in the Alicization arc.

Background

A company named Rath, the actors of Project Alicization and affiliates of the Japan Self-Defense Force, decided to modernize the country's military power by developing a top-notch "bottom-up AI" to control unmanned weapons. To this end, Project Alicization introduced the 4th Generation Full-Scuba Equipment, the Soul Translator ( STL ), and the highly accelerated, full-immersion Quantum Mental World of their own creation that would be used to nurture the Fluctlight-based AI of the future to make Japan proud.

As of February 2020, Underworld as depicted in the light novels is just over 300 years old—or three weeks in real time, due to the *STL*'s Fluctlight Acceleration (FLA) feature, which allows everything in Underworld to perceive time 5,000 times faster.

The setting is intentionally low-tech and limited in size, to make it less expensive to simulate and control externally. AI humans developed freely from a certain point on, but culture and taboos were planted by Rath's employees in the early stages. The feudal system is merely a side effect.

Mythology

Gods

The Underworld worships at least five gods:

The creation goddess Stacia (Someone Else's Story) Sōsei no kami sutashia ), the chief goddess of the Human Empire. In the creation myth, she also governs the life of every object that is displayed in the Stacia window, and those who expire go to her realm, while those who marry under her blessing are allowed to have children.
The Sun Goddess Solus (太陽神ソルスTaiyōshin Sorusu, or 陽神ソルスHi Shin Sorusu ) governs the Underworld sun Solus and the blessings of holy power it bestows through its brilliance. Holy power diminishes after nightfall.
Terraria, the goddess of the earth (地神テラリア) chijin teraria ) delivers the blessings of the earth and protects artisans.
The Dark God Vecta (暗黒神ベクタ) ankokushin bekuta, or 闇神ベクタYami Shin Bekuta ) rules over the Dark Territory as the only recognized god. Diseases and the dark arts are attributed to him.
The Moon Goddess Lunaria (月の神ルナリアTsuki no kami runaria ) governs the dreams of the inhabitants of the Underworld.

Creation myth

The teachings of the Axiom Church state the following: Three goddesses—Stacia, Solus, and Terraria—created the world. Stacia banished Vecta to the Dark Territory with her sacred light, and the world split, and Solus never shone in the Dark Territory again.

The Great War

The apocalyptic myth tells that once every thousand years, the light of Solus fades and the Black Knights bring their dark forces to conquer the Human Empire. The village guards, all the city's sentries, and the Imperial Army then unite in the Human Guardian Army and follow the Integrity Knights' orders to fight the Dark Army, while the nobles support the Integrity Knights. In the meantime, the nobles train to be ready.

The truth

The Axiom Church conceived the five gods as a divine mandate to rule supreme. Overseer-level accounts for the gods exist in the system, but no one seems to have ever used them.

History

The Human Empire

The original four

Approximately 70 years before the Creation of the Human Empire (CHE), the world began its existence as sixteen newborn artificial Fluctlights sent out into the world to grow up in the village of Centoria as the children of four Rath volunteers (as two families), while the rest of the world was populated by NPCs. The volunteers taught them everything—from writing to breeding to good and evil. Due to the questionable ethics of one of the teachers, his teachings unwittingly infected the first people with his selfishness, megalomania, and greed. When the "children" turned eighteen and started their own families, the volunteers "died of an epidemic" and disconnected, their memories of the experience erased.

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