The Establishment of the Tower

Overview

The Establishment of the Tower followed the Peace Treaty of Hope and turned its settlement into a permanent institution. The treaty required a Tower to be built in the Eterna Mountains, where it would guard the Gate, and appointed the demon hero who had helped end the Demon War as its guardian. The resulting institution, the Tower, was designed to prevent the newly ended war from beginning again at the crossing.

Its guardian was charged with defending the Tower and Gate, refusing unauthorised passage, and remaining neutral in human politics. The office was therefore a source of immense power but not a human throne. The guardian could defend the treaty’s territory; he could not freely decide the affairs of the human kingdoms without risking consequences.

The guardian’s charge

The guardian was to protect both Tower and Gate, admit no one without permission, and remain neutral in human politics. In public history, the Lord is known through contradictory testimony: those who meet him describe either a kind, handsome, charismatic young man or a devilishly cunning monster. The latter account produced the title “Devil of the Tower,” associated with Shun Sato.

Political role

The Tower’s political importance comes directly from its charge. Eterna had once been part of Lindsey, and control of the Gate could have become a cause for renewed war if it belonged openly to either side. The Tower’s guardian was meant to keep the crossing secure while remaining outside the rivalries of human crowns. Later events show how difficult that balance is: defending the treaty in the First Transgression was accepted as necessary, while intervention in Hikari was treated as a more direct violation.

The Tower was designed to be a stabilizing neutral institution, not a human or demon court. Its location in former Lindsey territory and its control of the crossing made its guardian’s actions politically consequential even when he acted to protect the treaty. The First Transgression, two years after the Tower’s establishment, was the first major test of this arrangement.

The name Zero

Zero is a recorded figure connected to the Tower’s establishment. Volume I does not provide a fuller public account of Zero’s role in the founding event; the connection is retained here without extending it beyond the available record.