"Beneath the eternal most that marks the border of the underworld live creatures of ether and mana. They are refugees of a world devoured by war and destruction. Their homelands are now barren wastelands.
Confined in their small and dark refuge, the descendants evolved. Their skin and hair greyed like the rocks that surround them. And like rock, their minds hardened in preparation for the trials that would come before them.
Darklings, mist devils, demons bent on enslaving the world... they are given many names. But behind the scattered myths is a people, with their own tales of great feats and infamy. This is their story." -back cover
Beautiful art. This is a paperback version of the start of the second major arc from the Drowtales webcomic (starting with Chapter 33). Since there's a timeskip right before this point, it makes an alternate acceptable starting point, especially since preceding chapters have not apparently been put in print.