Setting and magic
Further information: List of Spells in Slayers (coming soon)
In the universe of Slayers, the supreme being is neither good nor evil, but is called the Lord of Nightmares, who created everything, and who is said to "float like gold on the Sea of Chaos." Later, it is revealed that the Lord of Nightmares (or L-sama, for short) is not in fact floating upon the Sea of Chaos, but in fact comprises it. Four pillars rise out of the Sea of Chaos, and each supports its own world. Since the Sea of Chaos comprises the Lord of Nightmares' body, the worlds likewise spring from her. In Slayers Next, the Claire Bible confides that if the worlds are destroyed and returned to chaos, the Lord of Nightmares can return to her true form (although why she created the four worlds in the first place has not been revealed, either by the novels or the author himself).
On each of these worlds are gods (shinzoku, lit. "godly race") and demons (mazoku, lit. "evil race"), fighting without end. Should the gods win the war in a world, that world will be at peace. Should the demons win, the world will be destroyed and returned to Chaos. In Lina's world, the supreme god is Ceiphied, and the supreme demon is Shabranigdo (the Ruby-Eye). Long ago, Ceiphied won the war, and split Shabranigdo's body in seven to prevent him from coming back to life. He then took the seven fragments and embedded them in human souls--as reincarnation works in Slayers, the individual fragments would be worn down the fragments in power until Shabranigdo himself would be destroyed. However, Ceiphied was so exhausted that he himself sank into the Sea of Chaos, leaving four parts of himself and his soul in the world.
A millennium before the events in Slayers, one of Ruby-Eye's parts (which was sealed in the body of Lei Magnus, a very powerful sorcerer) revived and started the Resurrection War against one of the parts of Ceiphied, the Dragon King of Water (Aqua Lord). Ultimately, the piece of Shabranigdo won, but the Aqua Lord, using the last remnants of her power, froze and sealed him within the Kataart mountains. Nevertheless, Shabranigdo's lieutenants escaped and remained at liberty, sealing much of the world within a magical barrier, through which only they could pass. These leaders and their servants are the principal antagonists throughout the three Slayers anime series. They are intelligent, cunning creatures, often indulging in intrigue amongst themselves, and they feast on human emotion, especially fear and pain.
To increase the amount of pain and terror they cause, the most powerful mazoku lend their power to humans in the form of Black Magic spells that call directly on their powers. Such spells include the Gaav Flare (no longer functional after the events of Slayers Next)and Dragon Slave, and are capable of causing enormous damage and suffering to all things and beings, except the mazoku whose power is invoked for that spell and higher-ranking mazoku who can protect themselves.
In contrast to the destructive power of Black Magic are the healing abilities of White Magic, drawn from the caster's own life force. Striking a balance between healing and attack is the rare Divine Magic, which only the dragon servants of the shinzoku have been shown to channel; it is suggested that the barrier erected by the generals of Shabranigdo blocked the power of Ceiphied and his fragments, and thus those people within the barrier had no access to the power to develop spells based around it. Whether people outside the barrier could channel Divine Magic is suspect, as in Slayers Try people outside the barrier are in awe at a simple light spell--confided by the author to be accessible to anyone regardless of magical potential, with rote study.
Shamanistic Magic is focused on manipulation and alteration of the natural world such as Raywing and Fireball, as well as the Astral Plane including Elmekia Lance. One of the greatest Astral spells is the Ra-Tilt, a spell of devastating power when used against a spiritual being, such as a mazoku.
Above all other magic, however, and of its nature used purely for destruction, are spells drawing power from the Lord of Nightmares. Two spells of this class are the Ragna Blade, capable of felling powerful mazoku in a single strike, and the Giga Slave, which calls forth the very Lord of Nightmares into the world, dealing devastating damage against an opponent, but risking the destruction of the world if the spell should fail.
