Just like many fantasy novels this is set in the future of a destroyed earth that somehow reawakened magic, and yes the place where they are was in fact once Alabama.
@iamtherealbeethoven Seems like when his power originally awakened *it was stated like this if I'm remembering right* that everything in a 2km radius was flattened, I'm assuming he accidentally killed his aunt. Which makes sense why he never killed him as a villain since he would feel a bit...
Huh and here I thought they would try to use him to weaken the empire and his own kingdom before invading, but instead their attacking right away? I guess I understand trying to kill the demon lord in his infancy but doesn't really seem to be as cunning as they made her out to be, especially...