Soul Blazer 1992 By: Enix

Storyline:

King Magridd, ruler of the Freil Empire, is a greedy man. His only desire is to possess all the money in the world.

One day the King overheard a conversation regarding Dr. Leo, the town's so-called "genius" inventor. An idea suddenly came to him. "Maybe I can obtain all the world's wealth by striking a deal with the King of Evil."

Dr. Leo was imprisoned by the King and ordered to construct a machine to summon Deathtoll. Even though it was painful, this was not a difficult task for Dr. Leo.

When Deathtoll was summoned, the King told him he wanted more than anything to obtain the wealth of the world. Deathtoll made a proposition: "The life of one living being in exchange for one gold piece."

The proposition was accepted, and from that day on all living beings began to disappear. They either became servants of Deathtoll or were banished to Monster Lairs.

--From the SNES Soul Blazer instruction manual.