Re: Devil - Volume 1 Chapter 2
“The war is… Where shall I start?”
“Let me first tell you, what actually has been happening and the current status quo is. We, Hellspawns another word for demons, are currently in war against the angels and the races of the living. Truthfully, I don’t know the real reason of this war. [Then why the f.u.c.k do you said it with an “I know it all” expression? Weird, How come I know some of this words?].
We are only pawns to be used by higher ranked demons and don’t need to know the reason, because what changes can you make even if you know it?
If you want to know the reason, be strong, evolve and be the player of this game. We, demons, as a matter of fact love war. Evil, chaos, destruction and slaughter are innately in our nature. Furthermore, war is the quickest way to get stronger.
That is in fact a fatal attraction to us lesser ranked demons. Here in Hell, when you are strong, you can do whatever you want, Which demons don’t like that? We are called demons because we are true to our desires and our desires are amplified. If you can survive and live as long as I am, perhaps you can taste the delicacy of human, one of the races of living, and angels’ meat. How I wish to devour it but now I am too old and it is not possible anymore.” said Inpuji with a saddened expression.
“Wait, so you mean we are actually dead?” interrupted me.
“Of course not, That is what I am going to explain to you now. Our bodies are made of essences, demon essences to be specific. The essences make the parts of our bodies, blood, horn, etc. When you devour another demons or hell beasts in Hell, the essences will be transfered to you and you will get stronger or level up.
But there are also some cases that you will also inherit the skills of your prey depending on your race or your comprehension of the skills. Of course, you can also train your skill and make it evolve. For example, the upgraded version of [Inspect] is [Insight]. How many upgrades there are, even high ranked demon sages don’t know.”
“But what happen if we died outside of Hell? like for example in the war?” asked one of the 2 imps other than me.
“Your essences will be scattered and your memories will be wiped. The same as being dead, I believe. The essences can be collected and are used to produce demons. Ah yes another important thing, sometimes you don’t need to fight in war, you can be a scout or scavenger. To each has its own job.
Fortunately for us and not for you, you imps cost not so much to be produced and that is what makes it the best cannon fodder for war. Stronger demons need a huge amount of essences. Of course, in the time of preparation for war you can get stronger and show your value, you will not be treated as a cannon fodder. Other demons that cost little but useful are orcs, goblins, and skeleton minions. Those are produced in other caves.” answered Inpuji.
“Next are the ranks of nobility, species, and items…” Inpuji explained roughly to us, what the hierarchy for ranks were and If I remembered them correctly. It went …
[Items & Species]
common < uncommon < rare < epic < unique < legendary
[Rank]
baron < viscount < earl < marquess < duke < grand duke < prince < king < emperor
and of course, it was not complete because Inpuji’s title was only beginner sage. Olgur was a baron ranked demon and I assumed Count Andromalius was a viscount ranked demon.
“kukuku… I know what you are thinking. You are thinking that the Count is just a tad bit stronger than a baron, no? Well you are wrong. We called him Count because he actually likes to pretend to be weak, and devour prideful demons and he ordered us to do so. His actual strength is earl bordering to be a marquess, just one more evolution.” grinned Inpuji.
I shuddered hearing that. [Note to self, all demons are untrustworthy]. He continued “You think that without sufficient strength, he can be a one of the rulers of hell? tsk tsk tsk” He reprimanded us. “That brings us to the next lesson, the structure of hell.”
He started to talk with no end. [Worthy of being an old sage, knowledgeable and talkative]. I saw that the 2 imps trying to leave. They communicated through eye contact and I believed that I could know, what they were thinking about. They left speedily leaving me behind.
[I will remember this]. I thought this as I was listening to Inpuji. When Inpuji had finished explaining to me, I more or less could understand.
So, if I was right, There were 8 layers in Hell. I was in the 1st layer or should I say the weakest layer of Hell. The strongest demon here was a marquess ranked demon named Orias. Each layer had 9 rulers making it up to 72 demons that ruled Hell.
Of course, there were many demons that rivaled the rulers in strength. I tried to ask Inpuji about this and he just shrugged and replied.
“Not all demons can be a ruler. What makes a ruler different than the other same ranked demons is that a ruler gets the authority of hell. Strong demons that rivaled the ruler are what we called rogue demons. Demons tend to not listen to other same ranked demons. Only higher ranked demons have the rights to do so.”
I had learned something new. Inpuji told me that rulers could not be killed outside the battlefield because Hell would not permit you to do it unless you had the same contribution in war or you were worthy enough for hell to bestow upon you authority
Rulers could also borrow power from hell making them 20% stronger. In conclusion, it was hard to kill them unless you got the support from Hell.
“But becoming rulers can also bring more troubles than you think. First, you are obligated to participate in war. Second, not all of your underlings will obey you. They could be waiting for the right time to backstab you. Third, We demons are greedy in nature and other rulers want more authority and therefore not only war with other races, we demons also have civil wars. That also explains why there are conflicts between different factions of demons.”
Listening to Inpuji’s explanation, I found out that Hell was more disastrous and complicated than it was. Additionally he also said that, Hell produced hell beasts (hell maggots, rabbits) to make us continue to get stronger or to be eaten and pressured the rulers. [What a time to be born].
Hearing Inpuji’s Rulers 101, the prospect of becoming a rogue demon sounded like music to my ears. My eyes glinted at the thought of becoming one. Strong, carefree, unbounded by others.
Inpuji noticed it and said, “Don’t get your hopes too much. If you are not strong enough, being a rogue demon means suicide. Rogue demons also have it difficult to survive outside the area that was ruled by the rulers.
With the presence of rulers and Hell’s authority, more powerful hell beasts will not be looking for food near the area. But outside of that, well good luck.”
I became silent. [Becoming ruler means too much work and war, while becoming a rogue demon without strength means to survive]. “In the end, being strong is a must.” I muttered.
“Now you get it.” grinned Inpuji, I could see his sharp teeth sticking out from his mouth. “But you sure are one weird imp. Normal imps will not be able to listen to my explanation until the end because either they are too stupid or bored. Smarter imps as you can see with the 2 imps can temporarily suppress their nature of being a child, but in the end they cannot handle it and run away.”
Hearing him saying that made me somehow wanted to kill him. I could feel my bloodl.u.s.t rising up, but I quickly suppressed it.
“See?, you are one weird imp. Maybe you can survive. Now now, you must be hungry, aren’t you? you should hunt and also become stronger. A little tip from me for listening to an old man’s speech, try bathing in magma. You should feel pain but if you can endure it and get the skill [fire body], you can evolve into fire imp when you reach level 100.”
Inpuji stretched his body as he stood up. “Don’t go too far away. As long as you are in the area of the Count, we can easily know how many of you will still be alive. You will know, when to go to war, when you come back here. If you don’t come back here, you will get a notification, when the war is. That is how the rogue demons know. But I suggest you go back when you get notification, I will explain it to you about what you will do in the war.” Inpuji walked in the directions opposite to where the imps had gone to.
“Hell huh …” I was shivering not in fear but in excitement. “Curse my nature. I need to also learn how to suppress it or it will be annoying later on.”
“I guess now it is the time to search for prey” I grinned.