While he was not versed in the deeper lore of demon kind, Daimen was very much informed when it came to their hierarchies.

  There were the Lesser Demons, which Daimen had become familiar with over the course of the several months he'd been in here. Those were the common monsters, the spatial creatures with multiple heads that he'd fought a few nights ago. The swarm of metal fishes that he'd hunted, and even the squirrel-like creatures he'd killed for dinner the previous night—the same kind that had battled and lost to Pinkie. Those were demons with animalistic intelligence, no different from the animals and monsters on the outside realms. The only difference these had was that they were indigenous to the infernal realms.

  Second were the Greater Demons; these, Damien had come to blows with every time they came across each other. His quarries, Daskar's jailors, as well as the ones they'd just butchered here were among those ranks.

  They were the foot soldiers, the couriers, the thralls under the authority of a higher demon. It was ironic that these Greater Demons constituted the vast majority of demonic society, and considering how chaotic and power hungry demons were, he would have expected a few hundred plays for power by now, but instead they remained as they were; Meek and subservient.

  It was frankly pathetic, in Daimen's opinion. But he chose not to pursue that thought.

  Third on the hierarchy were the Demon Lords, the lesser nobles who, just like their counterparts in the outside worlds, had landed properties—though not very large— as well as Greater Demons to serve at their beck and call. Less openly known, however, was the fact that they were the middleman, a sort of caretaker, who grew and corralled the vast majority of the Demonic population into a semblance of order, constraining them into the folds of society so those at the top could have whom to rule over.

  They were powerful, yet not insurmountable like their higher kins. Not even close. Examples of those were the High Lord who had orchestrated the invasion of Lese, the same one who had set his hunting dogs on Damien's heels.

  Above them were the real powerhouses of the infernal hells, the generals and decision makers over vast regions of hell.

  Those were the ArchDemons, monsters Daimen acknowledged were worthy of his respect, however not his fear. No one was worthy of that.

  Like the Demon Lords, the ArchDemons were granted territories, vast acres of land that spanned several million miles, as far as Daimen could tell. Alongside that was the fact that they were the generals of hell, commanding vast legions of Greater and Lesser Demons. They were few and had nigh unchallenged authority, especially in their territories.

  This rank was made up of higher nobles as well as lower royals, like Dukes and Princes.

  There were two others above that, but Daimen decided to focus on the present.

  He turned to Daskar. “Demon Prince, huh? You don't look like a Demon Prince to me. And isn't your father a Lesser Noble?”

  “My kins are ranked by the circumstances of their birth as well as their potential,” he explained, sounding oddly morose. “Every demon is born into their rank, not by choice, but simply by how they were conceived.”

  The Bull Man Spirit King let out a smile, but Daimen paid him no mind. He glanced once at him before turning his attention back to Daskar. “What makes you so different?”

  “My sire is a Lesser Noble. This should have resulted in me spawning as such. But by orchestration, I was sired by three demons—three of different species.”

  “For full context here,” Daimen raised a pause sign. “I understand that the infernal races are very much different from the mortal races, but I have never looked into the methods by which you conceive. Care to explain?”

  “Infernals—Mind demons, do not need two partners of the opposite sex to birth. The succubi are the innate source of population growth for all sapient Mind demons. They alone are responsible for birthing new demons and seeing to the growth of our society.”

  “And the incubi?”

  “Incubi, succubi, there is no difference. We are all one, able to change shape and sex when tasked with birthing. But that is only when one needs to birth a simple Greater Demon or a Lesser Demon lord. I, on the other hand, had a very complicated birth

  “My kind are innately power hungry. Every demon seeks to climb higher in the hierarchy and acquire greater power. And whilst the vast majority fail and are erased for their insolence, a few are successful, and those ones only come to those victories by being ruthless and patient.

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  “My sire is one of those. Itlgad It’Yixil is a demon whose ambition for power is matched only by the number of stars in the mortal realms.”

  “I find that highly unbelievable,” Daimen shook his head.

  “You do not know my sire as I do, Daimen,” the demon turned towards him. “He is ambitious, with an insatiable hunger for power that would see him go to any lengths just to acquire. Luckily for him, he has enough patience to rein in his hunger, which I suppose is the only reason he hasn't been discovered by the Archdemon who holds sovereignty over this region.”

  He sounded serious, which was odd for Daskar. Daimen had only ever known him to be playful and unserious. Looking back, there was only a single instance where Daskar had been awfully serious, and that had resulted in his Spirit King jailer fleeing into the recesses of Daimen's mind just to escape him.

  “Itlgad has more ambition than restraint, I would know. He aspires for the power and influence of an ArchDemon, but is wise enough to realize that he cannot acquire those without personally confronting the ArchDemon and taking it by conquest.”

  “And so he created a tool to use in his stead,” Daimen realized.

  Daskar bobbed his head. “You are correct. I am a rare occurrence, a spawn of three demon species. By his orchestration, Itlgad created me from the three subjugation species; the Mind race, the Blood, and the Soul race.”

  Daimen glanced down his scales and then to his golden slitted eyes. This all made sense now how he had been able to create another body, and why he had a soul, unlike his kin.

  The Soul race was the only demonic race with a soul. The others were simply consciousness given form. They lacked souls.

  “The subjugation species,” he said, tasting the word.

  “Yes, the three represent the aspects of self; The Mind, Body, and Soul. Any demon who has a grip on one has dominion over their prey.”

  “And you were birthed with three.”

  “Yes. Unlike my various kin, my dominion over my thralls is absolute. Save death, nothing can free them from my grasp.”

  “What does your father aim to accomplish then?” He realized the answer as soon as the question came out of his mouth. “He wants to control the Mind Demons.”

  “He desires to control all Mind Demons,” Daskar corrected. “My kin of the psych have made themselves vulnerable by taking on hosts of flesh and blood. They have opened themselves up to me in more ways than should be possible. My sire aims to use me as his weapon of Dominion. With me at the helm, he will have eventual command over all Lessen Demons, Greater Demons, and even the Demon Lords under the Territory of our Archdemon. And his ambition does not stop there.”

  “He seeks to be King,” Daimen realized with a chill, a feeling even the Spirit King that stood close to them failed to hide.

  “With me at his side, it is an eventuality. I am a Prince by Potential. By all rights, I am equal to an Archdemon. What is preventing all this is my prowess which has yet to reach those of the Arch Sovereign.”

  Now Daimen understood why Daskar was so powerful. Mind demons were feared because of their grip on the psych, a hold very few could protect against. The Blood Demons were the same, a domination that had seen the propagation of the infestation known as the Vampiric race. The Soul Demons… Well, there was a reason they were few and one of the most restricted of all the races.

  If what Daskar was saying was true and he had the powers of all three, then this was a nascent legend, a plague capable of warranting the full might of a Grand Cult to put down.

  But something bothered Daimen though. “If your father needs you as much as you say, then why have you chained and sent away?”

  Daskar's face was inhuman, literally, but Daimen could still detect the amusement wafting off of it. “Why have one Prince when you can have multiple?”

  Daimen's lips twisted. “That's…”

  “I did say he had more ambition than restraint,” the Demon said with amusement. “To prevent the Archdemon from detecting my birth and the threat I posed, I was conceived as a succubus.” He chuckled mentally at the expressions Daimen and the Spirit King made. “The others will never admit to this, but the Succubi and incubi are the most powerful of the Mind variants. We are unable to wield essences like the others and lack the great physical prowess they gain from their hosts, but our dominion over our innate aspect is nigh absolute, easily brushing aside those of our warrior kin.

  “I learned to shield my true self as I grew, only letting loose when I was called to train. I was as much a weapon of mass subjugation as I was a breeding platform for more with my powers.”

  “What happened?”

  “Why, the hierarchy reasserted itself,” Daskar replied. “No matter how great the aspirations, an Archdemon can never be subservient to the authority of one who is lesser. No matter how my sire tried, it was inevitable that I would break free from his grasp.”

  “I broke you free,” Daimen pointed out.

  “Yes, you did. But before then, I broke myself out, mentally. For the Incubus and Succubus variants, we are granted the innate ability to change sex at the dusk of every century. My first century should have been my time to birth my first litter of little monsters... that was if my sire had had his way. Instead, I took the ability to shift into an incubus, whose powers are more outward than inward.”

  “What does that mean?”

  “As much as the succubi are responsible for the propagation of our race within the hell, they share another task with the Incubus; to propagate our race in the mortal realms.”

  “Half demons,” Damien nodded.

  “Correct. My sire did not like this of course. Because of my one single act, plans millennials made were put on hold or had to be scrubbed. Of course, my sire could have forced me to sire with some mortal woman to birth his prized weapons, but copulation with mortals comes with all sorts of complications and surprises. Better not to take the risk. And so I was to be sent away to a far away castle—a prison hold, more like—until this century comes to a close and I am forced into the form of a Succubus again.”