Walking down the hall, the Hero, or rather Demon Lord Vex, let out a soft sigh. He currently wore the Demon Lord's second suit of armour, which was still black with gold trimmings, the same intimidating great helm; however, the gauntlets were a bit different, with the fingers ending in sharp points, like claws, adding to the intimidation. The armour itself was less bulky and leaner; to compensate for this, a red and black cloak was wrapped around the chest, magically hiding everything underneath, similar to Zee's cloak. Other pieces of armour were given small enchantments, assisting in the illusion that he was Vex.
Sirena, who was walking beside Vex, responded, "It's been a few days since you agreed. Are you still upset about us drugging you?" As she finished, she smirked like a hunter playing with their prey.
"It was either starve or eat your suspicious food. Could you tell me what was in it?" Vex asked.
"It's better if I don't, but don't worry, as long as you eat the food we provide, there will be no noticeable effects," Sirena assured with a scary smile, reminding Vex she was a demon.
Deciding to change the subject, he looks down at his armour. "Who made the enchantments?" Vex asked, his voice heavy and dark like the Demon Lord's.
"A combined work with Zeph and myself, out of the four generals, we're the only ones who use magic, and we have to keep your secret amongst ourselves."
"Torogar, I understand now having any skill with magic, but what about Zee?" Vex asked.
Sirena let out a soft sigh, "To explain Zee, I'll also have to explain Demon culture. Well, I'd have to explain it anyway, especially if you're going to act as the Demon Lord. This is going to be a long day." She complained.
Originally, Sirena planned to take Vex to the Great Hall, acquaint him with areas that demand a Demon Lord's presence. However, she now needs to make a detour to explain the Demon race. Leading him up the stairs and a few rooms over, they enter a fairly decent-sized room, about the size of a bedroom, with a wooden table, but the legs were carved and painted to look like corals, with the top looking like a seashell. Even the chair legs resembled corals, with the backs resembling a seashell.
"You guys have your own private meeting rooms?" Vex asked.
"We each control a floor, actually. The first floor is public, the second floor is for Torogar, the third floor is for my use, and the fourth floor is used by Zeph, with Zee controlling the basement." Sirena explained, before taking a deep breath to mentally prepare herself for the explanation.
"First, why do you think there are only four Demon Generals? The answer is the way the Demons have evolved. If you look at Torogar, he appears to have no magical ability and relies solely on strength, but that isn't true. Terrestrial demons unconsciously put their magical skills into defence, creating a thick hide despite how squishy some of them look." Sirena explained, waving her finger boredly as she talked.
"Why did the Terristial demons evolve like that?" Vex followed up with another question.
"Two reasons; First, demons like Zeph, aerial demons, rely on magic and could crush them from a distance. Second, most terrestrial demons that could use offensive magic were wiped out, seen as weak by the others. Back then, you conformed or were killed. If you were going to be an outlier, then you had to be stronger than the powers in control." Sirena continued.
Vex nodded as he listened to the explanation, but something didn't add up, "So Zeph is the opposite, high offensive magic but lower defence. Even if that's the case, the aerial demons should have conquered the terrestrials by range. It wouldn't matter how much defence you had if you couldn't reach them; then they would wear you down.
Sirena nodded, "This is where we get to the demons under Zee, they're a bit more complex, and don't follow the previous rules. A mixture of odds and ends."
"Zee never speaks much, always in quick words," Vex pointed out.
"It's sensory overload, almost every neuron in that mind is magically attuned to one of her subbordants. She compartmentalized her brain to run our entire spy network. Movement and sleep are the only parts of her brain she can naturally use; speaking puts a strain on her, so she minimizes the words to adjust. I asked her once what it was like. She looked up at me and said 'busy', but we're getting off topic." Sirena stated.
"Before they united under Zee, each species of insect, arachnid, and lots of other outliers were used as tools on both sides. They exchanged information for their survival. Then came the massacres. Since the aerial demons still needed to be on the ground at some point, they attacked each other's homes. Aerial demons flew over and attacked from the sky, while the terrestrials overwhelmed them with numbers. After massacring, they would return to find their own homes destroyed and repeat this. That was their species' long-standing war against each other." Siren explained.
"What about you and the demons of the sea?" Vex asked.
"We also ended up as a mixed bag, relying on a mix of magic and strength. The waters would not settle, groups would grow, then get broken up as each leader was killed by a different utilization of abilities. We ended up using our minds to outsmart each other, but you still had to remain strong enough or you'd end up dead." Sirena stated.
"How did the Demon lord manage to get you all together?" Vex asked curiously.
"I'll tell you another time, we still have some work to do if we are to convince the others you're the true Demon Lord," Sirena led Vex to another room, which looked like a large sauna. When Vex turned to ask about it, she had disappeared as the steam in the room increased.
From the steam, a large snake with a mouth bigger than Vex lunges at him. He quickly raises his arms in reflex, attempting to shield himself from the mouth despite how pointless that would be. The mouth closed around Vex, swallowing him whole, or it appeared, instead, passing right through him. "A fake?" Vex asked out loud.
"An Illusion," Sirena stated from the mist, "this kind of magic is my true specialty. Now explain what you were doing? With your ability, you wouldn't need to flinch like that. If anyone saw you act that way in front of an enemy, you'd be exposed."
Vex wanted to complain that he hadn't had this ability very long, and it was natural for people to flinch, as it was a self-defence mechanism. Instead, he kept his mouth shut and stared into the mist, waiting for Sirena's next move.
"Keeping silent? I thought you'd be making excuses," Sirena mocked, trying to get a reaction as she launched shards of ice from Vex's left. He wanted to flinch again, but grabbed his arm, squeezing it tightly to stop himself. The ice redirected back into the mist, as Sirena shook her head. You could call Vex's method an improvement, but it was far from what was necessary.
Sirena added water to the saunas, increasing the heat, causing Vex to start sweating under the armour. If it keeps increasing, he might pass out. "I'll find ways to keep breaking you until even I'm convinced you're the true Demon Lord," Sirena declared.