The demon civil war

“Alright. Let’s start at the beginning.” Nami explains, but then she interrupts herself saying, “Hang on, all I see one fiend and a bunch of devils …” Then she looks over at our chaperone and goes, “Liviaaaaa, was this village so isolated there weren’t any kobolds or alps over there?”

With a long sigh Livia says, “No, there weren’t any. I also never bothered to tell them.”

“Good grief.” Nami groans while rolling her eyes. “Can’t believe I even have to tell them the basics.”

“So.” Nami begins, telling a story like she is telling it to little children. “A very long time ago, there were no demons at all. Then one day the greatest demon of them all appeared and found people of the different species and lifted them up into better beings. He turned humans into the first devils. Elves into the first succubi. Dwarves became the first kobolds. Beastkind became the first fiends. Harpies became the first alps and fairies became the first imps. Everybody got that?”

We all nod, most of us not sure if that was very important or not. I guess we will discover that later on.

“Now, back to the civil war.” Nami resumes her initial story. “Our country is divided into 9 provinces. 1 is ruled by the Demon King, the others are run by the Dukes. Each Duke is an S-rank. This both expected and mandated. If for some reason the Duke is not an S-rank, an S-rank will challenge the Duke in combat and win the title from him. It has happened before, it will happen again. But we have more than 8 S-rank. In fact, we officially have 20 of them. I will soon get into why I said ‘officially’. The important part is you need to know there are 20 people among us that are considered to be of S-rank status. 8 of them being Dukes and the other 12 are direct subordinates to the demon king, living with him at his palace.”

“I see.” Kiara says, having listened intently. “The demons challenge for rank allows demons to always have the strongest individuals at the top. And the ones that can’t become Duke for some reason are kept close, so the Demon King can keep an eye on them.”

“Exactly.” Nami continues. “And for many centuries, this is a system that worked very well. It is not a system without its issues. Our last Demon King was very strict on not going to war. The most aggressive they did to the other nations was sending in spies to discover what new technologies they develop and bring those ideas over here. Over time, this did bring us some valuable information, but it also went slow.”

“It sounds like you had a good system of government there.” Merlara speaks up. “But we already know it went wrong. How so?”

“You said your village is quite self-sufficient.” Nami says. “That means you are some of the lucky ones. A lot of people here can’t live a sustainable lifestyle. Many of our regions produce less food then the people need to survive. Because of this, many of us have petitioned the Demon King to either raid the human kingdom and steal food, or at least engage in trade. Selling them raw materials like minerals for food. But the Demon King was resolute in perpetuating total isolationism. Over the decades, the people who resent our King over this grew greater in number until eventually they got together and started a conspiracy.”

A conspiracy? I see. So I guess the rebellion is something that was planned for many years. It probably also implies some high ranking demons were in on it.

“A simple conspiracy alone would not take down the Demon King.” Livia interrupts Nami. “The Demon King is not only the most power demon on this world, but also the most powerful being. They would overpower any trap placed for them.”

Nami leans over to Livia and with a smug smile she asks, “Even a trap placed by Janus?”

This seems to get Livia’s attention. Her expression loses the scowl she has for Nami and is replaced by surprise. “Can’t be. Janus is the King’s most loyal subject. He is even Legatus of the Daemonum Custodes.”

“What’s a Legatus?” I ask Livia.

Nami groans to my question and tells Livia, “You haven’t told them what a Legatus is? Uuuuhhh, So I guess you haven’t even explained the legions to them, right?”

Livia crosses her arms and goes back to scowling at Nami. “It has been 20 years, as far as I knew some of the legions changed their names.”

“Right.” Nami continues for the rest of us. “The important thing for you to know right now, is that each of the 9 provinces has its own legion. Each legion has its own name and is led by a Legatus. Some kind of general if you will. Normally the Legatus is the Duke himself, but at times the Duke can be busy with other things and can appoint someone he trusts as Legatus. The Daemonum Custodes is the name of the Demon King’s personal legion. And Janus is so trusted by the King that he has been appointed as Legatus to the King’s personal legion.”

“So if Janus was to turn against the King, it would be a big blow.” Merlara reasons.

“Still, that alone is not enough for the Demon King to be defeated.” Livia interrupts again. “Who else was in the conspiracy.”

“Pretty much half the S-ranks under the king’s personal command.” Nami replies. “And 3 of the Dukes.”

Livia’s mouth falls open from the surprise. She gets closer to Nami and asks, “How did it happen?”

Nami eye’s go up, like she is searching her memory. “Oof, it has been nearly 20 years. Or 15 of them? Probably closer to 15. So, apparently Janus told the 6 loyal S-ranks under the King’s personal command to go out on some missions with the squads. Those S-ranks were sent into traps. The legions of the traitor Dukes were lying in wait and attacked them. Meanwhile, back at the palace in Xibalba, the King was surrounded by only traitor S-ranks.”

“How did they overpower the King?” Livia asks.

“With surprise, really.” Nami replies. “I wasn’t there when it happened, but I heard Janus planned it so his 5 conspirators were alone with the King when they attacked. Our King fought back severely and killed 3 of them while utterly obliterating the 2 others. Then Janus came in, all concerned as he rushed to the wounded king. Since Janus was the most trusted, the wounded King let down his guard, allowing Janus the chance to stab a dagger in our King’s chest. No more Demon king.”

That is quite a devious way to take out a king. Since we humans have a queen, it makes me wonder if this is a thing that could happen to us. Would Zhoran ever do something like this to queen Zara? No, rumors say they are in a relationship. On top of which, there are the 3 guild leaders that would turn against them.

“I don’t believe it.” Livia tells Nami. “The Demon King can’t be dead. The real story is probably that they captured him. Trapped him somewhere.”

“You don’t think we tried that ourselves?” Nami replies, seemingly having forgotten her beef with Livia. “There was a whole civil war after the initial attack. The S-ranks that weren’t captured fled to the other dukes and asked them to raise the legions. Lucius, Orobas and Ravana heeded the call and ended up throwing down against Vanth, Empusa and Dagrol.”

“Wait, that’s only 6 dukes.” Kiara interrupts, “You said there were 8.”

“Duke Oriax couldn’t be bothered. He had no interest in war.” Nami says with a sigh. “and Keres declared she wanted to see which side was the strongest. I guess she treated the whole war as a play for her amusement.”

“Anyways, the war lasted a very long time.” Nami continues, getting back to the topic. “The battle lines moved back and forth many times, especially the Daemonum Custodes made it quite complicated as it fractured.”

“Wasn’t that legion under Janus’ personal command?” I ask. “I would assume that means they were all on his side.”

“My guess is Janus felt the same way.” Nami says as she looks at me. “But apparently many of the Tribunes were more loyal to the Demon King then they were to Janus. Many of them performed infiltration and truck behind the lines. But in time their cohorts got whittled down until they were either defeated or had to go into hiding.”

“And so eventually Janus won the war.” Merlara declares. “And is he the new Demon King then?”

Nami smiles at Merlara. “You would assume, because he was the ringleader. But no, apparently he did all of this in service of some guy called Ziges.”

“Who is Ziges?” Livia asks all confused. “I’ve never heard of him.”

“Apparently someone really powerful.” Nami answers. “It isn’t the first time an S-rank child has been living in hiding because the parents don’t want their child taken away from them by a Duke or the Demon King and raised by them instead of the actual parents. I guess Ziges is one of those who slipped through the cracks. All I know is that this Ziges guy has now adopted the power of the Demon King and is the our new leader.”

I see. So that is what happened here the last 15 or so years. And with the demons now preparing to invade the human kingdom, it seems logical to assume this Ziges guy is the person pushing for open war with the other nations. Perhaps, while we are on our quest to save Zaine, Ophelia, however the woman in my dreams is named, we can find a way to gather intelligence on Ziges’ forces and give our side an edge.

“That is a very interesting story, Nami.” Leona speaks up. “But I am still rather confused about the legions and the dukes. Can you tell us more about those?”

It seems Leona is also interested in gathering information for the war effort. Good call in asking for it now that we have someone willing to tell us everything.

“Hmmm, let’s start with the Legions.” Nami says. “I always felt the best way the explain the legions is from the bottom up. So, let’s start there.” She takes a moment to count how many of us are here, and says, “You know, I think there are enough of you here to help me out with this. How about 10 of you stand next to each other.”

We move around the room until, I, Kiara, Amelia, Ryul, Shalia, Leona, Merlara, Ari, Sophie and Lilith are all standing in one row next to each other.

“So, the lowest group in a legion is called a contubernium.” Nami explains. “And all of them are D-ranks.”

“Except for the Decanus.” Livia interrupts. “The part leader if you will. That’s the only person who is a C-rank.”

“So in this example, Lilith would be the Decanus and you guys would be her legionnaires.” Nami says. “These contubernia, or adventurer parties as they are sometimes called, can be sent out to do quests or perform patrols. And if a quest is too difficult for one of them, 2 or 3 are send out at once. Depending on how dangerous the mission is.”

“Alright. This is pretty simple.” Ryul says. “How many of these parties are there in one legion?”

“Let’s get to that later.” Nami tells Ryul. “Now, I want the 10 of you to separate a little.”

Each of us takes a few steps away from each other. Then Nami continues her explanation and says, “Now assume each of you is a Decanus. That means each of you is a C-rank with 9 D-ranks under our command. But when 10 Decani gather like this, you become a Century. A group of 100 soldiers.”

“Then, amongst yourselves, you are going to choose the most powerful C-rank amongst you to be the leader of the Century, the Centurion. If you don’t know who that is, you are meant to duel each other until one of you stands out as the most powerful in your group.”

“Right, I see.” Ryul says. “But what if a D-rank wants to become a Decanus, or a Centurion. Can that happen?”

“Ehh.” Nami says with a contorted smile. “Perhaps if there are not enough C-rank that can happen. But even then, D-rank Decani are not going to be as respected as a C-rank.”

“Anyways.” Livia takes over. “Centuries too can gather together like contubernia do. So, if all of you are Centurions and 6 of you come together …”

Livia and Nami move amongst us and pull Ari, Sophie, Kiara and Amelia aside while gathering the other 6 of us together. “… you 6 would then be a cohort. A group of 600 legionnaires.”

“And one of us would be appointed the cohort leader?” Leona asks.

Nami smiles at her. “I see your reasoning, but no. A cohort is a much too large group to be able to be controlled by just a C-rank and his D-rank buddies. That is when a B-rank is brought in and appointed as the Cohort’s Tribune. This Tribune can bring his own party made of people he trusts. Usually those are B-ranks like himself, but could also contain some powerful C-ranks. People with rare abilities for example. Or, if one of the Centurions proves himself both capable and trustworthy, he can be promoted into the Tribune’s party.”

“Some Tribunes have a tendency of keeping only C-ranks in their party, because C-ranks can never become Tribune.” Livia adds. “Though those Tribunes are often seen as cowards who are too afraid of one of the B-rank party members challenging them for the position of Tribune.”

“You people seem to have a lot of cases where you challenge somebody for a higher rank, don’t you?” Merlara suddenly says.

I cannot believe she used the phrase ‘you people’. I hope Nami doesn’t catch up on this.

“If you don’t have the strength to keep your title, how can you be expected to have a strong enough hold on your subordinates?” Nami answers, seemingly missing the part where Merlara made a separation between us and demons.

“Anyways, now we come to the Legion part.” Nami continues. “So, when 10 different Cohorts gather, each represented by their own Tribune, that is a large enough group of soldiers that it is called a Legion. 9 of these Cohorts are exactly as I described, 1 of them is slightly different. It is called the First Cohort.”

“Every individual is one rank higher.” Livia explains. “Their contubernia are 9 C-ranks led by a B-rank and their Tribune is an A-rank. Other than that, there is not much difference.”

“And all 10 of these Tribunes are subordinate to the Legatus, the legion’s general.” Name finishes the explanation. “Who is typically an S-rank and employs a bunch of A-ranks in his party.”

Alright then. That is quite an insightful way the demon armies work together. It also means there are 6.000 soldiers per legion. And with there being 9 legions … 54.000 adventurers, ready to invade my homeland. I don’t think humanity has that many adventurers total. And we also have E-rank adventurers while a demon’s lowest rank is D. This does not look good.

“So? What do you think about it?” Nami asks. “Feel like joining one of the legions?”

Yeah, there is no way we are going to actually join a legion. But we also have to pretend at being hopeful young demons that want to make something of their lives.

“Well, I think I might. I mean, I am a B-rank, so I guess I could make it to Tribune.” I say, hiding the part where I am actually A-rank already. “But I think I would probably do best to join an existing Tribune’s party first and see how life as a legionnaire works before taking the lead of 600 people.”

“That is a very wise approach.” Nami nods at me approvingly. “If you keep up that mentality, I feel you might make a good Tribune one day.”

“So, now that the kids know about the civil war and the basics of a legion, how about you go into the S-ranks.” Livia asks Nami. “Even I need to know how things have shifted.”

Nami stretches her arms for a moment and walks over to her bed and sits on it.

“Let’s see. The stuff you will need to know about are what changed with the Dukes, the S-ranks and the Tribunes of the Daemonum Custodes legion. Which would like to learn about first?”