“Who are you, and what do you want?” - mentally squeaked one of the denizens of the lair as soon as it became clear that we were not just passing by but heading directly towards them. Due to the thin atmosphere, demons also preferred to communicate telepathically.
We didn’t engage in any debate; instead, we simply attacked with pinpoint spells, targeting the demons hiding behind the walls. They seemed to expect nothing else, as the initial bursts met force fields. After a brief exchange of attacks, I assessed the demons' offensive power as low and then ordered the use of weapons. The pistol-caliber 'blasters' were readied, and the demons were eliminated in just five seconds. The enhanced charges easily penetrated thick stone walls and several layers of magical defenses. The demons' bodies offered no resistance at all.
After extracting souls from the mangled bodies, the workers began repairing the fortifications, the warriors conducted interrogations, and the scientists started autopsies, trying to determine the reason for the incredible similarity between this type of demon and us.
Combining what we learned from the interrogations with the research results, we discovered that spiders were distant relatives of demons. They were artificially created by crossbreeding demons and ordinary insects, which magic could accomplish. Afterward, some of the test subjects escaped and returned to the demon world. There, they adapted to living in lifeless worlds and eventually settled across numerous demonic domains, securing a relatively good position. Unlike regular demons, spider-demons retained traces of magical cores and could 'do magic' even without captured souls.
This worked to our advantage, as we planned to set up a small base here where we could create an oxygen atmosphere and start growing food. To the locals, we remained the same demon-spiders; fortunately, only minor adjustments were needed to our appearance.
Alongside setting up, we studied the local political situation. We were in a relatively small domain ruled by a weak archdemon. By the way, the domain was a planetoid with a diameter of a couple thousand kilometers, surrounded by a force field that maintained the atmosphere and created artificial gravity. Here, it was not the earth pulling towards itself but the sky pressing down on those who dared to be beneath it.
Fortunately, the archdemon spent most of his time on personal matters and was absent from this world. He had last been seen here more than three hundred years ago. During his absence, the affairs were managed by a certain Rabator, whose army we had destroyed a few years ago. In demon society, greed was considered almost a virtue. Over his thousands of years of rule, Rabator had amassed many mortal souls. But he didn’t think to share them with other demons; instead, he raised an innumerable army of undead. Losing it during his last campaign, the demon lost almost all respect.
No one had precise information, but rumors suggested that the entire army had been wiped out in an instant by a rebellious god. Now, Rabator was holed up in his castle, seething with anger and planning an attack on one of the human worlds, where he intended to gather more 'meat'. His personal power was unaffected because he had managed to escape the battlefield with all his stash of great mage souls.
While my subordinates were settling into their new residence, I thought about how we would achieve our goal. The goal was to capture the portal from this side and establish a full-fledged base from which we could conduct raids for demon souls. A direct assault was pointless. We could kill wild demons with almost no resistance. But in the 'capital,' each demon owned at least ten souls. Rabator had demonstrated his abilities during the battle on my planet. If not for the distance, it was uncertain who would have emerged victorious.
We could use the well-established thermonuclear weapons, but an explosion of sufficient power could potentially damage the portal. Moreover, there were too many strong demons in the city, and their souls were exactly what we needed. Fortunately, a solution to this problem found us on its own a few days later.
Unlike the demons before us, we didn’t limit ourselves to simple external observation; instead, we set up a whole network of surveillance spells that allowed us to detect any opponent in advance. And we did detect a group of such intruders while they were still twenty kilometers away. The wasteland demons preferred to live alone. But here, there was a whole squad of a couple of dozen individuals. They were moving directly towards us, so the entire base was instantly put on high alert.
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About five kilometers away, the group split up. A dozen hid in a small hollow, while the rest continued towards us. This tactic suggested they probably wouldn’t attack us. However, who knows with these demons. I, along with a few spiders, climbed the walls and took cover with shields, while the others hid near the cave entrance, waiting to see what would happen.
“Who is in charge here? Come out.“
“Are we going to fight?”
In front of us stood only one negotiator, resembling a mix of a slug, a monkey, and a centipede. Among demons, there was no standard appearance, so this individual could easily blend into the gray mass of 'commoners' by local standards. Eight of his companions stood at a distance, watching the negotiations from what they considered a safe range.
In response to my question, the demon timidly took a couple of steps back and hurried to assure me of his peaceful intentions. Such behavior was quite unusual among demons. Showing peaceful intentions was a dangerous anomaly in their mentality, indicating possible treacherous plans.
“No. I came to deliver an order from Rabator.“
“How will you prove that? You don’t look like a messenger. More like a regular wild demon.”
The demon swallowed the insult and glanced at his companions. Another demon, looking more imposing, separated from the crowd. It wasn’t the nearly humanoid appearance but the magical shields surrounding him that indicated he was a holder of at least a few souls.
“I am a messenger of Rabator. And he commands you, insignificant creatures, to come to his city in eleven days to take a military oath.” - It seemed that the fact I hadn’t killed the 'negotiator' as soon as I saw him was interpreted by this envoy as a sign of weakness or, perhaps, the very treacherous peaceful intentions. His telepathic speech conveyed very provocative and arrogant tones.
“Stealing a couple of souls from someone doesn’t make you a messenger” - I countered. – “Fall on your knees and beg for mercy if you don’t want me to tear you apart and eat you alive”. - Demons were extremely resilient beings, so my threats were quite feasible. Spiders would disdain such a 'breakfast,' but my clone could consume even more.
This time, I guessed the local manner of communication correctly. No, the demon wasn’t going to fall on his knees, but his arrogance had diminished.
“Behold the sign of Rabator, vile creature.”
The envoy raised his hands, and a fiery symbol appeared above him, radiating the aura of an ancient demon. I referred to the memory of one of the previous inhabitants of the cave. His soul was sealed in a stone, and retrieving the memory was simply a matter of using a weak spell, drawing energy from a reservoir.
It seemed this was indeed a genuine envoy. The military oath was one of the stages in preparing for a military campaign. Demons couldn’t tolerate any restriction of their will in the form of magical oaths. On the other hand, the leaders of campaigns were also reluctant to invite demons into their forces who could potentially stab them in the back at any moment. For such situations, the military oath was developed. It was a temporary contract binding one demon to another. The reward was, of course, souls, or rather, the opportunity to obtain them. Under standard conditions, a demon could receive one soul out of every ten captured. However, the demon had to kill the victim personally because souls of those killed by undead belonged to the master of the undead. Overall, the conditions were harsh, but wild demons were grateful for even that. For them, it was the only chance to get at least one soul.
Another important condition of taking the oath was that it was done with a relatively small number of demons at a time. Rabator did not want endless hordes of wild demons outside his city walls. Such a situation could turn into a spontaneous assault. Therefore, demons were invited in small groups for the oath. This applied only to strong groups or outstanding individuals. The previous inhabitants of the cave were considered such a group.
And finally, the most crucial aspect was that Rabator himself took the oath. Naturally, he could not accept oaths from millions of demons. Thus, only the chosen ones - future generals who would then have to recruit wild demons on their own territory and make them swear allegiance to them - were granted a personal audience. So the current situation was a rare chance to meet the ruler of the entire domain in person. I certainly couldn’t miss it. But there was still one more thing.
This invitation was not only a means of communication but also a test in which I had to demonstrate my leadership qualities. And what does it mean to be a leader in demon society? It meant, of course, striving to hoard everything for oneself, regardless of the consequences. That was why there was a second group, which was now observing us using surveillance spells. On the other hand, showing disrespect towards Rabator could also negatively affect the future of a potential general. So, it was necessary to keep a balance.