Vile Evil Hides Under The Veil

'So Demonmir's demon soul fragment is on the same level as Argo's is?'

Eren asked Alephee out of curiosity. The latter hadn't come into contact with Demonmir so she couldn't tell. However, she had something else to tell the butcher.

'Eren, I am not saying you should become irrationally fearless. But don't worry too much about demonic rankers like this Demonmir guy. At least not because of their demonization.

From the looks of things, Demonmir's standing in the kingdom's eyes is not something you can ignore. His faction of the Montmorency clan and his reach within the royal court can hurt you more than the demon inside him ever will.'

Alephee had a completely different opinion than Levine and Jiana on the same matter. She was more concerned about Demonmir's political might than his individual power. She also understood the question Eren wanted to ask her. So she added further.

'You want to know more about demonic rankers? To put it simply, they are rankers seeking blessings from the demon realm. They will offer their bodies as shells to the demons in exchange for demonic powers.

They can be considered uninitiated demonic rankers if they perform demonic rituals to attract demons and have yet to become successful. Some rankers manage to attract a demon soul fragment into their bodies through ritual. They manage to keep it slumbering for the most part so that they can use their powers passively without any risk. They can be called initiated demonic rankers.

Lastly, rankers who managed to not only attract demon soul fragments inside their bodies but also tame such fragments to do their bidding for them are called fully awakened demonic rankers.'

Eren kept walking towards the giant gate with the three ladies surrounding him in silence. Jiana had told him that the demon soul fragment inside Ottoman was as strong as Argo.

Eren didn't understand what it meant by any demon soul fragment being as strong as Argo. However, the news still put him on edge. Especially after witnessing the feats Argo could perform when he was battling Oliver and his forces.

Alephee allowed Eren to take a mental breather before speaking up.

'Of course, what I have told you about demonic rankers is a simple way of putting it and there's obviously more to it. But that should be enough for you for now.

The degree of demonization and the power of the demon soul fragments dictate the boost a ranker would experience in terms of their raw power. A strong demon produces a strong demon soul fragment. With a strong demon soul fragment, demonic rankers can unlock more demonic potential.

However, with increased benefits come additional risks. Strong demons are not easy to control. If someone loses the mental fight they had with the demon soul fragment at the time of demonic possession, they may have to say goodbye to their ego forever.

After all, the first goal of demonic possession for demons is to have mortal shells. Stronger demons would just take over the possessed entities in one go. Or they'll wait and bide their time until an opportunity arises. They'll take over the ranker when they are at their weakest, finally granting them the mortal vessels they needed all along.

The two Demon Princes sending their soul fragments into the same world at almost the same time is no coincidence. It is obviously due to the unnatural interference of the cause-and-effect fabric of the world. That harlot and I are both to blame for this, I guess.

Still, something doesn't quite add up.

I find it completely unbelievable that someone from the land of Anfang managed to tame a demon soul fragment of a Demon Prince. There's obviously something more to the story.'

Eren processed Alephee's words slowly in his head. A chronic planner like him didn't want to face Demonmir until he knew enough about the topic. However, he couldn't just go back to White Raven the way he came.

Eren needed to get through the whole ordeal to get the things he wanted from the graduation event. It was the whole reason he had come here. He wasn't sure how much he should ask without triggering the continental array's response. But he decided to push its limits for his own sake.

'Alephee, how are demons categorized? And what is a Demon Prince?'

Alephee took her time to reply. Her words were carefully chosen so as not to cause a scene in Edin.

'There are countless demons who infiltrate various worlds of all sorts looking for God Sparks. But not every demon is the same. Just like the royalty of Edinburgh, demons have a hierarchy to them.

Lesser demons, greater demons, archdemons, etc. are as countless as the stars in the cosmos. But there are only seven Demon Princes at any given time in any world.

Previously, all demons were chaotic beings that didn't believe in order. But then a certain someone came along and established an ironclad rule of hierarchy for them.

Things changed for the demon kind after that. Now a demon would have to rise through the ranks and defeat any of the existing Demon Princes to take over their domains.

These Demon Princes are like de facto leaders of all the demons that are below them.'

Alephee's answers only created more questions in Eren's head. He sighed in his head before responding.

'My dear Alephee… While I understand that the Demon Princes are rare, it does nothing to solve the mystery around them in my head. I don't know anything about demons. And I understand that I won't be able to for a long while.

Please answer this in a way I can understand. For example, how many Sages would it take to defeat a Demon Prince? This is the kind of scale I can understand at my current level.'

Alephee chuckled when Eren wanted to give him a simple answer to a complex question. She pondered for a bit before responding.

'I'm not sure how many Sages it would take to defeat a Demon Prince… But…'

Alephee took another long pause as if choosing her words carefully after doing some sandboxing in her head.

'But… A Demon Prince can take on 100s of Sages attacking him as one entity and still win.'

Eren stopped in his tracks when he heard the answer he received from Alephee. The Sage scale of measurement he had created for himself quickly became insufficient in his head to measure an actual Demon Prince's might.