Alvin heard Baal murmuring to himself. Thanks to what he knew about certain secrets, he had some idea what was going on...
For these aliens, some things were determined from birth...
Hell's creatures were constrained by their environment. Almost from the moment they were born, they were immersed in slaughter.
The environment here, and the so-called soul energy, were saturated with a frenzied quality. Creatures that grew up on this energy adapted to their surroundings through generation after generation of slaughter, and eventually became what people called Demons...
The higher-ranking Demons' greed for human souls came from deep within. They instinctively understood that human souls could make them more "lucid," just as those royal Demons would rather lower their rank than miss the chance to "feed" on Earth once they came of age.
"Free" souls were the treasure that higher-ranking Demons dreamed of possessing. Mephisto was a cut above the rest: he used Ghost Rider contracts to "trade" for souls.
Then he made those Ghost Riders his agents on Earth. They killed Demons who crossed over, and while digesting the "purified" souls, they also indirectly protected Earth, deepening his bond with the planet.
In Hell, the strongest were often the most "lucid"...
In pure strength, Surtur, whom Alvin had met, was the most powerful being he knew after Odin. So why was Mephisto still the Lord of Hell? That was the reason!
Alvin had also noticed something strange: the smarter a Demon seemed from a human perspective, the higher its rank.
The Succubi who worked at the Demon Hunter Bar were considered middle-ranking Demons, after all.
But in terms of actual strength, they couldn't even match some of the elite low-ranking Demons Alvin had encountered in Hell this time.
Perhaps what truly determined a Demon's rank was its overall ability,