“The other was Maarg. Some fool on a world in this realm opened a Demon Gate, into Maarg’s realm, and he unleashed the outer horde, the demons from the edges, into this world. There were great battles I was told, but in the end, the demons found themselves on a world with no way off.”

“Shila,” said Sandreena. “Pug has spoken of that world and the demon battles with the Saaur.”

“But it was Dahun who saw the potential in this realm. The demons have their own magic-users and before Maarg devastated the entire world of Shila, Dahun sent spies and agents into that world, pillaging the libraries and studies of their priests and magicians. They returned with everything they could carry and for the better part of a half century they studied.

“Dahun first recognized the need to solidify his own position so he annexed Maarg’s realm, trapping Maarg on the mortal world knowing the demon king would eventually starve to death after he devoured everything.

“He then allied with the three remaining demon kings and sent forces to battle the invaders—but the forces he sent were those he inherited from Maarg’s realm, keeping his own loyal army close by.

“He then set about to leave the Fifth Circle.”

“And come here?” asked Gulamendis, as his brother walked into the room.

“The battle goes well,” said Laromendis, as Gulamendis held up his hand to indicate silence, while nodding that this was good news.

“Yes,” said Belasco. “This realm is weak compared to the Fifth Circle. But Dahun is by far the most intelligent of the Demon Lords. He realized that changes would be needed to prepare the way for his entrance into the realm.

“You know as much about demons as any man can learn on his own, brother. You know that without control, a demon will continue to feed until he devours everything he can find. Dahun created that control.

“He created a hierarchy that was more than was known before in the demon realm, not only one of power and alliances, but loyalty as well. He orchestrated betrayal and infiltrated spies into the domains of the other rulers, and he began a series of conflicts between his neighboring rulers.

“He created the illusion that Maarg had suddenly returned, feigning his own defeat by Maarg and allowing the other rulers to believe what Dahun wanted them to believe. Then he escalated the Demon War to a new level, contriving to set allies against one another, against the mortal races he encountered in this realm, and against any who might pose a threat.

“In short he readied himself to enter this level of reality and assume supremacy over all he encountered.”

“But we somehow managed to frustrate that plan,” said Amirantha.