"So the Ezraphor Royal is dead? That's why there are no Ezraphors in Hell anymore?" Renny asked.
Tela nodded. "Oy, Ezraphor was not just a royal… he was King." His hands moved as he spoke, shoulders tensing, his voice rising with every word. "The others betrayed him, killed him, just so they could get a chance to claim Fruit of Ezra for themselves."
Renny watched, startled. Tela's gestures grew sharper, almost desperate, and for a moment it looked like he might break into tears.
"That," Tela pressed on, his chest heaving, "was the only way they could rule Hell. But fortune does not favor the wicked. Even now, they can never truly rule it."
Renny found it amusing… fortune not favoring the wicked, when wickedness was their very nature. Then he asked, "But if he was the King… why couldn't he defend himself against his own subordinates?"
"Because the royals, even the king are bound," Tela explained. His gaze drifted to the trunk before them, and he lifted a branch to point at it. "Their true form is not like we. They are as this tree, though far greater. Full-grown, rooted into Hell itself. Rulers, yet prisoners. They nuh walk freely. They nuh go to Earth. That their punishment."
His voice soured, heavy with disgust. "A cruel one, the Creator. He cast them down after the rebellion, chained them to the Royal Trees, seven in all. And the King's tree held authority over all of Hell."
He lowered the branch, his tone heavy. "Because of that limitation, they use pawns—Rotmen, demons, armies. A royal's strength is not in his own hand, but in the power of those who serve him. A royal is only as strong as his…" He paused, searching for the right word.
"Armies?" Renny offered.
Tela nodded. "Oy. Armies. And when six armies march against one king, nuh matter how mighty, only a matter of time before overwhelmed. That is what happened… long ago. Why Ezraphors are extinct."
Renny was astonished. So much hidden history, knowledge buried so deep that even if some knew, they had refused to share. Others likely had no idea at all, and of course they didn't, this had happened eons ago. At last, he was getting the answers he had longed for since the very first day he'd awakened in Hell.
Then the question burned its way out of him: Why me? Why was I made a royal?
Tela's expression hardened, his voice low. "That… is an answer me cannot reveal. Nuh yet. Only when ya have grown, when ya ready, will truth be told."
Renny exhaled, frustrated but nodding, trying to accept it. "Then tell me... what must I do?" His voice carried new resolve.
"First," Tela said, "ya must have knowledge. This where ya first lesson begins. To know abilities, must first know cause and effect."
Renny frowned slightly, listening closely.
"Ya know of demon seeds?"
"Yes," Renny said quickly. "That is what I used against Leila. A friend gave it to me."
"Good," Tela nodded. "A seed creates cause energy. Many kinds of cause energy are around us, and in us. Causes are the reasons for effect. Demon seeds put a cause in place, or person, by force."
Renny muttered, half to himself, "Just like what I did against Leila…"
Tela's eyes narrowed, approving. "Oy. But for Demonic spells, make an effect from a cause that is already there. Every demon family has it own kind of cause it can see and control. That why each family's spells are different to control their cause, to create its effects."
Renny's gaze dropped, the pieces fitting together. "So without cause… there can be no effect. Simple enough," Renny said.
Tela leaned forward slightly, voice lowering. "This is why ya special. Demon eyes can only see causes that are of a demon mark. A Lust demon sees the causes of desire. A Rot demon fit see decay. A Wrath demon, violence. And they manipulate only those. Nothing more."
Renny nodded, following.
"As Ezraphor, ya demon eyes see only causes of loss and destruction, that is ya nature. And demonic spells let ya bend and shape those causes into effects."
"Right," Renny muttered. "Same as every other demon family."
Tela's mouth curled into a grin. "But ya not every other demon. Ya royal! Which means royal eye sees every cause that is there!"
Renny blinked, caught off guard. "Every… cause?"
"Oy! every single one," Tela confirmed. "From desire to madness, from decay to hunger, all causes that are of Hell and Earth. Ya royal eye see them."
Renny frowned. "But so what? Seeing doesn't mean I can use them. I can't manipulate everything."
Tela chuckled darkly and shook his head. "Ney! That is where ya true identity is. Ya not just royal—ya Ezraphor royal. What that means?"
Renny hesitated. "…What?"
"It means ya the King!" Tela said bluntly. His eyes burned as he spoke. "And the King's power is Dominion. Every royal has their power. But the King controls all. Dominion is the power to command any cause ya royal eye can see. Any of them. All of them."