It’s been there for over 800 years (Al’s age) and probably thousands of years … we don’t know for certain how many of our cultural and religious traditions about the Underworld are true in the EA universe.

Hmmmm I’m debating how much to say about legions and their purpose and what Al’s deal with them is because we’re kiiiiinda sorta treading into Story Spoilers™ with this discussion haha. (ԾεԾ|||) But yes, soldiers in legions are just following a simple directive and aren’t very good at doing much else. Legionnaires are different, but we get a scene where that’s discussed a bit more in Part 3! And Merchant was just being an opportunist (and a giant dick) – 10 soldiers sounded a lot more enticing than 3 standard years of life haha ୧(☉□☉)୨