Eren could hear the solemnity in Alephee's voice as she spoke to him.
He paid keen attention to her words as she continued.
'Demons… they have a history.
They were a lot more chaotic and bloodthirsty than they are now. No matter how strong they were, nobody could handle the demonkind. The usual tricks wouldn't work on them.
The unruly demons brought with them extreme violence, cruelty, and malice to whichever world they infiltrated. If you think the demons of today cause mayhem, you should have seen them when they didn't have a hierarchy governing their actions.'
Eren raised his eyebrows. He narrowed his eyes before commenting.
"So there's a reason the continent of Anfang doesn't want demonkind to deepen its roots here."
Alephee responded right away.
'That's right. I'm sure there are other reasons for the continent of Anfang to have a closed-door policy. But this would definitely be one of the reasons.
The demons of the past delighted in war. They always had intent-based magic supporting their cause. As such, they always liked to invoke emotions in the denizens of the world they visited.
The suffering of others brought these unruly demons equal joy. They desired nothing short of the destruction of all things because that's when their intent-based magic worked best.
These demons valued nothing save brutal strength, which was the only means to truly control them. Even then they would quickly find ways to betray those that tried to control them unless they retained their strength.
In the distant past, these demons did not have definite leaders like the Demon Princess that rules over them now. Only the most feared, violent, and murderous of Demons were capable of sustaining lasting power within the chaotic hordes. Even then, these leaders were not as respected as the Demon Princes of today.'
Alephee told Eren that nothing had changed much in the demons' way of operating since the beginning of time. It was just that they started respecting the authority of their superiors more. She elaborated on the matter in detail.
"Demons were like parasites who would try to infiltrate any world they could find before spreading mayhem and madness. However, nobody had a surefire way of dealing with them.
This was because as hated as they were by most civilizations, they were also part of Creation. And things that are originally part of the Creation would be supported by the Creation itself."
Eren didn't know that the existence of demons was such a serious matter for various worlds. He could now understand why the Anfang alliance was doing everything in its power to place a gag order on all talks related to them. After all, even the mere mention of powerful demons was enough to attract their attention.
The butcher wondered if Alephee was describing the demons' past or what they were like today. He also wondered who brought order to such chaotic beings.
Alephee provided him with the answer right away.
"Demons were natural enemies of every living person living in any world. And there was no way to stop their advent.
But everything changed when one man decided to change the way demons operated. He swam against the current and made the impossible possible with his sheer efforts and capabilities alone– without asking for anyone's help.
This man entered the demon realm all by himself and brought order to it. This was an unbelievable feat even for the so-called gods."
Eren could feel the hate Alephee had for the gods when she spoke about them. But he chose to remain silent, prompting her to continue.
"With the kind of powers he possessed, this man was like the first true heir of Creation. He created the Seven Planes of Sins by discarding most of his emotions and appointed Demon Princes as the rulers of those planes. This was how the demons learned to wield their intent-based magic to its fullest."
Eren wondered what kind of ranking status one would have to achieve to create the Planes of Sins by discarding emotions. He even wondered if such power could be measured by the rudimentary ranking standards known to him.
The butcher wasn't even sure what the concepts of the demon realm, Seven Planes of Sins, and Demon Princes truly entailed. But he decided to concentrate on what Alephee was putting forward next.
"This man claimed the entire demon realm to himself by creating the Seven Planes of Sins. The Demon Princes were basically appointed as caretakers of their property. Being the creator of the Seven Planes of Sins, he had the power to override any of the Demon Princes' authority.
He could take away their status as the rulers of their respective Planes and appoint anyone he saw fit in their place. He became the undisputed emperor of the demon realm and had Demon Kings serving under him.
The demons had a way to rise above their origins because of the order introduced by this man. They no longer tried to engage in suicide tactics with mortals and instead started competing with each other for power.
The appearance of demons continued to occur in various worlds. But things became manageable for the denizens of their respective worlds."
Alephee's voice had a tinge of nostalgia mixed in it. She took a brief pause before continuing.
"Such was the caliber of the man who ruled over demonkind with an iron fist. Of course, he doesn't exist anymore. So the throne that he used to occupy is empty and waiting to be claimed.
Hehe. Can you guess the bloodline of that man before he was erased from existence?"
Alephee sounded thrilled and elevated when she posed the rhetorical question to Eren in the end. The latter stopped in his tracks when he heard the question. He raised his hands in front of him and looked at the traces of green veins visible on his forearms.
'Elder Ichor. This is the bloodline that runs through your veins. This was the same bloodline the Emperor of the demon realm had in his day.
As such, you are his inheritor. Your bloodline gives you the right to contend for his throne. Now the question is– do you have what it takes to claim it?'
