( The Demon King's POV )
Julien was not the only leader who was informed about the Demon Whisperer being kidnapped, as the news of Eren's kidnapping reached the Demon King Anos as well.
"My King, the Demon Whisperer has been captured by humans. Incredibly, just two humans managed to infiltrate our camp, eliminate dozens of our best fighters, and kidnap the Demon Whisperer from our grasp." A demon informant said, as the entire council fell silent at this revelation.
"Just two humans you say….?" Anos questioned, his voice sounding angry, as just the undernote of his questioning made the demon informant tremble.
"They were not ordinary humans, my king, they were quite strong. As strong as a Demon Count as per the reports that we received" The informant said, as Anos chuckled at his words.
"Do you hear this? Councilmen? THERE ARE HUMANS AS STRONG AS DEMON COUNTS NOW–" Anos bellowed, as the entire room got enveloped in his powerful aura, making all the demons present within tremble with fear.
The demon king was known as the legendary warrior that had subdued even a dragon.
Nobody wished to see him enraged, however, having lost the demon whisperer, Anos seemed genuinely pissed today.
"If there is one thing that us demons take pride in….. it's the strength of the blood flowing through our veins.
Strong demons won't even reproduce with weak females because they don't wish to taint their bloodlines.
Us high demons especially, have only bred with the finest partners for centuries, becoming much stronger than common demons, but for what?
What good is the strength coursing through our veins if DOZENS of high demons can't even take on TWO human weaklings?" Anos asked, as the entire council hung their heads in shame when faced with this question.
Humans were weaker than demons, that was the belief that all demons held and that was their source of pride.
As demons, they genuinely believed that the only reason the humans were able to maintain their control over such vast areas of land was because of their intellect and technology, as it was their siege weapons and superior war tactics that helped them fight against the demons on even terms.
However, there was no tactic or strategy involved when 2 humans infiltrated a demon camp alone.
There, surrounded by thousands of demons, hundreds of whom were high demons, the humans should have had no chance of survival, yet they somehow slaughtered their way out of the mess, with the demons being unable to respond.
No matter how one looked at it, this was a slap in the face of demon pride as it went against their beliefs that they were better fighters than humans.
"Why does no-one present here dare to make eye-contact with me today? Why does no-one in this great council have answers for why this happened?
When it's time for debate on who will get to marry my daughter, all of you look me in the eyes and try to convince me to give her hand to you in marriage, however, today as I ask you all a fundamental question, not one of you dares to look me in the eyes ...." Anos said, as he ran his gaze through the council, however, only saw bown heads all around.
"Very well then….. if none of you have an explanation, then perhaps I should marry my daughter to those TWO humans instead of you.
Because clearly. My bloodline is better off with warriors like them instead of cowards like yourself–" Anos said, as it was this insult that became too heavy to bear for many high demons.
"My King!" Said a High Demon, who looked like he was more of an orc than a demon with his freakishly large body and wide shoulders.
"While I don't have an explanation for today's events, I have the courage to take revenge.
If you allow me….I alone shall infiltrate the human territory and avenge this insult with blood.
I will paint their towns red and conquer much land in your name" The orcish demon said, as after he was done speaking there were many other demons who also came forward with the same proposal.
"Give me the honor of avenging us, My King"
"No! You must give me the honor, you know I'm the strongest fighter in this realm after you my King!"
"The humans have gone too far! They must be reminded of their place!"
"We must avenge the Demon Pride…. We are the ultimate warrior race!"
A ruckus broke out within the council room with every Demon present arguing their case on why they should be the ones to avenge the wounded demon pride, however, while Anos tolerated the clutter for a while, soon he grew bored of it.
"Silence–" he commanded, raising his hand, as immediately the entire room grew absolutely silent.
"The consensus that this council has reached is indeed correct.
We must avenge this incident.
The Humans cannot think that us demons are pushovers, and hence we must push back.
However, NONE of you have the ability to make the statement that I desire.
I'm afraid, that this matter needs to be handled personally by me" Anos said, as the entire council broke down in sweat when Anos suggested that he would personally take action.
"My King…. You don't have to move a muscle; Please allow your underlings to avenge on your behalf" A high demon pleaded, however, Anos seemed to have already made up his mind.
"Find me the city where the Demon Whisperer is being held within human territory... since the humans killed a few dozen of our men, I shall repay the favor by burning their city down" Anos said, as his domineering statement made all the demons present within the council room to drop down to their knees.
The Demon King had spoken! He was personally going to take revenge for the Demon Whisperer's kidnapping, and he was going to do so, by burning a human city to ashes.