Demon Lord's Reincarnation

Alfred couldn't believe his ears as he heard Ren confirming his guess. How was it possible that the human child before him was that fearsome being from ages past. Alfred wanted to deny it, he wanted it to be a simple joke from a human boy. Yet no matter how hard he thought about it, he just couldn't deny the possibility. 

Ren did use spells that only Demon Lord Kretos knew, Ren's facial expressions and his mannerism as he fought was also the same as the Demon Lord Alfred knew when he was still human. Alfred who was nothing more than bones now, felt like he was sweating which was impossible. As a lich or basically as an undead he wasn't supposed to feel any emotion. Yet here he was feeling a long-forgotten emotion. The moment he figured out who Ren was it was like his very soul shook in fear.

"How?" Alfred asked still confused about what was happening before him.

"I don't know and I don't care. Just use your spell already I'm losing my patience. If you don't then I guess that's all you can give." Ren was now slightly irritated since he knew the backlash from eating the young dragon heart was coming. He really wanted to beat Alfred after he used his strongest spell, but he also knew that the backlash can come at any time. 

Alfred who has been studying humans for centuries was very adept at reading human expressions. Ren wasn't only feeling irritated there were slight signs of anxiety in there. Ren could or could not be the Demon Lord Kretos, but Alfred was sure that Ren wasn't really that good in showing a poker face. It was then Alfred figured out what was happening. 

"Oh, so there are side effects in eating the dungeon core. I guess you have a time limit, so if I'm able to wait it out it's my win." Alfred was expecting Ren's face to contort as he revealed a secret that Ren seems to be hiding. Yet Ren's face still looked a bit irritated but now with added scorn. 

"So?" 

"So I can do this." Alfred was about to activate his teleportation spell, but for some reason, he couldn't use it. It was at that moment Alfred finally noticed that he was inside a huge magic circle. 

"I already knew you would do that. Ever since the fight started I've been preparing this magic circle and you didn't notice. Why do you think I kept on spinning my scythe even though I don't need to? Just to look cool? For a being that is a thousand years older than me, you're pretty dumb."

Alfred remembered what Ren did as he was attacking the hordes of undead, that really was him preparing a large magic circle. Because Alfred was looking down on Ren at the beginning he never expected him to do that. Now that he knew Ren's true nature, it was too late to plan anything. He grossly underestimated the whole situation.

"In this magic circle, all spells that are related to spatial interference won't work. So there's no escape now. You either use your strongest spell and hope to kill me, or I can just kill you right now. I'm going to give you until the count of five to decide. Once I end my count I'll erase your existence." 

Alfred started to think as fast as he can on what move would be the best move at this moment. 

"One." 

'There must be a way to survive.'

"Two."

'I have survived countless calamities. There must be a way out of this one.'

"Three." 

'Even back in the day when he was still in the peak of his power, wasn't I able to survive an encounter with Demon Lord Kretos.

"Four." 

'What should I do?'

"F-" 

"Wait!" Before Ren could finish his count Alfred raised his hand to stop him. 

"Oh, are you finally willing to fight until the end?" Ren's fighting spirit was on the rise as he got ready to intercept whatever Alfred has to offer. But instead of chanting a spell Alfred knelt on one leg and did the old demon's way of bowing to a superior. 

"I want to serve you, my lord. Surely at this time, you would need someone like me as your right-hand man. With my ability, I can be the same as your General Monênàch." 

General Monênàch one of Ren's former generals also known as the immortal warrior. He commanded the undead races in Ren's former Empire, and he himself was an undead ghoul, the strongest of his kind. 

Hearing what Alfred said made Ren laugh hysterically. 

"HAHAHAHAHA! You, the same as Monênàch?! You're not even fit to lick his shoes. Enough of this farce if you're not going to do anything, then die!"

"I have news about your son, I know about what happened after the coup." 

"I don't care about that. The life of my traitorous son is not something I care about. Though I am glad he gave me the gift of death in battle. Still, whatever happened after that is no longer my business." 

"How about what happened to the Demon Empire, aren't you curious as to why Humans are the new rulers of the land?"

"Why should I care, if the demons are no longer on top that only means they were too weak to defend themselves. The moment I died as Demon Lord Kretos, my past relations have less meaning. If that's all you are going to say then die!"

Ren raised his scythe and was going to slash Alfred. When suddenly the Elder Lich gathered mana and started chanting. Ren seeing this action smiled viciously as he looked at Alfred in a crazed manner. 

'If you're going to do it, why waste all of my time? I guess he really is hoping for the backlash to kick in...' While Ren was thinking about why Alfred changed his mind, Alfred himself was trying to prolong the chanting time hoping that Ren wouldn't notice and the backlash from eating the dungeon core would happen.

Unfortunately for Alfred Ren was currently very sensitive to the flow of mana and was able to deduce when I spell was ready. When Alfred got to the end of his chant, he started to add new words hoping that he could buy some more time. 

"Unleash it already Alfred! I already know you've finished chanting the spell words, you already gathered enough mana and you already constructed the format of the spell, all you need to do now is activate it. If you don't use it then prepare to die without a fight." 

Alfred having no other choice unleashed his strongest spell, it was his original spell "[Eternal Freeze]." The land they were standing on started to freeze over as it even extended near the walls of Grenton. Even the people on the walls that were far away from the center of the spell were getting frostbite. The weaker ones who were near death were now dying from hypothermia.

In the center of the spell, an ice mountain appeared encased Ren inside. Alfred seeing Ren's body inside the mountain of ice was amazed that he was able to defeat Ren so easily, he didn't even try to dodge. This spell was made to capture and kill giant creatures such as titans and dragons, though Alfred has never truly tested this spell on a live titan or dragon, he knew theoretically this spell was supposed to work. Seeing Ren was still unmoving after a few minutes, Alfred thought he had succeeded in killing Ren.

"Like I said your pride was going to be your downfall. Even though you are no longer Demon Lord Kretos, you still acted as if you still were. Now, look at you... I can't believe I was afraid of someone like you." 

As Alfred was about to retrieve Ren's dead body he heard the voice of the person he thought was dead.

"That was pretty good, a wide area spell that you can't escape. Normally this would've spelled my doom, unfortunately, you're so predictable. Using an ice-based spell even at the end, so easy to predict so easy to counter." 

Moments before the spell hit, Ren coated his whole body with Spirit Aura was able to withstand the spell and negate it from within. The spell was really working at the beginning, but because of using Spirit Aura an energy source Alfred had no knowledge of, the encroachment was slow which gave Ren enough time to create a double of himself using an illusion spell, and then slipped away waiting to see what Alfred would do.

...

Ren was standing behind Alfred all this time, using the darkness attribute to mask his presence. With Ren's proficiency in using darkness spells, masking his presence from Alfred was a piece of cake. 

Alfred was about to say something but he felt the scythe passed through him. He was going to escape using his soul but the death scythe was made to specifically reap souls so not even Alfred's soul was able to survive the attack. 

"That was fun, thank you for the battle." Those were the last words Alfred heard as his soul was reaped.