Demon Lord's Reincarnation

Kretos followed behind Amon who was leading the way. As he was walking Kretos was trying to heal his wounds, but after a few tests, it would seem that the wounds he got from the beam of light couldn't be healed as fast as he wanted to. 

'That beam of light had poisoned a bit of my mana, it would take me a few days before I get back to my optimal state. Circulating my mana in my current state might spread the poison even more, but if I do it right I can heal my wounds much quicker.'

After thinking about it that far Kretos simply shrugged his shoulders no longer caring. He wasn't really bothered by the mana poisoning. 

Amon looked at the distracted Kretos and was amazed by how easily he was following him. At first, Amon just planned to tease Kretos by moving as fast as he can and leaving him behind for a while. But he was surprised to see how easily Kretos was able to keep up and with his injuries no less. 

Amon then started to run faster and Kretos was still able to keep up. Seeing this Amon's competitive spirit was set ablaze and he went all out and dashed. Despite that, Kretos was still able to keep up but he looked at bit conflicted. 

"Are you alright, want me to slow down?"

"Huh, no that's not what I was thinking about. I just wanted to say shouldn't we go faster?" When Amon heard Kretos's response he was tempted to show his real form but decided against it. 

'It's really tempting, but I'll show him my true form when he recovers his strength. I'm sure it would be a battle that would shake my very existence!' Amon got excited just thinking about the inevitable battle with Kretos. 

"There's no need we're already here." Amon stopped and so did Kretos who started looking around. Currently, the two were back in the city in an alleyway that doesn't seem to have much human traffic. Right in front of them was a sign that says Lonely Cat tavern with a picture of a black cat. The sign was written in two different languages. The first one was something commonly used, but the second one was something different. But Kretos could still somehow understand it. 

"This is my favorite place to eat, the old man serves a lot of delicious food with awesome ale." Amon proudly declared as if he was the owner of the tavern.

Upon entering the tavern a small bell rang alerting the person in charge. Kretos was amazed to see the very peculiar sight in front of him. The setup of the tavern wasn't like anything he knew off, that might be because of his memory loss, but he did have the basic memory of some taverns, and they weren't this clean, nor were they this empty. 

In fact, the whole place felt weird. Though Kretos was sure this must be the first time he has seen such a tavern, he also felt like he has seen this kind of layout before. The contradictions in his memory were making his head hurt a bit. 

"Heya boss! Bring me the usual for both me and my friend here." Amon spoke to the man by the counter. The man looked to be about thirty years of age with a deadpan expression. He was smoking something but it wasn't a pipe, it was something smaller a narrow cylinder-like object. Noticing Kretos looking curiously at the boss, Amon spoke.

"Oh, that's what the boss calls a cig. He says it comes from his hometown, some random place in the east. He only has a few of them left and doesn't want to share."

'Hmm, a cig?... That word sounds familiar.'

...

The two sat down at a table and waited for their meal. While waiting for their food and ale, the bell rang once more and a rather good looking young man entered the tavern. 

"Hey Nero," Amon waved his hands at Nero who frowned for a fraction of a second and then showed a rather creepy fake smile.

"Hello, Amon, who's your friend here?" 

"Oh this guy, he's called Kretos." When Nero heard that name the temperature in the place seem to grow a bit cold as he looked at Kretos. 

"What do you have a problem?" 

"Is that your real name?" Nero asked with a tone as cold as the frozen tundra. 

'Why does every one of these guys keep on fussing over my name?'

"Yes that's my name, do you know me?" Nero looked at the injured Kretos and noticed that despite the near-fatal injuries he had the circulation of his mana was quickly repairing the broken parts of his body. Yet despite his great regenerative capability, Nero could tell that Kretos was a pure human. 

"Oh sorry, it's nothing, your name is just similar to someone I know, but you aren't him." 

"Is that so?" Kretos also assessed Nero and found that the way he moved felt weirdly awkward. It was like the guy wasn't used to moving his own body. 

'Hmm, how curious despite his awkward movements I can tell this guy is much more dangerous than Amon.' Nero who had a serious expression quickly changed his vibe and went back to his fake smiling expression. Nero then sat down and extended his hand towards Kretos. 

"It's a pleasure to meet you Kretos, I'm Nero a friend of Amon's." 

"Sure," Kretos shook Nero's hand, but at that moment Kretos felt a spiritual force trying to probe him. He quickly retaliated and pushed back the spiritual force but before that Nero caught a glimpse of Kretos's soul. It was so profound that he almost went insane upon a tiny bit of contact with it. It was a good thing for Nero that Kretos's soul was currently being sealed by the ORIGIN. If not he would've gone insane then and there. 

"What do you think you're doing?" Kretos asked as he was prepared to attack. Seeing what just happened Amon shouted at Nero. 

"What the heck Nero! I was the one who saw Kretos first." Nero still a little bit rattled by the experience forced himself to continue smiling his fake smile. 

"Apologies Sir Kretos, that was a habit of mine. I know it's rude but it something I do to everyone I just met. I didn't mean to offend you." 

As Kretos was about to respond, three plates and three mugs of ale were placed on the table. The boss of the tavern appeared silently with a frown on his face. Kretos was rather surprised that he wasn't able to notice the boss approach him. Even though he was focused on Nero, Kretos could still sense everything within a few meters from him. Yet he couldn't catch the boss when he came so close to him. 

"If you guys are going to fight, you better do it outside. I can't have you wrecking the place. I'm already in the red as it is." 

Hearing what the boss said Kretos sighed and decided to let it go since he was no longer in the mood to fight. Kretos felt everything that was happening when he entered the tavern is weird. Usually, he would always in the mood to fight. Yet seeing and smelling the weird dish placed in front of him, Kretos felt hungrier than usual. 

"I won't fight, after all, I'm here to eat." The boss nodded his head hearing Kretos's response and glared at Nero.

"How about you?" 

"Of course, I'm going to eat as well. Eating the boss's food is better than fighting." Nero responded with his perpetual fake smile. The boss no longer said anything and left the three to their meals.