Demon Lord's Reincarnation

Under the red moonlight, the demon lord smiled at Kretos. Seeing this Kretos was surprised to learn that his final opponent in the tournament was none other than the demon lord himself. He thought that the prize for winning the tournament was a chance to meet the demon lord, so what was this all about? 

"So we finally meet the joker in the deck." 

'What the f*ck is this old bat saying, the joker in the deck? Is that his nickname for me?' 

"I don't know what you mean by the joker in the deck, but I also been wanting to meet you old bat." Kretos eyed Darius as if he was looking at delicious food. Seeing that look Kretos was giving him Darius found it amusing. 

"Hot-blooded and noisy, overbearing, and emitting a great presence. If I didn't know who you are I would never have guessed you were from the famed Shadow Clan. The hidden village of the shadow clan, I've been there recently, and I can tell, you really are different from the other members of your clan."

After speaking, Darius looked at Kretos curiously. He kept on using the term Shadow Clan and hinted on the things he had done. Seeing what happened to his family members Kretos should know what the fate of the Shadow Clan was. Yet despite Darius's obvious provocations, Kretos showed no signs of his emotions fluctuating. 

"You sure talk a lot old bat. Oh, I see... Was that your way of trying to provoke me? Hehehe, using my clan as a form of stimulus to get some kind of response from me, that won't work on me. Killing my whole clan or enslaving them, won't make me want to avenge them. Is this kind of petty tricks al you have? I was expecting much more when I heard you were a demon lord best known for his cunning. Yet from what I see your nothing more than a roadside trickster." Kretos responded while shrugging his shoulders. 

Seeing Kretos's reaction Darius simply nodded his head and smiled. He wasn't insulted or angered by what Kretos said, instead he was truly amused by the boy in front of him. 

"Of course, of course, I apologize for using such small tricks on a warrior such as yourself... I heard that you love to battle. So how was the tournament I've made just for you, was it fun?" 

When Kretos heard what Darius said he was once again reminded of the irritating matches he had in the past few months. Remembering those matches, Kretos's face twitched a bit. 

"Hmm, did the battles I prepared for you not satisfy you?" Noticing Kretos's reaction Darius finally had confirmation on what he was thinking. 

"Enough talk! Let's get this battle starting old bat!" Kretos was trying his best to hold back as he really wanted to attack Darius at this very moment. Watching the excited Kretos, Darius chuckled, while removing his cape and tossing it to the side.

"Now it looks like our two fighters can no longer wait! Let's get this started! Let the final match BEGIN!" 

The moment Kretos heard the commentator announced for the match to begin he used his fastest speed to reach Darius. Speed so fast that it made one feel like time stopped for Kretos, to those watching it looked like kretos teleported in front of Darius.

Kretos then unleashed a punch that felt like it could destroy anything that was in its way. Yet despite the devastating attack about to hit him, Darius did not move an inch, there was not even a fluctuation of his mana that indicated that he would use a spell. When Kretos noticed this he unconsciously stopped his attack right before it hit. 

Darius smiled brightened as his right hand's nails grew sharper and formed a blade. He then swiftly aimed his hand at Kretos's heart and pierced through. Blood started flowing out of Kretos's body and onto Darius's hands.

Kretos quickly kicked Darius's abdomen making the demon lord fly backward. Darius was rather surprised that Kretos was able to deflect his spear hand at the last moment, and pushed the demon lord's hand only a few centimeters away from Kretos's heart. Kretos started coughing up blood but his smile never disappeared. 

Kretos wiped the blood off his mouth and happily laughed at the demon lord. He tried healing the wound on his chest but it was to no avail, as it was only slowly healing. That would mean that Darius's hand had some sort of poison, preventing Kretos from healing it quickly.

"Now this is what I'm talking about!" Kretos once again dashed towards Darius. The Demon Lord knew that the same trick won't work twice on an opponent such as Kretos. So he spoke at a voice loud enough for Kretos to hear. 

"I think I want to quit." When Kretos heard what Darius said he stopped and looked at the demon lord confused. Once again using Kretos's lapse of concentration Darius was able to sneakily get near Kretos and was about ready to strike. Before he was able to initiate his attack he saw a fist incoming and dodged. 

"So many petty tricks!" Kretos shouted joyfully as he unleashed a barrage of attacks. Darius sighed as he continued to dodge Kretos's attacks. After a brief exchange, Darius noticed that he was nicked here and there and quickly understood that Kretos was faster than him. Even with his physical attributes being tripled due to it being night time as well as the red moon being up, Darius was barely able to keep up with Kretos's movements. 

Kretos blocked one of Darius's spear hands by letting Darius pierce through his left hand making it stuck into his bones. Darius unable to move his hand couldn't possibly dodge Kretos's punch. The moment Kretos's fist was about to hit Darius, the demon lord suddenly turned into mist and was able to escape. 

This was obviously against the rules of the tournament, but Kretos already expected that Darius wouldn't abide by any rules. Still, Kretos was rather surprised that Darius followed the rules of the tournament until this point. 

Darius licked the blood that was on his hands and sighed. "As I thought, doing boorish fighting like this, is beneath me." 

"Don't say that and let's continue the fun!" Kretos once again appeared in front of Darius and was ready to attack. Darius responded by snapping his fingers, and chains from underneath the arena appeared entangling Kretos. 

"It was a fun little game to pass the time. But now I grow tired of it." Darius then lifted his right hand and numerous spears made out of mana appeared above him. "Goodbye, my little joker in the deck."