Demon Lord's Reincarnation

It has been months since Sora arrived into this unknown world. During those months Sora learned why he was summoned. It seems like a powerful demon lord had taken over the demon lands and was getting ready for war with the human kingdoms. 

In the beginning, Sora believed every word the Sliral Kingdom's people told him, but as he continued his journey heard the stories of different people, Sora figured out pieces of the truth. 

There was indeed a powerful demon lord called Kretos, but he wasn't invading or planning a war with the human kingdoms, in fact, it seems like the opposite was happening. Based on the information he gathered by himself, the demon lord Kretos was not thinking of attacking the human kingdoms. In fact, it would seem like he was busy trying to quell the chaos in his own lands. 

'Based on what I saw and what anime, video games, manga, VNs, and light novels have thought me is that there should be more to this than what it seems. Maybe this is like Maoyū Maō Yūsha or Hataraku Maō-sama! I guess the only way to find out the real truth is if I ask the demon lord himself.'

Sora was now a hardened warrior that had slain a lot of monsters. Still, he wasn't sure if he could kill demons who were likely the same as humans. Also, after staying in this world, he learned not to trust all the people in the Sliral kingdom, even those that called themselves his allies could betray him. There were too many secrets being kept from him and he didn't like that. Sora then looked at his current stats. 

Status:

Name: Sora 

Race: Human

Class: Professional Hero

Level: 520

HP: 82,000/82,000 MP: 52,350/52,350

STR: 31,000

AGI: 28,400

DEX: 28,400

INT: 22,530

WIS: 21,000

VIT: 30,322

Luck: 400

Attribute Points: 0

With his current power, this should be enough to fight most of the beings in this world. In fact, with his current strength, he could fight the whole Sliral Kingdom alone. Still, even with his current strength Sora was a bit worried about the court mage that was accompanying him. He couldn't understand why but he always felt an uncomfortable feeling when he was near the court mage. Because of this ominous feeling, Sora made sure to strengthen his mind and learned a lot of skills that resist mind control spells just in case. 

Once his preparations were done, the Sliral Kingdom ordered him and his group to head to the demon lands and defeat Demon Lord Kretos. Sora's group consisted of the court mage Jeter, a renowned mercenary who used five swords and a towering shield Niel. Then there was the supposed strongest assassin of Sliral Kingdom whose name sounds like a name some MMORPG player would name his character, Night. As for the final member of the party was a cleric who has been in numerous wars, the oldest member of the party, Jason. 

These five people formed the hero party. Every time Sora saw the dudes in his party he couldn't help but sigh. This wasn't what he expected when he imagined his other world adventure as the hero party. He was imagining a group full of women walking beside him bickering. A Tsundere, a Kuudere, a Dandere, a Sadodere, and a Himedere. He was expecting at least one of those types would show, like the princess. But unfortunately, the princess was unable to join as she wasn't suited for battle. Now Sora was stuck with this dude fest. 

The moment their group left, the king spoke to one of the generals. "Do you think Sora could win?"

"I wholly believe in Hero Sora's strength. Even if our whole army were to face him he would remain unscathed. I once saw him fought a horde of Colossal rank monsters while blindfolded. He said he was trying to gain a skill called the mind's eye. I couldn't understand what kind of skill it was but Hero Sora succeeded in defeating every single monster without a problem. If it is him no matter how strong this demon lord Kretos is, he would not stand a chance. The only thing I'm concerned about is his sense of justice. It seems like he is rather suspicious of our motives, and once he learns of the truth about this invasion he might switch sides." 

When the King heard his loyal general's concern he smiled a reassuring smile. "Do not worry about that. The only concern was if he was strong enough to win. Whether he is willing or not isn't going to be a problem."

...

While the hero party was on their way to the demon lands, Kretos was finally done purging the tribes that failed to attend to his summons. Most of them held onto their beliefs, while others begged for mercy. Those that held onto their beliefs Kretos gave a second chance, but because they were like that they never accepted it. On the other hand, the cowards that begged for mercy were not even given a second look and were all killed.

After he was done with his purge, Kretos returned to his newly built castle in the middle lands. It wasn't finished yet, but just looking at the scale made it look grander than Demon Empress Nimune's old castle. Kretos sat on his new throne, and just beside his throne was a sleeping golden fox.

Shera entered the room and reported to Kretos that the other tribes were still in the middle of a battle with those that won't follow him.

Almost immediately after giving her report another Lycan came into the room and whispered something in Shera's ears. Upon hearing the Lycan soldier's report made even the stern-looking Shera look surprised. Once the Lycan that gave the report was gone, Shera relayed what she heard to Kretos. 

"My lord, the human Kingdom called Sliral, located north of our lands has deployed their army which is now nearing our territory. There also another report that the same kingdom had sent a smaller group ahead of their army which is taking a different route through the mountains." 

When Kretos heard the report he smiled in excitement. He wasn't even finished uniting all the demons and the promised enemy Demon Empress Nimune said would come, had come to his doorsteps. 

"How large is the army?"

"Based on our scouts' reports, the rough estimate would make them a little over fifty thousand strong." 

"How about the smaller group?" 

"We have no information about the first group that had entered through the mountains."

"Huh, What do you mean?" 

"The scout that spotted the first group had died. He was only able to send a signal saying he spotted a small group of intruders, after that there was nothing else. Everyone else that was sent to verify the report never returned." 

"I see... So the army is most likely a distraction, the true threat is the smaller group. Can you guess where they are heading?"

"Based on the reports and the scouts that had disappeared, it is most likely the group is heading here to you my lord." 

"Oh I see, so these people have come to meet me. Alright then, tell the others to stop obstructing our guests. As for the army tell the tribes that aren't doing anything to stall them for now."

"As you command my lord." Shera bowed her head and disappeared. The Golden Fox sleeping beside Kretos's throne started yawning as she opened her eyes. After stretching for a bit, Tsukiko turned into her human form. 

"Are you really going to wait here for them to come to you?" 

"Yeah, since they're coming to me on their own free will why should I stop them?" Hearing Kretos's response Tsukiko shrugged her shoulders. 

"Then what about the human army, are you not going to do anything about that?" 

"Didn't I already ordered the tribes that aren't busy to stall the human army." 

"Why stall them though? Why not just order the tribes to annihilate them?"

"Oh, that's my after-meal snack. Once I'm done with the main course I'll head over to clear the remaining snacks." 

Hearing Kretos's response Tsukiko sighed. After staying with him for the past year, she finally understood that this guy's brain was mostly filled with thoughts of battle. Though that didn't mean he was stupid. In fact, Tsukiko found out that this guy was incredibly smart, but he uses all of it for the sake of battle. If he really wanted to, Kretos could have done a dozen other things to ensure his position and unite the tribes. Yet he chose the most direct and forceful way since he simply thought it would make things move quicker. 

"So are you going to let your men die, just like that?" 

"Hmm, you make it sound like the demon tribes are soft like the humans. Unlike the humans who only have wars from time to time, the demon lands live and breathe war. Even if humans have superior numbers we outclass them in every other area. If my so called men can't even handle something so simple like this, then they won't last long in the era to come."

"..." Tsukiko no longer responded and started walking out of the room. 

"Where are you going?" 

"I'm going to have a taste of your after-meal snack. So if you don't finish your meal fast enough, I might have eaten all the snacks before you arrive." Tsukiko stuck out her tongue at Kretos and left. Kretos looked at Tuskiko's departing figure, a small smile emerged from his face before he sighed. 

'She should really act her age... Well, I guess waiting for the guests to arrive isn't an option anymore. If that fox were to get serious I really might not be able to eat a single snack.' Kretos stood from his throne did some stretches and with one step disappeared.