Demon Lord's Reincarnation

After announcing the first battle for tomorrow morning, Henrietta also announced that each quarter-final match will be held once per day. Once she was done with her announcement the crowd started to disperse while talking about the battles they had witnessed. 

"This year's tournament is crazy."

"Who knew so many geniuses would come this year." 

"Yeah, usually we get to see only one of those every nine years, but this year eight of them actually came out at the same time." 

"Not only that, but more than half of them are beauties! Different varieties of beauties. I thought that Henrietta was the pinnacle but after seeing those ladies, my worldview expanded." 

"Yeah you're right, just thinking about Lara's cold eyes looking down on me, makes me shiver in delight." One of the men shuddered in ecstasy as he imagined Lara's cold and beautiful face looking at him as if he was a bug. His companions looked at him and took some distance.

"Well I don't know about this freak, but I think Lady Natasha's valiant figure is always something you would want to see every single day. As you would expect from the priestess from the Temple of Justice, her very presence makes you feel her righteousness." 

"I already know that elves are beautiful but I wasn't expecting them to be that beautiful."

"The fairy girl was so cute, it makes you wonder how someone like her can fight like that." 

"You guys keep on talking about the girls, but there were also quite a number of strong guys in the tournament. You know like that Artifice guy. How the f*ck did he win without even moving too much from his spot, there wasn't even any sign that he invoked a spell." 

"Huh, who would want to talk about those guys, we would rather imagine the beauties of the tournament. Just seeing them on stage is enough to fill me with happiness. Then there's Henrietta this year's commenter, her melodious voice still rings in my ears." 

"Though I still wanted to see that guy who decimated the Osted Family join the tournament. If he was there he would surely have won the whole thing."

"I would've agreed with you before, but after seeing those geniuses even he might have had a hard time." 

...

As everyone was expressing their different opinions about the tournament and its contestants, Lara had approached Valdel and the others. The two weapons spirits took their human form as Lara came by. Natasha looked at Lara and noticed that her movements became sharper. Even her normal walk showed no signs of an opening to exploit. Not only that but the mana she was trying to suppress is so much greater than before. 

'It's not only Valdel who's growing stronger by the day, even she's already at a level that's hard to reach even for veteran fighters. Then there's that abnormality these two call their childhood friend, Ren. How are these three able to grow stronger so fast?'

Natasha could somehow understand how Valdel grew stronger, it was related to his luck as well as his status as a hero candidate. But Lara and Ren weren't an existence like that but they're still able to match Valdel's growth. Especially Ren, that guy hasn't even shown the limits of his strength, all she has seen seems to be but the tip. 

'If Valdel and Lara are already this strong, then what kind of monster has he become?'

...

Unaware of Natasha's thoughts the two childhood friends stared at each other. Lara lifted her right arm and greeted Valdel.

"It's been a while Valdel." 

"Yeah, it has..." Valdel didn't know what to say at this moment. The last time these two childhood friends were together wasn't a good time to remember. At that time Ren had disappeared and Lara's twin sister Lisa had been killed. Valdel was in a bind as he couldn't think of anything to say. The long silence was slowly becoming very awkward, so Valdel simply spoke whatever came to mind. 

"How have you've been feeling Lara? Are you doing alright?" When Lara heard Valdel's question a sudden burst of bloodlust arose and disappeared as quickly as it came. Valdel and everyone present was surprised by that ruthless bloodlust that could rival that of Ren's bloodlust. Lara's face also flickered and changed for a second before returning to the look of indifference she always had. Valdel only caught a glimpse of her expression and even he felt a bit frightened. 

"I'm doing a bit better than before. How about you, it seems like you've surrounded yourself with even more ladies, are your perhaps becoming more like Ren?" 

When Valdel heard what Lara said he tilted his head and looked a bit confused. In what part was he like Ren?

"What are you talking about?"

"You know how Ren has created his own harem of ladies aren't you doing the same thing?" When the girls heard what Lara said they all blushed all except for the new girl. They then looked at Valdel with a tiny bit of expectation in their eyes. 

"Huh? I'm not creating a harem. Ren considers you girls as his women, his lovers. I, on the other hand, see these girls that accompany me on my journey as my friends."

When the girls with Valdel heard his answer they all glared at him with the exception of the new girl. They knew that's what he was thinking, but hearing it from his own mouth was still a bit irritating. Lara sighed in her mind but on the outside, she remained expressionless as she shrugged her shoulders. 

'This guy is so dense... He's a different kind of troublesome man than Ren. Well, at least Ren's very open in the fact that he tells everyone that he doesn't plan to have one woman, though infuriating to hear at least he's honest. Valdel, on the other hand, is the complete opposite, I don't even know if he notices or if he's just faking it. How come my two childhood friends are so hopeless when it comes to understanding a woman's heart?' Lara once again sighed in her mind. 

"Fine, they are not your harem but friends, then who is that?" Lara pointed at the new girl. 

"Oh, that's Sasha I saved her from some villagers that tried to kill her. It seems that she doesn't remember who she is, or where she came from. All she knows was that when she woke up she was in that village and after staying there for a while the kind villagers became hostile. Seeing as she has no one else to turn to, I decided to help her out until she feels better." 

Lara looked at the girl called Sasha and felt that there was something odd about her. After staring for a while Lara couldn't figure out why she felt that Sasha was odd so she dismissed it as some random feeling. 

"So you're simply being your busybody self." Lara pulled Valdel closer to her and whispered in his ear. "Have you forgotten what Ren said about trusting others? You shouldn't judge things by what you see, as the truth is always difficult to see." 

"Of course I haven't forgotten, I've already been tricked once before and that's not going to happen again. If she does anything suspicious or if I find out what the villagers said to be the truth, I will be the first one to punish her." 

'Punish, not kill?' Lara who was usually stoic showed a rare look of surprise on her face. 'It seems like he has once again changed a little bit.'

"Whatever, you do what you think is right, but I hope that this doesn't lead to your demise. If anything happens to you... I promise I will avenge you..." Even though Lara returned to her stoic expression, Valdel could sense her anxiety. So he showed her a very bright smile to reassure her as he responded. 

"Don't worry Lara, I won't get careless. You should trust me a bit more." Lara pushed Valdel away after hearing his response. "Aside from Ren, there is no one I trust more than you," Lara mumbled to herself. Valdel wasn't able to catch what Lara said and tilted his head in confusion. 

"What did you say?" 

"Nothing, I just said that even though you're my friend I won't go easy on you in this tournament. As a professional S rank adventurer, I plan to fulfill my client's request and win the whole thing." 

"I expect nothing less from you, Lara. Good luck in your match tomorrow." Lara then turned around and waved her right hand as she left. Seeing her fading back Valdel showed a wry smile. Valdel turned around and saw that the girls had surrounded him. 

"Hey, Valdel did you mean it when you said that we are only friends?" The girls looked at Valdel with a menacing look on their faces. 

"Of course I meant every word of it," Valdel answered with a beaming smile on his face. The girls responded by stomping on Valdel's foot and left him behind. Valdel couldn't understand what just happened and was stunned as he looked at the girls leaving. 

"What was that for?"