Demon Lord's Reincarnation

After giving his broadsword a name Ren stored it in his shadow. He then did a quick scan of the area to make sure that there was not a single monster left. 

"I'm going to check on the other areas, you three better go and head to wherever Henrietta and the others went to." 

Ren left without waiting for any of the three to respond. Seeing Ren leaving so suddenly made Tsukiko have this sense of nostalgia. Even after all these years and reincarnating into a human Ren still had the same quirks as before.

'There were some changes but it seems that deep down he was still the same.' Tsukiko shrugged her shoulders as she started to walk back into the city. 

...

In the Southern Wall, Lara was having quite a difficult battle. Fighting against the monsters wasn't the difficult part, but trying to conserve her mana was. This was because her mana supply wasn't full when she started the battle. She was still recovering her mana after her all-out battle with Valdel yesterday. She wanted to preserve her mana by killing the monsters using her bow and arrows. Yet after a few monsters were taken down she had exhausted all of her arrows. 

If she fought using her mana archery it would have wasted more mana than if she handled it with her close-quarters combat skills. She headed down to the middle of the enemy lines as per her usual strategy. Wreak havoc in the middle and escape to recover a bit, basically, hit and run tactics. 

After a while, she was able to thin down the wave of monsters. Yet the ones remaining were quite difficult to deal with. If she were in tip-top shape this wouldn't have been too much of a problem. Yet now not only was her mana supply slowly draining she was also physically exhausted. 

That wasn't her only problem, among the remaining monsters there was one outlandish one that stood out. She couldn't believe that she didn't notice this particular monster as it was truly grotesque to look at. Not only did it have a frightening visage, but it was extremely powerful as well. 

Based on what Lara observed this monster was the leader of the group. If she could deal with it then the others wouldn't be as problematic, in fact, the remaining monsters might even retreat if their leader falls. So after deciding what to do next, Lara slowly moved towards the grotesque looking monster. 

As she got closer to the monster without alerting the others, Lara was surprised to know that the grotesque looking monster wasn't emitting any mana. It felt the same as Nyarlom. 

'So he really is the one behind this.' Lara clenched her fist and was ready to attack, she just needed to see which part of this monster was its weakest part. To take down an opponent that was stronger than you, one needed the element of surprise. Also, you needed to know where to hit. One quick powerful strike to its weakness and no matter how strong the enemy was, the enemy should fall. 

After observing the monster for a bit, Lara decided that its weakness was obviously its one eye, which was hidden underneath its body. Lara tried to gather mana into her fist to attack, but the moment she did that the other monsters spotted her. It would seem that these monsters had a sensitive nose when it comes to mana. 

Knowing she was going to be surrounded if she waited, Lara attacked. She punched out a beam of mana towards the monster's eye, but as it was about to hit, the monster's eye actually changed position. 

Lara knew that she had missed her chance and was about to retreat, but before she could do so the other monsters had already successfully surrounded her. Lara looked at the monsters surrounding her and was about to attack the weakest looking one to break the encirclement, as she was about to move multiple sword waves rained from above. 

The sword waves hit all the monsters except for the leader which was the grotesque-looking one with one eye. Ren descended from above and started slicing the monster into pieces before he encased it in ice, after he did that he quickly engulfed the monster into his shadow. 

"You better head back now." After saying that Ren left. 

Lara looked dumbfounded for a minute before her mind suddenly burst into girlish screams. 'Ren could actually feel that I was in danger! That should be the only reason as to why he arrived with such great timing. I already knew that Ren and I are linked by something strong... Still, I wanted to finish off these monsters by myself. I wanted to prove to him that I'm the best among his women... Well, I guess I can show him I'm the best in something else.' 

Lara headed back into the city while thinking of different ways to get pregnant with Ren's baby before the others. 

...

In the western wall, Valdel and his group had already subdued all of the monsters except for one. It was a gigantic monster that seems to be made out of the darkness. Not only was it big and strong, but it was also quick on its feet and its regenerative abilities were ridiculous. 

Valdel had already cut it down numerous times, but every time it was cut its body parts would once again stick together. Natasha tried attacking it with spells, but even if its parts get disintegrated it would just regrow them. 

Valdel gritted his teeth and grew a bit frustrated. This monster was obviously something created by that Primordial Demon, Nyarlom. It was just a monster Nyarlom created and already Valdel was having a hard time, and he even had people to help him in battle. 

Ren faced Nyarlom alone, and it was a one-sided affair. Just thinking about that made Valdel feel even more ashamed and frustrated. 

Zwei could feel Valdel's frustrations via their link, but no matter what she said it doesn't seem like Valdel was listening. His heart and mind were slowly being clouded by negative emotions. Though Nyarlom had already disappeared, the heightened emotions were still in effect for some. It was especially effective for people that had deeply buried emotions that on normal occasions wouldn't see the light of day. 

'How can I call myself his best friend if this is all I've got!' Valdel grasped Zwei's handle even tighter and charged at the monster. 

"Valdel, wait!" Natasha shouted but it was too late, all the blood had rushed to Valdel's head as he was charging at the monster. When he slashed down the monster was no longer in front of him but behind him. 

Valdel tried to quickly get into a position to defend himself, but the monster wouldn't allow him. As the monster's hand was about to strike Valdel's back Zwei turned back into her human form and shielded Valdel. 

Zwei was the one hit by the hand and flew a few meters away. Valdel was in a state of shock as that happened, and was once again about to be struck by the monster. In his dazed state, Valdel wasn't in any position to evade nor defend. Natasha was too far away to do anything, and as Nika was about to do the same thing as Zwei, a sword wave cut off the hand of the monster. 

As the monster backed away to regrow his arm, a heavy bloodlust filled the area. The monster whose instincts were telling it to flee couldn't move. Ren appeared in between the monster and the stunned Valdel. Ren looked at Valdel for a moment, it was just a brief moment, but Valdel was able to see the look of utter disappointment on Ren's face. 

That one look of Ren was the most devastating thing that ever happened to Valdel. It had woken him up. As he was about to step up, Ren signaled him to stop. 

"Ren there's no need for you to intervene I got this."

"You got this? Heh, I'll deal with this monster, since it's pretty obvious that you're unable to deal with it yourself. So how about you just check the condition of the sword spirit that took the hit for you."

Hearing what Ren said Valdel finally looked at Zwei who was on the ground trying to stand up. It was at that moment Valdel realized that he had actually forgotten about Zwei. When he saw Ren he actually forgot what Zwei had done for him. All Valdel had in his head at the time was that he wanted to prove to Ren that he could handle this. 

Valdel quickly headed to Zwei and helped her up. He felt truly ashamed of what he had done. While he was helping Zwei, Ren had finished dealing with the monster which he encased in ice and stored in his shadow. 

Ren once again looked at Valdel and said nothing. The expression on his face was message enough to express how Ren felt. He then walked back into the city without looking back. 

Valdel who was holding Zwei in her sword form wanted to call Ren's name, but the moment his mouth opened no words came out. He couldn't think of anything to say. That look Ren gave him made him feel even worse about himself. He couldn't understand what kind of emotions were currently swirling within him, but he was sure that one of those emotions was anger. 

He was not only angry at himself but for some reason at Ren as well. This anger of his was slowly growing and he couldn't stop it.