Demon Lord's Reincarnation

Ren had lost consciousness for a second but within that second Edge Regius took over his body. This forced Ren to once again enter the realm inside his soul which was inhabited by his past incarnations.

When Ren saw this he was immediately furious. This was the second time he was denied the end of a fight. He would have rather died in battle than being denied to fight until the end. He could understand the first time since that was beyond his control. But this time he was possessed without his permission again and in the middle of a fight no less. This left Ren fuming with rage. 

"WHY THE HELL DID YOU DO THAT!" No longer able to control his rage because of all the accumulating stress he had received. From the time Nezzard fled with his Spirit Rulers after getting him excited, to the time he was denied the ending of his battle with Lance, and now this.

Ren was now so irritated he turned into his Kretos form and was about to attack, but before he could do anything one of his past incarnations restrained him.

Ren in his Kretos form tried everything to get away from the iron grip of his past incarnation but he couldn't do anything at all. The difference in power between him and his past incarnations was just too much.

After struggling for a bit more Ren was finally able to calm down a little. He then reverted into his human form.

"Why the f*ck did you guys intervene! Are you guys my nannies?! Surely you people should understand this thirst that I feel! The excitement I got as I delved deeper into battle! If it's you people, the ones who share the same soul as mine, then you should understand my deep desire for battle! The longing I have to fight against powerful opponents, which consumes my very existence! Surely my past incarnations should understand!" The rage in Ren's look changed into one of desperation. One could actually feel the pain he was having just by looking at his face.

It was especially so for Ren's past incarnations seeing as they all share nearly identical temperaments. His look of desperation in wishing to fight a powerful opponent struck them deeply. Some of them even remembered them begging their enemies to continue fighting, to show them more. Others remembered times when they begged the very Gods themselves to come down and fight them simply to relieve their boredom.

"Of course we understand what you're feeling right now better than anyone else. After all, we are you, and you, we." One of the past incarnations answered Ren.

"Then why?!" Ren showed a pained look, one that he has never shown before. Not even when he was stabbed multiple times, nor the time when he was nearly roasted, nor the time when he died or nearly died has he ever shown such a face.

If anyone else aside from the other incarnations saw Ren's face they would have been shocked to the point of doubting Ren's identity.

But these people knew painfully well what Ren was feeling at this very moment. A battle could only be called a true battle if there is a chance for death. To them, death wasn't really a bother as long as they had a good fight out of it.

"We truly understand what you're going through... But no matter which incarnation, no matter the timeline, no matter the world. We are not allowed to lose to the ORIGIN. If it was any other battle, against anyone else we would have let you fight until you felt content. We wouldn't even be bothered if you died and joined us in the realm of our soul. But against the ORIGIN, even if it's just a seed, losing is not an option." Another incarnation answered Ren. This answer was finally able to calm Ren down. Feeling his anger weakening, the one who was pinning Ren down finally loosened his grip.

"Then at least tell me what the ORIGIN is? How come we aren't allowed to lose to it? Also, why did it call me its rebellious prodigal son?"

All the other incarnations looked at each other trying to figure out if they can tell Ren the truth. While they were discussing what to do, somebody appeared in front of Ren.

The person in question had little to no presence which made him very different from all the other incarnations. Also, this person was someone all the incarnations knew. This person was the first incarnation the strongest of them all.

The moment he appeared the atmosphere changed. Everyone, even Ren wanted to ask the first incarnation for a fight. But they didn't say anything since they were having an important discussion.

"With your current strength, I cannot divulge a lot of information regarding the ORIGIN."

"Why does my strength matter if I just want information? Surely just telling me what kind of enemy the ORIGIN is would help aid me. I just want to understand the reason for whatever it is that's happening."

"If you don't have the sufficient strength and I tell you the truth about the ORIGIN, you will be destroyed. Any deeper knowledge you gain about the ORIGIN without sufficient strength will cause direct harm to your current form. Now that we know that the ORIGIN is working in this timeline and this world, we cannot allow you to die. Not until you defeat the portion of the ORIGIN that has once again encroached upon this world."

"Then tell me how much strength do I need for you to tell me anything?" Ren was getting tired of all these secrets. Especially since the one who was keeping them from him were technically different versions of himself.

"The peak strength of Demon Lord Kretos barely passes the required strength to even learn what our relation is to the ORIGIN. If you want to learn the whole truth, then you'll need to be at least at the top thirty among the incarnations."

"How strong is that?"

"You need to be able to solo two fully grown Golden Dragons, to be among the top thirty in strength among the incarnations. That's how strong you need to be."

Ren gritted his teeth for a second and then smiled that vicious smile of his. Among Dragons, a Golden Dragon was top tier. Back in Ren's peak, he could probably solo one Golden Dragon but that that was if he was lucky. Seven out of ten times he would lose against a Golden Dragon back at his peak as Demon Lord Kretos.

So hearing the first incarnation telling him to gain enough strength to solo two of those powerful dragons made Ren's blood boil. He was so excited in fact that he almost completely forgot the incident with the fight against Fean.

Still gaining that kind of strength was easier said than done. In fact, it took him a few hundred years to reach the strength he had as the most powerful demon lord. But this time he had a few cheats and those were his past incarnations.

The fastest way to gain the strength he needed was to plunder his past incarnations knowledge and techniques.