Demon Lord's Reincarnation

Kretos was bound by chains and was unable to break free. It was not normal chains that have bound him, for these chains seem to be sucking his blood and mana. If that wasn't troubling enough he saw that Darius was already preparing to kill him with those floating mana spears. Yet despite the situation is as dire as it was Kretos laughed joyfully for all to hear. His laugh was like that of a child who was given a wonderful present. 

Darius looked at Kretos dumbfounded, he had met various people from all races and had witnessed their ends. Yet this was the first time he heard someone laughing like this as he was about to die, it was a different laugh from what he normally hears. Sometimes some would laugh because they were mocking him, some would laugh because they had gone insane from fear, some would laugh as a form of escape, some would laugh as a form of honor, he had witnessed different people laughing like that as they were about to die, yet Kretos's laugh was different. 

The laugh Kretos was making was full of joy, and his eyes were brimming with excitement and anticipation. Even as he was facing death he could show such an expression. In fact, it doesn't feel like Kretos knows he was about to die. Darius was dumbstruck for a moment, and then he shook his head while sighing. 

'This boy would've been the best toy to play with, unfortunately, he's a joker and it's hard to predict what he would do next. If I let him live today, I might not be able to survive our next encounter. Truly, a pity...' Darius pointed his finger at Kretos and all of the floating mana spears came raining down upon Kretos. Each spear had the ability to pierce through the scales of a small dragon, which meant it could easily pierce through Kretos's flesh. As the spears hit their target, blood splattered all over the ground. 

Darius thought it was all over and was about to take Kretos's head as a trophy when suddenly a huge wave of mana burst forth. It was a crushing, suffocating, overwhelming mana, that made even the Vampiric Lord feel a bit shaken. Darius saw the chains that were binding Kretos came loose, as the supposed dead man stood. 

Kretos's whole body was full of wounds and there were some holes here and there. He was covered all over by his own blood. His body which was enhanced by his mana was trying its hardest to heal itself, but the process was slow and painful. Yet despite all that Kretos had that vicious smile on his face and was now looking at the demon lord like he was going to devour him. 

"How did you free yourself?" 

"I didn't do anything it was you who freed me. I just protected my vitals, wiggled a bit to change the target of your mana spears and they broke the chains for me. Now then Demon Lord, show me how many more tricks you have up your sleeves!" 

Kretos took out his giant longsword from his shadow and was about to charge at Darius. Seeing Kretos's actions and looking at his crazed eyes that only saw battle, Darius snapped his fingers, as that as the signal the audience and the commentator, as well as the staff of the arena all of them jumped down to block Kretos's path. 

Kretos saw that their eyes that were full of life suddenly turned dull and grey and he felt their mana fluctuations shifted. It would seem that Darius was able to hide the fact that everyone in this city were his enslaved. 

Kretos tried gathering mana into his weapon but due to his wounds, it was much harder than he expected. He couldn't gather mana quick enough and the enemies were all around him. This just made him even more excited. This place was a wonderland for Kretos. He also noticed that the Demon Lord was gathering an enormous amount of mana and was getting ready to unleash a huge spell. 

"Enemies all around, my wounds hurting all over. I cannot gather my mana properly, and a demon lord is getting ready to use a sure kill spell. This must be paradise!" 

Kretos happily moved his body while his blood kept on scattering. For each step he took, an enemy fell, yet no matter how fast he killed the enemies before him, they don't seem to be decreasing. His body was feeling heavy but that didn't matter. Right now all Kretos could see and feel were the enemies in front of him and the sword in his hands. 

Duck, slice, turn, slice, sidestep, slice, block, push, slice. Kretos kept his body moving, making his enemies unable to surround him properly. Kretos could feel the demon lord was just right in front of him, yet no matter how he pushed forward it doesn't seem like he was getting nearer to his target. 

Kretos's whole body was now covered from head to toe with blood, from his hair to his heels not a single part of his body was free from it. He could no longer tell which was his blood or the blood of his enemies, the only thing he could tell was that his wounds were finally closing. 

It was at that moment Kretos noticed somebody was holding his hand tightly. He turned around and was surprised to see someone had actually got near him without him noticing. This person was none other than the observer. Looking at him, he too has been enslaved as his eyes were grey and empty. He was one of the trump cards the demon lord had prepared in this scenario. 

The observer had a special constitution that allowed him to blend perfectly with the environment he was in, and not even someone like Kretos would be able to notice his presence. A few days ago Darius told the observer his plan just in case he wasn't able to kill Kretos in the first strike. He told the observer he needed him to be a sacrificial pawn, when the observer heard this he tried to flee but was unable to. Now he was part of Darius's enslaved. 

...

Kretos was about to slice the arm of the observer so he could break free, but then another enslaved grabbed hold of his free arm. All of the enslaved quickly moved in and started biting and grabbing him. In a few seconds, a pile of enslaved were on top of him. 

"Hahaha, well my little joker are you having fun with the enslaved?" 

Kretos lifted his head and saw Darius floating above the arena behind him was the red moon. Kretos felt a massive amount of mana gathering and it was continuing to grow. 

"This is the most fun I've ever had!" Kretos answered as he tried shaking off the enslaved. 

"Glad to hear that. Take it as my farewell present, for this time it's truly the end for you." A gargantuan magic circle appeared in front of Darius. He then activated his spell and a ray of red light fell upon Kretos and the entire city of Narkia. 

The people, the buildings, everything the light shined upon was incinerated into nothingness.. It took but an instant and the city of Narkia was no more.