Demon Lord's Reincarnation

While Ren and Leila were on their journey to find the Kitsune Tsukiko, back in the Serbek Kingdom the magic tournament was in full swing. 

The arena used for the tournament took a large area of the Capital. but it was located at the edge of the Capital. Inside the arena were multiple stages were each preliminary fight was taking place. By the stands, there were a thousand people watching the fights. All of them came from different races and walks of life. From the farmers to the Dukes, everyone was treating the tournament like a holiday. Since it only happens ever so often, having eight nonworking days was still acceptable. Though there were still some businesses that were open during this time, which were mostly inns and restaurants. Others weren't really interested and continued to work despite it being a holiday. 

...

In this tournament, many strong magicians from the neighboring kingdoms, and from the different races had joined. Some were after the money, others came for the honor, others the fame, but most came to win the tournament and received teaching from the Grand Mage himself. 

Even though all of the contestants were above the normal standards, the most eye-catching fights were from Eight individuals. Each one of them showing a great deal of potential. Seeing as this tournament consisted of mostly young people below the age of thirty, these eye-catching youngsters were the cream of the crop, the geniuses of the younger generation. 

The Host and Commentator of the tournament was the youngest of the Great Mages of the Kingdom, Henrietta. With her deep knowledge of magic and her pleasing appearance, she was the perfect person to hype up the tournament. 

"This year's tournament is shaping up to be the most exciting one yet. Who could have predicted that not one, not two, but eight geniuses would show up! These youngsters are well and above the rest of the pack, they're in a whole different league. "

"In the A block, the winner is the magic swordsman that dominated his opponents with the overwhelming force of his mana, Valdel! His speed and power make him a bit hard for most of the contestants that focus solely on spell casting. He can easily dodge and disrupt spells and his no chant makes it hard to counter whatever spell he uses. Well, it's not like he used different spells as he has beaten all of his opponents with a single spell."

Valdel was standing at one stage exerting his mana on the others making it hard for them to concentrate. Still, even if they were able to somehow use a spell, Valdel was able to easily dodge their telegraphed spells that move so slowly in his eyes. 

'These guys should really work on their physical fitness. They're so slow and their spell takes too much time before they activate.' Valdel sighed as he finished another opponent with a simple [Flare] spell. 

...

"In block B, the winner is the representative of the elves, Irene. Her multi spell activation has been a sight to behold. She's able to use eight different spells at the same time, but I don't think that's the limit of her prowess. Not only is she able to use different spells at the same time, but she's also proficient in using all the elements. This elven mage is quite the formidable figure." 

A beautiful lady with pointy ears, cat-shaped eyes, and long silver hair stood serenely in the middle of the ring. Surrounding her were different magic circles, and on the ground lay her defeated opponents. 

She didn't let her guard down as she surrounded herself with a mana barrier at all times, even as she stepped out of the ring. 

...

"Then there's block C where the S rank Adventurer the Silent Death reigns supreme! With nothing but head flicks using the minimum amount of mana release, she had beaten her opponents with ease. Some of you might think this is against the rules, but as long as one uses mana outwards to finish the opponents' anything goes." 

Lara looked at her defeated opponents with indifference. 'I don't really remember much of how I entered this tournament, seeing as the past month has been a bit hazy, but since this is a mission I took from the Guild I should do it with the best of my abilities. Though it would have been better if they were a bit stronger. Well, I guess this will become a challenge when I get to face Valdel. Also, that guy with the hood looks like he would be troublesome.'

...

"Now for block D, the obvious winner is the priestess of the Temple of Justice, Natasha! As expected of a priestess of one of the major temples, her victory was a beautiful one. She didn't even need to use the blessing of her Goddess to win."

Natasha sighed as she didn't really like the idea of joining this tournament, if not for Valdel she wouldn't have come. She looked at the other blocks and saw that this year's tournament felt a bit different from before. 

...

"In block E has another woman winning everything, the enchanting representative of the Fairies, Aerwenna. What's the matter with the men in this tournament most of them are too weak to notice!" Hearing what Henrietta said some people in the crowd started laughing. 

Aerwenna sat by her defeated opponents and was healing them. As she continued to heal each and everyone she knocked out she was also apologizing to each and every one of them. 

"I'm sorry, I didn't mean to hurt you so much. You suddenly came at me with a fire spell, so I reflexively used an ice spell, but I think I used too much power. I thought since you guys joined the tournament, you guys will be stronger than this. I'm sorry I didn't realize you were this weak." The scene of the winner apologizing to her defeated opponents while making them feel bad was so surreal that Henrietta didn't bother to comment about it. 

...

"Ahem... Alright... In the F Block, the winner is the mysterious hooded fighter named Artifice. Within the whole preliminaries, no one has been able to see his face behind the hood. This mysterious fighter is the fastest contestant this year. Not only is his physical speed fast, but even his casting speed is incredible. If not for the fact that the mana detectors caught the fluctuation of mana we wouldn't even know what kind of spell he was using to beat them. Who would've thought a simple [shock] spell could cause such devastating damage." 

In this ring, a man wearing a brown cloak whose face was covered by a hood exited the ring. On the ground were his opponents who were barely alive. Each one of them looked like they've been fried. 

...

"Now onto the G block, the winner is the wandering mage, the half-demon Hime! Like the demons of old Hime has an enormous mana supply and her activation speed, where she used spell after spell is only second to Artifice."

Hime sat cross-legged in the middle of her beaten opponents. She was in the middle of regaining her lost mana to get ready for the next battle. No one would expect that one of the peace-loving demons would ever join such a violent tournament. Still watching one from the demon race showing her prowess was a sight to see. 

Also seeing as she was a demon, even a half one, that would mean that she has a form that she hasn't shown yet. Not one of her opponents in the preliminaries was able to make her show her true form. 

...

"In the final block, block H where the most exciting battle took place. Who would've expected that such a dark horse would join the tournament and he's even one of the students of Rulwarry, Institute Of The Arcane! The winner of the H block, Afeus! His fight wasn't as one-sided as the others, but the deep knowledge he has of spells as he countered spell after spell was very exhilarating to watch."

Afeus was kneeling on the ground panting as he looked at his defeated opponents. If it was him before meeting Kretos that joined this tournament he wouldn't even last after two moves, but now he was actually able to win against multiple opponents albeit barely. As he was getting a little proud of himself Afeus looked at the other blocks and saw how each one of the winners were unscathed or even barely sweated. 

When he saw that scene his excitement died down real quick. 'How the f*ck am I suppose to face those monsters!'

...

After Henrietta finished saying the name of each block's winner she started to remember Kretos's face. 'I wonder what he's doing right now? He actually missed the beginning of the tournament. If he were here I wonder what would happen.' 

Henrietta imagined a scene where Kretos was standing in one of the stages. Though she only met him one time but based on the rumors about him and what she saw she could imagine what he would've done. 

'He would most likely shout at the other winners to come at him at the same time.' Henrietta giggled as she thought of that. After that brief daydream, Henrietta announced the next step of the tournament. 

"Starting tomorrow we will begin the quarter-finals! The pairing for each contestant will be done by randomly picking a name from this hat. So without further ado, time to pick the contestants for tomorrow's fight!" 

Henrietta plunged her hand into the hat and picked the first name. 

"The first contestant to be chosen is the S rank adventurer, the silent death, LARA! As for her opponent." Henrietta picked the next fighter. 

"Lara's opponent for tomorrow's fight is the representative of the elves, Irene!"