Demon Lord's Reincarnation

Seeing the frightened faces of the enemy forces Ren sighed. He looked around and could not spot the powerful little girl. Unable to spot the little girl who was supposedly the strongest of the heroes Ren felt a tinge of disappointment. 

'What use is power if you're so easily swayed by fear?...'

Ren once again sighed and shook his head, he then shifted his attention to the person who looked like the first hero he had ever fought, the hero Sora. It had been several weeks now since he last saw the kid with a similar ability as the first hero, and his improvement was indeed incredible but it was not enough. 

Ren wanted to give Hayate more time to grow but he could not just aimlessly send his soldiers to die just for that reason. At first, he was sending his men to train them as well as train their enemies and whoever survives would become stronger. Now that he had trained a lot of his own men, and lost the weaker ones Ren found that this training through steel and fire had no more use, and they can no longer gain anything from the same opponents. 

Ren did not really want to kill any of these heroes, so he already told the others in advance that they could spare anyone that is willing to surrender, or if they had the leeway to simply incapacitate them without killing anyone, but if that proved impossible it was alright to kill them. 

...

"We haven't even begun to fight and all I can see is the fear on your faces. Do not worry for I'm not such an evil man that I would kill those that surrender. So before we begin this fight, those of you that wish to surrender speak now and you may go. As for those that stay, I will treat you as true warriors." 

Though they were afraid of Ren as knights that promise to protect their people and obey their lords they could not retreat. On the other hand, some of the heroes summoned to this world were swayed by what Ren said. Specifically, it was Dzala and the genderless assassin. 

The two of them had jobs that made them allies to no one but themselves. One decides his actions based on his freedom, while the other decides based on the money given. After thinking for a while, Dzala decided to retreat for now. The only reason he had stayed in the allied kingdoms' base for so long was that he felt sorry for them. Now that he needs to face Ren with no hope of winning, he knew that there was no point in doing so. Then there was the genderless assassin who decided to ask Ren if he was willing to pay for his/her loyalty.

"Sorry guys but I do not wish to die. I have already done the best I could but an adventurer knows when to back away. We weren't even asked to come here, we were just dragged into this war without any say on the matter. Now that I can no longer return to my old world, I want to explore this one. Do not resent me for this, but I wish to live." 

"Hmph, I never expected anything from you anyway. Since you are not one of my own then you may leave whenever you want." Artemisia spoke without even looking at Dzala. 

"I understand your decision Sir Dzala. I hope the next time we meet you can tell me of your wonderful adventures in this world." Julian bowed his head towards Dzala. 

"Tsk, coward."

Helk did not look at Dzala as he clicked his tongue and mumbled to himself. As for the other heroes they had no comment on Dzala's decision. Seeing no one else was going to say anything to him, Dzala bowed and then left. After Dzala left the genderless assassin spoke to Ren. 

"I am willing to surrender if you offer me more than the Empress of Gold." 

Ren looked at the genderless assassin, his stare felt like he was burrowing into the assassin's soul. The assassin stood firm but being started at by Ren made him feel incredibly uncomfortable. After a moment of silence, Ren then smiled at the assassin.

"There is only one thing I offer my followers, I offer them everlasting glory and incredible power. Their names will forever be remembered as they stand by my side as I create my legend." 

"That's not what I'm asking, I'm talking about money, gold, silver, materials, something I can hold that I can see. I don't need things such glory or power." When Ren heard the assassin's answer the smile on his face disappeared. 

"If that's what you seek then sorry to disappoint you but I pay those that follow me basic salaries. It's a pretty nice salary compared to what mercenaries get but it's not really extravagant. Well then now that you have your answer what will you do?" The assassin then stood beside the Golden Empress Artemisia.

"Of course I'm siding with my comrades. How can I not side with them after fighting alongside them for so long." 

"Heh, I really do like your honest personality, always true to your desires. It makes you a rather interesting subordinate." Artemisia looked at the assassin while smiling. 

"I see, so is anyone else going to surrender?" Ren once again asked but this time no one answered. Seeing that only one of them surrendered despite knowing the difference of power between them made Ren smile that vicious smile of his. 

"I see, then all of you are true warriors and shall be treated as thus. Do not worry knowing that if I join this battle then it wouldn't even be a battle at all, I will simply spectate. If you guys somehow beat my four companions here, then I promise that I would stop trying to conquer the kingdoms that you protect."

"How about if your companions win, what would you gain?" Julian asked. 

"Isn't that obvious we would have gained victory. Not just victory in this battle but victory in my conquest. Seeing as you lot are probably the strongest the allied kingdoms' have to offer, then after we gain victory here nothing else would be able to stop my march, isn't that right?"

"Enough babbling!"

Helk could no longer hold it in and charged towards Ren, but before he could reach someone blocked his path. The person held no weapon and was about to strike using his fist. Helk's defense was the strongest among the heroes, not to mention he had an ability that enhances his power whenever he receives damage. So Helk decided to take the blow and continue charging at Ren, but the moment the opponent's fist hit his body he was blown away.

"Making us do all the work again, huh Ren." Valdel cracked his knuckles as he sighed. 

"Sir Helk?!" Julian was about to help Helk when a woman with an ice-cold glare intercepted him. Julian blocked his nose and backed away as he smelled something wrong with the woman. 

"Hmm, interesting you actually sensed the danger of the toxin I released." Lara looked at Julian curiously.

...

"Empress, what should we do, should I try and assassinate the enemy leader?" The assassin asked Artemisia. 

"Heh, do you really think you can kill that monster?... Well, it really doesn't matter since the second most frightening opponent seems to want to face us." Artemisia looked at the otherworldly beauty in front of her. Even though she wasn't interested in the same gender she felt the allure of the woman in front of her.

"Kukuku, how nice of you to acknowledge I'm the strongest after Ren." Tsukiyomi smiled brightly as she created a long sword.

...

Zol had already left his bed and stood beside Hayate as they stared at the opponent before them. The woman in front of them had ruby red eyes and wielded a scythe as her weapon. Hayate found the lady in front of him extremely cool-looking. 

Silika looked at her two opponents and then she started to stare at Hayate. Ren had told her that he was excited to see Hayate's potential. She too was rather interested in what the kid had to offer since those that Ren considers having potential are usually beings that had a chance to grow strong enough to fight the Old Gods.