Demon Lord's Reincarnation

After the incident with the students, there weren't any other disturbances during the trip to New Grenton. Once they had won against the arrogant students, John and the other five prodigies did not speak to each other. In fact, most of them started meditating while waiting on the train. 

When the sun started setting, the train was finally nearing its final destination. John looked outside the window and was greeted by a spectacular sight. In the sky above them were gigantic dragons flying alongside shining airships. It was a sight like no other and as they got closer they finally caught a glimpse of New Grenton. 

Numerous structures that tower over everything some of which were even able to touch the clouds in the sky. The sun was already gone, but the city was glowing brightly as if the city itself was the sun. This was the first time John and the five prodigies who came from the countryside saw such wondrous things. It was like they had arrived not in a different city but in a different world. 

Seeing the numerous amazing things from a distance John unconsciously grab the talisman Alisa gave him. 

'I finally made it to the Capital, Alisa.' 

As the view of the city was becoming larger, John noticed some people fighting in the sky, but before the fight could escalate some dragon riders had intervened. He could also hear some music coming from a distance, it was a familiar sound. It was one of the songs the bards that travel to their village use to sing. 

When the train finally stopped at the last station everyone headed out. The students from Tirnagog were looking at John the others with hostility, on the other hand, John and the five prodigies didn't even bother looking at them. This made the students feel extremely frustrated. 

When John and the others exited the train station they saw a man holding a board with their names written on it. The six of them approached the smiling man. 

"Oh are you guys the prodigies sent by the instructors from region four?" The six of them nodded in response. Seeing them nodding their heads the man's smile grew wider as he looked at them.

"I see, it would seem that this year has a lot of good seeds. The Emperor might be entertained this year. Okay then, first allow me to introduce myself. I'm a former champion of the Emperor's tournament, the name's Luke. Of course, I'm pretty sure you guys know me since I joined the tournament just a few years ago."

The six were rather surprised to hear that the person before them was a previous champion of the tournament, still, that surprise only lasted for a moment. They then responded to Luke. 

"I'm sorry I have no idea of who the winners of the previous tournaments were." 

"It doesn't matter to me who the winners were since I'm sure that I'm stronger than any of them." 

"Sorry about that, I know all the names of the previous winners but I haven't seen any of your faces so I didn't realize you were the iron fist, Luke." 

"..." The others also didn't know who Luke was. Seeing their reaction Luke was confused as he scratched his head. After thinking about it for a bit he suddenly realized something.

"Oh right, you guys come from region four a rather rural area, that means none of you has any television." 

"Television?"

While the other prodigies were confused by the new term, one of them suddenly vanished from his spot. Luke was already aware of that one and quickly lifted his one hand to block the incoming strike. A large sword came falling down towards Luke who easily caught it. 

"So you're one of the past champions that means your strong. I wonder if we can fight right now!" Tyr smiled a vicious smile same as Ren's as he strengthened the grip on his weapon. Seeing the expression on Tyr's face as well as the weapon he uses surprised Luke who then sighed. 

"Looking at that smile of yours reminded me of some bad memories... I see that you're quite a fan of our dear Emperor. You have the same smile and even use a similar weapon, but unfortunately, that's the only similarities you have with our almighty Emperor." 

Luke shifted Tyr's weapon to the side, as Tyr was about to swing his sword to the right aiming at Luke's torso, he felt something powerful hit his neck making him slide backward. Tyr who got hit was feeling groggy, but he still smiled that fierce smile of his. Luke who saw that Tyr was still standing though barely was rather surprised. 

"Oh, I was trying to knock you out, but I guess you're considered a prodigy for a reason, but still a far cry from our dear Emperor. That smile of yours is just slightly irritating, on the other hand, when you see the smile of the Emperor's you will know what true terror is... Well anyway, we already wasted a lot of time, we got to get going the six of you follow me, I'll bring you to the place you'll be staying at while you're here." 

"Wait a minute our fight isn't over yet!" Tyr tried to move but he could not. 

"Fine, we can have another rumble but how about we do that some after you get some rest, for now, let's get you guys to your lodging. You better rest properly for now and challenge me again when you're at full power." 

Luke no longer bothered to tell anything to Tyr and turned around walking away. John and the other five were rather surprised to see how powerful Luke was. Even though they were already expecting him to be quite powerful knowing he was a former champion, but to see how he easily handled the strongest of them was quite surprising.. Still, this did not dishearten the prodigies instead it lit a fire in them, as they grew excited about the upcoming tournament.