Demon Lord's Reincarnation

Inside Ren's soul realm the numerous incarnations were waiting for another visit from Santa Claus since it was already that time of year. The last time he came all of the incarnations who were hailed as the strongest of their era were caught by surprise.

So from then on, they gathered information about this so called Santa Claus from those incarnations that knew of the man. Basically what they gathered from the other incarnations was that Santa Claus was a type of sorcerer that has a list that designates who was naughty or nice. Supposedly this person called Santa rewards nice children with gifts and gives coal to naughty ones. When the incarnations that received coal learned of this they were quite upset.

"The f*ck how am I a naughty child! I saved my whole country before dying for my people!"

"That's nothing, I saved the whole world from an invasion but I'm still considered naughty? How the heck does this guy, grade people?!"

"I defended my entire universe from total destruction, how is that considered being naughty?!"

Most of the incarnations were heroes and saviors so they couldn't accept the idea that they were a naughty bunch. It especially aggravated them when they learned that some incarnations actually received gifts instead of coal.

"We're all the same being, so how are these guys nice while all of us are naughty?!"

"Yeah, that's right this Santa person must be crazy or something."

"He might be senile I heard from another incarnation that he's an old man with a beard that has existed for a very long time. Maybe he has lost it, so he can't distinguish naughty from nice."

"I see, that's right we need to capture this guy so that we can see if he's still right in the head."

All of the incarnations which were on the naughty list which was basically seventy percent of them agreed to this plan. So now that they decided to capture Santa Claus, they needed to convince the Original incarnation to help them.

They needed the Original to stop Santa from escaping the soul realm. Only the original could do this, as he was the one who has full control of their soul realm. When the Original heard their pleas he agreed. Being the base of all of his reincarnations he knew what they were currently feeling. Still, unlike all the others Santa was unable to get to him, so he didn't receive coal nor gifts.

Once they got the Original's cooperation they felt relieved. Now all they needed to do was wait. The moment Santa enters their soul realm they will all try to capture him.

"Are we going to do this as a team or are we going to this individually?"

"What a stupid question. Of course, we're doing this individually."

"Yeah, why are we going to do this as teams? Are you not confident in capturing an old sorcerer?"

"That's not what I meant, I was just worried some of you losers will be at a disadvantage if we do it individually."

"Now you said it. I'm going to beat you down alongside this Santa person."

The incarnations got rowdy as they taunted each other, but of course, none of them actually attacked.

...

Noel who had received the greatest gift from Santa last year wasn't going to participate in this hunt for him. So he and the other incarnations that received gifts decided to watch the show from a distance.

....

When the time finally came, it was like time stopped. Some of the weaker incarnations were unable to resist the unknown spell and had their individual time stop. Those that were prepared for something like this to happen smiled their vicious smile. The stronger ones like Rei Kuraki didn't need to use any counterspells and forcibly resisted the time manipulation.

After a few seconds a portly, jolly, white-bearded man, with spectacles, wearing a red coat with white fur collar and cuffs, white-fur-cuffed red trousers, red hat with white fur, and black leather belt and boots, carrying a bag full of gifts and coal appeared.

The incarnations present couldn't feel any mana from the jolly-looking old man, but for some reason, they felt a tiny bit threatened.

"Are you Santa Claus?" One of the incarnations asked.

"Hohoho, Yes I' am, it's nice to meet you, Henry."

"How do you know my name?"

"I know all of your names, your achievements, I basically know what you all did during your time alive, and even when you arrived in your soul realm. There's Luke who likes to use a wooden stick, there's Kai who is more into blacksmithing than fighting. There's even Alex over there who uses all kinds of weapons but is most known for his tactical mind. Then-" Santa started pointing and calling out names of those near him.

"So you already know all of us, that makes it easier. Then I'm sure you already know why we gathered here."

"Hohoho, of course, I know little Joshua. You naughty little boys want to capture Santa to remove yourselves from the naughty list, you also want to know why you're all on the naughty list in the first place. But I know that's just a ruse, your true aim is that you want to fight Mr. Claus the person who snuck in coal in your pockets."

"Then you better get ready then, you still need to deliver all of those gifts to the children right?"

"Very well, this might count as a gift to you boys, but even so, Santa is going to teach you naughty children, a proper lesson."

Santa opened his bag and a lot of different things came out. Those incarnations close to Santa reflexively reacted and sliced whatever was in the way, but the moment they did so they were blinded by a white light. What followed the white light was numerous explosions, which was able to subdue some incarnations.

Once the incarnations were able to see again they saw Santa charging towards them holding a long candy cane with a sharp edge. The Candy Cane looked like a sword, Santa swung it at the nearby incarnations.

Those in Santa's path tried to block his attack but for some reason, the Candy Cane sword phased through their weapons and directly hit them. When the others saw this they quickly acknowledge that Santa's Candy Cane sword was unblockable so they needed to dodge.

Of course, Santa knew that the people present here were the most battle-hardened people to have ever existed so using a similar strategy won't work. Santa then threw his Candy Cane Sword at a nearby incarnation who evaded but then saw Santa coming closer to him hitting him with a red sack.

Just one hit from Santa's red sack was enough for that incarnation to get knocked out. The remaining incarnations who saw this were astonished, as the one who was knocked out with one hit was an incarnation that was at the top five hundred. Does that mean Santa could knock out the incarnations below the top five hundred?

Knowing this and despite wanting to continue to fight, those at the lower ranking backed down. It was already shameful for them to fight Santa in a group so knowing that he could one hit them, they decided to stand down and simply watch the show.

The remaining incarnations didn't want to attack Santa in a group so they all approached in a one-on-one capacity. For each incarnation he faced Santa used a different weapon and it was always one hit, one kill.

After a few more minutes Santa had already weeded out the weaker incarnations and only two were left. These two were the only incarnations from the top ten that had received coal. It was Rei Kuraki and Leonard Tranor.

"So who's going to face him first?" Leonard asked.

"You should do it, Leo, seeing as if I were to go first, you might not get a chance to fight."

"Ouch, that hurts." Leonard shrugged his shoulders as he summoned his weapons. He faced Santa with a vicious smile on his face.

"Leonard Tranor, the most well-known incarnation. One who had traveled different dimensions and universes. You have saved numerous people, and have received a lot of love. Still, you would discard these relationships if it means that you get to battle a stronger opponent. You like all the others could've been on the nice list, but you took things too far and ended up on the naughty list."

"I don't really care about that old man, like you said the thing I care about above all is the joy of battle. So come at me!"

"HOHOHO! Naughty little child, I won't give you that kind of satisfaction. This won't be a battle but a one-sided punishment." Santa disappeared from Leonard's sight and in the next second, he was unconscious.

Seeing that Leonard had fallen in one hit as well, surprised the other incarnations. Leonard might not have been the strongest, but his power was undeniable. He was also one of the most experienced fighters among the incarnations. Rei then stepped forward and got ready for battle.

"I guess it's my turn now."

"Sorry little Rei Kuraki, I won't be able to accompany you as I have a prior engagement." After saying those words Santa Claus disappeared.

...

The Original was surprised by what had happened and smiled. "Santa Claus, what an interesting character."

...

Seeing Santa disappear the incarnations looked around but found not a single trace of him. Those that were knocked out all woke up at the same time. They then felt something in their pockets. As they took out what was in their pockets they were once again surprised to see that they all received coal again.

While they were shocked they could hear the jolly old man's laugh echoing throughout the soul realm.

"HOHOHO, MERRY CHRISTMAS!"