Demon Lord's Reincarnation

While Valdel was dealing with the beastkin, Ren was waiting for Lara to wake up. As he was waiting he started talking to his past incarnation Rei Kuraki.

"So that was someone from your past. I don't know what happened between you two, but I could see from your conversation that your relationship wasn't so simple."

"Heh, you interested? It's a story from a whole other era."

"I have nothing else to do while waiting for Lara to wake up so why not listen to your story for a bit."

"Heh, thanks, Ren."

"Like I said it's not that I'm doing it for you, but I have nothing else to do."

"Alright if you say so. Now where to begin? It was a time when all of the races were at peace, and the civilization was way more advanced than it was now, in that era Rina and I were childhood friends. In that era, I was like you and could unlock all the abilities of our past incarnations, yet unlike you, I didn't want them. Many fear my power and I couldn't live a normal life unless I suppress my power which was hard to do. Not only could I not suppress my power but I was growing even more powerful by the day. At the age of seven, I was already more powerful than you are now."

"I'm not sure if you're bragging or not."

"I'm not really bragging just stating facts. During my era, our soul was at its strongest so the moment I was born I was already the strongest of my world. My father at the time was a genius scientist and seeing me so melancholic all the time he created an item that could suppress my powers. I had three limiters at the time which made my mana fluctuate like a normal person. Yet even when my powers were suppressed I was still too strong, and it was difficult to find friends my age."

When Rei got to this part of his story he paused. Ren didn't know why he stopped talking, but he waited for Rei to continue. After a few more seconds Rei continued the story.

"Yet even when many feared me, and even when I tried to avoid people in fear of hurting them, there was one person who stuck by me."

"It was Rina, right?"

"Yeah, that girl knew no fear, she was one of the few that stood by me at the beginning and until the very end. Even though she knew how strong I was, even though she knew that it was difficult for me to control my power and there was a high chance I could harm her, even though I actively avoided her, she still stood by me. Even when the whole world started to call me a monster, she was one of the few people who continued to stand by my side."

"So it seems that no matter the incarnation eventually the world will become our enemy," Ren interjected.

"Yeah, no matter how valiant, no matter how heroic, no matter how saintly, each incarnation of the strongest mortal soul will eventually be forced to fight. There were some that actually tried to live in seclusion but in the end, they were still forced to fight. We are beings that defy fate so fate fights back and tries to correct the mistake. This is why the ORIGIN is so obsessed with us, we are the only being in all of the universes, that have totally severed our link with him."

"I see..."

"Well, back to the story. When we were younger, Rina would always tease me, she also liked ordering me around and such. Seeing as she was the only person at my age that actually talks to me, and interacts with me, I didn't really mind all of her shenanigans, in fact, I always followed her lead. To me, even though she might've been a bully, and a pain in the a*s she was and always will be my shining light."

Ren couldn't see the expression on Rei's face since they were simply talking through their spiritual link, but Ren could imagine what kind of face Rei was making right now. His voice that was filled with happiness, nostalgia, and a bit of sorrow was enough to picture what kind of face he was making.

"Eventually as I grew older, I gained more allies. There were Tsukiyomi, Tanith, Serilla, and Evangeline, the four of which were once Edge's companions. Tsukiyomi and Tanith were of a race that were pretty much ageless, so they waited centuries for Edge's soul to reincarnate. As for Serilla and Evangeline, they gave up their chance to forever reincarnate to be able to see Edge again. Even though I'm just a reincarnation of him, they were still glad to be with me. That was how much they loved the guy. I always felt bad when they interacted with me and spoke about the past. I did have Edge's memories, and I know that we are all pretty much the same person, but still, I felt sorry for them... Also, there was Lauria from Leo's era, who became my adopted little sister."

"Huh?"

"Don't worry about that, that's a whole other story. Well anyway, my allies that came from my era were Rina, Glen who was Rina's brother, and the half-elf, Lisa. All of us had been through a lot. We defended our world as it was invaded by otherworlders. We fought against interdimensional beings, we battled against seeds of the ORIGIN and even won against many of the Branches of the ORIGIN. It was during those times that the people of my era, the people of my world turned their backs on me. They harassed my family, my companions' families, pretty much everyone that was related to me were treated horribly at that time. This was before my battle with the ORIGIN's main body"

When Rei got to this part of the story his tone once again changed. Now there was a hint of anger in it.

"That was a battle I unfortunately lost. I was able to injure the ORIGIN but that was all I could do. Even with all my companions, even with my strength that could rival the original's, even after weakening the ORIGIN by killing its branches and seeds, I was still no match. My companions were all banished to different areas and only Rina was with me at my final battle. Rina even sacrificed her life, which gave me that chance to get a strike in, it was one chance, just one, and I f*cking blew it..."

Ren could pretty much hear Rei gnashing his teeth as he spoke those words. "In the end the sacrifice she made was all for nothing. The world, no the universe of that time was forcefully reseted, and we're now in this current time line. I failed to protect the people I swore to protect. Especially her... So you see, I owe Rina, everything."

Ren could pretty much feel the pain, sorrow, anger, misery, and hate that Rei was feeling, but mixed in those negative emotions, were positive emotions like hope and gratefullnes.

"I see... Thank you for telling me your story."

"No, Ren, thank you for listening to it."