Demon Lord's Reincarnation

The moment Lara fainted inside Ren's soul, the original incarnation watched silently. Watching how Ren's two companions fought until the bitter end reminded the original incarnation of his own companions. They too had fought bravely and persevered without giving up until the bitter end, where only he remained.

It wasn't just his and Ren's companions most of his reincarnations had companions, and like all those that come in contact with the Strongest Mortal Soul, they too were influenced by their stubborn nature. Every companion his reincarnations had all fought beside him and accompanied each incarnation until the bitter end.

Even now some of those companions still live and fight to break through the confines of destiny, of the ORIGIN's control.

The original incarnation smiled as he was reminded of the desperate struggles all his reincarnations had to go through. He then looked at fallen Ren, Valdel, and Lara. If Ren was a normal incarnation he would never have interfered so much, but this incarnation might be the final one and he could not allow him to die like this.

"Besides I was once treated as a Guardian of Heroes. I have always favored those that don't give up even though they know that certain demise will come. Even if my current reincarnation won't like this, I guess I should help. This isn't the place for you to die, our final battle is still to come." As the original incarnation was about to make his move, something unexpected happened.

"Don't you dare!" Ren's voice suddenly resounded. Ren who had fainted had woken up using nothing but his own willpower. "Don't you dare, do anything. It's embarrassing enough that I had to ask for your help, to begin with. After lending me your power if I can't even do this by myself then I'm pretty much worthless. So don't lift a finger and let me do handle this situation."

Ren was still laying on the ground unable to move a single finger nor was he able to control his mana, but the tone of his voice was firm and was filled with confidence. The only thing Ren could move was his mouth and he was now showing that vicious smile of his.

"I understand how you feel Ren. I know that you have grown in a different way than most of the past incarnations, but that doesn't mean you aren't the same as us. You still retain that pride of ours, and I understand that you don't want to ask for more help than you need to, as you feel like you become a weakling. Still, I'm sure you understand the world around you is literally crumbling and in a few minutes it will reach you and once you enter the void your bodies will cease to exist and the three of you will die. Is keeping your pride worth such a risk?"

After the original incarnation spoke it became quiet for a while, as Ren simply looked dumbfounded by what he heard. After a few seconds of being quiet Ren out of nowhere started laughing.

"HAHAHAHAHA! You're only half correct in what you said. It would seem those eons of doing nothing but watch each of your reincarnations have made your senses dull. It is true that I do not wish to ask for your help because of my pride, but in such a situation if I do not have anything else even if I did not want to I would've asked for your help. You underestimated my growth as a person, well I guess that was expected since most of your reincarnations only grew strong physically and had no other growth besides that."

As he continued to talk Ren's smile grew wider and wider. It was at that moment the original incarnation saw Ren's hands twitching.

"The reason I wasn't asking for your help is simply because I do not need it. As a reincarnation of someone that has defied fate itself, you should trust my abilities a bit more. Well to be fair even I was doubting my chances a few minutes ago. Yet after feeling that intense pain and fainting from it, I had an epiphany. I now have a better understanding of myself." While Ren was talking the destruction of Lisa's world was nearing, but Ren continued to smile that vicious smile of his.

"I see... very well then, show me how you go beyond my expectations." The original replied with the same vicious smile on his face. It has been a long time since one of his predictions regarding his own reincarnation was wrong. The only reincarnations that have gone beyond his expectations were those that were among the truly powerful, or those that grew in a different way from most incarnations. When Ren heard the original incarnation's response he licked his lips and bared his canines.

"Then allow me to show you, how I go beyond!" Ren's body started twitching and convulsing, his mana that was going berserk started to stabilize, even the power he borrowed from the original incarnation was becoming somewhat stable. When the original incarnation saw this he could not help but be a little amazed.

'Not even Rei Kuraki the second strongest incarnation who had mastered most of the other incarnations techniques could understand the power of the Origin Soul. This guy has been using it for just a few minutes but he has actually arrived at the starting line. I can finally see a little bit of hope in our situation, the end that I foresaw in our battle against the ORIGIN might not come to pass.'

While watching Ren suddenly stood up, the original incarnation then looked at the board in front of him and smiled as he knew what the next move he would take the moment Ren successfully survives.

...

Ren could once again move his body, and his mana had stabilized, but more than that he actually understood a bit about the power the original incarnation uses. It wasn't much, it was basically similar to how a child understood how to swing a wooden sword without getting hurt. Yet despite just getting to the starting point, Ren could already feel that his personal power had grown thrice as much.

'Just how strong is the original incarnation?' The moment that thought came into his mind, Ren shook his head and discarded it. Right now what was important was to escape this crumbling world. Ren made Lara and Valdel's bodies float using a spell, and with the power he borrowed from the original incarnation, Ren extended his hand forward and tried to open a portal back to where Tsukiyomi and Silika were waiting.

A bit of blood came flowing out of Ren's mouth as he tried to do so. Ren didn't mind the blood as he was fully concentrated on the task at hand. Same as before he could feel his body breaking just by using a bit of the original incarnation's power, but this time it wasn't as devastating. After a while, the portal finally opened and Ren pushed Lara and Valdel into the portal.  Before Ren stepped into the portal to leave the dying world, he looked back and spoke.

"... Until we meet again, Lisa."