Chapter 280 - Onto the next demon lord

Kretos woke up after he finally recovered from his last fight. After he killed Vampiric Lord Darius Kretos collapsed to the ground due to his wounds. If anyone were to see him like this, they would've taken advantage of him and then killed him. So before he lost consciousness Kretos immediately melded into his shadow and hid there until he fully recovered. 

Two times he has been saved by the Shadow Clan's signature technique of melding into one's shadow. Once he was awake the first thing Kretos did was look around the area. It would seem that Darius's body was no longer there, somebody must've taken it. He then looked around and saw that it was still the same devastated city that Darius destroyed. Nothing has been done to it, and no one seems to be planning on fixing it. 

After he was sure that no one was around Kretos checked his current condition. The battle with Darius was the hardest battle he has fought to date. He had broken almost all of his bones and had a lot of internal bleeding going on as well. Just a bit more and he could've died. 

Once he was done checking his condition he was pleasantly surprised to see that not only did he survive and was back at full health, but he was able to increase his mana capacity and even his bones and muscles grew stronger than before. 

'As expected only battle can make me stronger. So time to head onto the next demon lord.' Kretos started walking towards the north. 

...

It's been a few months since Kretos defeated Darius which resulted in his fame reaching an unbelievable status in the demon lands. He was now feared by even the bravest of demons. Though the demons liked showing off their strength and some of them were exhilarated by the carnage, none wish to provoke the horned demon from the Shadow Clan called the slayer of demon lords. 

Kretos's moniker had changed from slayer of a thousand demons to the slayer of demon lords. If his last moniker made people curious, his current moniker made people flee at the sight of him. Some of the demons were also created a new clan under his name, but Kretos wasn't bothered by those things at this time. At the moment his main focus was defeating all the demon lords. 

...

Most of the demons were now thinking of one question, who was the next demon lord to face Kretos. Based on his current location, Kretos would either go to the mountainous North where Jiro the overlord of the sky resides, or he would head to the middle plains and forest where the mighty lord of the Lycans, Kir resides. 

No matter who he decides to face, the battle would be a sight to see. Unlike Vampiric Lord Darius who uses schemes and deceit, and Demon Empress Nimune who uses charm and military might, to ascend to demon lord status. Both Kir and Jiro were of the battling kind. They were demon lords who ruled over their respective areas with the sheer strength of fist alone. 

Among the five demon lords, Jiro has the most battle experience, seeing as his land was located at the border of the demon lands and the human kingdoms. So every now and then some crazy adventurers would come to the demon lands seeking untold treasures. Of course, Jiro would eliminate these people before they could delve deeper into the demon lands. He had gained a lot of experience fighting adventures who had different fighting styles. 

Kir, on the other hand, was a fighting genius. With sheer talent and instinct alone Kir had won every battle he has fought. His physical prowess dwarfed all the other demon lords. His only weakness was he only had a moderate amount of mana and was unable to use complicated spells. 

...

News of Kretos heading northwards soon spread among the demons. Some were happy due to winning some money on betting correctly, as to who was the next demon lord Kretos will face. Others were of course gloomy since they lost a ton of money. But no matter if they had lost or won they all felt excited. 

Demons from all over started heading to the north looking for a good spot to spectate the upcoming battle. Since they remembered that a whole city was wiped out from the previous battle, some demons tried to find other ways to spectate the battle. Due to this, The demons that could use monitoring spells became in demand. 

Monitoring spells were usually used to spy on other people, but this time those that knew the spell made it into a viewing business. They found a way to make the spell a lot bigger so that many could watch the battle. They quickly set up a shop where people could watch the upcoming fight.

...

Jiro heard the news that Kretos was approaching his territory. He couldn't help but smile upon hearing the news. Jiro was getting excited at the thought of what's to come after he had killed Kretos.

'It would've been boring if he had died at the hands of the mutt. I guess I should be thankful to the little demon for coming to me. Not only will he alleviate some of my boredom, but he will also become the first stepping stone to my conquest of the entire demon lands. Now that Darius and Nimune are gone, all I need to worry about is that mutt Kir. The little fox Tsukiko isn't really a problem. Once Kir's gone I'll take the little fox Tsukiko and make her my woman. Seeing as only someone with powers equal to a demon lord is worthy to become my Empress.'

Jiro wasn't even registering Kretos as a problem. He was fully confident that after training his new ability for a few months that no demon alive could be his match. He was already seeing an empire ruled by him. Once he conquers the demons lands the next step would be to conquer the human kingdoms, from then on he would continue to conquer all the other races. Then finally he would be the sole ruler of all. Then he would be remembered as the most powerful demon to ever lived. 

Just thinking about such a wonderful future, made him feel intoxicated. Jiro wished that Kretos could come sooner, so he could kill the little horned demon and continue onward to do more important things. 

'Well if he pledges eternal loyalty to me, I guess I could make him my right-hand man.'