Chapter 301 - The birth of the strongest Demon Lord

Kretos had a long and rather satisfying sleep, as the wind and sun made him feel comfortable, not to mention the comfy thigh he was sleeping on. When he woke up he felt so much better than before as he could finally open his eyes again. His body wasn't at its best and was still trying to recover but it was enough for him to move. When Kretos opened his eyes the first thing he saw was a sleeping Tsukiko. 

As she was sleeping beads of sweat fell down her forehead. Her facial expression was one of pain, it looked like she was having a terrible nightmare. Kretos stood up and tried waking her up but no matter what he did, she just wouldn't wake up. 

After a few more tries Kretos stopped trying to wake her up and decided to wait for her to wake up naturally. Since she was nice enough to guard him while he slept he should do the same. Also, now that he can circulate his mana again, waiting wasn't a problem.

...

Kretos started to circulate his mana throughout his body to enhance and stabilize it making the quality better than before. The moment Kretos was done doing one round of circulation he noticed that the quality of his mana has improved yet again, and the improvement this time was five times better than before. If he were to get back at full strength he would be more powerful than the time he fought Kir. 

If he fought Kir this time, he would've won a few days earlier and with fewer injuries. Kretos was both excited and fearful of his newfound power. He was always excited when he felt more powerful like any other person, but he was also fearful that if he grew too powerful wouldn't that mean fewer opponents would face him?

'... I shouldn't think like that, I should think positively. The stronger I get means I can face more powerful opponents. If I get strong enough I might be able to challenge dragons and Deities.' 

When Kretos thought about that he couldn't help but smile that vicious smile of his. He was once again excited to do battle. He couldn't wait to see what kinds of opponents he could battle with once he gets strong enough. 

...

News of Kretos's victory against Kir started spreading throughout the demon lands. The Lycans who were brave enough had entered the middle lands and saw the dead body of their lord. He was sliced in half, but even though he was like that, you could still see his mouth was slightly curved upwards. He was gleeful with his death and all the Lycans felt happy for him and at the same time they felt immense sorrow. The Lycan tribe all howled in unison for a few days and nights. 

When the other demons heard this news they had different reactions. Most of the demons didn't really care since that would only mean a change in the number of demon lords. Others were excited seeing as Kretos loved to battle as much as they did maybe he would set out and conquer the other races. Then there were some that were planning on beating Kretos and Tsukiko so that there won't be any demon lord level demons. Then the remaining demons all thought nothing about it since it doesn't look like Kretos was going to do anything. 

But no matter what opinions they had they can all agree in one thing, Demon Lord Kretos was the strongest Demon Lord. They couldn't call him Demon King yet, since that title was only reserved for one being and it doesn't look like Kretos wants it as well. The demon king title was only given to a demon that all the demons in the demon lands agree to be the ruler of them all.

...

After a few days of waiting Tsukiko finally woke up from her slumber. The moment she woke up she was gasping for air. Her body was trembling violently and her mind was fuzzy. She couldn't remember what she was doing before she slept, and all she could feel at the moment was pure fear. 

"Are you alright?" Tsukiko jumped backward when she suddenly heard a voice talking beside her. She didn't understand why she was so scared, but she looked warily at Kretos. When she saw Kretos's face she could vaguely remember she was watching him as he was trying to recover from his fight against Kir. 

She could finally remember what she was doing before she slept, but for some reason, she couldn't remember why she slept. A demon on her level could stay awake for a few months without any sleep, and when she was watching Kretos she was sure that she wasn't tired. 

'Why did I sleep?... Also, what's with this feeling of intense dread?...' Tsukiko's hands started to visibly tremble as she sweated bullets. She looked at Kretos's face that was full of confusion. 

"What's happening to you?" Kretos asked confused by Tsukiko's violent reaction. 

Tsukiko tried calming herself down and after stabilizing her breathing Tsukiko felt a bit better. She looked at the confused Kretos and answered. 

"I'm fine... I just had a nightmare of sorts." 

"I see... Well, seeing as you're awake now I guess I better get going." Kretos had recovered to a certain extent and was ready to make his next move. As he was about to leave Tsukiko stopped him. 

"Wait a minute, that's it?! You do know I saved you, right?" 

"Yes you did, so?" 

"Aren't you going to pay me back, or even just say thank you." When Kretos heard what Tsukiko said he nodded his head. 

"Thank you." After saying that Kretos turned around. 

"Is that it?" Tsukiko shouted at Kretos. When Kretos who was once again about to leave stopped when he heard Tsukiko's voice. Kretos turned around and slowly approached Tsukiko. Seeing Kretos approaching her somehow made Tsukiko's body start trembling again. She was sure she was no longer afraid of Kretos so why was she trembling? 

Kretos stopped right in front of Tsukiko, the demonic fox couldn't help herself and covered her face in reflex.

"I already said thank you, what more do you want?" Kretos asked as directly as he could. Tsukiko was still a bit scared but she gathered up her courage and answered Kretos. 

"...I want another promise from you." 

"What kind of promise?" 

"... I want you to promise me that when I'm in a dire situation, you would come to save me." 

"Is that all, alright then I promise. I will save you no matter what." Kretos promised without any hesitation. Hearing Kretos answer so quickly and decisively made Tsukiko smile. This was one of the traits Tsukiko liked about Kretos. She already expected him to answer this way, but hearing him do it without any hesitation just made her feel so happy. 

"Thank you Kretos... So what are you going to do now? You've already beaten all the demon lords, so what's next?" 

"I'm planning to unite the demon tribes under my rule." 

"Unite the demon tribes, are you really going to do that?... But why? I didn't know you had such high ambitions. I always thought you're all about the battle." 

"I don't know what you're thinking but, I am just doing this for the battle." 

"Huh?"

"I want to unite the demon tribes under my rule for battle." 

"Are you going to start a war?" 

"No."

"Then how is uniting the demon tribes going to help you battle." 

"You don't need to know," Kretos answered as such since in truth he doesn't really know the answer as well. For now, he just needs to believe in what Demon Empress Nimune said. If what she said was wrong then he just needs to adjust his plans later. 

"Then how are you going to unite the demon tribes." 

"Simple I will untie them with force." 

"... Of course, you will." Tsukiko facepalmed hearing Kretos's answer. 

"Should I call you demon king now?" 

"No need, I won't take up the mantle of the demon king, the title of demon lord is enough for me. So is there anything else you want to ask?" 

"Fine, just leave." Tsukiko pouted as she turned around shooing Kretos away. Seeing her do that Kretos no longer hesitated and left. When Kretos left Tsukiko looked dumbfounded and then she once again pouted. 

"That guy is really not cute at all. He also doesn't understand a maiden's heart. Hmph, whatever I won't care about him anymore." Tsukiko started stomping her foot and stuck out her tongue. But after complaining a few more minutes she smiled. 

...

Kretos sent out a message to all of the heads of the different demon tribes. The message was simple but aggressive. 

"Come to the former place of the stone throne of the Demon Lord Kir. I will be waiting for all the tribe leaders to pledge loyalty to me. Those that don't comply will have their entire tribe annihilated."