Chapter 304 - The ever changing situation

After pledging their allegiance to Kretos the tribe leaders wanted to quickly head back to their territories so that they could prepare to annihilate the tribes that went against Kretos. If they act too slow the other tribes might snatch credit. As they were about to leave Kretos spoke to all of them.

"Before you leave I'm going to warn you guys once and only once, so listen closely." The demons who were getting excited to gain Kretos's favor stiffened as they heard Kretos's warning. They all stopped moving and waited to hear what Kretos wanted to say. 

"From this day onward we will no longer be separated by tribes, we are one race and will be one tribe. Those of you that have sworn loyalty to me should strive to stand united. I will not tolerate any more war among us happening within our lands. Those of you that start killing other tribes without my permission will be severely punished. You should understand by now that I'm a man that is true to his words." 

What Kretos really wanted to say is that they will be killed, but if he did that and knowing what these demons were like, then there might not be any demons left. He was still trying to figure out how to do these things. 

"It shall be as you wish." The demons answered and seeing that Kretos doesn't seem like he was going to say anything more, they all bowed in front of him before leaving. 

"Don't you think you're being a bit too overbearing?" Tsukiko asked Kretos looking a bit worried. 

Kretos showed no remorse in issuing such an order. The demon lands was a place full of war, many tribes have already fallen and cease to exist as they were weaker, what was a few more. To demons the annihilation of an entire tribe wasn't anything special, but ever since the emergence of the five demons lords it became a rather rare event. Kretos looked at Tsukiko and shrugged his shoulders. 

"This was the only way I know how to do things, and it's fast and efficient. Though we might have lost a lot of tribes, in the future the demons will stand stronger than before as a united race."

"So what now?" Tsukiko asked while the Lycans stood on standby. 

"Next I will go visit those tribes that didn't attend and I will personally wipe them out. I can't have them undermining my authority." Kretos licked his lips and started smiling his vicious smile. 

...

A great upheaval suddenly happened in the demon lands. The demons under Kretos's rule started to slaughter the tribes that would not accept his rule. Of course, these demon tribes didn't go down quietly as they fought to the last man. Unfortunately for them, they were the minority and they were facing more powerful tribes. 

Under the heavy offensive of the stronger tribes, the tribes that opposed Kretos had no chance of victory, they weren't even able to kill a single warrior in Kretos's side. 

While all the demon tribes under Kreto's rule were doing their best to show their loyalty, Kretos himself was also doing a similar job, as he was now standing in the Minotaur tribe's territory. 

...

Upon arriving in the territory of the Minotaur tribe the first thing Kretos noticed was the warm reception waiting for him. Hundreds of Minotaurs had their weapons ready and were now standing face to face with him.

At the forefront of the group was a massive Minotaur who towered over all the others. This Minotaur at the front wore heavy armor, held a towering shield in his left hand and a scimitar in his right hand. This Minotaur was the leader of the tribe called Xanter. 

"Demon Lord Kretos, why have you come?!" While Xanter was speaking the Minotaurs at the rear were drawing their longbows getting ready to release a rain of arrows. 

"You should already know why I have come," Kretos answered with his vicious smile getting wider and wider. It has been a few weeks since his battle with Kir and he was excited to fight such a large number of opponents. 

"I see... So you have come to eliminate us. Don't think it will be such an easy task! Archers RELEASE!" Hearing Xanter's command the archers at the rear rained down arrows at Kretos. Seeing the numerous arrows falling towards him Kretos summoned a spear. He twirled the spear above his head breaking the incoming arrows, while he was doing this he dashed forward. 

Xanter got his shield ready and was going to block Kretos attack before counterattacking. As he was getting ready for some sort of impact, he suddenly felt an intense pain in his chest. Xanter looked down and saw that Kretos's spear went through his shield, then through his armor, and then finally through his thick hide. With a single spear throw, Kretos was able to kill him. 

Seeing how easily Kretos defeated their leader didn't deter the Minotaur tribe as they roared in unison. Seeing the death of their leader and most powerful warrior only made them more motivated. 

Kretos pulled out his bloodied spear from Xanter's corpse and spoke to the remaining Minotaurs.

"Minotaur tribe I have seen your courage and acknowledge it. If you stop now and swear loyalty to me, I will forget about your past transgressions and spare you all." 

When the Minotaurs heard what Kretos said they looked at each other and then started laughing. The second strongest warrior of the tribe stepped forward and gave Kretos an answer. 

"Demon Lord Kretos, we admit that you are the most powerful being our tribe has ever faced. It is true that you could annihilate us, but even then we will not bend a knee. We followed the Queen of the Succubus, Demon Empress Nimune because our chieftain decided following her was the right course. It also that same chieftain that told us that following you is not an option. Even though he has died by your blade, we will honor his decision. We the Minotaur tribe might disappear from today onward, but let it be known that we remained loyal until the very end." 

Kretos was quite shocked to hear their answer but then he couldn't help but smile. He really liked the way these Minotaurs do things, more so than those tribe leaders who were all bark and no bite. 

"I see, I respect your decision. You are true warriors and I will no longer persuade you. So out of respect, I shall remember your tribe as valiant warriors." 

"Thank you, demon lord Kretos. It is our honor that you shall be our final opponent." The Minotaurs stomped their hooves and roared. Without any more words between the two sides, the minotaurs charged at Kretos. 

In response, Kretos threw the spear he was holding which penetrated the heads of a dozen Minotaurs. Kretos then proceeded to massacre the Minotaur tribe until not a single one was alive. 

...

While the demons were wreaking more havoc more than usual in their own lands, the humans had received news of what was happening. 

When they heard the news that Kretos the newly appointed demon lord was purging his disloyal subjects the human kings grew anxious. Once Kretos who was known to love battle was done purging the disloyal demons, who will be his next target? Wouldn't he then set his sights outside the demon lands? 

Should they wait for the inevitable war with the demons to happen, or should they do something about it now? That was when one of the human kings had a thought. Wasn't this the perfect time to invade the demon lands?

Many human kings of past and present have thought about it but due to how powerful the demons were no one went through with it. But now that most of the demon lords have died, and the other tribes were being massacred weren't the demons at their weakest state right now? 

The human king closest to the demon lands had called his generals and his court mage to ask them for their opinion. 

"We do need the resources found within the demon lands." 

"Even if we do invade, we might be able to deal with the barbaric demon armies, but what of the demon lord they call Kretos? There is no warrior in our kingdom or any other that could face him in battle. If the reports are to be believed he possesses power equivalent to a whole army. If we do attack should we form an alliance with the other kingdoms?" 

"We cannot trust those weaklings from the other kingdoms. We are the ones who have always guarded the only path to the demon lands and never let a single demon through. Surely we deserve to be the ones to claim the demon lands as our own." One of the generals pounded his hand at the table. 

While the generals were continuing debating about what to do next, the king looked at the silent court mage and asked. 

"Do you have any solutions?" The court mage rubbed his chin for a while before answering the king.

"Your highness I do believe I have a solution to our problem, but I am unsure if it would work or not." When the generals heard what the court mage said all their attention shifted to him. 

"That is alright, any idea would be welcomed at this point. So what is this solution that you speak of?" Hearing the King's reply the Court Mage nodded his head and answered. 

"Our biggest problem right now is that no one possesses the power to fight the demon lord Kretos. So how about we summon someone that could." 

"Are you perhaps suggesting we use the hero summoning spell?" 

"That is what I am proposing your highness."