Chapter 150 Past Incarnations

After telling the holy maidens he would visit their temples, Ren found a nice quiet spot where he won't be disturbed. He then placed a ward to warn him if anyone was approaching. After he was done making sure that his body would be safe, Ren once again entered his soul.

Waiting for him was Leo's familiar figure and beside him was a middle-aged man with black hair and eyes. He had a lot of scars on his hands and his face had three distinctive scars that looked to be in the shape of a clover. That must be Murosaki Hayato.

"It's a pleasure to meet you, Ren." Hayato greeted Ren with a slight nod.

"So, what did you come in here for? Are you going to challenge another incarnation?" Leo jokingly spoke.

"You know why I'm here. Tell me how many past incarnations have been in this world?"

"In this particular world, excluding you and your past as Demon lord Kretos, there have been five incarnations that have journeyed through these lands," Leo answered quite readily.

"Who are these incarnations? Can I speak with them regarding the people they knew in life?" Ren asked Hayato which made Leo look a bit shocked.

"Hey, why are you asking him instead of me?! In terms of seniority, I'm older than him by a few millennia." Leo complained with gusto.

"Well, he just seems more mature than you, and in terms of looks... He even looks older than you." Ren answered without hesitation, which gave Leo a bit of a shock.

"Whatever, I'll be the one calling the others. Just wait there." Leo didn't bother to quarrel with Ren, as she was trying to show his mature side.

...

While Leo was contacting the other incarnations inside Ren's soul, Silika who was asleep this whole time finally woke up and exited the tattoo on Ren's arm. When she got out the first thing she noticed was, of course, Ren who was sitting in a lotus position.

'Is he talking with his past incarnations again? Well, I can't blame him those guys are the mightiest people that have live. Still, I wonder what they're talking about.' While Silika was wondering about that, she noticed that Ren placed a spell around the area that would alert him if someone was close by. It didn't activate now since Silika was already within Ren's vicinity and she didn't enter the area from the outside.

'Well it doesn't matter, for now, I'll just wait here for him to finish.'

...

Five more people appeared before Ren, these people were his past incarnations that have walked these lands.

"That's Edge Regius, proclaimed as the greatest hero to have ever existed. Like you, he remembered his past self upon reincarnating. His past was that of a hero as well, the Hero of humanity that almost wiped out the whole demon race. Oh, now that I think about it he is kinda like the opposite of you, but at the same time, you two are the most similar among the incarnations. Also, it's worth mentioning, if it's about swordsmanship alone, he's at the top only second to the original incarnation. He created a sword style with his partner called the Moon Edge style."

Edge stepped forward and extended his hand towards Ren. "It's nice to meet you, my current self." Ren shook Edge's hand and replied, "likewise... I just can't help but ask. I need to know, why did you try to wipe out all the demons?"

Edge showed a self-mocking smile before he answered. "It's a lame story, just a simple story of revenge that you could find anywhere. My family were killed by a pack of demons during a war, and in retaliation, I nearly annihilated every single demon existing. If I didn't meet her, the demon lord at the time then I might've killed every demon. That's why on my second chance in life as Edge Regius, I tried my hardest to save everyone."

"I see..."

After talking with Edge for a bit, Leo introduced the next incarnation.

"Now this is Rei Krimen, believe it or not, he is a direct descendant of mine. His techniques and abilities were nearly identical to mine. He also had the coolest death of us all. Didn't you, oh descendant of mine." Leo teasingly smiled at Rei who was frowning.

"Shut up you f*cking old man! Don't remind me about that time! Every time I remember just makes me want to vomit!" Rei Krimen shouted while blushing.

"How did he die?" Ren asked extremely curious.

"He died by-" Before Leo could say anything a sword almost cut his head.

"Don't tell him!" Rei shouted at Leo while attacking him using the same twin blades as Leo. Yet even as he was attacking, Leo easily dodged each strike, which amazed Ren.

"Hey I don't plan to sacrifice the world, I'll save both the world and this girl! How can I claim to be able to save the world if I can't even save one measly girl! Also hero? You people are the one who gave me that title, I never asked for it, I just did want I wanted to do!" Leo spoke while trying to imitate Rei's voice.

"NO!!! SHUT UP!!!" Rei started attacking even more seriously.

...

After Leo was done teasing him, Rei formally introduced himself to Ren. The last incarnation present stepped forward and Leo introduced him.

"This guy's name is also Rei, but he has a different last name which is Kuraki. Well, there are a lot of incarnations so obviously there are some of us that have the same first name. Well, anyway this is Rei Kuraki, he's the third strongest incarnation. He's the incarnation after Edge, and he's also the only incarnation aside from the original and the second strongest to have ever landed an actual blow to the ORIGIN."

'There's that term again, the ORIGIN.'

"What's the origin?" Ren asked, which made the other incarnations look at each other.

"Sorry Ren, as you are now, we cannot tell you much about the ORIGIN. The only thing we can say is that the ORIGIN is our one true enemy." Leo who was usually smiling and full of confidence, actually showed a very grave face as he told Ren about the ORIGIN. Even the other incarnations showed a similar worrying expression.

"Alright then, I won't ask about the ORIGIN for now. So let's just get back to what I originally wanted to ask you five. Can you please tell me any of your other companions that you think have survived the trials of time and are still here somehow waiting."

"You might have already figured this out, but me and Silika, know each other. Aside from her Hieus, the current God of War is my only other comrade that survived. Most of my companions died in my final battle. Those that survived that battle are also gone. Well, I am the oldest one among those present here, so it's not that surprising that none of my companions are alive." Leo was the first to answer.

"As for me Tiditte my adoptive daughter is the only one powerful enough to have survive even the ravages of time itself. Well, she is a Goddess now so time isn't such a big deal for her." Hayato answered with a bit of a sad expression.

"I'm not really sure if any of my comrades survive." Rei Krimen shrugged his shoulders as he answered.

"After my battle with the ORIGIN, my civilization, all my friends, my family, everything was wiped out of existence, and humanity of this planet was forced to start from the beginning." Rei Kuraki answered with a stoic expression.

Ren was shocked by what happened to Kuraki. He now had a little more understanding about this ORIGIN being. A being so powerful that it could wipe out everything, and it fought someone like Rei Kuraki, someone more powerful than Leonard Tranor and pushed him to death.

"As for me, can I check something first. Can you show me your chest?" Ren was confused by this sudden request but he still complied. Ren then showed Edge his bare chest, and Edge looked at it very closely.

"It's a bit faded but it's still there." Edge spoke with a smile on his face. That single smile was filled with nostalgia, love, and many other emotions.

"Are you talking about my birthmarks? Actually I also had them back when I was a demon lord. Are they somehow important?"

"Those marks, are a link to two of my greatest companions. Remember what Leo said that I created the Moon Edge style with my partner. You see that faded birthmark of a moon, that's supposed to be a silver moon, that's the mark of Tsukiyomi my partner that helped me create the Moon Edge style. The other birthmark beside it is a sun surrounded by stars. That's the mark of a contract between me and the Great Dragon Tanith. If it's still there and hasn't disappeared that would mean, Tsukiyomi and Tanith are still somewhere in this world."

Edge happily answered Ren, as he couldn't help but tear up a bit, but then Rei Kuraki was surprised upon hearing this revelation.

"That can't be, Tsukiyomi and Tanith were with me before I fought the ORIGIN. I was sure everyone was erased from existence! How did this happen?"

"It must be somehow related to our soul. Since they are connected to our very soul, they must've somehow used that to survive." Leo gave out his opinion which made Rei Kuraki look at him with a shock expression. A few seconds later Rei Kuraki started to laugh while crying.

"I can't believe it... hahaha, so they survived..." Ren who was listening at the side was a little bit confused by the turn of events.