Demon Lord's Reincarnation

Ren who was watching the duel from his own special spot was quite amused by the way the two were fighting. Several decades ago he might have thought those two were a little powerful, but now after seeing Ancient Ones, Dragons, and the ORIGIN himself, this kind of fight looks like children play fighting.

Still, it was good enough if they were fighting against New Gods. Also seeing them fighting like that made Ren itchy as he too wanted to fight.

"I can already guess what you're thinking. You're itching for a fight, if you want I can always accompany you."

"Alright then, after their fight let's you and I play for a bit."

...

Nero and Julius were near their limits and were about ready to unleash their final blow. Julius checked his items hidden in his sub-space and saw that he had already used almost all the items he prepared for this fight.

Even though he thought that he had already overestimated Nero's abilities it seems that he was actually underestimating him.

The only thing left in Julius's subspace was the strengthening potion. He was already on the verge of collapse due to the backlash he was receiving from drinking said potion, drinking another one would indeed give him even greater strength but the backlash would intensify, it might even result in death. Julius hesitated to drink this potion.

'Is this as far as I go?...'

Julius looked at the bottle in his hand and gnashed his teeth in anger and frustration. He had dreamed of this day to prove himself to everyone that he was not a waste, that the path that he walked on was not useless.

'No, I cannot accept such an outcome! What am I hesitating for, the ancestor already said he can revive us as long as the time of death isn't long.'

...

While Julius was thinking about what to do next, Nero was also having similar thoughts as he knew his body was nearing its limit.

'I have surpassed my limits over and over again in this short match, but even then I could not get the upper hand against Julius. Every time Julus seems to be one step ahead of me. I only have enough strength for one last attack. It's do or die now...'

Nero did not understand why but a smile appeared on his face despite his current desperate situation. The thought of winning or losing was no longer in Nero's mind all he was thinking of right now was doing his best and fighting until the last moment. The excitement of knowing what would happen when they clash was an intoxicating feeling for Nero.

It was at this very moment that Nero truly became someone similar to the incarnations of the Strongest Mortal Soul.

Nero stabilized his breathing and went into the stance he was most familiar with. He had practiced punches and kicks thousands of times, but the thing he practiced the longest was a simple straightforward right punch.

Every single day since he first started walking the truth of his martial way he started with this right punch and he practiced the same movement for years. Even when he was sick, when there was a storm, even after being attacked by New Gods, he would always train using this right punch.

Nero believed that even if his body was shattered apart even then he would be able to use his right punch, this punch was the accumulation of all his training and all his discipline a punch he believed would one day reach the truth of the martial way.

Nero clenched his right fist as he wanted to move forward but it was like his legs were stuck on the ground, and it felt like he was drowning. Nero changed the way he was breathing as his heart rate slowed down.

Nero with heavy legs walked forward step by step his hands were lowered but his fists were clenched hard.

Julius on the other side saw the determined look on Nero's face and became determined as well as he drank the potion in his hand. Julius felt incredible power flowing through his body, but alongside that power was also an intense pain.

If it were anyone with a weaker will than Julius they would have already fainted from the pain, but Julius was no stranger to pain and the determination swelling from deep within him kept him awake.

Julius then took out a lance from his sub-space. Julius knew that if he fought Nero in hand-to-hand combat even if he was faster and stronger he would not win which was proven at the beginning of the match. Julius needed something to help him bridge the gap in technique, the weapon he was best using was the lance.

He might not be the top at using the lance within the clan but he was at least in the top ten.

Julius with lance at hand cautiously approached Nero. When Nero was within the range of the lance Julius immediately made a stabbing motion. Nero only slightly moved which made the lance that was aimed at his heart miss by a few centimeters. Still, despite dodging that instant death blow, the lance had pierced through Nero's left side.

Nero used this time when Julius was shocked by what happened and charged forward even with the lance stuck in his body. When Nero got near enough to be able to punch the other party Julius let go of the lance and wanted to back away, but his legs were not moving. The pain he felt from the backlash after using the enhancement potion had intensified, his entire body was trembling.

'If I can't evade then I need to strike back!'

Julius knew that Nero's fist would reach him before he was able to attack using any of his hands or feet so instead, he gritted his teeth as he swayed his head backward and then smashed his head downward meeting Nero's fist.

The sound made by Nero's fist hitting Julius's forehead was incredible, everyone could hear the sound of shattering bones. Nero's right hand was broken and twisted looking very painful, but he did not give up and was about to attack with his left hand when Julius fell to the ground unmoving. After several seconds of waiting, Julius did not stand up.