I Reincarnated as a Demon King,I Will Kill Everything

Dust still drifted through the broken bones of Crowmere Cathedral.

The ruins groaned under the weight of the clash that had just passed, as if the very stones remembered the silence that had ripped through them. My gauntlet smoldered, rainbow-black flames pulsing between my fingers. Kravius stood across the rubble, armor in tatters, blood running freely down his ribs. But his sword still burned silver, stubborn and alive, just like the man himself.

Neither of us moved at first. Only the sound of dripping blood and the crackle of broken fires filled the night.

Noa's voice trembled through the gauntlet, calm and sharp:

"Crown integrity sixty percent. Right arm stress critical. Enemy aura stable. Conclusion: prolonged engagement increases risk, My Lord."

I grinned through the blood at my lips. "I know."

Kravius spat into the dust, then lifted his sword with one hand. His gray eyes cut into me like the edge of his blade. "You should have stayed dead. You were nothing more than a broken hero. Now you're just a monster pretending at power."

I lifted my gauntlet, the gems pulsing, the shadow circling my body like coiling snakes. "And you're still the coward who laughed while I bled."

His lips curled into a smile that didn't reach his eyes. "Then bleed again."

He lunged.

The floor shattered beneath him, stone fragments shooting up as he blurred forward. His sword traced an arc of light, searing through the night.

I met him halfway. My gauntlet swung up, catching the silver edge.

CLAAAANG!

The sound cracked the air, sending waves through the cathedral ruins. Sparks—white and black—rained between us, falling like tiny meteors. My bones shook under the force, but I dug my boots into the ground and shoved him back.

Kravius slid, then twisted into another strike. His sword lashed out in a perfect diagonal slash.

[MOONLIGHT ARC]

The air screamed as the blade cut through it.

I leaned back, the edge missing my throat by inches. Even so, the light burned across my skin, leaving a fresh cut. Blood rolled down my neck, warm and sticky.

"Too slow," Kravius said.

I laughed, dark and low. "No… just close enough."

My fist snapped upward.

[BLACK MOON RISING]

The punch caught him under the ribs, sending him flying back into a wall of broken pews. Wood exploded into splinters. He coughed blood but twisted in midair, landing on his feet. His sword still pointed at me, still burning.

The demons around us whispered, their voices nervous. Selena leaned on her halberd, eyes sharp. Rena's blades trembled in her hands as she forced herself not to interfere.

Noa spoke again. "Warning: heart rate increasing. Adrenal surge detected. If fight continues, structural strain may exceed gauntlet capacity, My Lord."

"Shut up, Noa," I muttered. "This ends tonight."

Kravius charged again. His movements blurred into streaks of light.

[SILVER AFTERIMAGE]

Four, five, six versions of him slashed around me, each blow real, each cut drawing blood from my arms, chest, and legs. His speed outpaced my eyes, and for a moment, I could feel the echo of the old fear—the memory of chains, of his sword carving into me years ago.

But I wasn't that man anymore.

The Silent Crown pulsed outward. Shadows erupted from my back like wings, spreading across the battlefield.

[DOMAIN OF SILENCE]

Sound vanished. The afterimages stuttered, faltered, their glow dimming in the crushing weight of my darkness. I turned with the silence and caught the real Kravius, his blade a fraction too slow.

I seized his wrist.

Bone cracked under my grip. His sword wavered. His eyes widened.

"Caught you."

My knee drove into his stomach with brutal force. He gagged blood, his body folding around the blow. Before he could recover, I swung him overhead and slammed him into the ground. Stone shattered, dust erupting.

BOOOOM!

He coughed, gasped, but his grip never fully loosened on the sword. Even broken, even bleeding, his will refused to die.

"Pathetic," I growled, stomping toward him. "Do you even know why you hate me so much? Do you even remember why you killed me?"

Kravius rolled onto one knee, spitting blood from broken teeth. "Because you were weak. Because you weren't fit to carry the name 'hero.' I did you a mercy."

"Mercy?" My voice cracked with fury. "You call that mercy—dragging me through chains, cutting me apart piece by piece while you laughed?!"

I struck again, my fist glowing black. He barely raised his sword in time.

CLAAAANG!

The ground beneath him caved, the shockwave rattling through the cathedral. His arms trembled, blood dripping from his knuckles, but still—he held.

"You're right about one thing," he said between ragged breaths. "I did laugh. Because you begged. And you'll beg again before I'm done."

His sword flared, blinding silver light bursting outward. I staggered back, shielding my eyes as the light cut through my shadow.

[MOONBURST]

The explosion ripped a crater into the ground, hurling me across the ruins. My back slammed into a cracked pillar. Pain roared through my ribs, my lungs screaming for air.

Noa's voice strained. "Warning! Integrity down to forty-five percent. Fractures spreading. Suggest retreat—"

"Never," I snarled.

I pushed off the wall, blood dripping from my mouth. Kravius staggered out of the crater, body shaking, sword burning brighter than ever. His eyes glowed with madness. He looked less like a man and more like the blade itself—an oath given flesh.

He pointed the sword at me, his voice hoarse. "This ends now. No second death. No resurrection. Only silence for you."

I smirked, tasting blood on my tongue. "Then silence is all you'll hear."

I rushed forward.

Our final clash began.

Sword met fist, again and again. Every strike cracked stone, every blow tore the ruins further apart. Sparks and shadows filled the air. The demons were forced back, shielding their eyes from the storm. Selena dug her halberd into the ground to steady herself. Rena held Clarissa back from interfering.

Kravius slashed for my throat—I ducked, the blade missing by a breath. My fist caught his chin, snapping his head back. He retaliated with a kick to my knee, forcing me to stumble. His sword came down—I caught it with the gauntlet, sparks screaming as steel and void ground together.

He headbutted me. My vision blurred red. I kneed him in return, the crack echoing through his ribs.

We tore into each other like animals. No defense, no hesitation—only rage, pain, and the desperate hunger to win.

Finally, we pulled apart, both panting, both bleeding, both barely standing.

Noa whispered, "My Lord… final output possible. One strike. But it will break the gauntlet."

I smiled, thin and sharp. "Then we break it."

Kravius raised his sword. "One cut. That's all I need."

The world held its breath.

We charged.

His blade glowed with pure moonlight, a comet burning white across the ruins. My gauntlet condensed into a singularity of silence, black flames devouring even the night itself.

[MOONLIGHT EXECUTION]

[BLACK MOON DRIVE]

Light and silence met in the center of the cathedral one final time.

The explosion ripped the world apart.

Walls collapsed. Statues crumbled. The ground split wide open, fire and shadow blasting outward in a storm that turned the night into day.

When the dust finally cleared, I stood over him.

Kravius lay broken, his chest crushed where my fist had landed. His sword lay shattered beside him, silver fragments glowing faintly before fading into nothing.

He coughed blood, eyes dimming, but still he managed a smile. "You… didn't beg… this time."

I looked down at him, gauntlet cracked, blood dripping from my own wounds. My breath came heavy, each inhale a knife. "No. I don't beg anymore."

His eyes closed, his chest rising once… then falling still.

Silence returned to Crowmere.

I straightened slowly, my gauntlet flickering, Noa's voice faint but steady. "Enemy life signs terminated. Crown integrity twenty-nine percent. You are victorious, My Lord."

I turned to my demons, who stared wide-eyed at the ruins, at me, at the corpse of the hero who once killed me. None spoke. None moved.

I raised my cracked gauntlet high. "The era of heroes is over. From now on… silence reigns."

The night did not cheer. The night only listened.