I Reincarnated as a Demon King,I Will Kill Everything

The silence in Crowmere was heavy.

Ash drifted from the broken rafters of the cathedral, glowing faintly in the moonlight. My gauntlet flickered with rainbow-black light, cracked and bleeding smoke. Kravius lay broken on the stone, his sword shattered beside him, chest caved where my final strike had landed.

The demons around me watched, stunned. Selena lowered her halberd. Rena sheathed her twin blades. Even Clarissa, usually cold and calm, let out a breath she didn't know she had been holding.

"It's done," Nana whispered.

Noa's voice hummed from the gauntlet, steady despite the cracks spreading across it. "Enemy life signs terminated. Crown integrity stable at twenty-nine percent. Victory achieved, My Lord."

I raised my head, breathing hard, blood dripping from my lips. "At last."

I stepped closer to Kravius' body, staring down at the man who had once chained me, tortured me, and killed me in another life. His face was pale, his eyes half-lidded, his lips twisted into a faint smile even in death.

"You thought I'd beg again," I muttered, spitting blood onto the ground beside him. "But this time, I gave you silence."

I turned my back. My demons stirred, their voices rising in cautious relief.

That was when I heard it.

A laugh.

Low. Broken. Faint. But unmistakable.

"Hhh… ahhh… hahahaha…"

I froze. The sound crawled into my bones. Slowly, I turned.

Kravius' body was still lying there. But his mouth moved. Blood spilled from it as he chuckled through broken ribs. His eyes, once dim, now burned again—faint silver flames flickering inside them.

Noa's voice spiked, sharp with alarm. "Correction. Enemy life signs returning. Resonance unstable. Warning—this body is not the core."

"What?" I growled.

Kravius coughed blood and grinned wider, his teeth red. "Did you… really think I would risk myself so carelessly? You're not fighting me. Not truly. This…" He gestured weakly to his broken chest, "…is only one of many shells."

The body began to twitch violently, bones snapping back into place with sickening cracks. The shattered sword fragments lifted from the ground, floating, humming with silver light.

Selena raised her halberd, eyes narrowing. "My Lord, this isn't right."

The corpse convulsed. The silver flames in its eyes spread like veins across its skin. His voice deepened, layered with echoes—like dozens of Kravius speaking at once.

[MOONBOUND VESSEL]

The entire body lit up, skin splitting into cracks of silver. His chest burst open, not with flesh, but with light. From within, threads of silver energy spilled upward, forming a towering phantom silhouette—an outline of Kravius, taller, sharper, more inhuman.

"Impossible," I muttered, clenching my fist.

Noa corrected me, voice heavy. "Not impossible. This is a projection body. A shell linked to his true self through oath resonance. You killed the vessel… not the man."

The phantom's voice boomed, shaking the ruins. "Did you think death would come so easily to me, Neil? I am bound to the Oath of the Moon. My life is not one, but many. Every time you kill me, I rise again—reborn through another vessel."

His silver form extended a hand, and the broken sword fragments swirled together, reforming into a blade of pure light. It pulsed, humming with the power of the moon itself.

"Then where is your real body?" I demanded, my voice echoing across the ruins.

The phantom tilted its head. "Close enough to watch. Far enough to be untouchable. You'll never find me."

My demons tensed. Rena took a step forward, her blades flashing. "My Lord, command me—I'll tear this thing apart!"

"No," I said, my eyes never leaving Kravius' phantom. "He's mine."

The phantom lunged.

The ground split beneath his step. His sword cut down, a beam of silver tearing the air itself.

I raised my gauntlet. [BLACK MOON GUARD]—shadows thickened, coiling into a shield of void around my arm.

CLAAAAASH!

The silver beam struck, sparks and shadows exploding outward. The shockwave sent Selena and Nana stumbling back. Clarissa shielded herself with a curtain of blood. Malrik roared, anchoring himself with bone chains stabbed into the ground.

I dug my heels into the fractured stone, teeth gritted. My arm burned, the gauntlet cracking deeper.

Noa's voice was grim. "My Lord, caution. This is not his full strength, only a fragment—but fragments can still kill."

"I don't care," I spat, shoving back. "If it bleeds, I'll break it."

We collided again.

My fist slammed into his phantom chest, void flames tearing across his silver skin. His sword carved across my side, light burning through armor and flesh. We passed each other, landing on opposite ends of the ruined nave.

Blood poured from my wound. His silver body smoked where my void had struck.

We turned.

We charged.

He struck with downward arcs, each one a meteor of light. I blocked, deflected, countered with brutal punches that shook the walls. Every clash split the air into shards of light and shadow.

My demons could only watch, unable to approach. The battlefield itself rejected them—my silence and his light colliding into a storm that erased anything caught in between.

Kravius' phantom laughed as he fought. "Stronger than before, yes. But still chasing strength that doesn't belong to you."

"I've carved this strength myself!" I roared, driving a knee into his gut, void fire surging up his torso.

He retaliated instantly, slamming his blade down on my shoulder. My body screamed as the cut seared through flesh and bone.

We locked eyes, inches apart, blood and light mixing between us.

"You'll never escape me," he hissed. "Even if you kill me a thousand times, I will return. Heroes don't die."

I smiled through the blood. "Then I'll kill you a thousand and one."

I slammed my forehead into his, skull cracking against silver light. The phantom staggered. My gauntlet flared, absorbing his aura for a brief instant.

[VOID REVERSE]

I unleashed the stolen energy in a devastating burst. The phantom's chest blew open, silver fire spraying like molten shards.

He reeled, screaming—not in pain, but in rage. His body began to flicker, destabilizing.

Noa whispered in my mind. "This vessel will not hold, My Lord. Destroy it fully. Now."

I raised my gauntlet, every gem burning, every crack glowing like veins of fire. "Kravius—this silence is for you."

[BLACK MOON DRIVE]

My fist crashed into his chest, breaking through the silver fire. The phantom shattered like glass, fragments dissolving into fading moonlight.

The ruins fell still again.

I dropped to one knee, gasping, blood dripping from half a dozen wounds. My gauntlet smoked, almost broken.

Selena rushed forward, steadying me with one arm. "My Lord, are you—"

"I'm fine," I lied, spitting blood. My eyes scanned the shadows beyond the ruins.

Because I could feel it.

He was still out there. Watching.

Noa confirmed it. "Core resonance not terminated. True Kravius remains active. This was only one body."

Rena growled, her blades trembling. "Then where is he?!"

Silence stretched over us. The demons shifted uneasily, scanning the burning forest beyond the ruins.

Then his voice came. Not from the broken corpse. Not from the phantom. But from everywhere.

"You killed my vessel. Impressive."

It was Kravius, clear and strong, echoing from the night sky itself.

"But I am not done. Each death only deepens my oath. Each body lost only fuels the blade. When next we meet, Neil… it will not be through a shadow."

The voice faded, leaving only silence.

I clenched my broken gauntlet, fury burning in my chest.

He was alive. He would return. Stronger.

Selena bowed her head. "What now, My Lord?"

I looked at the broken altar, at the steaming blood in the cracks of the stone. My lips curled into a savage grin despite the pain.

"Now?" I said softly. "Now we prepare. Next time, I'll kill not just the vessel"

I raised my cracked gauntlet high, the rainbow-black glow pulsing defiantly.

"but the true Kravius himself."

The night of Crowmere did not answer. But it listened.