The Reincarnations of Veldanava

Everything I Am

Yuuki had lost to Demon Lord Guy, and it wasn't close. He used to believe that he could defeat anyone, but Guy had crushed that naïve thought once and for all.

Yuuki might have pushed his body into archiving sainthood, but it wasn't enough, not even close.

His raw strength, thirty times stronger than an average human, meant nothing to Guy.

Yuuki's strongest, most polished attack couldn't leave a scratch on Guy.

Yuuki was lobbing stones, igniting fire, applying force, and releasing mental inference waves with his psychokinesis. Yet, none of this could harm Guy.

Even his primary defense, "Anti-Skill", was overcome as Guy found a workaround.

Kazalim and Clayman had mentioned this in the past. They empathized that among the "Ten Great Demon Lords", Guy and Milim were particularly strong; however, this extreme difference was unfathomable.

Had they been aware of this from the beginning, they would never have agreed to the naïve ambition of conquering the world.

'So this is the Catastrophe-class...'

Yuuki wasn't weak by any means. It was only Guy being too powerful.

Laplace, Teare, and Footman could only watch. If Yuuki, their boss and the strongest among them, ended up on the ground like that, then they wouldn't be of any help. Guy had no weakness, no opening.

Frankly, he was a perfect combatant. If anyone would stand a chance against this man, it would be either the True Dragons, Chronoa, or Demon Lord Rimuru. Anyone less powerful than that level would be dead instantly.

He couldn't blame others for it, this was his own defeat. 'If only I was stronger...'

[Is he going to give up already? How pathetic. You boast about how you are better than me, and this is how it will end?]

«Cut him some slacks; he has served his purpose well. Even if he dies here, it will be a life worth living. But enough about the incompetent, can you create more cigarettes for me?»

[You like smoking, huh? What do you want? Marlboro? Seven Stars?]

«They are practically the same, no?»

[They taste different.]

«For me, they all taste like addictions and questionable life choices.»

[Haha, but that is very human, all too human.]

Yuuki could hear voices, one of them felt a lot familiar to him as well. Most importantly, they were not helping him. Instead, they were mocking Yuuki for his defeat.

"Shut up! Shut up, all of you! Do you think I will let my ambition be crushed by just a minor setback?" Yuuki said, shakily standing up.

«Oh?»

Yuuki braced himself for his own death. At this moment, his heart was filled with a sense of unquenchable resentment, angry at his own lack of power. 'If only I was stronger. If only...' He kept repeating those same words to himself.

«Do you want more power? You need my help. Just trade a place with me. You will obtain the strongest power. I will show you that your "greed" is but a droplet of a true "greed".»

The strange voice's proposal managed to irritate Yuuki.

'Shut up! It is one thing to borrow strength from companions, but I won't stoop so low.'

The truth was that Yuuki had learned his lesson when it came to trusting a voice that just popped up in his mind.

The first time it happened, he got Kagali, who was now his close companion. Therefore, as it happened again with Velda, he naïvely believed that he could turn that voice into his chess piece, but ended up getting used instead.