Demon Lord's Reincarnation

Seeing that Kor was unfazed by his attack, Ren quickly did a follow-up attack and punched Kor in the chest. Another sound of a blunt object hitting something similar to steel reverberated throughout the area. This time Ren put in a little bit more effort and added a tiny amount of mana into his strike. Yet despite doing that Kor remained unmoved as he took the hit head-on.

Ren got even more excited and slowly increased his mana output and did a roundhouse kick aiming at Kor's neck. Yet even with that Kor remained steady.

"Are you willing to talk now?" Kor once again asked Ren.

"You're a sturdy one aren't you!" Ren once again punched forward this time hitting Kor on his right chest. Yet same as before Kor remained as steady as a mountain. Seeing that just made Ren even more excited as he continued to attack while slowly increasing the strength of his attacks.

...

'What's with this human?!' Kor who was concentrating on tightening his muscles while circulating his mana to the appropriate spots in his body was stunned. Even though on the outside it seems like he was undamaged and at ease, the truth was he was already pretty beaten up. The first two strikes were still something he could handle, but the subsequent strikes after those were beyond anything he expected.

Kor was only expecting Ren to attack twice and realize that he won't be able to get past Kor's defense. Usually, those that hit Kor's body of steel would have their hands broken, but Ren was different. Not only did Ren's hand not break, but his attacks were also growing more powerful for every strike. Kor wasn't expecting Ren to be so strong. Kor was someone who felt a tiny bit proud of his physique and endurance, but in front of Ren it felt like his body of steel was nothing more than a thin piece of wood.

Each body part that was struck by Ren's hands was now full of bruises and even has some cuts here and there.

...

Still, even though it was now clear to see that Ren was far stronger than Kor originally thought, Kor stood tall and unwavering. It doesn't matter if Ren was too strong for him, Kor would never back down from his own ideals.

It was also plain to see that Ren was going easy to him since none of the attacks he made was lethal, basically, Kor couldn't feel any killing intent. Kor gritted his teeth as he received each of Ren's strikes. After a while, the damage was finally noticeable, as Kor's huge body was starting to show bruises here and there.

...

The demi-humans who were watching the scene before them were having complicated feelings. Many of them wanted to help Kor, but at the same time, they knew that they would only get in his way. At this point no one would blame him if he would evade Ren's strikes, even Ren himself was thinking it was about time for Kor to start dodging his strikes.

Yet despite what everyone thought, Kor refused to do any of that as this was as Ren said, a battle to prove his ideals. He needed to stand firm and do this in his own way.

As Ren continued to increase the strength of his attacks he was truly surprised by Kor's endurance and willpower. Ren figured that Kor would've been broken already a few attacks ago, yet here he was standing firm and unmoving.

What was even more surprising was that Kor was still conscious. Ren noticed since a while ago, that several of Kor's bones had already been broken. Not only that but Kor was already unable to circulate his mana properly to strengthen his body. At this very moment, Kor was receiving Ren's strike with nothing more than his bare flesh.

Ren then noticed Kor's eyes which were looking at him, those eyes were still full of determination and resolve. This was the first time since he arrived in this era that he has seen someone who has this much resolve to follow his ideals. Even Valdel would bend a bit.

"How amazing, you're willpower is truly a sight to behold. Fine, since you've shown me something great I'll give you chance. I'm going to give you two options to end this. Option one, you hit me with everything you've got and if you're able to push me backward, even a single step it would be your win. Option number two, I will hit you with a serious attack, if you're able to remain standing then I will consider it your win. So which of the two options are you going to choose?"

When the surrounding people heard Ren's options they felt that the first option would be the best choice for the current Kor. Ren's strength might be absurd, but surely if it's just to push him one step backward, Kor should be able to do it. On the other hand, if he chose the second option with the current state of his body Kor might actually die.

The head warrior who was the younger brother of Kor was starting to feel anxious about what will happen to his big brother.

"Of course the choice is clear, I choose the second option."

When the people heard Kor's answer they were dumbfounded. Kor actually chose the more dangerous option. While everyone was still stunned and confused by Kor's answer, Ren was smiling ever so brightly. This beastkin did not disappoint him, even now he still chose to stand by his ideals.

"Heh, Kor is it, be proud for you have gained my respect. I promise to remember your name. No matter if you die for as long as you remain standing I will honor our deal."

"Thank you."

As Ren took a stance, the head warrior suddenly jumped in between him and Kor.

"Mir, what are you doing?" Kor asked his younger brother.

"Sir, please allow me to take this challenge instead of my brother." Mir bowed his head at Ren.

"Hmph, I've already seen what you can do and you won't be able to survive this. Do not embarrass yourself and your brother and step aside."

"No, I cannot allow that. Please allow me to represent my big brother and allow me to do this challenge instead."

"Mir, step aside. This is not your battle to fight." Kor placed his right hand on Mir's shoulder. Kor and Mir looked at each other for a few seconds. No words were said between the two, but for some reason, it felt like they were communicating somehow.

"Big brother..." Mir gritted his teeth as he lowered his head and stepped aside.

"Sorry about my younger brother. He was just worried about me."

"Hmph, I don't really care too much about that. So are you ready?"

Kor nodded his head as he took a stance. He gathered the last remaining bits of his mana and strengthened himself. Kor then smashed his feet onto the ground firmly planting himself. Even though his mana wasn't that impressive and he was already injured all over, Kor still made everyone feel like he was a towering unshakeable mountain.  Ren then also took his stance as he gathered mana into his right hand.

"Now show me the very limits of your resolve!" Ren punched forward.