The Demon Dragon of Mangan

Oni-ma of the Kiryu Clan. I had heard about him before. While the man before me didn’t have the mountain-like physiques that the Chen Family specifically trained for, he gave off an intimidating aura of power, simply standing there silently among the crowd.

In fact, the aura was becoming so strong that people nearby started taking notice. One look in his direction and panic sprung upon their faces.

“It’s the Oni!” someone in the crowd yelled out, and immediately, the atmosphere became tense.

The crowd dispersed around Oni-ma, taking care to hold onto their possessions lest they be snatched away from him. The leader of the Kiryu Clan was known for always going into a fight bare-handed, only to grab whatever was not bolted down to pummel his enemies with.

Tales of his street fights resulted in his enemies smashed under carts, German Suplexed into market displays, and even, knocking someone out with a plunger to the face. There was no limit to his creativity as anything could become a weapon in his hands.

And during the battle against the demons, he charged out there with only his fists. But before long, his fellow warriors were greeted with the sight of him picking up the demons themselves and using them as battering rams to bowl over his enemies.

For a man with such fame to personally come after a person, something must have caught his eye.

“And what business do you have with Yi Long? I assume you’re not here for some tasty bread.”

“I heard of a promising fighter. Here to recruit. See for myself his strength.”

Oni-ma’s words were straight to the point. It seemed like he was a man that only said what was necessary. But that likely meant that the rest would be conveyed through his actions. Seeing as Yi Long was a bit too shaken to respond, I did it for him.

“I’m not sure the kid is willing to step away from his role right now. He’s quite happy with his current life, so it would be best to be on your way.”

“Oh? If you speak for him, then you must be pretty good yourself.”

“Of course, I am. He’s my apprentice.”

I gave off a battle aura in response, showing that I wouldn’t simply back down like some street thug. In the meantime, I signaled to Katalina to prepare an escape route for the others. Judging by how Oni-ma arched a brow in interest, it was quickly heading toward a confrontation.

“I see. Then, I won’t back down.”

Suddenly, Oni-ma ripped off the top of his outfit in one smooth motion, exposing the rippling muscles underneath it. That caused the ring of onlookers around him to widen as they retreated in fear of the Demon Dragon tattoo that covered his back.

As he brought up his fists into a stance, I drew a chef knife from my Item Box and brandished it. Several moments of awkward silence went by, with either of us moving.

“Hey, you.”

“Yes?” I cocked my head in wonder.

“Take it off too.”

“What?”

“Your shirt.”

“Why?”

“It’s a battle between men.”

“…So?”

Oni-ma dropped his stance, disappointed.

“Like I said, it’s a battle. Men need to be shirtless for it to mean something.”

Confused, I turned to Katalina and the others, but they shrugged. Then, I looked toward the spectators, who despite keeping clear, were cheering for some action.

“Just do it, Claude. Show off a little,” Katalina yelled with a smirk.

“I-, fine. Guess I have to. But I don’t have something that I can just pull off you know!”

Struggling with the buttons on my shirt, it took me far longer to get ready for battle, unlike Oni-ma.

“Yes, yes. Make sure to toss it with conviction,” Oni-ma commented, completely killing the tense battle atmosphere from before.

I slipped my arms out of the sleeves, letting the undone shirt simply hang on my shoulders. And with a deep breath, I grabbed one side and ripped the shirt off my shoulders and flung it into the air to my right.

“Yosh, that’s more like it!” Oni-ma yelled as he charged forward with a punch chambered.

Not expecting such intensity right off the bat, I dodged to the side as colorful streaks seared the air next to me. I couldn’t tell if he imbued his punch with mana or whether it was merely his fighting spirit set ablaze.

I barely had time to flinch as he rushed forward with a flurry of punches, his head bobbing side to side like a boxer. It looked like he was sending out jabs to test my abilities. Fortunately, I had been in enough fights to keep focused on every single fist that came my way, allowing me to dodge with ease.

I waited patiently, scanning his body for weak points, as the two of us danced around the square. After getting used to his rhythm, I spied his open torso. My knife went straight for it without hesitation.

But then, Oni-ma’s aura abruptly changed. He sunk down and trapped the swinging knife between his elbow and knee, forcing me to abandon my weapon in haste. All of a sudden, his movements slowed down. I looked up to see feral eyes, and an open stance with arms wide out, like he was silently yelling out, “Come at me, bro!”

I tried to retaliate with a mana-laden fist, but that bounced right off him. I blinked in surprise as it was like he completely changed modes.

“Watch out! He’s going ‘beast’ on you!” I heard someone yell.

Certainly, Oni-ma looked like a dangerous predator, waiting to snap his arms at me. And despite the wide-open stance that he had, my eyes told me that it was merely a trap. He had covered his entire body with a thick layer of mana, similar to the Chen Family’s technique. His stance gave off every intention that he would not be moved from that spot. But rather, getting closer would invoke a set of fangs clamping down upon me.

Letting several more mana projectile slashes fly at him, he simply clenched his body as they struck repeatedly. I watched as my mana dispersed upon impact, the attack’s effect redistributed all across his entire body instead of being focused on one point.

‘Oh shit, if he can do that, he can render criticals null!’

I took two steps back as Oni-ma stomped forward. The mana strikes were hardly doing anything to him. It was no wonder that demons could hardly touch the man. I didn’t have much time to think before I heard someone yell out in panic.

“Watch out, don’t let him grab stuff!”

“Stuff?” I questioned as I looked next to me. I had backed towards a parked cart next to the marketplace, and instantly, I realized what that meant. But before I could make some distance, the cart magically appeared in Oni-ma’s hands, who effortlessly flung it towards me.

Quickly, mana coursed through my arms as I did a cross slash with my hands in front of me, sending a mana wave to slice the cart into pieces. Fortunately, the thing was empty, so I didn’t get a nasty shower of whatever would have been loaded on it.

“Claude, watch out!”

Katalina’s yell snapped me back into focus. Because behind that smashed cart, a foot broke through the mid-air wreckage and shot towards me like a thrown spear. I rolled to the side, avoiding that blow, only to see that Oni-ma now had a set of lumber in his hands, which he slammed downward.

Like I was on fire, I continued to roll madly away, the sound of cracking wood forcing me to make haste. I bumped into another market stand, and it was then that I realized that I should have steered clear. Scrambling to my feet, I next had to dodge two kettles, a hot plate, some plastic crates, and even a light-up sign. A force of disaster was being nice when referred to Oni-ma.

“This is why I don’t like using items when playing Sm*sh!” I yelled out randomly, panicking that I had no idea what Oni-ma would do next. I couldn’t read his body language at all. Not when he was just a wrecking ball aimed towards me.

“Ah wait, a wrecking ball! That’s it!”

If he was going to insist on smashing everything around him, then I needed the resolve to do the same. I turned around and was struck in the head with a trash can. But that was fine, because I coated my entire body with mana, making it bounce harmlessly off. And then, I ran towards Oni-ma.

This time, he had an entire sofa in his hand. I ignored the question as to how he even got ahold of such a thing outdoors and dashed right into his downward slam. Tearing through the sofa, my head collided with Oni-ma’s chest with a loud bang. His mana shield shattered as he was launched back several steps.

My eyes widened as his guard was finally broken, so I continued to rush forward, attacking him the same way that he was doing before. Likely, few dared to imitate such boldness, so it probably never crossed their minds as to counter him head-on.

But as I was about to tackle him again, a warning from the crowd caught my attention.

“His ‘Burn Action’! He’s going to do it!”

I should have noticed that Oni-ma’s aura was raging stronger than ever before, despite his guard broken. This was a red flag for special attacks, but I simply didn’t have the same battle experience as someone who forged his own techniques without the aid of the Gods.

What I really didn’t expect was for time to be virtually frozen while flames of mana licked around Oni-ma. His head popped up with a menacing stare, and I found myself unable to even move. Yet, my eyes watched as he reared back his fist and the very air rumbled as it was released.

It slammed into my stomach and the deafening shatter of my mana shield echoed in my ears as my body was flung back. Moments later, I crashed into some objects on the ground, but Oni-ma wasn’t done yet. My eyes squinted open, just to see his foot come crashing down upon my torso, sending me into the ground to form a crater.

Dust flew up from the impact and settled down, signaling the end of Oni-ma’s Burn Action, the cry from his soul forged into a fearsome technique. Slowly, he lifted his foot and stepped back. The crowd’s hearts stopped racing as it appeared like the duel was over with.

But then, a flash of white mana struck their vision.

I was not done yet. My head crashed into his face as I was reinvigorated, copious amounts of mana flooding through my body. Though I didn’t want to rely on such power normally, there was little choice here. He would feel the flames of my own perseverance.

I grabbed Oni-ma as he staggered backward. At this point, I let my instincts do the talking. My fists slammed into his chest – one, two, and three. Each one sent a shockwave of energy through his body, exiting out the back like an explosion.

With Oni-ma reeling forward from the powerful blows, I brought both fists straight into the sides of his temple, gripping his head like a vise before lifting it up and slamming it down onto an aerial knee.

A collective groan echoed through the onlookers, as my assault looked painful to even watch. Oni-ma was on the ground, pawing the surface as he tried to stand back up. I felt like I could go all day if needed, since my powers of Mana and Life were raging.

But then, Oni-ma raised a hand. “I concede. You have shown me a warrior’s spirit. Your disciple is in good hands if there is someone as strong as you watching over him.”

I backed off immediately, letting my aura cool down. There was no point continuing a fight if he had given up. He seemed to understand that as well, when I extended my hand out to help him up. He took it and hobbled to his feet.

“Don’t tell me that you’re a guy that feels out the other person with your fists,” I asked.

“Works better than words.”

“That’s because you probably kick their ass most of the time. I had to get serious there for a moment.”

Just then, a clamor sounded from the audience. A group of castle guards broke through the crowd with one familiar face leading the charge.

“Break it up, break it up! Fights aren’t a spectacle. Not unless bets can be placed! Otherwise- urk! What the hell are you doing here, Claude, err… Your Majesty of Sistina?”

Oni-ma looked toward the younger twin of the Holy Oracle’s two protectors. “Sun Wen Zhi, what do you mean? Is Star Shooter here?!”

“Oni-bro, you’re shaking hands with him,” Wen Zhi said with a sigh, almost in disbelief that we had run into each other in such a way. “If I had known you two were going to have a friendly spar, then I would’ve wanted in.”

“Hey, Wen Zhi. I don’t think he hears you. His jaw hasn’t moved since the last statement.”

It seemed like there was much explaining to do.