Chapter 41

I release a sigh and walk to the arena. Today is the tournament's second stage and the day where we are fighting our biggest rival, Tokyo University. Yesterday, my teammate and I had a talk and decided that Se-Ah and I would be the ones fighting in this match.

I look at my katana and smile a little. I cannot help but feel excited about this battle. I blame Lord Susanoo for this feeling. His battle lust already infected me. Or is it because of my Dragon Force? Grandeeney says that I will get Dragon tendency because of my magic. I cannot turn into a dragon unless I bathe in dragon blood, but I still get their tendency and their characteristics.

I shake my head and continue to walk to the arena. When we arrive, I can see a massive Oni duo appear in front of us. They give us a cocky smirk and stand in front of us, looking down on us.

I can hear Se-Ah growling at the Oni in front of her, ready to punch them. I hold her back, and she takes a deep breath. She gives me a nod, and we look at the host floating above us.

"Welcome to the second match of the Second Stage! This will be one of the most exciting matches in the entire tournament! It is a match between Tokyo University and Kyoto University!"

I can hear the people cheering for us, and the host starts to introduce us.

"From Kyoto University are two foreigners! The first one is Kil Se-Ah! She is Dokkaebi from Korea! Next to her is Ryan Hernandes! He is a human from Indonesia!"

Se-Ah and I wave our hands as the people cheer for us.

"From Tokyo University are two Onis! The first one is Jin! He is the winner of the last duel between Tokyo and Hokkaido University! Accompanying him is Jun! He is Jin's little brother and the one who sacrificed his chance in the previous tournament so his brother can reach the final stage!"

Woah. There is a lot of noise coming from the audience. As expected from the previous champion, they have a lot of fans.

"Now! Let's see what kind of arena they will get!"

We wait for a few seconds before two words appear above us.

"Cage Match! For a cage match, they will fight in this arena but with a barrier that prevents them from running away!"

Damn. This will be hard. This arena is an advantage for our enemy. They are a battle race, and fighting in this enclosed area is something they will use to their fullest.

"All contestants! Please get to the middle of the arena! The barrier will appear in a few seconds!"

We walk to the center of the arena, and I can see a semi-transparent barrier around the arena. I look at our opponent and take out my weapon.

"Get ready! Three! Two! One! Fight!"

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|3rd POV|

When the countdown reaches zero, a blue-skinned Oni leaps toward Se-Ah. Before he can even swing down his axe, Ryan appears next to him and swings down his katana.

Hinokami Kagura: Dance

A downward vertical slash in an arcing motion hits the ax before it can reach Se-Ah. Jin glares at Ryan, who stops his attack and attacks him with his twin axes. He does a vertical downward swing at Ryan, who blocks and parries his attack, then enters another form of his dance.

Hinokami Kagura: Sunflower Thrust

Ryan thrusts his sword at his opponent. When Jin tries to block the attack, a burst of flame comes out of Ryan's katana. Jin grits his teeth and roars in anger before dashing through the flame to attack Ryan.

Ryan widens his eyes and quickly blocks the incoming attack. After blocking the attack, Jin twists his body and kicks him in the head.

He gets thrown to the barrier and grits his teeth because of the pain from the impact. He looks up, sees Se-Ah struggling against the two Oni, and quickly runs to help her. He jumps into the air and twists his upper body in a circular motion, releasing a 360° slash to the ground.

Hinokami Kagura: Clear Blue Sky

A massive circular fire appears, creating an enormous gash on the ground that separates the two Oni and Ryan's teams. Ryan looks at Se-Ah and says, "Are you okay?"

"Just a little bit of a wound."

Ryan nods and heals her with his Dragon Slayer Magic. Se-ah nods her head and looks back at their opponents.

"Let's do the Fire Dragon dance," Ryan suddenly says. Se-Ah nods her head and starts to prepare to chant. Jin and Jun do not like the sound of it and quickly try to stop Se-Ah. However, before they can even reach her, Ryan already greets them using his sword.

Instead of focusing on one person, Ryan moves around as if he is dancing, getting into the rhythm of the fight. He continuously attacks the two of them without letting them get near Se-Ah, who is preparing a spell.

The people watching the fight can only open their mouths in awe as they finally see the shape of the fire Ryan created.

Hinokami Kagura: Sun Halo Dragon Head Dance

Se-Ah, ready to cast her spell, shouts, "Ryan! I am ready!"

"Right! Support me!"

Ryan dashes once again and swings his sword at the opponent. Unlike before, when Jin and Jun try to attack him, Se-Ah is already prepared and blocks their attack using her magic.

Before Jun releases his counterattack, a fireball appears in front of him and interrupts his attack. He grits his teeth and is ready to continue to attack, but coming from behind the fireball is Ryan with his sword in hand.

Ryan does a front flip, creating a downward vertical slash at his opponent.

Hinokami Kagura: Fire Wheel

Seeing his chance, Jin dashes and is about to attack, but just like Jun, a fireball appears in front of him and explodes in his face. This is Se-Ah's magic that they developed together. It is an instant teleportation and fireball spell combined. It is not a powerful ability and needs a lot of concentration, but it is enough if there is someone who can protect Se-Ah and do the damage.

Ryan changes direction and is about to attack Jin, who is distracted by the fireball attack. However, before he can go, Jun ignores his wound and swings his sword. Jun smiles triumphantly when he sees his sword, his target, but his smile changes into a frown when 'Ryan' slowly disappears.

Hinokami Kagura: Fake Rainbow

'Afterimage!'

Jun looks around for a second before his eyes land on Ryan, leaping at his brother.

"Brother! To your left!"

Jin looks to the left, but it is too late as Ryan already appears in front of him and thrusts his sword.

Hinokami Kagura: Sunflower Thrust

Ryan's sword pierces through Jin's shoulder and even burns some of the flesh. Instead of disappearing, Jin grabs Ryan while ignoring the sword in his body. He gives Ryan a giant smirk and shouts, "Jun! Now!"

Instead of worrying about his brother, Jun dashes forward at Se-Ah, who is not prepared to defend against a giant Oni with dual axes. Jun swings down his axe and kicks her to the barrier, where her body disappears.

Jin smirks and slams Ryan to the ground, creating a crater and throwing him to the barrier. He takes out the sword in his body and throws it to the side.

Ryan wipes out blood coming out of his mouth and sees Jin's wound already closing at a fast pace. He can see Jin smirk at him and say, "What are you going to do now, human?"

Instead of answering him, Ryan gets up and starts eating the air. The twin Oni blink for a second because they see Ryan chewing on air. After a few seconds of eating pure air and absorbing a large amount of Natural Energy, his body starts to change.

His hair changes into pink, and now his pupil looks like a dragon. Not only that, scales also start to appear on his body, and feathers around his arms and legs appear. After transforming into his Dragon Force Mode, Ryan looks at the twin Oni and says, "Round two."