The smoke cleared and revealed the new figure of the ogre. Its previous wide body had become fit, with muscles showing condensed power, ready to burst out. Its face had become more human-like, an androgynous face with a curious look.
Two dark red straight horns protruded adjacent to its ear tubes. It wore no clothes, but there was nothing to hide. The injuries it sustained were no longer there as if it was a new body, a new ogre.
Gotang squinted his eyes. He didn't expect this ogre to undergo a mutation; a red oni, to be exact. He gripped his sword tightly and pointed it at the oni. It didn't respond and only looked at its hand as if it was the most interesting thing in the world.
Gotang waited. Everyone was on high alert; the danger exuding from this oni exceeded anything they ever felt before here on the Dreaded Valley. Some even doubted Gotang's victory in this issue, but they quickly banished that thought. Lobo crushed the ground in his hand, fury and helplessness overtook his pride.
The oni looked at Gotang while slowly turning its head. Its deadpan expression only made it more sinister in the dim light. It moved, like Gotang it raised its foot and stepped it on the ground only to teleport at Lobo's side.
The oni took its hand with sharp fingernails and sliced it towards Lobo. Black flame grew on its fingernails and launched it towards Lobo, whistling like a rocket. Lobo couldn't do anything; it was too fast.
"Sphere of Justification"
Gotang reacted quickly. A green liquid shot out from his hands and flew towards Lobo. It was faster. The green liquid enveloped Lobo's whole body into a 2-meter diameter bubble. Just as it formed, the oni's black flame reached the green liquid and a muffled boom sounded out from the collision.
The fire consumed the green liquid from the point of interaction and spread throughout the sphere, but Lobo was safe. The oni had wide eyes, surprised that his newly found power was not enough to deal with a small fry. Gotang used this opportunity and accelerated to the oni, with his violet sword up in the air.
His violet sword gleamed in the dim light and slashed towards the oni. It moved its eyes towards Gotang without moving its head and raised its hand in a grabbing position. Flame shout out from its hands and formed a long vertical pillar of flame, a blade that looked similar to Gotang's sword.
It parried Gotang's sword, creating a cross of shockwaves behind them. Under gotang's helmet, his eyebrows furrowed. He put his full weight on that slash yet the oni received it so easily. The difficulty of this fight just got a little bit harder.
Gotang retreated after his attack. The oni stood still and a slight ceasefire came upon them. They recalibrated their perception of each other. The end of this fight will lead to one of their deaths.
From everyone's perspective, they were moving too fast and only a blur could be seen. They had to retreat. They would only act as a liability for Gotang and inevitably be killed in the line of fire.
After a few seconds, the oni moved. Black flames started burning from its feet and spread to its ankles. Gotang had a bad feeling as he suddenly saw the oni disappear from his sight. His spine tingled as he saw the black flame sword just a few centimeters away from his face.
The oni displayed a faster speed after manifesting the black flame on its feet. It took Gotang by surprise and aimed for the head. In a split second, its blade was already at Gotang's head and sliced him down from the head down to Gotang's waist cleaving him in two.
Bang lost his breath. He blinked and saw Gotang already sliced into two as the body started to limp down lifelessly on the ground. His jaw was on the ground. They just lost their greatest fighter and he started panicking. The oni looked towards them and smiled ominously.
It started walking normally, as slow as a crawl but for Bang, it was like death coming towards him. He backed off, making sure that he was behind the members of the Defending Tip to have at least a small amount of time to retreat.
The sound of a blade cutting skin entered their ears as they saw a gleam of light from the oni's back. The oni looked confused as blood started spurting out from its back. It turned around and saw Gotang, unharmed.
Bang was stunned. He looked back and saw that the body split into two was now just a yellow liquid. Gotang was now standing, full armor unharmed, next to the oni who was on its knees.
"Twofold safety"
He raised his sword, ready to finish off the oni. With his two hands, he put all his force and transferred it onto his sword with the full intention of beheading the oni. The blade reached only a few centimeters away from its head until a black flame emerged from its head and enveloped the oni. The blade collided with the ball of black flame and Gotang's attack was rendered null. Surprised by this, he retreated.
The black flame looked eerily similar to Gotang's Sphere of Justification. Even the blade that the oni used looked similar to Gotang's which meant that the oni was copying his skills and using it for itself.
Gotang retreated from the oni and held his sword in a horizontal position. He was focusing on defending since attacking the oni would be impossible; what he needed to do was to defend and counterattack. He knew his skills the best, their strengths, and their weaknesses.
The oni hunched, with one hand on its back creating pressure for the bleeding cut. The wound was bone-deep; it wouldn't be easily regenerated so the oni would have to fight with an injury.
They circled each other, wary of each other's movements. They were at a stalemate. The oni ran to Gotang and attacked with the black flame sword. Its attacks were crude, without any fluid movement. It was just a basic hack and slash. Gotang used the oni's amateurish attacks and parried it with his violet sword.
Gotang counterattacked and left a small gash on the oni's arms but it quickly healed. The oni hissed at the attack. It got furious and continued to slash Gotang with its black flame sword. Gotang counterattacked but was quickly avoided by the oni and unexpectedly made a counterattack. Gotang got hit in the chest but thankfully, the armor absorbed most of the attack and only left a skin-deep gash.
The oni was learning at a fast pace and they kept exchanging blows. The oni retreated. It gathered the black flame into a ball and threw it towards Gotang.
"Sphere of justification"
The black flame flew towards Gotang at a fast pace and collided with the green bubble. It consumed the sphere at a fast pace and Gotang was left unprotected, which the oni took advantage of. It burst out power from its legs and left deep marks on the ground as it ran to Gotang.
The black flame sword whistled in the air and attacked Gotang, who looked surprised at the ingenuity of the attack. His back was the target and his sphere of justification was still on cooldown so he knew what to do. He had to take the hit somewhere else.
Gotang twisted his body to the right in a split second. It looked like Gotang teleported in the eyes of the oni and the flame sword hit Gotang's right shoulder guard.
Resi recognized the move that Gotang executed; it was the move that he taught to Ligi when they practiced with him. This move was unlike Ligi who executed it slow and full of vulnerabilities. Gotang's move was more like a fluid dancing in slow motion as it avoided any attack it came across. It was beautiful.
The black flame sword cleaved Gotang's right shoulder and left a deep gash, spurting blood all over. He fell on his rear as he held his bloody shoulder. His brows knit together as cold sweat poured down his face. Unlike the oni, he didn't have regeneration. He was at a massive disadvantage.
He quickly picked himself back up and held his sword in his other hand. He stood the best he could given the situation. He backed away towards his group. Resi stood up and immediately went near Gotang with a worried look.
"Hey old man, you okay?"
"Heh, it can't kill me yet. I still have to protect your butt."
Resi forced a smile. Even in this serious situation, Gotang was able to speak lightheartedly and ease everyone around him. Seeing him joke like this gave them the levity they needed.
Resi felt a chill in his spine. He knew this indicated only one thing, the monoliths were acting up and about to hit them. Its direction was straight to Gotang. Resi's heart stopped as he quickly spat out a warning.
"WATCH OUT!!!"
Gotang reacted quickly and recognized the threat. He looked towards the monolith that lit up and beamed towards him. Seeing Gotang react to his words, Resi felt relief and ecstatic but he didn't see him dodge.
What are you doing? Dodge!!! The world went in slow motion as he saw Gotang's back, facing the beam with the full intention of tanking the beam.
Gotang didn't dodge. If he did, then Resi would be hit.