Kai glanced at Amber. She somehow had a mischievous smile.
'Don't tell me…'
"No," Ranga replied. "This is a tradition; you are not allowed to refuse. Only the woman can refuse it as she's the stake." He continued. "How is it, woman?"
"Fufufu, I am looking forward to your fight, Kai."
Hearing Amber's answer, he knew that she had known the situation would end up like this from the start.
She secretly sent a Telepathy message.
[Don't you want this? A fight to test your strength. Just think of it as a warm-up before you take on the people aiming for the foxes.]
'Cheeky girl.' He thought. He should've known this since Amber didn't deny that they were muscle heads.
Indeed, he wanted to test his strength. But not like this. He was here to enjoy the Oni Village and look around. However, he also wasn't someone who would back away from a fight.
Something needed to be at the right place and at the right time. Right now, it clearly didn't fit both. They were clearly at the wrong place and wrong time to do something like this… Unless the other party had a different way of thinking.
"Well, it can't be helped," Kai replied weakly, shrugging his shoulders. "No hard feeling if you lose."
"No hard feelings! I am a man, and I won't go back on my words!" Ranga declared.
'At least he has a principle.' Kai nodded, satisfied with the red Oni's answer.
"You can do it, Kai!" Amber cheered from the side.
"Where are we going to fight?" Kai looked at Ranga. If he was going to do it, then he would do it seriously. Looking down on his opponent was something he wouldn't do in his life.
"Follow me," Ranga said shortly and turned around.
Kai looked at Amber, and she nodded. Then they followed Ranga from behind while the others bystander also went along with them. It seemed like fights were something they looked forward to watching.
The term muscle head fitted them greatly.
They were going deeper into the middle of the village. Walking at a fast pace, the crowd behind him became bigger as more people joined. With so many people following him, Kai began to feel a bit nervous.
"Hey, Amber. Do you think I can beat the red Oni called Ranga? I just want to confirm it with you."
"Of course. If not, then I wouldn't agree to his terms." She answered. "Actually, I was worried about you. Letting you fight the troublemakers without knowing the extent of your power is dangerous. So I thought about fighting an Oni in a controlled environment to make you more confident about your strength."
"Isn't my debut supposed to be at the festival?"
"Well, the situation called for it, so why don't you make this your debut? Look at the people behind us. They are excited about the fight too."
He glanced behind. And as Amber had said, the people were too excited for the fight. He couldn't let himself be looked down upon in this land. This was essentially his debut in the Supernatural World, albeit a little faster than he liked it.
Maybe his decision to come to Oni Village before the festival was a mistake in itself. He glanced at the red Oni in front of him.
'He looks strong.'
If possible, he would like to show himself after dealing with the Foxes' matter and gaining a good reputation. Still, he also couldn't stay silent when someone asked him to give Amber to them. It didn't sit well with him.
"We are here."
As Kai was lost in his thoughts, they arrived at a clearing near the big mansion in the middle of the village. In the middle of the clearing was a stone stage, which looked like an arena.
Ranga bent his legs and jumped on the arena, and looked at Kai.
"Get up here, human. We will have our fight in this place."
Kai looked up. The stone stage was 1 meter high, so the people could still see the duel without trying to jump or anything. He then glanced at Amber, and she waved her hand and wished him luck.
Without any choice, he sighed and jumped into the arena. He easily landed on the side across from Ranga and cracked his neck.
"Are we really going to do this?" He asked, trying to confirm it with Ranga once again.
"Of course!" The red Oni replied with a booming voice. "I like that woman, and I want her. So I asked you, her partner, to follow an Oni tradition to get a woman they desired!"
For Kai, that tradition was a bit messed up. How could it apply to foreigners too? That was something he didn't understand.
Because of this, he decided on something.
'I will ask Amber to fuse with me when we return for the festival, so no one asks me for a duel again.'
He started to stretch his arms and legs, doing a warm-up. His opponent looked at him weirdly but didn't voice anything.
"Alright then." He said as he cracked his fingers. "How do we do this?"
Ranga grinned when he saw Kai had the spirit to fight him. He glanced at the crowd and stopped his gaze at a middle-aged Oni wearing the same grin as he.
"Pops! Can you be the referee of this fight?" He shouted.
"Sure thing."
Kai turned his head toward the Oni who replied to Ranga. He had the same red skin color and muscular body. But he wore clothes, a white Hakama, instead of going bare-body like Ranga. His black hair touched his shoulder, and his horns looked sharp.
The Oni went to the arena and walked to the center, stopping on the side and looking at him.
"My job is to stop one side if they are going too far. I also will determine the winner of the fight. Do you mind if I become the referee?"
Kai didn't know anything. But when he looked around, the crowd looked at the middle-aged Oni with respect. He assumed the Oni that became the referee had at least a high position among the villagers.
"I don't mind." He replied. "As long as you're fair."
"Gahahaha! You have balls, brat. Of course, I will be fair! I swear on my name, Kirimaru, that I will oversee this fight without taking sides!"
"Alright."
The Oni seemed to be prideful. Kai could see honesty in his eyes and decided to trust him.
Turning to Ranga, he declared. "We can start anytime."
The red Oni's response was a toothy grin. He got into a stance with his right hand beside his head and his left hand stretched toward Kai in an open palm. His right leg was pulled slightly.
"Pops, give us the sign."
The middle-aged Oni, Kirimaru, nodded. He took 3 steps back to the edge of the arena and raised his arm.
"Both sides are ready. As written in Oni's tradition, the winner will get the reward. May Shuten bless this fight!" He started chanting and then swung his arm down and shouted loudly. "Begin!"