As if it wasn't obvious enough, Phoenix and Oni were wary of Kai.
"Be careful. He's strong. He's also using fire. I see no sign of him using a Talisman, so maybe he directly changed his Spirit Power into a fire like what you can do, or he used a fire Talisman but hid it in his pocket as we can't see his hands. I never thought he would be here."
Oni calmly analyzed the situation and told his partner in a low voice. Even though what had happened earlier was surprising, he had a lot of experience. Of course, he was surprised by Kai's appearance, but he had priority.
Phoenix nodded. "I will try him."
Oni put his hand on his forehead, showing that he understood the danger of fighting Kai. But there was nothing else they could do since they needed to beat him if they wanted to get the Spirit Foxes.
"Are you done chatting? I am kind enough to let you talk for the last time." Kai said. He was confident that they couldn't win against him when he fused with Amber.
Phoenix and Oni exchanged glances and nodded. Both of them pointed their guns and aimed at Kai.
Kai didn't flinch or show any fear at all when he saw them aim for him. He just smiled.
"Don't shoot," Kai said calmly as he walked toward them with his arms still in his pocket and closed the gap between them. "You know that's useless."
"Is it?" The one named Phoenix asked. The masked figure's hand trembled, but the gun was still aimed at Kai's head. "Let's see whose fire is stronger!"
Phoenix pulled the trigger. A flaming bullet was shot from the barrel, leaving a fiery track. It was hotter and faster than what Oni had shot at Kai earlier.
"It seems my words won't get into you." Kai stepped forward and removed his hand from his pocket, and raised it. At that moment, the fire around him danced and converged in front of him, melting the bullet easily. But it seemed like the two troublemakers didn't intend to stop at that.
[On your side, Kai!] Amber warned him with Telepathy. He turned his head to the sides respectively to see that both of them had pulled the triggers again and were about to shoot at him again. The flaming bullets were already moving at incredible speed.
But for Kai, they were slow. It happened again, just like when his restaurant was attacked. The time moved slowly whenever he concentrated while in this state. The only reason he didn't panic was that he knew he could handle them.
The two flaming bullets were closer than the previous one, and Kai reached out to both of them at the same time, creating a ring of flames around himself in a few seconds. Both of them stopped when they realized that their bullets were trapped by the flames around Kai and fell to the ground.
"Phoenix! Support me!" Oni shouted and rushed toward Kai from the right.
Kai only glanced at him slightly before jumping backward. He was in a disadvantageous position, being between the two intruders. But once he jumped, he felt something from the left. He turned around and saw Phoenix holding a Talisman with fire runes written on it.
It seemed like the masked figure's specialty was a fire Talisman, as it was shown by how big the fire coming to him was.
A large fireball appeared from the palm of Phoenix's hand and approached Kai as fast as a bullet, but Kai created more flames around himself with his right hand. The fireball collided with the flames and disappeared.
"Such a warm fire. Is that all?" He landed a bit away from them and dusted his clothes. His hair was unruffled and danced in the air because of the gust of wind that suddenly appeared.
The two troublemakers were frozen in their steps. They never thought Kai would be that strong.
"Who are you?" Oni hissed as he lowered his stance. "I have never heard of someone like you before."
"What do you think I am? I'm not here for a friendly chat." Kai sneered. "Especially with you guys who tried to kidnap the Spirit Foxes."
"It seems we can't talk with him," Phoenix answered in a low tone and raised his gun again. The masked figure's hands trembled after seeing that Kai wasn't affected by the bullet that came from the gun. Just like before, they melted before they could reach Kai's body.
"I will ask you a question then. Who are you?" Kai asked calmly. He was full of confidence and determination in his voice. "I am sure that you are trying to take the Spirit Foxes somewhere. I wonder why people do something like this just for money."
He walked toward the two masked figures as if challenging them to fight him instead of answering his question. "You better tell me."
"You don't know anything!" Oni shouted. The masked figure threw his gun and took out two Talismans. He put them on his left and right hands. A bluish aura, Spirit Power, appeared around his body and burned the Talismans, a sign that they were being used.
The masked figure took a deep breath, gathered his strength, and jumped at Kai. He tried to ram Kai with both hands and attack him simultaneously.
Kai just used a single hand to block Oni's punch and threw him to the side. It surprised even Phoenix in the distance, but it was a normal thing for Kai. His physical strength right now couldn't be compared to before.
"Oh no? You want to hit me?" Kai asked, amused at their foolishness. "With just two Enhancing Talismans, it won't be enough to hurt me. Well, because you won't answer me, I guess this is your end."
Kai punched Oni's body with the fist that held Phoenix Fire, burning him into ashes in an instant. The masked figure's body crumbled in an instant, turned into dust, and disappeared after landing on the ground.
Oni's body disintegrated, and Phoenix fell to the ground, butt first.
"M-monster!" The only masked figure left tried to crawl away. There was no way this was real. A body turned to ash instantly when it made contact with the fire was something unheard of. Unless...
"You're a monster! Get away from me!" Phoenix shouted and pulled the trigger a few times, shooting a few bullets at once before the magazine was emptied.
Of course, all of them were meaningless. The Phoenix Fire around Kai's body protected him as he turned to Phoenix. His gaze was cold and unforgiving.
[It seems you're a monster, Kai. Fufufufu, how cute.] Amber chuckled in his mind.
'That's indeed cute when it comes from someone who wants to kidnap a cute little harmless Spirit Fox.' He answered back using Telepathy. Only Amber could hear it through their connection bound by the contract.
"You called me a monster?" He smirked as he took a step forward toward Phoenix. The masked figure crawled away, clearly afraid of him.
"G-Get away from me!"
"I am not a monster. I am just someone who will take the right pill and live in the present. See? Someone like you who thinks you can do whatever you want, like kidnapping the harmless foxes, just for money, is what a true monster is."
Kai stopped in front of the scared invader. He looked down at the figure as the fire rose behind his back, creating the shape of the flaming bird he remembered that took him flying in the sky a few days ago.
[How sweet.] His partner commented with a happy tone. [Showing off, aren't you?]
'Something like that. I hate it when this figure uses a Mythical Beast name to do something like this.'
[How protective. That's why I like you, Kai.]
He ignored Amber's comment in the end and looked down at the scared figure. That figure didn't deserve to be called Phoenix with just that little fire.
"You can't say anything, huh? Well then, it's nice to meet you. As a reward, I will show you what a Phoenix Fire is."
"Nooo!"
The masked figure's scream rang through the temple's garden as the flaming bird behind Kai flew. The bird just perched on the figure's shoulder before they combusted into the fire, turning to ashes shortly after.
A supernatural disaster called Malice he fought on his second day, was way stronger than them. It honestly disappointed him, but still, he now knew how strong he was.
But, he regretted something a little.
"Ah! I burned them to nothingness. I have yet to get their Talismans."