Yuurei would enter the cavern in front of him and he was hoping that everything would be fine. He knew that things couldn’t be this simple forever. The cave itself had some natural lighting throughout the place. The Seraphim wasn’t sure why, but he felt like something was weird around here. The aura miasma that was here felt like danger was everywhere. He wasn’t sure why, but this was going to be annoying.

Renji would look around the place and he was wondering why he felt off about this place.

“Why do I feel like we’re being watched?” He asked Yuurei.

Yuurei would look at him as he was moving through the cavern. He would look at Renji for a second and then turn his head forward.

“It’s because I think we are being watched. We will keep moving, but just be ready for anything.” He said to Renji and the group.

The Onis within the cavern moved through the area. They could tell that the man with the white hair was a Starlight. They were excited, yet angry that one had shown their face after all these years. They wanted to rip him to shredded, but then they knew they would need his body if they wanted to get out of there. They laughed, and it could be heard within the cavern. There were seven of them, no, six of them, and one was a freaking Oni himself.

They couldn’t believe that one of their own was with the man whose family sealed them away. The blasphemy of him. He would be the only person to die here. The Onis would move around the place and figured that they would let themselves be known to the group.

“A Starlight has finally shown their face here? And you brought friends with you, how delightful. We can’t wait to take you guys out; as for you Oni, how dare you side with these humans. You won’t be leaving here with your spirit intact.” They said to Benimaru.

The voice of the Onis couldn’t be specifically located. It was all around them, and Yuurei would shake his head as he was wondering when they would show up. Renji would shiver as he felt his hair spike up. He didn’t like the way that sounded, but knew that they should be fine right?

Yuurei would keep walking though as he didn’t have time to stand still. Renji would get close to him and he knew Yuurei would protect him if things had gone bad.

The Onis prepare themselves; the first wave wouldn’t be too strong for them to handle, but the more powerful Onis were just assessing their situation before they themselves would attack. That was when it happened, Yuurei felt danger coming from every direction and his arm moved and his weapon would appear.

Yuurei would have his shield appear on his left hand and his Excalibur would appear on his right hand. The Exceed would have Drakkon and the Berserker suit on him from the beginning as it was something Yuurei would let him wear when they entered the place. The Onis would attack the group without hesitating as they were confident in their powers and they had no choice, the stronger Onis ordered them to.

545

Kaito looks around as this place smells like a deep rot and like something was festering in here and he wondered if it was like this as to make them think nothing was left in here or if this was a trap just waiting to go off on them and Kaito felt a weird feeling of them being watches and the thing inside of him stirring almost like it was trying to crawl it's way out of him. Kaito tries not to lose his cool as the oni start calling out to Yuurei and the shield of Brone's. Kaito's gear is on him and when he puts on his hat an aura tears through the cave hitting the Oni and he hears a few of them gasp a bit.

Revy is given Kaito's sword and she waits for them to come as Kaito has his shield ready to start bashing what ever might come his way. Revy was staying close enough that Kaito could jump and defend her but far enough away not to hit him in the case that the fighting got bad. Kaito looked at the Oni and he can feel something like he might know them. "I hope you are ready Brone cause they sound like they are hungry and they might like dwarf on the half shell." Kaito said that so effortlessly and with out thought he even wondered if that might be an actual thing that Oni's might eat. Kaito wonders why he even has to wonder that as he would thing that dwarf meat would be rough and very tough. Kaito then thinks on why he is even thinking about it as he is never going to eat a dwarf.

Revy looked at Kaito a bit bewildered to what in the hell she had just heard Kaito say and then she sees something in his shadow it looked like an elf but not a wood elf what ever it was seemed darker than that with read eyes and black hair. She rubbed her eyes and it was gone and as the lesser oni ran in Kaito shield bashed and worked as a team with Revy who was doing her best to use the sword and not harm Kaito who was making sure of it as well as that. The Oni seemed like nothing but the seemed to stray from him a bit and more toward Revy and Brone and his lot it seemed that they were not looking to fight with Kaito or even really attempt to fight Kaito as the main focus was Yuurei and after that was his exceed and then the dwarf this had seemed to have gotten off the rails as Kaito moved closer to them and hitting them with his shield which still rocked their worlds into the next century.

There were more moving in the shadows and Kaito could smell them but not pinpoint them just yet as he could hear a nagging voice in the back of his head telling him to go after the Oni in a certain way but that was being drowned out slightly, and something about the Starlight being the key. Kaito had no idea that that was really meaning was it talking about Yuurei or was it speaking about someone else or was it actual star light it is speaking of.
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Brone Heavyaxe was confused about the lighting within the cave. Seeming like natural lighting, but there was no source. Other than lanterns and light lacrima, the dwarf had explored caverns that emanated natural lighting such as bioluminescent mushrooms and a variety of crystals that reflected even the smallest fragment of light. But this specific cavern shown no indication of the light's source. Brone wondered if Kaito would be able to sense if there was magic within the walls.

Lighting aside, the cavern seems to have a sense of normalcy, though the scent of rot was so faint, only Kaito was able to pick it up. Gnicholas continued to sit upon the dwarf's shoulder. He too was confused by the lighting, but his concern with it lasted longer than the dwarf's attention span.

Renji was the first to imply there were possible enemies and it was Yuurei who confirmed it. Brone immediately focused on his battled instinct, expanding it around himself as they all continued to walk. Though he didn't sense anything as of yet, he drew forth his green axe, Spellcleaver, readying himself for a possible battle. Seeing Kaito place his straw hat upon his head, Brone felt a wave of pressure that waft over him; the same pressure he felt when the two of them sparred back at the training dome. The dwarf smirked, confirming the information Muninn had told him, that it was the hat that caused this intense pressure. If it wasn't for his ravens, he wouldn't know most of the things he does now. Brone then followed suit after Kaito by slipping on his blue helmet, causing a wave of cold magical energy to fill the cavern.

Then an echoing voice came to them, though it seem to come from all directions. This didn't put fear into any of them, save for Gnicholas who had slipped off the dwarf's shoulder and into the cowl of the white cloak. Still, Brone didn't sense any movement yet, but he didn't falter, he continued his trek along side his friends, waiting for the enemy's first move.

Benimaru however, floated slightly behind Brone. Hearing the voice didn't scare him, but he was indeed unsettled. He had always wondered how the others would feel about being in the company of a Starlight, but he tend to push the thought to the back of his mind, figuring he would never encounter any of his brethren. He didn't answer, but he did prepare himself as his blade twirled in midair, the purple flame above his head flickered.

Brone began to sense a number of silhouettes coming into view; Kaito being quick-witted with a joke to lighten the mood, "HA! I don't blame them! I got a lot of meat on me bones!" the dwarf blurted out a laugh as he drew forth his black axe in his other main hand. For moment, he spotted the shields of both Kaito and Yuurei, the golden shields that were combined to one; the one that Brone had wielded until he severed it into two. Now both pieces, fully crafted into their own shields, are being wielded by two of his closest friends; his heart swelled his joy and pride, knowing that if he were to die, he wouldn't mind doing so in battle along side his friends.

The dwarf turned his back to his friends as he met the oni that tried to sneak up behind him. The enemy swung his oversized sword, but the moment it struck the black axe, it shattered into pieces. Brone retaliated by slamming his green axe into the oni's side, sending him stumbling backwards.

605

Yuurei would feel the pressure that was coming from his two friends. It would seem like those helmets of theirs would do something to the carven they were in and also to those around them. He didn’t have anything of the sort, but he did like that his friend was unique in that matter. Still, it got colder in this place and he knew why, but he did his best to make sure it didn’t bother him. The battle would begin, Brone being the first to defend and be attacked. That was interesting, and he would feel danger coming toward Renji. The armor that was on Renji would sense the danger and attack, and it would shoot out arcane energy at the Oni. It was then Renji would see this and he would move forward and attack as well. He would punch the Oni twice as it would feel the power behind that attack.

The Seraphim didn’t have time to be thinking about others. There were four Onis coming at him at once. They were excited and trying to see which one of them would be able to take him out and possibly possess him. The Warden of the North would block the first Oni’s attack, countering it with a shield bash to the Oni’s face and then he would slash away at the second one that approached him. The Oni that got slashed didn’t see the blade, but it was because Yuurei had it invisible to the naked eye.

The two Onis that were left had come from behind. They would see their brethren had been defeated in just one blow. They knew Yuurei was a Starlight, but were they always that powerful?

Migi would see that enemies were coming to attack Yuurei, but he would be able to help him. Two blades would appear on Yuurei’s shoulder, and they would move. The two blades would extend two meters and it would slash the two Onis without warning. They didn’t expect Yuurei’s arm to morph, which brought them to be warier about this man.

The stronger Onis were watching the fight, and they were deducing a bunch of stuff. It would seem like Yuurei had a sword in his free hand that they couldn’t see. That same arm also had a weird creature within it. This was interesting and they couldn’t wait to gain his powers. Yuurei would sigh as he shook his head. He could feel that there were a lot more Onis here than they could count. Renji was looking around wondering what would come next.

“We can try to move forward, but be careful it seems like they are going to just let us walk around without a fight.” He said to the group after they handled what came their way.

Renji would shake his head as he would start walking with Yuurei. The Onis around the cavern would laugh when they heard Yuurei. He was right this was going to be enjoyable for them to see the downfall of another Starlight due to their hands.

510|1055

Kaito and Revy moved through the cave and he dealt with what he had to do. Kaito makes sure that he kept his guard up and follows up on helping Revy as he was not going to waste time on these oni as he feels they are just small fries that are not up to the fight and he was not going to back down but he needed to make sure that there was little to chance to cost Revy’s life. The oni seem to try and not get close enough to get back handed by the shield but once again they get back handed with the shield. Kaito watched as they tried to get room from him but Revy gets into the opening and hits them and doesn’t let them even get close to Kaito as she makes sure the sword is fully doing it’s job and Kaito wonders if they really think these small fries are going to really slow them down.

Revy pushes forward and sees that they are more leading them and Kaito quickly got to her and pulls her back as an attack rained down on the place that she was. Revy looks at Kaito and feels bad that she caused him to have to save her again as she had gotten to far ahead of herself. Kaito simply patted her head then rushes in to keep fighting them back and Revy hurries to catch up and help him. She is not sure what she can do to help as she seemed to have only have gotten into Kaito’s way and made him have to have saved her and she headed Yuurei talking and she turns and sees Kaito is also moving and she keeps staying close and trying to have her best chance of helping and thinking up a plan while Kaito keeps her safe from the dangers that were coming while she tries to think up a way to stay alive and not just be recycled into food for the Oni’s.

Kaito does waste time and splats any oni that dares to come up to him as he walks along as this was a place to get them answers and he wasn’t going to let them get in his or Yuurei’s way as he was not going to be delayed as he has many things that he still has to do and some of them might not wait for when he has time to do them so he needed to do what ever he could to wrap up this place as soon as he could as to him this was an important thing to handle and not waste too much time on the oni as they seemed unable to really fight back as much as they think they can vs them as they were no push overs to be hunted even in their little cut off part of the world these three held strong and are not in fear of the creatures that go bump in the night and try to make them second guess them selves.
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The fight quickly broke out as a wave of oni would rush at the group of adventurers. Two bodiless shadows ran along the floor towards Brone. The dwarf spread out his senses, but he couldn't find where the shadows attached to. He wondered if the enemies were invisible. Sucking his teeth in annoyance, he had no choice but to wait until the enemies would present themselves. Then suddenly, the shadows jumped out of the ground and struck the dwarf with two large swords.

The onis laughed, succeeding on the blow, but their smiles vanished the moment they realized their blades weren't able to pierce the armor made of ice, but simply cracking it. Before they could jump back and gain distance, the dwarf swung his black axe. The first oni tried to parry the attack, but the black axe simply cut through the blade and bisected the oni, reducing him to smoke. Then Brone swung his green axe; the second oni, thinking himself smarter then the rest, had transformed back into a shadow where physical attacks cannot harm him, but Spellcleaver cared not for any form of magic and cut through his shadow form and his true body, reducing him to smoke as well.

"Blasted oni and there damn trickery" Brone spat. He wasn't harmed, but simply annoyed by how he was still attacked, though not harmed. After the wave had been dealt with, the group continued their trek through the dimly lit tunnel. Gnicholas had poked his head out of the cowl now that the danger had passed.

Benimaru floated by the dwarf, silent. For a moment, Brone had looked at the floating shield and sword, but said nothing. He then kept his eyes forward as to avoid any awkwardness. Beni knew what that look was about. During the fight, everyone had moved into action, either to defend, to fight, or to take cover, but Benimaru himself had just floated there, not doing anything, or even saying a word. Truthfully, the oni spirit wasn't sure what to do. It wasn't anything to do with loyalty to the other oni, for such creatures were usually solitary beings, only gathering together if they had a common enemy, but for Beni, he was more afraid. In his life, he was considered a weak oni compared to the rest. He had gotten around by using trickery, lies, and swift kills. It wasn't until he met his first honorable swordsman that he began to understand what honor was.

He wondered what Brone thought of him; questioned his allegiance. All of them had walked forward, without caring to question or to stare at Benimaru, for they all knew that if the oni spirit decided to betray them, his destruction would be swift. Now the question was: Who did Benimaru fear more? The oni monsters? Or the Monster Trio of the North?

477 | 1,082

Yuurei kept his guard up, but he was not afraid; he had faced death before. This was different for him, but he knew to keep pushing forward. The young man would hear the laughs of the Onis and it would seem like they thought that it would shake their resolve. He could see that everybody was facing their own battles, but he didn’t interrupt what they were doing.

“The Onis that laugh must think they are big and strong. They bring out their soldiers to fight us and watch them get slaughtered. If anything we should be the ones laughing at them.” He said out loud.

The Onis would become quiet when they heard this as they would look at each other. It was then that they would order the next wave of attack. The stronger Onis leveled up the group that had rushed to the group this time. They, however, were not going to be fighting just yet.

“Why are you taunting them? Let them think about what they want. It’s better for us.” He said this to Yuurei.

It was too late though, and Renji would notice something was coming straight for him. Yuurei would notice this, and he figured he would provide Renji would more protection. The Seraphim wouldn’t need his equipment as he was durable enough. He figured it would be helpful to his companion. He would toss his shield to Renji in hopes that he would catch it.

“Catch Renji.” He said as Renji saw where it was flying to.

He would catch it and the attack from the Oni would clash with the shield. Renji would look at the monster with a smile on his face, and he would launch a punch as a counterattack. The Oni didn’t see this coming and he would feel the attack land on his face. Still, it didn’t disappear, and Renji knew he wasn’t that strong to one-shot something like Yuurei. He had pushed forward going in for another attack.

This attack had done the job as he had shield bashed the Oni this time. It would disperse this time, and he would be glad to be able to contribute now. Yuurei would feel a large number of Onis making their way to him. That was great, but he understood that they were trying to get rid of him, Brone, and Kaito first before going for the rest of them.

He would swing Excalibur once again, cutting a few of them from the attack. The stronger Onis seeing this were able to determine just how long the blade was. That was great, and it wouldn’t stop there, Migi had stretched the two appendages that he had created. He would cut up two Onis that came from his side. The Onis could see the max those appendages could reach as well.

Yuurei would move around as his necklace would allow to him know where the danger was coming from. He would continue to cut and dodge the Onis that had pursued their deaths and demise.

506|1561

Revy sees the new ones that were now bigger coming in and she is not sure that she can handle it so she backed up and Kaito can see she was starting to get a bit spooked so he steps in front of her. "Don’t worry we have Brone and Yuurei here so we should be fine." Revy blinked at the fact Kaito just talked as if he was some kind of weak useless man that was going to need protected by Revy knows that there was no way that, that he would be a push over either. Revy keeps the sword ready and following Kaito’s lead as he helps keep them from touching her. Revy felt safe with Kaito helping her fight through them as he kept her very safe with his shield. Kaito is not sure to how strong they will become as they progress closer to the place they needed to be and how deep was this spot.

Kaito keeps Revy safe as he knows that Yuurei and Brone need no help with defending those that are with them and Kaito focuses solely on the ones that were coming at him as he flexed his arm and knocked them for a loop and that was the last they saw of him before they ended up getting broken. Kaito watched Revy run forward from under his shield and right into the face of the attackers that had just been parried and Revy looks like she was excited that she was able to do something and be helpful not that Kaito had ever found her unhelpful to himself but it was nice to see the woman and actually keep trying to fight instead of being overly worried that she might get in Kaito's way but that was just how it works. Kaito having no idea how much longer there will be oni coming but Kaito is not sure if they were going to get even bigger.

Kaito and Revy having beat back more of them, Kaito decided to look around to see how the others were handling the fights and other things and he wondered how they are doing and if he was going to be okay here as he knows to start with he should be able to keep up but he knows that Brone and Yuurei were just far to strong for him to keep up with as he was going to fail it seemed and that means at some point he is going to end up letting Revy down and he was going to hate letting that happen. He keeps his eyes sharp and he keeps back handing the evils away from the cute companion that was doing her best and he smiles and that was going to go on as look as he can fight to keep her smile pure and free of fear as long as he lives but he feels that might not last as long as he might happen. He needs to make sure that the darkness and that there was anything that could save it.
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The tunnel was silent for a moment, save for the laughing. It was assumed that the onis wouldn't attack again so soon, but Brone was wrong in that assumption. The next wave of onis had rushed forward, attacking Yuurei's section and Kaito's section. Both had used their respective golden shields to defend against the onslaught. As for Brone, he no longer bore a shield, save for Benimaru, so he met the attack with his weapons instead.

Just as an oni materialized from a cloud of smoke, attempting to drive his blade into the dwarf, Brone quickly met the blade with his black axe, which shattered the sword and cut through the oni, reducing him to smoke. He would recycle this tactic for any of the onis that continued to make their way to him. One had even tried to hide in his blind spot, but the dwarf's battle instincts were too sharp to not be aware, so that oni as well had perished but the slash of his green blade that swung horizontally in a full circle.

It was proving too difficult to get anywhere near the dwarf, given that he had four arms, each wielding some form of a weapon. If the spears didn't keep those out of reach, then those who were lucky enough to bypass the spears would be cut down by the axes. So a new plan was enacted.

One of the oni had turned intangible and swam through the ground, making his way to the dwarf. While Brone fought, two hands jutted from the ground and grasped his ankles. Even though the oni was powerful in his strength, the dwarf was too grounded and stubborn to easily lose his footing. Brone realizing the attempt to trip him decided to turn his attention to the trickster. He raised both his axes into the air. Seeing that the dwarf was switching his focus, two oni had rushed at him at his sides, swinging their scimitars, but the other dwarven arms managed to block the attacks using the spears.

Brone brought down both Spellcleaver and Dhuraindarin, slamming the blades into the ground. The black axe sent a ripple, breaking the ground of the tunnel in a large area, all to reveal the trickster oni who hid in the ground while the green axe cut through his intangibility and reducing him to ash.

Dwarven Secret Technique! Rock yer Sh*t!:

The tunnel shook from the fissure while one of the oni yelled out "The dwarf is insane! He's trying to collapse the whole place!"

Brone scoffed, "Idiots" little did the oni knew, the dwarf was surveying the make of the structure of the tunnels, knowing that it was all too sturdy to buckle under such destruction. His father had taught him about structural integrity and what kind of force was needed to fully bring down a tunnel.

Regardless, the oni had scattered which allowed Brone to pick them out as he slammed his axes into onis here and there, sending them flying or reducing them to ash or smoke.

504 | 1,586

Yuurei would continue to move around, and it would seem like things were getting hectic. The Onis that were coming for them were indeed stronger than the ones from before. It would also seem like they were attacking them in a bigger number than the weaker ones. That meant the Onis here were mostly stronger than the ones they originally fought.

He would sense danger from above, and he would dodge the attack of the Oni. There was one on the ceiling and it would try to behead Yuurei. It looked like it shaved a piece of Yuurei’s skin with how close it was. The Seraphim would see this, and he would nod impressed with what the Oni attempted to do.

That was when he swung his Excalibur at where the attack had come from, and it would connect with the Oni as it didn’t see anything within Yuurei’s hand. It would scream from the pain as it would disappear from existence as it had perished. He would soon feel the ground shake due to Brone, and his eyes widen; that was dangerous, but he knew if this area was weak then the Onis would have done this a long time ago.

Renji had thought the same thing with the cave they were in. He did think Brone was a lunatic though to test the integrity of the cave. He didn’t have anything to say though as he was fighting for his life right now. He would see a bunch of Onis had come for him. He wasn’t sure what the reason behind it was, but he would shake his head.

Well, he knew that Brone had tested the cave’s integrity and it was a fact that this place would stand no matter what destruction they used here. That meant he would be able to use the spell he had planned on using next. It was needed or else he was going to be jumped by a bunch of Onis. A bunch of mana would come out of the Sword Jeweled Zelretch and it would spiral around him without him holding back.

The Onis would see this, and they were surprised that this guy had something like that. It would cause the entire cave to shake from the power of the spell. The Onis that had come for Renji would meet their end as they would feel the power behind the attack. It wouldn’t take long, but the spell would end, and he would look around and it would seem like everything was clear.

He would sigh with relief and that was when an Oni came after him. Yuurei would appear though, and he would cut the Oni that was attempting to go after Renji. He would then notice a few more and he would take them out without hesitating. It would seem like they would take any opportunity to attack any of them.

“Don’t let your guard down Renji; these Onis don’t care for a fair fight. They are trying to kill us anyway and any time they could.” He said to his friend.

Renji would hear him and he would nod as he understood.

“Sorry, about that Yuurei, I will be careful.” He said to him.

The Onis would laugh though as they weren’t done with the army of Onis that were sealed within Mount Kuja.

558|2119

Kaito kept himself and Revy moving as fast as he could in the moment as there was a lot going on in here and he grabs the exceed in human form and he flies with her in his arms. "Brone be more careful as that axe you have can break every thing, and that means if you hit or break a piece of the barrier seal that keeps them in here you might weaken it or out right break it! " Kaito's tone was a bit stern about it as he rather then not cause another world changing event so soon after they had ended the last one and that means that Kaito needed to ne sterner with his words to make sure they come across right. Kaito quickly got Revy back into the fight and he backed her up as there was a huge clump of them and they needed to be culled or at least dealt with.

Revy and Kaito nearly work seamlessly besides Kaito having to shift himself and her out of the way of attacks that Revy hadn't seen or had gotten to close and was not able to dodge or take her self out of the way. Kaito does what he can with what he has in the moment as there are a lot of people that would get very hurt if these creatures were to get out and he hoped that he was not to hard on Brone when he spoke sternly to him but he still has to be careful as they have no ideas what might be in here or carved in here that keeps this place from leaking out into the outside world and Kaito rather them not risk that and have a new issue that they will have to clean up as Kaito is already starting to tire of the trouble they keep making and it is still only early in this adventure and Kaito wonders if he is just getting old and losing his touch as a fighter even though now he doesn't age like normal and has become a demi-god he can still feel old he guessed but that is a lot to have to over come later on if he even can.

Kaito and Revy keep slapping around the oni that were here as his shield holds strong and the sword Revy uses shifts as it makes contact with them and their makeshift weapons. Kaito hopes that they can hold out long enough to make it to what ever thing was so important that was here but that means that there might be more stronger fights ahead and he wonders if he might need to take care of Revy and relive her of the weapon and him being the one fighting. He knows that might hurt Revy's feelings but that was something that can't be helped if that was the thing that they were doing. Kaito needed to keep her safe as he doesn't have a fancy weapon like Yuurei gives to Renji to fight with only a pretty basic sword that can only do so much and then it is just a sword at any other time.
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The ground in the tunnel shifted after Brone decided to test the structural integrity. This sudden surprise forced a handful of oni to retreat and regroup. Following up on the widespread attack, Yuurei had released a large amount of magical energy that quickly wiped out another handful of oni. The attack was so sudden, Brone couldn't make out what kind of attack it was; he figured it was some form of speed blitz and that his own eyes weren't quick enough to track it.

One of the oni in Brone's immediate range had defended against the widespread attack by encasing himself with a solidified darkness. The dwarf intended on handling the black egg-like barrier, but Kaito's call won his attention. "Barrier seal?" he looked at the flying Kaito with a confused look. Then he looked over to Benimaru, the oni spirit who was sealed in the shield and sword. Then he understood, or he thought he did, "Ye damn spirit!" he turned to face the black egg that was fading away, the oni inside was startled and was trying to gain his composure, but the moment he saw that the dwarf was turning his attention upon him, the black egg began to reform, "Ye tried to trick me into breaking the seal and releasing ye all!" He ran at the black egg.

"This dwarf is insane! He completely fabricated a story of his own!" the oni within the black head tried to call out to his comrades for any sort of assistance, but no one would get to him in time as Brone's Spellcleaver had swung. The moment the blade touched the surface of the egg, the spell was negated and the egg vanished; the blade, with nothing to soften the blow, had slammed into the oni's midsection, bisecting, then reducing him to ash.

Two more oni tried to flank the dwarf, speeding through the leveled cracks in the floor in order to avoid line of sight from the dwarf, but Brone's battle instincts saw them clearly, so the moment they both closed the distance, Brone spun on the ball of his foot and slammed his black axe into one of their heads while the green axe hit the other. Both bursting into ash.

An oni, who had shrunk himself to avoid detection had hid in the shadow of one of the rushing oni. Then when he was right beneath Brone, he quickly grew in size, resembling a giant while holding the dwarf in his grasp.

"Got you!" the giant oni laughed.

Brone used all his strength to press all four of his arms against the inside of the giant's grip, forcing it to slowly open enough for him to position his spears to pierce the oversized palm, forcing the oni to release his grip entirely. After Brone dropped and tumbled on the floor, he got back to his feet and cut at the oni's heels, forcing him to fall and fade into ash.

497 | 2,083

Yuurei would look at Renji when he heard him apologize, and he would just smile at him.

“It’s okay, you’re doing the best you can and that is all that matters. Just be on your toes and don’t stop moving.” He said to Renji.

Renji would rub the back of his head when he heard Kaito’s words though. He used an Area of Effect attack as well. He had forgotten about the fact that he could have destroyed the seal right? Nah, he shook his head as he wasn’t strong enough to do something like that. Still, Brone, on the other hand, with that green axe, and black hammer anything was possible.

The Onis that were around would become slaughtered by Brone and Kaito. They were being taken out even though they were trying their best to overpower them with numbers. Yuurei was wondering if these guys were truly so powerful that they had to be sealed away. He figured things were different now than they were back then.

The Onis kept laughing as this was only the beginning. Yuurei and Renji would move forward or at least do what they felt was the right way. Still, they had a long way to go before they got out of this cave. He wondered what else was going to happen, and he figured that the Onis would continue to get stronger from here.

The Onis learned a lot from watching these people fight the weaker Onis. Kaito could fly and use dimensional distortion to avoid attacks. Revy was the weak link between the two, so if they wanted to get some free hits on Kaito they would have to go after her, rather than him. Yuurei had a weapon that was invisible, but the Onis deducted how long the reach from the blade was. Renji had to make sure to get to him fast, but he was covered in armor, which was a nuisance.

Brone didn’t seem to care about the Oni and if it would be attacked, but he had a way to negate their magic, so they had to avoid that. Then the black hammer destroyed any physical item they would conjure. Their thoughts were to go after Benimaru and see how the dwarf would react to that. The little guy in his hood would be hard to go after, but they could try as well.

The duo would lead the group though as it felt the exit to the cave was nowhere close to being reached.

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[exit]

Kaito and Revy kept on their way toward the next area as they slapped and slashed away the Oni that were here as they thought Kaito and Revy might be easier prey for them maybe. Kaito slams his shield into one oni that was running straight at him and it knocked him into a team of others that ended up all on their asses and the oni swear that keep seeing something behind Kaito that wasn't Revy. They rub their eyes before finally succumbing to the pain that that had been hit with and they wondered why they saw what they saw behind him. Kaito thinks the stronger and more tricky ones must be deeper in to the area that lays ahead of them but Kaito wasn't sure one hundred percent if he was okay with Revy keeping going as this might get nasty and he rather not place her in farther harm if he can help it as there is still life after this but if Revy is killed Kaito might just see that life as a new path to start killing and not being such a nice guy.

He looked around as the oni's seemed to have be come very disorganized as if they had not planned for if they lost certain oni what they would do, Kaito kind of wonders if maybe these oni had really lost their fangs but were living on now just for the memory of the past that they didn't know if they would be able to meet again. Kaito wonders if them being here now was something other than the right idea as they seemed far too weak but they had the numbers but the numbers mean nothing against people like Yuurei and Kaito and of course Brone but he goes without saying as those axes could probably split the country if the Dwarf even half tried to do it. Revy looked at Kaito looking for some praise on her work and Kaito smiled and patted her head as he swatted away the last remaining oni that dared to step in his way and that was pretty much all she wrote for this are of Oni as they had lost to monsters that grew up in a totally different way and place but if this was all going to come to a bad ending Kaito was going to stay ready to deal with it.
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After seeing the giant oni fall and fade, the other oni who were midway in their assault at the dwarf had then hesitated. Brone turned away from the new ashes to face the debating enemies. One of the oni began to fade fade into shadow, planning on trying to strike from the shadows, but when the dwarf adjusted his grip on his green blade, the shadow solidified back into the oni's true form. It was a silent conversation; Brone had indicated that if any of them tried to use magic to hide, his green blade will cut through them regardless.

Now it was a standoff. The three lesser onis nervously stared off with Brone who continued to grip his weapons. They had seen the axes, but now he had two more arms wielding spears. This was worse than they had been witnessing. The onis then took a single step back.

"Don't ye run now, where's yer courage?" The dwarf chuckled. But as he took a step forward, the onis then faded into shadow and vanished from the scene. Brone extended his senses, trying to pinpoint the three, wondering if they were planning on striking at him as the others did, but it was quiet. He looked over to his comrades to see the they too had finished dealing with the onis; the wave had completed.

The spears vanished, their magical essence storing back into the rings the dwarf bore. He stored his axes onto his back and hid his secondary arms back into the waist sash, "Yer alright?" Brone turned to face the floating Benimaru.

"Yeah" was all Benimaru said, still contemplating the situation that just happened. Brone stood looking at the mask embedded on the shield, unable to read the permanent expression. The dwarf had thought about pressing further but chose not to pry, so he turned about and walked off, following Kaito and Yuurei down the tunnel.

"Worried about Benimaru?" Gnicholas popped his head out from the cowl. The gnome was very clever and observant; he too was wondering what had upset him, but more so where his allegiance lay. He wanted to ask of that to the dwarf, but Gnicholas knew well that the dwarf was sensitive to such discussions.

"If there's something wrong, he knows he could tell us" Brone's voice was monotone. Gnicholas had a speculation that the dwarf question the oni's allegiance as well. Even with such concern, Brone allowed Beni to float behind him, this was because at the end of the day, the oni had earned his trust and has yet to lose it. If the day came that Beni would betray him, then the dwarf would act, simple as that, but until that day, he saw Beni as a friend.

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[Exit]