Yuurei was surprised by the sudden appearance of the man with the Top Hat. He knew the man was around, but he didn’t think he would have been able to enter this place that easily. It begs the question, how did he arrive here? Akira would look back at Akuma and the man had welcomed him into his body. He was fine with that and he would leave Akira’s body, leaving the old Starlight to become limp and wither away. The Seraphim was on guard when he saw this and he knew that their fight was over. This was going to be annoying, but he looked at everybody in the room.

“Please don’t hold back. He made a fool of us last time, and it seems like that Oni and him became one.” He warned everybody.

He knew about Brone’s ability to become bigger and stronger. It was the same for Kaito became more dragon-like and divine. These two were holding back, and honestly, they shouldn’t have. Still, this was going to be more difficult and Yuurei knew it. He would bring out a staff and he would toss it to Renji. This would bring him to put his Zabimaru away and he would keep his gauntlet on his person still. He would get into a fighting stance because he wasn’t sure what would happen right now.

Akuma would fully assimilate with the Oni. He looked at his hands and felt the power dwelling inside him. This was the power he was looking for and on top of that, he would now be able to cause chaos within Joya like he promised his family he would. They had destroyed his family even after everything they did for this country.

“This is perfect, if you think I was a problem last time, then you’re in for a rude awakening now. Prepare yourselves fool because you will become fodder for the Onis who live here. The monks will be taken as well, and together we shall destroy all of Joya. I, Akuma Starlight, promise to destroy this country for what they did to our people.” He said this as he looked at Yuurei, remembering he was also part of his clan.

“I will give you the chance to leave your friends to die here and join forces with me. We are Starlight, so I don’t want to kill you, but if you refuse then I have no choice.” He said to Yuurei.

The Warden of the North would hear this and he would laugh. That was a nice offer, one that he would never accept. He cracked his neck and he would prepare for this fight.

“Sorry to break it to ya, but I refuse the offer.” He said to the man as he would grow wings from his back and he would push forward and get in front of Akuma.

It was then Akuma appeared with two blades ready to cut Yuurei. This would bring the Warden to dodge the incoming attacks, and bring out two sharp appendage blades from his arm and strike at him from the side. Akuma saw this and dodged the attack before letting out a spell from his helmet. Yuurei saw this and did the same thing with his Drakkon Helmet. Unleashing a photon blast that headed straight to the man’s attack.

It would clash as the two of them were holding their ground. The thing is he wasn’t alone and he had his friends with him. Renji saw their fight beginning, and he would swing the staff causing a slash of pure mana head in the direction of Akuma. The Starlight saw the attack coming, and he would cover himself with a defense spell to protect himself from that attack while he fought against Yuurei.

630

Kaito now seeing clearly that this about to get far worse for them and Yuurei's yell to not hold back rang true to Kaito's ear's as a wake up call and as if the last drop had hit the floor of the cave Kaito allowed himself to awaken his form taking one of a pure Humaniod dragon with scaly skin, a light pink aura surrounding the now dragon man as he combined the transformations of his dragon items and his grand power of Divinitas. Kaito gave his sword to Revy as Kaito was going to be serious and in this form Kaito had no use for the weapon just his newer size, form and the raw unrelenting power of himself. Kaito had massively changed in order for this last show down Kaito seemed to seep a feeling of death and unliving Kaito no longer had the eyes of a coward or fool but the straight face of a killer that now had a lock on a prey that needed to be dealt with swiftly.

Revy looked at Kaito and was not scared of him but she knew that was not Kaito in his normal means this is Kaito unleashed and unchained this was something that Revy had never seen Kaito fully do as he was usually just fine playing the mid to long range to help his team or cycle in as a tank if he was needed but this was different a whole other league above what one would usually see from Kaito.

Kaito moved swiftly and released his strongest attack his Dimensional beam that shatter the Oni's shield spell that had stopped Renji's attacks and the beam tore into the other starlight that was busy with Yuurei. Kaito hadn't stopped there, Kaito got in close to the mana and he started punching and poking at the man some of those pokes spawned beams all of the spells that hit had begun to sap the new combined mans stamina and mana. The powers of Divitas allowed Kaito to dodge the incoming attacks that might come his way as if he was already aware of the attack before it was thrown at him Kaito was not holding back a bit now as Yuurei had told him to do.

Revy looked to Renji and she spoke. "Make sure you make the most of the openings they make for you with that thing." She was talking about the staff that could unleash blasts from it as Revy lacked long range fighting power right now unlike Renji who seemed to always end up with the staff to help back up Yuurei in a pinch. Revy wondered if Brone would also be showing his power to go completely out of control like Kaito and Yuurei were doing?

Kaito wasn't sure if his hits were even doing damage all he cared about was letting this all out and going all out on the table leave nothing left behind to regret as he could feel this power rushing through his body it was almost like an addictive kind of feeling but he had to focus and stay in control of this power as if he lost focus it was hard to tell the amount of damage that this power could do if it was used recklessly and with full abandon. It is why Yuurei, Brone and himself are heralded as heroes against the dark. They are called in against big threats as they can handle them, Kaito was going to make sure Yuurei can't yell at him about not going all out later when this is over if they live.

(606)

Brone watched in awe as Yuurei and Kaito unleashed their true powers. Yuurei’s wings and Kaito’s dragon form were both testaments to the sheer will and strength that defined his companions. The appearance of the man with the top hat and the oni spirit now fully assimilated within him was a dire turn, but it also reignited Brone's resolve. The battle was far from over, and his friends' transformations reminded him that holding back was no longer an option.

Brone tightened his grip on his twin axes. The axes seemed to hum with anticipation. He could feel the power within them, causing the dwarf to surge up his adrenaline again. “We've got one shot at this, lads!” Brone roared, his voice booming through the room. “Let’s show this villain what it means to face the wrath of true warriors!”

His secondary hand that held his golden spear surged with power, causing his body to grow, his body transforming into that of a polar bear reaching a height of eleven feet tall. Mana surged like electricity about him for those who can sense energy. His ursine teeth bare as he watched his friends exchange attacks with Akuma. A magical barrier was conjured to defend against the mighty warrirors. Brone took this chance to rush forward at great speed.

As he closed the distance, Akuma, seeing the large bear closing in, countered with another conjured barrier, but as Brone slammed his green axe, Spellcleaver, into the barrier, the spell shattered entirely, then the dwarf-bear swung his gold axe at the man, though Akuma blocked the attack with his own hands, showing his great strength, the strength of Brone managed to push him back several meters. The dwarf-bear kept up by keeping him close as he jutted his spears at him. Akuma deflected one of the spears but was hit by the blue spear, causing a patch of ice to appears on his side. Akuma snapped his fingers and caused dark tendrils to appear from his own shadow, the tendrils then entangled Brone, lifting him and shooting him up and slamming him onto the ceiling with great force.

Brone struggled with the tendrils, but their strength was great and they tightened the more he struggled.

As for Benimaru and Gnicholas, the two watched, both with terror and worry on their faces respectfully.

"What should we do in this situation? Akira was more hand-to-hand combat, but this top-hat man is more of a spellcaster" Gnicholas put out his pipe, feeling that he couldn't smoke freely, given the danger.

"The oni spirit they have within acts more of a power boost to their own abilities, that is the basic enchantment, they are still fighting the host, who's simply empowered" Benimaru assured the gnome in words, but his tone showed great concern and the gnome noticed this. At this point they couldn't assist too soon. Beni held his hands together, gathering his mana so he could cast another defensive spell to help, though it was proving to be difficult, he tried his best to calm his nerves, but the idea of his old general ripping him apart kept entering his mind.

525

Yuurei was fighting with Akuma as the two were holding their own against each other. While this had happened the other two were also getting in on this. That was good, and soon enough Akuma felt the piercing attack from the Dragon Slayer. His spell had broken, and now he had to deal with this man too. He could feel magic beams that had come out from him, while he defended against Yuurei and Kaito’s attack now.

The Oni saw all of this and he could laugh as they were trying to overwhelm him with numbers. That was the smart choice to do, but he figured that he’d help out somehow right? He had created another barrier, but it seemed like the dwarf would take it down in an instant. This brought both Akuma and Shuten to suck their teeth because of the annoyance this group was posing to his plan. of course, he continued to fight back. With his new powers and the abilities he had already, he would show them that they were going to have to do more than that. He would slam Brone down with his tendrils, thanks to the Oni.

Akuma would look over to everyone that he had considered his enemy. They had a lot of people around. There were seven of them against him, a bit unfair, so he wouldn’t hold back. The Starlight’s katanas started to glow, and then he would stab the ground in front of him. It was then that the ground started to shake as it started to shake and a dark pulse of mana would erupt from the ground and toward every one. Yuurei would dodge the attacks as best as he could, and when he was hit by one of the eruptions, his Berserker’s Suit would activate its spell and he would send a condensed arcane energy to Akuma.

He would be hit by that attack and he would be pushed back. Renji saw this and he swung his Staff at the man bringing out a pulse of mana to rush toward him. At the same time, Renji brought out a spell that gave all his friends the ability to see invisible spells and have a vision to see all around them. That was why he pushed, he saw Yuurei moving towards Akuma and the two started to clash again. He figured this was his opportunity. The Starlight saw that attack coming, and he blocked it with a dark tendril that appeared within his shadow.

Renji got close and he would swing with his free hand. He would hit Akuma in the face, and the man had a tendril grab Renji and slammed him to the ground. While this happened, Yuurei continued attacking him causing him to distract him as best as he could. Renji would have to get out of that himself and a dark mana would start to erupt from where Renji had been slammed into.

491|1121

Kaito kept his head as the man seemed to attack them back as it was this man vs all of them not holding back on him but this attack phased through Kaito. Kaito was not even thinking of backing down and was staying on the man and trying to attack. Kaito was not going to be so easily shaken off from this as Yuurei asked him to go full power and hold nothing back. Kaito sees that Revy is fighting dark tendrils that had started appearing from the spell that the man had put into motion. Revy saw the sword glowing with light energy and Kaito also noticed that Renji was in danger and he warped the attack that was about to happen under Renji away as Revy cut the tendril with the sword of light and helped get him away from more of them.

Kaito saw that the fight was heavy in their favor and they needed to keep pushing their limits. This power had Kaito feeling very unlike himself like he was a true dragon god that had appeared on this flat planet the power might actually be going to his head but Kaito felt a great anger in his very soul from this power like it was something that man shouldn't use for long and still in this state used all his might and shoved himself right back into the man while he was fighting with Yuurei and Kaito grabbed the man from behind and went for a suplex to plant the man into the ground head first. Kaito was not sure why he was doing this or even attempting this but he wanted to make it happen and used every fiber of his being to pull it off.

Kaito jumped back from the man he had attempted to plant and Kaito pointed his fingers and he made slashing motions with his hands that he had shaped like blades sending slashes of dimensional magic mixed with light at the tendrils that attempted to grab at him and they were strong enough to cut through them like nothing and moved faster then one might expect them to be going. Revy watched this and she wondered if that was really Kaito as this seemed like normal Kaito and not alter Kaito but he was fighting and attacking with little regret to if he was going to kill the oni fused man or not. She didn't have much time to think about it as the tendrils kept coming from the ground around them and the sword kept to it's light element and swapping if the tendrils swapped their element on her but they seemed to stay to the dark.

Revy hoped that Renji was staying out of trouble as she had not been able to look around from the tendrils that had seemed to be coming at them from all sides and making her have to work hard to keep slashing them to keep them at bay. Revy was starting to feel a bit over whelmed by all of these tendrils but she knows that she can't give up hope as they have the the three strongest in the country with their companions that work with them daily and have their back. They all have experience fighting along side of danger and the unknown they were all trained for this day.
(561) (1,167)

The battlefield was a chaotic mess of spells, tendrils, and raw energy, but Brone thrived in the chaos. His four arms gripped his twin axes and spears tightly, the weapons humming with the magical power. With a quick slash of his axes, the tendrils that held him pinned to the ceiling vanished and the dwarf-bear fell as he watched the battle below. Dark energy pulsating and being manipulated by Akumi while Yuurei, Renji and Kaito made their moves to defend against the assault and strike at their foe.

As Akuma conjured another barrier, Brone wasted no time. He dropped down, his green axe, Spellcleaver, swung down with immense force, shattering the barrier instantly. Akuma was ready this time, fully aware of the power of Spellcleaver, so his body vanished and reappeared through the large bear's shadow and delivering a powerful slash of his katana.

The slash ripped through Brone's armor, though it remained fastened to the dwarf-bear, the gash was deep enough to expose his back. The oni-manchuckled. “You think you can stop me with brute force alone?” he sneered. Dark tendrils erupted from his shadow, lashing out towards Brone. But the dwarf-bear was ready this time. With his additional arms, he wielded his spears, swinging them with precision and strength, deflecting the tendrils and pushing forward.

“It’s going to take more than dark magic to stop me!” Brone growled, his eyes blazing with determination. He could see his friends battling fiercely. Kaito's dragon form unleashed devastating attacks while Yuurei's agility and precision kept Akuma on his toes. They were giving it their all, and Brone wasn’t about to let them down.

Brone swung his blue spear, managing to land a hit on Akuma, causing a patch of ice to form on the enemy’s side. Akuma retaliated by snapping his fingers, causing the tendrils to entangle Brone and lift him into the air. The tendrils tightened around him, but Brone wasn’t about to be subdued so easily. With a mighty roar, he flexed his immense muscles, magical energy from his war god pact surging through him. The tendrils began to crack and shatter under the strain.

“Not today, demon!” Brone shouted, breaking free from the tendrils' grasp. He landed back on the ground with a thunderous crash, immediately charging at Akuma once more. His attacks were relentless, each swing of his weapons aimed to break through Akuma's defenses and land a decisive blow.

Akuma, realizing the threat Brone posed, focused more of his efforts on the dwarf-bear. He conjured another dark pulse of mana, aiming it directly at Brone. But Brone was undeterred. He sidestepped the attack with surprising agility for his size, closing the distance between him and Akuma. With a fierce determination, Brone swung all four of his weapons simultaneously, the combined force of the axes and spears creating a devastating assault that Akuma struggled to defend against.

In the midst of the battle, Brone caught a glimpse of Revy fighting valiantly against the dark tendrils. Her sword, glowing with light energy, cut through the tendrils, protecting Renji and allowing him to continue his support. Brone felt a surge of pride and camaraderie. They were a team, and together, they would overcome any obstacle.

“Keep pushing, everyone! We’ve got him on the ropes!” Brone shouted, his voice filled with unwavering confidence. He could feel the tide of the battle turning in their favor. With each swing, each block, and each step, they were closer to victory. Brone knew they had the strength, the skill, and the unity to defeat this formidable foe and protect their homeland.

598 | 1,123

The Seraphim watched everyone do their best to fight against Akuma. This man, no this Oni had stood standing even though they were landing multiple attacks on him. Yuurei didn’t understand how he was still standing, but he did know one thing, they weren’t going to give up on this. This man must have had a weakness, and they were going to find it.

While this was happening, he was tempted to move his armor on to Renji, so he could be protected by the incoming attack coming his way. However, the appearance of Revy helping him out gave him a sense of relief and allowed him to focus on Akuma. Renji noticed that the tendrils were being cut and he noticed that Revy had come to help him. He would be thankful for her and he would get on his feet.

Kaito had grabbed a hold of the man and slammed him onto the ground, but he got up right after as he laughed that these mortals were trying. Even Brone had thrashed about, breaking his defense once more, before a whole ordeal between the two had happened. He wasn’t sure what was going to happen next, but he pushed through. He would activate a spell from a weapon that had always been within him. This brought out a spear, a replica of the weapon itself, and it went hurling down at Akuma.

He noticed this and he would sigh as if this was going to hurt. Akuma had an Oni within him, so light magic did have an effect on him. That spear was able to deal damage on Akuma, bringing the Starlight to stumble back. He shook his head, doing his best to regain his composure. Renji had seen this and he figured that it was at this point that they should continue their onslaught while he wasn’t ready for it.

The Exceed moved to the man and he slashed the staff in his direction. He looked over to see a wave of light magic coming to him, and he would block it this time. Renji appeared by his side and he kicked him right on the neck. Akuma looked over at him with an angry look on his face and decided that he was going to upset these people.

“You think you can beat me?! I have something for you!” He said this as forces pushed Renji back.

Once he was free, he would stomp his right foot on the ground, and in an instant darkness would cover the area. It was just a second, but soon enough they would be able to see. Yuurei and Renji were confused about what was going on, but soon enough the Mountain itself started to shake. The Warden of the North looked at him confused about what was going on. Akuma had a smile on his face as this was what he was always going to do.

“I released the Onis from their prison! They are no longer bound to this place. Your showing up ruined everything these Monks have worked hard for.” He laughed saying this.

Yuurei’s eyes widened when he heard those words and it pissed him off to hear this. What the hell was he thinking? He was endangering all of Joya with this action.

“Why did you do that?! There are innocent lives at stake that you’re risking here!” He shouted in anger.

“I don’t care! Just like they didn’t care when the Starlight Clan was hunted and killed on sight!” He said this as his dark tendrils would get bigger and darker and ready to attack.

602|1723

When the darkness over took the area Kaito stayed stone faced as this seemed to show that the oni man was on the ropes and now he was starting to pull dirty tricks and desperate measures to try and win in some shape or form. Kaito felt the shaking of the ground and he wondered if there was something else going on or if some giant creature was about to appear that was the thing the tendrils were from, from before that were all over the place and then he heard what the oni man said and the fact that those oni would be running out into the area's below and he didn't know if the monks had a fast way to get to the lower levels or not Kaito was partially temped to teleport himself to the base of the mountain to stop them but he knows that he can't leave here as Yuurei and Brone needed him to keep fighting.

Kaito was feeling the over baring strain of the transformations on his body but he knows that he has to keep on pushing through and he will have to suck it up and if it kills him it kills him but that will not stop him right now and he will need to break through the pain and the strain and make what he can do count for what it is worth. Kaito wasn't going to waste time and he pushed his body to move as fast as he can and headed for the kill on the oni man with his arm covered in arcane and light magics he was going to aim for a lariat to the oni mans neck with as much mana as he could muster in hopes of getting the kill and ending this and maybe being able to go and help fight back the oni that had been let loose onto the Joyan people.

Revy when the darkness had happened kept Kaito's sword help close to her self as she was ready to fight what ever might come out of it when it clears. When the darkness cleared Revy looked around confused to what had just happened and why it had happened like that. She stayed on guard as she was fully expecting more tendrils to come flying out of some surface and try to slam into her or the others but nothing seemed to have happened or appeared. She wondered if maybe it was a bluff and nothing was going to happen then the man spoke and revealed that they had just opened the seals and freed the oni and Revy goes pale as she was thinking of all of the people that might get hurt or killed.

Revy gripped the swords handle tighter as they were going to need to hurry and get out of here and go to help the city but they were mostly spent and tired from all the fighting they had already done could they even make it? If they made it would they even have the gas left in the tank to even attempt to stop the oni? She knows Kaito looked like he was fighting to keep control and not give up too fast. Revy started running in as well the sword glowing with light elemental power and she was going to help to end this and try to get out and help those that were in so much danger even if it is the end for her she had to do this as a last strike against this oni possessed man. Revy was willing to die for this to end as so many lives need to have these mages free to leave and help to stop the oni that were let loose into the world.
(631) (1,798)

Magical energy poured out of the large dwarf-bear like steam as he took a moment to catch his breath. Brone didn't tend to use this transformation often since while in such a powerful state, his mana is eaten away as the seconds tick by in order to sustain this form. But Akuma had proven to be a formidable foe; each attack had great power behind it and was able to deal massive amount of damage, which is why everyone one of them had to take great care when exchanging blows with the oni-possessed man, lest they make the wrong move and receive a dangerous wound or worse.

As for Gnicholas and Benimaru, they continued to stay at the perimeter, outside of the battle, they each knew they weren't strong enough to go toe to toe with the empowered being. Brone was aware of this as well, which is why every now and then, he would look over to them and position himself in a way that would allow him to rush over there to defend them in case Akuma decided to target them.

There was a moment of stillness where everyone was catching their breath before Akuma summoned forth a wave of darkness that erupted from himself and engulfed the entire room. Brone readied himself for what he expected to be an attack. There was rumbling that seem to emanate not only throughout the room but all throughout the mountain. The dwarf had lived in a mountain most of his life, such trembling was an indicator of something massive happening, it's just because it wasn't natural, but magical, he wasn't sure what could be happening.

After the darkness faded away just as quickly as it came, Akuma revealed what had just done which brought forth an air of shock to everyone.

"That shouldn't be possible, to entrapped all those oni, there needed to be a grand powerful spell, such a spell to have lasted this long would need great magic in order to release it" Gnicholas was beginning to feel a bit of panic.

"Now you know the power of the oni general" Benimaru gritted his teeth as a bead of sweat fell from his brow; he glared at Akuma, feeling the anger and hatred he held for him all those years ago.

Brone bellowed out a yell as more mana burned within him. His angered fueled him; the citizens of the valley, of the nearby towns and cities were endangered and the only thing he could think to do was to destroy Akuma. The dwarf-bear shot forward with great speed towards the foe, but Akuma was expecting this; his arm darkened and bulked, an intense amount of dark magic pulsated through his veins. as Brone neared him, Akuma practically vanished as he dodged the dwarf's tackled, then countered and slammed a powerful fist into the dwarf's back, shattering his armor and sending him into the ground and cracking the floor of the entire room.

The bear form faded away as Brone shrank back to his true size as he coughed up blood.

"Time to end this" Akuma sounded annoyed as he raised a foot over the stunned dwarf.

"Beni!" Gnicholas shouted to Benimaru, but the oni was still gathering mana to try to conjure another bubble of protection around the dwarf, with the dire situation, both of them were beginning to panic.

567 | 1,690

Akuma had seen Kaito coming and he had a smirk on his face. He saw the man approaching him with a lariat. He had felt the blow from Kaito’s attack and where it hurt, the Oni had brought him to regain his composure back. His body looked like it was falling apart. Of course, it seemed like he wasn’t the only person that was attacking him. The Starlight did what he needed to do, and he was ready to stomp the bear’s lights out.

The Starlight was ready to take this guy out and work on the others afterward. Yuurei saw what was happening, and he wasn’t going to allow his best friend to be taken out by this damn monster. The Warden would bring out his spear and he would toss his Gae Bolg. The spear was aiming at one spot and it was the leg that Akuma was trying to use. That was when Akuma felt his leg be torn apart by the spear that had hit him. His eyes widened as he felt the pain from the blow, but the Oni had decided to help him.

He would regenerate his leg back, but the Starlight was feeling all of it. He helped him release the spell that trapped all of the Onis. He was keeping him alive, but this man was pathetic; it seemed like these guys had gotten stronger since they started their journey. This man couldn’t handle them for too long and that was going to be a problem.

Shuten decided to work out his options. There was the dragon-looking one, the man was unhinged and it looked like he wouldn’t last long with him in it. That ability of his felt as if he could just tear the two apart, and he didn’t need that. The Dwarf, no, that one had two or three souls within him. He couldn’t risk it, as he didn’t know what could happen if he went into Brone’s body. That meant Yuurei right? Well, he had been within a Starlight for decades, so taking over another one wouldn’t be too hard.

This one was stronger, but at the same time, he didn’t think he was stronger than Akira. Akuma shook his head as he was feeling it, but he wouldn’t allow these five people to ruin what he had planned for years.

Yuurei’s spear had appeared in his hand, and he moved his hand again and changed his spear into a gauntlet that was when he pushed forward. Akuma saw this and Yuurei was close to him and he would swing with his free arm. Akuma saw the attack coming, and he dodged it in the nick of time. He had gone to counterattack, but Renji had appeared next to Akuma. The Starlight saw this, and he would block the attack coming from the Exceed.

That was when Yuurei saw the opportunity to finish this all, or at least start the end of this process. He would thrust his arm back, the one with his gauntlet. Yang had created a Taijitu symbol below them and it was then he would put everything into that attack. His punch would thrust right into Akuma's abdomen, putting a hole right into the man. His eyes widened when he saw this, and he couldn’t believe it, but he was not done with this attack.

“Give him everything you got.” Renji said this as he stepped to the side, and then he would roundhouse kick the man right on his neck and he would snap it to the side.

Akuma had felt this, but he could still fight. The Tendrils were getting bigger and he had planned to kill them all, or would they finish him off here?

624|2347

Kaito knows he is completely out of mana and he was about to collapse, this is going to be the last burst that he could give then the strange necklace around Kaito neck started glowing it had changed since he had been here but he hadn't noticed that it had changed. He could feel some of his mana returning to him and giving him at least enough to not pass out and to help finish this fight. Kaito watched as Yuurei and Renji had gone in on the man and Kaito pointed his hand the mix of arcane and light magics swirling around his hand like it was a jagged blade. Kaito pushed his body forward even though the mana had returned to his body it didn't stop the strain that had taken his body as he used this combined form of a ultra ancient dimensional light dragon slayer. Kaito spring in and made his last attack on the oni possessed man that he could and Kaito was sure that this one had hit as he drove the blade of arcane and light into their body, Kaito's body heaving a little as he tried to keep the form and inject as much of his will power to stay standing that he could.

Revy who had followed behind Kaito to make her strike as she knows that this has to be the end of this nightmare they needed to make a decisive strike here and make it count. Revy aimed for the oni possessed man's neck to follow up on Renji's attack with her light element sword not sure if her strength and the blade was going to be enough to break the skin of the man who had give them so many problems. The exceed woman was tired from this long event and all the fighting to make it here, had they made it all this way just to die here and now at the hands of this oni general or were they going to be able to win the day here and be able to go and fight the oni that had spilled out into the country. Revy wasn't sure but she knows that after this she didn't have anything left in the tank to use that could help with fight more oni right now. She had seen how Kaito had dimmed for a moment then was back to full brightness and she wondered how that had happened what had recharged him?

Kaito had pointed out a finger on his other hand that swirled with arcane and light magic energy at the tendril as if he was going to die here he wanted to go out as a pain in the ass that at least helped to slow down this things attack on the country. He let the magic beam free of his finger and he hoped for the best as this was in all aspects the last stand for the two mages, the dwarf adventurer and all of their companions so it was all or nothing and Kaito didn't wish to not give all that he had to help even if it was in vein.
(527) (2,325)

Brone lay on the ground, his body battered and bruised, struggling to push himself up. He could feel the remnants of the bear form's strength ebbing away, leaving him almost powerless. Despite the pain, the sight of his friends and companions fighting with every ounce of strength they had filled him with a renewed sense of determination. He wasn't done yet. They weren't done yet.
"Come on, you stubborn old dwarf," he muttered to himself, teeth gritted. "You're not out of this fight."
With a roar that echoed through the chamber, Brone forced himself to his feet. His axes and spears, glowing faintly with the last vestiges of his magical energy, were still clutched tightly in his hands.
Brone watched as Yuurei, Renji, Kaito, and Revy all unleashed their attacks on Akuma. The oni-possessed man was powerful, but the combined efforts of his friends were taking their toll. Akuma's form flickered and wavered under the relentless assault, his dark magic struggling to keep up with the onslaught.
Gathering every ounce of his strength, Brone charged forward. His vision narrowed, focusing solely on Akuma. He moved with surprising speed, a blur of determination and fury. As he neared Akuma, he leaped into the air, his axes raised high.
"Akuma!" Brone bellowed, his voice filled with the force of his will. "This ends now!"
Akuma turned just in time to see the dwarf-bear descending upon him. Brone's green axe, Spellcleaver, and his blue spear, Frostbite, both glowed with a brilliant light as they descended upon the oni-possessed man.
Akuma quickly reacted by moving several tendrils in the way which formed barriers, but the green axe had ripped through them easily, not slowing the dwarf down. The gold axe came down, though Akuma had jumped back to avoid the blow, he barely dodged, only receiving a superficial cut, blood leaked from the wound.
Akuma then rushed away from the dwarf, trying to gain better footing, but as he looked about to observe his foes, he noticed Kaito was channeling a spell while Yuurei was closing the gap, meanwhile, Brone gritted his teeth, pushing himself to gather all his strength as he rush forward, tightly gripping his weapons as he charged at Akuma with his horns pointed forward. As he slammed into the oni possessed man's back, delivering a devastating blow, Yuurei punched a hole in Akuma's chest, and Kaito's energy beam slammed into him as well. The then fell to the floor.
Brone stood over him, his chest heaving with exhaustion but his eyes blazing with determination. "It's over, Akuma," he said, his voice steady. "For the people of Joya, for my friends, for everyone you've hurt... it's over."
The chamber fell silent, the dark magic dissipating into the air. Brone stood there for a moment, his body trembling with exhaustion, before finally allowing himself to collapse. They had done it. Akuma was defeated, and the people of Joya were safe.

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Yuurei had watched everyone attack; this was perfect, they had done so much damage at the same time. He figured it would be impossible for Akuma to recover even with the help of the Oni. Renji and Yuurei looked at him as the man was breathing too hard; these bastards wouldn’t let him do anything. They were stopping him from going to Joya and killing everyone. Still, he had unleashed a piece of his plan, but now he had to get up and kill all of them. He would twitch his body ready to move.

The Warden saw this as he got ready to continue the fight. Renji would do the same thing as he had stared at the man. When Akuma tried to get up something happen. He wasn’t sure what it was, but his body twitched a bit, and the parts that were healing started to warp into something different. He wasn’t sure what was happening at the moment, but this made him freak out.

“What is going on with me?! I thought I was unstoppable and invincible!” He shouted.

His body couldn’t heal as he wanted to, and Shuten had decided that it was best to jump ship. He had planned this from the beginning and he would depart from Akuma and he would enter Yuurei. The Starlight felt this and he would grab his chest as it seemed like the Oni had tried to take him over. The Warden fought this off as he backed away from his friends and he started screaming.

“Just like the Demon, you will not be able to take over me! I’m pretty sure moving from one place to the next has weakened you!” He shouted as Shuten shook his head.

He had occupied a space with a Demon within him. This guy wasn’t even human from what he could sense. He was a Seraphim on top of all this? What body had he jumped into; if he could shake his head he would, but he couldn’t so he decided to plot against Yuurei.

Your body will become mine, or I will break your will. You just keep fighting off what will be a losing fight Only Yuurei heard this as the young man grabbed his head as he didn’t like the fact that this monster had entered his body.

Renji looked at him as he wondered if he was okay.

“Are you alright, Yuu?” He asked him wondering if he was alright.

They would all see something entering Yuurei’s body when it happened.

“I’m alright, that Oni entered my body, but I have control over it. I think he figured my resilience would be as weak as Akira's. Or that I would submit as Akuma did.” He said to them.

“We should go, and assist the monks with whatever help they need. I’m pretty sure they no longer need to stay at the monastery. That means they could go help the people in Joya against the Onis that were released.” He said to the group.

Renji was still concerned about Yuurei, but he looked fine. Still, the future of Joya was dire. There were Onis running amok and that meant chaos within the cities would start happening. Little did the group know, they had gotten certain powers out of all this.

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[exit]

After the last hit had been landed Kaito let his transformations lapse and he kneeled to the ground for a moment his body crying in pain as he had extended the stress it did on his body and his mind. Kaito was surprised that he didn't pass out but he guess he owed that to his strange belt and necklace but he was going to have to think about how he was going to help with fighting the oni. He had seen Yuurei be jumped into but there was nothing that he could do about it as that oni general made a B-line for the man and it was over before he could do anything about it but he heard the man speak like it wasn't a big deal but Kaito was going to make sure that he kept an eye on the man just in case that he needed to make any quick judgements and face Yuurei if he were to go over the edge.

Revy looked to Renji and she spoke softly. "Are you okay Renji?" She wanted to ask before they headed off to get to fighting the oni that had been let loose into the world below. Kaito opened a portal as the protective barriers were gone so nothing was stopping him from making a pathway to help them to get out and to the fighting. Kaito was going to have to take it easy as he was not feeling one hundred percent right now but he was going to do the best that he can and make every second he stays up right count and goes through the portal.
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The dwarf laid there, his body heavy from exhaustion and pain. He would adjust his head so he can watch the others. For a moment he had thought the fight wasn't over as he watched Yuurei flinch and hunch over as if he was in pain. "Yuurei?" Brone grunted in pain as he tried to lift himself but failed.

"He's fighting the oni's possession" Benimaru walked up and stood by the prone Brone, he sighed with relief, his tone more calmer, knowing that the fight was over.

"Seems Yuurei is winning control" Gnicholas, sounding relieved as well, approached as well. This brought the dwarf relief, though this would be possibly troubling; a powerful oni is locked inside Yuurei, and it was questionable of what would happen to the elf; they thought this, but dared not to say anything.

Though they have finally won, there was no celebration, for no one forgotten about the army of onis had escaped their prison and flooded the nation of Joya. This was now going to be a problem and it rests on their head. The war centuries ago had ended with the monks sealing away the enemy, but now they've returned to the land to wreak havoc.

It was agreed that they would return to the monks and try to help in anyway they could, now that it was their problem as well. Benimaru helped Brone to his feet as Kaito opened up a portal. With the dwarf's arm thrown over Beni's shoulder, they looked at each other with acknowledgment. Then they turned to face the portal after Kaito and Revi walked through it. Beni assisted Brone like a crutch as the dwarf struggled to move his body on his own. There was a bit of hesitation, given he didn't like such travel, but the oni pushed him through.

Finally the task was completed, but this opened up a new issue.

[Exit]

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