Chapter 22 22 – Supernatural Debut
Kai had almost never gotten into a fight before. In fact, the fight he had been in was all about the thugs trying to mess with his restaurant.
He had never once tried to pick a fight himself.
Hence, he took a passive approach in this fight too. Carefully, he observed Ranga and how he moved. The red Oni was still in his stance, narrowing his eyes slightly.
Maybe the Oni realized that Kai wouldn't move first as he made a statement.
"You don't want to move first? Then let me."
Once he said that he rushed toward Kai at a fast speed. Oni was genetically stronger than humans. Even the weakest Oni was said to be 3 times stronger than an average adult.
By logic, normal humans wouldn't be able to beat them even if they tried. But both fighters knew Kai wasn't a normal human by any means.
Even when Ranga approached him with a speed that put even a professional athlete to shame, Kai was still calm. He moved the Spirit Power inside his body, from the condensed ball right above his stomach to all over his body, strengthening them.
This was a technique called Enhancement. The effect was, as it said, enhancing your physical abilities to be stronger than usual. The effect depended on how much Spirit Power one had in reserve.
And Kai's reserve was one of the biggest humans had ever had. Amber told him it was because his Spirit Power reserve increased once they made a contract, doubling the original size to accommodate the Phoenix fire.
Speaking of which, Kai had decided that he would fight while not hiding his strength. So when Ranga got close to him, fire immediately spread from under his feet and moved toward the Oni like a living thing. It danced and similarly shaped like a lance, trying to trap the red Oni from three different directions.
"Fire? It's useless! Red Oni has a natural fire resistance skin!" Ranga shouted and rushed bravely, not stopping even when he was about to be hit by the fire.
But, that confidence would soon shatter.
"Indeed. That maybe the case for a normal fire, but…" Kai grinned as he controlled the fire that danced toward Ranga. It spread and became a large sphere that was about to engulf the Oni.
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Ranga's stretched hand was touched by the flame first. At that moment, his eyes widened, and he launched himself back, dodging the fire. His instinct and a sting in his hand made him able to avoid getting badly hurt.
"…Mine isn't a normal fire."
The hand touched by the fire was burned. White smoke rose from it as the red skin turned charred black. He quickly used his other hand to pat it and returned the previous color. It seemed like the red Oni's regeneration was also proficient.
"What is that?" Ranga asked as he narrowed his eyes toward Kai. A grin plastered on his face. He didn't seem to be offended or angry, just curious. "That was the first, alright. No fire has ever been able to burn me until now!"
"It's a secret," Kai smirked, putting his index finger in front of his mouth as he pulled the fire back. It was now dancing around him like a snake, protecting his body like an obedient shield. "Maybe I will tell you if you win."
"I see, then we have an agreement. Let us begin."
Ranga was the first to act. With a quick step forward, he charged toward Kai. The Oni was fast, but the Phoenix fire that danced around him was faster. And, as if to prove that, the flames suddenly shot out of the ground behind him, hitting Ranga in the side.
"Hey! You can do that too?!" Ranga roared loudly, jumping to the side to minimize the damage. His skin was still burned and turned a bit black, but he was still fine. "You're more interesting than I thought!"
With a loud yell, the Oni came back swinging with two fists. They were probably meant to crush the head of their enemy, but Kai easily dodged those punches. The fire began to dance toward Ranga as he stepped to the left, trying to burn the Oni's hand.
Ranga ducked, moving backward so quickly that it seemed impossible. As he did, the flame passed through empty air. Kai was a bit surprised by the Oni's agility, but nothing too serious. He had anticipated it, so he covered his fists with Phoenix fire.
It wasn't really his style to just stand around without doing anything and just controlling the fire. Indeed, it was efficient, but he also wanted to directly punch his enemy. His training all this time would be useless if he didn't use it in an actual fight.
As such, he plunged forward toward Ranga. The heat of the Phoenix fire ran up his hands, making his fists glow as it was covered with fire gauntlets. He threw the attack, hoping to smash into Ranga and knock him down.
"Wha—?!" The Oni fell to the floor, landing hard and rolling several meters away. The attack hadn't worked properly, and the flames flew past him instead of hitting him.
Kai sighed softly. The Oni was stronger than he originally thought. He was even stronger than even the troublemakers that attacked his restaurant.
"Wow, you're strong," Kai exclaimed with a smirk. "But you are nowhere as strong as me."
A grin broke across Ranga's face.
"Hahaha, I had never expected this too. At first, I only took a fancy to that woman, but I got in a good fight instead. Let's settle this with our next move!"
"If that is what you wish."
For some reason, Ranga laughed, causing Kai to laugh too.
They both understood that the fight was nearly finished. They looked at each other before moving at the same time. Kai raised a fist, ready to swing. Ranga lifted a hand, preparing to block.
Their arms clashed together.
Bam!
"Ooooh!"
Both of them yelled, and the impact was powerful enough to shake the surrounding area.
"Damn, you sure are strong! But it doesn't matter anymore. I'm going to beat you."
He was certain he could beat this guy. He was stronger, and the Oni was injured too. It wouldn't be long before he won.
"Ha! Like hell! This fight is mine!"
The Oni glared at Kai, spitting blood. There was no doubt that Ranga was in pain, but he wasn't about to give up. His arms were burned by the fire covering Kai's fist, but an Oni was a Race that never backed down in a fight before they couldn't continue any longer.
Their hands met again, and they clashed again, with Ranga using all his strength to try and knock Kai down. They fought for over a minute like that.
Kai hardly took damage. At most, his hands went a bit numb from repeated blows against Ranga's, but the Oni took worse damage than him. Each time they clashed, Kai's Phoenix fire would burn the red Oni's skin.
Despite their differences in power, they fought with the same strength as if they were in the same league of strength. They were evenly matched; both were able to counter the other's attacks at any moment.
And then, their fists clashed again.
Bam!
Shockwave was sent with them as the center. Dust was blown, and the crowd cheered loudly.
"You really are strong." Ranga whispered between clenched teeth, sweat dripping down from his forehead. "It's strange to admit, but I am being beaten by a human."
"You don't look like you're being beaten by a human. You look rather satisfied even though you lost." Kai said quietly and smiled to himself, holding the wound on his right arm. His numbed hands had already healed from the Phoenix's regeneration.
The crowd began to cheer again after hearing this, and they started to believe that Ranga was truly being beaten by the human.
Kai's hands began to glow brightly as he focused the Phoenix fire around them.
"Sleep well."
There was a bright flash of light and a thunderous noise that made even the strongest Oni's body shake.
"Wha…" Ranga murmured, not understanding what just happened. He quickly recovered and raised his arm to block Kai's next blow.
Kai hit Ranga's arm hard with all of his might. He swung at his opponent's arm with full force. Ranga tried to defend it with all of his strength, but he wasn't able to block it completely.
The sound of breaking bone rang throughout the entire area, and Ranga cried out as his arm turned black with blood. His body launched backward, skidding through the stone arena. He lost his balance and rolled several times before coming to a stop.
"The fight is over!" The referee, Kirimaru, shouted loudly as he pointed at Kai with his hand. "The winner is the human!"
"Ooooh!"
"That boy beat Ranga!!"
"Amazingly done, boy! Hahahahaha!"
"We have to celebrate! We can't let anyone know how good that boy really is! Let's go!"
"We have to buy him a drink! Let's get him a drink at the festival!"
The spectators began to move and shout loudly, talking among themselves and creating chaos around the arena. They were happy to see a fight like that. Secretly, a few had bet on Kai to win, and some cursed because they lost after beating Ranga.
The two fighters were forgotten as everyone was distracted by their excitement and joyful cheering. It seemed like the battle was over; there was nothing left for them to do.
"That's not too bad," Kai muttered and turned to Amber. The Phoenix girl smiled brightly as she raised a thumb up. He raised his thumb too. It felt good after winning a fight.
Thus, Kai's debut in the Supernatural World ended with a loud cheer from the Onis.
Unknowingly to him, a shadow was watching the fight from afar and muttered. "Could it be, that man is…?! I need to report this to Chigusa-sama."