บท 76: Teamwork! Against An Oni!

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Frank admired Matsuo as his entire body was enveloped in a magical aura that seemed to materialize the purest of lights. It began to slowly cross around his casual clothes, as a Japanese-styled robe was formed made entirely through this ethereal light magic.

Matsuo's entire presence suddenly became stronger, as he began to exude a strong pressure into his surroundings which Frank seemed to be immune to.

"Oh! Amazing~ Is this the power of the Monk Clan? Admirable… Is this what you used to kill my ancestor?" asked the man, who was called an 'Oni' by Matsuo.

However, Matsuo remained silent, as he cautiously glanced at the man while readying his Magic, his entire Light Aura began to fluctuate constantly, growing bigger and bigger, as if he had created a Domain of pure Light around himself.

"This level of magical power… Matsuo, you're more ridiculous than I thought! Maybe… We can stand a chance against this monster?! Seriously, this bastard just came out of nowhere to kill us! Wait, did he said something about having been woken up? So, he was sleeping in this Domain filled with Youkai? Were the Youkai obeying him somehow? But how? Didn't Matsuo said something about Tamers being very rare…? This… Does not make any sense at all. But I can feel the shadow of death creeping beneath us… We have to stay together and fight as one… Our objective is simple…" thought Frank. His thoughts flashed incredibly quickly thanks to his High Magic Stat and the combination of many of his Mind-related Skills.

"Frank, don't die on me!" said Matsuo with a firm voice, as his eyes flashed with strong determination.

"Don't underestimate me now, senpai…" said Frank, as his own eyes flashed with conviction.

"Ah, how beautiful. Is this what we call bromance nowadays? Fufu," laughed the Oni, as he suddenly disappeared out of Frank and Matsuo's sight!

Flash!

"Here he comes! Light Barrier!" said Matsuo.

"Mana Barrier!" said Frank.

Suddenly, Matsuo and Frank conjured their own barriers together, as both protective shields stacked as one, becoming a thick spherical and ethereal armor of light and colorless mana.

Clash!

The Oni appeared out of nowhere in front of them, as he bared his nails, which had grown over five centimeters, resembling sharp black blades.

Crack, crack!

"What… such power…!" said Matsuo, as the combined barrier began to crack like glass by the strong clashing attack that the Oni unleashed.

"Hahaha! Will you keep yourselves caged inside or will you come to fight me like a man?" asked the Oni, as he began to ravage the barrier with his enormous claws at a speed that was almost impossible to discern for Frank, but Matsuo, however, was able to see it through!

"Light Cannon," said Matsuo nonchalantly, as he pointed his palms towards the Oni within a split of a second, releasing a cannon of the pure light of enormous proportions, surprising Frank to the point of startling him for a bit.

The Light Cannon caught the Oni by surprise due to its incredible speed! Sending him off several meters away, as the Oni shrieked for a slight moment!

"Nngh?!"

BOOM!

A curtain of magic smoke appeared after the loud, blinding explosion, Frank and Matsuo needed to use this time-lapse to unleash more attacks!

"Frank, don't stop sharing your Mana…! I will conjure a big one now!" said Matsuo.

"Alright!" said Frank, deep down knowing that any of his offensive skills or spells would be of not much use against the Oni, but he knew that if he worked as a sort of Mana Battery with his absurd Mana Recovery for Matsuo, he would be able to increase the odds on their favor!

"Ugh… Oi, oi!" the Oni roared, as he gnashed his teeth, showing his long canines, his Abyssal Aura began to expand wildly around himself, creating a slight domain of darkness that began to instinctively clash against Matsuo's!

However, as the smoke dissipated, a dozen of magic circles appeared right in front of the Oni's sight!

"Hm?"

"Heaven's Judgement," said Matsuo, pointing his hands towards the Oni as his eyes flashed with a bright yellow light!

Flash!

The Magic Circles began to rotate immediately after Matsuo's words, summoning a shower of arrows made entirely out of light!

"Tch!" said the Oni, using his amazing speed to evade most of the arrows, but quickly being caught by some of them as the speed that the spell exerted was way too fast even for such a ridiculous monster as him!

The arrows clashed against his body, leaving slight wounds that started to bleed, but even by being covered in blood, the Oni seemed to be almost in perfect condition, his vitality was way higher. If Frank were to Inspect his stats successfully, he would have most likely discovered that he had a high amount of Health Points!

"This is why Light Magic is so annoying! So annoyingly fast!" he roared, rushing back towards Frank and Matsuo.

"Flying Mana Spears!" chanted Frank, releasing a barrage of five Flying Mana Spears, spears made of transparent Mana, which flew towards the Oni.

The Oni smiled as he waved his arm, destroying one of Frank's strongest spells as if it were absolutely nothing.

"Hah! That little rat that you're protecting is getting quite cocky, don't you think? Maybe I should crush him a bit to teach him his place!" laughed the Oni.

"I will never let you pass! Light Cannon! Light Rays!" said Matsuo, unleashing a large cannon of light right towards the Oni, its speed was so fast that even the Oni barely managed to evade by jumping upwards, where he was met again with Matsuo's Light Rays!

"Tch…!" said the Oni, shielding himself with his arms as he tanked the hits with his immense vitality.

"He's acting strange. Although he is overwhelmingly strong, there is something strange about his movements… Is he… Wait, why hasn't he used his powerful magic again? …Don't tell me…" thought Frank, as he used his Mana Control Skill, fusing it with his Mana Aura and Body Aura and gaining the ability to perceive Mana.

Then, he perceived that the Mana in the Oni was almost empty!

"What…? Did this guy use all of his Mana in that super attack right away? What kind of magician is he? Hasn't he learned to save his Mana reserves in a battle? Well, he is more of a physical fighter… No, this was because he underestimated us. He thought that it would be possible to wipe us out with his strongest attack, wasting all of his Mana in the process…!" discerned Frank.

Frank quickly communicated this truth to Matsuo.

"Hm? So that's how it is… That's good news for us, that's for sure!" said Matsuo, as he continued to unleash Mana Rays and the occasional Mana Cannon all around him, the Oni was simply evading around while jumping and slowly moving towards the two.

"However, he has an insane Mana Regeneration, just like me! If we let him keep evading, he will recharge his Mana in a few more seconds…" said Frank.

"I will have to kill him before that happens then!" said Matsuo.

"Kill him?" asked Frank.

"Why wouldn't I? He's not a human, he's an Oni! A Demon! He already stated that he eats human flesh, and most likely… this is the bastard behind the disappearance of the people of this village, aside from the Youkai…" said Matsuo, gnashing his teeth as he put most of his mind into concentrating his attacks.

"(Wait, what am I thinking? It is obvious that someone like this… has to be killed for us to survive… I'm so weak… So weak to the point of getting scared by something like this…) Very well. I have a plan to deal with his Mana Regeneration," said Frank.

"I am all ears!" said Matsuo.

The Oni glanced beneath the dozens of light attacks that he was constantly evading as Frank and Matsuo were constantly talking, but because they were inside of their barrier that absorbed the sound, he was not able to hear what they were talking about.

"What is that little shrimp planning? Heh, like it's gonna work… My Mana is about to fill up, and you won't survive another of my Hell Gates, my strongest Abyss Magic Spell, and the one that Aniki taught to me…!" thought the Oni with a confident smile, as he kept evading Matsuo's spells while shielding himself from some with his arms, which were already burnt and covered in blood, however, the wounds all across his body were closing at an incredible pace… This was the power of a vigorous race of Demons such as Onis, with the ability to regenerate their wounds at an incredibly fast pace.

Frank finished revealing his plan to Matsuo as Matsuo sighed.

"Only you would come out with crazy shit like that in the middle of a life and death battle… But that's what I like about you! I will open the way for you, Frank!" said Matsuo.

"I am counting on you, Matsuo!" said Frank, as he began to expand his Body Aura and Mana Aura.

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