Shuten Dōji raised her hand. "No Cheeting, No tricks, Match will end when one fighter is unable to fight, then it is not a death match".
A barrier was placed around the worries.
The barrier sealed with a thunderous hum, crimson and gold runes locking into place.
Silence.
Then—
CLANG.
The sound ripped through Mount Ōe like a bell struck by a god.
CLANG.
CLANG.
CLANG.
CLANG.
Steel met divine metal again and again, each collision sending shockwaves across the arena. Sparks burst like fireworks, scattering across the stone as both fighters pushed each other back, boots carving trenches into the mountain.
To normal eyes, it was chaos.
To those present—it was war at absurd speed.
Cao Cao slid back first, heels grinding into the rock. He twisted the True Longinus, letting its shaft spin once before snapping forward in a vicious thrust.
Lu Lingqi vanished.
She leapt.
Her body twisted midair, silver hair whipping behind her as she came down from above, halberd splitting into a cross-strike aimed straight at Cao Cao's exposed shoulder.
Too clean.
Too fast.
Cao Cao's eyes narrowed.
He snapped the spear upward just in time—
CRASH.
The weapons collided overhead, divine light and oni aura exploding outward. The impact drove Cao Cao to one knee, stone shattering beneath him like glass.
The ground cracked.
They locked eyes.
Lu Lingqi's grin was feral. "You block like a general."
Cao Cao smirked back, teeth bared. "And you strike like a war god."
He twisted.
A surge of power rippled down the True Longinus as he shoved upward, forcing Lu Lingqi back. She flipped away, landing lightly—then immediately lunged again, halberd spinning in a blinding arc.
CLANG.
CLANG.
CLANG.
CLANG.
Each exchange was heavier now. Faster. Meaner.
Oni in the stands leaned forward, eyes wide.
"That's Hero-class combat…" "No—beyond it." "They're adapting."
Lu Lingqi slammed the butt of her halberd into the ground, vaulting forward and unleashing a brutal combination—left sweep, overhead cleave, reverse thrust.
Cao Cao parried twice—
Missed the third.
The blade tore across his side, ripping fabric and drawing blood.
He skidded back, boots carving a deep line through the stone.
Lu Lingqi didn't press immediately.
She tilted her head. "…Good. You bleed."
Cao Cao wiped the blood from his side, then laughed—low and dangerous.
"Yeah," he said, rolling his shoulder as the True Longinus pulsed brighter.
"And now I'm warmed up."
Holy power flared.
Not uncontrolled.
Not reckless.
Refined.
Shuten Dōji's eyes gleamed with interest. "Oho~ He's shifting gears."
Nate's gaze sharpened.
Cao Cao took a step forward, spear humming with restrained divinity.
Lu Lingqi lowered her stance, aura flaring crimson around her armor.
The mountain seemed to hold its breath.
CLANG.
They collided again—harder than before.
And this time?
Neither gave an inch.
Nate's eyes tracked every movement, pupils glowing faintly as he analyzed the clash.
Cao Cao has more raw strength, he noted calmly.
But Lu Lingqi… faster, cleaner, better technique.
He exhaled slowly.
They're even.
The clash broke apart again—both fighters sliding back, steam rising from shattered stone beneath their feet.
Cao Cao straightened.
And this time… he didn't rush.
The True Longinus rotated once in his hand, its holy inscriptions shifting—rearranging. The air around the spear tightened, like invisible lines being drawn across the battlefield.
Lu Lingqi noticed immediately.
"…You stopped charging," she said, eyes narrowing.
Cao Cao smiled.
"That's because charging doesn't win wars."
He planted the spear into the ground.
THUM.
Golden light spread outward—not explosively, but precisely. Lines of divine energy traced across the arena floor like a tactical map, intersecting angles, kill zones, vectors of movement.
A formation.
Nate's lips curled. "There it is."
Aaron blinked. "What the hell did he just do?"
Yasaka answered quietly. "He turned the battlefield into a weapon."
Lu Lingqi stepped forward—
And stopped.
Her instincts screamed.
She shifted left—
A golden lance of compressed light shot from the ground where she would have been.
She twisted backward, barely avoiding it, boots skidding as she laughed.
"Oho~! So this is the strategist of legends!"
Cao Cao lifted the spear.
"Phase Two," he said calmly.
The True Longinus split its power—not physically, but conceptually. Multiple invisible vectors extended from it, each one responding to Lu Lingqi's motion before she completed it.
She rushed him anyway.
The air exploded.
Every step she took triggered a counter—thrusts of light, pressure waves, forced redirections. Cao Cao didn't chase.
He herded.
Lu Lingqi gritted her teeth, spinning midair to deflect a spear of light with her halberd.
"Annoying little—!"
She landed hard, skidding back, armor cracked in several places.
Then she laughed.
A deep, delighted sound.
"Good," she said. "Then I'll stop holding back too."
The oni markings along her arms ignited—crimson lines crawling across her skin like living fire. Her horns lengthened slightly, aura surging as the ground beneath her feet melted into slag.
Her halberd trembled.
Then changed.
The weapon pulsed, its blade reshaping—edges glowing red-hot, engraved symbols flaring to life.
Lu Lingqi straightened, power rolling off her in waves.
"Oni blood," she said.
"Hero lineage."
"And the will of Mount Ōe itself."
Her eyes burned gold.
"Oni Hero Ascension."
The air screamed.
She vanished.
Not moved—vanished.
Cao Cao's eyes widened just a fraction.
Too fast.
She reappeared behind him, halberd already mid-swing—
BOOOOM.
Cao Cao barely managed to block, the impact blasting him across the arena, crashing him into a cliff wall hard enough to crater the stone.
The barrier shook.
Oni roared.
Shuten Dōji leaned forward, chin resting on her hand, eyes glittering with predatory interest.
"Now that," she purred, "is my girl."
Dust settled.
Cao Cao pushed himself upright, blood dripping from his lip—but he was smiling.
"…So that's your trump card," he muttered, spear blazing brighter than before.
Nate's gaze sharpened.
"So," he said quietly, "both of them have crossed the line."
He looked toward Shuten.
"Now it becomes a true oni trial."
Lu Lingqi looked at Cao Cao. "Are you done?".
Cao Cao just grinned. "I am just getting started".
Both clashed.
They push each other back
They swung and then is happend
The clash rang out one final time—
Steel screamed.
And then—
"Aghh—!"
Both voices tore through the air at once.
They passed each other.
For half a second, nothing happened.
Then—
Blood splashed onto the stone.
Lu Lingqi staggered one step as a deep, clean cut opened across her torso. Crimson spilled freely, steam rising as her oni blood reacted to the cold mountain air.
Yet she didn't fall.
Her muscles locked. Her aura flared violently, red markings blazing brighter as her body refused to give in.
"…Heh," she breathed. "Good cut."
Behind her—
Cao Cao stood frozen.
Blood poured down the right side of his face.
His right eye was gone.
Kunou gasped. Yasaka's tails flared instinctively. Even the oni watching fell silent.
"Cao Cao—!" Aaron started.
But Cao Cao didn't fall.
Didn't kneel.
Didn't even sway.
The True Longinus was still in his hand, planted firmly into the stone to support him. His breathing was steady—controlled—despite the blood.
He slowly wiped his face with his free hand.
Looked at the red-stained fingers.
Then laughed.
A low, feral laugh.
"…So that's how much you're worth," he said calmly. "An eye for a cut."
Lu Lingqi turned fully now, eyes locked onto him, expression no longer playful.
"…You're insane."
Cao Cao tilted his head slightly, blood still dripping.
"No. I'm committed."
Golden light surged from the Longinus again—stronger this time. Not louder. Not flashier.
Sharper.
More focused.
Nate's eyes widened slightly.
"He didn't lose resolve," he muttered. "He converted the pain."
Whisper nodded. "A true king's mindset."
Lu Lingqi rolled her shoulders. The wound on her body began to close—not heal fully, but enough for movement. Oni regeneration kicked in hard, veins glowing red beneath her skin.
"Fine," she said, stance lowering. "Then let's end this properly."
The mountain itself seemed to lean in.
Shuten Dōji's smile slowly faded into something far more serious.
"…Interesting," she murmured. "Very interesting."
Cao Cao raised the spear again—one-eyed, bloodied, unbroken.
"Come," he said. "Show me the strength of an Oni Hero."
Lu Lingqi's aura exploded outward.
"Gladly."
They vanished—
And the final phase began.
The air shattered.
Golden sigils erupted around Cao Cao as the True Longinus answered its wielder—not with raw destruction, but authority.
The spear commanded reality.
"—Submit."
The word wasn't shouted.
It was declared.
The mountain groaned.
Lu Lingqi froze for a fraction of a second—
And that was all Cao Cao needed.
But she didn't retreat.
Instead—
She roared.
Oni markings surged across her body, crimson lines burning like molten iron. Her muscles swelled, aura erupting outward in a violent storm as her eyes turned feral red.
The Oni-Hero Berserker State.
No technique.
No restraint.
Only blood, instinct, and pride.
She charged.
The impact was catastrophic.
The two forces collided—authority versus wrath—golden light grinding against a crimson inferno. The barrier cracked, spiderweb fractures racing across its surface as shockwaves tore chunks of stone from the mountain.
Oni were thrown back.
Yasaka dug her claws into the ground.
Kunou's tails flared wide.
Nate didn't move.
He watched.
Cao Cao's boots slid backward, carving trenches into the stone as Lu Lingqi pressed him with overwhelming physical force. Every swing of her halberd came like a natural disaster.
Clang—
BOOM—
CRACK—
Cao Cao was losing the exchange.
So he changed the game.
Golden chains erupted from the Longinus—not physical, but conceptual. Authority made manifest, binding not her body—but her momentum.
"Your strength is absolute," Cao Cao said calmly, blood still pouring from his face.
"But it is predictable."
He stepped inside her swing.
The world slowed.
With one precise thrust, he drove the Longinus past her guard—not to kill—
—but to seal.
The spear struck the ground between them.
The golden sigils detonated outward.
Lu Lingqi's berserker aura collapsed like a broken wave.
She staggered.
Her knees hit the stone.
Silence.
The barrier faded.
For a heartbeat, no one moved.
Then—
Cao Cao exhaled.
…and collapsed.
The Longinus clattered to the ground as his body hit stone hard.
"Cao Cao!" Nate snapped.
Before anyone else could move—
Nate raised his hand.
"Now."
Golden and spectral light flared as multiple yokai materialized at once—healers, spirit weavers, oni shamans, fox priests. Their hands glowed as they moved fast, stabilizing Cao Cao's life force, sealing wounds, halting the bleeding.
Cao Cao gasped once—then steadied.
Alive.
Barely.
Lu Lingqi pushed herself up, breathing hard, eyes clear again. She looked at Cao Cao's fallen form… then laughed softly.
"…Damn it."
She turned.
Dropped to one knee.
"I lost."
The mountain erupted.
Oni roared—not in anger, but approval.
Shuten Dōji stood slowly, sake cup forgotten.
Her grin was no longer teasing.
It was genuine.
"Well then," she declared, voice echoing across Mount Ōe.
"The Oni acknowledge this result."
She looked directly at Nate.
"By strategy, by resolve, and by choosing a champion who fought knowing he would fall—"
Her eyes gleamed.
"—you win the second challenge, Yokai King."
She smirked wider.
"One more left."
Nate exhaled slowly, eyes on Cao Cao as he recovered.
"…Yeah," he muttered.
Then looked up at Shuten.
"Let's finish this."
Nate looked at her. "1 Vs 1, me and you right?"
Shuten Dōji nodded. "We tied in the drinking competition, your champion won this one".
She then started to walk. "Let, my people make my stage then we will fight".
Shuten turned her back to him without fear.
That alone said everything.
Oni moved immediately.
Stone groaned and shifted as massive hands carved the mountain itself. The broken summit of Mount Ōe was reshaped into a wide circular arena—no walls, no barriers, just open sky and ancient rock. Cracks were sealed with molten stone, torii fragments fused into the edges like scars of history.
This wasn't a battlefield.
It was a proving ground.
Shuten stepped to the center, shrugging off her sake cup and letting it shatter against the stone behind her. The playful slouch vanished. Her posture straightened—not rigid, but dangerously relaxed.
"This is how the Oni settle things," she said casually.
"No armies. No tricks. No champions."
Her aura rolled out.
Heavy. Intoxicating. Old.
The air smelled like blood, fire, and alcohol all at once.
"Just pride."
Nate stepped forward.
The moment his foot touched the arena—
The mountain answered.
ZZ-rank pressure flooded outward, not violent, but absolute. The Oni watching fell silent. Even the wind pulled back, as if unwilling to interfere.
Shuten's grin widened.
"Oh~?"
"So that's the weight of a King who carries others."
She cracked her neck, horns glinting. "Good. I was worried I'd be bored."
Her power flared—crimson and violet intertwining, oni markings crawling across her skin as the playful haze burned away, leaving a predator's focus.
"No seduction now," she said lightly.
"This is strength."
Nate rolled his shoulders, exhaling slowly. His aura didn't spike.
It settled.
"I don't fight to dominate," he said.
"I fight to lead."
The stone beneath their feet fractured.
Two apex beings.
No witnesses who mattered.
Shuten took one step forward, eyes sharp and gleaming.
"Then come, Yokai King."
She smiled—wide, wicked, thrilled.
"Show me why the world is moving under your banner."
The mountain held its breath.
And then—
They moved.
To be continue
Hope people like this Ch here and give me power stones