The Mamonas was cleaved in two!

This seemed too easy to him, but that didn't last long. The severed pieces grew, and transformed into two new Mamonas!

This was its Proliferation ability.

Due to the ability's inconsistencies, the Soul Guardians hadn't been able to figure out how it worked.

Let's say that condition A is a prerequisite for its ability. When that condition is met, the Mamonas should copy itself. However, they found that the Mamonas wouldn't follow this set pattern, often choosing not to copy itself even when the conditions were met.

In other words, they couldn't get the gist of it.

Thus, the Soul Guardians placed their hopes on Demon Sword Ubist. It was a soul rending blade, so they believed it could rid the world of the Mamonas once and for all.

Kang Oh had a better idea. He used Demon's Descent, and summoned the King of Demonic Beasts, Ubist.

Grr!

It furiously glared at Kang Oh; it must be sensitive because it's hungry.

"It's whale hunting time. Eat to your heart's content," Kang Oh quickly said.

Bark!

Ubist sank into the darkness.

Kang Oh summoned Sara too. Her power originated from the Ice Soul, so she should be capable of freezing souls.

"I'm counting on you."

"Got it."

Sara soared into the air in her white, fur clothes. Four sapphires trailed behind her like a tail.

"Huahp!" Nile thrust his fist, unleashing mighty energy that struck the Mamonas's side.

Then...

Various spheres shot out of the Mamonas's body.

Once they touched Eder's summoned bones, they exploded.

'Bombs!'

Kang Oh's party backed off.

"I'll take care of them," Eder yelled, and summoned countless bone fragments. The Demon King's Staff had increased the number significantly.

Swoosh, swoosh, swoosh!

The bone fragments fell like rain, and the bombs repeatedly blew up.

Then, the two Mamonas pierced through the resulting smoke and approached Kang Oh's party.

Since there were two of them now, sixteen beams shot out of their eyes.

They continuously expelled spheres from their bodies, and the tentacles on their backs flew towards Kang Oh's party as well.

It was difficult to approach them.

'If that's the case, then we just gotta use long-range attacks.'

Asu rode on top of Rudy. Then, Rudy soared into the air and unleashed flaming feathers everywhere.

Sun Wing!

Nile added his secret move to the mix.

Mad Dragon Cannon!

The giant dragon of light broke through the bombs, tentacles, and beams, and then struck the Mamonas.

Sara's sapphires also shot Ice Beams simultaneously. However, the repeated explosions made them have little to no effect.

"We have to prevent it from reaching the Resurrection Stone no matter what," Eder yelled, and cast another spell.

A giant, meteor-like bone appeared in the air. It was a simple Summon Bone spell, but with the Demon King's power, it had become ridiculously large.

Couldn't complain.

Eder immediately threw the bone meteor at the right-sided Mamonas.

How much damage would it do if he used Bone Bomb with it? There was also the power of the Demon King's Staff to consider... It would probably be powerful enough to obliterate half of a small city.

"Everyone, get back!" Eder yelled.

Kang Oh had spent so much time with him that he knew exactly what he was planning.

'It'll be like a nuclear bomb.'

Kang Oh kicked off of a Cube and propelled himself backwards. Nile did the same, except he also unleashed energy from his hands, giving him more momentum.

Asu, Rudy, Sephiro, and Waryong soared higher into the air.

The two Mamonas simultaneously opened their mouths. It was as if two volcanoes had gone off at the same time. Their massive beams struck Eder's bone meteor.

Eder slightly bit his lip.

The bone melted away.

He wanted to blow it up when it was a little closer, but... There was no chance of that happening now.

Bone Bomb!

The Demon King's Staff radiated intense light.

Boom!

It was a massive explosion; it really was reminiscent of a nuclear bomb.

Even the Soul Guardians, who were spread out around the Resurrection Stone, turned their heads in shock.

'Damn it!'

Kang Oh and Nile had misjudged the power of the explosion, so they were caught up in the aftermath.

Likewise, Rudy and Waryong were unable to fly properly, and were pushed back.

Eder, who was the furthest one back, almost dropped his staff.

Even the Mamonas wouldn't be unscathed from an explosion of this scale.

Eder was right.

The two Mamonas had lost 1/3 of their bodies.

However...!

Something shocking happened next.

One of the Mamonas consumed the other.

'What?'

Kang Oh, who just barely kept his balance by using a Cube, had a bad feeling about this.

A Soul Eater.

It was said that they became stronger the more souls they ate. But they didn't think that it was capable of eating a copy of itself.

As always, those bad feelings of his were always proven right.

Not only did the Mamonas return to its original size, but it got even bigger soon after.

It wouldn't be so bad if it had just gotten bigger. But it had gained more eyes, ten on each side of its head.

Plus...!

The Mamonas opened its mouth.

It seemed like something was squirming within its gaping maw, and soon enough, baby Mamonas popped out.

They were much smaller than the original, but they were still about the size of an elephant.

Only then did Kang Oh's party return to battle positions.

Kang Oh remembered an old cartoon he saw a long time ago. It was set in space, and was a famous series that involved battleships and robots.

The babies, surrounded by the original Mamonas, reminded him of a giant fleet of ships he'd see in that cartoon. After all, the underworld looked just like space.

Plus, the sight of the main character, an ace pilot manning a robot, destroying the entire fleet by himself left a lasting impression.

'How about I give it a go?' Kang Oh stashed Karadin, and pulled out a new demon sword.

Demon Sword Homura!

It was a giant, wing-shaped sword.

Kang Oh used Devil Trigger and assumed the form of a demon.

The silver gave way to emerald light. He looked more like a spirit than a demon.

Glimmering emerald wings of light protruded from his back.

Swish!

His wings unleashed a powerful gust of wind.

Booster, on!

Whoosh!

'Get out of my way. A new demon's in town!'

* * *

The Monster Bird, Homura, was a warped Great Spirit that had power over storms.

It was similar to Magnium, a Lava Great Spirit that Kang Oh and the Black Hammer Dwarves had once killed.

Homura was originally a spirit, or a crystallization of nature, but had been warped by an outside force.

The elves wanted to destroy it. If they left Homura be, then it would destroy their home, the forest.

Demon Sword Homura was the blade that contained that fallen Great Spirit.

Its winds were tinged with madness, and its command over the wind was placed in Kang Oh's hands.

Raging Storm!

Kang Oh, who quickly closed the distance, grabbed the wing-shaped blade in a two-handed grip and forcefully swung downwards.

Swish!

It sounded like mixer blades were turning; several green whirlwinds surged from the blade.

The baby Mamonas were swept away by the winds and flew into the air. However, not all of them were caught in the whirlwinds.

They came at him from every direction, even from above him.

However, there was nothing to be concerned about.

He activated one of Homura's abilities.

Northern Wind!

Kang Oh combined it with one of his secret moves.

Mad Wind's Sword!

Whenever he swung his sword, it would be followed by an extremely fine aura. But that wasn't all; it was absolutely freezing.

The baby Mamonas were ripped to shreds.

Kuhaaahk!

The Mamonas suddenly roared and writhed around.

20 beams shot out of its eyes, each possessing a different element.

Quickness!

His body moved as fast as his sword when he used Transcendent Blade.

Swish!

Kang Oh flew through the countless beams of light, and engraved an X on the Mamonas's forehead. It looked like he had only struck once, but by the time he was done, there were two clear sword marks.

Bam, bam, bam!

Various spheres shot out of its body.

Kang Oh backed off as fast as he'd approached. Knowing when to retreat was a skill in and of itself.

His comrades then attacked, as if they'd been waiting for him to do that.

The only one who could dodge its tentacles, the bombs, and the countless beams of light, as well as approach it, was Kang Oh.

If Nile risked it, he would be able to do it too, but his long-range attacks were plenty strong enough, so there was no need to put himself in harm's way.

In any case, in the time that Kang Oh had bought them, his allies had prepared their strongest attacks, which they now unleashed on the beast.

Combination Attack: Red Arrow!

Sephiro had learned this Tamer secret move from Acasus.

Waryong stretched out its wings, and it extended its neck and tail. It looked like a bow that had an arrow ready to fire.

Sephiro got on top of Waryong's back.

Thump! Thump! Thump!

Their hearts beat as one.

Roar!

Waryong's body heated up, and its eyes glowed red.

Ready, fire!

Waryong unleashed a pillar of fire.

This ability had a very specific property: penetration!

Most flames spread out in a wide area and burned anything they touched, but the Fire Arrow concentrated those flames in order to pierce through a single area.

Roar!

The flame pillar pierced right through the Mamonas's body.

Then, Asu used a secret move that Loxia had passed down to her.

Black and White Fang!

This was Loxia's most powerful move, which combined the powers of light and darkness perfectly, resulting in massive destruction!

A black and a white panther popped out of her sword.

Of course, it was much weaker than Loxia's own rendition of the attack, but it was still extremely powerful.

The two panthers merged together and flew towards the Mamonas. It had a much wider range than Sephiro's move.

The baby Mamonas, the tentacles, and the bombs were swept away simultaneously. It also dealt quite a bit of damage to the Mamonas itself.

"Haa, haa."

In exchange, Asu was completely drained of energy. This was the result of using a secret move far above her abilities.

Rudy flew her away from the Mamonas. It had realized that its mother was defenseless, so she may be in danger if she remained so close to the beast.

Nile returned to the basics.

He used a Fighter's most basic move: Chi Torpedo!

Nile repeatedly punched the air, releasing dozens of Chi Torpedoes one after another.

These were Chi Torpedoes used by a Master Fighter. Thus, each and every one of them packed a punch. However, that force was combined, so the result was tremendous.

Bam! Bam! Bam! Bam!

All sorts of craters appeared across the Mamonas's body.

However, it quickly returned to its original state. Was it because it was a ghost? Or was it because it was a beast?

Kang Oh flew at the Mamonas using Quickness.

Demon Sword Homura was enveloped in green energy. It was fully charged.

Storm Slash!

This was another one of Homura's special abilities.

However, the Mamonas devoured the sharp wind in a single bite!

That wasn't all.

Its gaping maw began to suck him in like a black hole.

At the same time...

Swoosh! Swoosh! Swoosh!

Its tentacles came flying at him. The ends were sharp, but Kang Oh couldn't get out of the way due to the vacuum force.

Moon's Protection!

His necklace glowed, and a full moon shaped barrier surrounded him.

Clang, clang, clang!

The tentacles bounced off the barrier.

However, Kang Oh, along with the barrier, were continuously sucked into the Mamonas's mouth.

His companions weren't really concerned for his safety. What, was this the first time he was in this situation?

As expected, Kang Oh didn't disappoint them.

Kuhaaahk!

The Mamonas writhed and opened its mouth wide. Then, a ton of sparks gathered within its mouth.

Swoosh!

Kang Oh got out.

But...!

He was holding another demon sword alongside Homura. It was a triangular, transparent sword with a horn stuck in the middle.

Max Chow!

Kang Oh's new Dual Demon form was quite peculiar.

First, his two oversized weapons made him look unbalanced.

Moreover...

Half of his body resembled the Great Spirit's form, with an emerald wing and radiating emerald light, while the other half resembled a beast, covered in fur and a horn.

The two swords were like their creators; they didn't mix, like oil and water. Their powers wouldn't harmonize at all.