"Not bad! You resisted my attack! With a little practice, you'll become an excellent Void Summoner!" Ogai spoke, returning to an upright position.

As Yoichi came back on his feet, ready to counter his enemy's next attack, the mud further enhanced the warlock's body: a large amount of Blackblood totally wrapped his legs, lifting his body off the ground, allowing him to levitate as if he were surfing on the floor.

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Holding the two dark spheres as if they were two extremely fragile objects, Ogai slid forward. The wave of black mud pushed under the plants of his feet, driving his body slightly inclined.

"The real question is... how much longer can you resist?! Aaargh!" the Void Summoner shouted, dramatically increasing the power of his charge and finding himself within seconds in front of his opponent.

Because of the little time to think about a defensive strategy, Yoichi crossed both hands in front of his face. Ogai's arm moved forward, pushing one of the dark spheres right in that direction.

Another impact, another explosion: after successfully parrying the blow, Yoichi felt acute pain in his forearms and his body was thrown metres away. His back slammed against the circular wall of the cave, less than ten meters away from his companions.

I must move away from here... I can't fight close to them, otherwise, Enatsu could suffer the coup de grace! The young Nightblades tamer thought. Without paying attention to his arms conditions, Yoichi found the strength to get up and walk away from his friends, coughing and limping.

The burning on his arms was caused by a quite deep wound: the surface of the dark spheres in Ogai's hands had consumed some of Kenji's black scales, also damaging the skin below.

Fortunately, the level of sensitivity at the spots enhanced by the little dragon demon was significantly lower than that of the 'human' limbs. Only thanks to that reason, Yoichi was still able to move his arms freely, resisting pain and keeping on fighting.

Within seconds, after throwing Yoichi away like a dodgeball, Ogai let himself be carried away again by the dark mud. The liquid bundle that wrapped his legs up to his belt caused his body to change the direction of attack.

This time, Ogai joined both his hands allowing the two small spheres to touch each other. That gesture unleashed incredible energy, boosting his next attack, which would probably knock out the young tamer.

Yoichi's tired gaze once again framed his companions: Enatsu was in Shioko's arms and his mouth was bleeding profusely. The bandage that enveloped Rokuro's abdomen was soaked in blood, a symptom of the fact that the wound had not stopped bleeding.

The red-haired girl did not know how to behave and her gaze was perpetually pointed at Yoichi, in the hope that her teammate would somehow succeed in defeating Ogai, the unknown Kamakiri warlock.

Her gaze bounced between the mole demon and Enatsu, putting the pieces of the intricate puzzle together. "How is it possible for the wound to be shared if it's not his Oracle?" she pondered aloud.

Ogai was charging at great speed towards him and the time to think was over. Finally, as if it were the signal he was waiting for, Yoichi felt a loud burning in his chest.

That burning was part of the same feeling he sensed during his battle against the giant Hebigure and followed the beats of his heart. Beat after beat, his chest seemed to load the body with fiery, draconic energy. Without really controlling that mysterious power, Yoichi was generating the dragon flame!

He's never seen the flame I can summon. I will use my standard skill to dodge the attack and then I will activate Scorching Breath to boost my arms! Yoichi instantly realized what to do. Within seconds of the impact, he switched his Oracle's power, shifting his arm scales to his legs.

Kenji diligently obeyed the command of his tamer and performed the power shift. The black scales disappeared from the arms and popped over the legs, slightly tearing off the fabric of the trousers. When the wound on Yoichi's arms was deprived of the protective layer, severe pain forced him to grit his teeth.

One centimeter at a time, Kenji's upgrade skill took about two seconds to change target. After that short time, Yoichi leaned over his knees and jumped high, pushing his body with maximum force.

Yoichi's rapid rise in altitude forced Ogai to trace that movement with his eyes. The sorcerer's white eyes witnessed his opponent's superhuman leap and his expression darkened during the charge as if the only fact that Yoichi was trying to escape was a sign of irreverence towards him.

The mud under the sorcerer's feet pushed him upwards and his already joined hands tightened the spheres even further. The two bodies of dark energy touched each other and began to merge, aided by the ascending thrust of their creator's body.

Under the eyes of Yoichi, whose head was a few inches away from the cave ceiling, filled with blackish stalactites, his enemy was ready to hit him with an enhanced attack.

The beatings of his heart that were continuing to rumble strongly in his rib cage immediately weakened. The loading of the dragon flame was over, all he had to do now was release the accumulated energy.

Shutting his eyes for a single moment, Yoichi released an unparalleled power, showing a skill that no one in the recent history of Lumya's world had ever been able to control.

The black scales changed position again, moving almost instantly over the arms. Beneath them, the skin literally caught fire, burning in a blinding red light and inevitably slowing down Ogai's attack, who was stunned to see that unprecedented flame show.

Like magma on the slope of a volcano, the draconic fire under the scales erupted outside, enveloping both of his arms and increasing their physical and magical strength. A dragon roar, much more violent than the cry of any known demon, echoed inside the cave.

The blond-haired warrior joined his hands upwards, crossing his fingers and preparing to converge them in a single shot directed at Ogai. Long tongues of fire were fired in all directions, counteracting the frosty aura caused by the sorcerer's dark power with the heat of the primordial dragon flame.