"Aaaaargh!" taking full advantage of the energy of the charge, Yoichi unleashed a direct punch in the direction of Ogai's chest during his demonic transformation. The young tamer lifted himself off the ground with a leap, hitting his target with full, brutal force.

*BOOM* - the violent punch generated a short but intense explosion, similar to that caused by a modern grenade, but of lesser intensity. For a few seconds, the rhino demon's face and torso were not visible behind the veil of black smoke generated by the flames in contact with his hard grayish skin.

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Its huge, pachydermic hooves stepped back, suffering a recoil. Placing one leg back and one leg forward, Ogai managed to keep his balance and not fall to the ground.

What! He withstood my blow without falling! Yoichi thought in amazement, as his feet touched again the muddy floor of the cave. His new body is too heavy and strong, the power of my flames is still not enough!

As the veil of smoke dispersed into the air, Ogai's four white eyes popped out of the darkness, and the corners of his horned muzzle curved into an evil grin.

Shioko witnessed the whole scene, growing open-mouthed. Although her partner had had plenty of time to prepare the attack and further increase his power, the final boss of that dungeon was still there, unharmed.

Ogai's gaze shifted to his own chest: a circular but superficial wound had been carved into his upper abdomen, beneath his prominent pectoral muscles.

As if he hadn't calculated that detail, the rhino demon continued to stare at the wound. It was a classic burn wound, whose blackish edges continued to widen millimeter by millimeter, testifying to the true scorching power of the dragon flame.

Unlike normal fire, the flames released from the young warrior's arms had the ability to burn even materials that were not particularly flammable, such as the rhino skin of his present enemy.

"What's the matter with you? You lose your voice?" Yoichi suddenly exclaimed defiantly, in a fighting stance behind his opponent. Ogai quickly turned raised his gaze.

The malicious smile had disappeared and his forehead was furrowed downward, expressing his huge anger. "No matter how hard you hit me, you brat! My new body is too powerful, even for your dragon flame! The Dark Emperor's power is..."

Before Ogai could begin with his monologues again, Yoichi snapped forward, abruptly interrupting his sentence. "Shut up!" he shouted, unleashing another punch, this time directed at his lower abdomen, more easily within his reach.

Ogai moved his hands in that same direction, intercepting the fiery fist of the young Nightblades warrior and parrying the blow. The sharp, hard knuckles of Yoichi's right hand sank into the first few inches of the giant's palms.

Ogai's skin was thinner there, as well as along his hips and under his armpits. A sharp burning forced the demonic warlock to hold back a cry of pain.

He took three steps backward, driven by Yoichi's strength. Inside, he feared that if he continued to hold back the advance of that brutal attack, his hand would be severed from his wrist.

Ogai immediately decided to change tactics and shifted his hand away from the trajectory of the punch, deflecting it downward and unbalancing his inexperienced opponent. Turning around with a rapidity not proportionate to his heavy bulk, the Kamakiri warlock counterattacked his enemy.

He grabbed Yoichi's leather armor and, with another of his four hands, he threw a downward punch. The punch traveled heavily from top to bottom, striking the young tamer's back and knocking him to the ground.

"Yoichi! Oh, fuck!" Shioko screamed, in desperation. As Enatsu began to shake unconsciously because of Rokuro's still-open wounds, Yoichi, his only hope for salvation, was knocked out with a single punch. "It happened again! Enatsu and Rokuro are connected!" she realized immediately.

"Argharghargh! What do you think you're doing with those little human hands?" Ogai chuckled, tightening his grip on Yoichi's upper armor and lifting him off the ground. "You don't stand a chance, brat. But I admit, you're entertaining me!" the rhino demon added. The wound on his chest continued to widen, slowly consuming the most superficial layer of his sturdy skin.

When Yoichi's body was lifted, the expression painted on his face did not bode well. The flames on his arms dramatically decreased their intensity, and poor Kenji, on the other side of the room, was forced to spread its four legs to stay upright.

Yoichi shook his head, focusing on his feet. The floor receded further and further from his gaze and his ears were ringing intensely. As one of Ogai's hands held his leather armor, his other hand clutched the young tamer's head.

"Your power will be of immense help to his majesty the Emperor. I am sure he will know how to make you one of his strongest warriors. You've got potential, brat," the demonic sorcerer snorted. From the way he spoke those words, he didn't seem to like the idea very much.

It was as if, during those moments, his true personality emerged, expressing a personal opinion. His will was constantly under Emperor Gonshiro's dominion, but, with that way of huffing, he was showing his dissent.

The rhino demon lowered his third arm to the floor, calling the dark mud to himself. The transformation did not prevent him from using the arcane powers with which his former body was imbued.

The mud answered the call, wrapping itself around the sorcerer's muscular leg and moving up to his arm, tapering to his forearm. It reached his hand and a small dark sphere began to form in the center of his palm, levitating.

Kenji, several meters away from this scene, was still frozen: the fire on his tail and back continued to burn as if his fighting spirit would not surrender. Simultaneously, the flames under Yoichi's scales were also burning fervently.

The long blond hair of the young Nightblades tamer messily came out between the three large fingers of Ogai's hand, who had successfully immobilized his tough opponent.