Hisashi sheathes his sword as he back away to observe the monster's next reaction. It didn't surprise him to see it regenerating. However, they all noticed how it seemed slower than before.
As soon as it reforms, Jin summons a rectangular shield from above and presses the monster down. However, his spell weakens as he feels a familiar presence.
"Mai?" This enables the monster to escape from his attack. It roars and looks at the normal soldiers staying within their formation. Sensing its bloodlust, Old Man Kai immediately alerts them.
"Retreat! It's about to attack!" The old man shouts. Hisashi and Ren quickly flash as they arrive at the monster's face and kick it.
[Plague Sorcery: Chenzong de tui] (Heavy Legs)
[Lightning Sorcery: Indra's Boots]
Their kicks catapulted the monster meters away. The old man appears on its trajectory as lightning travels again in a straight line. Hundreds of slashes appear on its body once again in a single second.
The two younger fighters then rush as Hisashi cuts the monster again with his sword while Ren takes out a dagger and coats it with a debuff spell, cutting the monster from above.
"It's a spell to slow down one's healing. I don't know if it can be affected by a debuff." Ren said as he coughs. "Doesn't matter, it's worth a try," Hisashi replies.
The fight continues for a lot longer as the monster's healing slows down significantly. Before, where it only takes two seconds to heal an open wound regardless of the sorcery type, now, it takes ten. However, the longer the fight extends, the stronger, faster, and bigger the monster gets.
Meanwhile, Jin was anxious as he felt Mai's presence from behind. He looks back and sees her with a worried expression, but returns his attention to the monster once again.
"Why are you here? I told you that you're not allowed here, right?" The three fighters felt her presence too but they didn't bother to be distracted.
"Why are you guys letting it heal continuously, master? Old Man Kai and Sir Ren are already sweating. At this rate, they might reach their limit first!" Mai said, worried as she watches the fight with her sharp eyes.
"Healing or regenerating wounds needs energy. If they don't let it heal before attacking once again, then they're wasting even more energy. Why am I telling you this? Get on the back of the formation."
"I can help! In that way, Sir Ren and Old Man Kai can save more energy! As for Gozu… I can help him too!" Mai said as she takes her bow out.
"Don't worry about them. They can handle themselves. Also, that's my job to look out for them. So just stay safe. Any more and I'll reduce your training." "But Master!" "No buts."
Mai was pissed but she didn't move. She stayed just behind Jin as she watch the fight. Jin on the other hand didn't say anymore and let her there.
…
"Gozu, Ren, give me thirty seconds to prepare my spell." Old Man Kai said as he takes a stance and close his eyelids. Without saying anything, the two agree as Ren who just recovered after slicing a hand, casts a reinforcement spell. He puts the tips of his fingers together and a violet bubble appears between his hands.
[Plague Sorcery: Pestilence's Punishment]
He clasps his hands as his arms and which then turns his body violet. He reveals a second dagger as he clad it both with plague mana and attacks the monster once again.
"Zhantian!" He said under his breath as he slashes about 30 hands of the monster in a single rush. Hisashi was surprised to see the timid Ren be so active but he focuses on his job once more. He takes out his wakizashi as lightning and fire boots up to his thighs appear, reinforcing his strength.
His body was also covered in the same elements, except alternating patterns as his swords got sharper with their own layer of reinforcement magic.
"Flash." He combines both fire and lightning to flash, as he cut more than 50 hands in just a second. He didn't stop as he jumps and axe kicking the monster from above. A quick thirty seconds passed as the old man opens his eyes.
A streak of lightning appears on his eyes, hands, and foot. The two backs away to give the old man the already mangled monster. He then flashes to the front of it, so fast that Hisashi almost didn't perceive it. His Jian cane sword was already drawn and he quickly sheathes it back.
[Lighnint Sorcery: Shi Wan Zhan] (One Hundred Thousand Slash)
When the sheathing was complete as if God was smiting someone, thousands of lightning appeared, hitting the monster. Moreover, the monster bled so much that the dirt and grass were painted black. Hisashi when it was finished, Hisashi was reminded of the cursed black sea of his hometown.
The monster's body was nothing but a lump of black flesh and blood. They all looked at it and wait for it to regenerate. Even after five minutes, no movement from the flesh can be seen.
"Is it finally dead?" Ren asks as his skin turns to normal. He also pants a lot but it was worse for the old man who was using his cane to help him stand up. Seeing that it wasn't moving even by a bit, Old Man Kai backs up and sat down for a rest without talking. Hisashi has also removed his hat now.
"It seems like it." Jin was the one who answered. He walks up to the blob and pokes it with his staff. Seeing it for himself, he decides to go to his soldiers who were tending to the injured and with broken weapons. He then walks up to Hisashi who he sees is already eating an apple which he finds weird.
"Thank you, Gozu. If not for you, we would've lost many of our guys here." Jin said.
"You can rest. I don't have a good feeling about this shit here." Hisashi replies.
"Okay then. You can rest yourself. We still have to check the hideout later after all. We don't know what that holds too. So stay alert."
They rest for another ten minutes as Jin assigns some of the soldiers to check the corpse of the monster. While that was happening, Mai sees Hisashi who was sitting and looking at some of the flesh himself.
"I accept it. You're strong yourself." Mai teases him. "Are you the only one here? Where're your companions?" Hisashi asks.
"They're still in the town. They're stationed there after all. I just tagged along since I still have to wait for my scroll. Speaking of that, I HAVE MINE NOW!" She enthusiastically laughs as she shows her scroll.
"After this, let's-" She was about to invite her to a fight but Hisashi raises his hand to shush her. "Why?"
"You can use spiritual chi, right? Can't you feel that?" Hisashi said as he looks around to see where the feeling was coming from. "What are you talking about?"
"That… chi. That heavy and malicious chi. Hey Ren! Can you feel something?" Hisashi calls out for the thin guy.
"Feel what? I don't think I know what you're talking about." Hearing the conversation between the two, Jin looks at them and asked.
"What's happening, Gozu? Is everything all right?" Jin then sees Hisashi spaced out. Just then, a face of pure panic appears on his face as he looks at the soldier who was getting samples of the monster.
"Hey! Get away from that!" After saying that, he looks at the flesh near him and Mai which made him instinctively push the young lady. Because of his actions, everyone became confused including Jin and the soldier who was now looking at him. Just when Mai was about to hit the ground, the black blob of flesh starts to form into something.