Chapter 102
Robos charged at Inner Ren with a ferocious roar, holding swords he picked up from the fallen warriors in each hand.
When Robos swung the swords at him, Inner Ren bent his back just at the right moment, avoiding being cut in the process.
As Robos kept attacking Inner Ren, he found himself being unable to land a single blow.
This human was just that good at dodging and sidestepping his offensive moves.
After being bombed by a Destruction Sphere, Robos ended up reverting back to his base form, he was too weakened to transform back to his True Demon Form.
While the power stone he wore on his neck was a mighty artifact that would have made it easier to use True Demon Form, it still needed a little 'cool down' time with each usage, approximately two hours. So Robos was effectively stuck in his base form.
Still, when it came to strength and speed department, Robos had the definite advantage.
But he made the grave mistake of underestimating Ren Karatengu, or at least the part of him that fights to survive.
It was not because of luck that Ren had managed to survive so far, at least not completely, the main reason was because of his inner self embodying his survival instincts, the Inner Ren. When things get tough, when Ren has no idea what he is doing, that is usually when Inner Ren guides Ren's actions, causing events that are usually attributed to 'luck'.
"What are you doing? Use magic, you dolt head!"
Doran ended up exclaiming after seeing Ren battle Robos using only hand to hand combat.
By now, Doran was all too aware just how strong Robos was.
But to be fair, Doran never saw Ren spar with Master Korgan and Sento, two masters who far exceeded Robos even at his strongest.
Though Ren never managed to defeat either Master Korgan or Sento, he did develop several essential skills.
While using Demon Lord Mode, Ren could sense the mana of anyone around him, allowing him to predict his opponent's movements.
And due to Demon Lord Mode enhancing his physical parameters, Ren could dodge and avoid danger just in time.
By absorbing mana and circulating it inside his body, Ren could enter Demon Lord Mode, and it also allowed him access to magic that he would not be able to achieve otherwise.
But using magic would decrease the duration of time Ren could stay in Demon Lord Mode, which is why Inner Ren was currently refraining from using up the absorbed mana.
Absorbing mana takes ma.s.sive toll on one's body and willpower, so it is not like one can keep absorbing mana indefinitely, everyone has a limit, and when it is reached, the body will collapse.
If anything, Inner Ren has now entered the Demon Lord Mode for a second time within a single day.
That was pus.h.i.+ng it well beyond his current limits.
As Robos tried to strike down his foe, Inner Ren moved forward, ducked, and delivered a punch right into Robos's solar plexus.
Robos felt as though air had been knocked out of his lungs.
The punch was not that strong, but it landed on one of the weak points in Robos's body. Robos ended up dropping the two swords he was holding due to the sheer impact of the punch.
Not stopping there, Inner Ren delivered an uppercut to Robos's jaw.
Usage of that skill was strong enough to explode an ordinary demon, but it only managed to knock Robos away while giving him serious injuries.
Unfortunately for Ren, Robos was one tough cookie.
Robos could taste the blood in his mouth.
"d.a.m.n you!"
Suddenly, Inner Ren became a blur, and Robos felt his nose connect with his opponent's knee.
Robos ended up falling down but he stood right back up. He was not about to let himself get beaten by a measly human.
"You think I can't take a hit?!" Robos charged at Inner Ren with a powerful punch.
Due to his mighty physique, Robos was quite fast, so he was confident he would be able to make his fist connect with his opponent's body.
He did not expect Inner Ren to casually redirect his punch with a side swipe, grab onto his arm, and flip him over to the ground.
A skill he learned from sparring with Demon Lords, no less.
Enraged, Robos tried to kick Inner Ren while lying on the ground.
Inner Ren nonchalantly dodged that as well.
"Fine, if you are playing this way, don't blame me for playing dirty!"
Robos stood up once more.
Using magic, Robos coated his hands in fire. There was at least a five meter distance between them.
With a punching motion, Robos unleashed dozens of huge fireb.a.l.l.s in Inner Ren's direction.
There were too many to dodge, no matter what direction Inner Ren takes, he would still take some damage.
Instead of panicking or making frantic movements, Inner Ren stood calm as a barrage of fireb.a.l.l.s came cras.h.i.+ng down at him from above.
He stood with one hand raised up and his palm facing outwards.
'What is he doing? Does he think he can defend himself with a mere hand?'
But much to Robos's disbelief, the fireb.a.l.l.s never connected with the ground.
Right before reaching Ren, they stopped in their tracks, frozen still mid motion.
Now the orbs of fire were floating in the air.
"What the…?"
The fireb.a.l.l.s started to move in tandem with Inner Ren's movements, as he was moving his hands in circular motion; the fireb.a.l.l.s followed his movements accordingly.
Then, much to Robos's horror, the red fireb.a.l.l.s changed colors and became black.
Inner Ren proceeded to unleash them upon Robos without a hint of hesitation.
There was nowhere
As the hot b.a.l.l.s of mana rained down upon him, the ox demon felt as though he was being fried alive.
Inner Ren essentially cooked his enemy on the spot.
"Wow…" Doran watched this happen with clear disbelief.
Ren just ended up using his enemy's magic against him.
In a battle of wills, Ren's will was obviously superior, allowing him to seize control over his opponent's mana.
As the onslaught ended, Robos stood there, battered, burned, and breathing heavily.
He barely managed to survive Inner Ren's last attack.
Not stopping there, Inner Ren now used the remaining black fire magic to enhance his kicks and punches, delivering a hit after hit upon Robos, who by now was barely holding it together.
"Like h.e.l.l I will let you win!"
Slamming the ground, Robos sent a wave of lava towards Inner Ren, but the wave stopped about a meter away from Ren, before reversing direction and heading towards Robos instead.
"I was not mistaken. He really did turn my magic against me. But how? Is my will truly inferior to his? I will not accept this!"
'If using external magic does not work, I need to use it internally instead'
If cast from lesser up to Greater type of the same magic, it had an additional effect as a strong anesthetic, in a sense, it let Robos ignore the pain his body was experiencing.
The fight continued.
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As Inner Ren kept dodging Robos's attacks and kept delivering precise hits, two things became obvious.
If Robos landed even a single clean hit, Ren could die.
On the other hand, while Inner Ren was able to dodge and strike against Robos, he was far weaker in terms of physical strength.
He kept hitting Robos in many of his vital points with strength enhanced by Demon Lord Mode.
Still, Ren's Demon Lord Mode was inferior compared to the real deal, so his attacks did not pack as much of a punch.
Had it been a real Demon Lord's fist, then Robos would not have survived two serious..h.i.ts.
Being able to fight back against such a powerful opponent, Inner Ren had his grandfather to thank.
Master Korgan's training had truly paid off in a rather major way.
Unless Ren faced an opponent at the level of a Demon Lord, he stood a decent chance of surviving.
More than surviving, he was currently dominating the fight.
After Inner Ren turned Robos's magic against him, Robos was left with no choice but rely on hand to hand combat, at which Inner Ren was even more proficient.
Using Robos's momentum against him, Inner Ren avoided a flying kick, grabbed Robos's leg and threw him hard towards the ground.
No matter what Robos did, Inner Ren kept countering it.
"Unbelievable" Kizilkoz muttered.
Ren was actually beating him, the leader of fearsome Bukka clan, with his own bare hands.
If there was any time to take the situation into his hands, then this was a better time than any.
And Ren did it rather spectacularly.
Due to her contract, she could not harm Ren directly, but she still hoped that the leader of the Bukka clan would be able to kill Ren.
Now her hopes were dashed, crashed, and torn into bite sized pieces.
Kizilkoz Ras, like many before her, made the mistake of underestimating the leader of the Tengu clan.
It was almost like Ren was using this opportunity to demonstrate his power.
She did not know what he could be thinking, but knowing him, she was certain he had a complex plan in mind.
There was no way he ended up in the arena belonging to a clan of battle maniacs just by accident.
While Kizilkoz looked at Ren with fear, Doran looked at Ren's back with a mix of awe and admiration.
"There is no mistaking it, that is the Tengu style! He practices it as well?"
"That's my brother for you" Doran couldn't help but smile with pride.
A long time ago, Ren's master, Shan, had taught him a certain fighting style that became ingrained within his consciousness. He may have forgotten it in his mind, but his body still remembered it.
Training with Master Korgan and Sento took those skills he had learned back then and improved them further.
In a sense, Shan provided the raw material like a precious stone, while Master Korgan and Sento polished into a jewel.
It took Ren getting beaten up countless times, but his body finally learned it.
Tengu Style.
Evading the enemy attacks while delivering small counter-attacks to steadily weaken the enemy.
By now, Inner Ren managed to hit so many of Robos's vital points that the leader of Bukka clan was barely able to fight back.
Each time Robos tried to hit Inner Ren, he would find himself on the receiving end of a yet another counter-attack.
Like a drizzle that wears down even the toughest of stones, Inner Ren's was tearing down Robos's defenses at a steady pace.
"Still, why is he fighting with his eyes closed?"
Kizilkoz was not sure why Ren could be fighting while not using his eyes, unaware of the fact that Ren was, by all definitions of the word, aslepp.
As Inner Ren delivered a sidekick followed by a roundhouse kick at Robos's face, Kizilkoz looked at the scene before her with dread.
"Not even the Leader of Bukka clan is a match for you, huh?"
As far as Kizilkoz knew, Ren was the one who killed the previous Demon King, her father, at least that was what her sister tried to tell her.
Part of her hated Ren for that, but another part of her found it hard to believe that someone who could not even generate his own mana could ever defeat a Demon King.
But, as they say, 'seeing is believing'.
Even against Robos, a mighty bronze ranked demon that excelled at generating and using his vast mana reserves, Ren bested him seemingly with ease.
What Kizilkoz couldn't have known that the reason Ren was at such an advantage against Robos was not because Ren was stronger.
Most demons are born with the ability to manipulate their own mana and many are blessed with vast mana reserves.
They never trained themselves to control their mana because as far as they knew, their mana always obeyed them.
As for Ren, it was not so simple.
Unlike others, Ren could not generate his own mana, making him unable to access magic.
But he excelled at usage of willpower and mana control, allowing him to sense and absorb mana.
Mana demons generate is essentially pure energy shaped into various forms depending on demon's affinity.
Energy obeys the one whose will is stronger.
Against someone of weaker will, Ren could turn their released mana against them.
Due to how much mana Robos had, Inner Ren could easily sense his movements, allowing him to dodge every hit on time.
It was a battle between a strong but clumsy ox and a weak but precise crow.
"At this rate he might just win…."
Robos was getting more and more beaten up, if this continued on, Ren would emerge victorious.
Using all the rage within him, Robos forced himself not to lose consciousness.
"I will not lose to you!"
Robos used his demon eyes to enlarge his fist and delivered a devastating punch at his opponent.
This time, Inner Ren did not manage to dodge in time.
He was sent flying through the air, hitting his head on the wall of the inside of the coliseum.
The impact ended up making Inner Ren get knocked out while at the same time waking up the 'normal' Ren.
"Ohhh…my head…What happened? Where am I? What…AAAAH!"
Ren just barely managed to dodge Robos's oncoming fist that left a deep dent in the wall, right at the spot where his head was just a second ago.
"I WILL KILL YOU!"
"Oh, come on! Why do things like this always keep happening to me?!"
Ren was not sure what was happening, but he knew full well when he needed to run for his life.
"…Or he might just be s.c.r.e.w.i.n.g around with everyone" Kizilkoz shook her head. She was no longer sure what the heck Ren was thinking.
As for Ren, he found himself running as fast as he could while being chased by an enraged Ox demon that he had unknowingly almost managed to beat just a minute before.