( Arata's POV )
Punk: hehe Now the fun is really about to begin.
The punk after injecting the red liquid into himself, he was filled with spiritual energy, y In the middle of a crazy laugh he disappeared and appeared next to me, he kicked me in the stomach and I stepped back grabbing the place he had hit.
His new speed and strength caught me by surprise but when he appeared next to me and threw a punch at me I caught his hand and threw a fist covered in black flames into his stomach, even with his power boost he flew as well as the rest of the thugs, but he got up quickly and seemed to be unaffected by my attack, he just kept laughing.
I could feel a couple of ribs break when I hit him, so either that shot gave him incredibly fast regeneration or his whole body was numb to the pain.
Punk: What was that, I didn't even feel anything jaja.
While he was shouting excitedly as if he was invincible, I ran to his side and gave him a high kick also covered with black flames, he used his arm to block but my kick created a loud breaking sound and the damage I caused was impossible to miss, his arm bent outwards and that looked like a strange hook.
Punk: Don't you understand? Your attacks are useless HAHAHA.
Arata: No idiot, your body is clearly broken, you just can't feel it.
Sagiri moved without the punk noticing her, she tried to knock him out with a blow to the back of the head but in his state the punk was immune to that kind of attack, the punk turned around and tried to hit Sagiri with his good arm but I threw a powerful hook that threw the punk against the wall, he didn't stop laughing but this time when he tried to get up again his body gave out on him and he fell to the ground.
There were no more punks left so we went to help the girls but we stopped when we heard some slow clapping behind us, when we turned around we saw the rest of the gang with the leader in front of them, Urara should have warned us about reinforcements and I tried to contact her to see what had happened but there was interference in our comms.
Gang Leader: *clap* *clap* Impressive, I didn't think we'd have volunteers to test the effects of Oni blood.
'Oni blood, that's what they call that red liquid.'
These guys were older and more dangerous than the punks we were beating up earlier but the girls and I still got into battle stance anyway, although it seemed that the thugs were not very interested in fighting, for the moment.
Gang Leader: Hey, there's no need for that. The name is Kazu. You guys are capable. What do you say about joining us? If you accept now, I'll forget the mess you made here.
Arata: Who would want to belong to a third-rate group that kidnaps some innocent girls.
Sun: Very true, you guys are nothing but lowlifes, without honor.
Kazu: He you guys are going to regret that.
After rejecting the gang leader's less than tempting offer, they quickly changed their tone, but they were a real danger, several of them had higher than normal spiritual energy and spider-like evil spirits like the ones we faced the other day appeared behind them.
They weren't exactly a normal gang and holding back was no longer necessary, Sun unsheathed his Katana, Sagiri created some kunais and I used my wooden sword to summon my black Katana.
I was going to swing my sword to create a wind blade but the leader Kazu ran towards me and grabbed my hand before I could swing, Kazu kept running and he pushed me against the wall, I gathered my energy to burn Kazu at close range and he threw his fist back and was going straight for my head but before either of us could do anything the wall next to me exploded open and we both got distracted by that.
The cause of that explosion was a girl my age with long blond hair and cold green eyes, she was wearing a school uniform with a long skirt and carrying a wooden sword, I wasn't sure which side she was on but when she pushed back the leader of the thugs with a swing of her sword I thought she wasn't an enemy.
Kazu lost her balance and I didn't waste the opportunity the girl had created and I got close to Kazu with a quick movement, I swung my Katana with all my strength and I cut the guy's right arm clean in half, his arm flew in the air and the blonde girl put her wooden sword in her other hand and she sent a powerful fist that knocked Kazu to the ground.
I wanted to keep the combo going but I was distracted by the sound of breaking glass, there was a syringe on the floor and the thug's spiritual power began to rise, he had injected Oni blood, but the effect was not the same as the punk's, Kazu's skin took on a reddish color and a horn grew on the left side of his forehead.
I was sensing real danger but the blonde girl didn't care about that and kept running towards the thug leader like an out of control beast, Kazu put on a smile as he saw her approaching and quickly punched the girl, and she widened her eyes a little as she was taken by surprise.
I, who had already sensed danger, was able to push the girl out of danger with my body and the punch went over me, I stabbed my sword into the enemy's stomach and an explosion of fire occurred when I stabbed him but Kazu kept fighting and he knocked me back with a blow with the back of his hand.
The guy let out a beastly scream and the girl ran straight to him again, I ran behind the girl and Kazu prepared to throw another punch but some shurikens stabbed his back and that did enough damage to distract him and at that moment I gathered all my power in my right hand, the girl and I hit him at the same time and he flew high almost touching the roof of the building, He hit the ground head first and when his neck made a nasty sound I knew he wasn't going to get up any time soon, I looked across the building and saw that the girls had finished off the rest of the gang.