Oni

We reach the base of the steps after I add them to the party. I look around but don't see the door we took to enter. The only exit I can find is where the screen used to be. It's now a very torn-down wall. On the other side is a vast and flat field full of grass.

"I guess we can't stay hidden." Myla says with a sigh while walking toward the field. We look around before jumping down a few feet into the grass. We can't see anything aside from grass. Once we land in the grass we walk around the theater. We still can't find anything other than grass.

"Let's just pick a direction and go." I say and the girls nod. We walk away from the theater and bump into an invisible wall. I was walking ahead of the girls and bounced off it. I rub my nose and reach out with my hand. "What is this?" I ask while running my hand against it. The air ripples where my hand touches.

"This is the edge of the Dungeon. We can't go any further. It's basically a circle containing the Dungeon. Your Domain should have this too." Hino replies and I nod. We turn around and head in the opposite direction. While walking we keep looking around. After a minute of walking, we find footprints.

"Over here." Myla says, getting our attention. She's pointing to the ground around her. "There are some footprints here. We're getting close to whatever here." She continues while I examine the footprint. I can't tell what made it, but it looks similar to a human. The only difference is that they're bigger. They're roughly one and a half times the size of mine. There are multiple prints, making it seem like a group walked through here.

"What are these tracks?" I ask and the girls shrug.

"I'm not sure, but it's something big. We need to be careful." Hino says. We continue walking, following the tracks until we see something in the distance. We get down to the grass when we do. We see a large wall made of wooden posts. They're lined up side by side. On top of the wall, I can see two guard towers, with a gate in between. I can see figures walking on the walls.

"What are those?" I hear Myla ask as I try to Observe them. They're too far away for it to work.

"I don't know. I need to get close for Observe to work." I say and she sighs. We get up and I notice four more people are watching. I turn around and draw my weapons.

"Eric?" Myla says while drawing her own. Hino does the same and we start looking around.

"My Sense Presence Skill shows four people are watching us." I say and they nod. I see a figure appear in the distance, in the direction of the movie theater. I sigh when I see them running toward us at incredible speeds. I sheath my weapons while turning to the girls. "It's my gramps." I say and they lower their weapons as well. We start walking toward him, as he quickly closes the distance. He stops a few feet away from us before talking.

"What are you three doing here?" He asks us. He has his armor and lion mask on.

"We were hanging out, and watching a movie. Then we got sucked in here." Myla says. I take note of the fact she didn't say we were on a date. My gramps nods and I see three more figures in the distance. They're running towards us, but not as fast as my gramps did.

"Who're you with?" I ask while gesturing to them.

"I'm here with Sugano, Kallen, and Kagiyama. They wanted my help with this Oni Village Dungeon." He replies.

"This is an ONI Dungeon!?" Myla asks, shocked and a little terrified. My gramps nods and I see Hino step back.

"What's an Oni?" I ask them causing my gramps to laugh.

"It's a terrifying monster. A group of three is enough to take down Dragons. This village should have at least 15. But they're like me, all brawn and no magic. So they're not too hard to deal with if you know what to do." My gramps says and I sigh. Sugano, Kagiyama, and Kallen stop behind my gramps. Sugano's out of breath and leaning on her staff. Kallen and Kagiyama are winded but don't seem too tired.

"Sugano, Myla, Eric what are you doing here?" Kagiyama asks worriedly.

"They were watching a movie when the Dungeon sucked them in." My gramps answers.

"You three should head back. You're not ready to fight Onis yet." Kallen says. Myla and Hino both nod. Before I can do or say anything, my gramps grabs my arm.

"Not you. You're fighting." He says and I sigh. Myla and Hino step forward upon hearing this.

"If Erics fighting, I'm fighting too." Hino says and Myla nods. My gramps laughs while Kallen and Kagiyama sigh.

"If you two stay. You'll stay with me. If any Oni passes the guy, you'll help keep it away from me. Until then, you'll only help fight from behind." Sugano says sternly.

"Yes, mom." Hino and Myla say in unison, except Myla replaces mom with Ma'am.

"So what's the plan for this?" I ask them. I don't add them to my party, since I can only have a max of six. There'd be one person left out. I figure it's better for me to see Myla and Hinos HP and MP instead.

"Eric, you and I are going to drop in the middle of their village. We'll get their attention and then the others will storm the gates. They'll be able to take out a few before getting noticed. At least if we do our job right. The only problem will be the chieftain. He's the boss here and will be tough. All Oni have high magic and elemental resistance by the way. So keep that in mind." My gramps says and I nod. I get an idea and check my MP. I see I'm at my max with 2720 MP.

"Could I blow up the village?" I ask and they all look at me. My gramps starts laughing after a moment.

"What do you mean blow it up?" Hino asks.

"I can use my Hydra Skill to fire its Elemental Blast. I haven't used it to attack before though. So I'm unsure of how much damage it'll cause. It might destroy the walls or it might not." I reply and my gramps laughs harder.

"Let's do that then. We'll hang back so you don't hit us. Once you've attacked we'll join you. I'll still come first, so we can get their attention." My gramps says before anyone can say something. After a moment of silence, I turn back towards the village. I take out my wings, horns, boots, and claws. I fly high into the sky and go to the village.