Chapter 555. Battle to Determine the Strongest (1)

Translator: Boko

At the heart of the battlefield...

People lowered their weapons and vacantly watched Kang Oh and Dukeram's battle.

Even Darion couldn't take his eyes off the battle, even though he was taking care of Burkan, who was at the brink of death.

That's how spectacular Kang Oh and Dukeram's fight was. It was a close fight, and there was plenty of tension too.

It was because Kang Oh and Dukeram had gone at it with everything they had from the very start.

Kang Oh wanted to take him out before Gluttony ended.

He had 10 minutes left.

Kang Oh didn't know how much time Dragon's Hourglass would give him, so he planned on taking Dukeram out before it ended.

Thus, he fought Kang Oh with everything he had.

Dukeram was in a similar situation.

The reason he was able to beat Burkan was because of his Desert Emperor secret move.

Invincible Emperor!

This skill gave him the ability to control sand, and increased all of his abilities fourfold. His MP and Stamina regeneration were also greatly increased.

In exchange, the Invincible Army would disappear one or two soldiers at a time while it was active.

He had started with 10,000 sand soldiers, which had dwindled to 5,000.

'I have 30 minutes. That's plenty of time.'

It had taken 30 minutes to lose 5,000 soldiers. Thus, he had 30 minutes left.

Dukeram had to beat Kang Oh within that time.

Thus, he too used his full power from the very beginning.

Their blows were the very definition of 'brutal'. None of them were feelers; every single strike was meant to kill their enemy.

Kang Oh even deactivated 'Evil God That Dwells In Your Back'. It would just get in his way.

He only focused on his blades, nothing else.

Kang Oh attacked in a way that'd allow him to kill Dukeram most effectively.

'Now!'

Transcendent Blade!

Kang Oh thrust Sarahoff. Its lighter weight was a better fit for Transcendent Blade.

'How about this!?'

Supersonic Strike!

Dukeram swung Max Cain diagonally.

They exchanged unseeable blows.

Bam!

Kang Oh's body exploded with shards of light. However, Dukeram was completely unscathed.

They had both been hit, but the Invincible Tarsonis Armor's special ability, 'Absolute Defense', nullified Kang Oh's first attack.

'Not bad.'

He hadn't lost out; after all, Dukeram had lost his safety net.

'A good start.' Dukeram was satisfied.

Kang Oh forcefully swung Ubist downwards. At the same time, his other hand slightly flinched.

He had deliberately shown him that Ubist was bait, while Sarahoff was the main attack.

If Dukeram ignores Ubist and goes for Sarahoff, what would happen? What if he counterattacked the moment Sarahoff came at him?

𝓯𝓻𝓮𝙚𝙬𝓮𝙗𝒏𝙤𝒗𝙚𝙡.𝒄𝒐𝓶

Slash!

Kang Oh etched a white line in the air, which cleaved space itself!

However, Dukeram wasn't fooled. He took a step back.

Demon Sword Ubist just barely grazed Dukeram's nose. It wasn't enough to cause shards of light to come out.

Then, Dukeram counterattacked.

Dukeram swiftly thrust his bright sword. However, it didn't end with just one strike.

Steel Rain!

It was a Swordsman secret move.

"Hueup."

In the span of a single breath, Dukeram thrust his sword nine times. It was as if nine different people were attacking Kang Oh at once.

He aimed for nine different areas simultaneously!

There was no way Kang Oh could dodge all of them. Then again, he was no normal player.

Kang Oh used a secret move of his own.

Mad Wind's Sword!

He swung his swords as quick as lightning, and as smooth as the wind.

Clang, clang, clang... Clang!

Nine 'clangs' resounded through the air.

Transcendent Blade!

Sarahoff's purple blade arced in the air with transcendent speed!

Space-Time Slash!

Dukeram countered with a secret move that distorted the laws of time and space.

Bam!

Shards of light burst from Dukeram's chest.

Exactly one second later...

Similar sized shards fell from Kang Oh's back.

'He's strong!'

'I'm the strongest!'

It was as if their blades were speaking with one another. Their brutal attacks, which conveyed their 'words', made their spines tingle.

This pleasure could only be achieved when putting everything on the line and facing a strong opponent.

Kang Oh's surroundings became silent and time seemed to slow; all of Kang Oh's senses became clear.

He occasionally experienced this when he was concentrating as hard as he could.

His Hyper Intuition became more sensitive, and spotted weak points that were smaller than a needle's eye.

'Here!'

Stab!

His jet-black blade pierced through the weak point. Kang Oh's lips curled upwards as he felt the feeling behind it.

However...!

Stab!

Max Cain's cold blade pierced through Kang Oh's shoulder.

Dukeram grinned too. He too was fully focused on this fight.

Black shards of light fell from Dukeram's body, while red shards fell from Kang Oh's. The shards flew into the air and intermingled dizzily.

Kang Oh and Dukeram.

There was no better way to describe it; it was a close fight.

It was still a draw.

* * *

The battle had briefly stopped due to Kang Oh and Dukeram's battle.

As soon as Kang Oh's guardians and Ould's Elephant Corps appeared, however, the battle resumed.

"Reinforcements have arrived! We're almost there. Survive until the very end for yourselves and for your families!" The Tiger Corps' Commander, Gheor, encouraged his troops.

"Commander Ould, please take on the Yellow Dragon Squad!" Han Seol said. She and Gheor were doing their best to command the Alliance.

"Understood!" Ould took his soldiers, and joined up with Bart and the 100 Fighters.

The Empire didn't sit idly by.

"Iron Horse Squad, Red King Squad, support the Yellow Dragon Squad! Glacier Squad, take on the guardians! Glorious soldiers of the Empire, victory is at hand!" Jegal led his men.

'This is finally the end.' Jegal pulled out a dried up scroll from his inventory. This scroll was dropped by the Ruler of Golden Desert, Mamonas.

Rip!

He immediately ripped it, causing something extraordinary to happen.

A giant magic circle (3 kilometer radius) appeared over the battlefield. It was probably the largest recorded magic circle in history.

Rapid Desertization!

That was the scroll's name. It was capable of transforming the area within a 5 kilometer radius into a desert. It was a scroll that brought disaster.

A short while later...

White sand came out of the magic circle like underground water, creating various sand dunes..

The Nazrak Plains had become the Nazrak Desert. Of course, it had only affected a certain portion of the battlefield.

Since this was the final battlefield, it was correct to say that the entire battlefield had been transformed into a desert.

This sudden turn of events dumbfounded both the Alliance and the Imperial Army.

'Holy crap!'

The plains had transformed into a desert.

They thought another Great Change had occurred.

"Desert soldiers and warriors, Invincible Army! This is a desert. Go wild!"

Most of the Imperial Army was born in the desert. Plus, Desert Warriors and the sand soldiers became even stronger in this environment.

"Uoooh, I can feel my strength increasing!" The sand general destroyed Bart's Ice Giant.

The nearby soldiers, which were made of glittering sand, brutally attacked their enemies. They were definitely faster and stronger than before. They even regenerated faster than before.

"Uwaaah!"

Those born in the desert became even stronger. They immediately adapted to their new environment and attacked the Alliance troops.

However, the Tiger Corps had the elites of the Elephant and Eagles Corps at its side.

"Dirty servants of the Empire, I'll kill you all!"

"C'mon!"

The Alliance had more men. Plus, Kang Oh's guardians were here too.

Kuheong!

The Platinum Wolf, Violf, roared. It rampaged across the battlefield, tearing apart the imperial troops with its claws and teeth.

The Iron Knight, Redman, swung its thick, heavy two-handed sword.

The soldiers attacked it with their swords and spears, but Redman's armor was so tough that they couldn't get through. Plus, metal fragments shot out of its armor too.

The white elephant, Indra, flattened its enemies with its thick, pillar-like legs, and it coiled up its trunk and swung it like a fist. Its ivory tusks, which were shaped like saw blades, would deal a serious injury at minimum.

Wakaiser helped Sephiro and Waryong.

Both the wyverns and the Death Eagles had taken significant losses.

There were only 40 wyverns left.

On the other hand, there were only 5 Death Eagles left, including Black Wolf's own.

"Let's go, Waryong!"

Waryong transformed into a dark red meteor.

"The Black Wolf Squad and the Death Eagles are the true nightmares and rulers of the sky! We won't lose to the likes of wyverns!"

Black Wolf gathered lightning in his hands, and unleashed it in tandem with the Death Eagle's blade winds. It was his secret move, Combination Attack: Thunder Bomb.

Wakaiser's extremely potent Poison Breath struck the Thunder Bomb.

Boom!

There was a massive explosion. Below them, the Alliance and Imperial Army were fighting their final battle.

* * *

Dukeram's second class, Desert Emperor, was capable of controlling sand.

Once the battlefield was transformed into a desert, he used his class's abilities more aggressively than before.

The sand would continuously try to grab Kang Oh's ankles or pull his feet in. It was like he was stepping in quicksand.

That wasn't all. Sand spikes would suddenly surge from the ground, or the sand would suddenly hollow out.

'This is really annoying!'

It was insignificant in the long run, but it was definitely effective.

If he moved too slowly or he lost concentration for even a second, then Dukeram would attack him right away.

In a battle between experts, small advantages like this could determine victory and defeat. The goddess of victory was definitely smiling down at Dukeram, who had gained the territorial advantage.

'I can't let him gain the upper hand that easily!'

Although Dukeram had power over sand, Kang Oh had demon swords with different specialties.

His three demon swords had power over darkness, blood, and ice!

First, he pulled out Blood and forcefully threw it.

Weapon Bombardment!

Swish, swish, swish, swish!

His snow-white blade fiercely spun through the air and came flying at Dukeram. Dukeram blocked it by making a wall of sand.

Boom!

Blood blew up the sand, causing sand to go everywhere, and a thick sand cloud rose into the air.

Kang Oh planned on taking advantage of this. However, Dukeram attacked Kang Oh first. He saw through Kang Oh and launched the first attack.

Thus, he was forced to go on the defensive.

Then...

The sand under his feet disappeared, and Kang Oh lost his balance.

Max Cain radiated intense light.

Sword that Brings Victory!

A golden pillar came flying at Kang Oh's head.

However...!

The hollowed out sand transformed into ice. Sarahoff's power had fixed the crater.

Bam!

Kang Oh kicked off the ice like a rocket and leapt into the air. The stepping stone he'd used cracked into little pieces.

He didn't have to take Dukeram's powerful attack head-on due to that small, frozen stepping stone.

Whir!

Ubist surged with a large quantity of darkness energy.

Abyss Predator!

Black and gold pillars intersected in an X between the two.

Their destructive power was incredible. Neither side was pushed back easily.

Kang Oh and Dukeram shouted, and put a ton of power into their blades.

Then...

Kang Oh's back felt cold. Danger! Danger! However, there was no way he could pull back now.

Stab!

A sand spear pierced through his chest. Dukeram had used his power to manipulate sand.

However, Kang Oh grinned.

'Go!'

Blood, which he'd thrown using Weapon Bombardment, had transformed into Tasha. He had used Demon's Descent.

Then, Tasha, wearing her fluttering red dress, transformed her hand into a blood spike and stabbed Dukeram in the back.

Stab!

Red shards of light exploded from Dukeram's body.

He had returned the favor.

However, both sides were definitely accumulating wounds. After all, Kang Oh and Dukeram's attacks were extremely destructive.

If they took a few more fatal hits, then Kang Oh would have to use his Resurrection, and Dukeram would have to use his Full Heal.

Of course, that HP would quickly be depleted too.

Kang Oh and Dukeram.

Who would be the final victor?