Dukeram wielded Max Cain, a sky blue blade that sparkled like the stars in the night sky, and wore stylish armor!
Kang Oh, however, looked like a demon, and wielded both Demon Sword Ubist and Demon Sword Blood in his hands.
Dukeram proved why he was worthy of rank 1, as well as how heâd defeated the Master Desert Warrior, Stan. Not only that, but he was a Master Swordsman himself.
He was strong, quick, and his swordsmanship was sound. He also timed the use of his skills well.
Dukeram was sharp and experienced, so he didnât overreach and didnât let down his guard either. Not to mention all of his equipment was SS-rank!
âHeâs definitely the strongest player Iâve ever fought against.â
Even Bart was nowhere near as strong as Dukeram. Helenaâs magic or Hernandezâs spear wouldnât match up to him either.
Kang Oh couldnât match up to Dukeram with pure swordsmanship either. However, he had his Hyper Intuition.
It would tell him what his opponentâs weaknesses were, as well as send him a warning whenever an attack was coming! This psychic ability allowed him to fight Dukeram evenly.
âMm.â Dukeram furrowed his brow for the first time after Kang Oh dodged his attack.
He couldnât understand Kang Oh.
Kang Oh shouldnât be at a level that would allow him to dodge all of his attacks, yet he was somehow managing to do just that.
âHow about this!?â Dukeram used another secret move.
This skill allowed him to transcend time and space!
Then, Kang Ohâs back felt cold. He instinctively rolled to the side.
A thick line appeared where heâd once been.
This was Space-Time Slash!
Space-Time Slash made the userâs attack come out three seconds later, or come at an angle that their opponent didnât expect. However, Kang Oh had managed to dodge this too!
âAre you psychic or something?â Dukeram asked.
ââŚâ Kang Oh said nothing. He merely stood up and extended Blood.
The snow-white blade sliced through Dukeramâs right arm, causing it to burst with shards of light.
Dukeram activated Max Cainâs special ability.
The sky blue blade cleaved through Kang Ohâs body with blistering speed.
âUgh.â Kang Oh staggered.
After witnessing Kang Ohâs ridiculous evasion, Dukeram had come to the conclusion that heâd have to sacrifice his body to land a critical blow.
Immediately after heâd come to that conclusion, he put it into effect.
His tactic of risking injury to deal fatal damage had worked perfectly.
Dukeram attacked the staggering Kang Oh once more.
Max Cain flew at Kang Oh, intent on finishing him off.
Kang Ohâs necklace glowed with light.
A full moon surrounded him.
Once Max Cain struck Kang Ohâs barrier, Dukeram quickly withdrew his sword and prepared his next move.
He swung his sword in the air.
As soon as the barrier disappeared, a line was etched on Kang Ohâs body.
âTch!â Kang Oh held Ubist horizontally.
Upon contact, a metallic âclangâ rang out.
However, Space-Time Slash was just bait!
Dukeram forcefully swung Max Cain, which glowed with golden light.
Sword that Brings Victory!
Regardless of his Hyper Intuition, Kang Oh couldnât dodge everything.
He couldnât dodge Dukeramâs sequence of attacks.
The giant, mighty energy devoured Kang Oh whole.
[You have been swept away by a powerful attack.]
Countless shards of light fell from Kang Ohâs body. The impact of Dukeramâs attack had caused him to faint, so there was nothing he could do.
Kang Ohâs dark red wings forcefully flapped. Having sensed the danger he was in, Tasha had begun controlling his wings.
Like a flying fish jumping out of the water, Kang Oh soared into the air.
Once he escaped the Sword that Brings Victory, the status ailment, fainting, was dispelled.
âThank you, Tasha!â Kang Oh said.
âDonât lose!â Tasha said telepathically.
âOf course!â Kang Oh swung Ubist.
A roaring tiger-shaped aura shot out of his blade, and dashed towards Dukeram.
If you use a huge attack, then you leave yourself open!
Since heâd just used a secret move, Dukeram was unable to block or dodge the Tempest Tiger, and fell to the floor.
Dukeramâs butt had hit the hot sand.
âEmperor Dukeram has fallen!â
âKang Ohâs counterattack worked!â
The networksâ correspondents became heated.
The Empire Guild members yelled.
Tempest Tigerâs auxiliary ability, the raging whirlwind, caused sand to go flying everywhere.
However, the whirlwind was split in half and disappeared.
Dukeram walked out, his entire body covered in sand.
Wings of light protruded from his back. He had activated his necklaceâs special ability.
This effect doubled his abilities for 10 minutes.
Silver energy rose from Max Cain like a haze.
Kang Oh had seen this ability before. Dukeram used it against Stan.
Sword that Brings Victory, Space-Time Slash, and Enlightened One. Those were the three secret moves that Dukeram possessed!
Not only did it strengthen his abilities, but it would increase the power of all his Swordsman-related skills and draw out his swordâs maximum potential.
In other words⌠Rank 1, the Master Swordsman and strongest player, Dukeram, had become even stronger!
âI need to use something good!â Kang Oh hung Blood on his waist, and pulled out a sapphire ring from his inventory.
It was an S-rank item that he got from Ridgeley after he beat him a second time. It was an incredible ring, so he could sell it for a ton of money!
Even so, he had to be willing to sacrifice at least this much to fight against Dukeram.
Demon Sword Ubistâs darkness coiled around Kang Ohâs arm, and then devoured the ring.
[Demon Sword Ubist has consumed Lycanâs Ring.]
[Entering Gluttony mode.]
[For 20 minutes, the demon sword and your characterâs abilities are tripled.]
[You may use the abilities: Lightning Bolt and Lightning Veil.]
[Lightning Bolt: There is a fixed chance of lightning striking the enemies around you. The userâs magic stat affects the lightningâs power.]
[Lightning Veil: Imbues the power of lightning into oneâs weapon. Deals lightning damage to the userâs enemy and occasionally paralyzes them. There is also a fixed chance of casting Chain Lightning whenever you swing your sword.]
Kang Oh stretched out his dark red wings, and darkness exploded from his demonized body.
Dukeram swung his sword at him. Kang Oh was in the air, so there was no way his attack would hit.
So long as he didnât use Time-Space Slash, that is.
Dukeram targeted Kang Ohâs wing. Tasha quickly reacted, and dodged his Space-Time Slash.
He swung his sword once more.
A crescent moon shaped blast flew right at him.
âTasha! Letâs go get him,â Kang Oh said.
The Dual Demon stretched out his wings, dodged the aura, and flew right at Dukeram.
Kang Oh swung Blood while flying horizontally. He was so used to swinging his sword midair now, so he had no problems with it.
A white line followed Demon Sword blood.
Dukeram responded with a skill of his own.
Max Cain was swung downwards, clashing with Blood.
The collision resulted in a huge âclangâ. It was a sign that the power behind both their blades was tremendous.
Kang Oh landed on the floor. Then, Dukeram extended Max Cain.
Max Cain radiated intense light. It was the effect of Enlightened One. As a reminder, this skill increased the power of any sword-related skills!
Noticing how powerful his attack seemed, Kang Oh swung both his demon swords simultaneously.
The jet-black and blood red waves shot forward.
Upon contact, both Kang Oh and Dukeram were pushed back.
Dukeram was the first to get back into position and attack.
Kang Oh responded belatedly.
He swung both Ubist and Blood, but Dukeram deflected them and pierced the middle of Kang Ohâs chest.
Red shards of light burst from his body.
Dukeram didnât stop there.
âThis bastard!â Kang Oh gritted his teeth.
Dukeramâs skill with the blade was tremendous.
Even though he was using both Devil Trigger and Gluttony, Kang Oh was getting overpowered.
He was arduously blocking Dukeramâs attacks, but he couldnât block them all, and he didnât often get a chance to retaliate.
âI canât keep this up!â
To think heâd be pushed back after using Gluttony! Kang Oh decided to use his last resort.
The effect of Lycanâs Ring activated.
A bolt of lightning fell from overhead. However, Dukeram didnât dodge it. He instead swung his sword at it.
It was quite a shocking turn of events.
Dukeram split the lightning bolt in two, as if he were felling a tree, and the lightning dissipated on its own!
However, that gave Kang Oh the time he needed to use Switch.
Demon Sword Blood was switched with Demon Sword Akanhoff.
Although Akanhoff possessed abilities second to none, it drained its userâs HP!
This sword may enable him to win against Dukeram.
Anyhow, once Blood disappeared, Kang Ohâs appearance changed.
The horns on his mask, the dark red wings, and the red blood armor disappeared. He had become the Jet-Black Demon.
Sparks danced across Demon Sword Akanhoffâs purple blade. Kang Oh also added a secret move to that.
Ubist and Akanhoff! Both of his demon swords began to dance through the air.
Unwilling to be outdone, Dukeram began to swing his sword as fast and as powerfully as he could.
Clang! Clang! Clang! Clang!
Their blades continually met, resounding in repeated âclangsâ. Plus, shards of light began to spill from Kang Ohâs body.
Dukeram was really crazy.
He deflected both of Kang Ohâs demon swords while he was using Mad Swordâs Wind and even managed to find the time to counterattack like it was nothing!
However, Kang Oh didnât just sit there and take it. Kang Oh focused on Max Cain more so than Dukeram himself.
Even a blade of Max Cainâs caliber wouldnât be able to withstand Akanhoffâs Absolute Destruction ability, especially when they made contact so many times.
Once Max Cainâs blade dulled ever so slightly, Dukeram furrowed his brow.
âItâs dulling Max Cainâs blade!? That swordâs dangerous.â
Dukeram realized how overpowered Demon Sword Akanhoff was. Thus, he decided to finish off Kang Oh before his sword could be destroyed.
His attacks became even fiercer.
However, Kang Oh was using Mad Windâs Sword! The more he swung, the quicker his attacks would become. Thus, he was able to match Dukeramâs speed.
The increase in attacks caused Darkness Strike to activate.
Black beast and purple bird shaped waves completely overwhelmed Dukeram.
This was the first time Kang Oh had gotten the upper hand in his fight against Dukeram.
Of course, Kang Ohâs condition wasnât good. Heâd taken tremendous damage from Dukeram, Akanhoff was steadily draining his HP, and Mad Windâs Sword was quickly depleting his MP and Stamina!
âI canât keep this up for long. I have to finish him off while I still have the chance!â
Kang Oh rushed forward and barraged him with attacks.
Lightning Veilâs secondary effect activated, causing Chain Lightning to shoot out of Akanhoff.
Dukeram cleaved it in two using Steel Slash.
Then, Kang Oh let out a battle cry and bombarded him with powerful skills.
Dukeramâs handsome face contorted significantly. He also yelled fiercely.
Dukeram knew that this would determine the winner and loser of the fight, so he used every single one of his item effects and skills.
Sword that Brings Victory!
Kang Oh and Dukeram. One was a huge wave and the other a huge storm; a wave and storm that devoured everything in their path!
Clashing with their full strength caused shockwaves to spread everywhere, affecting the guild members, the special correspondents, and the 4th Corps.
Aside from just a few of either sidesâ strongest, everyone else was blown back in a 50 meter radius of Kang Oh and Dukeram, and fell to the floor.
So much sand had flown into the air that it was difficult to see what was going on.
People began to get a hold of themselves one or two at a time.
âWhat the hell is this!?â
Kang Oh and Dukeram were revealed.