The detached force mobilized at the same time as the main force. This force, led by Valan, consisted of Kang Oh, Sephiro, Bart and his friends, Helena, Asu, and the Witchâs Forest, as well as Aman and the Great Forestâs warriors.
They made their way to the altar without any obstacles. Of course, it was a completely different story once they made it to the altar itself.
âYou canât go any further.â
Sraka and the Evil God Worshippers showed up. They would fight to the last to protect the altar.
They had to protect the altar no matter what. After all, the Evil God Worshippersâ one desire was⊠Bringing the Evil God into this world!
This was their best chance of attaining that divine dream of theirs. Well, that only applied if they were able to overcome this ordeal.
Valan wasnât leader-like at all. He was the most powerful vanguard.
As soon as he saw Sraka, he launched a Divide the Sea at him. Sraka drew his greatsword, gathered a ton of evil energy within it, and then launched it at Valanâs attack.
There werenât any demons to be found. In exchange, the guards were much stronger than the norm.
The Evil God Worshippers were classified based on their power. Obviously, they possessed skilled and powerful members aside from the disciples. Their final defense line consisted of these members.
They were the elite Evil God Worshippers!
Although there were only 100 of them, they couldnât be underestimated. Helena, Bart, and the Great Forestâs mages cast mighty spells.
Most Evil God Worshippers were proficient in wicked spells and curses. These elite troops were no different, but their power was on another level.
Helenaâs chunk of ice was melted by their black flames.
Evil spirits flew overhead, and the floor turned black. They had cast an AoE curse.
Bart used a Fusion skill. He combined the Priest spell, Holy Land, and the Druid spell, Purify! The ground began to glow, and the curseâs progression was halted.
Meanwhile, Sephiroâs arrow crashed against an Evil God Worshipperâs whip.
The two sideâs spells and ranged attacks scorched the battlefield.
Kang Oh, Plum, Viper, etc. avoided the explosions and rushed at the enemy.
âLetâs go, boys!â The Nedav Chieftain, Aman, who was always the first to a fight, led his warriors into battle.
âNone of you will get through!â
Screams, cries, and sharp metallic clangs resounded throughout the battlefield. These clangs came from weapons clashing against each other and the Evil God Worshippersâ bodies!
The Evil God Worshippers turned to bronze, which made their bodies impervious to most normal attacks. Unleashing a powerful blow would perhaps leave a dent.
Plum or Viper, who used a thin sword or daggers, had trouble dealing any damage to them. Of course, this didnât apply to Kang Oh.
He pulled out Sarahoff and Blood, and transformed into the Frostblood Demon.
His body turned blood red, with swirling streaks of white running through it. Bat wings protruded from his back, and stiff, glacial horns jutted out of his mask. His arms and legs were also covered by icy greaves and gauntlets!
Kang Oh leapt into the air, descended like a streak of lightning, and swung Sarahoff downwards.
His attack possessed both speed and power. It was all due to his prior movements.
The Evil God Worshipper known as Cornell crossed his arms and protected himself.
At the same time, black energy popped out from behind, coalescing into a giant claw. He planned to block Kang Ohâs strike and then immediately counterattack.
Upon contact, spider web like cracks spread across his bronze skin.
âWhat?â Cornell looked in disbelief.
âTo think heâd be able to break the Supreme Oneâs bronze skin so easily!â
It was only natural. Before Sarahoffâs Absolute Destruction, Jailaâs bronze was nothing more than tough metal. Kang Oh was also incredibly strong.
Then, Kang Oh swung Blood upwards.
The Frostblood Demonâs power surged. Red and blue energy rose and increased in size, forming an avalanche that consumed Cornell whole.
âWe have to kill him!â
Kang Oh stood out way too much. Three nearby Evil God Worshippers rushed at him.
Kang Ohâs movements quickened and he left behind an afterimage as he disappeared.
The Evil God Worshippers had aimed for his vitals, but they werenât on Kang Ohâs level.
The panicking Evil God Worshippers urgently yelled, as all of their attacks missed.
Kang Oh grinned. âHereâs a present for you!â
Blood swelled with blood red energy, as if it was a red balloon on the brink of exploding.
Kang Oh activated the Avenger setâs special ability. This was his first time using it.
[You have used Dragonâs Fury.]
[10,000 MP has been consumed.]
Kang Ohâs armor glowed with dim light. However, Blood and Sarahoff shined much brighter than his armor.
He felt as though his swords had become much heavier than normal. That was how much power was contained within his blades.
âHuahp!â Kang Oh raised his blades into the air like a dragonâs outstretched wings, and then forcefully swung them.
A giant, mighty energy swirled around Kang Oh and rose into the air like a hurricane. Dragonâs Fury devoured all the Evil God Worshippers in its path.
He could hear agonizing cries all around him. However, those cries didnât last very long. All of the affected Evil God Worshippers died in a flash. Only 3, no, 5 seconds had passed.
Dragonâs Fury was ridiculously powerful.
âHeâs on the level of the disciples!â
âAttack him from afar! Donât fight him close up!â
These were the enemyâs elites. Once they realized how powerful Kang Oh was, they widened the distance while casting spells.
âWhere do you think youâre going!?â Kang Oh stomped on the floor.
An ice wall surged from the ground, preventing the three Evil God Worshippers from escaping.
Sharp ice fragments flew at them.
With their escape route blocked, the three had no choice but to focus on defending themselves.
Although the drills were made of frostblood, a special type of ice, it was still ultimately ice. Upon contact with their bronze skin, the ice shattered into pieces.
Of course, they had been just a diversion. Kang Oh quickly closed in and fiercely swung his twin demon swords.
He had killed three of them with Dragonâs Fury, and had killed three more with his merciless assault.
Blood absorbed their shards of light, restoring Kang Ohâs HP.
The elitesâ faces darkened.
They couldnât hope to match Kang Oh. To make matters worse, he was accompanied by other powerhouses such as Bart, Helena, and Aman.
The Evil God Worshippers had no chance of victory.
A thick shadow cast over Kang Ohâs body. It was the bronze masked Sraka, wielding his giant greatsword. He swung his sword at him.
Sraka used the skill that gave him the name, the Devilâs Sword. It was a secret move that only an Evil God Worshipper could learn! However, Sraka had trained it to Master level.
The power behind it was unimaginable.
It was as though his blade opened the gates of hell. All sorts of dark, evil beings stretched out their hands and peeked out their heads.
âShit!â Kang Oh immediately used his survival skill.
However, Srakaâs blade had cut through him before the shield could protect him. At the same time, the demonsâ claws and horns ripped through Kang Oh. Their sticky, long tongues poisoned him, and gave him all sorts of status ailments.
He took a tremendous amount of damage too. Heâd lost 90% of his HP in a single hit, and his remaining HP was quickly going down.
The Cassio Ringâs Resurrection ability was still on cooldown.
âIs there any way I can survive?â
Rudy, who was hiding within Asuâs chest, popped out and chirped as loud as it could.
A light bulb went off in his head. He immediately pulled out the Phoenixâs Feather from his chest.
Just having a Phoenixâs Feather provided a slew of benefits. However, it could also be used as a consumable item that would instantly restore the userâs HP and MP to full.
[You have used the Phoenixâs Feather.]
The Phoenixâs Feather burned intensely, and the resulting flames were absorbed into Kang Ohâs body.
[HP and MP have been fully restored.]
[The Phoenixâs Feather has disappeared.]
The Phoenixâs Feather burned to a crisp. In exchange, Kang Oh was able to survive Grandmaster Srakaâs full power.
He didnât have to worry about a follow up attack. After all, Sraka was taking on Valan.
Valan showed up out of nowhere, just like Sraka. He cut through Srakaâs neck with his steel sword; it looked so plain that it made him wonder, âWhy does he use that sword?â. But he didnât actually cut through his neck; it only appeared that way.
Something flew through the air. It hadnât cut his neck, but his left arm.
Like a lizard giving up its tail, Sraka had turned his body, giving up his left arm for his life.
There was no way heâd have been able to block or dodge Valanâs strike. Valan was no ordinary foe and attacking Kang Oh had left Sraka open.
Valan wouldnât let such a golden opportunity pass him by.
Ultimately, there was no way Sraka could come out of this unscathed. Thus, he decided to give up an arm, minimizing the amount of damage taken.
âNow weâre even,â Sraka said softly.
Like Valan, he was now one-armed. Valan just silently swung his sword. Sraka also held his greatsword with his one remaining hand and blocked his strikes.
Their fight had a huge effect on the battlefield. Whenever their swords clashed, a shockwave would spread throughout the battlefield, making it difficult for anyone caught in it to even stand.
Kang Oh, as well as Aman and the Evil God Worshippers, distanced themselves from the shockwaves. However, Sraka blocked Valanâs blade and then rushed at Kang Oh.
He had no choice. There was no one besides himself that could take on Kang Oh. If he didnât take him down now, then the Evil God Worshippers wouldnât be able to survive.
Thus, Sraka had no choice but to take on both Valan and Kang Oh at once.
He also planned on using Kang Oh to distract Valan. Of course, neither Valan nor Kang Oh had realized this right away.
Kang Oh anxiously gripped his sword tight.
If he, for even a second, lost focus, then he would die.
An unseeable, super fast attack came flying at him. Even while he was fighting against Valan at that.
Kang Oh just barely blocked it via his Hyper Intuition. However, the attack was so powerful that he was pushed back several meters and he rolled onto the floor.
Of course, Sraka had to pay the price for dividing his attention between two opponents.
Shards of light burst from Srakaâs side. Valanâs attack had landed.
âYou keep dividing your attention,â Valan said unpleasantly.
âYou dare divide your attention against me?â
âI can take on both of you at once.â
Valan swung his blade with even greater ferocity. Sraka used everything he had to repel Valanâs attacks.
Only Kang Oh, an âinnocent bystanderâ to their fight, was the one that almost died. He wanted to get out of the area as soon as possible, but Sraka stuck to him like glue. At the same time, he couldnât recklessly attack Sraka either.
âHeâs waiting for me.â Kang Ohâs instincts whispered. Sraka was just waiting for Kang Oh to lose his cool and attack him.
âJust sit still and donât do anything. Iâll finish him off soon,â Valan said.
However, Valan and Srakaâs battle didnât end anytime soon. Kang Oh knew why this was the case.
âItâs because of me.â
Valan was being careful so that Kang Oh wouldnât get hurt. It was unlike Valan. Had he started liking Kang Oh a little bit?
It was Valanâs principles. With great power comes great responsibility.
Letting Kang Oh get hurt in the process of killing Sraka was a violation of his personal values.
âHeâs quite clever.â
Kang Oh knew that this was no coincidence. Sraka had planned this.
As they fought, he had seen right through Valan, and had ascertained his true nature. By taking advantage of his beliefs, Sraka was able to keep both Kang Oh and Valan here.
âWhat should I do?â Kang Oh took a look around.
The Evil God Worshippers fought desperately, but his allies were stronger.
Since he, the second strongest here after Valan, was unable to act, the battle would take longer than normal. But that still didnât change the fact that theyâd win.
However, he didnât like how he was just wasting time.
âThereâs no guarantee that something else wonât show up.â
None of the disciples had shown up yet. Heâd killed Sora, but Amak could revive the other disciples with the sacred treasure!
Plus, there was no way of knowing how far Jailaâs ritual had gone. Neither Kang Oh nor the Protectors of the Continent knew how close it was to completion.
âTime is of the essence. I have to do something!â
Ultimately, Kang Oh ignored Valanâs command and headed to the top of the altar. The High Priest, Amak, should be there, right?
âLetâs see your ugly mug!â
Kang Oh may be an âinnocent bystanderâ dragged into a fight between two titans, but he wouldnât go down without a fight. Heâd drag in another innocent bystander into the fight.