Kang Oh flew over the castle walls and searched for Darcun.
Darcun was the commander of the Gray Sand Squad.
On his way here, Dion had shared what he knew about him. Darcun was known for his viciousness and brutality on the battlefield, which is why he was known as the Kruger.
Kang Oh could tell right away. Darcun let off an atmosphere of cruelty, and his clothes were a lot different from the surrounding troops.
His enemies swung their blades and shot arrows at him.
Kang Oh unleashed a fearsome roar.
Demonâs Roar caused his enemies to wither away in fear, and reduced all of their abilities!
However, the Gray Sand Squad was made up of the 2nd Corpsâ finest troops.
They briefly staggered on their feet, but they managed to follow through and attack Kang Oh.
Kang Oh softly swung his swords, deflecting every one of their attacks.
Clang, clang, clang, clang, clang!
The sound of clashing metal rang out.
Kang Oh forcefully kicked off the floor. He quickly charged forward, his dark red wings folded and his tail swinging behind him. It was as if he were a dark red meteor.
In an instant, he bridged the gap, and then forcefully swung Ubist downwards.
âHmph!â Darcun snorted and swung his serrated sword.
Their blades clashed, emitting a piercing âscreechâ.
Darcun was pushed back, his physical strength no match for Kang Ohâs. He quickly reoriented himself, and prepared for Kang Ohâs next attack.
Kang Ohâs jet-black greatsword had already passed through his neck. He had used Transcendent Blade, granting his sword unmatched speed.
Red shards of light burst from the wound.
Kang Oh didnât let up. He swung his demon swords one after another.
Dukeram had described Kang Ohâs swordsmanship as âtwo swordsmen working in complete syncâ.
Darcun wasnât even a Master, so he had a tough time blocking Kang Ohâs attacks. Even though he was completely focused on defense, some of Kang Ohâs attacks slipped through his guard. As a result, countless red shards of light fell from his body.
Darcunâs face turned gray.
âHeâs an Elite Master!â
Kang Ohâs speed and power far exceeded his own. Plus, his swordsmanship was frighteningly sharp and precise.
âLord Raika! Please helpâŠâ Darcun said urgently. However, it was already too late.
A giant, gray vortex of light raged around Kang Oh, which completely devoured Darcun.
Darcun flew through the sky.
Kang Oh leapt into the air, and then stretched out his dark red wings.
âAttack him as much as you want!â Tasha said telepathically.
Kang Oh relentlessly swung his demon swords. Shards of light continuously fell from Darcunâs body like hail.
He would be able to finish him off at this rate. However, someone got in his way.
The old man, who Darcun had called âLord Raikaâ, raised his cobra adorned staff. His face was half covered by his robes, making it difficult to make out.
ââŠSuck out even the soul.â
It had only taken him 1 second to complete the chant. He was clearly a top-tier mage.
Red sand gathered together, forming a gigantic drill. Then, it rapidly spun around and flew towards Kang Oh.
His Hyper Intuition sent him a cold warning.
Tasha tried to fly him out of there, butâŠ
âDonât back off!â Kang Oh yelled.
Kang Oh said nothing. His actions would speak for him.
His jet-black greatsword cleaved the spiral spear in half. The red energy contained within the scattered sand was absorbed by his blade.
This ability allowed him to cut through the immaterial, and absorb a spell every 30 seconds!
âNowâs our chance! Letâs finish him off!â
Kang Oh descended to the ground, and landed atop the rolling Darcun.
His demon swords pierced through Darcunâs chest.
Darcunâs body thrashed around like a surprised shrimp, and shards of light fell from his body. There was a mix of both black and red shards.
[You have defeated the Gray Sand Squadâs Kruger, Darcun.]
With this, Gray Sandâs leader had met his untimely death.
The mage cast another spell at him.
A giant clump of red sand came flying at him, and Kang Oh could feel the scorching heat that the nearby sand spheres were emitting.
The mage hadnât even bothered to chant. However, he had cast two spells simultaneously! Their power was tremendous too.
âIs he using Double Casting!?â
Double Casting was an arcane spell that allowed the user to cast two spells at once.
Dodging was his first priority.
Kang Oh forcefully flapped his wings, and flew into the air. A pile of sand swept through the area heâd once been in.
âTry dodging this too!â
The mage wasnât going to stop there. He relentlessly cast spell after spell at Kang Oh.
However, Kang Oh was way too fast, and quickly got out of harmâs way.
âScallion,â the mage said.
âDarcun is dead. You lead the Gray Sand Squad now.â
Kang Oh was under the assumption that killing their leader would largely weaken them. However, he was dead wrong on that front.
Every member of the Gray Sand Squad had a rank. When their commander died, the next in line would just take over and assume his role.
Non-scattering sand. Thatâs what Dalton had called them.
Darcun (rank 1) had died, so Scallion (rank 2) would take over.
The 100 Fighters and the Gray Sand Squad were fighting atop the ramparts.
They were their corpsâ elites!
Thus, the two sides were evenly matched.
Scallion raised Darcunâs body into the air and forcefully yelled, âDarcun is dead. Now Iâm the commander!â
The Gray Sand Squad briefly looked at him, and then refocused on the battle.
No one had any complaints.
Scallion turned his head and stared at Raika.
âLord Raika, please help me. Itâll be difficult to win this battle by ourselves.â
Darcun was more powerful than him. However, he had died so easily at the hands of that demonic beast!
Scallion didnât think he could beat that demon.
âThatâs why I came.â Raika swung his cobra staff to the side, and released yellow sand into the air.
All of a sudden, the yellow sand covered the top of the castle walls.
The sand made it difficult for them to see.
On the other hand, the Gray Sand Squad wore goggles around their necks or heads, and were barely affected by it. They, who were used to fighting in the desert, knew the value of their goggles in the face of a sandstorm.
Raikaâs magic continued.
âDesert soldiers made of agglomerated blood!â
Summon Blood Red Sand Soldiers!
Crimson soldiers appeared one or two at a time.
ââŠThe fairy plays tricks!â
The mage summoned a copy of each and every member of the Gray Sand Squad. It was impossible to tell which one was real and which one was fake.
âRed sand, illusion magic⊠Is he the Lord of the Red Tower?â Dionâs face stiffened.
The Lord of the Red Tower, Raika.
He led the Sand Mages, and was also a Master Mage!
âWe didnât hear anything about him.â
The Empireâs Sand/Insect Mages were dispatched to Daltonâs 2nd Corps.
However, their troops were led by the two leadersâ successors. The leaders themselves hadnât joined the war.
And yet, one of the leaders had appeared out of the blue. He was a Master Mage at that!
âWhat a relief.â Dion relaxed at the thought of Kang Oh. Although their enemies had Raika, the 100 Fighters had Kang Oh.
âWeâll grant you a lovely death.â
The Gray Sand Squadâs morale shot up, and they fiercely attacked the 100 Fighters.
âFight back to back! Weâre the 100 Fighters! Kang Oh is with us too!â Dion cleaved through his enemies with his dual gladiuses and yelled.
âWeâre the 100 Fighters!â
The 100 Fightersâ morale didnât go down at all. They fought back to back, and bravely engaged the enemies that came at them from every direction.
As one would expect, the Gray Sand Squadâs attacks were well-organized, quick, and powerful.
On the other hand, the Red Sand Soldiers were quicker, tougher, and stronger than normal troops. Plus, the copies kept fooling the 100 Fighters, as they couldnât differentiate them from the real soldiers.
Nevertheless, the 100 Fighters put up a good fight.
âIâll take the right side.â
âYou can leave the left side to me.â
âIt doesnât matter whether youâre real or an illusion. Iâll cut through anything that comes my way!â
âYou wonât get through unless you kill me first!â
They trusted their comrades and fought rigorously, so they didnât fall easily.
The intense battle continued.
The demon came out of the darkness. He had used Abyss Transfer.
Raika was right in front of him.
Kang Oh immediately swung Ubist.
A shining golden tiger flew towards the mage.
Raika reacted immediately. He tapped the butt end of his staff onto the ground, and sand surged like a fountain.
Tempest Tiger struck the tough, coffin-shaped sand.
The sand crumbled instantly.
Then, Raika cast another spell.
Shimmering Heat Killing Spear!
A drill-shaped red sand spear, and a scorching hot spear came flying at Kang Oh simultaneously.
Kang Oh swung both of his blades at the same time.
His auras shot out in an X, and flew towards the spears.
The four energies clashed in the air and exploded.
Grains of sand fell from the sky, making it difficult for him to see ahead.
Demon Sword Sarahoff fiercely spun like an electric fan, and came flying at Raika.
Kang Oh had pulled out Sarahoff and forcefully thrown it using Weapon Bombardment the moment the energies exploded.
âNo!â Raika urgently cast a spell.
A red pillar of sand surged from the ground.
Sarahoff broke through the pillar.
âBind him!â Raika quickly finished his incantation.
Countless grains of sand stuck to Sarahoff. At the same time, Raika threw a sharp blade of sand at Kang Oh.
Kang Oh cleaved through the sand with his jet-black blade. Abyss Blade had activated, so the magic within the sand was sucked into his sword.
Then, he swung Blood downwards.
His snow-white bladeâs blood red energy flew at Raika.
Kang Oh immediately used another ability.
Sarahoff, which was half covered in sand, glowed with dim light. However, Raika hadnât noticed this.
It was happening behind him, and he had to focus on blocking the Blood Emperor in front of him.
âThe source of sand that protects the desertâŠâ Raika swung his staff and began a long chant. Sand rose from beneath his feet, which formed into a small hill.
This was one of Raikaâs most powerful spells. Not only did it possess incredible destructive potential, but it also had a huge radius.
It summoned a large amount of sand that, like a snow avalanche or a landslide, devoured everything in its path.
âSweep through everything!â Raika said from atop the sand dune.
An ice spear pierced through Raikaâs chest.
âWhat?â Raika opened his eyes and turned around.
He saw a Yuki-Onna with pale skin, pupiless eyes, and fur clothes.
âWho the hell are you!?â Raika yelled fiercely, and swung his staff downwards. Then, the cobra ornament transformed into a real cobra and tried to bite Sara.
Sara, whoâd sucked in a ton of air, forcefully blew.
It was so cold that it felt like itâd freeze his very soul. Saraâs three sapphires also shot ice beams at him.
He was completely frozen solid.
The cobra popped out of the ice and lunged, but it didnât have enough reach.
Kang Oh finished them both off. He quickly flew over and swung his demon swords.
The glacier broke into pieces.
The one trapped within the ice wasnât actually Raika. It was an illusion that didnât shatter, and slowly faded away into nothingness instead!
âIllusion magicâŠâ Kang Oh muttered.
When had he swapped his real body with an illusion? He had definitely been the real deal until heâd summoned the sand dune.
âYouâre quite something,â Raika said.
Kang Oh turned his head around and stared at Raika.
Raika was holding a staff in one hand, and a grimoire in the other.
âTo think youâd force me to use Aredâs grimoire.â
Kang Ohâs eyes widened.
The cover of the book was definitelyâŠ
â Illusion More Real than Reality Itself Grimoire 3
Ared was an unknown Illusion Master that wrote down his secret spell, âImaginary Projectionâ, in three separate grimoires. The grimoire in Raikaâs hand was the last volume!
Kang Oh had the first volume, while the Witch of Annihilation, Helena, possessed the second.
Whichever of them found the last volume would get the whole set.
The final volume appeared right before Kang Ohâs eyes.
Kang Oh wanted to yell hurray.