Flap, flap!

Krishan flapped her wings and flew towards Kang Oh. At the same time, the thorny vines surrounding her right arm bunched up into a drill.

"I've been waiting for this," Krishan said. Her eyes were only focused on one thing: vengeance.

She thrust her drill arm, trying to cut right through him.

Bam!

Upon contact with his blade, her drill arm violently spun.

"Ugh."

The force behind it was tremendous. His hands stung, and his feet dug into the ground. Kang Oh gritted his teeth and tightened his grip. He endured, and endured some more until...

'Now!' He tilted his sword.

Sword Parry!

He timed it perfectly, allowing him to parry her attack even with such a heavy, unwieldy weapon like Ubist. The drill slid down his blade, and Krishan staggered, losing her balance.

Kang Oh narrowed his eyes. Hyper Intuition pointed out countless weak points. Which meant that any one of his attacks would be a critical hit!

'They get really mad when you attack their wings, right?'

Swish!

Kang Oh swung Ubist as fast as he was currently able. His jet-black blade passed through Krishan's white wing, and the cut burst with shards of red light.

A successful parry with a greatsword would always lead to a critical hit. That was his Sword Parry's unique ability, which differentiated it from the norm.

"You dare!?"

Her eyes were filled with rage. The Mayanes' wings were a source of pride. Moreover, she'd lost that wing in the past, to Kang Oh no less!

She recalled that hellish day, and her anger reached its peak. Her left arm's vines transformed into a giant fist. Of course, the fist was covered in thorns.

Whoosh!

Krishan forcefully swung downwards.

He couldn't afford to get hit by it; its power was extraordinary. Kang Oh quickly backed off. After all, he didn't want to be flattened like a pancake.

Boom!

Her attack left behind a giant fist-shaped mark in the ground, and clumps of snow and gravel flew everywhere.

"Thorny bone road!" Eder said, and sharp bone spikes surged from beneath Krishan's feet.

Whoosh!

A powerful flaming arrow came flying at her too. It was Sephiro and Waryong's new combination attack!

However, Krishan completely ignored their attacks, and stretched both of her hands at Kang Oh.

"Where do you think you're going!?" Her vines grew and chased after Kang Oh. She was completely focused on him, no one else.

She completely ignored Eder's bone magic, Sephiro's arrows, and Waryong's flames. It was a wise decision. After all, only Kang Oh was capable of bypassing her immortality. If she killed him, she wouldn't have anything to worry about!

'I know what you're doing, but it's not going to work!' Kang Oh switched between Ubist and Blood.

Red Butterfly's Dance!

[For 10 seconds, your evasion is doubled.]

Kang Oh moved swiftly, leaving behind afterimages wherever he went.

Whizz, whizz, whizz!

The vines hit Kang Oh's afterimage, not Kang Oh himself. Obviously, the afterimage disappeared like a mirage soon after.

At the same time, Kang Oh pierced through a wad of vines and closed in on Krishan. Krishan quickly withdrew her vines, but it was already too late. He stared sharply at her, and swung upwards with his blade.

Swish!

Red shards of light spilled from her body. Blood immediately absorbed the shards, and a single red star appeared on its length.

However, green energy began to amass in her chest!

'She's not doing what I think she is, is she?'

Kang Oh had seen something like this before. It was exactly like his Blood Bomb!

Ominous predictions have a tendency of being right!

Bam!

Krishan's body unleashed an omnidirectional energy blast, forcing Kang Oh to crazily walk backwards.

If Red Butterfly's Dance hadn't been active, then he would've been caught in the green explosion. But with it on, he was narrowly able to avoid the blast.

"Tch." Krishan disappointedly furrowed her brow. However, her disappointment was only momentary! She aimed for Kang Oh once more.

However, Cyndia, the Goddess of Death's priestess, had arrived.

"Goddess, please lend us your strength." Cyndia clasped her hands and prayed. Then, Kang Oh and the rest of his party began to glow.

God's Blessing!

This was a Priest's most basic and most effective buff!

[You have received the Goddess of Death's blessing.]

[All abilities have increased by 10%.]

[The Goddess of Death's blessing makes you immune to status ailments like fear or confusion, and illusions have no effect on you.]

[Duration: 10 minutes]

"Surround her!" Muhawk yelled, and the paladins quickly followed orders.

"Hoo." Kang Oh cracked his neck from left to right and then dusted off his sword. "Now that everyone's here, shall we go at it for real?"

Kang Oh wanted to settle the score. 'Let's finish the battle we had in the Goddess's Land!'

"Hmph! It doesn't matter how many of you there are, you're still nothing but insects!"

The paladins' arrival didn't worry her in the least.That was only natural. She was powerful enough to threaten the gods themselves, so why would she worry about their servants?

"We're not bugs, we're people. People that have come to kill you!" Kang Oh roared.

"No, you're insects! Insects for me to step on!"

The vines covering her arms and legs engulfed her entire body, resembling a flower. She was clearly trying to transform.

Kang Oh rushed forward. He wasn't nice enough to wait for someone to finish their transformation.

* * *

Swish, slash!

Kang Oh switched to Ubist and repeatedly sliced through the vines.

When focusing on evasion, the one-handed sword, Blood, was better, as it was lighter and gave him access to Red Butterfly's Dance, but when dealing damage, Ubist was far superior.

"Explode!"

"Taste this!"

Eder's spell and Sephiro's arrow struck Krishan's vine flower. Meanwhile, Muhawk and his paladins stayed in place.

"Stay in position! Keep your guard up!"

What would happen if they all ran in simultaneously, but Krishan responded with an AoE skill? It was possible that they'd sustain heavy losses.

Anyhow, Kang Oh, Eder, and Sephiro's attacks were unable to prevent Krishan's transformation.

Split!

The vines ripped apart, and a much larger Krishan appeared from inside. She looked much different than before.

First off, she was much larger. She was originally less than 2 meters tall, but now, she was more than 10 meters in height.

Her lower body had changed too. Her legs had disappeared, replaced by thick green vines. The vines burrowed into the ground.

Her arms had turned brown. The length and thickness of her arms had grown, matching her newfound size. Variegated flowers also covered the outside of her arms now.

Krishan's chest was covered by wooden armor, and her white outstretched hand had gotten much larger too.

Her face had completely dried up, like a tree's bark during the wintertime, and her red hair had transformed into vines. The vines that replaced her hair reminded him of Medusa and her head of snakes.

'This must be Krishan's battle mode.'

Kang Oh recalled his previous battle with Mayanes Diabol. Diabol had transformed into a beast, so he wasn't surprised that Krishan had transformed into a giant plant.

Krishan swung her arms. As expected, her target was Kang Oh!

Whoosh!

It was as though a giant tree were flying at him! Even if his Hyper Intuition hadn't sent him a warning, he would've instantly realized how dangerous the attack was!

Kang Oh didn't even try to block it. Plus, it had such a wide range that he had to either dodge it or not at all. Thus, he forcefully threw his body out of the way.

Bam!

Her first struck the ground, causing it to shake. However, Krishan's attack wasn't a simple punch. The flowers on her arms began releasing pollen! Even Kang Oh couldn't dodge the pollen.

His nose was filled with a sweet and sour smell, and the pollen touched every exposed part of his body like his wrist or neck.

[You have inhaled Illusion Pollen.]

[You have resisted the illusion via Deborah's blessing!]

[You have been affected by Paralysis Pollen.]

[Your movements have slowed.]

[If you are exposed to it for a long time, then your body will be completely paralyzed. Please get away!]

[You have been poisoned by Toxic Powder.]

[If you do not remove it using clean water or a potion, then you will continuously take damage!]

Noticing that something was happening to his body, Kang Oh gritted his teeth and used Devil Trigger. Ubist's darkness consumed him entirely.

But Krishan wasn't kind enough to let him transform. She swung her fist once more.

"It's dangerous!" Eder raised his skull staff into the air.

Kang Oh was surrounded by bone. But before Krishan's giant fist, Eder's bone barrier was as effective as straws.

Whoosh!

Her fist pushed through both air and snow, and came flying at Kang Oh. However, Krishan's fist hit neither Eder's barrier nor Kang Oh. A golden barrier had suddenly appeared, protecting him!

"Thank you very much, Supreme One!" Cyndia was clasping her hands in prayer. The golden barrier had been her doing.

"I'll break through it all!"

No matter how great the barrier, it wouldn't be able to withstand consecutive hits from Krishan's fist.

Crack!

Bam!

She shattered the barrier and completely flattened the pile of bone. There was no way Kang Oh was safe inside. If he was still in there, that is.

Swish.

Kang Oh reappeared behind Cyndia, having finished his transformation into the Jet-Black Demon. Eder and Cyndia had bought him enough time to finish transforming and even use Abyss Transfer to make his escape!

"Die!" Kang Oh swung his sword downwards. However, Krishan's hair, or vines, came flying over and blocked his strike!

"You rat! You sure are good at getting away!" Krishan turned around and swung her fist again. Her fist glimmered with green energy this time.

Hammer of Arrogance!

The giant energy blast came right for Kang Oh. He reacted immediately.

Abyss Claw!

He also used Lightning Breath right after. Abyss Claw wouldn't be able to buy him enough time after all!

Kang Oh was right. Abyss Claw couldn't overtake Krishan's Hammer of Arrogance. It was like scissors versus rock in a game of rock-paper-scissors.

However, the combination of Abyss Claw and Lightning Breath would give him enough time to retreat.

Bam.

Kang Oh forcefully kicked off the floor and got away.

Boom!

A short while later, the Hammer of Arrogance scorched the area where he'd just been.

"Bray!" Muhawk, who'd been assessing the situation, decided to enter the fray.

"Yes, sir!" the blue-eyed paladin replied immediately.

"Engage Krishan with four others that you work well with. Don't overdo it. Focus on defense and diverting her attention!"

"Understood."

"When the time comes, another five will take your place. I want you to then get out of there immediately. This'll be a war of attrition!"

Engaging Krishan with several soldiers at once, when she could wave around those thick, long fists of hers like it was nothing and unleash giant blasts of energy, would be idiotic.

"Yes, sir!" Bray gathered four nearby paladins and rushed at Krishan. However, Muhawk's plan had gone awry from the very beginning.

"Huh?"

"The ground!"

Something started popping out from beneath the paladins' feet!

Vines came out of the ground resembling brown snakes; they were Krishan's vines that'd replaced her legs. With this, all of the paladins were forced to do battle. Muhawk stood in front of Cyndia in order to protect her.

Now, there was no safe place on the battlefield!