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.

'It's him!'

Kang Oh could tell right away. Darcun let off an atmosphere of cruelty, and his clothes were a lot different from the surrounding troops.

"Who are you!?"

"Take him down!"

His enemies swung their blades and shot arrows at him.

Kuhaaahk!

Kang Oh unleashed a fearsome roar.

Demon's 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 Corps' finest troops.

"Uht!"

"Chiaht!"

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.

Bam!

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.

"Hmph!" Darcun snorted and swung his serrated sword.

Screech!

Their blades clashed, emitting a piercing 'screech'.

Darcun was pushed back, his physical strength no match for Kang Oh's. He quickly reoriented himself, and prepared for Kang Oh's next attack.

However...!

Swish!

Kang Oh's jet-black greatsword had already passed through his neck. He had used Transcendent Blade, granting his sword unmatched speed.

Bam!

Red shards of light burst from the wound.

Kang Oh didn't let up. He swung his demon swords one after another.

Dukeram had described Kang Oh's swordsmanship as 'two swordsmen working in complete sync'.

Darcun wasn't even a Master, so he had a tough time blocking Kang Oh's attacks. Even though he was completely focused on defense, some of Kang Oh's attacks slipped through his guard. As a result, countless red shards of light fell from his body.

Darcun's face turned gray.

'He's an Elite Master!'

Kang Oh's speed and power far exceeded his own. Plus, his swordsmanship was frighteningly sharp and precise.

"Lord Raika! Please help..." Darcun said urgently. However, it was already too late.

Dragon's Fury!

A giant, gray vortex of light raged around Kang Oh, which completely devoured Darcun.

Boom!

Darcun flew through the sky.

Bam!

Kang Oh leapt into the air, and then stretched out his dark red wings.

"Attack him as much as you want!" Tasha said telepathically.

Kang Oh relentlessly swung his demon swords. Shards of light continuously fell from Darcun's 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 'Lord Raika', raised his cobra adorned staff. His face was half covered by his robes, making it difficult to make out.

"...Suck out even the soul."

It had only taken him 1 second to complete the chant. He was clearly a top-tier mage.

Swoosh!

Blood Red Spiral Spear!

Red sand gathered together, forming a gigantic drill. Then, it rapidly spun around and flew towards Kang Oh.

Danger!

His Hyper Intuition sent him a cold warning.

Tasha tried to fly him out of there, but...

"Don't back off!" Kang Oh yelled.

"What? Why?"

Kang Oh said nothing. His actions would speak for him.

Swish!

His jet-black greatsword cleaved the spiral spear in half. The red energy contained within the scattered sand was absorbed by his blade.

Abyss Blade!

This ability allowed him to cut through the immaterial, and absorb a spell every 30 seconds!

"Now's our chance! Let's finish him off!"

"Got it!"

Kang Oh descended to the ground, and landed atop the rolling Darcun.

Stab! Stab!

His demon swords pierced through Darcun's chest.

Darcun's 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 Squad's Kruger, Darcun.]

With this, Gray Sand's leader had met his untimely death.

At that moment...

The mage cast another spell at him.

Blood Red Sand Strike!

Heat Killing Snare!

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 hadn't even bothered to chant. However, he had cast two spells simultaneously! Their power was tremendous too.

'Is he using Double Casting!?'

Double Casting was an arcane spell that allowed the user to cast two spells at once.

Dodging was his first priority.

"To the sky!"

"Got it!"

Kang Oh forcefully flapped his wings, and flew into the air. A pile of sand swept through the area he'd once been in.

"Try dodging this too!"

The mage wasn't going to stop there. He relentlessly cast spell after spell at Kang Oh.

Sand Bomb!

Heat Killing Sword!

Red Pillar!

...

However, Kang Oh was way too fast, and quickly got out of harm's way.

"Scallion," the mage said.

"Yes, Lord Raika?"

"Darcun is dead. You lead the Gray Sand Squad now."

"Yes, sir!"

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. That's what Dalton had called them.

Darcun (rank 1) had died, so Scallion (rank 2) would take over.

Scallion looked around.

The 100 Fighters and the Gray Sand Squad were fighting atop the ramparts.

They were their corps' elites!

Thus, the two sides were evenly matched.

Scallion raised Darcun's body into the air and forcefully yelled, "Darcun is dead. Now I'm the commander!"

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.

"Lord Raika, please help me. It'll be difficult to win this battle by ourselves."

Darcun was more powerful than him. However, he had died so easily at the hands of that demonic beast!

Scallion didn't think he could beat that demon.

"That's why I came." Raika swung his cobra staff to the side, and released yellow sand into the air.

Unblockable Sandstorm!

All of a sudden, the yellow sand covered the top of the castle walls.

"Ugh!"

"Damn it!"

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.

Raika's magic continued.

"Desert soldiers made of agglomerated blood!"

Summon Blood Red Sand Soldiers!

Crimson soldiers appeared one or two at a time.

"...The fairy plays tricks!"

Fairy Teasing Mirror!

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.

"Red sand, illusion magic... Is he the Lord of the Red Tower?" Dion's face stiffened.

The Lord of the Red Tower, Raika.

He led the Sand Mages, and was also a Master Mage!

'We didn't hear anything about him.'

The Empire's Sand/Insect Mages were dispatched to Dalton's 2nd Corps.

However, their troops were led by the two leaders' successors. The leaders themselves hadn't joined the war.

And yet, one of the leaders had appeared out of the blue. He was a Master Mage at that!

'What a relief.' Dion relaxed at the thought of Kang Oh. Although their enemies had Raika, the 100 Fighters had Kang Oh.

"Haha. Get ready."

"We'll grant you a lovely death."

The Gray Sand Squad's morale shot up, and they fiercely attacked the 100 Fighters.

"Fight back to back! We're the 100 Fighters! Kang Oh is with us too!" Dion cleaved through his enemies with his dual gladiuses and yelled.

"Oooh!"

"We're the 100 Fighters!"

"C'mon!"

The 100 Fighters' morale didn't 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 Squad's 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 couldn't differentiate them from the real soldiers.

Nevertheless, the 100 Fighters put up a good fight.

"I'll take the right side."

"You can leave the left side to me."

"It doesn't matter whether you're real or an illusion. I'll cut through anything that comes my way!"

"You won't get through unless you kill me first!"

They trusted their comrades and fought rigorously, so they didn't fall easily.

"Die!"

"Right back at you!"

The intense battle continued.

Then...

The demon came out of the darkness. He had used Abyss Transfer.

Raika was right in front of him.

Kang Oh immediately swung Ubist.

Tempest Tiger!

Roar!

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.

Sand Coffin!

Tempest Tiger struck the tough, coffin-shaped sand.

Boom!

The sand crumbled instantly.

Then, Raika cast another spell.

Blood Red Spiral Spear!

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.

Abyss Claw!

Fresh Blood Wave!

His auras shot out in an X, and flew towards the spears.

Boom! Boom!

The four energies clashed in the air and exploded.

Grains of sand fell from the sky, making it difficult for him to see ahead.

However...!

Swish! Swish! Swish!

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.

"No!" Raika urgently cast a spell.

Red Pillar!

A red pillar of sand surged from the ground.

Boom!

Sarahoff broke through the pillar.

"Bind him!" Raika quickly finished his incantation.

Sand Seal!

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.

Blood Emperor!

His snow-white blade's blood red energy flew at Raika.

Kang Oh immediately used another ability.

Demon's Descent!

Sarahoff, which was half covered in sand, glowed with dim light. However, Raika hadn't noticed this.

It was happening behind him, and he had to focus on blocking the Blood Emperor in front of him.

"The source of sand that protects the desert..." Raika swung his staff and began a long chant. Sand rose from beneath his feet, which formed into a small hill.

Sand Avalanche!

This was one of Raika's 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.

"Sweep through everything!" Raika said from atop the sand dune.

Then...

Bam!

An ice spear pierced through Raika's chest.

"What?" Raika opened his eyes and turned around.

He saw a Yuki-Onna with pale skin, pupiless eyes, and fur clothes.

"Who the hell are you!?" Raika yelled fiercely, and swung his staff downwards. Then, the cobra ornament transformed into a real cobra and tried to bite Sara.

Hoo!

Sara, who'd sucked in a ton of air, forcefully blew.

Yuki-Onna's Breath!

It was so cold that it felt like it'd freeze his very soul. Sara's three sapphires also shot ice beams at him.

He was completely frozen solid.

The cobra popped out of the ice and lunged, but it didn't have enough reach.

Kang Oh finished them both off. He quickly flew over and swung his demon swords.

Mad Wind's Sword!

The glacier broke into pieces.

However...!

The one trapped within the ice wasn't actually Raika. It was an illusion that didn't shatter, and slowly faded away into nothingness instead!

"Illusion magic..." Kang Oh muttered.

When had he swapped his real body with an illusion? He had definitely been the real deal until he'd summoned the sand dune.

"You're quite something," Raika said.

Kang Oh turned his head around and stared at Raika.

'Huh?'

Raika was holding a staff in one hand, and a grimoire in the other.

"To think you'd force me to use Ared's grimoire."

Kang Oh's eyes widened.

The cover of the book was definitely...

- Illusion More Real than Reality Itself Grimoire 3

'Ared's grimoire!'

Ared was an unknown Illusion Master that wrote down his secret spell, 'Imaginary Projection', in three separate grimoires. The grimoire in Raika's 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.

And at this moment...

The final volume appeared right before Kang Oh's eyes.

'What luck!'

Kang Oh wanted to yell hurray.