Rank 2, Predator Kang Oh!

Irene thought highly of him. After all, his ranking hadn't changed even after the Empire Guild's captains became Masters.

The Arth ranking system measured power, influence, skill, etc., and added those all together to determine one's rank.

Thus, anyone with high 'influence' would be rated highly. There wasn't anyone in the game that had a higher 'influence' rating than the Empire Guild.

Despite that, the Empire Guild's captains couldn't pull Kang Oh off his throne, even after they became Masters. He was completely different from Raon or Hernandez, who were shoved out of the Numbers.

Kang Oh lacked any sort of influence, yet his rank remained the same? If that's the case, then his 'power' must be tremendous.

'He's at least as strong as Mr. Dukeram.'

'At least' was the key word here. Perhaps he was even stronger than Dukeram.

That's why Irene had ordered her squad to assume a defensive formation as soon as she saw him.

And…

It's also why she reorganized her troops into small groups.

Irene remained wary of Kang Oh, despite her numerical advantage. She had to fight Kang Oh with everything she had if she hoped to win.

"Siam, Stana, Barami, Jjawang, engage the turtle with your troops. Lygon, Pinwheel, Gold Spear, keep the red witch busy!"

"Yes, ma'am!" the group leaders yelled simultaneously. Then, they approached Teynos and Tasha.

"The rest of you, we're using the net strategy against Kang Oh."

"Yes, ma'am!"

Kang Oh was rushing towards Irene at max speed.

On the other hand, the Glacier Squad would pull back a certain distance, and then gradually close in. They were indeed like a net.

"Out of my way!" Kang Oh cut through anyone in his way.

Kang Oh's power, speed, and skill gave them chills. They didn't even know when they were cut; it all happened in the blink of an eye.

The other members of the Glacier Squad readied their shields and blocked Kang Oh.

"Castle Wall!"

Their shields radiated energy, which spread out like a castle wall. However, the size and toughness of it was far less than when they were all together.

'I can pierce through it.'

Golden energy undulated around his jet-black greatsword.

Tempest Tiger!

A giant tiger shot out of his sword. Rather than strike their shields, it struck the ground in front of them.

Boom!

Dirt surged into the air like a fountain, rocks of all sizes flew everywhere, and a shockwave rippled outwards.

Their formation was destroyed instantly.

Kang Oh didn't let that golden opportunity go.

Slash!

He swung Sarahoff downwards.

The combination of Sarahoff's 'Absolute Destruction' and Master Slash was tremendous.

He cleaved right through a shield.

"What!?" The squad member was shocked.

In spite of that, he immediately attacked Kang Oh. It was a well-trained movement.

The other squad members did the same.

However...!

Kang Oh's twin demon swords were much faster.

Mad Wind's Sword!

Kang Oh instantly felled five of them, and bounced forward like a spring. Irene was right in front of him.

5 meters, 4 meters, 3...

"Spear Strike!" Irene yelled. She had been waiting for this moment.

The Glacier Squad, which had completely surrounded him, unleashed their Spear Strikes in unison.

Danger!

He felt cold all over. It was as if bees were stinging his entire body.

Then, his necklace glowed.

Moon's Protection!

A full moon rose.

For 3 seconds, this barrier would protect him from any and all harm. The Glacier Squad's energy blasts struck the barrier, but to no avail.

Bam, bam, bam!

It was completely useless.

Once 3 seconds were up, the barrier disappeared on its own.

Kang Oh rushed forward.

Frozen horns protruded from his beast mask, streaks of white went through his blackened body, and frozen gauntlets and greaves formed over his arms and legs. The Dual Demon had arrived!

Abyss Claw!

Yuki-Onna's Breath!

Darkness surged through the air, and a cold gust of wind blew. However, these were nothing more than a diversion.

Kang Oh instantly approached Irene.

"Stop him!"

"Protect the Captain!"

The Glacier Squad was made up of elites that operated like a well-oiled machine. However, there were times that they acted instinctively.

It was when Irene was in danger!

Now was his chance.

Six members left formation and threw themselves at Kang Oh.

"Ready your Spear Strikes!" Irene said calmly.

The rest of her squad pointed their spears at Kang Oh.

At that moment...

Kang Oh used Ice Wall.

He, Irene, and her small group were suddenly surrounded by walls of ice.

The Ice Walls obscured their vision; neither Kang Oh nor Irene could be seen.

"Kuhahk!"

Agonized cries could be heard from within.

"Damn it. Shoot your Spear Strikes!" the vice-captain urgently yelled.

Bam, bam, bam!

The Ice Wall crumbled from the barrage of Spear Strikes.

Broken ice fragments shined like gems and scattered through the air! Downed members of the Glacier Squad could be seen within.

Kang Oh and Irene were clashing head-on!

Surprisingly, Irene's sword had pierced Kang Oh's shoulder, and shards of light were falling from the wound!

There was a flag of light over her head.

Flag of Absolute Victory!

Irene, a Master Commander, had created this secret move!

With this ability, she could grant her troops one of five abilities for 30 seconds. She had chosen the ability to nullify all damage.

After that, Kang Oh continually attacked Irene. She obviously didn't take any damage, and had managed to land a counterattack.

"Infinite Spear Strikes!" Irene yelled harshly.

The effects of Flag of Absolute Victory made her and her subordinates' bodies glow.

The Glacier Squad repeatedly bombarded Kang Oh with Spear Strikes. After all, Irene had ordered them not to stop until she said so.

Fierce energy kept shooting at Kang Oh and Irene's location.

Irene didn't take any damage due to Flag of Absolute Victory, but Kang Oh had no choice but to rely on his Hyper Intuition and roll onto the floor.

He used Abyss Shield and deflected some of the energy blasts too. However, there were way too many of them.

Bam, bam!

Kang Oh was struck by one of them, and fell to the floor.

"Master!" Teynos roared. However, it was way too slow. It was hard enough for it to stop the nearby soldiers.

Tasha was in the same predicament.

She continuously unleashed fierce energy blasts at her enemies, but it wasn't easy for her to achieve victory in the face of the Glacier Squad's perfect teamwork.

That's why the Glacier Squad was, as a group, equal to the Yellow Dragon Squad.

Moreover...!

"I'm going to kill Kang Oh."

"No, I will."

Two more Masters had come to kill Kang Oh: the double-bladed axe wielding giant, Tainos, and the heavily armored mace and shield wielder, Moby Dick!

* * *

The invincible desert soldiers rampaged across the battlefield.

A portion of the sand soldiers, led by their generals, battled against Bart, his Giants, and the Eagle Corps' elites.

Kuskal and the Red King Squad supported them. They would pop out of the sand soldiers' shadows and use assassination techniques, which made them incredibly dangerous and annoying to deal with.

Bart, his Giants, and the Eagles Corps' elites fought an uphill battle.

"Aim for the others, not the sand soldiers!" Bart yelled.

However, that was no easy task.

The Red King Squad always hid behind the sand soldiers. Plus, the sand soldiers would continue to rise whenever they were killed.

Fortunately, the Harbinger of Death, Viper, was doing well against the Red King Squad.

But the battle was gradually becoming worse and worse for them.

Wolf Warrior Mulan's axe had dulled, and Storm Fighter Rohan was injured all over. The Eagle Corps' gladiators looked exhausted too.

Bart was busy engaging Kuskal in a long-range battle, so he didn't have time to help them. His Giants were also fighting an unending battle with the sand generals.

However, the situation became even worse.

A white-winged Pegasus came flying towards them!

Bart, who usually didn't lose his smile, looked completely serious for once.

'We'll be annihilated if Dukeram comes!'

He would have a hard time fighting Dukeram, but he wasn't alone; he had the invincible sand soldiers and the Red King Squad by his side.

'Commander Burkan is the answer.'

The Invincible Gladiator, Burkan!

He would be able to fend Dukeram off.

Bart unleashed a Chaos Sphere.

Its destructive power was beyond one's wildest imagination.

Boom!

Bart opened a path.

"Fall back to Commander Burkan and the 100 Fighters. We'll fight them there!"

Bart's Giants were the first to run through the path, and the gladiators belatedly followed them.

Viper finished off one of the Red King Squad members and disappeared into the shadows.

However, not all of them could escape safely.

"Damn... it!"

Three arrows pierced Rohan's heart, and he fell to the ground. Kuskal had sniped him from afar.

The Light Gladiator, Peon, was skewered by the sand soldiers' spears.

Hundreds of the Eagle Corps' elites died.

"Follow them and finish them off," Dukeram ordered. Because of Bart's quick thinking, he had come a little late to the party.

"Yes, sir!"

"Understood!"

The Red King Squad and the sand generals yelled, and chased after Bart's group.

Bart's party wasn't that far from Burkan and the 100 Fighters, so it didn't take long for them to join them.

"Commander Burkan," Bart said.

Burkan, who'd been fighting against Eric, immediately assessed the situation.

"Get into formation with the 100 Fighters. We're making our stand here."

"Yes, sir!"

Every soldier that'd come from the eastern airships gathered here. Burkan, Dion, Darion, the 100 Fighters, Bart, and his friends!

Eric and the Yellow Dragon Squad backed off and caught their breath. Soon enough, the Red King Squad, Kuskal, Dukeram, and the Invincible Army had joined them.

"Attack!"

"Charge!"

Burkan and Dukeram yelled simultaneously.

"This is exciting!"

"Uwaaah!"

"Die!"

"For the Empire!"

Both sides charged at each other.

* * *

Kang Oh wanted to save Gluttony so that he'd have it ready for Dukeram. However, he didn't really have a choice right now.

Irene was already tough enough, but both Tainos and Moby Dick had shown up too.

He was facing three Masters at once!

What's worse, the Glacier Squad had remained largely unscathed. On the other hand, Kang Oh hadn't been able to escape their barrage of Spear Strikes uninjured.

Then you take into account Irene's commands...

'I'll die before I fight Dukeram!'

Kang Oh surrounded himself with an Ice Wall once more. He needed to buy time to use Gluttony.

Bam!

He could hear the ice cracking. It wouldn't last long.

Kang Oh pulled out a greatsword that emitted ominous energy from his inventory.

The Hell Greatsword.

It was the weapon of the Devil's Sword Sraka, a Grandmaster that served the Evil God, Jaila.

The weapon was SS-rank, but the item's abilities couldn't be examined by anyone other than a disciple of Jaila. Thus, he didn't know what it did.

But it was wielded by a Grandmaster like Sraka, so it had to be a good sword.

'I think this is my first time using Gluttony on an SS-rank item too.'

SS-rank items were too valuable to use Gluttony on. But today, he would give Ubist a chance to taste what an SS-rank weapon was like.

Boom!

The Ice Wall shook, and a hole was pierced through one side. Tainos was grinning from beyond the hole. It was as if he were saying, 'Thanks for coming.'.

"Hmph."

'You, beat me?'

Kang Oh snorted and placed the Hell Greatsword on top of Ubist.

Gluttony!

Ubist's darkness began to consume the Hell Greatsword, starting from the tip.

Gyaaaahk!

The Hell Greatsword violently shook, and it released a sharp shriek akin to a ghost's cry.

It seemed like it was an ego sword.

Even so, there was nothing that the Demonic Beast, Ubist, couldn't eat. Soon enough, it had consumed the hilt too.

Whir!

Kang Oh's body released jet-black energy. It was so powerful that his own energy was responsible for the destruction of his Ice Wall.

And...!

Something materialized behind his back.

It was the four-armed Evil God, Jaila!

The silhouette looked exactly like Jaila's bronze statue.