Kang Oh wasn't a Grandmaster. However, he was much stronger than your average Master.

He was on the cusp of becoming a Grandmaster. Then you factor in Gluttony, which multiplied his abilities several fold, as well as Demon Sword Ubist, which was the mortal enemy of mages and souls.

These factors combined allowed Kang Oh to fight Katan on even footing.

Kang Oh focused entirely on overwhelming Katan. Ubist dealt so much damage to souls that Katan's HP instantly went below half.

However...

Katan was called the Worst Mage for a reason. There was no way things would end this easily.

"Hehe, let's have some more fun!" Two large, sharp horns sprouted from his forehead.

Demon's Horns!

This was a Black Mage secret move. It had a similar effect to a normal mage's Overload. It amplified the caster's magic power significantly.

Moreover, it gave the user almost infinite MP.

However, this ability couldn't be used for very long; it ran the risk of transforming the user into a demon that lost all traces of their former intellect.

Roar!

Two giant dark red fireballs ignited in his palms.

Annihilating Fireball!

Roar!

The fireballs came flying at Kang Oh one after another.

Kang Oh stomped on the floor, summoning an ice wall. Unfortunately, the flames were too hot, so the wall instantly melted away.

He activated Abyss Shield and backed off.

At that moment...

Spike of Death!

Kang Oh's escape route was filled with sharp spikes. The spikes covered so much ground that there was nowhere he could go.

'Then I just need to avoid the ground!' Kang Oh quickly created a Cube and leapt off of it.

Rusty Mist!

Reddish brown mist filled the room.

Now, there was nowhere he could go.

Kang Oh summoned two more Cubes, and forcefully kicked off of them.

Bam!

He flew through the air like a meteor.

Kang Oh was surrounded by mist.

[You have been exposed to Rusty Mist.]

[Please avoid it. Rusty Mist is an extremely potent acid.]

Hiss!

Kang Oh heard his armor melting away, but he didn't worry too much. He instantly closed the distance between him and Katan.

Annihilating Flame Pillar!

Dark red pillars of fire surged from the ground, but Kang Oh had already seen it coming via his Hyper Intuition, so he had already dodged it.

Then, he swung Ubist.

Katan seemed to be quite wary of his jet-black blade. He quickly pulled back.

That was exactly what Kang Oh was hoping for. Ubist was just a diversion; his true attack came next.

Transcendent Blade!

Sarahoff flashed through the air, and cleaved through Katan's body.

Ring of Frost!

His blade unleashed cold energy, which was capable of freezing the soul!

At that moment...

Katan's body transformed into dark red flames. Only his demonic horns were left intact.

Fire Demon's Armor!

Maximum firepower!

The flames and ice clashed.

Kang Oh got back into position, and swung Ubist diagonally.

Abyss Predator!

All of a sudden, darkness interrupted the battle between fire and ice.

The key feature of darkness, or the abyss, was its endless depth, which allowed it to consume everything.

Abyss Predator swallowed up both the fire and the ice.

Katan was forced to cast a new spell.

Reflecting Demon's Mirror!

The massive amount of abyss energy was sucked into the mirror. Even the flames and the ice were sucked in.

Two-thirds of the mirror was blackened, while the rest of it was red and blue.

Kang Oh suddenly had a bad feeling about this. He immediately backed off.

"I have a present for you!"

Crack.

The Reflecting Demon's Mirror cracked.

Then, Abyss Predator, Ring of Frost, and the dark red flames mixed together, forming a deluge of chaotic energy.

Kang Oh gritted his teeth.

There was only one way of overcoming that massive energy.

Kang Oh forcefully swung Ubist downwards.

Divide the Sea!

His blade etched a line that divided the world in two.

Swish!

Katan wasn't safe from his attack either.

Divide the Sea sliced off one of Katan's demonic horns. What a waste!

If Katan had pulled his neck back even a second slower, then he would've been killed right then and there.

"Kuhaahk!"

For the first time since the fight began, Katan let out a cry of agony. He clutched what remained of his severed horn and trembled.

However, Kang Oh wasn't able to take advantage of this. He had spent most of his Stamina on Divide the Sea, after all.

Hiss.

What's worse, the Rusty Mist was shaving off Kang Oh's HP.

Kang Oh pulled off a health potion from his belt and gulped it down.

Katan had recovered by the time Kang Oh was battle ready. His eyes gleamed, and his body ignited with dark red flames.

Roar!

Katan quickly flew towards Kang Oh, leaving a trail of fire behind him. Then, he softly stretched out his hand, unleashing waves of fire at Kang Oh.

Kang Oh collected as much darkness as he could to shield himself.

Roar!

The flames passed through the darkness. However, Kang Oh was nowhere to be seen.

Katan took a look around.

He had already seen him use Abyss Transfer.

Thus, he should be able to respond to whatever he did next. He would turn him to ash when he reappeared!

Intense flames ignited in Katan's hands.

However...

Kang Oh reappeared where he'd previously been located; the place where the flames had just been.

He hadn't used Abyss Transfer. Kang Oh had instead laid flat on the ground.

Though he had been blanketed by the darkness, concealing his presence. Most of the 'blanket' had been swept away by the flames.

In any case...!

Kang Oh managed to surprise Katan.

Swish!

Ubist cleaved through Katan's body.

Katan charged at Kang Oh with blazing flames, even though his body was split in half.

'No thanks.'

Moon's Protection!

A full moon rose.

The flames licked the surface of the barrier like a snake's tongue, but it didn't melt through it. Moon's Protection wasn't something to be trifled with, after all.

3 seconds had passed.

The yellow sphere broke apart.

Katan, who'd glued his body back together, was blown away by a breath of air. However, what came out of the barrier wasn't Kang Oh, but Sara.

Her floating sapphires came forward and joined together.

Frozen Shield!

She formed a shield made of ice. This ice contained the Ice Soul's power, so even Katan's flames couldn't easily melt through it.

Katan was wary of his surroundings since he didn't see Kang Oh anywhere.

Tap.

Kang Oh suddenly appeared behind him.

Katan stretched out his hands, attacking both Sara and Kang Oh with his flames simultaneously.

At that moment...

Kang Oh used Divide the Sea once more.

"Kuhahk!"

Divide the Sea split apart the flames and sliced through Katan's body.

Kang Oh gritted his teeth and threw Ubist with all the strength he could muster.

Demon's Descent!

His jet-black greatsword transformed into the King of Demonic Beasts in midair.

'Devour him!'

It knew, even if he didn't say it out loud.

Ubist opened its mouth wide.

Katan's lips couldn't rise any higher.

"Kyahahaha!"

Dark red flames intensified around the one-horned Black Mage. He truly looked like a demon.

"C'mon, you beast!"

However, everything was equal before Ubist. Demons, flames, and even a Grandmaster's soul would be eaten by its insatiable hunger.

Ubist devoured Katan, leaving no trace of him behind!

* * *

'Did I win? Did I really beat the Worst Mage?'

Katan was not someone you could beat by coincidence or luck.

Kang Oh realized that his skills had almost reached the level of a Grandmaster.

'I'm not far off.'

Fighting so many strong opponents had strengthened him significantly. Not only did it improve his skills, but it helped him fight against Katan too.

His fight with Archmage Lacia was especially helpful. Fighting her gave him a chance to experience what it was like to fight against a Grandmaster Mage.

After he lost to her, he thought about a way to beat her. He had actually used what he'd concocted in his battle against Katan.

As expected, Ubist was key to beating any mage.

Yeah, the demon sword itself was great, but having a demonic beast at your side that could devour any and all spells spelled death for a mage.

Kang Oh shook his head and then looked around.

The God Sealing Mirrors, as well as the Sealing Mirrors, were exactly the same. Was it because all the copies of Katan hadn't been killed yet?

"Come back!" Kang Oh stretched out his hand at Ubist.

Grr!

Ubist snarled, signaling its displeasure, but it didn't attack him.

Kang Oh reclaimed Demon Sword Ubist and tried scratching Nile's mirror with it.

It went as expected.

Demon Sword Ubist could cut through all magic, so it left a tear in the mirror. And out of that tear came Nile.

Kang Oh saved Sephiro, Waryong, and Asu with the same method.

He carefully analyzed the God Sealing Mirrors. Looking through them was like watching the guardians' fight through a TV.

'I don't think I need to get involved.'

Katan was no match for the guardians. In every one of the mirrors, it looked like the guardians were close to victory.

There was really no reason for Kang Oh or his companions to get involved. They'd deal with Katan on their own.

"Hey... Does anyone have any popcorn?"

"I have some!" Asu pulled out some popcorn from her inventory. Real-life foods that were recreated in the game were popular; popcorn was one of them.

"I have some too." Sephiro pulled some out too.

Nile crossed his arms and focused on Khan and Katan's fight.

Munch, munch.

'Mm, taste's good.'

Man, watching a fight sure was fun.

* * *

Howlka was the first one to escape the God Sealing Mirror.

A short while later, the other guardians began to make their way out of the mirrors. Of them, only Javen had walked out of the mirror without killing Katan.

Although he was completely demolished and his plot was exposed, Katan looked completely unburdened.

Crazy bastard.

"Why did you do this?" Javen asked the kneeling Katan.

"Haha, what are you talking about?"

"Why did you raise the Mamonas, turn it into a Soul Eater, and attack us? Did you really think your plan would work or that you'd be able to defeat us?" Javen asked.

"Of course. Look. Everything went exactly as planned."

"What?"

"What are you talking about!?" Howlka yelled.

"Hehehe, it was fun."

Then, rainbow particles of light escaped Katan's body. He had given up the last of his memories. Then, Katan's soul rose into the air and departed for the river of souls.

"What happened?" Kang Oh asked.

"I told you. The longer you stay here, the hazier your memories become. When you've been stripped of all your memories, you return to the river of souls and you're reborn. He probably... wanted to have some fun before he was reborn."

"Have fun?"

Kang Oh was absolutely speechless. Everything he'd done thus far was a game to him?

"He didn't have a lot of memories left. That's why he wanted to end it with a bang," Khan said.

"If things went well, he'd be able to take out the guardians and procure the Resurrection Stone. And if things went poorly, he'd have a chance to fight with us. Either way, he wins," Kunta said.

What if Katan had been able to split into ten copies, not six? Things might have ended a lot differently.

Then again, there was probably some limit to his Proliferation ability, which is why he waited so long to devour the Mamonas.

Now that both the Mamonas and Katan were gone, there was no way of learning anything else about the ability.

"Whatever the case, the problem has been solved," Javen said.

"Let's go eat." Sephiro clutched his stomach.

Waryong's stomach rumbled. They were definitely a great duo.

"Yeah. Let's head for Alain Restaurant."

With this, all the ruckus that Katan had started was over.

* * *

Late in the night.

Eder's mansion was filled with darkness. Only his study, which was illuminated by a magic lamp, was bright.

There was a book in front of him. A portion of it had already been filled. Eder wrote on the blank page with a pen.

"Yawn." His face crumpled up like a piece of paper, and he let out a loud yawn.

He rubbed his eyes, feeling kind of sleepy. When he removed his hands, he felt even sleepier.

"Hoh."

'I should sleep.'

Eder closed the book and stood up, revealing the book's title.

The Dead's Journey.

It was a record of everything he'd seen and experienced within the underworld. However, he didn't have nearly enough materials to finish it.

'When are they coming back?'

Eder thought of Kang Oh, Sephiro, Asu, and Nile. Ah, you couldn't forget Rudy or Waryong either!

He turned his head and checked the date.

'It's already been two months.'

Eder had left the underworld more than two months ago. However, Kang Oh's party had yet to return.

'Well, I suppose they'll come back eventually.'

"Yawn." Eder yawned again, turned off the magic lamp, and headed for his bedroom.

Then, he dove into his bed. He closed his eyes, satisfied by how comfy it was.

At that moment...

Boom!

He could hear a huge sound.

And...

"Eder! We're back."

He heard that bastard's voice again.