Kang Oh wouldn't let up. He continuously swung his twin demon swords and ripped Vladi apart.

Spurt! Bam! Bam! Slash!

Kang Oh landed four attacks in a single breath.

And...

"Hoo, heup." Kang Oh breathed haggardly, but managed to land ten attacks.

The white and red shards of light mixed together and flew into the air. Every attack he landed with Ubist resulted in a critical hit. Vladi's body was in tatters.

Suck!

The shards of light were absorbed by Blood.

[You are life stealing. You have been healed slightly.]

... 

More than ten red stars appeared on Blood's snow-white blade. 

Vampiristic Reinforcement increased Blood's attack power by 2% for each star. When he amassed all 15 stars, he could use Blood Bomb.

At that moment...

"Kuhaaaahk!" Vladi roared.

It was the very same roar he'd often heard as he traversed through the ruins; it was frightening, evil, and goosebump-inducing.

Rumble.

The ground shook. No, the entire temple shook. The sound probably made its way outside too.

[You have heard Vladi's frightening roar up close. It is a roar belonging to a frightening, old demon.]

[The roar instills fear in his opponents, and reduces all of their abilities by half.]

[You possess a high Mental stat. Indomitable, Courage, and the Luck side stats have protected you from the roar's effects.]

[You have overcome your fear.]

[All abilities have been reduced by 10%.]

[Your abilities will not return to normal until you defeat Vladi.]

Kang Oh furrowed his brow. He had overcome his fear, yet his abilities had still fallen! 

The roar probably reduced one's abilities no matter what. However, Kang Oh's high Mental stat, as well as his side stats, allowed him to minimize the effects.

Anyhow, Vladi's body glowed with blood red energy. Kang Oh was familiar with the effects.

'He's not using Blood Bomb, is he?'

He was both right and wrong.

Blood Storm!

It was the upgraded version of Blood Bomb. Obviously, it was more powerful than Blood Bomb too.

Boom!

Kang Oh was caught in the explosion and was pushed away. Fortunately, he'd used Abyss Shield prior to its activation, so he had minimized the damage he'd taken.

Moreover, the Avenger set reduced all damage by 30%.

Flap! Flap!

Tasha flapped his wings, helping him maintain balance.

"Are you ok?" Her voice rang out inside his head.

"Of course!" Kang Oh firmly planted his feet into the ground. 

Vladi's Blood Storm resulted in a thick dust cloud. A red silhouette appeared within it, and then Vladi popped out.

Several sword scars, the result of Ubist, remained on his body.

Slosh.

Vladi's body rippled, as if a rock had been thrown inside, and the sword scars disappeared entirely.

"I apologize. I thought you were just a lowly human," Vladi said.

Was it because of the massive roar? Or was it because he released all of his pent up rage with Blood Storm?

Vladi was completely calm now. He no longer underestimated Kang Oh.

"Tch." Kang Oh clicked his tongue.

Vladi's calm vibe, unwavering eyes, and even breathing made him realize that taking him down would be even harder than before. 

Kang Oh quickly pulled out a piece of equipment from his inventory. It was the AA-rank Arnea's Mysterious Belt!

Right when he was about to use Gluttony, Vladi began his assault.

Annihilating Thorn!

Vladi pointed his fingers at him, and red thorny vines surged from beneath Kang Oh's feet.

"Tch." Kang Oh stuffed the belt into his pocket and backed off. Then, he swung Ubist horizontally.

Swish!

Kang Oh sliced a portion of the thorny vines.

'It's... not magic.'

If it were, then Ubist would've absorbed it. 

In any case, Vladi continuously attacked him. 

Red Spear of Judgment!

Dozens of long, red spears appeared over his head, and then fell upon him like rain.

Fresh Blood Wave!

Abyss Claw!

Black and red. The two disparate auras shot over his head.

Boom!

The auras and the red spears clashed head-on. As a result, the auras dissipated, and the spears were flung away.

Kang Oh used that opportunity to retreat. However, Vladi wasn't about to let him go so easily. He raked the air with his hand.

Mysterious Ambush!

All of a sudden, Kang Oh's chest felt cold, so he instinctively crossed his swords and shielded himself.

Screech!

An unpleasant, shrill 'screech' rang out as something grated against his demon swords. However, he couldn't see what exactly it was.

Vladi narrowed his eyes. Mysterious Ambush was an invisible attack. The Red Moon race would use flashy attacks to distract their opponents, and then finish them off with this attack. It had a 100% success rate.

However, Kang Oh was the first person to ever block this attack.

'This isn't good.'

That made Kang Oh even more of a threat.

At that moment...

Kang Oh pulled the belt from his pocket and used Gluttony. Ubist's darkness munched on the belt and then completely devoured it.

[Demon Sword Ubist has consumed Arnea's Mysterious Belt.]

[It is an AA-rank item.]

[Entering Gluttony mode.]

[For 25 minutes, the demon sword and your character's abilities are tripled.]

[You may use Arnea's Healing.]

[Arnea's Healing: For 5 seconds, all HP, MP, and Stamina is healed. Cooldown: 1 hour.]

Kang Oh's demonized body exploded with jet-black energy.

'He's dangerous.' 

Vladi opened his hands, bent them, and then swung them one after another.

Mysterious Ambush!

An invisible attack came at Kang Oh once more. But it was no use. Unseeable attacks were pointless before Kang Oh's Hyper Intuition.

Kang Oh moved to the side, dodging the invisible attack, and then melted into the darkness.

Abyss Transfer!

Vladi scowled at Kang Oh's sudden disappearance and kept a close eye on his surroundings. Kang Oh could pop up anywhere, after all.

Kang Oh reappeared behind Vladi. It wasn't a good idea.

Swish!

Over 100 harpoons flew from Vladi's cape.

Executing Spears!

Vladi predicted that Kang Oh would reappear at his blind spot. Thus, Kang Oh's plan had gone up in smoke, and he was actually on the receiving end.

100 blood spears came flying at him! Kang Oh gritted his teeth.

'I'll crush them all!'

Whoosh!

Ubist unleashed a massive amount of darkness.

Abyss Predator!

Like a giant forest fire, the jet-black energy spread far and wide. 

Plus, Gluttony was active. On the other hand, Vladi had been sealed for so long that he wasn't at full strength.

Abyss Predator was far greater than the blood spears. Thus, it devoured the projectiles and their master too.

"Heok." Vladi was shocked. After all, it was an attack that even he, with his transformative abilities, couldn't dodge.

It was, like Transcendent Blade, too fast to dodge, but it was also a powerful AoE attack. 

Vladi urgently used Blood Storm. 

Whoosh!

Boom!

The condensed blood red energy exploded outwards. However, it wasn't strong enough to deal with an Abyss Predator used in tandem with Gluttony.

Vladi was well aware of this fact. He continuously backed off and used Red Moon skills again and again.

Blood Revenge!

Red Moonlight!

Red Spear of Judgment!

Sea of Blood!

Vladi's efforts weren't for naught. Whenever his skills made contact with Abyss Predator, the attack would gradually lose strength.

Ultimately, Abyss Predator, which had consumed ten of his stats, was completely blocked without dealing any damage to Vladi.

"Hoo." Vladi sighed in relief. 

Abyss Predator. What a fearsome attack.

At that moment...

"It's not over yet." Kang Oh came rushing at him.

Vladi was no fool. He was a jack of all trades, which meant that he could fight in close range and long range; he could even use magic or fight over extremely long distances.

On the other hand, Kang Oh was a close range specialist. It was clear after fighting him firsthand.

Thus, fighting Kang Oh in melee combat would be idiotic. After all, he would be allowing his opponent to fight at his best.

Annihilating Thorn!

Summon Red Swarm of Flies!

Thorny vines, as well as a huge swarm of small red flies that emitted a 'bzzzzt', appeared between Kang Oh and Vladi. 

"Out of my way!" Kang Oh fiercely yelled and tried going right through them.

However, the swarm of flies obscured his vision, and the thorny vines slowed him down.

Meanwhile, Vladi widened the distance.

"I said... Get out of my way!" Kang Oh fiercely swung Ubist.

Tempest Tiger!

The golden aura pierced right through the flies.

"Tasha!"

It was clear what he wanted.

Flap! Flap!

His dark red wings forcefully flapped, and Kang Oh's body was propelled forward like a missile. He instantly passed through the hole that Tempest Tiger had created for him. Then, Vladi's cape hardened like a slab of concrete.

Festival of Blood!

His sword was coated in blood red energy. 

He was using Gluttony and Festival of Blood in tandem. At this point, he was both fast and strong enough to hit Vladi, even without using Transcendent Blade.

Whoosh!

Bam!

Ubist fell like a streak of lightning, cracking the hardened cape. Kang Oh immediately thrust Blood into the crack. 

Stab!

He could feel his attack going in.

Suck!

Blood voraciously absorbed the shards of light.

But Vladi didn't just sit there and take it. His arm, which had transformed into a drill, popped out of his cape and pierced Kang Oh's shoulder.

Crack!

The blood soaked bone armor, which protected his shoulder, was completely broken, and a fistful of shards of light burst from it. 

In spite of that, Kang Oh grinned. He could have dodged Vladi's attack if he wanted to. However, he had deliberately let it hit.

Why, you ask?

Arnea's Healing!

Repeated use of Transcendent Blade, Mad Wind's Sword, Festival of Blood, and Vladi's most recent attack had depleted his HP. However, Arnea's Healing quickly restored his HP, MP, and Stamina.

He was going to use it anyway, so taking damage didn't really matter.

More importantly...!

Right after Vladi hit him, Kang Oh launched a counterattack.

Dragon's Fury!

The Avenger set radiated dim light, and his twin demon swords glowed intensely. 

"You crazy bastard!" Vladi tried to retreat as quickly as possible.

"Where do you think you're going!?"

However, Kang Oh remained close.

Blood Spike!

Countless spikes protruded from Vladi's body like a sea urchin. His cape had also hardened.

"Hmph!" Kang Oh snorted.

'Let's see if you can handle this!'

Kang Oh crossed his twin demon swords and swung them. Then, explosive gray energy erupted from his body.

Whoosh!

Bam!

Vladi was caught in Dragon's Fury. His cape was split apart, and the intense energy seeped into his body through the cracks.

"Guaaaahk!" Vladi screamed in pain. It was only natural. Each and every one of his cells was being vaporized.

Boom!

Ultimately, Vladi's body was ripped to shreds. At the same time, blood sprayed everywhere like a squeezed lemon.

'Did I win?'

Kang Oh briefly assessed the situation. However, he hadn't received a system message indicating his kill.

Whizz!

Vladi's blood, which was spread all over the place like red paint on a blank canvas, rose into the air and combined into a single shape.

It was incredibly fast. If he gave him even a little bit more time, then Vladi would return to his original form.

Of course, Kang Oh wasn't going to let that happen.

Summon the Incarnation of Vengeance, Shumir!

A black panther with a long tail and purple eyes came out of his shadow.

Grr.

It snarled and glanced at Kang Oh.

"Rip it to pieces." Kang Oh pointed his snow-white sword at the blood clot.

Shumir moved immediately. To be more specific, its tail did!

Swish!

Bam!

Its tail struck the airborne blood clot like a whip. Then, the blood fell to the floor.

Kang Oh acted next.

Mad Wind's Sword!

He mercilessly swung his twin blades at the blood clot. Whenever he did so, drops of blood would fall from it, soaking the ground below.

However, the drops of blood would immediately rise up and merge with the blood clot once more.

"Keep attacking!"

Kang Oh never stopped. Shumir also kept swinging its whip tail. 

It was a combined all-out assault by Kang Oh and Shumir! Despite that, the blood clot continued to get larger, and the shape of arms and legs began to form.

What frightening regeneration! As expected of Talastrum's Demon.

At that moment...

"Freeze it." An unfamiliar woman's voice echoed inside his head.

"Who are you?"

"It's me, me. Sara."

Sara! The Yuki-Onna, who possessed the Ice Soul's power, that was sealed within Demon Sword Sarahoff!

Tremble! Tremble!

Sarahoff, which he'd previously thrown at Vladi, violently shook within the ground. 

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