I Hate Sand!

The Sand Magic used by Prince Hanibal is a type of magic that evolves after mastering Earth Magic completely or can also be acquired through natural talent.

Magic like sand, ice, and lava are considered rare magic.

Prince Hanibal not only possesses rare magic in the form of Sand Magic, but he has also mastered it to the highest level.

He can control all the sand in Mandora.

In theory, Hanibal can control everything at once. However, in practice, it is impossible because his body and mana would not be able to withstand such immense power.

Nevertheless, that does not mean Hanibal does not possess an ultimate magic.

[Sand Titan] is a magic that creates a colossal sand golem with power surpassing his rank by one level.

If Hanibal currently possesses power equivalent to Rank Jack, then his golem possesses power equivalent to Rank Queen.

It is a terrifying and astonishing magic! Therefore, there are significant consequences that Hanibal must pay.

To use this magic, Hanibal must sacrifice his power level.

For example, if he currently has Rank Jack Upper Class power, then to use [Sand Titan], his power will revert to Rank Jack Middle Class.

A one-level decrease may not seem significant, but for someone in the high-rank like Hanibal, a class reduction has a tremendous impact. It takes a long time to restore his strength..

That is why [Sand Titan] is referred to by Hanibal as the Forbidden Sand Magic.

Now, after Hanibal unleashed his forbidden magic, he felt his body grow weak.

Hanibal fell to the sand, unable to stand and could only tilt his head to look up, hoping his golem could do something against Asmodeus.

Roar!

The giant sand golem, resembling a human, slammed into Asmodeus, sending him flying hundreds of meters away.

Asmodeus, standing up after being thrown, looked at his battered body, all from just one blow.

Their powers were now arguably equal.

[Physical Amplification] aided Asmodeus, but it couldn't withstand the force that struck him.

Asmodeus, with his [Immortal Body], began to heal himself. Some broken bones and crushed organs slowly regenerated.

Killing Asmodeus required more than just pounding him into pieces.

Asmodeus smiled, sensing that the massive golem was Hanibal's final weapon. If he could defeat the golem, the battle would be over.

Following that thought, Asmodeus began to recite an incantation. Mana gathered in front of his body, and a large black magical circle appeared.

From the magic circle emerged a dense black sphere. It was not just a sphere; it was more like a vacuum that sucked everything around it.

"[Black Hole]."

Not only Hanibal who could unleash powerful magic. Asmodeus released his own deadly spell, launching the black sphere towards the rampaging giant golem, sucking it in.

The golem and the black sphere collided, causing a tremendous explosion. It even created small cracks in the dimensional space.

GRRRRRR!!

Everything around them was thrown off by the shockwaves that ensued. This included thousands of soldiers from both sides engaged in fierce battle.

After the impact finished shaking the battlefield, the cracked location began to tremble due to the rifts in space, and a massive sandstorm started to assault.

Everyone present, including Asmodeus, struggled to move.

None of them could have anticipated the devastating consequences of the collision.

The dimensional cracks started to heal themselves. The sandstorm continued to rage, relentlessly striking everyone within its reach.

Asmodeus grew frustrated with the repercussions of his attack. However, he couldn't let his guard down, as he sensed someone approaching him swiftly.

"Hahaha! A sandstorm has no effect on a sand manipulator!"

And true enough, Hanibal swiftly lunged at Asmodeus with a spear made of sand and stone, attempting to stab the demon.

Unfortunately, Hanibal was already weakened. His attack failed to penetrate Asmodeus' skin. In fact, after being attacked, the demon instead destroyed the spear and counter-attacked Hanibal.

Asmodeus hands become sharp like a blade, then with a single strike, Asmodeus pierced Hanibal's abdomen, causing him to vomit blood.

In truth, Asmodeus had intended to rip out Hanibal's heart. However, he hadn't expected Hanibal to still be able to evade, even though he was hanging by a thread.

"Well, in this state, you are powerless, Hanibal. Any last words before I take your heart and turn you into a steak?"

"Hehehe, ptui!!"

Hannibal spat in Asmodeus' face with all his remaining strength.

He knew he couldn't do anything more. Now all that was left was his pride as the Champion of Mandora.

Asmodeus felt veins bulging on his face as he experienced the disgust of Hannibal's saliva dirtying his face.

"Now I just want to torment you, oh Prince of Mandora! Starting with one of your eyes!"

Asmodeus's fingers approached Hannibal's eye, intending to gouge it out. But before that could happen, suddenly...

Shoot! Thwack!

"ARRRGGG!"

Asmodeus released his grip, stepping back and groaning in pain as an arrow pierced his eye.

Asmodeus pulled out the arrow, feeling an excruciating pain in his eye. It was a pain he had never experienced before.

When he was stabbed by Hannibal or Zakaria earlier, the pain was not as agonizing as it was now.

"You bastard!"

Asmodeus looked towards the direction the arrow had come from. He saw the silhouette of someone with a wooden box from afar.

Due to the sandstorm, Asmodeus couldn't see the person clearly. But from the pain he felt, he couldn't underestimate the approaching enemy.

***

Go back a few minutes earlier.

When the powerful shockwave caused by the collision of two high-level magic spells occurred.

Cien, who had just been able to observe the battlefield from a distance, suddenly felt like being tossed around in a boat due to the storm.

He struggled to stand as he was thrown here and there.

"SAND! Fu*k! I hate sand! Sinking in this sand is pathetic and annoying!"

"Uncle. This is bad. I'm starting to feel nauseous."

"...Aaaa!" Cien was once again propelled, as a sandstorm arrived when he just barely stood, slamming his body.

THUD!

Cien fell face down. His face submerged in the sand. When he got up, his face was immediately struck by thousands of flying grains.

"Goddamn it! The heck is this?!"

Whoosh!

The sand blew against his wooden coffin, making the weight feel heavier. Cien's balance wavered, and he briefly floated before falling flat on his face again.

"Damn it! Can't you fight peacefully?!"

"Uncle. Lily wants to throw up."

"Okay, hold on! Don't do it inside! Hold on for a moment! Let's finish this!"

Whoosh!

Just as Cien finished speaking, he was thrown again. This time, he flew straight into the midst of the battlefield, where he crashed into a demon soldier.

Cien felt dizzy from being thrown earlier. Not to mention his face was covered in sand, which annoyed him.

When he saw the face of the demon he had collided with, and the demon swung a sword towards him, Cien dodged by moving his head slightly.

The sword collided with a coffin behind Cien and bounced off.

The demon was taken aback, but Cien wouldn't let the opportunity pass.

He quickly grabbed a regular arrow and stuck it in the demon's neck.

"Haa... haa... haa... ptooey!"

Cien gasped for breath after being tossed around in the sandstorm. His mouth was only slightly open, but sand had already entered, making Cien feel worse. He spat the sand out of his mouth, but the sand always came back.

His scarf had flown off somewhere. His hood was open, filled with sand. He could feel the sand collected in the hood starting to slide from his neck to his body.

"I hate this! Is this Hanibal doing? By the Wind! I want to kill this man!"

Cien then looked around.

Among the numerous demon and human troops, Cien was sure that this was originally a battlefield.

But now, the majority of them were crawling on the sandy surface, unable to move freely. Let alone moving, they can't even stand!

Only a few humans and demons that Cien could see were still fighting their enemies nearby. And that's too, looking so comical for Cien. They fight but with eyes half closed, so their attacks mostly miss the targets.

'What the hell are they doing?'

Cien then glanced into the distance where two silhouettes were locked in a fierce struggle.

"Is that Hanibal and Asmodeus?"

Due to the storm, Cien couldn't see clearly. But from their movements, which seemed more agile than those around them, Cien believed it was indeed them.

Cien tapped his coffin.

"Bow."

"Uncle. Nauseous."

"I know. Hold on for a moment. You'll feel even worse when we fly later."

"Huh? Fly? ...why?"

"That's our plan. To end all of this. So, where's my bow?"

"Already thrown out."

"..."

Cien glanced back, then looked up to see his bow flying away carried by a sandstorm.

"Wow, damn..."

Cien immediately looked around with narrowed eyes. The sand was starting to hurt his eyes.

He searched for the soldier who had the bow and, eureka! He spotted an Ashur soldier not far from him carrying a bow.

Cien approached with difficulty, then asked for the bow and arrow.

"Who are you?!"

"Yeah, this is gonna take a while."

Cien then punched the soldier's face with all his strength, trying to knock him out with one blow. But after being hit, the soldier was still conscious.

'Ah, shit. His rank is higher than mine!'

Cien didn't hesitate to repeatedly punch the soldier's face until he passed out, well it was slightly bruised. Yup, just a little.

"Sigh... finally got the bow."

Cien wasted no time and quickly grabbed an arrow, shooting it towards the two figures still engaged in a fierce battle far away.

Shoot!

"Akh!"

"..."

Cien fell silent.

The arrow he had just released sharply veered off course due to the storm and struck a demon on his right side. The demon was preparing to charge at the helpless Ashur soldier, but died instead by his arrow.

"Thank you!" Shouted the soldier.

"Uhh, you're welcome?"

Cien's face turned grim instantly. He should have anticipated that the storm was strong enough to deflect his arrow's trajectory.

"So the arrow is useless?" Cien then looked at the bow he had obtained with great difficulty. "No, I can't give up just yet."

Cien prepared himself to shoot another arrow, but now trying to channel his mana into it as much as possible, thinking it might make it more resistant to the sandstorm. And...

Shoot! Swish!

The arrow flew swiftly. But this time, after it soared forward, the direction of the storm suddenly changed, causing the arrow to veer off course again, unfortunately back towards Cien.

The arrow came back towards Cien himself.

"Huh?"

Cien immediately dropped to the ground to avoid it. The arrow flew past him quickly.

Stab!

"AAARRRGGG!"

And the arrow seemed to have hit someone again.

Cien glanced back, seeing silhouettes of two other people in the distance behind there.

One stumbled with an arrow in his head. And the other silhouette appeared to struggle to stand up from the sandy surface.

'Hm? It's lodged in his head, why aren't he dead?'

Cien wondered, feeling strange because the person hit by the arrow didn't die at all.

It didn't take long for Cien to find out the answer.

The silhouette of the person with the arrow lodged in his head approached quickly after removing the arrow.

Closer now, Cien could see the face of that silhouette. It was King Mandora, with one eye looking hollowed out and blood scattered.

"Ahhh, fu*k... so that's Asmodeus and his [Immortal Body]... no wonder."