A bolt of light descended upon the Giant Dragonfly that rushed towards Dion, the Commander of the 100 Fighters.

It was a lightning spell cast by Yatton.

The other Giant Dragonfly was struck by Gracey's Water Spear and plummeted to the ground.

'It's time to end this.'

Dion's eyes gleamed. The tides had turned. It wouldn't be long before the battle was over.

He charged at Kore atop his horse.

Dion swung his gladiuses, alternating between them. The elegance behind his bladework could be seen with every swing.

Kore instinctively raised his blade, but it was flung out of his hand upon first contact with Dion's sword.

Bam! Bam! Bam! Bam!

Dion instantly slashed and thrusted at Kore with his dual gladiuses.

Shards of light kept spilling from Kore's body, but there were some red shards as well, which indicated critical hits.

"Eek!"

Kore gave up on defense and mustered up all of his remaining strength to counterattack. He was aiming for Dion's neck!

However, Dion deflected that easily and continued his assault to end him.

A slash, a thrust, another slash, and a Spinning Thrust!

Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang!

Ultimately, Kore's head dropped to the ground.

"Their leader has been defeated!" Dion yelled loudly.

"Ooh!"

"As expected of our Commander!"

Upon hearing Dion's tidings of victory, the gladiators cheered. Naturally, the gladiator's morale went sky high.

"C-Captain lost!"

"This battle's over..."

"S-Surrender!"

"Run!"

The Red Sand Unit began to either surrender or run away.

"We'll let you live if you surrender! Kill anyone who runs!" Dion yelled and charged at a retreating Red Sand Unit member.

The 100 Fighters began to pursue the retreating members of the Red Sand Unit.

"S-Surrender!"

"I surrender!"

In the end, the members of the Red Sand Unit gave up on running and dropped their weapons.

* * *

Modune's right-hand man, the bushy-bearded man raised his voice.

"Block it!"

A fireball the size of a person's head came flying towards them. It was cast by the fire mage, Jaker.

The insect mages quickly summoned a swarm of flies.

Roar!

The raging flame blazed, killing the swarm of flies.

"Attack him!" Modune's subordinate yelled.

The Sandurions and Bladed Praying Mantis that had been protecting them rushed towards Jaker.

However, the earth mage, Grendal, stood before Jaker.

He stomped onto the ground.

Thud!

A tough wall rose from the ground.

Grendal stretched out his hands, causing the wall to topple over.

The insect mages quickly evaded the falling wall. However, not all of them were so lucky, and a few of the Sandurions were flattened by the spell.

Grendal continuously created walls, simultaneously blocking any incoming insect and using them to attack the insects as well.

Jaker continued to shoot fire spells at both the insect mages and Modune's subordinate.

The bushy-bearded man kept yelling and tried to hold on as long as possible.

However, time wasn't on their side.

Soon enough, Son, Yatton, and Gracey had finished off the Giant Dragonflies and had grouped up with Jaker and Grendal once more.

"Eek! Hold on!" the bushy-bearded man urged.

But there was a massive difference in strength.

The summoned insects were unable to withstand the assault and died. Even when they tried to summon new insects to aid them, they met the same fate.

Ultimately, the bushy-bearded man put down his staff.

"I surrender!"

* * *

When the battle between the Red Sand Unit and the 100 Fighters began, Sephiro had gone on the move to join the battle himself.

But because he had been so far from the battlefield, it took quite a long time to join up with Kang Oh.

By the time he'd gotten close to him, several bugs were swarming Kang Oh.

However, there were two people that noticed his approach.

They were none other than Modune and Kang Oh.

Modune had seen Sephiro as he surveyed the battlefield. However, he didn't have the time to worry about Sephiro.

Kang Oh had gotten a message from Sephiro, indicating that he was going to join him, so he'd been waiting for him.

'He's here!'

Kang Oh watched as Sephiro retrieved his Lasselpino Bow from beneath his desert camouflage overcoat and smiled in satisfaction.

This was why he'd mentioned that Modune had made the worst choice possible.

It would've been better if Modune had gone all out against him, Eder, or even Grano before Sephiro had arrived.

However, that time had already passed, and Sephiro's arrival marked the beginning of the end for Modune.

'He only looked one step ahead. He should've looked even further.'

Sephiro notched a huge arrow, pulled on the string, and the veins in his hand bulged.

Then, he let the arrow fly.

Boom!

His arrow 'boomed' and 100 arrows poured out from the magic circle.

Buster Shot!

Whoosh!

A shower of arrows descended upon the insects.

The arrows embedded themselves in the Sandurions' shells, but the Black Spiders, with their weak bodies, were pierced through.

At that moment...

Kang Oh swung downwards with his demon sword.

Tempest Tiger!

The golden tiger cleaved through the swarm of flies, but the Tarantus laid flat, letting it dodge the tiger aura.

However, the bugs hit by the arrows were unable to do the same.

Bang!

Tempest Tiger trampled on the bugs, which was followed by raging wind whips that swept the flies away.

The bugs were unable to withstand Sephiro and Kang Oh's consecutive attacks (Buster Shot followed by Tempest Tiger). Their bodies were strewn across the desert floor.

Sephiro shot arrows at the insect mages and Modune from a distance.

The insect mages didn't have any insects left to defend them. They couldn't summon any new ones either, as the arrows arrived before they had the opportunity to do so.

Ultimately, the insect mages dodged the arrows by throwing themselves to the ground.

Thud.

The arrows fell into the sand-bed.

Sephiro continuously shot arrows, and the insect mages spread out to survive.

Modune wasn't much different. He too threw his body away in order to dodge the arrows.

After he'd rolled onto the floor to dodge the arrows, he stood up immediately.

Modune gritted his teeth.

'The only option I have left is the Tarantus' Dominating Poison!'

He drained the rest of his MP to cast a variety of reinforcement spells on the Tarantus.

Reinforce Speed! Reinforce Strength! Reinforce Jump!

Modune instantly cast all sorts of buffs on the Tarantus.

The buffed Tarantus violently rushed towards Kang Oh.

However!

Kang Oh wasn't worried at all. He calmly deflected it with his sword.

The Tarantus was surrounded by drops of water. Grano had cast Water Prison.

It avoided the Water Prison and tried to move, but Kang Oh quickly dashed towards it and landed a blow.

Whack!

Its body flew into the air. At the same time, drops of water gathered together and imprisoned the Tarantus.

The Tarantus struggled within the Water Prison.

However, one couldn't escape the Water Prison by themselves until the duration time was up.

Modune turned his head and glanced at the Red Sand Unit.

'The Red Sand Unit was also... It's hopeless.'

The battle between the Red Sand Unit and the 100 Fighters was already over. The 100 Fighters and the battlemages had won by a landslide.

'It's over.'

Modune dropped his staff.

He didn't have a choice. At the very least, he would get away.

Modune retrieved a scroll from his breast. It was a return scroll, which he'd carried around ever since his time as a mercenary and was only to be used for emergencies.

"You won't get away with this!"

"Stop him!" Kang Oh yelled.

Eder rushed towards Modune.

Sephiro shot an arrow at him as well. Three arrows simultaneously flew towards Modune.

However, Modune was just a little faster. He ripped up the return scroll and a silver powder flew about.

But!

The silver powder suddenly fell to the floor; the return scroll obviously hadn't worked.

"W-What happened!?" Modune yelled, looking flustered.

But he soon realized what had gone wrong.

'The barrier that seals teleportation spells!'

It was the barrier that had been set up to prevent Grano from escaping! To think that the barrier that he'd ordered his men to set up would prevent his own escape!

Sephiro's arrows pierced Modune's thighs.

"Ugh!"

Modune lost his balance and fell to his knees.

"I got you, you bastard!"

Eder swung downwards with his mace.

Whack!

His mace struck Modune's fat cheek, causing him to fall face first onto the ground.

Eder stomped on Modune's back and pointed his mace at him.

"Want some more, or do you want to surrender?" Eder yelled triumphantly.

Modune dropped his head.

"I will... surrender."

In the end, he decided to surrender.

"Modune has surrendered!" Eder raised his mace high up into the air and yelled.

"Ah, he got the final blow."

Kang Oh looked disappointed. He'd wanted to finish Modune off, but Eder had been a little faster.

Grano approached him.

"Good work."

"I didn't do much. They did all the heavy lifting."

Kang Oh pointed at the 100 Fighters and the battlemages.

'We used a sledgehammer to crack a nut.'

Now that everything was over, he realized that their reinforcements were overqualified.

'I need to make sure I thank Burkan for this.'

The 100 Fighters were much stronger than he'd expected. He felt thankful that Burkan was willing to send such an elite force to aid him.

'Well, that's that...'

Kang Oh approached Modune with his sword leaning on his shoulder.

"Hey, let me hit you a few times."

"What? I've already surrendered. As a prisoner..."

Kang Oh hit Modune with the flat side of his sword.

Whack!

"Ugh. What are you doing!?"

"How dare you go after me?"

Kang Oh swung his sword like a bat.

Whack!

"Ugh."

Modune screamed in pain.

"What happened at Beskamen I's tomb is all your fault!"

Kang Oh vented his anger, blaming Modune for the collapse of Beskamn I's tomb (which was a gold mine where the Celtuses spawned).

"It's your fault that Monique ate more than 10 pieces of treasure!"

Whack! Whack! Whack! Whack!

Gueek!

Modune's screams resounded throughout the area.

* * *

The battle was over. Now, they were dealing with the aftermath.

They gathered their prisoners in a single area, and collected the loot off the dead.

Once they were somewhat organized, the Commander of the 100 Fighters, Dion, approached Kang Oh.

"Are you Lord Burkan's brother, Kang Oh? This is my first time meeting you. I'm the gladiator, Dion."

"Mr. Dion. Thank you for helping me."

Kang Oh bowed his head.

"You don't need to thank me. After all, you're not a stranger as Lord Burkan's brother."

Dion smiled.

"These are my companions: Eder, Mr. Sephiro, and Mr. Grano," Kang Oh introduced his party.

"My name is Grano."

"I am Eder."

"My name is Sephiro."

Then, the magic tower's battlemages approached Grano as well.

"Mr. Grano, are you alright?"

Gracey looked all over Grano, ensuring that he was alright.

"I'm alright, Ms. Gracey."

Grano smiled softly. He was like a middle-aged actor that appeared in a coffee commercial.

"It's been a long time, Mr. Grano."

Jaker stepped forward.

"Mr. Jaker!"

Grano embraced him with a joyous expression.

He also greeted the other battlemages as well.

"This is Mr. Kang Oh, Mr. Eder, Mr. Sephiro, and Mr. Dion. Ah, you stayed with Mr. Dion in the Hapdala Oasis, so you must already be acquainted with one another."

Grano introduced them to the battlemages, and they all exchanged greetings.

"We're finished with the introductions, so let's decide how we deal with Modune and his men," Jaker said.

"Do you have any good ideas?" Kang Oh asked Jaker.

He was essentially saying, 'You're the one who introduced the topic, so talk.'.

"Modune and the insect mages are a part of the Arabas Kingdom, so I suggest that we ransom them off," Jaker said.

"Would the Arabas Kingdom really pay a ransom?"

Kang Oh didn't think they would. Why would they pay a ransom for someone as insignificant as Modune?

"We don't lose anything by bringing it to the table. Would you be willing to let us handle the negotiations?" Jaker asked.

'The magic tower's willing to handle the negotiations?'

That's actually something Kang Oh had wanted to ask of them. A single player like Kang Oh couldn't hope to negotiate with an entire kingdom.

However, that all changed if the magic tower, which possessed great influence and power, was willing to handle the negotiations in his stead.

A kingdom couldn't afford to ignore the magic tower.

However...

"If they do pay the ransom, then how much will I and my party get?"

If the magic tower handled the prisoner negotiations, then how much would actually be left for them?

"If you allow us to handle the negotiations, then we will give you the entire ransom," Jaker smiled and said.

"Excuse me?"

'All of it?'

Kang Oh couldn't understand. Why would they...?

"What does the magic tower stand to gain from this?"

It was an obvious question.

"Let me answer that one," Grano answered instead of Jaker.

"It is..."