The masked man’s hand was covered in flickering black lightning, and without giving them a chance to do anything, he stabbed down, his body blurring downward like a diving arrow.

Vale and Tiber might have more raw strength than most Errant Knights, but that doesn’t directly translate to speed or matching that of the Master Knights.

There was no way they could be faster than the masked man, Master Knight, and his attack.

But Vale didn’t seem worried. He just raised his hand in a flicker, and suddenly, a black tower was standing between them and the attack.

Bam! The lightning collided with the tower with ground-shaking force, pushing it downward toward Tiber and Vale.

But the two were already gone from their place. Vale had used his power to draw them into the tower, and then they were thrown out once again, above the masked man, Master Knight.

"What? How did you get up there?" the man shouted. He hovered in the air, standing on withering lightning.

Vale and Tiber were falling directly above him when Tiber pointed with his sword. "Sleep!"

But of course, he didn’t sleep. Still, the power packed a punch and hit just like it hit the Saint. His eyes turned dull, and it looked as if he would fall asleep the next instant.

"Good, Tiber. Time to kill!" Vale shouted. They were above the man now, and his sword flashed down in a slash meant to take his head, but the mask on the man changed immediately, turning into a deep green.

Green lightning flickered on his body, and he vanished.

"Oh? So that’s how he moved earlier. He teleported. Seems our technique isn’t the absolute strategy, Tiber. We might need to fight seriously."

Tiber grunted and surveyed the ground. They were far from the main battleground, far from the crushing clashes of the Master Knights.

The masked Master Knight appeared again, a bit of a distance from them. His mask was still a deep green. "You bastards, so this is why you dare to face me. You’re depending on your tricks to help you out..."

"Why don’t you try and send him to more sleep, Tiber? He talks too much...!!"

Suddenly, the man raised his hand, and green lightning covered the ground like grass, creeping toward them at an astonishing speed. Everywhere the green lightning touched, it made the things there disappear.

Vale snapped his hand again, and they turned into streaks of light into the tower, before it sent them out again on the other side of the man where there was no green lightning.

"We need to finish this," Vale said. "I would have used my tower, but all my essence is in my sword. He’s giving us no chance to use the sleeping strategy. Very well. Seems I will have to engage him while you provide the silver chance."

But before he could do anything, the masked Master Knight made his move.

Meanwhile, Helena Varrow and Eirikr Akatsuki were going hard at it.

Eirikr’s body had changed, his body now made of baked, hardened sand. His face twisted into anger. "You... you bastards. You took my drake from me and come to fight me in the lands that I have already claimed. You will all be...!!"

An explosive blur suddenly appeared in front of him like a raging bull. It was Helena, but her body had grown into an almost abnormal size. Her muscles were all swelled up, giving her the appearance of an oversized doll.

But even with all this, she was still swift and balanced on her feet, and her punch landed with a sonic boom of a snap.

Eirikr crossed his hands in front of himself as he was sent back once again, his face in a grimace. The sand on his hand shifted, and where some had broken off from the punch, it got replaced.

"You... are strong," Eirikr said.

Helena shrugged. "Just look at my body, what do you expect? I can’t have this and still be weak. But you, it’s almost as if this isn’t your ability. Just what have you done to yourself?"

Eirikr’s eyes widened. Indeed, the throne had twisted his ability into only using sands. Now he drew his power directly from the throne. His eyes shuttered. "You are right. My powers, they’re from the throne. The sand isn’t my real thing, but it’s now my own thing!"

Just as he finished speaking, he burst forward, his body overlapped, producing several afterimages, shadowy figures of himself that seemed almost like a mirage.

In an instant, those images surrounded Helena, but she only smiled. "Your tricks won’t work. You are the real thing."

Suddenly, she turned and pounced on one of the images. She kicked out brutally, her leg snapping like a whip that caught Eirikr on the shoulder, cracking his shoulder with a loud snap.

But at the same time, all the images of Eirikr pounced on her and then punched her. They were all also real! At least for that instant!

One of the punches took her on the neck. The sand on Eirikr’s fist extended into a blade immediately upon contact, piercing straight through her neck.

The other three punches—one in the ribs, back, and thigh—also extended into sand blades as well.

Helena staggered backward, her hand clutching her neck as blood poured down her chest and all her other wounds. She gasped as she tried to speak.

"Don’t waste your breath, you ugly old woman. That was one of the abilities of the throne as well, briefly making things as real as the original. That’s why I can control that amount of sand without issues, before most of them are images...

"Now then, where is that brat that stole my pet monster...!!"

Suddenly, he tensed and then lurched forward as the ground he was standing on previously exploded into fragments of raining stones.

And there stood Helena, whole again, but her muscle size had reduced significantly. She smiled a bloody smile. "Aren’t you underestimating a Master Knight too much, you Akatsuki bastard!" 𝚏𝗿𝗲𝐞𝐰𝚎𝕓𝐧𝚘𝘃𝗲𝐥.𝐜𝚘𝕞

His face darkened. "Just how are you not dead?"

Helena frowned. Her body was covered in sweat and blood bur no wounds appeared on her. Her flesh shone like hardened metal, muscles rippling and twisting like corded steel as she moved. "You are not the only one with tricks, desert dog. But I am interested in what you said about the throne’s power."

Since Vale had said their primary objective for the battle was to distract the Clan leader of the Akatsuki, Helena was determined to do so in as many ways as she could. Already she could tell that the strength difference between them is strong, and she couldn’t even say with accuracy how strong the bastard is.

She did not know if she could defeat him. Still, she is a Chief of Athrimir, and she has followed her Lord to war. She would do what she would. But still, she was still trying to get his measure.

"Can you.." She taunted. "...even do anything without the throne’s power? And you call yourself a Clan Leader!"

Eirikr paused, then he shrugged in a relaxed manner. He looked around him casually, took a look at the different battles happening around them. At the moment, only the Master Knights were engaged in battle.

His eyes narrowed as he looked back at Helena Varrow. "I am the Throne of Akatsuki, the throne is me. What is there to be shameful about? Do you really.....ah, Helena Varrow, you don’t strike me at the type, but are you really stalling for time right no?"

His voice was filled with shocked mockery and amusement, as if he had caught her in the act of doing something dishonorable.

Helena’s face twitched. She had been stalling for time, but not because she was afraid of fighting. She just wanted to get a measure of how strong he is.

Her right fist clenched and instead of answering, she exploded forward like a whirlwind, a blur of hardened flesh.

Eirikr was there to meet her, laughing all the while. Without holding back, he threw himself forward, not slowing down one bit as they both collided with an horrible smacking sound of rocks meeting but not shattering.

The force of their collision made the ground beneath them crack, rocky ground turning into dust that blasted as shockwave around them.

It also sent the two reeling back from each other.

Helena didn’t let it go to waste as, she closed the distance between them, her right leg raised up and brought down swiftly like lightning strike.

And as if he was expecting something like that, Eirikr danced back swiftly, but Helena only pressed her advantage. Her right leg was lightning that rose and fell like judgment and her left moved her across the desert after Eirikr like a shadow.

But Eirikr stopped avoiding her and directly fled backwards.

The difference between them was shown as Eirikr avoided her attack.

Eirikr is of no doubt stronger than her in terms of essence, but Helena is stronger physically. Even his enhanced body stood no chance against her in raw strength. One strong attack from her could cripple him so bad it might take a while to recover.

Eirikr’s face darkened. "You are an annoying pest."