"Silver Fall!"

At the same time he released the sword arc that flashed, she already released her attack. A beam of silver light cut the air, bringing a flash of bitter cold as it rushed forward at Vale, directly at the path of the sword arc.

The two attacks met in the air. They collided, and for a moment there was a collision of clashing wills. Two opposing forces that seemed as if they would push the other out, but they seemed evenly matched because they simply exploded the next moment.

Red and silver light rose, following the rippling shockwave that shattered the ground into chunks of stone that soon turned into dust.

Heat and cold rose simultaneously in the room. The formation that Eirikr placed in the room warped, twisted, and shattered, allowing the resulting force to tear a hole in the roof and some of the walls.

Every Master Knight had paused fighting to shield themselves from the resulting collision, looking at the two fighters that stood in a large crater in shock.

Even Vale was shocked. Did....she just actually match him? Although he didn’t use all of his power, he was still impressed. And the technique she was using was similar to one he’d seen Pomora use before, but now it’s mixed with ice, the effect even stronger.

His eyes narrowed. "Where is my Master Knight, Pomora?"

WaterLord Freya smirked. "If you can beat me, then maybe I’ll tell you. Let me ask you, how many of those attacks can you execute?"

WaterLord Freya had dominated the sea with her ultimate technique. And more, she could use it a lot of times while always overwhelming and spelling destruction for her enemies. It’s her usual strategy for fighting those that are equal to her, and now she was going to use it again.

WaterLord Freya had absolute confidence in her technique. It mattered little that he had the power of two Master Knights. "Did you just come into your powers? You have not stabilized anything. You think you can beat me with raw strength alone?"

"I cannot?"

She laughed. "Why don’t we... find out!"

Ice surged, instantly enclosing the room except for where Vale was standing. On a whim, he did not extend his own aura to suppress the ice to see what she wanted to do.

The ground beneath him shook, and then heaved as a pillar of ice rammed through with force. The force of the ejecting ice pillar was so strong that his figure blurred as he was thrown out, ramming through the stone roof and outside.

His head throbbed painfully as he burst through the stones, but his essence was already healing him. He hung above the palace before he began to fall, his eyes narrowed as he surveyed below.

Battle was raging out. Eirikr was battling two to three Master Knights, and all the other lower-rank Knights were engaged as well. Other Master Knights were chasing, the air flashing with different essences as techniques rose and fell.

Vale finally created a platform beneath himself, still high in the air, his relief clear in the fact that he couldn’t see his men. They must have made their escape to a safer place.

And yet Vale was still dissatisfied with what he saw. The Matsumoto Clan was winning! There’s an equal balance in the battle, and at the rate things were going, there would only be a one-sided victory instead of weakening the two forces.

"That can’t be allowed to stand!" Vale murmured.

He gestured, and a pale translucent reddish shield covered half of the palace, cutting away the WaterLord that was just trying to break through to attack him. Now he had bought himself a minute or less before she broke his shield.

It should be enough.

Vale raised his fire sword, pumping it with power until the heat swept through the air, competing with the desert sun and winning. Without warning, he dived down like an arrow, his body covered in a subtle glow of red.

Three average Master Knights were fighting the Jade Glass Master Knight, and even with all his power the man was losing. He’s a strong Master Knight, and on a normal day he could handle each separately with his two hands tied behind him. But right then he was struggling and was forced into a defensive position by the Master Knights from Matsumoto.

He was still thinking about how to escape his current situation when he felt a blistering heat suddenly appear in the sky and come closer so fast he couldn’t possibly defend against it and fight at the same time!

The only time he had was for his expression to change, and for the same change to appear on the faces of those fighting him.

Boom!

The spear of fire appeared before Jade Glass, piercing through one of the Master Knights and blasting the others away with the shockwave.

The glass shield around Jade Glass crumbled away, and he stumbled back in shock, still keeping his footing. His eyes met the eyes of the young man covered in fire. He saw eyes red as blood and bright like fire. He saw a grin, and then the man was gone, flickering, his afterimage blurring behind him.

He heard a whooshing sound and then a cry cut short. Then a sword arc as big as three humans cut the air and killed the last of his enemy Master Knights.

Jade Glass was left there in shock. "This.....how? Is this the rank of the High Master Knights?"

Of course everyone, including Vale, only knew the title ’Master Knights,’ and unless one truly joined their ranks they couldn’t know the vast amount of power difference within this rank. Although unofficially, Master Knights had a way to categorize themselves based on power level.

Low, mid, late, and high.

In all his life all he had seen was the mid rank, and even Jade Glass could only put himself in the space between low and mid, and those he was fighting were the lowest of the low. People like WaterLord Freya were in the mid rank, and some might even say late since there’s no official method of measuring.

But high? Only high Clans can be said to have that!

Jade Glass shuddered, suddenly feeling as if his life was already in the hands of the young man as he remembered those eyes. "Vale Athrimir....fuck!"

Vale, for his part, was already gone, killing one more Master Knight before he rose to meet WaterLord Freya as she broke through his shield, his eyes glowing brightly and her whole body bathed in blue radiance.

She laughed brightly. "I have never let go like this for a long, long time! I have dominated for so long that my power has remained strangled, but now I finally see room for improvement. Vale Athrimir! You will be the stone that sharpens my sword!"

Beside her floated two stormy blue glows, orbs that twisted and turned, fighting and yet in harmony. It’s the Silver Fall technique, but this time they were just standing there, waiting to be unleashed.

"I have never been able to do this before! But your sword... that line, it’s binding it, right? I just did the same! And look! Maybe I’ll even be able to condense two Silver Falls in the future!"

Vale could only look at her with stunned silence. Techniques are as much mentality as anything else. For her to be able to do that....even Vale was using the actual power of binding, but she’s using her pure mental power.

She’s really a genius.

Vale raised his sword, already pumping it up and ready, shining above him with radiance. "I have a name for this technique that can only be used from upward to downward. I’ll name it after a technique that I don’t have anymore. Dominion Slash!"

Vale brought his sword down.

The sword light came down like a half red moon, hellfire and red light twisting together as they cut down like morning light. And it was met with Silver Fall.

An explosion went off, blasting the air and shaking the Knights in the air. Cold and fire once again spread, but Vale was left dissatisfied.

It wasn’t like anything that Morvane did. That one had a sharpness that was inherent, and even putting more power into it didn’t help Vale. He narrowed his eyes as he looked at WaterLord on her platform and noticed that she only took a single step back.

’....what I did was no different from throwing a fireball but in a wide arc....’

With one Silver Fall hovering around her, Freya looked at Vale with a strange expression before her face cleared and she glared at him. "Are you....actually using me to train?"

Vale blinked at her, then his voice turned slightly mocking. "Didn’t you just call me a stone to sharpen your sword? Do you think you are the only prodigy and genius?"

She stiffened.