Cassandra, the Vice Commander of the Wargrave Knight Order, was present at this moment. She was the one destined to take over Yveric's position as Commander once he either retired or fell in battle. However, Yveric was permanently stationed within Wargrave territory, guarding it throughout the year without reprieve. Cassandra, who was meant to be gaining experience in real combat and command, could not afford to be stuck there with him.

And who better to gain experience under than the Duke himself, the one hailed as the strongest Wargrave… at least until Malrik had stepped onto the stage and openly competed for that title.

From their various missions, Azaron stood as the Commander, while Cassandra acted as the Vice Commander, learning directly under his command and observation. This was not merely a battlefield; it was a living classroom for her.

Cassandra had not made a single move since their arrival at the hidden location. Although she had been genuinely shocked by the Duke's ability to teleport over five hundred people at once, an act bordering on absurdity, she had not allowed that shock to dull her awareness. She remained sharp and focused, silently listening as the Duke conversed with the Assassin Guild Leader.

Then, without warning, a terrifying force slammed into her body with ridiculous impact.

Cassandra was sent tearing backward through the air, her feet leaving the ground as though she had been struck by a mountain. She was not the only one. The rest of the Wargrave Knights were also thrown violently away, each of them hurled by the shockwave of what was nothing more than a missed attack.

They were not alone.

Even the so-called assassins were flung backward, their bodies smashing into buildings, walls, and pavement as the shockwave ravaged the battlefield indiscriminately.

"Rise to your feet, reorgani—"

The moment Cassandra's voice rose to command the Knights back into formation, her words froze in her throat. In the next instant, an enormous torrent of energy erupted from the Duke, crashing into everything around him with power sufficient to level entire territories.

"BRACE FOR IMPACT!" she screamed at the top of her lungs. Yet even as the words left her mouth, Cassandra recognized the delusion behind her command. What could these Knights possibly do to brace for an impact born from a Crownstar Life Rank being?

The answer was painfully simple. Nothing.

They couldn't even see him move. They couldn't see him gather power or channel an attack. How could they possibly brace for something that existed far beyond their perception?

Even Cassandra herself could not keep up.

Although she stood firmly at the Soulstar Life Rank, the difference between a Soulstar Life Ranker and a Crownstar Life Ranker was no different from the difference between a Crownstar Life Ranker and a mortal beast. The gap was not merely large, it was a bottomless chasm.

She understood that they were only barely surviving because the Duke was restraining himself due to their proximity. If Azaron had unleashed a true attack without restraint, the landscape would already have ceased to exist.

Yet the very moment that thought crossed her mind, Azaron's plasma erupted outward and leveled the entire battlefield, burning the world down to cinders and embers. The heat surged violently, continuing to climb higher and higher. Cassandra felt the earth beneath her feet liquefy in real time, transforming into molten flames.

'Such power…' she thought to herself.

'Is this the might of the Peak?' she wondered.

With the absurd physique granted to someone at the Soulstar Life Rank, normal flames and heat meant nothing to her. She could stand amidst infernos without even noticing them. Yet now, her skin felt as though it were burning simply from the aftermath of a single casual attack.

Her lungs grew heavy. It felt as though the weight of the world itself pressed down upon her shoulders merely from existing within the same space as two Crownstar Life Rank beings.

Her gaze snapped behind her instantly as she checked on the condition of the other Knights. To even qualify as one of the Knights personally selected by the Duke, one had to be at least at the Radiant Wavestar Life Rank, the peak of the seventh rank. And yet, every single one of them was helpless against the mere aftermath of a casual attack.

'Good… they're all alive,' she thought, relief flickering briefly through her mind. Her focus immediately shifted away from them. This was the price of following someone as powerful as the Duke, the difference in power was simply too vast.

Her eyes snapped toward the Suns and the Moons.

The Third Sun, the Third Moon, and the Fifth Sun had also been stripped from their pristine condition, even with Wuthenya, the Second Moon, actively protecting them using her lunar energy.

This time, Cassandra did not order the Knights to rise as she had earlier. She knew better now. They would only stand long enough to be thrown back once more by another shockwave. Instead, she ordered them to stay low.

She was certain that Azaron and the Assassin Guild Leader, Valentine, would take the battle away from this location. Otherwise, a single serious collision between the two would annihilate every ally present on both sides. Neither faction wanted that outcome, both had invested immense resources into training their Knights and assassins.

The tension in the air snapped like a taut bowstring.

Before Cassandra could even blink or form another thought, both the Duke and the Assassin Guild Leader vanished completely.

Faster than a blink, faster than a thought, faster than anything she had ever seen or achieved.

A thunderous boom followed, the sound lagging far behind their movement like thunder trailing lightning. The speed of sound itself was pitifully slow in comparison.

The moment they were gone, Cassandra rose fully to her feet, her presence flaring violently as her voice tore through the devastated battlefield.

"Knights of Wargrave! The time to prove your worth has come, CHARGE!" she bellowed at the top of her lungs.

Though every Knight had been injured and thrown off balance earlier, they recalibrated instantly. They were Knights of Wargrave. They served the Wargraves. Nothing would hold them back.

"HOOOOO!!!"

Thunderous battle cries split the sky as, in a burst of rampaging Astra Energy, every single Knight surged forward in the name of Wargrave.

Cassandra remained where she stood, her eyes sweeping across the battlefield. Yet no matter how hard she tried, she could neither see nor sense the Duke or the Assassin Guild Leader anymore.

"Such power…" she murmured quietly.

But she immediately cast the thought aside. She was talented, talented enough to reach that realm through her own effort. She knew it would only take time.

Her presence flared explosively into the sky, the battlefield quaking beneath the weight of her existence. With Azaron and Valentine gone, she became the queen of this battlefield. Even Wuthenya would have to take a backseat for now.

Her gaze locked onto the individual she had already identified as the Vice Guild Leader of the Assassin Guild. Without hesitation, Cassandra summoned her chakram weapons into her hands. Without exchanging a single word, she launched herself forward like a cannonball. She was not here to preach or exchange pleasantries, she was here to fulfill her duty.

Her chakrams descended, and the battlefield screamed beneath her might.

_______

AUTHOR'S NOTE: We are just 70 golden tickets away from touching the 1,000 golden tickets mark. Remember the golden tickets event? Every golden ticket you give automatically doubles... Let's keep climbing, people...

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