Helga endured the pain. She was casting a spell when the backstab hit. The stab didn't cause her to stop casting.

Kaghast also ignored the fire damage from the flame shield. He activated Warrior's adrenaline rush, increasing his attack speed as he delivered a flurry of stabs to Helga's body.

Helga's spell was completed. An intense hurricane of flames erupted with her at the center. This flaming tornado engulfed Kaghast who refused to retreat.

Kaghast's body was covered by a translucent light, reducing the damage he received from the flames. The protective light was Ki Armor. He also used Ki Weapon on his katars. Aside from that, his body hardened and became stony. This was Battle Monk's non-standard skill, Stone Body. Aside from increasing defenses, it also negated knockback and increased the user's body weight by many times. This increased weight made him resist powerful force which should have blown him away.

With those buffs, Kaghast forced himself to stay within the flame hurricane and resumed his offense on Helga. He was intent on trading HP with her.

Since it was so, Helga retaliated in kind. She stayed her ground and cast one spell after another while Kaghast assaulted her non-stop.

The two continued to lose HP. But as time passed, it seemed more likely for Kaghast to come out victorious. Helga's HP reduced at a faster rate compared to Kaghast. Despite the two having the same level and grade, a melee combatant had more advantages when engaging at close range. Furthermore, many of Helga's spells had an AOE effect. When they were cast so close to her, she also received the damage. Thus, increasing the rate by which her HP fell.

Aside from Kaghast's persistence, her inability to put a safe distance from Kaghast was also because of the limited space on the deck. With enemy soldiers continuing to jump aboard, the deck became more cramped as time passed.

Even when Helga was in trouble, she still paid attention to Thelgrun. When she saw Thelgrun was in trouble, she cast Repeating Fireballs, which discharged a stream of fireballs. These fireballs struck the ethereal soldiers who were ganging up on Thelgrun.

Due to that, Helga was open. Kaghast didn't let this chance go.

"I've said it before, I'm your opponent!

" Kaghast advanced until his body was right next to Helga. His two arms then grabbed Helga's body and locked it tightly.

Helga was helpless as her body was lifted high while being grappled. She was then slammed hard onto the deck's floor.

What Kaghast used was another non-standard Battle Monk's skill called Grappling Slam. It was a powerful move that dealt high physical damage and caused stun upon impact. Helga's spellcasting was interrupted due to the stun. It also caused Dizzy and Disoriented for a few seconds after the impact.

When Helga was still afflicted by the ailments, Kaghast used his body to pin Helga down on the floor. His abnormal weight due to the stone body skill caused Helga unable to break free. With that restraint, Kaghast rained blow after blow upon the helpless Helga.

Viking wanted to help, but he was having trouble dealing with three World Maker members. In terms of expertise, he was better. He was also a decent martial artist but the World Maker members had better equipment. They also possessed more skills and spells. Masta Chef who was fighting on his side had already been killed by the three.

Helga understood the precariousness of their situation. She couldn't rely on others for help. She cast a spell once she could think clearly.

A tiny orb of flame appeared in the air in front of Kaghast. Kaghast sensed the intensity of this orb of flame. He didn't believe Helga would cast such a spell so near to herself. Before he could react, this orb expanded abruptly. It turned into a large fireball that engulfed both him and Helga.

Kaghast received tremendous flame damage each second as long as he remained inside the fireball. He had no choice but to give up on restraining Helga. He jumped away and out of the fireball.

The fireball Helga cast was called Condensed Flare. The flame was so intense that it burned the deck they were on. When Kaghast jumped away, the floor also gave way. Helga fell to the deck below.

Kaghast decided to not chase Helga. The condensed flare blocked the hole where Helga had dropped into. He turned to the side. A more prominent target was there. Thelgrun were protected by Mamunir and the dwarven soldiers. They stopped the ethereal soldiers from ganging up on the president.

When Kaghast was about to go over to capture the dwarven president, he heard a commotion. Cannon fires were heard but from far away. The sounds were too far to be within the perimeter where they surrounded the Palgrost armada.

As he looked into the distance. He saw explosions on one of their ships. The side of the explosions showed that they were hit by someone from outside their perimeter. An unknown enemy had come into play!

*

Since the battle started, Liguritudum's galleons and galleasses continued to form a barricade while firing at Palgrost's ships from every angle. At the same time, they sent their frigates and caravels into the enemy's midst to sow disorder. Those vessels were small and fast enough to sail in between the enemy ships while delivering bombardment from within. As for their carracks, they would be focusing on enemy ships that tried to break out from their barricade.

With the enemies pinned down, it was only a matter of time before the Palgrost's armada was sunk. However, Kaghast preferred a victory where they gained the enemy's ships to strengthen their armada. Hence, he and the other men-of-war charged in and targeted the enemy's flagship. If they could capture Palgrost's President, they could force the entire fleet to surrender and capture the enemy ships.

If they increased the number of ships in their fleet, they would increase their armada's power. They could better secure the river at the border. The enemy's armies who tried to cross this river would have to suffer great losses to get into Liguritudum.

Even if they failed to prevent the enemies from crossing the border, Liguritudum's land possessed many large rivers. They could continue to bombard the enemies marching through their territory. There was even a large lake behind Dritzuut, Liguritudum's capital. From the rivers, their armada could sail into this lake, and then rain cannon fires on the enemies who attempted to lay siege on the capital.

With such terrains, enemies who wished to conquer the Liguritudum Realm would have to first defeat its armada.

This was why Kaghast not only desired to defeat Palgrost's armada. He also desired to capture as many intact ships as possible from the Palgrost armada to bolster their own. He knew his country had lost a great deal of land units during the battle in Hydrurond. If Liguritudum wished to repel the invaders, they needed a stronger armada.

However, not long after Kaghast led the men-of-war charging in the enemy flagship's direction, a fleet of unknown origin sailed in from the Blackmaw Strait.