Immediately, Tilon pulled the shield from his back, placing it in front of him with a large grunting sound.

"I don't think talking is really an option. The one thing we need to do is to make sure that the Dark Magus is protected, and his current state is a secret!" Tilon declared.

"It looks like I have received my answer!" Amir stated, pushing off one foot from his position. A giant wave of sand exploded behind him.

It looked like the sea of sand was being split in half. When he got in position, he lifted his foot forward and stuck it out like a spear, hardened and encased in Qi. The attack shot straight ahead, hitting the shield with force.

'Argh, there's so much power and force, is this person really a stage 8 warrior? Is it possible that they could be a stage 9!' Tilon was using his own Qi to push back, but his whole body still slid right across the sand.

He needed to be ready for a follow-up attack, but that was when Lilly came in with her spear. She spun it in a circle in the air before thrusting it forward.

The Qi lingered, creating a visual circle that pushed forward along with the tip of the spear.

Seeing this, Amir lifted his leg up high, to the point where the tip of his foot was right next to his face. He then slammed it down, slicing through the visual Qi and landing on the tip of the weapon, causing Lilly's spear point to hit the floor.

"Shield rush!" Tilon shouted as he came from the side and bashed Amir right off Lilly's spear tip.

Amir stumbled but quickly started to do somersaults in the air and landed back on his two feet, with his hands behind his back standing there.

"Be careful, Lilly, this guy, he's incredibly strong," Tilon commented.

With the two of them, they thought if they had come across someone at the same strength as Feebie, that they would be able to make do, but it didn't seem to be the case at all.

"It looks like you were wrong about your guess from before as well. It wasn't a small group, but just a single man that dealt with all of that," Lilly replied.

"So what do you suggest we do?" Tilon asked. "If the situation was too tough, we were asked to head back."

Lilly, with her spear in her hand, started to spin it rapidly. It was blowing the sand all over the place, and the spear itself was lighting up as well.

"The thing is, I don't think he's just going to let us go!" Lilly shouted as she slammed her spear on the floor.

The attack shot out, and even though Amir was over ten meters away, the attack sent a surge of energy his way.

Amir moved to the side, jumping out of the way of the attack, and jumped from side to side. It was hard for the two of them to follow with their eyes.

"You guys are pretty strong; you're not just some low-rate middle-stage warriors!" Amir exclaimed as he finally went for the attack, sending out a kick.

Tilon blocked it with his shield, and Lilly thrust her spear forward.

The spear was kicked out of the way as Amir's leg was just as strong, or if not stronger than the spear itself. When going in for an attack on Lilly, though, Tilon was there with his shield blocking each attack one after the other.

The two of them were doing just enough to hold back Amir, but there was a clear difference in facial expressions between the two.

While Tilon and Lilly were struggling with what was going on, Amir looked calm. They were being pushed back, and it was obvious who would get worn out first.

"I need to break this stalemate!" Tilon shouted as he placed the shield underneath his feet and then jumped on it.

The shield slammed into the floor, creating a large field of sand to be kicked up.

"Lilly, get out of here and call the others for help; I'll hold him back for as long as possible!" Tilon shouted.

Usually, she would argue, but she knew it would be pointless, and Tilon's sacrifice would be in vain if she were to do such a thing.

So she decided to rush off, running as fast as she could. She even placed her spear on the ground and then vaulted herself forward a large distance across the sand.

When the dust finally settled, Tilon was there looking at Amir, who was still standing in his confident state.

"Who are you? You're not one of the Clan Heads, are you? How are you so strong?" Tilon asked.

Amir smiled in response.

"I could ask you the same thing. I know every Clan Head, and those that might be able to give me trouble in the Dark Faction, and yet I don't recognize you or your friend."

"Anyway, it's interesting to know that there are others."

"Well, a word of advice." Tilon kicked the edge of his shield, lifting it in the air, and he caught it, bracing his shoulder against it. "You should finish me off before they arrive; otherwise, you're going to be in a lot of trouble."

Amir then jumped back, and as he did, he continued on until he was standing in front of the portal. He wasn't directly in front of the portal, but still around fifty meters in front of it.

"Me attack you? No, it's fine; go ahead and follow that girl, go to the others, and bring back your friends, however many of them there are."

"This is the reason why I'm here in the first place. I want to see who is exactly here and why," Amir stated.

The distance between the two was large; if Tilon ran now, it would be hard for the other to catch up. It seemed as if the stranger's offer was a serious one, but why?

A feeling of dread was felt inside Tilon's body.

Was he so confident that he believed he could take down the whole Crimson Crane members on his own?

"Who are you?" Tilon shouted.