"ANNA STARGAZE!" Noel waved his sword toward the mastermind who caused the downfall of his family.
*Clang!*
A green-colored sword stood in Noel's way, blocking Ardagan easily. Anna's body had tilted to the side with her eyes staring at Noel.
"I just saved you from this demon and now you want to kill me?!" Anna asked with a shocked expression. However, she already knew that Noel wouldn't be able to control himself.
With just a single glance, it was clear that Noel would continue to attack her. So, Anna used both hands to push Noel's back before letting the sword slide downwards, allowing her to avoid it with a leap.
In the air, she spun her body and sent a kick right at Noel's arm. Even though she didn't look that strong, a single kick from her launched Noel away.
Rolling a few times on the ground, Noel finally stopped a few meters from the group.
"!!!" Alfred and Lezlev dropped their jaws, shocked. Anna just showed a strength similar to the demon they fought earlier. However, she had a small build and her arms didn't look it had muscle.
Yet, they couldn't deny what they had just witnessed either. They didn't know how Anna could release that much power with that body.
On the other hand, Noel was gnashing his teeth as he was trying to endure the pain on his right arm.
With all that pain, he somehow managed to stand up and prepared to attack her again. How could he wait anymore? The person that destroyed his family and killed his parents were in front of him. This kind of chance might not come again.
"I don't come here to fight you, Noel." Anna sighed. Even though their current age was the same, she had regressed. Her soul was much older than her current age, so she couldn't help but call Noel with his name like an older woman calling a small kid in the street.
"Don't call me with that poisonous mouth of yours!" Noel rushed toward her and thrust his sword.
"You're not strong enough to fight me, let alone killing me." Anna shook her head helplessly and struck Noel's blade, letting it slid on her own blade and causing Noel to continue moving forward.
When they were only half a meter away, Anna grabbed Noel's shirt and twisted it before throwing Noel to the ground with his own momentum.
"Gah!" Noel coughed a few times as his whole body felt hurt.
But before he could do anything, he suddenly felt something pressing his back. Soon, two shoes stepped on both of his hands, pinning his body and hands to the ground to restrain him.
"!!!" Noel glanced to the back and saw Anna sitting on his back with her feet restraining his two hands. "You!"
"You have been a smart guy since the start… Why do you become a fool right now?" Anna let out a long sigh. "Do you think you can kill me now? Just give up. If I wanted to kill you, you'd be dead already. But I'm not here for your life."
"I don't care. No matter what I'm going to kill you." Noel roared before Anna's hand grabbed his head and pinned it down, completely restraining him this time.
"Kill her!" Noel then looked at Lezlev and Alfred.
"This…" Lezlev and Alfred exchanged looks, wondering what they should do. On the one hand, this was the first time they saw Noel this angry. On the other hand, they knew Anna had just saved his life.
As for the story between them, they were completely unaware since they didn't participate in the throne war.
"She must have been hiding since she could appear in such a perfect time! In other words, she has been following us this whole time. Are you going to trust her?!" Noel tried to convince them. And it was indeed a good argument, considering Anna's appearance was perfect.
Anna lowered her head, thinking, 'I start regretting my decision to choose this group instead of others… At first, I want to observe Noel further because of his potential, but it seems that I'm too rash. Ugh, even in my past life, I'm not that good in mind battles like this. The only good thing from my past life was the techniques I learned as well as my experiences… What should I do now?'
After thinking for a while, Anna explained to Lezlev and Alfred. "I have been following you three. That's true."
"…" The two guys remained silent, but they still furrowed their eyebrows because it was truly unpleasant to know someone tailing them like this.
"That's right. Don't trust this woman! If not, she will ruin your family!" Noel didn't forget to add some flames.
However, Anna added, "I won't deny what I've done. However, all that is for a good reason. I am trying to find a team that can help me with something and your group is actually the first one to figure out the essence of this test. So, I think you guys are the perfect fit."
"Help you with something?" Alfred asked, "What is that?"
"I'm not pretty sure right now, but there's been a strange movement lately. I'm afraid this movement might cause a small outbreak and endanger the people here, especially you trainees."
"What? Demon outbreak?" Lezlev dropped his jaw to the ground as his face became pale, terrified.
"Yes. Although this is not confirmed yet, I'd like to prepare something in advance. At the very least, I want to save as many people as possible. Though, this means you're going to give up the record… Of course, I'm going to talk to the commander about this, so your contribution won't go unrewarded. What do you think?"
"I'm not going! I won't trust you!" Noel shouted as he was shaking his body to throw her away but to no avail. "Don't trust her! If you trust her, she will ruin your life!"
"Sure. I'll help you." Alfred suddenly answered. He didn't even need to think for long.
"Yes. I agree." Lezlev nodded in agreement.
"What?" Noel looked at them in horror. Lezlev aside, Alfred seemed to have some conflicts in his family that required him to clear the mission as soon as possible, but it didn't take too long for him to accept the request.
He felt the little trust that he had built with Alfred and Lezlev just broke apart.
