Anna waved her hand while hiding behind a huge tree, taking a peek at the demon not far from them. Since the demon was controlled to take a rest, it left a gap for them to exploit.
Noel took advantage of it and quietly moved to Anna. They had been doing this for two hours, approaching the cave.
It was truly hard because of the number of demons in this place. However, it wasn't impossible because the demons wouldn't be wandering too much like what happened during the day.
After passing this obstacle, they walked again, climbing the mountain. Noel thought the cave was located near the top of the mountain, but he soon found he was mistaken.
Anna began to climb down and head to a small valley next to the mountain.
Even though he had many questions in his mind, Noel didn't utter a single sound because of their current situation. He didn't want his sound to be heard by the demons and caused them to alarm the people from the Supreme Devil Organization.
Although he had Dimitri, Noel never confirmed Dimitri's existence and strength. Even if he believed Dimitri's existence through the letter from his father, he didn't know about his true strength.
Noel didn't know that Dimitri had the power to fight a Devil Bishop and believed his strength to be somewhere around Devil Inspector. Hence, he never considered Dimitri as a part of the plan, even if he had to destroy such a treasure.
That was why Noel had been following Anna quietly this whole time. As long as they could use the treasure and leave this place before dawn, this trip would be considered useful.
It took another hour before they reached the valley and surprisingly, he didn't pick any presence with his Demon Hunter Medal.
Noel abruptly stopped while looking around.
"What are you doing?" Anna asked in a low voice.
"I don't feel any demons in our surroundings." Noel explained while furrowing his eyebrows.
"That's good then. The bunch from the Supreme Devil Organization must have thought of it the wrong way." Anna pointed at the mountain. "They thought the liquid is on the mountain, but that's not true. I'll explain it to you after we enter the cave."
Anna stopped talking and began to move a bit faster, heading straight to the end of the valley.
With her back facing a steep slope, Anna turned around and smiled, "We've arrived."
Even though the night covered the valley with darkness, Noel and Anna had their Moon Blessing, allowing them to see the night brighter.
The valley was covered in a short grass and didn't seem to have been touched by outsiders. With the light from the moon, it looked like Anna was basking in a blue, graceful light.
The happiness that was reflected by that smile somehow warmed up the cool and serene atmosphere.
This might be the first time Noel traveled to a beautiful place like this without carrying his hatred. Even when Anna brought him to a cliff with a beautiful view, he didn't think much about it.
But because the letter from his father, Noel somehow saw the world a bit more differently. It felt like there was a sound in his heart, telling him that the world wasn't just about hatred.
Noel closed his eyes for a moment, recalling the world he had seen after his parents' deaths. It felt like he had lost his hope and the color disappeared from this world.
In that black and white world, Noel stood there alone. He felt cold and lonely because this was the first time he stood by himself without any support from his family.
He remembered the two soldiers who brought him to the Demon Banner Army. He couldn't forget about their stature, but he couldn't recall their faces as if he had put it away from them.
It might be due to his heart back then, but Anna's face felt different. Her beautiful smile looked like a sly, devilish smile. There was also an instance when she beat him up. He didn't know it at first but when he saw Anna like this, he understood Anna was only acting this whole time.
She had to act to fool the marquis because there should be someone who followed her. After all, there was no way the marquis would allow his daughter to go without any protection.
Noel didn't know what Anna had done in the previous life. In his memory, the only bad thing Anna had done in this life was the execution of his parents, which turned out to be a lie.
He didn't know what his previous life thought about Anna who once had killed many innocent people, behaved like a tyrannical nobles, and thought others as nothing but mere ants.
He didn't know his previous life actually tried to change Anna for the better. No one knew the reason and why he did it, only to let her die in the previous life.
Just for a second, Noel forgot about all his problems and saw the real world. The cool and slightly earthy smell associated with the grass entered his nose. The grass regained its beautiful green color.
And Anna standing in the distance, waving her hand to invite him. Noel had a complicated emotion when realizing he was sealing himself in his own world to protect himself.
He didn't want to be betrayed anymore, so he only buried that hatred to Anna in his heart and kept reminding himself to work together with her only for the sake of getting stronger without getting attached to her.
Despite all his kind and genuine words to other, Noel felt like he was only acting on how he had been taught by his father.
Noel couldn't help but want to punch his father for putting him in this spot. He wondered if his father never manipulated the situation that made Anna look evil, would they be able to work together and raise to an even higher position? Could they act like what their parents did?
Could they become best friends that would be able to sacrifice their own lives for the other?
An image of his father standing side by side with Marquis Stargaze flashed in his mind. With a smile on their faces, they fought all the problems coming toward them.
At the same time, a blurry image came together with it. It was an image of Noel and Anna who watched each other's back on the battlefield. Even with the blood covering their clothes, the smiles on their faces hadn't faded away because they knew there was a reliable person watching their back.
Seeing this image, a tear couldn't help but form in the corner of Noel's right eye because the image was soon shattered because of this whole situation.
