A few minutes later.
Richard walked to Rose while looking at the bridge. "What do you think?"
Despite his pride, it seemed he was concerned about the condition of his headquarters. Without the supply, they wouldn't last long. So, he wanted the bridge to be fixed as soon as possible even if it meant he had to ask for help.
"I can't give you any answer right now since I have to inspect every corner to check its condition." Rose shook her head. "We should be able to give you a rough calculation in fifteen minutes."
"Alright. My team will be on the lookout."
Rose nodded and walked around with Noel. She was the one in charge of teaching Noel about construction and how to roughly estimate their life from their condition.
It was an eye-opener for Noel, considering he might have to repair some roads or bridges in his territory.
After some discussion, Paul informed Richard. "The damage is a lot, but most of it is superficial. There is no crack on the main pillar and the support is well-built. But since not all of us can repair it due to the presence of two demon nests, we might need around… five days.
"It would help if you could help us bring some materials to replace the crushed parts. But it depends on your choice."
Richard looked down, contemplating. "We'll hunt the demons first. I think it won't take too long for us to handle all those demons. At most, one or two days."
"Are you sure? You're not going to check the nest's situation and calculate their number first?"
"We have our own method to measure the enemy's strength. It'll take at most one hour for it. If you can trust that judgment, then we'll be able to hunt them quicker."
Paul couldn't really trust Richard, but he didn't seem to be lying. He knew the Demon Hunting Squad was known for its hunt, so they must have their own ways of tracking their enemies, including calculating the number of their targets.
"Since a Spirit Grandmaster such as yourself is going with them, I'll tell them to trust your opinion, except it's too ridiculous."
"Fine by me." Richard and Paul reached an agreement.
Both of them seemed to have thought the same thing after working together. 'He doesn't seem to be that annoying when working together. He knows the priority.'
Meanwhile, the short-haired woman and their new guy were still skeptical about the Demon Relief Squad. They believed their squad was the best in hunting. But their new guy couldn't help but stare at Noel, who was at the same level despite being a few years younger.
The short-haired woman was observing Rose, who was teaching Noel, since she was the new guy, Shawn, mentor.
Of course, Noel and Rose felt their gazes but chose to ignore them. They just went straight to their jobs and after the assessment, they split up to join their own team.
There were eight people as vanguards. Richard brought Becky and Shawn as planned while Stella, Ben, Zion, Jonathan, and Noel.
"Alright. Since our target is a nest, I need to split up the team into three." Richard announced as his gaze fell on Noel. "You're the weakest among them, so you're going with me since it'll be the safest. The woman and the big guy can go with Shawn. Although he is still a newbie, he knows how our squad works, so I hope you two can provide some support to him.
"Lastly, the gloomy-looking guy and this average-looking guy can go with Becky. Becky is a killing machine, so you just have to provide backup."
They exchanged looks before nodding their heads, agreeing to the arrangement. Noel had no objection since he could observe their vice captain personally.
"Are we going straight to their nest?" Noel asked.
"Yes. We'll be moving like an arrow. In other words, if we see any demons, depending on their location, the respective group will handle them." Richard nodded, explaining it to Noel. Becky and Shawn seemed to be explaining the same thing to their own teammates.
As soon as they finished their brief discussion, Richard turned around and said, "Make sure you follow me. I'm not good at holding back."
"Yes." Noel nodded with a calm tone.
As soon as Noel answered him, Richard started running. And his speed was even faster than when they ran together.
"!!!" Noel was startled for a second, realizing Richard had crossed twenty meters in just two seconds.
Not wanting to be left behind, Noel channeled his Spiritual Energy into his muscles to boost his speed before chasing Richard.
As expected, even with this power, he still couldn't follow his speed. Becky and the rest of the Spirit Masters around them seemed to be able to follow, but Noel and Shawn had a hard time keeping up with them.
Shawn was utilizing a lot of Spiritual Energy to keep up with him, while Noel had to use his Increase Agility Rune to catch up.
Seeing how Shawn suffered, Noel also applied the rune to him.
"!!!" Shawn was surprised at first before gritting his teeth as if telling Noel he didn't need his support. Of course, Noel just ignored him.
The strategy actually worked. Whenever there were demons coming at them, each group would react differently. If the demons came from the left, Becky would take care of them. The same applied to Shawn on the right.
Meanwhile, Richard took care of the middle. With his power, he blasted all the demons in front, so there weren't many things for Noel to do.
However, Noel could see the essence of this strategy. By utilizing their speed, they could kill the demons while heading to their nest as quickly as possible. This way, the demons wouldn't have time to inform the demons around them, which would cause a chain reaction that might alarm the nest. Though, it needed a lot of Spiritual Energy to do this job.
'So, this is how the Demon Hunting Squad works. I've promised Anna to buy her some time… I guess I have to change my plan a bit.'
