"Kh!" The guy gritted his teeth, knowing it would be hard for him to escape. He had to make some sacrifices.
"Black Wave." He placed his hand on the ground and created a wave of black energy, swallowing everything around it.
Unfortunately, the lightning dragon exploded and the black flame devoured a portion of the wave, causing it to be in disarray.
Meanwhile, Noel and Anna were completely fine just by taking a few steps back.
It seemed the guy had chosen Noel to be the weaker one as he went straight to Noel, planning to create a chance to escape.
'It seems I have been underestimated.' Noel narrowed his eyes and summoned his fire.
Flame Conjuring.
This time, he formed a huge hand on top of his head. This hand was made of black fire, so the opponent would instantly become wary.
As expected, the guy turned around and used all his strength to stomp the ground, gathering all that energy in his lower body to jump into the other side of the street.
Surprisingly, Noel could keep up with him as he followed the same movement. He used the black palm to attack him anyway, the real body still hadn't made its move.
"Annoying!" The guy shouted while smacking Noel with his sword.
Noel blocked this attack, but the guy showed the difference in their strength again by blowing Noel away.
The mysterious person realized he could simply overpower Noel with his raw strength alone. As long as he could avoid the black flame, he would be fine.
Unfortunately for him, the moment the guy charged forward with that thought in mind, Noel activated his Strength Blessing Rune.
"!!!" They exchanged looks as both of them were confident in their strength.
*Clink!*
Their swords clicked, creating a small gale. But to their surprise, both of them were holding on.
'How?' The mysterious guy panicked because he didn't expect Noel to be this strong despite being a Spirit Master.
Meanwhile, Noel was quite surprised to see that his Strength Blessing Rune couldn't allow him to overpower this Spirit Master. He believed this was the reason why there was a gap between the Spirit Wielder and the Spirit Master.
If he was fighting this guy alone, it would be dangerous for him.
However, Anna was the original target of this guy.
With him stopping this mysterious person, Anna took advantage of that situation to approach him from behind. She had covered her entire body with the lightning, ready to eliminate the target.
The guy gritted his teeth and turned around, slashing the blade at Anna to push her away.
Unlike Noel's black flame, the black energy from the mysterious guy still managed to deflect Anna's lightning.
Noel obviously didn't plan to just watch from the side. He joined the fight, trying to kill this guy with one single hit to his vital area.
Both Noel and Anna didn't use a big technique yet because it would be bad for the town. At the same time, they prevented their enemies from using one by continuously attacking him.
In just a minute, all of them had fought for thirty rounds. However, none of them actually managed to land a scratch after that.
Knowing they needed a long time to handle this enemy, Noel decided to play a mind trick by saying, "It seems that the Count's information is right. This guy is still someone we can handle. Let's proceed carefully. The Count will reach this place soon."
Anna was surprised that Noel painted the Count in a good light. But there was only one reason for Noel to do it.
She nodded with a smile. "Understood. We shall suppress him."
The Supreme Devil Organization wanted the Count's experiment and his expertise to create an army of a demon. They would go to a great length to get the Count.
But it seemed the latter remained loyal to the kingdom. Although he had underestimated the Supreme Devil Organization just by using two Spirit Wielders, it didn't change the fact their combat prowess could reach him.
That was why the guy was convinced that the Count had betrayed them.
"I'm going to kill all of you!" He was thoroughly angered. The black energy wrapped his body completely.
Anna could see that he was draining his Spiritual Energy by using this technique. However, the power from it was also tremendous.
"Don't kill him yet. We have to torture him!" Noel was fearless, thinking he could still win.
Anna was confused for a moment, but everything was clear when she saw Noel's eyes. She nodded, "Alright."
"Bold of you to assume you're strong enough to defeat me!" The guy pointed his palm at Anna and Noel.
Both arms released a few tentacles.
'The black energy is expanding into a tentacle?' Anna widened her eyes in surprise. She hurriedly jumped back to gain some distance, taking this chance to observe him.
Noel, on the other hand, was fearless as he sent forth his black fire, burning it.
"Aaarrgggghhhhh!" The guy looked like he felt a burning sensation. Though, he didn't seem to care as he continued extending the tentacles.
Noel conjured another palm with his fire and tried to smack the tentacles away.
To his surprise, the tentacles actually wrapped the palm and ended up crushing it.
"What?!" Noel was shocked and took a step back. This was the first time someone overpowered his black flame.
Meanwhile, Anna was also striking these tentacles with her lightning sword. She was also dodging since the tentacles kept coming at her.
"He's using too much Spiritual Energy. If we can hold on for a while, he should be exhausted." Anna shouted, warning Noel.
"In that case…" Noel placed his hand on the ground.
This action garnered the guy's attention. It looked like Noel wouldn't be able to dodge properly by making that gesture. But the moment he pounced on him, Noel rolled a few times to avoid him.
That was when the guy landed on the ground Noel touched earlier. Unexpectedly, the ground was so soft that it felt like mud, making him stumble.
"Got him again."
