When the conflict was about to explode, Noel took a step back as if he was a bigger person. He said with a calm smile, "Though, I'm interested in this bet of yours. It's just that I don't know the details of the bet. What are you planning with that little competition?"
Igor's body shook. He didn't expect Noel to suddenly step back. But seeing how Noel was interested, he decided to explain. "Fight Shawn. Both of you are Spirit Wielder."
"Interesting." Noel smirked.
"Noel!" Paul shouted, not agreeing to this competition.
However, Noel raised his hand as if asking him to stop. This was his decision after all.
He thought for a moment and said, "Fighting the Supreme Devil Organization is mandatory. You can't use it as a chip for gambling."
"!!!" The people from the Demon Relief Squad were stunned, never expecting Noel to agree to this. Then again, Rose felt Noel had another intention.
The fact that he planned to change the chip meant he was planning to get something from the Demon Hunting Squad.
Igor couldn't say anything since Noel had made it clear that the Supreme Devil Organization was the enemy. So, he had to change his reward.
After some thought, Igor ended up asking, "What do you want?"
Noel smirked. "I should be the one asking you. What can you offer? After all, you're the one who wants to invite me, right?"
Igor fell silent for a moment. His bloodlust and fighting intent gradually disappeared as he started using his brain to think about the solution.
"If you come to my group, I'm planning to make you join the Zero Squad and give you a chance to fight for my seat. It's clear that you have the potential to reach it. So, I don't understand what you actually want."
"If you don't even know what I want, how can you even try to poach me from the Demon Relief Squad? After all, this squad is ranked higher than the Demon Hunting Squad." Noel harrumphed, provoking him again.
Surprisingly, this time, Igor didn't raise his voice as if he knew about the fact already. He just tried to see what Noel was planning to do.
Igor closed his eyes for a moment before giving a suggestion. "If you win, you can request one thing from me. I won't reject it as long as I can give it to you."
A blank check.
Noel actually got a blank check from the Demon Hunting Squad's Captain if he won this competition.
However, the price was also quite heavy. After all, Noel had been with the Demon Relief Squad for a while. It wouldn't be easy to simply ditch them even if he planned to use them as a stepping stone.
Igor added, "But if you lose, you have to join my Demon Hunting Squad. What do you think?"
"One-on-one fight, huh?" Noel smirked. "Fine by me."
"!!!" Paul and the others were surprised that Noel actually agreed to this. Although the reward was big and they had some trust in Noel, they were afraid that Noel would end up losing because of some circumstances.
Noel had become a big part of their group after a while, so they didn't want to lose him.
Unfortunately for them, Noel had agreed. Rose, who had chosen to follow Noel, considered joining the Demon Hunting Squad to follow him. She was indebted to the Demon Relief Squad, especially the captain, but Noel was the one who avenged her. She didn't know what to do.
It was then she saw Noel's smile as if everything was going according to his plan.
"Fine. I agree." Noel finally gave his answer.
At this party, they were going to see the most promising rookie from their Demon Hunting Squad fighting against a new member of the Demon Relief Squad. It was a fight worth seeing since they could see the gap between the two squads.
If the Demon Hunting Squad lost, they could see Noel's true strength and potential to find out how far the Demon Relief Squad planned to go in the squad ranking.
If the Demon Relief Squad lost, they could get this rookie Noel who was completely fearless against their captain. Obviously, Noel had a lot of achievements under his belt, so it wasn't their loss if they could get him.
That was why this battle excited most of the people inside the base.
"Since you have agreed…" Igor raised his hand and shouted, "All you guys! Prepare the stage!"
"Ooh!" The people from the Demon Hunting Squad cheered as they immediately cleared the area and created a small boundary for those two.
Noel was talking with his group after this decision. He first apologized for not consulting with them. Then, he told them to believe in him.
Paul gritted his teeth. He wanted to berate Noel's actions, but he couldn't say anything because he knew Noel treated them as his stepping stones. It was clear that Noel could easily switch sides as long as they provided the chance to rebuild his family, which meant becoming a noble.
However, only Rose, who was supposed to be his assistant, came up with a wild but Noel-like guess.
'Wait a minute. If he is treating the squad as his stepping stone, isn't it the same for the Demon Hunting Squad? In that case, is he planning to force Igor to give him the captain position so that he can rebuild his family? Then again, Igor will reject it because he is not strong enough… I still can't see through his plan.' Rose sighed, disappointed that she didn't know about her lord's plan.
After talking with them for a while, Noel stepped onto the arena while unsheathing his blade. Shawn was in front of him, ready to defeat him to show who was stronger.
Igor became the referee, making sure they didn't go overboard.
"Remember. No killing, no permanent injury, and no hard feelings. After this fight, both of you have to move on and the bet shall be fulfilled. Do you understand?"
"Yes," Shawn answered with a cold tone while glaring at Noel.
Noel maintained his collected expression and nodded, "I do."
After looking at their expressions one more time, Igor finally stepped back and declared. "Match starts!"
