They didn't understand why Noel's reaction was so big. But seeing how desperate he was, they thought it would be bad if those two escaped. Hence, they chased after them and chose to ask him later.
Unfortunately, the two Spirit Grandmasters had made their first move to escape. Even with Jonathan and Igor, it was impossible to catch up to them.
The best they could do was to maintain their distance, but the enemies had prepared another wave of demons, which ended up stopping their chase.
Igor unleashed his beastly strength to crush all the demons as they gradually retreated to clean up the base.
Unfortunately, it seemed that the enemies managed to escape before they reached him. They noticed a few more signals exploding in the sky, which was enough to inform all the Spirit Masters on their side.
"Kh…" Noel gritted his teeth while standing on top of the wall, looking in all directions.
Next to him was Igor and the Demon Relief Squad. Igor was confused as to why Noel wanted to do all this, so he asked, "Why is it bad to let them escape? Although the Supreme Devil Organization is our enemy, we're not going to send our people to a possible trap… So, I'm afraid to inform you that I won't be sending more people… unless you ask me for that favor. Even the commander will understand my reason."
Noel shook his head. He had a headache just from thinking about the possible reasons.
"Your Demon Hunting Squad won't matter that much, I think…" Noel sighed.
"Huh? It's not my squad's problem?" Igor became confused since his base had been attacked like this. There was no way it wasn't his problem.
Noel shook his head. "Their primary objective is us, the Demon Relief Squad."
"What are you talking about?" Igor couldn't understand Noel's words. Even Rose, Jonathan, and Ben tilted their heads, asking each other what he meant.
Noel finally revealed the reason why he couldn't afford to let them leave.
"They have two objectives: the count and the Demon Relief Squad. I can finally understand the reason why those nests are filled to the brim and how the Demon Hunting Squad suffers from many attacks."
Noel narrowed his eyes, realizing the enemies were far smarter than he originally thought. He was completely outplayed in this battle.
"They flooded the area and attacked the Demon Hunting Squad with demons so that the baron would call us.
"And with how we managed to intervene in their plans three times, I'm afraid that the Supreme Devil Organization already knew we were going to disturb their plans again.
"In other words, they assumed that we would know about their movement and stop them… which we did.
"They wanted to confirm that the Demon Relief Squad was a huge threat to them and would go all out to wipe us out. I'm afraid this is their primary objective."
After listening to Noel's senses, his worry made much more sense. Igor thought for a moment and asked the most obvious question. "So, they attacked us because of you?"
"I'm afraid so. I already told you about this, right? We had messed with their plans multiple times."
"True." Igor nodded. He couldn't see that far ahead from Noel's explanation, but it was clear that the Demon Hunting Squad was completely a victim this time. However, he couldn't blame the Demon Relief Squad as well since it was unintentional. And the Supreme Devil Organization was their enemy, so it was fine to lend a hand to kill them.
Meanwhile, Rose got a more in-depth understanding of their current situation. "So, you're saying they did all this to lure us and confirm that possibility… With how they retreated, I could see that.
"But doesn't this mean they're putting the Demon Relief Squad above the Demon Banner Army?"
"More like they put the Zero Squad of the Demon Relief Squad above everything else. They know that we might intervene with their plans again, so it's better to lure us out before exterminating the Zero Squad." Noel nodded while sighing since the future looked bleak.
Rose looked down, contemplating their current situation.
On the other hand, Ben seemed to have a solution. His expression remained calm as if everything was still within the calculation.
He suggested, "Then how about going back to enjoy your time?"
"What?" Noel was confused, while Rose agreed with that suggestion. "I think that's a good idea. Since we have become their target, it's better if we remain hidden for a while until they don't aim for us anymore."
"What are you two talking about?" Noel couldn't figure out their suggestion.
This was when Jonathan came in. He explained, "Four months from now, we'll have a holiday that comes every three years. We will go back to the Demon Relief Squad's headquarters before reporting to the Demon Banner Army's headquarters.
"After that, we will be enjoying a holiday that will last for a few months, depending on the situation. We can use that time to visit our families or pursue what we want."
"Huh? This is the first time I've heard about it."
"Well, you were supposed to know about it in a few months." Jonathan shrugged. "Anyway, I think it's possible to move up the holiday if Paul suggests it to Captain Clara. She will judge the situation and handle the approval.
"I already told you before that the Demon Relief Squad was extremely flexible. If we were in danger, we could get help from other squads, including their captains. And in this situation, we might be able to get an early holiday as long as we can explain our circumstances.
"If it doesn't go according to that scenario, then it's nothing but an early off session. So, yeah… You don't need to worry about the condition since we'll take care of it."
Noel was contemplating since this was the first time he had heard about a holiday. It seemed both Rose and Ben agreed with this decision.
Of course, it might not go according to the scenario, but Noel had been right from the day he joined the squad, so the chance of it happening was quite high.
It was better to take this route.
