Their departure was also seen by Damian, albeit from a farther spot since he didn't want to alarm Clara.
Damian couldn't help but furrow his eyebrows, staring at this group.
He couldn't help but mutter, "To think they are coming out just like this, do they not know that they are being observed from all directions?"
Damian still remembered the information he had gotten before coming to this country.
He looked at the document while furrowing his eyebrows. "The Demon Relief Squad retreats to their base due to them being targeted by the Supreme Devil Organization. This is just a conjecture, but after looking at most clashes with the Supreme Devil Organization, the Demon Relief Squad should have become the priority to be destroyed."
He didn't know what happened for such an organization to exclusively target only a specific group, but once he looked at the list of the squad's achievements, he could finally understand why.
The squad had stopped the organization a few times. So, it would be a problem if they continued to live.
So, they wanted to eliminate them as quickly as possible. There was also an incident in the previous expedition.
With this, he knew that even if there were no people around this place, they were still following the movement of the Demon Relief Squad.
"Hmm…" Damian narrowed his eyes. "First of all, the Demon Banner Army is putting a lot of resources into this Demon Relief Squad. I'm sure their commander is doing their best to ensure the group's safety. But that is not enough."
"After all, the royal family will be interested in it as well. I don't know what they have done, but if I'm not wrong, Noel Ardagan is pretty famous in the kingdom."
"Although most people still don't know he is still alive, it doesn't change the fact that there are already a lot of people who know his identity."
"He has expected that once he reveals that information to someone, it's bound to spread no matter how they try to keep it a secret."
"But someone like him wouldn't do something so foolish unless he has something to gain…" Damian fell silent for a moment before gasping as if he had realized something. "Don't tell me, he is spreading his information on purpose?"
"If that's the case, what's the reason for it? I don't know the exact reason, but I'm pretty sure that they want to focus on him… But he has been carefully building up his power, so why would he reveal it…"
Damian suddenly remembered one piece of information that shocked him the most about Noel. He never trained his muscles, let alone learned about spirits before coming to the Demon Banner Army.
Yet, in a short period of time, he managed to become a Spirit Master and his strength couldn't be underestimated.
"Is he making all those people focus on him so that he can find out about their plans?"
"No. He must want to force them to make their move. After all, it's better to fight an enemy where you know they will attack than fighting an enemy that can wait for the end of time to find a perfect moment to kill you."
Damian didn't realize that his opinion was only half-correct. There was one more reason why Noel did such a thing.
The world didn't need to know that Noel Ardagan was still alive. However, those who were in the dark had to know. After all, among them were his parents.
That was right. Noel still hadn't given up on finding his parents. He had a lot of things to say, especially his frustration for not being able to participate in their scheme. He wished they told him about it.
Hence, Noel tried to bait them to appear.
They knew that Dimitri was protecting him. But there was a chance that they were observing Dimitri as well, so he tried to chase Dimitri away for some time, leaving him in danger.
But as someone careful, he added Damian as his guardian, so in case his plan failed, he could still protect himself.
It was a reckless plan, but this was the only plan that could lure his parents out. After all, the fact that they had prepared all kinds of protections for him after being 'executed' showed that they still cared for him. So, he planned to use that 'care' to lure them out.
And this mission was related to it.
Coming out after an expedition like this would surely alarm the people lurking in the darkness. Those from the royal family would surely report and continue observing them, but the Supreme Devil Organization would surely make their move.
In fact, the fact that there was a sudden increase in demon's activity alone was already suspicious.
This was why Noel didn't do much during the preparation. He was calculating what the enemies planned to do during the mission.
…
Three days later.
As Noel expected, the Supreme Devil Organization had learned about the Demon Relief Squad as well.
And the one who had been paying close attention to that squad, especially Noel, was his uncle, Laufey Ardagan.
"Sir…" The direct subordinate of the Devil Saint Laufey Ardagan, the serpent, came to him with a report. "We have found out that the Demon Relief Squad is moving toward the Demon Barrier Squad's base. They are going to arrive in four days."
Laufey narrowed his eyes, glaring at the woman. "Did you come back just to tell me this useless news?"
"No, Sir." The serpent gulped down. She didn't want to anger him again since she would die. So, she immediately stated her purpose. "I have returned from my investigation. I—"
"Enough with the process, I want the result. What's the conclusion?"
The serpent took a deep breath. Although she was a bit disappointed that her superior didn't even care about her, she still had to tell him the result. "I have concluded that Noel Ardagan is still alive."
"As expected…" Laufey clicked his tongue. It seemed that he had predicted all this and acted according to his prediction this whole time. "If that's the case, Noel Ardagan should be this knight Iadre. They are both talented…"
"However Sir, this Iadre has a Fire Element Spirit whereas Noel Ardagan has an Ice Element Spirit. It's true that his masquerade is suspicious, but there are also his eye colors and hair colors… I don't think Iadre is Noel Ardagan."
Laufey snorted. "You don't know a single thing."
Laufey turned around, glancing at the book on his desk. The book had no title, but it was very old. Even when Laufey opened it, he handled it with care.
'Back when he was alive, the ancestor of the Griffith Family is said to have two different elements. However, because he is using his other abilities a lot, that fact is often forgotten.'
'That's why I'm sure Iadre is Noel Ardagan. The element he is using must be inherited from that sword. Yeah, I can finally believe completely what this book says… Ardagan Sword should be the only living spirit in this world.' Laufey narrowed his eyes, staring at the book. 'In that case, I should be able to obtain that power if I can steal the sword from him and force the spirit to obey me.'
'It's said that the spirit can choose its host, so I'm pretty sure that I can find a way to force the spirit to abandon Noel and choose me.'
Laufey took a moment to think about the current situation. He glanced at the serpent and asked, "Who is in charge of making trouble for the Demon Barrier Squad?"
"Devil Bishop, Arhan Arhatt."
"Then, tell him that I will personally go there. You, and that crazy pair shall follow me."
"!!!" The woman was startled, never thinking that the Devil Saint wanted to make a move personally.
"I will stop Dimitri and that crazy pair will buy some time from the Demon Barrier Squad's captain. I want the two of you to kidnap our target by any means necessary. If you prove yourself useful this time, I'm going to forget all your past mistakes."
"…" The woman lowered her head. This was a rare opportunity. If he was going to forgive all her mistakes, it meant that she would have a chance to pursue an even higher rank. As long as she could behave after that and produce results, nothing could stop her anymore.
She became even more determined. Even if she had to sacrifice something, she had to kidnap Noel.
"Yes, Sir." The woman immediately left the room to find the pair.
After she left, Laufey turned around and glanced at the book again. He couldn't help but smile when he looked at this book.
"If only I can get all of them… I would have gotten Ardagan's recognition too. I guess I should be content with this book. After all, it tells me a lot about the Ardagan Family's ancestor…" Laufey smirked.
