Not far away from the city, a woman suddenly appeared as if she had just returned from outside. She walked to a deeper area.
There was a transparent barrier that could be felt but couldn't be seen. She gently touched the barrier and couldn't push her finger inside.
But after a few seconds, her finger suddenly entered the barrier and her entire body gradually came in.
Inside the barrier stood five people. One of them was none other than the Devil Saint, Laufey Ardagan.
The two next to him had a similar appearance. They both had long spiky hair, but their bangs leaned in the opposite direction, making it easier for them to be recognized.
Their bodies weren't that big, but they were excluding an aura that could make her body twitch as if she was about to be devoured alive.
In the opposite direction, there were two people. Unlike the previous pair, both of them had a contrasting appearance. The first one had a muscular body and a huge glaive resting on his back.
Even a normal person would know that he was strong. Due to his height, he appeared to look down on her.
Meanwhile, the other person was very skinny. His arms even showed a little bit of his bone contour.
His face was pale and there was even a shackle on his already thin wrists, making them look like they were about to fall.
Although his eyes weren't excluding anything, she couldn't help but feel eerie whenever this guy stared at her.
"Isn't this the idiot snake?" The muscular guy laughed. "So, what did you find this time? I hope it's something useful…"
"…" The woman, who was known as the serpent, bit her lips. She said, "They have exited the city. Looking at their direction, it seems that they are going to the Hansville City, southwest of our current position."
"Hoho? Is it the time for us to ambush them?" The muscular guy cracked his fingers. He seemed to have a hard time calming down. "I guess I will be satisfied in fighting that big vice captain. What is his name again?"
"Paul." The woman answered.
"Yeah, yeah. That Paul! Hahaha." The muscular guy laughed out loud.
"Dude. Can you lower your voice a bit? My ears hurt." The skinny guy asked with an annoyed face.
"…" The muscular guy fell silent, staring at this guy. "Well, I guess…"
"Then, we don't have to handle that guy, Faust? The captain of the Demon Barrier Squad…" One of the pairs asked with a serious expression. The other pair also looked at Laufey, "Yeah. So, what's the plan, Boss?"
Laufey closed his eyes for a moment. "For now, you two Demon Pairs are going to stand between us and the Demon Barrier Squad. There is a possibility that they have figured out our existence and Faust might try to attack us from behind."
"Well, that's annoying. But it's still only a possibility. I guess we're going to take the boring job." The pair said the same thing together.
"Gargan and Fil…" Laufey clicked his tongue. When he was about to depart with only the serpent and the pair, he was tasked to bring these two.
Back then, he was already standing in front of the exit. But before they left, a muscular man, who was called Gargan, suddenly stopped them.
He politely bowed to Laufey and said, "Excuse me, Sir Laufey. I have brought a message from the Supreme Devil."
"Hmm?" Laufey furrowed his eyebrows. He took the letter and read it. The content was simple. He wanted him to bring these two with him.
On the one hand, he was surprised that the Supreme Devil knew about his operation. On the other hand, the handwriting was authentic. If he didn't bring them, the Supreme Devil would surely be angry.
After some thought, Laufey sighed. He looked at the muscular guy and said, "He asked me to bring you and the one who was hiding behind you with me."
"…" The skinny guy, Fil, suddenly let go of his grip and landed on the ground. He took a peek at Laufey and said, "I apologize for not showing myself. I…"
"It's fine. I have heard about you two a long time ago. You are that old hag's subordinates. After having two of her Devil Bishops die, she made both of you a new Devil Bishop. So, the reason you two here must be to create a balance… Tsk." Laufey clicked his tongue, annoyed.
He glared at them and said, "Even if you are that old hag's subordinate, I'm going to warn you first. Your strength is still too low compared to the previous Devil Bishops."
"I don't care what you do, but if you mess up, I'm going to make you accountable even if I have to fight with that old hag. And I'm not joking if I'm going to make you pay…"
Gargan and Fil nodded furiously. They couldn't help but glance at the woman next to Laufey.
She was known as the serpent. Her name was Hailfa. After failing her missions several times, despite being a Spirit Grandmaster, her treatment was similar to that of a Devil Inspector.
Laufey had warned everyone that if they gave her a treatment of a Devil Bishop, he would punish them as well.
As a result, she had to endure all the humiliation. Even Gargan and Fil had to look down on her if they didn't want to get punished.
Laufey was indeed strict in administering the punishment, but no one could say anything because he had the strength to do so.
That was why Gargan and Fil were extremely obedient.
Laufey said, "Alright. Since everyone is here, let's set off."
Remembering that scene couldn't help but make his mood go even lower. He let out a long sigh while saying, "Gargan. Your job is to stop Paul. As for Fil, you are going to take care of the remaining members of the Demon Relief Squad. This woman will use that opportunity to kidnap a knight called Iadre."
Of course, the only people that knew about Noel's identity were Laufey and Hailfa. Hailfa knew about him because she had been investigating him while Laufey's target was Noel all this time.
There was no need for the others to know. This way, they could prevent a lot of information leaks. Even in the organization, only the Supreme Devil knew about Iadre's true identity. Though, it was due to him sharing his speculation. There was still no proof, so he hadn't said anything more.
And this cooperation was to allow him to put surveillance on Laufey.
"Alright. We'll follow them for a while. Until there is a great distance between them and the nearest cities, including the base in front of us, we will ambush them. Any questions?" Laufey asked with a dark expression.
No one dared to ask any with that kind of expression. They might get punished if they said they didn't understand.
Besides, Laufey had told them the plan as simply as possible, so it would be their fault if they couldn't understand it.
Now that they had finished their discussion, Laufey said, "Let's depart."
Fil raised his hands. The Magic Power that covered his hands suddenly disappeared, resulting in the barrier that hid them from the outside vanishing.
With this, all of them disappeared, following Noel and the others at high speed.
Little did they know, Noel had made several layers of preparation even though he wasn't sure about their appearance. Even so, this was one of the plans that saved a lot of time and their lives.
When they were following the trails, especially the small trail the carriage left behind, everything suddenly disappeared as if they had just vanished without a trace.
"Hmm?" The serpent narrowed her eyes while looking at the end of the trail. "Sir."
"What's wrong? Why did you stop?" Laufey narrowed his eyes, judging the serpent's ability.
However, the woman presented the end of the trail and said, "There is no more trail to follow…"
"Hmm?" Laufey frowned. "What do you mean? What about the other spots?"
"There is no trace of them being stepped on. From the trail alone, it looks like the group has disappeared…" The woman thought of something and added, "If my assumption is correct, this must be Jonathan's ability…"
"Jo…who?" Gargan asked, not hearing it correctly. He also didn't have extensive knowledge about their names, so he didn't know about them.
"The one with Telekinesis ability." The woman briefly described Jonathan.
"Ah!" Gargan nodded in understanding while Fil asked, "So, he is using the telekinesis right here… The path will split not far away… It seems that they have figured out our existence and erased their trace. This way, we won't know where they are heading…"
Laufey frowned. On the one hand, they hadn't gone too far. On the other hand, if they continued recklessly, they might be ambushed by Dimitri and their fighting power would be halved.
But they couldn't wait for too long since their target would continue at their fastest speed.
"We will split up!"
