*Boom!*
The Demon Banner Army was also able to hear the explosion. All the vice captains and captains immediately gathered in one place.
"As expected, this is a trap." Faust remained calm while looking at Igor. "Aren't you happy, Igor? This way, you can fight against all those people."
"That's true." Igor nodded with a serious expression. He seemed eager to fight. Even if he had to fight multiple Devil Bishops, he wouldn't cower.
"Though, we still have to figure out their current power." The Vice Captain of the Demon Beholder Squad replied.
Paul raised his hand. "Excuse me. I think you have to know about this. There is a reason we are late. I have told you about the two Spirit Grandmasters from the Count Family, right?"
"Yeah. They might be the ones who blew up the bridge." Igor nodded. "However, they wouldn't be likely to attack us. In fact, if all of us died here, they would also get into trouble, especially with the Royal Family. After all, one of them is the Fist Arbiter."
"In other words, we might be able to focus on handling the Supreme Devil Organization. Captain Faust and I can handle two or three Devil Bishops each, depending on their strength. Meanwhile, the two Vice Captains have to focus on commanding the group to take down the remaining members. If the enemies are overwhelming in number, we are going to break through."
"Do we have to go around the mountain to escape?" Faust asked.
"Of course. The terrain doesn't look good, but that's the only way. As long as we can get something from this investigation, we can get even more people to surround this place and even destroy the Count Family for their cooperation with the Supreme Devil Organization." Igor nodded. "I don't know much about politics, so I'll let the headquarters deal with it. All we need to do is finish the investigation and survive."
"Sounds simple enough." Faust nodded with a serious expression.
"Since the enemies have known of our existence, we are going to move together. It's safer this way. The Demon Beholder Squad will continue to scout the area around us, making sure we're not ambushed by them." Igor gave the last instruction.
Igor might be a big, muscular man like Faust. But unlike the latter, Igor had an exceptional brain. It might not be equal to those who used their brains to defeat their opponent, but it was still enough to make a completely rational decision.
Now that they had reached an agreement, the group had changed their formation.
The Demon Hunting Squad remained at the front. But behind them was the Demon Relief Squad, followed by the Demon Barrier Squad. The two squads were protecting Noel and the others.
The Demon Beholder remained on the sides, trying to find any ambush.
But surprisingly, even though they were alarmed by the loud explosion from earlier, nothing came out.
Noel couldn't help but say, "This is rather creepy."
Paul glanced at Noel. "What do you mean?"
"They haven't done anything, even though they have been alarmed. It feels like they are planning to lower our guards by making us think they are just normal people. After all, if they are our enemies, they would usually storm out and attack us." Noel assessed the situation.
The two captains could hear Noel's assessment as well. They had met Noel before, so they knew that he was the real deal. His description was pretty accurate, so it seemed that the enemies were more dangerous than they thought.
"In that case, let's do it our way." Igor covered his fists with Spiritual Energy. "Demon Hunting Squad, we are going to rush forth and become the bait. The Demon Barrier Squad is to remain on standby, ready to block any attacks that are going to harm us. Since the enemies want to lower our guards, then we will have to catch them off guard by arriving faster than they expect."
Noel didn't say anything about his plan. On the one hand, it looked reckless. On the other hand, it could truly cause some disorder in the enemy ranks.
Before they could think of a solution for the sudden change, they could strike them and gain an upper hand.
After hearing their captain's order, the Demon Hunting Squad pulled out their weapons and covered their bodies with Spiritual Energy. All of them were ready to charge forward.
"Alright. Let's go!" Igor declared as he started running. The others followed him.
"There are about three hundred meters to reach the village. I should be able to hear small movements within fifty meters. I'll tell you if there are any suspicious movements once we reach that distance." Rose stated, focusing all her attention on her senses.
Noel also switched his medal to the Affection Medal. This way, if the enemies disguised themselves as normal villagers, he could easily figure out their disguises and attack them.
The Demon Barrier Squad, on the other hand, had prepared their Spirit Abilities. Two of them seemed to have the ability to create a shield, while Captain Faust was already pulling his bow.
The three groups increased their pace. They were supposed to reach the village in another thirty minutes because they had to be careful. But because of the change in their plan, they were going to arrive in three minutes.
"I can see the village now!" Rose stated. She shouted, "It seems that they are not hiding their intention!"
Rose could see several people hiding among the houses and roofs. Even Noel could see a few system panels that contained their names and affection.
"Get ready!" Noel warned them.
Igor charged confidently, as if he didn't fear their ambush. Meanwhile, Faust made the first move. He charged his arrow with a lot of Spiritual Energy before shooting at a house on their right.
"!!!" There were two people on the house's roof. They were surprised that they were attacked like this. And the arrow contained so much power that once it hit the house, it shattered the house into pieces, exploded, and blew everything away, including the two people.
"Attack!"
More than ten people suddenly came out of hiding, ready to take them on.
