"Not good." Noel grabbed Anna's hand and dragged her. "Run!"
"Wha—!" Anna was confused, but it didn't last long. The danger that her instinct picked up was rapidly increasing. It was clear that something was moving toward them. And when she examined the danger level that was higher than even a Peak Level Demon, then it wouldn't be hard to determine the cause. The Superior Demon was coming at them.
"I can run by myself," Anna shouted while trying to release her hand from his grip.
After seeing Anna's reaction, Noel released her while saying, "Bring him to the previous cave."
"I know." Anna nodded. Looking at how fast Noel's reaction was couldn't help but make her think, 'Yeah. This is why I need Noel. His brain is working faster than my instinct. It's not that my instinct is useless, but he can simply assess the situation and realize the danger before it's even coming. On the other hand, I'm heavily relying on my instinct to keep me safe. I have been training my mind, but I'm still not his match.'
Despite realizing that she couldn't win against him in this area, she was actually smiling. There was a realization that struck her mind. 'That's right. I have something in me that he needs. He has something I desire. We both need each other, so that's why I won't hesitate to risk my life for you… I wonder… if you can feel the same?'
Anna actually added 'can' in her thought because she knew that the execution, even though it was a scheme, still traumatized Noel. In addition to her bad behavior, it was clear that Noel would have to face that last barrier. Hence, she wondered if such a thing was possible or not.
Unfortunately, there was no way she could utter that question, let alone in the situation they were in.
Anna glanced at the back and saw the demons running for their lives. She didn't know the size of the earthworm, but it was clear that if the earthworm caught up, they would definitely die.
She wanted to turn her body around and shoot at them, but that would be troublesome because they were moving at their fastest speed. A slight change in the body posture was enough to decrease their speed or even trip them.
So, Anna thought about another thing and asked, "Noel. Can't you leave your ice behind? I mean, on the floor to make them slip."
"As much as I want to do it, I don't know what will happen with the earthworm behind them. With the ice, the friction is less, causing you to speed up, right? What will we do if the earthworm speeds up?" Obviously, Noel wanted to do it much more than her, but he couldn't risk her safety for this.
The moment their plan went awry, Anna would definitely suffer a huge loss.
They kept running without caring about attacking the demons behind them. However, Anna and Noel could actually feel that their number was decreasing.
Noel's Demon Hunter Medal allowed him to sense the demons within fifty-meter radius. And due to it, he knew that the moment the demon disappeared from the medal, they either left the radius or died.
He had seen the earthworm's size. In fact, the earthworm should be the one creating all these tunnels, considering its body and the tunnel size were similar. The difference should come from the Spiritual Energy that the earthworm used to dig around.
"This is the first Superior Demon I'll fight." Noel took a deep breath. Since he couldn't attack the demons, he chose this time to calm his mind.
Meanwhile, Anna asked, "Noel. How long do we need to reach the other side?"
"About one more minute. The tunnel is quite long. The earthworm is clever to make a long tunnel before his room." Noel understood Anna's concern. The Superior Demon's speed couldn't be underestimated. He had been closing the gaps a little at a time. In fact, the only demons that could reach the other side would probably only be the Advanced Level Demons and Peak Level Demons.
Anna furrowed her eyebrows. The Peak Level Demons' speed was similar to theirs, albeit slightly faster. Of course, she could wrap her body with lightning to increase her speed, but it would mean that she had to leave Noel behind.
There was no way she could do that. However, at this rate, the demons would catch up to them in another thirty seconds.
"Noel. Things are not looking good. Are you sure you don't have any other trump cards?"
"I do, but I don't need to use it here." Noel's expression remained calm. It seemed that he had another plan to avoid getting swallowed by the earthworm.
Noel didn't do anything for the next ten seconds, shortening the gaps between them and the Peak Level Demons. If he waited for a few more seconds, the Peak Level Demons might be able to catch them and throw them to the back, allowing the Superior Demon to swallow them.
Even Anna became more panicked, wondering if she should use her lightning or not.
Anna opened her mouth, trying to warn Noel one more time. But before her voice came out, Noel's expression changed.
The situation was just one step away from the worst, but this was the exact reason why Noel considered this a perfect distance.
"Ready to jump!" Noel warned her.
Anna didn't know what he was planning to do, but she followed his every word.
The moment the demons extended their hands or heads to grab them, Noel suddenly shouted, "Jump!"
Noel and Anna jumped at the same time as if trying to avoid something on the ground.
The Peak Level Demons were smart, so they would realize that their actions should have a meaning.
The ones that extended their hands like rats ended up retracting and jumping like Noel and Anna, thinking there was something that would trip them. Stumbling to the ground wasn't a problem, but getting swallowed by the Superior Demon was.
Hence, they wouldn't fall for such a trick. They did the same thing in order to avoid Noel's trap. Although they couldn't catch Noel and Anna and the distance between them increased slightly, they were unharmed.
However, Noel's plan had a fatal flaw. There was one Peak Level Bat among them. Since it was flying, there was no need to avoid the trap like others. It used this exact moment to grab Anna and Noel with its wings.
But before its wings could reach them, its body got slammed by another earthworm that ran on the wall in order to avoid the invisible trap.
In the end, the Peak Level Bat fell to the ground in shock and got swallowed by the Superior Demon.
In addition, that small action increased the gap between them even further.
Noel smiled while Anna was in shock.
"Did you just trick them?" Anna gasped. Tricking demons and pulling them into their traps were common tricks in the Demon Banner Army, but it was because the demons were moving with their instinct. In other words, the method was only for lower level demons.
However, the demons in this place behaved differently. Not only could they act together, but they were also far smarter than the ones in the wild.
Noel took advantage of their intelligence and tricked them into thinking there was a trap on the ground they had to avoid no matter the cost. And he did it with just a single jump.
By closing their distance, Noel made the demons panic and forced them to do the same thing without putting much thought. As a result, the little chaos ended up killing one of them and putting a distance between them.
Anna knew for sure that there was no more trap that they could use, but Noel calculated how the enemies would move as well and turned it into a trap.
This method couldn't help but put a wry smile on her face. She became even more convinced that if their positions were exchanged, Anna wouldn't be able to survive Noel's plots.
"Let's go." Noel smiled while pointing at the end of the tunnel that had become visible.
"Yeah. I'm ready to fight." Anna nodded while holding her sword on her waist.
As soon as they reached the exit, they headed to the center of the cave and turned around.
As expected, the other demons also emerged from the cave and hurriedly moved to the side, avoiding the Superior Demon.
The latter emerged with a body similar to that giant tunnel. The speed of this demon would definitely crush everything that it slammed.
However, Noel and Anna weren't scared in the slightest. They just took a step to the side and unsheathed their blades.
Since the earthworm hadn't fully come out and its speed was still extremely high, it was impossible for the earthworm to twist its body. So, Noel and Anna let the earthworm come to them and position themselves to the side of the earthworm while striking the earthworm's body and letting the blade slide on the skin.
