"Hm?! There is a big fight in the front." The muscular man from the Supreme Devil Organization looked up. "Qiel, should we interfere and make them owe us something?"
"While it might be good to gather some information, we've been tasked to do it secretly unless it's necessary. So, no." The old woman called Qiel shook her head.
"Still, do you know how far they have gone?"
"I believe it's not that far away. Don't you remember that we've gotten the clue?" Qiel sighed.
Nelfer couldn't say anything, remembering that they managed to gain a clue about a person with a masquerade. The previous town had given them that information, allowing them to track Noel.
"Still, it's been a few days. Don't you think he has gone even further? It will be hard to find him in the middle of the desert."
"That's why we're going to the cities before him. In any case, we'll be looping around."
But before Nelfer could agree, a figure appeared before her and said, "We've found what we believe to be the second son of the Grand Protector. If we're not wrong, there is also a Great Protector called Legolaz."
"Huh?!" Qiel widened her eyes. The Supreme Devil Organization obviously had a lot of information about other kingdoms as well, especially the high-ranking people, so they didn't provoke them so much that it led to war. But it was surprising that they would find the second prince in this place. "Are you sure?"
"We have confirmed their identities with all the records we have."
"Hoh? The second prince…" Nelfer smirked. "Don't you think it's good to make them owe us?"
Qiel looked down, falling into deep thought. On the one hand, their focus was on Noel. On the other hand, having someone at that level helping them search for Noel would be beneficial to them.
Before making a decision, she asked, "What kind of problem are they facing?"
"A single Superior Demon and its followers. There are only a few hundred."
"If it's only that, we can take care of it within thirty minutes. Don't you think this is a perfect opportunity, old hag?!"
"Thirty minutes for the favor…" Qiel nodded her head. "Sure. Let's go with that. Nelfer will lead ten people to exterminate the demons. I'll provide you with some—"
Before she finished her words, another person appeared to report. "Ma'am! We have a situation over there."
"Huh?" Even Nelfer became confused. They had brought a lot of experts this time, so they shouldn't have any problems dealing with the enemies. So, this emergency looked serious.
"What's wrong?" Qiel asked.
"We are not very sure about it, but we've found a foreigner… who seems to be coming from the Muivell Kingdom."
"If you're only talking about a person, then there is no need to make it sound serious." Qiel gritted her teeth, wanting to berate him further for startling her.
But the man continued, "But… his appearance… looks similar to Noel Ardagan."
"What?!" Qiel and Nelfer widened their eyes in shock. "What did you say?"
"We suspected that person is Noel Ardagan, but we'd like to ask you to confirm it." The guy was confused as well. They had been chasing after a guy with a masquerade, yet, they actually found Noel with his true face. Even the scout didn't understand the situation.
After all, there was a chance that the masquerade guy was fake and Noel entered this kingdom with his real face. However, the situation might be reversed. If they captured this Noel, which turned out to be a fake, it would be troublesome.
"This is interesting. Should we confirm his identity?" Nelfer asked. "If this is truly our target, we should feel lucky, right?"
"Yeah." Qiel asked, "Bring me to the highest and furthest place. I'll confirm his identity. As for Nelfer, you are going to move according to my command."
"Well… fine." Nelfer nodded.
Now that the decision had been made, the scout brought her to a small sand hill where she could see the battlefield from more than five hundred meters away. Meanwhile, Nelfer was leading the vanguard to advance toward the battlefield as if trying to proceed with the capture.
On top of the sandhill, Qiel closed her eyes for a moment. Her Spiritual Energy began to leak out her body, but soon turned around and entered her eyes.
When she raised her eyelids, her pupils changed their color from black to gold. In addition, there were several glowing lines around her pupil. A few small golden circles appeared in front of her, magnifying her eyesight even further.
Even though she was looking from five hundred meters away, her eyes could actually see someone's facial features as if they were right in front of her.
"The location?" Qiel asked.
"We believe that he is utilizing an ice element ability."
"Ice element…" Qiel had gotten the report that Noel always used Ice Element Ability whenever he openly showed his face and changed to fire whenever he became Iadre.
With that thought in mind, Qiel scanned the area. She found and confirmed the second prince. She also witnessed the fight between Legolaz and the Superior Demon.
But what shocked her the most was that the ice ability user was near Legolaz. He seemed to be helping him, which made him even more noticeable.
"This is…" Qiel took a deep breath. The pair of black eyes, short black hair, and a black sword in his hand were enough to confirm Noel's identity. "He is truly Noel Ardagan. He is also a Spirit Master like the rumor says and his strength is effective against a Superior Demon. I don't think there is an impostor that talented. Notify Nelfer that we're about to begin. Warn him that Dimitri might be nearby. If another Spirit Grandmaster of his level appears, I'll handle the second one. The rest of you will proceed with the capture. Do whatever you can to capture him without killing him."
"Yes, Ma'am!" The people around Qiel acknowledged her orders and disappeared, leaving her alone.
After that, she grabbed the bow hanging on her back and pointed it to the front.
When she poured her Spiritual Energy, the bow seemed to be reacting to her Spiritual Energy.
Soon, a glowing circle appeared in front of the bow and a few lines extended from both tips as though it was extending the bow.
While it was true that she was only a Spirit Grandmaster and had no talent to become a Spirit Transcendence, she was the oldest member among the Devil Saints.
There was a reason why even Laufey, a fellow Devil Saint, was annoyed by her.
She was the greatest sniper in the world. If Laufey annoyed her, she might even shoot him with a non-lethal arrow, but enough to severely injure him and annoy him to death.
But this time, her target was a mere Spirit Master. Even though Noel's raw strength was far below her, it didn't change the fact that he managed to fight against a Superior Demon.
In that instant, Qiel believed there was no need to hold back.
She released her bow to its full potential and pointed it at Noel.
With a single wave of her left hand, an arrow made of golden light appeared. She pulled the arrow carefully and aimed straight at Noel.
This arrow was made of Spiritual Energy. It looked lethal, but the flow of Spiritual Energy inside the arrow made it blunt. It might crack a few bones, but it wouldn't kill Noel.
"You would definitely become a strong man in the future. Unfortunately, you don't have a future because of the Spirit you have. You are pretty unlucky, young man. I hope you have a good life in your next life." Qiel pitied Noel. With his talent, it wouldn't be weird if Noel could stand at the very top. Unfortunately, his family situation and the spirit he inherited changed his fate.
Although they were enemies, there was no mutual grudge between them. So, Qiel showed a bit of compassion before aiming at Noel, ready to release it.
However, a mysterious figure suddenly jumped from the side like a bullet. Qiel's detection range as a Devil Saint was big, so he couldn't approach her that close unless he was about to attack.
And it was at this moment that he chose to attack… the moment Qiel lowered her guard by drawing her arrow.
As expected, before he arrived, Qiel could feel his presence and smiled, "As expected, you are here…"
With just a glance to the side, she saw Dimitri's face that covered two hundred meters in just two seconds. He was determined to stop Qiel.
When Dimitri was about to reach her, he waved his shadow sword, planning to sever both the bow and her neck.
But before it could reach her, a clicking sound echoed in the area, followed by a shock wave.
Clink!
Boom!
"!!!" Dimitri raised his eyebrows, finding another person appearing in front of him.
"I can finally fight against the number one assassin in the world." The man came out of nowhere and blocked Dimitri's blade with his gauntlet.
"Devil Saint Nelfer." Dimitri gritted his teeth. It turned out Nelfer was faking his movement. By leading those people, he made Dimitri think it was alright to approach Qiel. However, Nelfer had gone back to Qiel as well to fight Dimitri. This was Qiel's plan.
"It seems that you have grown dull after leaving the Demon Banner Army, huh, Shadow?!" Qiel harrumphed and continued aiming. This time, she was ready to let go of her arrow.
But Dimitri actually smiled, "Dull? I'm not a sword anymore. I am… a butler!"
As soon as he said those words, the energy on his shadow blade spiked, expanding tremendously.
"Huh?!" Nelfer got pushed back by the overwhelming energy, but more importantly, the shadow continued to expand toward Qiel and ultimately hit her bowstring.
"!!!" Dimitri surpassed her expectations. She thought Nelfer was enough to stop him, but as one would expect from the number one assassin.
Still, Dimitri introduced himself as a butler, not an assassin. The job of a butler was to serve his lord.
Nelfer had to protect himself from the energy by pouring more energy into his gauntlet, causing the clash between them to produce a powerful shock wave.
Boom!
"Idiot!" Qiel gritted his teeth, realizing Dimitri's real plan.
He planned to alert Noel with this shock wave.
As he planned, Noel heard the loud explosive sound. Since they were coming from the hill, he could see everything from afar. Even though he couldn't see the detail, he could see the black colored energy that leaked out from the hill, showing that Dimitri had made his move. And there was only one reason for Dimitri to release his strength.
"Huh? Dimitri?!" Noel gasped. "Don't tell me…"
