"!!!" Legolaz felt the incoming people and turned his head around. However, the operation was so swift that the entire group entered the crowd, trying to mingle with them so that they were hard to find. He cursed them inwardly, 'Damn it. The Supreme Devil Organization… I'm going to make you pay.'
Legolaz tried to search for them but to no avail. He didn't realize that the first group had begun their investigation, trying to find Noel among the people. The second group had sneaked inside the building, trying to find any proof that Noel would use the sand to escape.
Unbeknownst to them, no matter how hard they tried to find him, it would be impossible to find Noel.
Qiel, who observed the entire scene, couldn't help but furrow her eyebrows. Dimitri was already outside her range, but she was still able to see Dimitri clashing with Nelfer.
It seemed that Dimitri was planning to leave this place. But there was no way someone loyal like Dimitri would leave his lord just like that.
"Still, why is Dimitri leaving? Is he going to find reinforcement? But no one in that town has the ability to stop us." Qiel turned to the ruin. "Is he still there? But with his intellect, he should be able to see himself being captured. No, he might be waiting to ambush us. He should know that we will have to split up the group. But I have told them to avoid a direct conflict, and if they find anything, the first priority would be to regroup."
On the one hand, Qiel had prepared the best plan she could afford. On the other hand, she couldn't see through Noel's plan yet.
Unbeknownst to her, Noel was already outside the ruin. In fact, he was already near the town.
The town was quite peaceful. Not far from it, a person's head emerged from the sand with a box covering its entire face. That was the only way to prevent the sand from entering his nose, ears, mouth, or eyes.
This person was none other than Noel.
He hurriedly pulled himself out while looking back.
Qiel might be able to see the fluctuation of Spiritual Energy with her eyes, but it was impossible to find Noel.
After all, Noel had actually been submerged. That was right. The moment the crowd formed, Noel sneaked out of the ruin and immediately buried himself in the sand.
As for how he moved underneath the sand, it was his Rune Body. When Dimitri asked previously, Noel pointed at his body, specifically at the Enhance Forward Rune.
Noel had actually used that rune to propel himself. He changed direction by employing the trick that he learned from Damian, where he could launch himself in any direction depending on the direction he pointed at.
As a result, he was moving underneath Dimitri the whole time.
When Nelfer appeared in front of Dimitri and smashed the ground, Noel was actually underneath both of them.
Dimitri then released his full power to make everyone think he was trying to escape. Meanwhile, the real reason was to actually cover the entire area with his Spiritual Energy, confusing both Nelfer and Qiel.
Nelfer would be overwhelmed and his focus would remain on Dimitri. On the other hand, Qiel wouldn't be able to find Noel's fluctuation of Spiritual Energy when using the Enhance Forward Rune in that situation. By the time Noel left the area, Qiel wouldn't be able to sense him anymore.
In other words, the key factor in Noel's escape was none other than Dimitri. Everything was a distraction.
As for Dimitri, there was no way Qiel and Nelfer were enough to defeat him. Additionally, Qiel was still hesitant to attack Dimitri because she was focusing on Noel.
"Still…" Noel coughed up blood.
He was indeed below Nelfer and Dimitri earlier. And Nelfer's powerful strike hit him as well.
He had been enduring it, but he couldn't contain it anymore.
While wiping the blood on his mouth, Noel assessed his current condition. "There is no broken bone fortunately. There is some bleeding, but I should be able to repair it with Force Control."
Noel smiled. While circulating his Spiritual Energy, he headed straight to the inn where Tristan and Sandra were hiding.
"Tristan!"
Upon hearing his teacher's voice, Tristan hurriedly opened the door, finding his injured master.
"Master!" Tristan panicked, not knowing what to do.
"We don't have time. The enemies have located us."
"Are we going to leave this place?"
"Yes. But you and Sandra will have to go alone. I have to distract them away so that they don't find both of you."
"But…" Tristan was thankful for Noel's kindness the whole time. So, he would never think about abandoning Noel.
However, Noel added, "This is my order. You two are to go to this city within two weeks."
Noel took out the map and pointed at the location while handing them money and some Demon Crystals. "You should have seen how I entered the city where we first met, so use that experience to reach your destination. Don't take risks and go to this town first and use escorts to reach the next destination. Understood?"
"But how about you, Master?" Tristan asked with a pale expression.
"I have my own plan, so you don't have to worry about me. In fact, you should worry about yourself because your roles will be crucial." Noel moved to the table and wrote down a letter. "I want you to send this letter as well. The address and everything have been written down."
"Are we going right now, Master?" Tristan asked.
"Of course not. The night is extremely cold and treacherous. That's why you will go after the sun is up. In fact, you will receive another instruction and we'll use them to escape. I have given you separate instructions in the letter. That's all. You have to think about how to survive yourself. This is another test from me. Are you ready?"
Tristan clenched his fists. The current situation had shown how dangerous it was to follow Noel.
If he succeeded, he would be able to become Noel's disciple and an important figure in this field. No one would dare to look down on him even if he was a former slave. If he failed, he would die, which should have happened if he hadn't met Noel in the first place.
Tristan looked at Sandra first, who seemed to be determined to change her life. He said, "We will do it. We'll certainly not disappoint you, Master."
"Good." Noel nodded in approval. "Then, I have to go now. Remember, the situation will be dangerous."
"Yes, Master." Tristan nodded with a serious expression. "I'm sorry that I can only be a burden right now."
Hearing Tristan's words couldn't help but put a smile on Noel's face. He patted Tristan's head while saying, "The next lesson will be hard."
After saying those words, Noel left the inn and erased his trace before heading out of the city and to the south, where the Atrcaeca Kingdom's capital was.
Meanwhile, Tristan clenched his fists. Noel might word it that way, but he was actually indirectly telling him that he wished Tristan would become his disciple. The word 'next' indicated it.
He swore that he wouldn't disappoint his master.
On the other hand, Dimitri had been fighting Nelfer the whole time.
Clink!
Clink!
Clink!
A series of clicking sounds echoed in the area as Dimitri struck Nelfer multiple times.
Nelfer was panting. As Qiel said, fighting Dimitri was hard. In fact, the darkness empowered Dimitri even further.
His entire body was covered with wounds. Despite having a body of steel, Dimitri managed to pierce his body. If this continued, Dimitri would be able to kill him sooner or later.
Unfortunately, Dimitri didn't have much time anymore. Qiel would become restless, so she would definitely come here and hunt him down.
That was why after inflicting some damage on Nelfer, he formed his escape route.
The moment Qiel moved from her location, Dimitri instantly turned around and escaped to the south.
"No, you can't escape from me!"
Nelfer chased after him, but Dimitri was extremely swift. It didn't take too long before they saw the town where Tristan and Sandra were.
"Huh?!" Nelfer gasped while a few light arrows fell down in front of Dimitri, causing a series of explosions.
Boom!
Boom!
Boom!
Dimitri launched himself to avoid the blast before continuing his way to the town.
"Stop!" Nelfer used his steel body to ignore the blast and caught up to Dimitri.
However, Dimitri actually struck him while asking, "Are you really going to destroy a city?"
Nelfer's body trembled. He personally wouldn't mind razing the entire city to the ground, but Qiel had reminded him over and over again that they shouldn't make this kingdom their enemy.
That hesitation allowed Dimitri to escape once more and ultimately enter the city.
"Kh." Nelfer was shocked and wanted to catch up, but Qiel's voice echoed from the side. "Stop, Nelfer."
"Qiel." Nelfer glared at her. "Are we going to let him escape like that?"
"Do you think you will be able to kill Dimitri inside the town? He is the most dangerous when he is among the people." Qiel was also annoyed, feeling like she had been played thoroughly by Noel and Dimitri. "There is a chance that little brat has escaped to the town. I don't know the exact method, but that brat must have gone away. We will need more people to find them. I have sent a message to Group D and E. We'll monitor the town for the time being."
