Qiel couldn't help but smile when she witnessed the shift on the battlefield. As she expected, the kids would be the greatest weaknesses that Noel and Dimitri had to cover.
However, Noel alone wouldn't be enough to stop her and the other Spirit Grandmasters. She could see that his plan was to let Dimitri defeat Nelfer as quickly as possible before helping with this situation.
If Dimitri could stop Qiel, it wouldn't be much of a problem for Noel to stop the other guys.
Sadly, Noel had miscalculated Nelfer's strength. No, more like, Noel had correctly predicted his strength, but Nelfer simply surpassed that expectation. The frustration that Nelfer had endured for the last few days was released at this time, allowing him to continue moving even with such injuries.
'Nelfer can continue attacking the kids, forcing Dimitri to block his attack and injuring him gradually. The other Spirit Grandmasters could become a distraction while trying to capture those two kids. I will restrain Noel's movement.' Qiel recalculated the situation.
She considered Dimitri's True Spirit Body, but there was no sign of it yet.
Noel had to do something to escape from this situation, especially if he didn't want Dimitri to use his True Spirit Body.
But would Qiel allow him to do so?
Qiel had aimed her bow at him, ready to release multiple arrows.
Sensing the fluctuation of energy, Noel couldn't help but furrow his eyebrows.
'What should I do? If it continues like this, the two kids will be captured before reaching the border. Dimitri might use the True Spirit Body, but it will lead to a severe delay in my future plans… Is it worth it? But if we can't escape from here, there is no future… no, wait, there is one more thing…' Noel looked at Qiel with a grim expression as though he had steeled his resolve.
Feeling his fighting intent, Qiel released three arrows. The first arrow flew straight at him while the other three curved to the left and right.
Noel raised both hands. He sent forth Undying Phoenix from his right hand and created Snow Shield on the right.
The Undying Phoenix flew at the arrow at first, but it suddenly curved before it reached the arrow as if trying to match the arrow's movement.
"!!!" Even Qiel was surprised. Noel actually matched the arrow movement just so that the arrow was exposed to the fire longer. Even though the arrow was faster, it was enough because the Spiritual Energy dissipated at high speed to the point where the arrow disappeared before it could reach him.
On the other side, the Snow Shield perfectly blocked the arrow, leaving only a small trace. Noel easily knocked it down with his blade.
However, Noel didn't do anything against the arrow that came straight ahead.
"What?" Qiel couldn't help but gasp. "Is he going to take my arrow?"
Even though she had split her power into three, the arrow was still considered lethal. Even Noel's strongest abilities had a hard time stopping them, so how could his body receive it?
Noel activated three runes at the same time. The first rune was the Reduce Impact Rune from the Rune Body. It reduced the force that hit his body.
The second rune was the Spiritual Energy Dispersion Rune, allowing him to scatter the energy that fueled the arrow even for a bit.
The last one was Rune Blast, trying to knock the arrow away.
"It's not enough! You won't be able to stop it." Qiel harrumphed. Even though she was surprised by his attempt, it was still not enough.
Yet, a smile actually appeared on Noel's face, startling her.
Noel used the Spirit Weaponry to cut Spiritual Energy itself, but he met with extraordinary resistance. The impact was so big that the shock wave hit him like a giant boulder.
"Kh." Noel gnashed his teeth as blood seeped out between his teeth. Even with the Reduce Impact Rune, the force was still enough to shake his entire organ, causing some internal injuries.
However, this was what Noel wanted. He used his body to receive the force and use it to launch him away.
The speed was so fast that it caught up with the other Spirit Grandmasters.
The Spirit Grandmasters were stunned, not expecting Noel to be able to escape from Qiel. The latter hurriedly formed her arrows again, realizing Noel's intention.
On the other hand, Noel actually thought, 'I'm glad that I use my Honor Points sparingly. Ardagan. Exchange the 400 Honor Points for Skill Points, and distribute those points to Ardagan Swordsmanship and Undying Fire.'
It took Ardagan an instant to process everything, fully knowing that he couldn't be slow because Noel's life would be in danger.
[Converting 400 Honor Points.]
[You've acquired 200 Skill Points.]
[Using 100 Skill Points to upgrade Undying Fire.]
[Undying Fire (3/5)]
[You've acquired Hell Blaze.]
[You've acquired Flame Devil.]
[Using 80 Skill Points to upgrade Ardagan Swordsmanship twice.]
[Ardagan Swordsmanship (10/15)]
[You've acquired Imperial Sword.]
[You've acquired Sword Transmutation.]
A sharp pain instantly jolted his brain as the new information entered his mind. Yet, instead of screaming, Noel was actually smiling.
"Miracles… come for those who have prepared."
He had been saving a lot of Honor Points so that he could use them depending on the situation. Before, all his plans had succeeded without any problems, so there was never a chance to use them. Of course, he couldn't use those points in front of an absolute power like the only Spirit Transcendence level Devil Saint.
Noel raised his right hand, clenching his sword tightly.
"What is he doing?" The Spirit Grandmasters were surprised that he managed to catch up to them, but they became more confused when Noel made a gesture he had never shown before.
That could only mean one thing. Noel had another trump card he hadn't used. But the people couldn't believe Noel actually hid another trump card after getting besieged by all of them and Qiel.
But the moment they had that thought, Noel swung his blade.
Imperial Sword.
Some of the Spirit Grandmasters instinctively ducked down, while some raised their weapons to block Noel.
But even with several Spirit Grandmasters, they couldn't even stop Noel's blade as the energy spurred out, extending the blade before erupting to create an enormous force that knocked them down.
Although it was a surprise attack, it was still shocking that even several Grandmasters couldn't stop Noel's sword.
More importantly, the ones who got lucky were actually the knocked ones earlier. A huge fire erupted behind Noel, forming a humanoid silhouette. Even though it was only an upper body, the silhouette was swift as it extended its left hand to catch the Spirit Grandmasters that were still running.
There were three people running side by side. The two on the sides managed to jump away, but because he was surrounded earlier, he couldn't escape from the Flame Devil's clutch.
He was using all his Spiritual Energy to block the fire, but that Flame Devil was formed by the Undying Fire. It instantly evaporated his Spiritual Energy as the fire began to reduce him to ashes.
"Aaaaahhhhh!" The guy was screaming in pain as he felt his body was evaporating.
As expected, Qiel's arrow arrived and shot down the flame. The momentum caused a bit of a shock wave, obliterating the entire elbow. As a result, the remaining hand fell down and the Spirit Grandmaster was saved.
But the result of two seconds of exposure was horrendous. Both of his arms were already reduced to ashes and a huge portion of his body suffered a huge degree of burn. Even with medical attention, it was practically impossible for him to survive.
They never thought the trump card Noel had hidden would be this strong. It wasn't the power of a Spirit Master anymore.
Noel felt the same. After learning about the Spiritual Energy Reserve that Ardagan taught him in the past, he could feel that his body was full to the point where it was a bit suffocating. Additionally, these new techniques required a lot of Spiritual Energy.
Even though he managed to pull back the Grandmasters, his Spiritual Energy rapidly declined. It wouldn't be long until he emptied it out.
Hence, Noel took this chance to draw the Enhance Forward Rune, not for himself but for the two kids behind him.
Tristan and Sandra were startled as they were suddenly launched forward at high speed.
"Aaaahhhh!" They were screaming and panicking, thinking they had been captured. But Tristan remembered the effect and the runes and quickly calmed down. Their distance had been reduced to a mere one hundred meters. It would only take fifteen seconds to cross the border.
"Go!"
Noel's shout echoed in their ears.
"We have to cross the border!" Tristan shouted while running to the best of his abilities. "We can't let Master down! Aaaaahhh!"
"Gh…" Sandra had a hard time keeping up, but she still persisted as the goal was right before her eyes.
Due to the Enhance Forward Rune, Nelfer couldn't reach them anymore. The Spirit Grandmasters had been pushed back by Noel. Qiel had released her arrow to save her subordinates earlier and with Noel standing between them, it was impossible to shoot those two kids.
Finally, after a long battle, Tristan and Sandra took a giant leap as they jumped over the bricks that separated the Greenwood Kingdom from the Atraceaca Kingdom.
There was a huge sign of relief on Noel's face. Tristan and Sandra looked exhausted, but they felt a sense of accomplishment.
After the chase that lasted for almost two weeks, Tristan and Sandra entered the Greenwood Kingdom.
