"Amazing." The soldiers couldn't help but admire when both leaders stepped forth.
Grandell was overwhelming all the demons coming toward him, allowing the soldiers behind them to have an easier time. The same applied to the Moon Temple's knights.
They had gone quite far from the city and should be able to reach the river before the sun was right above their heads.
So, the number of demons had increased significantly. This time, there were a total of a hundred demons that came toward them at once.
The knights fought gallantly. The Moon Temple had shown clearly how they had grown accustomed to fighting demons. Their method was similar to that of the Demon Banner Army, but Grandell and the others were the elite soldiers that had been picked to protect their lord on this trip, so they were the best among the soldiers.
Their prowess dominated the entire battlefield to the point where the Moon Temple looked like a sideshow.
Still, the most important thing was Layla.
When Grandell noticed another few demons coming toward them, a translucent barrier appeared in their way, blocking the demons. It gave him enough time to deal with the current demons before intercepting them.
That was right. Layla had been creating barriers to delay the demons so that the knights weren't overwhelmed by their numbers.
Noel had been observing this whole time. In just three hours, they had encountered about eight hundred demons. It was certainly not a normal number. Someone had artificially increased the number of demons.
And the closer they were to the target, the higher that number. It would be troublesome if they had to fight thousands of demons with their number. For the time being, it was good enough since they only had to fight tens of demons a time.
But if the Supreme Devil Organization started commanding them and turned these demons into an army, Noel had to join the fight.
"Thank you for the help," said Noel while looking at the barrier curiously. Layla couldn't see anymore, so he wondered how Layla knew where and when to deploy the barrier.
"Don't worry about it. As long as the opponents are demons, I don't mind going all out. So, just make sure to conserve your energy since the true enemies haven't made their appearance yet. And if you're wondering about my barrier, then don't forget that I'm a contractor of the Moon Goddess."
It was still daylight, so there was no moon that could help her. But when he recalled the Moon Goddess's true identity, which was the Dark Butterfly Spirit, he got some ideas. It appeared that the Saintess didn't only use her sharpened senses, but also released pollen that allowed her to sense everything around her.
"To be honest, you're far too different from the last time we met."
"Hahaha. I was too weak after maintaining my power for a long time, so I couldn't do anything back then and had to rely on you two. But don't worry, I'm fully recharged now." Layla chuckled.
"That's reassuring. In that case, we will go straight to the river and clear up the area for our camp."
"Is the base near the river?"
"Yes. Today, we'll try lowering their numbers as much as possible. Though, I doubt they will just let us be."
"So, we're going to get attacked today?"
"Yeah." Noel contemplated for a moment. "I will leave this cart to you."
"Don't worry. It will be safe in my hands. Besides, I've taken a liking to this carriage. Just look at its maneuverability. I can't help but want to possess this thing as soon as possible." Layla smirked. "But how are you going to fight them?"
"I still have my flying ability. I will just act like I can't move my body too much but can control my Spiritual Energy."
"Fair enough. In that case, I will put you in the best position to crush your enemies. Let's get this done as soon as possible."
"Thanks." Noel nodded. He continued assessing the situation, wondering how many demons the Supreme Devil Organization brought to this place.
The group continued toward the river. They drastically slowed down due to the demons, but it shouldn't take more than two hours before they reached the river at the current pace.
During that time, the knights had killed a total of two thousand demons. It was a very large number, considering they only brought two Grandmasters and twenty knights. In addition, Noel hadn't even made a single move during the ordeal.
While some knights were injured, they managed to reach the river without losing a single person.
However, there was still one problem.
"How should we cross this river?" Grandell asked, looking at the size. He might be able to jump over the river, but barely. The other soldiers wouldn't be able to do it.
"Move, Grandell. I'm going to create a bridge." Noel finally stepped forward, only to be held by Layla from behind. She said, "I will create the bridge. I told you earlier that I'm going to send you in your best condition."
"Then, how are you going to make one? I mean, isn't your barrier…" Noel fell silent, realizing that her barrier wasn't as simple as it looked.
He remembered that the barrier always appeared in various shapes and sizes.
The Saintess smiled and went back to the carriage. She then fell to her knees and joined both hands as though she were praying.
A horizontal barrier suddenly formed on top of the ground and soon extended to the other side of the river. It was sturdy and wide enough for all of them to cross at the same time.
One of the knights said, "The Saintess is able to manipulate the shape and size of her barrier. But the more complicated the shape is, the more she has to concentrate. Lord Earl, please use this chance to cross the river with the carriage. The Saintess won't be able to reply to you for the time being."
Grandell actually walked first to ensure that the bridge was safe to cross. But Noel soon said, "Let's go."
While he was grateful for Grandell's attention to detail, it would be rude to the Moon Temple if they didn't trust them in this matter.
So, they had no other choice but to cross the river. The soldiers were still wary, thinking they would be attacked in the middle of the river.
As if understanding their worries, the Saintess formed an additional wall that would protect them from the outside. Though, there was no need to do so since no demons attacked them.
They ultimately reached the other side of the river safely.
"Hu…" The Saintess let out a long breath as the barrier disappeared.
"Thanks." Noel extended his hand. Since they had arrived here, Noel wanted to help her get down from the carriage so that they could set up the camp.
"You're welcome." Layla smiled and took his hand.
After that, Noel turned to Grandell. "How are the soldiers?"
"All of them have small injuries, but only two need a bit of rest. The others can still go on."
The knights from the Moon Temple seemed to report their conditions to the Saintess. But they had four people that needed to recuperate on their side.
With this, there were only fourteen soldiers that could fight at the moment.
Noel asked Layla. "Do you have anyone that can heal?"
"No. I've only brought one priest to this place, and I leave him in the city. I can make a barrier to give some time for the knights to recuperate after all."
Noel then turned to Grandell. "Bring me the injured soldiers."
Grandell didn't know what Noel was planning to do, but he followed his order without a question.
As soon as both of them stood in front of Noel, the latter grabbed their arm and checked the condition of their bodies.
Their injuries weren't that heavy, but it was true that those injuries would hinder their movements on the battlefield. So, Noel injected his Spiritual Energy and utilized the Force Control.
The Force Control allowed him to influence the Spiritual Energy of another person and Noel used it to stimulate their recovery… the same recovery speed as that of a Spirit Grandmaster.
In other words, Noel utilized the Force Control to act as the Spirit Mind for these people.
In just ten minutes, both of them noticed that there was no more pain in their bodies.
"Huh? This is…" The two soldiers were baffled while Layla noticed how the breathing of these two people became stable as though their injuries had disappeared.
"This should be enough. Can you two still fight with this?"
"Y-yes Sir!" Both of them hurriedly replied.
"You're truly interesting." Layla looked at Noel. "Fire and Ice Spirits… And now, it's a healing ability? Don't tell me, it's your third spirit?"
"There's no way I can have a third spirit in my body." Noel shook his head. "Though, I do have a technique to boost your recovery. How about bringing your soldiers here?"
"But…" Layla obviously didn't want to do it since Noel had to use his Spiritual Energy.
What she didn't know was that Force Control used the target's Spiritual Energy, so it wouldn't burden his Spiritual Energy that much. It would only take a toll on his mind since he had to stimulate their regenerative ability, but considering he didn't do anything this whole time, the burden wasn't much.
"If your soldiers can continue fighting, I can do nothing and recuperate."
"…" Layla finally agreed. In the end, she could also buy some time for Noel to recover. "Bring the injured ones forward. The rest will set up our camp."
While Noel was healing the injured soldiers, the demons had been gathering around them. The demons weren't close enough to Noel and the others, so it was impossible to know their presence.
However, there was one thing that these demons had in common. There was a yellow-colored flower on top of their heads.
And behind all of them were a lot of people. Their strength varied, but the strongest ones were also Spirit Grandmasters.
"How many demons do we have?" one of the Grandmasters asked.
"About three thousand."
"It is not enough to kill them. Three thousand might be a high number, but that Saintess can hold off thousands of demons when she is only a Spirit Master."
"That is going to be fine. The Saintess has no choice but to open her barrier as long as we become bait."
"We will lure Noel Ardagan out and attack him together with the demons. Our objective right now is to injure him. It would be better if we could kill him, but if it's not possible, we at least want him to overexert himself. Understood?"
They nodded.
"Alright. Let's begin. Do your best to not die, but sacrifice yourself if it's impossible to survive."
Noel didn't know at this time that the battle that awaited him was something he had never seen before.
