System vs Rebirth

"Is everything ready?" Noel asked.

The admiral nodded. "Yes. We have positioned ourselves south of the heavenly disaster. The heavenly disaster this time is quite different, considering it has a lot of underlings. If necessary, we will also be sweeping in with our people to lessen your burden."

"Don't worry about it. If necessary, we can still use the True Spirit Body." Noel waved his hand.

"Understood. May the fortune bless you with its presence."

Noel smiled. Now that everything was ready, he headed out, meeting Anna and the others on the plain to the north.

Noel turned to Incetta while saying, "This one is going to be slightly more dangerous due to the number of demons. We'll be doing the same thing as last hunt, with Anna taking my position."

"I understand." Incetta nodded. It was normal if Noel took command, considering he had more experience than her.

"There are approximately seventy thousand beasts in this area. And this ancient demon is able to bring them in. We tried approaching this demon in the past, but we couldn't get past its underlings. That's why we have to be careful." Rui warned.

"Alright. If necessary, we might end up using our True Spirit Body. Either way, we'll try to lure it away." Noel turned back to Incetta. "As such, I won't be conserving my stamina behind. Instead, I will be taking the front with you. Follow my lead."

"Yes. Thank you for giving me the opportunity to learn from you directly." Incetta politely bowed. As Vivi told her, this was not Noel trying to stop her from learning. Instead, by looking at Noel's power from up close, she might learn a thing or two about the transcendent path.

"In that case, let's go." Noel nodded.

Since the matter had been settled, all four of them moved to the north. There were some demons here and there, but they swiftly killed it.

Fortunately, the numbers weren't too high because they were still a bit far from the enemies.

They expected the numbers would increase as they got closer to the demons. But to their surprise, instead of increasing, the number was actually decreasing.

No, it was much worse than decreasing.

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"This is…" Rui couldn't help but furrow her eyebrows. She looked at the plains, noticing something amiss. "No demons spotted. Something is wrong. Why are there no demons here? From the looks of it, there should be a lot more demons around here."

Incetta asked, "Maybe the demons are migrating?"

"No way. They have been staying in the same spot for at least the last fifty years. There's no way they are migrating right now."

"What if the demon is actually a coward? The ancient demon orders a retreat because it knows it won't last fighting against three spirit transcendence rank experts."

Rui considered the possibility carefully before shaking her head. "I don't think so. I have never heard of an ancient demon being a coward. Their instinct is always the same. They will deal with the threats as quickly as possible."

"This is worrying." Incetta crossed her arms.

Noel had been staying quiet the whole time. Anna noticed it too, so she tried to join the conversation.

"If the demons are gone, we should at least find its nest and see the trail, ensuring that the demons can't come back," Anna explained the possibility of the plan in this scenario.

Rui nodded. "Yes. If the demons are migrating, it means the Ui clan won't be in danger. In fact, the people in the north will have to deal with them, not us. So, I can consider this subjugation a success as long as we can find where it is going."

"In that case, we should continue onward. However, an ancient demon is pretty smart, so we have to be careful when advancing. There's a possibility that this is a trap. We have encountered a few ancient demons, so…" Anna shrugged. She couldn't help but remember the time they encountered the Ancient Demon Spider.

It managed to outsmart them and kill Nathan. That was why she needed to be extra careful.

While the others agreed, Noel remained silent. He had a worried face, as though he were thinking about something.

"Noel?" Anna frowned.

Noel took a deep breath. "I'm just thinking of another possibility."

"Another possibility?" Anna tilted her head in confusion.

Noel turned to Rui. "How is the relationship between your clan and the people in the north? Good or bad?"

"!!!" Anna and Incetta were dumbfounded by the question.

"Not necessarily good. We are respected to be the number one clan, but there are people who are envious of our positions."

Noel's face turned grim. Anna couldn't help but ask, "Are you thinking of the possibility of enemies' manipulation?"

"Yes. No matter how we hide it, the fact that we have come from far away can easily reach their ears. They should have their respective information networks. And there's a chance that they're bringing away the heavenly disaster for something…"

"A trap? Or maybe they bring it elsewhere so that we can't kill it and return to that heavenly disaster here once they're done. They must have realized we don't have a lot of time to stay here."

"That's…" Rui didn't know what to say. If they couldn't kill the remaining heavenly disasters, she couldn't leave with a peace of mind.

To everyone's surprise, Noel and Anna suddenly unsheathed their swords while looking to the right. Rui also raised her stance as though they felt something.

Incetta asked, "An ancient demon?"

"Yes—!" Right after she confirmed it, Rui suddenly sensed another powerful creature coming from the north. "This is—!"

She couldn't even finish her second sentence before another powerful existence entered her detection range.

Numerous roars echoed from three different directions.

Due to their massive numbers, the dust clouds rose high in the sky, alerting even Incetta.

"This is… there are three coming…" Incetta gasped.

"We have to retreat." Anna clicked her tongue. "Whoever plans this must want to eliminate us by forcing us to engage three ancient demons at the same time. We'll take care of the rear. Incetta, you go to the admiral and retreat—!"

Noel suddenly grabbed her shoulder, as if telling her to stop.

"Noel?" Anna opened her mouth, trying to persuade him to retreat. Even though they could fight, it would be better if they didn't take the risk.

However, Noel couldn't help but smile. No, he almost teared up. After all, there was such a nostalgic panel suddenly appearing in front of him.

He muttered quietly, "Welcome back, Partner."