"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.
"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."
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."