System vs Rebirth

Hailfa leaped forth, approaching Rose. However, Noel suddenly came in her way, striking her dagger with a sword covered in black flame.

*Clink!*

*Clink!*

*Clink!*

The clash lasted for four strikes as Hailfa was forced to retreat when she noticed something from the flame.

When she retreated, she took a glimpse of her dagger's condition. To her surprise, there was a slight dent on her dagger as though it was melting a moment ago.

She realized that the flame was so overbearing that it could melt something despite not releasing that much heat.

At the same time, the poison that covered the dagger had been completely burned. So, even if she attacked someone with these daggers, they wouldn't be poisoned.

It seemed that she had underestimated them too much.

'I guess they should at least be this strong if they want to keep ruining our plan… Normally, a Vice Captain would have trouble dealing with just one Devil Bishop. Well, that demon pair is equal to a normal Devil Bishop, so splitting them is a good idea. Even a Vice Captain should be able to stop them… not defeat them though.'

'But more importantly, these six people are extremely good at their coordination. It feels like there is someone who is controlling their movement. It must be the one with illusion ability.'

'With how they are fighting me, I should have no problem in killing them. But it will take a while since I have to wear down their stamina first, so their movement will become sloppy.'

'I guess I will have to fight them for another two hours before I can do anything. That demon pair should probably need around that time to defeat both Vice Captains. As for Sir Laufey, I don't know someone of that level, but there shouldn't be anyone that has the power to contend with Sir Laufey in this kingdom… At least, the ones with their identity known…'

Hailfa judged that the situation was a bit tricky. On the one hand, their victory was just a matter of time. On the other hand, two to three hours would be extremely dangerous.

It was true that they could win, but they would be pretty exhausted as well. There was a high chance that these people would escape back to the wall. And if they were to choose another fort to attack, they would be exhausted and have little time to recover before the reinforcement came.

'In that case, I should take some risk. Sir will surely reward me if I manage to capture Noel Ardagan, right? Besides, his flame can even burn my poison. Even if I poison him a little bit, he should be able to survive.'

Hailfa took a deep breath. A snake tattoo on her back suddenly shone and started expanding as though it was alive.

The snake tattoo started to appear around her arms as the poison density around her increased drastically.

"!!!" Noel widened his eyes in shock, feeling the change in the poison.

"Not good!" Noel hurriedly charged at her with his black fire, striking her. The flame also flared up as though it was trying to devour the poison emitting from her body. "I am going to be the vanguard. Be careful when attacking her! Her poison shouldn't work against me."

Hailfa smiled as she skillfully parried his attack with a dagger. And because Noel was a bit rushed, she managed to spin her body around and struck his left arm.

As expected of Noel, his basics were solid after Dimitri's lesson. That was why he managed to avoid it at the last second. Instead of a deep cut on his arm that might disable his arm, he was only left with a small graze.

But this was enough for Hailfa. In front of Noel, who could burn her poison easily, it meant she had to fight him with pure swordsmanship. Even though in pure strength, she was a little bit weaker than Paul, she was still a Spirit Grandmaster.

The more they fought, the more disadvantage Noel would get. And that strike was enough to prove it.

Hailfa smiled. She planned to create a distance from the rest of the people while weakening Noel this way. With this, she should be able to capture Noel within one hour.

Noel gritted his teeth in frustration. There was no way he wouldn't realize her intention. But the poison emitting from her body was truly too strong for Spirit Masters. If it was Paul or someone, the amount of their Spiritual Energy should be able to stop the poison from entering their body for some time.

But in this group, only Noel, with his Undying Fire as well as Freezing Crystal could burn or freeze the poison in the air and the one in his body. That was why he had to take this job even if it meant he had to fight by himself.

*Cling!*

*Cling!*

*Cling!*

They traded a hundred blows within five minutes. The others could only look from the distance while trying to find a gap in the poison to strike Hailfa. Of course, they didn't go to others because if Noel was alone, Hailfa wouldn't hesitate to capture Noel and bring him away. That was why they had to remain in their position and helplessly watch Noel getting bullied.

Noel had used his Everchanging Emotion Sword Style, especially with Fear Emotion, to increase his speed. Even so, his opponent was a Spirit Grandmaster.

Her daggers gave another few wounds on his arms and feet. Though, the most worrying wound was on his waist.

Normally, it would be blocked by the armor he had underneath his clothes, but the position was right below that armor. It was quite deep as well, so the bleeding was quite big. At the same time, he couldn't use his Ice Ability to close the wound for a moment since it would give away his identity and elements.

So, he was pressing that wound with his left hand while blocking Hailfa with the other hand.

"Haa… Haa…" Noel panted a few times, trying to catch some breath. The fight started to get hard for him. And the condition didn't seem to favor them. Noel had to form another plan while fighting her. Noel thought, 'Should I reveal my ice ability?'