System vs Rebirth

Seeing the incoming attacks, the fire bird realized that Noel had been preparing this attack the whole time. With the current condition of the wing, he would have a hard time dodging both attacks. So, he had to take it head-on if he wanted to survive unscathed.

But he didn't have enough time to prepare for an ability that could achieve that result. So, he knew he had to sacrifice something.

He had seen Noel's Ice Lotus and the Spirit Weaponry. The Ice Lotus had an overwhelming ice ability. It wouldn't be strange if it could extinguish the fire on his body or wing.

On the other hand, the Spirit Weaponry was a unique sword ability that could cut even his Spiritual Energy. So, getting hit by either one would still be pretty hurt.

Yet, he had to take on if he wanted to survive.

The demon gathered his energy in front of his body. The concentrated enemy started to burn like a raging fire, trying to engulf Noel.

"!!!" Noel was surprised by the bird's choice. He waved his sword, slicing the flame. As expected from the Spirit Weaponry, it immediately sliced the flame into two like butter.

The flame was cut, but the three petals from the Ice Lotus were closing in.

One petal approached the other wing, another one flew to its head, and the last one appeared behind him.

Noel would get his doubt answered when he saw the demon spinning his body at the last moment. Instead of letting his body hit just like that, the bird covered its body with its wings.

*Boom!*

The ice petals exploded, releasing the white icy fog. It instantly extinguished a part of the other wing. This way, the two wings would have a similar circumstance.

This was when Noel realized the intelligence of a Peak Level Demon.

After receiving that ability, the demon started flying again like nothing had happened. It turned out the demon had calculated the ability and used the Ice Lotus to trim his own wing so that both had the same condition.

This way, he had two same wings. Aside from the uncomfortable feeling because he wasn't used to flying with a smaller pair of wings, there was nothing stopping him anymore.

'Seriously? The demon can even do that?' Noel gritted his teeth, trying to chase the bird again. He never thought that the bird allowed him to be hit so that he could adjust his wings.

Unfortunately for him, the demon seemed to have planned a counterattack. The moment Noel tried to chase after him, there were several feathers surrounding him.

'Huh? Since when?' Noel looked at them and saw the small red sphere that isolated them. He soon realized that the demon was hiding them inside the white smoke this whole time.

He almost forgot that every time the demon released its feathers was when he spun his body.

In other words, not only did the demon use the previous attack to condition his wings, but he also secretly placed an ambush.

"Kh." Noel hurriedly used his Flame Scale to cover his body.

*Boom!*

*Boom!*

A series of explosions occurred, engulfing Noel.

The power of the blast launched Noel away and the heat from the fire made his body release smoke as if he was being burned alive.

However, Noel's body was covered with black colored fire. This was Ardagan's Undying Fire. And if one took a closer look, they would notice that Noel's skin looked like they were covered in scales. And these scales were the ones releasing the black fire.

"Kh." Noel gritted his teeth while scanning his body. 'Kh. Although the flame scale and the Undying Fire managed to absorb a huge portion of the flame, it's still pretty hurt to get blasted like that. Even the heat is warming up my organs…"

Noel felt the burning sensation inside his body. The Undying Flame was covering the organs as well, but as expected, it still made him in pain.

He took a deep breath. "My current condition is not too bad, but I can't say it's good as well. If I take another attack from the bird, my organs might start to have some problems."

There was one thing he noticed from the explosions earlier. Out of ten explosions that hit him, eight of them reached unprecedented might. The bird was getting closer and closer to its peak.

Noel gritted his teeth and chased after him. He wanted to be careful, but he didn't have enough time.

Still, the bird had made a considerable distance by using the previous attack. So, Noel had to use all his abilities in order to catch up to him again.

If he used the same combination, the bird might dodge it easily because he had learned the attack pattern.

So, Noel had to be more creative.

Noel's expression became serious. He tried to position the bird between him and the mountain.

Seeing the sudden change, the bird tried to cross the mountain to avoid Noel. He hadn't realized what Noel was planning.

Noel's plan started the moment they passed the mountain. Noel used the mountain to step on the ground without diving down.

That step was all he needed to activate the Split Step, dividing himself into two.

"!!!" The demon was startled. This was the ability that confused him earlier. But when he was away from Noel, he could see the difference. One of them was surrounded by Spiritual Energy, while the other one was made of Spiritual Energy.

It was pretty clear for the bird. So, it flew toward the one made of Spiritual Energy to gain more distance.

But this intelligence was what Noel needed the most. Noel smirked. He had predicted that the bird would have seen through the ability. So, all he needed to do was to take one step ahead by going in the same direction.

The bird was startled, realizing that he had been tricked by Noel. But it was too late. Noel once again managed to approach him while utilizing his abilities.