System vs Rebirth

Fortunately, by the time they reached the area, Dimitri hadn't arrived yet. Hence, they immediately went a bit further down the south, which would intercept the airship farther from the Ancient Demon.

They ended up meeting Dimitri more than ten kilometers south of the airport.

He immediately landed the airship and met up with Noel and Anna.

"What? You want me to stop?" Dimitri's expression turned grim. There was no way he could follow that order, considering his task was to bring the demon meat and preserve it to be sold.

Noel shook his head helplessly. "It can't really be helped. Or if you don't want to stop, it's better to head to another destination."

"Another destination? Is there something wrong with this destination, Master?" Dimitri furrowed his eyebrows, feeling something was wrong. There was no way Noel would stop him if nothing happened.

Noel thought it would be too bothersome to lie to Dimitri since the latter would find it sooner or later.

Noel said, "Yeah. There is an Ancient Demon hiding in the airport."

"An Ancient Demon?" Dimitri gasped while taking a step back. However, he soon realized that both of them must have clashed with the Ancient Demon or they wouldn't have known about it. "Master… you…"

If he told him that he died after fighting the Ancient Demon Spider, Dimitri would definitely use whatever he could to stop him from venturing any more.

At the very least, he had told him about the Ancient Demon Spider. He could fill the rest with some lies. "Anna and I barely escaped with our True Spirit Bodies. The Ancient Demon is much more terrifying than we originally thought.

"It is capable of making a strategic move and even controlling a lot of demons in the area. If not for our quick reaction, we would have died."

Anna noticed the lies and decided to support him by adding, "If you bring the airship close to that Ancient Demon, it can release a ray of corrosive light that will reduce the airship and everyone inside it to nothing with a single shot. Hence, it's not wise to go to this destination."

"Master—!" Dimitri was fuming. No matter what, the Ancient Demon was terrifying. They were even more terrifying than a Spirit Transcendence. The latter was like a solo fighter, while the former controlled demons.

Noel stopped him from saying anything else. He exclaimed, "But… that escape also provided us with something."

"Huh?" Dimitri frowned. What could the Ancient Demon Spider give them other than terror?

Noel raised one finger. "Transcendent path."

"!!!" Dimitri widened his eyes in shock. "What? Are you saying…"

"Yeah. After analyzing the way the Ancient Demon fought, we found a new way of fighting that suits us. It gave much stronger power output and a new fighting style."

"…" Dimitri was shaken. On the one hand, he wanted to stop them from continuing this hunt. After all, they would surely come back and challenge the Ancient Demon again. Even if he stopped them, Noel and Anna would simply sneak out. On the other hand, he also understood that this hunt was for the sake of reaching Spirit Transcendence.

The fact that Noel and Anna claimed to have found their path meant they could become Spirit Transcendence by simply absorbing the demon crystal and building up their energy reserve to that level.

Noel raised two fingers. "That's why I hope that you don't stop us. In exchange, I will promise you two things. First, we won't challenge the Ancient Demon again until we are fully recovered. Second, we will have to become a Spirit Transcendence expert first before fighting that demon. Those are the two I can promise you."

If they became a Spirit Transcendence, it meant they would become the Ancient Demon's equal. No, they would definitely have an upper advantage, considering it would become two versus one.

Dimitri bit his lips. Noel had given him all this reassurance so that he would accept his decision.

Despite how worried he was, Dimitri had no choice but to accept.

"I understand."

Noel smiled, feeling relieved that Dimitri had accepted it.

"However, I have a condition as well, Master. This is for the sake of the Ardagan family."

"Alright." Noel nodded.

"Please show me that transcendent path. It's not that I am doubting you, Master. But I can't allow you to go unless I know that you have the power to challenge that Ancient Demon.

"I also understand that the Ancient Demon can wake up anytime and lead numerous demons to the kingdom, which means our territory will become the first line of defense. I know that challenging that demon here is a way to ensure that it doesn't happen while experiencing the power of an Ancient Demon.

"But I hope that you'll listen to my rude request. I can't afford to lose both you and the lady I serve. More importantly, you haven't even produced an heir that I and the rest of the subordinates can pledge our loyalty to. Please allow this mere butler a chance to make his heart feel relieved." Dimitri lowered his head.

Noel thought for a moment and said, "Alright. But we will have to go much further from here to avoid the detection of that spider."

"Understood. Please follow me to the airship."

They came up to the airship and immediately departed until they were more than fifty kilometers away from the airport. Considering the spider could move one kilometer with a single jump or the Grass Demon's superior detection ability, this kind of precaution was necessary.

The people were confused because Noel and Dimitri ended up standing 50 meters apart.

"What is this?"

"What is Mr. Dimitri doing?"

"Is he trying to fight the Lord?"

"What are we supposed to do?"

The people inside the airship were watching them in panic.

"Since I have yet to fully recover, we will only end this with two strikes. You may attack me once and I will block it, and vice versa. Will that be alright with you?" Noel asked with a solemn expression.

"Yes, Master. Thank you for accepting this rude servant's request." Dimitri formed a blade with his shadow power.

"You might want to use your True Spirit Body." Noel smiled.

"I don't believe that was a taunt for me. Nevertheless, I'm here to witness your so-called transcendent path, not to hurt you, Master."

"Very well, you may start." Noel nodded.

"In that case…" Dimitri gathered his spiritual energy in his sword. He lifted up the blade and closed his stance a little. This was the same technique that Dimitri used when he fought against a Devil Bishop in Silica Valley. It was a similar technique to his Sword Transmutation.

"I apologize for attacking you, Master." Dimitri waved his sword upward. The shadow energy ran through the ground and rose into the sky, forming a tall curtain.

Noel stood still, even though the sharp energy was about to come toward him.

"!!!" Dimitri widened his eyes. Things had started getting dangerous since this attack contained a lot of his power. If Noel didn't take this seriously, he might end up getting severely injured. "Master!"

A small ice crystal appeared in front of Noel. He extended his hand as though he were about to grab that ice crystal. But the thing he caught was actually Dimitri's Dark Curtain.

With this, the ice crystal was surrounded by his palm and Dimitri's sword strike. The ice crystal shook violently and burst, releasing all the frozen energy. Due to the fact that Noel's hand was covered in ice element, the ice crystal had no other place to spread but Dimitri's sword strike.

Eternal Frozen.

"!!!" Dimitri widened his eyes in shock as the conclusion came in an instant.

The burst of violent ice energy froze his Dark Curtain and covered it in a thick ice layer. Even the spiritual energy within the Dark Curtain wasn't spared. No, it could be said that Noel actually used that spiritual energy to freeze his attack from the inside as well.

And that frozen energy spread so fast that it covered more than fifty meters in just two seconds.

Dimitri dropped his jaw to the ground in disbelief. This was definitely much different from the fighting style he knew.

The frozen Dark Curtain ended up shattering into pieces like an ice berg before disappearing.

"Are you going to continue, Dimitri?" Noel asked.

Dimitri bit his lips and raised his sword. "Yes, Young Master. Please allow me to taste your strength."

"Since you're not using your True Spirit Body, I won't use my element this time. Only my sword strike…" Noel opened his hand and formed an ice sword. Unfortunately, he couldn't use Ardagan, considering the flame originated from Ardagan's real body, which was the blade. Even the system was frozen.

The only thing he could use was checking his status and changing his medals. Apparently, those medals had been embedded within his own spiritual energy reserve, so he could still use them, but not the rest of the function.

Even then, it was enough for the time being.

Noel raised his blade above his head and swung downward. "Be careful, Dimitri. Sword Transmutation."

The sword strike ran through the ground like Dimitri's Dark Curtain, but it didn't flare up into the sky.

Instead, it maintained all its energy inside as though it were saving up for the most important thing.

Dimitri didn't think this attack would be dangerous for him. He waved his sword horizontally, trying to split it into two.

However, the energy from the Sword Transmutation suddenly flared up at the last second.

Bam!

Their clash, which was supposed to be normal, suddenly turned into a powerful clash that split the night sky into two. Dimitri's shadow power darkened the sky itself, but it was being overwhelmed by the large spike of Noel's bluish sword strike.

"Kh!" Dimitri gritted his teeth. How? He didn't understand why the sword strike suddenly became so powerful, but it took a lot of his power just to stop it.

In fact, the sword strike started pushing him back. As Noel said, if he could make this sword strike even more powerful with his element, it was understandable that he needed True Spirit Body if he wanted to receive this attack.

He finally understood that Noel's current level was very close to Devil Saint Alexander and Commander Oscar's.

By the time he stopped this attack, the shadow blade evaporated into thin air as both of his hands became numb. Without him realizing it, he had been pushed back for more than thirty meters.

"Kh." Dimitri panted heavily, looking at his master. He had never thought that the young master, who had never started training physically a few years ago, had actually surpassed him.

'He… might be able to reach his ancestor level in the future.' Dimitri couldn't help but smile. Knowing that one fact made him realize that Noel wasn't someone who needed his protection anymore.

Dimitri walked toward Noel with a solemn expression before falling on one knee.

"I apologize for my rudeness, Master. I shall follow your order and retreat for today before making a trip to the next destination in the west."

Noel smiled and patted Dimitri's shoulder. "I know that you're just worried about me and I'm grateful for it. If not for your care, I might not be alive now."

Noel helped him up, which made him embarrassed.

"Please believe in me, Dimitri."

"Yes, Master." Dimitri nodded with a gratified smile on his face.

"And… I have to request something."

"Is there something wrong? I'll definitely solve it for you."

"No, it's not that of a problem. As you can see, due to some reasons, I'm unable to wield Ardagan for the time being. I don't know for how long, so…" Noel looked away.

"Ah! Do you need a sword replacement?"

"Yeah."

"In that case, I'll go back and bring you my sword. I rarely use it anymore since it's a bad image for a butler going around with a sword on his waist." Dimitri smiled. "And if you aren't satisfied, I can ask Roel to make a sword for you. Nevermind, there is actually an auction one month from now. If I'm not wrong, there should be a very good blade in the catalog."

"Is that so?" Noel gave a wry smile, knowing that this was Dimitri's trick to make him go back home. But Noel simply said, "Alright. I'll go back during that time and make sure to prepare for it as well."

"Understood."