Anna truly had a hard time holding on her consciousness. She was too injured to continue the fight. However, she still needed to hold on until Noel defeated the tree.
As long as they fought this Advance Level Demon together, even if they couldn't defeat this demon, they could escape together.
She had even lost track of the time.
"How long do I need to fight again?" Anna muttered in a low voice before seeing the demon charging toward her. "Tsk."
When the Advance Level Demon arrived before her, a middle-aged man landed in front of her, protecting her from the demon.
She had a hard time recognizing this man due to her vision being fuzzy, but she soon noticed the word that he spoke.
"Scram."
When the word was uttered, a powerful shock wave shook the area and turned into a powerful tornado that ran through the ground, shredding the demon's body apart. The tornado was so powerful that it destroyed everything on its path. The trail was even longer than fifty meters.
'That's… Soul Spirit Ability.' Anna recognized the man from his ability, thinking, 'To think that the commander would appear here and kill an Advance Level Demon with a single word. Soul Stigma, that's the name of his Spirit. The powerful ability that can be used just by stating a word.'
Now that the commander had appeared here, she felt that her role had been completed and dropped to the ground, feeling exhausted.
The commander glanced at her for a moment before turning to the Ancient Demon Tree. "So, this is the cause. The power is not that strong… What is this demon?"
"I am assuming it's the Ancient Demon Tree," Anna answered despite her condition.
"Ancient Demon Tree…" The commander's expression turned grim as if he recognized the name. "Its appearance here, that kind of Magic Power… I see, it seems that the Ancient Demon Tree has just been awoken. That burst of Magic Power is the result of the Magic Power from its awakening. At least, it appears here instead of somewhere else. I can kill it right now before it restores its power."
"There's no need to do that, Commander Oscar," said Anna while raising her vision.
"Hmm?" The commander furrowed his eyebrows, finding another presence on top of the tree.
Suddenly, the Ancient Demon Tree released another shock wave along with a huge echo.
*Ngoong!*
However, neither Anna and the commander were shaken by the sound or the shock wave as they realized that it was the last voice that the Ancient Demon Tree made.
[Mission: Eliminate the weakened Ancient Demon Tree within 30 days.]
[Description: There's an Ancient Demon Tree sleeping underneath the Dark Demon Forest.]
[Reward: Demon Hunter Medal and 7 SP]
[Penalty: Lose your qualification to wield Ardagan.]
[Congratulations. You've completed the mission and gained Ardagan's recognition.]
[Ardagan is expressing its will to completely support you from now on.]
Skill: Sword Fire (0/3)
Requirement: 3 SP
Skill: Ignition Sword (0/3)
Requirement: 3 SP
"It seems that Ardagan has recognized me as its wielder now." Noel smiled, realizing that this was the true start for him. He looked down and sighed, knowing that it would be impossible for him to absorb the crystal. "Still, the part that covered the crystal was the one that we came for, right?"
After some considerations, Noel cut some more wood around it since the rest had been shattered by his continuous attacks. Even he felt a bit exhausted after using Mega Slash many times. So, he slowly cut them down before he heard a familiar voice echoing in his ears.
"Why are you here, Noel Ardagan?"
"!!!" Noel widened his eyes and turned around, finding Oscar standing next to him. "Commander…"
"I am asking you what you're doing here."
Noel took a deep breath to regain his calm and stated, "I killed this tree."
"I can see that already. How do you know the tree's location? And why do you happen to be near when the tree is awakened?"
'Ah, this must be him interrogating me. He's suspicious of me.' Noel thought before saying, "When we conducted the retake exam, I found something weird in this place."
"And you didn't report it?"
"We had no obligation to report it. In fact, we didn't know anything about it… I'm just a fallen noble. Will someone actually listen to my words?"
Oscar looked at Noel's expressionless face as if he had given up on everything. "And why are you here?"
"To do some missions of course. Both Individual and Group Missions. To survive, we need a water source and this lake is good for camping. When we returned to the camp, the demon emerged."
Oscar glared at him for another minute before closing his eyes to calm down. After that, he said, "Nonetheless, you have defeated the tree. You will surely receive your rewards and your deeds shall be honored. Even though the condition of this tree is still weak, the fact that you can kill it proves your identity and strength."
"Can you hide this kind of achievement?" Noel asked.
"It seems that you haven't forgotten your objective."
"Yes. If the royal family knows about this, they're going to kill me as soon as possible." Noel nodded.
"Fine. I'll hide your achievement for you. And to think that you would join hands with Anna Stargaze."
"I'm simply observing her power and progress. I'll continue to learn everything about her so that I can use it to kill her in the future." Noel shook his head, assuring him that he still had the hatred in his heart.
"That's good then. From now on, when you go for an individual mission, you should go a bit farther away. And I'll provide you a mask that can change your appearance and a new identity. Use that to build up your second identity's reputation. During the group mission, you can use your real face if you don't want to make her suspicious."
"I understand. I shall follow your arrangement." Noel nodded in agreement.
"In that case, let's talk about your reward. Even though you want me to hide this achievement, you surely won't let go of the reward, right?" The commander understood them since that was what he would do as well.
"Yes."
"Then, state what you want right now."
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