Anna gritted her teeth and jumped to the side, gaining some distance from the earthworm to think.
Noel, on the other hand, was getting suppressed by the Peak Level Demons. The Peak Level Demons didn't even bother to kill him. They fought conservatively as if they were trying to buy time for the rest to come without getting injured.
"Noel!" Anna shouted his name, knowing what was going to happen from now on.
"I know." Noel nodded with a serious expression while repelling the enemy's attacks.
Anna was clenching her weapon slightly. Despite facing this type of situation, she still hadn't released her full power.
After all, she was still abiding by the promise that she made with Noel a moment ago.
…
An hour ago.
"Eh? What do you mean by that? Are you saying I can't use my True Spirit Body? But this is…" Anna gasped.
Noel's expression was serious. He was still weighing the probability of her injury as well as the mission. On the one hand, he didn't want her to use the True Spirit Body because of her injury. On the other hand, he knew that their options were limited.
In fact, the moment Noel heard that Anna's body was still hurting the whole time, he couldn't help but wonder how much Anna had endured.
She didn't show it the whole time, so he never noticed it.
It felt like he was being defeated by Anna before the battle even began. But that was the exact reason why Noel had to take this matter seriously.
"That's right. We don't need your True Spirit Body. Think about this." Noel raised one finger. "Old Ru sent us here because he considers that we can clear the whole nest without his help, right?"
"That's true. But there should be a few conditions such as pushing ourselves to the limit. In fact, he should have taken my True Spirit Body into calculations."
"No. Old Ru is only taking the new ability into his consideration. In fact, he is trying to not let you use your True Spirit Body. If not, he wouldn't give us this thing." Noel took the talisman Old Ru gave them.
Anna looked down. She could somehow understand Noel's reasoning. Old Ru actually stopped Dimitri from using his True Spirit Body when they first met. It seemed that he understood what kind of power the True Spirit Body was as well as the risks they had.
He knew that she would be in danger if she used the True Spirit Body. That was why he prevented her from taking that action.
Still, Anna wasn't thoroughly convinced. "There is one problem. Do you think we can kill the Superior Demon without the True Spirit Body? I mean, I can somehow picture it, but what are we going to do with the other demons? In fact, the key factor of our success lies in those demons. If we can kill them and face the earthworm alone, we can definitely win. But if those demons surround us…"
Anna didn't have to finish her words. The result was clear. Even Noel couldn't rebuke her statement.
In fact, she felt a bit weird that Noel suddenly became adamant about stopping her from using this ability. She thought, 'Did he notice something from his spirit? The Spirit should know more about the True Spirit Body… Wait. Don't tell me… his spirits have realized my condition and warned him about it? Is that why he is so desperate to stop me?'
Suddenly, the spirit in her body released his voice.
'Oh, look at that. How sweet of him. It's hard to find someone who cares this much for you. How about holding back for now? You can't make him worry too much, you know.'
Anna never thought that the Thunder Berserker Spirit would start the conversation. Normally, he would only speak whenever she visited him in her own consciousness. However, she had another reason why she couldn't back down.
'Why are you suddenly supporting him? What are you scheming?' Anna paused for a moment. 'As much as I want to fulfill that request, you should have seen his reaction about this nest. It seems that his spirit is going to reward him with something if he can somehow eliminate all the demons in the nest.'
Noel didn't want her to risk her life, but Anna refused for his sake as well. The Thunder Berserker Spirit could only say, 'I have warned you regarding the risk. The rest is up to your choice. Though, I must say that if you survive, you can enjoy being a little princess with him taking care of you.'
Anna looked down for a moment. She would be lying if she didn't think such a scene didn't tempt her. Of course, she also felt moved when Noel showed such concern after knowing about her condition. So, she had to compromise a little.
She proposed. "How about this… I will follow your plan. But if the enemies end up becoming more troublesome than we expect, I will have to use the True Spirit Body. In other words, if your plans can somehow eliminate the Superior Demon before I feel the need to use it, then I won't use it."
Noel thought for a moment and nodded. This was their agreement.
However, everything changed when the earthworm called for the other demons.
Even Noel knew that the demons scattered all around the nest actually tried to gather in this one place.
Noel gritted his teeth. He could feel the vibration from the ceiling as a few small pebbles had begun to fall. It was clear that the demons were trying to create a hole.
Hence, he had to take down all the Superior Demons in this place before they reached here. This way, he would be able to take down the remaining demons while Anna bought some time from the Superior Demon.
"Haaa!" Noel released all the Spiritual Energy he could muster.
The Peak Level Demons began to get some distance to intercept all his plans.
But the first thing he did was actually point his hand upward.
They were confused, especially after seeing the Ice Lotus. They thought Noel would attack them again with the petals, so they were ready to dodge it. However, the Ice Petals actually flew into the ceiling and exploded, forming multiple ice crystals that strengthened the ceiling. This way, he could buy them more time.
But to his surprise, the demons' movements began to change as if they were learning from him.
"Huh?" Noel suddenly widened his eyes when a Peak Level Demon suddenly jumped on top of him, trying to catch him.
Noel hurriedly waved his sword, cutting deep into the demon's body. But surprisingly, the demon didn't do anything other than use the momentum to reach him. This demon pinned him to the ground with its body weight.
Noel obviously used the Floating Rune to lift him up, but it turned out that was just a distraction. The other Peak Level Demons moved toward Anna.
One of them did the same thing. It sacrificed its life to hold Anna back while the Superior Demon raised its upper body and pointed its mouth to the ceiling.
"Don't tell me!" Anna gasped. "Stop it!"
Both Anna and Noel understood what the demon planned to do. They jumped toward the Superior Demon in order to stop it, but it was too late. The Superior Demon actually jumped into the air with that giant body.
Ignition Sword.
Thunder Slash.
Noel and Anna struck it with the sword, leaving a huge wound on his body. However, it didn't stop his momentum, only shifted it a bit.
That giant body hit the ceiling. The ice shattered by its tough skin and the mouth destroyed everything on its path.
It created a huge hole in the ceiling. It might not be connected to the other side, but they could see a clear crack, indicating that the ceiling had almost collapsed.
"Kh." Noel never thought that the Superior Demon would do something like this.
"Sorry. I think this Superior Demon is smarter than we expected. Conventional way won't do it." Anna said as she saw the ceiling on top of them crumble as ten demons emerged in rapid succession. There were a few other demons that would soon come from other tunnels.
In this situation, if she didn't use her power, they would definitely die… Though, the Berserker Spirit's words seemed to be influencing her mind as well. She thought, 'All I need to do is to avoid injuries, right?'
"Wait. I—" Noel tried to stop her, believing there was still another way to solve this. Of course, it was just him trying to avoid the worst-case scenario where Anna's life would be in danger after using the True Spirit Body. If he actually knew about Anna's thoughts, he would definitely slap her in the face.
Unfortunately, Anna disregarded everything she said from this point onward.
"O' Berserker who controls rampage and chaos." Anna started chanting unlike Dimitri. It seemed that was a condition because she had yet to reach the level where she could fully utilize this power. However, that chant contained a lot of Spiritual Energy.
Just from the beginning of the chant alone, the Spiritual Energy vibrated and formed a pressure that tried to pin everyone on the ground.
The earthworm was shocked, realizing that Anna had to be killed before she could do what she wanted. Without hesitation, the earthworm moved toward Anna.
"This body is weak and unqualified." Anna continued. Suddenly, the lightning began to spark all around her body.
The earthworm wanted to attack her, but the spark actually created a lightning bolt that hit in all directions as if trying to repel everyone that wanted to get near her.
"With my blood as the price and my veins as the bonds, I shall offer you my life." This time, a huge change suddenly underwent. Blood suddenly flowed out of her eyes, nose, and mouth. The blood didn't evaporate. Instead, they were floating in the air and merged with the lightning, fusing the color between the two.
The yellow lightning gradually turned red as if it was lightning that came from her blood instead. However, this red lightning was far fiercer than the normal yellow lightning. It cracked the ground open, it created a hole in the lower level demon upon contact, and, more importantly, it was raging as if it was trying to destroy everything in the world.
The earthworm wouldn't allow Anna to do anything she wanted. The moment it reached her, the earthworm tried to swallow her.
But Anna only smiled as she finished her chant. "Dwell in my body. True Spirit Body."
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