"Hmm?!" Qiel narrowed her eyes when she noticed another movement from the ruin's direction. "Wait, isn't that…"
Legolaz had first split the group into two. The first group entered the ruin with him while the second group maintained the security of the area.
The second group hadn't made any other moves, showing that they were waiting for Legolaz. Additionally, since a few hours had passed, the sky had begun to turn dark. Dimitri would become even more powerful during the dark. It was true that the brighter the light, the darker the shadow. But when it was dark, it would be hard to differentiate the shadow, making him able to blend in.
That was why Qiel had to be careful during the nighttime. It was clear that Dimitri was planning to make a run for it.
Qiel drew her bow, aiming at the ruin. Although she didn't plan to destroy the ruin, she would definitely shoot if Noel was there. Even Dimitri would have a hard time protecting Noel in this siege.
But this was the exact reason why any variable might ruin her plan.
And the first group that Legolaz brought in earlier began to emerge from the ruin. They were actually taking out a lot of frozen statues. Those figures had been covered in a thick layer of ice.
"Huh?" Qiel's body trembled. She had clashed with Dimitri a few times in the past. Dimitri might be clever, but not this clever.
She instantly saw through the trick that had transpired inside the ruin. The fact that the people brought out those fragile frozen people meant she couldn't shoot at the ruin.
While she could shoot a non-lethal arrow and just use shock waves to blow away normal people without killing them, she was practically a cannon. A single shot from her would produce an impact that would shatter the fragile ice statues.
If she truly shot them, it was the same as picking a fight against the Atracaeca Kingdom.
"Kh." Qiel gritted her teeth, realizing that Noel must be the one who thought about this plan. It seemed that the report of him outsmarting Laufey was not a lie. Ultimately, Qiel lowered her bow while keeping on the lookout.
She might not be able to shoot, but she could still order the people to move.
"You guys get ready. The moment I find a single trace of that little brat, you're going to chase after him."
The Devil Bishops and Devil Inspectors nodded their heads furiously.
More and more ice statues were brought out from the ruin. Obviously, the ice statues piqued everyone's interest, so they ended up surrounding the first group, trying to get a look at these statues.
The more crowded it became, the harder Qiel could find Noel and Dimitri. This was basically the battle of wits between Qiel and Noel.
Not long after, Ramuer came out and shouted, "I am the second son of the Grand Protector, Ramuer. We have found a trace of the previous civilization. Hence, I'm going to order all of you to carry everything to the nearest city. We'll use the temperature of the night to maintain their condition until we reach the city. Get ready to move out!"
Ramuer's order shocked everyone, but the night in the desert was extremely cold. So, it was indeed perfect to maintain the ice. It was probably the reason why Noel negotiated with Ramuer at dusk. He wanted to give the reason for Ramuer to come out during the night.
"This is getting trickier than I expected. That little brat is smarter than reported. Are they going to use the group to escape?" After seeing the current situation, Qiel felt like Noel's plan wasn't so simple. "No, they don't seem to be using them to escape. If that's the case, the future Ardagan Family will bear the wrath of the Atracaeca Kingdom as well. After all, those ice statues are valuable resources. They must be planning to escape through this confusion or…"
When Qiel thought about it, she saw a fluctuation of energy.
"!!!" Qiel's eyes not only could see from far away, but she could also see the flow of Spiritual Energy. And currently, there was a change in the middle of the crowd. "It must be Dimitri."
Without hesitation, Qiel aimed her bow at the crowd. She was waiting patiently, fully knowing that Dimitri would leave the crowd and make a run for it.
"The town is in the south. I'm currently in the west, and Nelfer is waiting for them in the east. The ruin might not be big, but they still have to loop around if they want to go to the north." Qiel smirked. She had positioned perfectly, limiting Noel and Dimitri's movement.
As she expected, Dimitri suddenly launched himself to the east.
"There he is!" Qiel could see the shadow that used the darkness to cover its presence, moving in Nelfer's direction. She thought she managed to read Dimitri completely and aimed at him, ready to support Nelfer.
However, Dimitri's ability didn't allow her to see whether he brought Noel with him or not. There was a chance that Noel was hiding among the crowd or even staying in the ruin to wait for them to pass.
While she was still thinking, Dimitri made an abrupt change. He suddenly stopped and changed his direction to the south.
"What? He suddenly shifts his direction to the town. Did he notice Nelfer and change his direction? Or…" Qiel gasped, thinking of another possibility. "That little brat might be with him and he figured out my plan and changed his approach."
Dimitri couldn't unleash his full speed in the shadow form, but that was enough to make him hard to be found.
Even Nelfer wouldn't notice him changing direction.
Unfortunately for him, Qiel wouldn't allow him to escape.
"You might have surprised me, but you haven't exceeded my imagination," Qiel smirked and released her bow. She had to shoot him before Dimitri left her range.
The arrow flew like a cannon. But because the arrow was made of light, it left a trail in the darkness, startling the crowd.
Before the crowd could react, the arrow had reached its direction. But since the distance was extremely far away, there was a small window of time that allowed Dimitri to avoid the arrow.
Boom!
The arrow exploded, startling everyone.
However, the shadow managed to avoid the arrow, albeit barely. The effect was shown when the shadow stopped for a moment as if it was trying to get its stability.
After that, the shadow continued on its way before Qiel released another shot.
"As expected, you could avoid that." Qiel clicked her tongue, but her annoyed expression soon turned into a smile as she said, "But… that shot is not to hit you, Dimitri."
As she said those words, the shadow that had just left Qiel's firing range came to a halt. A figure suddenly fell from the sky and punched the sand.
Bam!
The punch was so strong that it caused an eruption. All the sand on the surface was kicked up, including the shadow.
Due to the change in the terrain, the shadow had to revert to its original form.
"Do you think you can get away?" The one who knocked the sand was none other than Nelfer. That was right, the arrow that Qiel shot earlier was not to hit Dimitri but to alert Nelfer.
Now that Nelfer had stood in front of Dimitri, he would be able to stop him.
But surprisingly, Dimitri came out alone.
"Eh?!" Qiel was stunned. She had expected that Noel would be Dimitri due to that abrupt change in direction. But he was nowhere to be seen. "Wait a minute. Is he using Dimitri as a distraction?"
Qiel became hesitant, trying to figure out what Noel was thinking.
Meanwhile, Dimitri ended up releasing all his Spiritual Energy as the shadow began to leak out from his body.
With a gaze filled with killing intent, he stated with a cold tone. "I'm getting annoyed. If you think you can stop me from leaving, then try it!"
Nelfer smirked as he also released his Spiritual Energy, not planning to lose against Dimitri.
While those two were about to clash, Qiel was actually panicking.
"If Dimitri is only a decoy, that little brat must be trying to do something." Qiel hurriedly returned her gaze to the crowd, trying to locate Noel. But because the crowd was stunned and more and more people came out, it was impossible to locate him.
So, Qiel shouted, "You guys immediately go to that crowd and try to find Noel Ardagan. Even if he can disguise his appearance, you can still find him among the Spirit Masters."
The group acknowledged the order. But before they left, Qiel suddenly stopped them. "Wait."
The group became confused, but Qiel seemed to be coming up with another plan.
"It's impossible to escape by himself from me. So, there are only two possibilities. He can disguise himself as one of those people or use the building to fool all of us…"
Qiel gasped, seeing through Noel's plan. She corrected her order, "Split into two groups. The first group will search for him in that crowd, while the second group will investigate the ruin. Check every corner and wall to see if he is drilling the hole and escaping from underneath the sand."
This time, the group left and divided themselves.
As one would expect from Qiel, the strategist of the Supreme Devil Organization, she could see through Noel's plan, who wanted to escape by using the sand as his cover. However, would Noel be easy to catch? Or would Noel outsmart an opponent like her this time?"
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