System vs Rebirth

"Your solo mission was completed in the first day, mine was the same. And the group mission was completed on the second day since we managed to kill 12 Mid Level Demons on the first day and 15 Mid Level Demons on the second day. Today, we managed to kill 25 Mid Level Demons. Don't you think this is a good progress?" Anna stretched her hands while yawning.

They were walking back to the lake as soon as the sun came down, so they felt a bit tired, especially due to the sudden appearance of the Advance Level Demon.

Even Noel believed they had done so much, considering Low Level Demons were the majority in this area.

Even though he still needed to submit a portion of the crystals, they still had a plenty of them to share. And they had an abundant amount of Low Level Crystals.

However, Noel stayed quiet when Anna told him their progress.

"What's wrong?" Anna turned around, looking at Noel who seemed to be occupied by his thoughts. Noel looked like as if he was observing the lake.

"No, I'm just thinking that tonight or tomorrow morning…" Noel closed his eyes while thinking about all the knowledge he had regarding the runes.

"What do you mean?" Anna tilted her head in confusion.

Noel pointed at the lake, specifically the middle of the lake.

"Huh?" Anna glanced at the lake and noticed the glimmer green light emitting from within the water. In that instant, she opened her eyes wide in shock. "Since when?"

"I'm not sure, but it's been like that ever since we came back."

"That's clearly the case. It seems that the seal is breaking. I don't think I feel anything such as the increase of Spiritual Energy. A demon at that level should have a ridiculous amount of Spiritual Energy, but I guess that shows how weak he is right now. Mid Level Demon, probably the strongest Mid Level Demon you can ever imagine, but it won't be as strong as Advance Level Demon."

"Then, there is its size." Noel added.

"True. The size will make it hard since we need to climb the tree. Can you do it?"

"I have tried it yesterday. Climbing a tree won't be a problem since my grip is stronger now, but it'll be a different matter if the demon is stopping me from climbing it."

"Even I don't have too much details on the Ancient Demon Tree, so we can only improvise our approach."

"Fair enough." Noel nodded. "For now, let's have some rest so that our bodies are well enough to kill it."

Anna agreed as she immediately prepared some food while Noel kept staring at the rune but still couldn't find anything. It seemed that his knowledge wasn't enough to decipher the rune.

'I guess, my ancestor was too powerful for me to comprehend right now. Well, the history indeed claimed that he was one of the strongest, if not the strongest.' Noel thought for a moment and asked, "Hey, Anna. Do you mind if I'm the one to kill it?"

"Huh? A question like this out of nowhere…"

"I just want to know whether it's possible or not. I don't care if we split the reward, but I want to kill this demon." Noel looked at Anna with a solemn face.

Anna narrowed her eyes and pondered.

"I know that it's a kind of a request, but I don't think this much is a problem for you, right?"

"Yeah. I'm simply going to be the vanguard and let you deliver the killing blow. That much is not a problem, but can you keep up with me?"

"I will, even if it takes all of my power." Noel nodded without hesitation. He got the mission from Ardagan, so he needed to kill the demon no matter what.

"Alright then. I'll open the path for you, but lend me your Ice Pearl for a day." Anna also had her own condition. Although becoming a vanguard was a simple task, Anna knew how hard it was to not being able to kill her opponent.

Just like the sparring, she needed to go with the intention of killing her opponent, but didn't kill them.

With such an awkward situation, her strength would be greatly reduced and had a big potential to be injured. Hence, she asked for this condition.

"Alright. Just for one day, I'm going to trust you for one day." Noel answered with a grim tone.

Anna felt the heaviness in the word 'trust' due to her destroying his family. Even though Noel had been listening to her suggestions and cooperating with her, it wasn't based on trust. He simply chose the most optimal solution.

"It's just for one day. In fact, you can watch me during that time, so I won't run away with the pearl."

"…" Noel sighed and said, "It's alri—!"

*Rumble!*

*Rumble!*

Suddenly, the ground started shaking.

"!!!" Noel and Anna hurriedly rose from the ground and faced the lake as they saw the water started raging.

The light shone brighter and brighter as time passed.

"It seems that I have made a mistake." Anna gulped down. "It's not that there is no Spiritual Energy, it's just the seal has been absorbing the Spiritual Energy to the point I can't sense it. And now, the seal is…"

*Boom!*

A shock wave from a Spiritual Energy shook the area, affecting all living beings in that area. The trees, tent, and the water were blown away. The ground soon started to crack as a few pieces of branches emerged from the ground.

The branches expanded and the lake gradually collapsed. A huge trunk soon emerged from the now dried lake and continued to rise to the sky.

Even though they had expected the tree to be big, they never thought it would be this big.

The small lake had a diameter of forty meters, yet, the tree was actually a fourth the size of the basin. In fact, now that the water had been blown away, the basin looked like a crater that was used to seal the demon tree.

"So, this is the Ancient Demon Tree…" Noel sucked a cold breath.