System vs Rebirth

The demons charged toward the shield-bearers, trying to overwhelm them. However, the archers released their arrows to the back area of the enemy's rank, causing a few demons to avoid those arrows and creating a gap between each demon.

With this, the number of demons was reduced, and the shield bearers could easily handle one demon after another.

They stopped the demons with their shields before piercing them with their spears.

The demons seemed to be hurt, but they ended up rampaging and trying to break apart the formation by struggling.

It was the time for the others to come in and slice the demons one by one, sweeping all the enemies.

Seeing how their kin had fallen, the remaining demons tried to chase after their killers, only to be rained by arrows. Some were blinded by their hatred and continued charging, only to succumb to the arrows. The rest obeyed their feelings and stopped, turning back toward the shield-bearers.

Sadly for them, the result was the same. They were stopped by the shield-bearers and died by the sweeping team.

Whether it was Aerton's team or Grandel's group, they did the exact thing and killed all the incoming demons.

Anna was amazed. 'Divide and conquer, huh… They have good training and know what to do. Fortunately, there are no big or strong demons that will change the outcome. But I guess Aerton and Grandel would give a different order…'

Of course, Anna could produce the same result, but it would take her a bit longer and more energy. So, having soldiers handling this type of stuff wasn't that big of a deal.

The problem was the loot. In the Demon Banner Army, the group usually divided their loot according to their contribution. But since the Demon Crystals were important, she wondered if Noel would just let them take everything. In fact, she forgot to ask about it.

"Clean up! Don't forget about their crystals." Aerton ordered before reporting to Anna, "We've finished the battle."

"Good work." Anna nodded. "By the way, how do you distribute the Demon Crystals?"

"Fifty percent would be brought back for the lord."

"Fifty percent? Isn't that kind of big?"

"No, the lord only asks for twenty percent. The other thirty percent comes from the exchange for contribution points. The remaining fifty percent can be distributed among us. After all, the soldiers also need demon crystals to improve their strength."

Anna nodded in understanding. "The points can be exchanged for demon crystals and other stuff. I can understand."

"Yeah. That's how it is. In fact, the soldiers can exchange their parts for more points. We'll leave the choice to each individual."

"I get the gist of the system." Anna wanted to say something, but she couldn't help but hear the soldiers' conversation.

"The fight is too easy."

"You should have thanked the lady. The strength I received from that weird ability actually allowed me to block the demons easily. Controlling their movement and placing them in a perfect location for our executioners to do their work."

"That's right. Normally, I would be pushed back by the demons, but earlier, it's not that much of a problem."

"To think runes would change the battle drastically…"

"What if we have a Spirit Magician as well?"

Aerton had a wry smile when listening to their conversation. "Sorry about them."

"No. It's something that I have to consider as well. What if we have two more categories for the soldiers like Rune Magician and Spirit Magician? Spirit Magician is known for their firepower, while Rune Magician is versatile. As you can see earlier, they can boost a lot of people or focus their power on one of them. There are also some utility, defensive, and offensive runes…"

Anna looked down, contemplating. "It will take a while to create Rune Magician, but I guess I can find some Spirit Magician. I will suggest them to Noel later."

Aerton nodded. He silently acknowledged Anna for caring about the soldiers and sought more improvement. This way, the soldiers of the Ardagan Family would only get stronger. "Then, we'll continue moving after the soldiers gather the crystals."

"By the way, what do you do with the demon's meat?"

"We'd like to bring them back to the city, but because of our position, that task is left to Captain Howard." Aerton was talking about the fact that they had to cross the bridge. It would be troublesome for them to bring the demons across the river, so they would probably dispose of these bodies. Besides, Noel also didn't have a chance to learn about the secret recipe of the Atracaeca Kingdom to preserve food for a long time.

"I understand. Let's cont—" Anna abruptly stopped her speech, confusing Aerton.

"Miss?" Aerton frowned. It was as if Anna felt an immense danger.

"Maintain our position! There is a place I have to go." Anna ordered and rushed toward the north. She continued checking the distance with her instinct as well as the target power. 'There is a strong presence coming. But it doesn't seem to be big… is it a small demon… no, it might be a human. Supreme Devil Organization?!'

Anna thought there was supposed to be no one in this place other than them. Even if the nobles wanted to get close to Noel, they wouldn't do something like this. Hence, whoever dared to come to their territory must be from an enemy faction. She didn't care about their affiliation, she only had to remove the threat and interrogate this person.

Roar!

Roar!

Several demons noticed Anna and tried to attack her, but Anna simply stomped the ground, scattering the lightning and hitting each of them.

The demons were either heavily injured or died before reaching her.

Anna continued with her speed and would make contact with the enemy in just a few seconds.

Because of the danger she sensed, Anna activated the Empowerment Rune. 'I might have to use my Awakening to fight this enemy… Whoever this is, it's clear that he is stronger than Count Heirden.'

All of a sudden, Anna turned to the side, sensing the presence changing the direction. It seemed that the other party had sensed her and tried to avoid her. But Anna wasn't that easy to be fooled and followed the movement, finally finding her target.

The target, this time, covered his entire body with a robe. Even she couldn't see anything other than the person's small lips.

"There he is!" Anna leaped toward this person at full speed while waving her sword. "Who are you? What business do you have in this territory?"

The person stopped for a second. Despite being face-to-face, Anna couldn't actually see the person's face. In fact, the person also had a masquerade to cover most of his face.

But that didn't stop Anna from attacking him.

The enemy actually smiled at her as if he were impressed by the fact that she managed to locate him.

Anna was bewildered for a split second, but that was what the other party had been waiting for. Two giant ice blocks appeared next to Anna and sandwiched her.

Anna waved her blade horizontally, cutting the two blocks. The lightning contained in that slash shattered the remaining ice blocks so that the enemy couldn't use them anymore.

To her surprise, her blade suddenly became extremely heavy.

"Huh?" The weight pulled her to the ground, and when she lowered her vision, she found a block of ice covering her blade. It was no wonder why she ended up falling. But there was a question in her mind, 'When? Did he actually create this ice block when I slashed those two?'

This time, the enemy was the one taking the initiative by charging at her.

Anna used her other hand to shatter the ice block on her sword while stomping the ground, sending her lightning in a fan-shaped area.

Chilling air began to permeate the air as the surrounding soil around the enemy began to freeze. When the lightning was about to reach him, they were frozen.

'What? It could actually freeze my lightning? This enemy… Is he truly from the Supreme Devil Organization? He should be at the peak of Devil Inspector if not a Devil Saint… but we don't have information about this person…' Anna frowned.

Seeing that her ability didn't work, Anna had no choice but to escalate the battle to a bigger one. She tried not to use too much ability since it would cause the other soldiers to come and put her at a disadvantage since she had to protect them.

But normal means wouldn't work against this person.

As soon as she reached that conclusion, Anna poured her energy into the sword and swung downwards.

The lightning formed a crescent-shape strike flying straight to the enemy.

The guy only smiled and avoided it, but that slash was never Anna's aim. The moment she completed her swing, her sword actually struck the ground.

Yes, the attack earlier was just bait. The real attack was the lightning that spread all over the ground and shattered the ground.

It created a giant crater on the ground, causing the enemy to lose his foothold. The enemy noticed that Anna had charged her attack again and released it toward him.

'You can't escape this way.' Anna smirked and shot another crescent-shaped lightning strike toward the enemy.

But surprisingly, her opponent caught the strike with bare hands, freezing the front part before using that solid surface to propel himself into the air.

'Seriously?' Anna never thought that the other party would be this strong. She felt she was being toyed by him.

But more importantly, the enemy revealed something even more concerning. Due to the movement, the wind ended up blowing the coat, revealing the attacker's body.

'A woman?' Anna never thought that the enemy this time was actually a woman and a very skilled one on top of that.