"!!!" Noel opened his mouth in surprise. It turned out the previous cry was the hawk calling other demons on the mountain. It planned to raze the village to the ground.
'Ugh. Should I order them to evacuate the village? But according to the roar, I know they still need at least a few minutes to reach here. But if it's too late, it's going to be a problem…' Noel thought for a moment.
The hawk saw this opportunity and flew to the sky.
'Ah, it used the split second I was in deep thought to fly?' Noel clicked his tongue and leaped into the sky and started using his Hyper Jump to chase after the hawk.
The hawk suddenly stopped and flapped its wings to create another gale that could blow him away.
'I can dodge—!' Noel suddenly remembered something and glanced back, realizing that the hawk was planning to destroy the village if he dodged this attack. 'How is this hawk so intelligence?'
He finally realized why it would be wise to fight Advanced Level Demon or above with a group instead of going alone. Their wisdom had been opened and the demon wouldn't let go of an opportunity to weaken the opponent.
He could choose not to care, but this wasn't Noel if he abandoned the village behind him.
Noel took a deep breath and raised his sword above his head. His expression became cold as if it was targeting both the gale and the hawk.
When the hawk sent the powerful gale toward him, Noel opened his eyes while gritting his teeth. "How dare you?!"
The anger was transferred into his sword. With the addition of the Spirit Weaponry that the Sword Saint taught him, Noel sliced the gale into two.
He didn't use other emotions that was more suited to protect, but this was the best outcome he had so far.
Noel was already used to anger because of Anna, so he could release more of its power than any other emotions. He imagined the people below were brutally murdered by the hawk, evoking his anger.
He utilized this anger with his Everchanging Emotion Sword Style to split the gale into half, causing the wind to go in two directions.
Although it didn't destroy the house, the gale hit the farmlands, destroying it.
"Tsk." Noel clicked his tongue. He was angry at himself for not being able to protect everything.
That was why he kicked the air again and flew to the hawk.
"Die, you demon!" Noel gritted his teeth, making a sharp slash to the hawk's neck.
As a flying animal, the hawk could maneuver easily in the air, dodging this slash. But Noel's aim wasn't the slash.
He already knew that his slash would be avoided, so he let go of his sword and caught the hawk with his hand.
Noel released his black flame to burn the hawk.
The hawk was struggling. Although his skin was tough, the Undying Fire was simply too fierce.
The hawk tried to extinguish it but to no avail. The fire simply flared up again and again, cooking the bird alive.
Noel felt a sharp pain in his head, realizing the toll that the Undying Fire had in his body.
He endured the pain and kicked the demon to the ground.
Little did Noel know, the people at the bottom actually thought of him as a savior. Due to the night, they couldn't see the black flame very clearly.
That was why they thought the hawk demon was the one using that flame. And with the addition of the explosion they first heard in the beginning, they believed this was the case.
They never thought that Noel Ignition Sword and Undying Fire was actually the culprit.
"Incredible." Jasmine clenched her fists. "Even the most outstanding Apprentice Knight only manage to fight Mid Level Demons from what I know. But he can actually fight an Advanced Level Demon?"
"What did you say? That hawk is an Advanced Level Demon? Impossible. He is too young to be able to defeat an Advanced Level Demon."
"But that's the case."
"The demon must be extremely weak."
"I don't think so." Jasmine gulped down. "If you take another look at the battle from here, he keeps slashing the demon but not a single attack actually penetrate its skin. The demon is only afraid of those big swords. From the looks of it, it penetrates the ground quite deep, so the power is extraordinary. That's why I believe that hawk is an Advanced Level Demon."
"So, he can save us?"
"But there are roars coming from the mountain. More demons are approaching!"
"That's right." Jasmine turned around and shouted, "Let's descend the mountain. For now, we have to leave this village to make sure we're not becoming his burden."
"But our houses… A part of our farm has also been destroyed. It's near winter."
"The land can be restored and the house can be rebuilt. However, if you die, then it's over! That's why we have to leave. We're only a month away from winter, but we have a good harvest this year. There should be enough food to last for winter."
When they heard Jasmine's words, they agreed with her and finally decided to leave the village for now.
Noel, on the other hand, was too focused on the hawk because he had to kill this demon before the demons.
The three giant swords appeared again, trying to kill the burning hawk on the ground.
Despite the constant pain from being cooked alive, the hawk still managed to avoid these three swords, albeit barely.
Seeing that the hawk's movement speed had decreased a bit, Noel took this chance to test another emotion.
It was the shame. He felt ashamed that his sword couldn't even penetrate the demon's skin, so he used that shame to fill his sword, giving it a penetration power.
"Ha!" Noel shouted while stabbing the hawk.
The latter felt a danger from the tip of Noel's blade, so it rolled its body to dodge. Unfortunately, Noel was different than the Sword Fall. He managed to change the trajectory of his thrust and managed to impale the hawk's wing.
The hawk let out another cry of pain because this was the first time Noel managed to penetrate its skin.
However, that advantage didn't last long because the roars had finally reached his position.
*Roar!* Ten demons suddenly came out of the woods, ready to pounce on him.