Chapter 987: Decisive Moment (5)
"Ice Transformation."
A pair of ice wings appeared on his back underneath the flame wings.
"!!!" The two Devil Saints were alarmed because this fluctuation of power was similar to what Anna showed earlier before the True Spirit Body.
Frozen Domain.
With a single wave of his hand, ice began to form underneath his foot, covering the soil and grass with a thin layer of ice. This ice spread with Noel as the center. The temperature dropped sharply as though the winter had come.
"This is..." The two Devil Saints looked at each other, noticing that they wouldn't be able to defeat Noel by themselves.
Since Laufey was the one fighting Anna, they had to somehow work together and defeat Noel so that they could help Qiel or Laufey.
Because of Dimitri's True Spirit Body, Noel only had approximately fifteen minutes before the True Spirit Body was worn off.
Hence, Noel had to do something in the next fifteen minutes and somehow defeat them. From the looks of it, the battle between Dimitri and Qiel wouldn't end after the True Spirit Body wore off, but Dimitri would definitely lose sooner or later because Qiel still had a lot of time left for her True Spirit Body.
With that thought in mind, Noel knew that he had to defeat these two Devil Saints within fifteen minutes. And a normal method wouldn't allow him to achieve that.
Noel leaped toward the spear user and increased his physical strength with the Empowerment Rune through the Rune Body.
The spear Devil Saint thrust forward, planning to stop Noel. However, when the sword struck his spear, he noticed that he couldn't pull back his spear as if it were glued to the sword. If he took another look, the sword was actually releasing an ice mist that froze the point of impact.
The Transformation Devil Saint appeared behind Noel with both of his arms turning into bear arms. He slammed Noel from above, but the latter actually rotated his body midair and raised his sword, causing the spear to get dragged up.
"!!!" The Transformation Devil Saint was startled. He didn't transform enough to cover his entire body since it required a lot of energy, but as a result, the spear actually scratched his chest.
Of course, Noel also couldn't stop the incoming paws. He had no choice but to use the Reduce Impact Rune to lessen the damage.
*Bam!*
Noel crashed into the ground, but fortunately, most of the damage was absorbed by the rune. He knew that he wasn't in a condition to defeat these two Devil Saints, considering he used most of his energy to kill the Ancient Demon Tree earlier.
Hence, he could only choose this risky strategy. By using unknown and reckless moves, they had no choice but to take damage as well.
The Transformation Devil Saint planned to slam Noel once again, but Noel was one step ahead and activated another ability.
Eternal Frozen.
Ice mist was released from his body, forcing the two Devil Saints to back away. There were a few demons that got devoured by the mist and froze in an instant.
The Transformation Devil Saint took a deep breath until his chest and stomach bulged like rubber. After that, he blew away the mist with all his might.
The Spear Devil Saint looped around to find Noel and stabbed him from afar. However, he instinctively raised his spear as if he were trying to protect himself.
"Sharp Changing."
Noel swung his blade downward as a wall of energy rose into the sky, running through the ground toward the Spear Devil Saint.
"!!!" The Spear Devil Saint gritted his power and stomped the ground. However, the attack was so powerful that he was being pushed back for several meters and had no choice but to deflect it into the sky. "Aaaahhh!"
The sword strike shot up to the sky and exploded, releasing a deafening sound that shook the entire battlefield.
Meanwhile, the Transformation Devil Saint jumped into the air, punching Noel from above.
Noel leaped away to avoid the strike. After all, the moment the punch was connected, the entire area turned into a crater, with a lot of rocks coming out to the surface due to the impact.
The Transformation Devil Saint kicked one of the stones toward Noel, causing him to slash it into two.
However, the Transformation Devil Saint turned out to have followed the stone, his feet had transformed into those of a deer.
"Tsk." Noel swung his sword extremely fast just like he did earlier when he used the Sword Transmutation and Anger to overwhelm the Spear Devil Saint.
However, the Transformation Devil Saint seemed to be one step ahead of him as his fist still managed to reach Noel and punch him away.
"!!!" The Transformation Devil Saint couldn't help but widen his eyes when he noticed sharp pain all over his arm. When he looked down, several cuts appeared.
Noel had just used the Imperial Sword, which was suitable for sharp, precise, and swift multiple swings. In addition, he applied two of his Emotions, Fear and Contempt for a boost in speed and precision. There was even one wound much deeper than the other because Noel hit it twice.
Still, because the Transformation Devil Saint blew him away, the Spear Devil Saint had a chance to strike Noel. The latter flapped its wings to stabilize his form mid-air, but it was useless. He had entered the Spear Devil Saint's range.
"One Thrust!" The Devil Saint gathered all the energy he could muster in those few seconds and released it in one go.
"!!!" Noel activated the Spiritual Barrier Rune and Reduce Impact Rune. He even activated the Anger emotion and the Spirit Weaponry that allowed him to cut spiritual energy itself.
However, the strength was much more powerful than he imagined. His body was being crushed by this pressure as his skin was shredded apart.
The Spear Devil Saint thought he had managed to defeat Noel, but to his surprise, a giant lump of energy appeared above him. This was the same energy as the one Felicia used against the Superior Demon Cat.
After using an enormous amount of energy, he didn't have time to protect himself from this.
'Did he only use a bit of his power to block my attack so that he could send out this attack to kill me?' The Spear Devil Saint was in shock. If Noel died, the entire campaign would be a success. So, he never thought that Noel would be this reckless by throwing away his life just to kill them.
Right before the Meteor Rune reached the Spear Devil Saint, another rune was activated. This was the Amplification Rune. The new rune that Noel got not long ago.
The giant chunk of energy suddenly became more violent and more robust. If the Spear Devil Saint thought he could still sacrifice one of his arms to save his entire life from the chunk of energy earlier, he realized that one arm wasn't enough for this one.
Whether it was fortunate or unfortunate, the Transformation Devil Saint appeared from the side, punching this lump of energy. His body had completely transformed into a combination of animals.
*Boom!*
The energy exploded, engulfing a larger area than the crater that the Transformation Devil Saint made earlier.
Due to the Transformation Devil Saint, the Spear Devil Saint managed to actually keep his life by only exchanging his left hand. It looked like the lower arm bent in a weird way, but he still stood firmly.
On the other hand, the Transformation Devil Saint was blasted away and crashed onto a giant boulder. His body was covered in multiple animal's parts, but the main defense would be the turtle shell on his back as well as the black-colored skin like that of a beetle.
Even then, a portion of them had cracked as his body was tattered from the explosion.
"Ha... Ha... What is that?" The Transformation panted multiple times before coughing some blood. He never thought that the rune could become this powerful. At the same time, the way Noel fought was extremely weird.
If it was a normal fight, they would use one technique at a time so that they could defeat the enemies without sustaining injuries. However, it felt like Noel was trying to cause mutual destruction.
Noel had runes on his body and the transformation he showed earlier proved that he was capable of enduring all the damage and coming on top even after fighting both of them.
They simply never thought that Noel would be this daring, which was the main cause of their current injuries. If only they focused on defending, they would have managed to escape with light injuries.
"..." The Spear and Transformation Devil Saints couldn't help but look around, wondering where Noel was. They looked at his original location after getting struck by the thrust, but he was already gone.
Suddenly, the temperature dropped once again, making them realize that they had entered Noel's domain. They all looked around, trying to find him.
It turned out Noel used the crater to hide himself. In the middle of the crater, Noel was placing his sword on the ground as if he were using it as a medium to maintain his domain. The energy around him also became violent as Noel activated the Cold Empowerment.
However, the thing that the two Devil Saints noticed so much were the injuries that covered his body. That was right. Noel couldn't escape unscathed after receiving that thrust without using a lot of abilities to protect his body.
That was why Noel's condition must not be that different from theirs.
When this thought came to their minds, both Devil Saints stood up. They were ready to charge at Noel again.
In the meantime, Noel was adjusting his breath while observing these two. While they were a new Devil Saint and their strength was still lower than the one his grandfather killed back then, it didn't change the fact that these two had become a Devil Saint. And Noel could see why they were promoted as such.
At the same time, Noel only managed to recover a bit of his energy after that fight. Even though he had the Ice Transformation and runes, it didn't change the fact that he fought two Devil Saints with only 40% to 50% of his spiritual energy. He really needed something else to catch these two off guard and turn around the situation.
The two Devil Saints exchanged glances as the Spear Devil Saint nodded his head, signaling their movement.
In that instant, the two Devil Saints moved forward.
Noel couldn't help but smile inwardly. Although there were a lot of techniques he could use to make the battle safer, he knew that he could bait them like this.
Before the two were able to reach him, Noel's hands were covered in a black layer as the pair of flame wings suddenly flared up, melting the ice wings.
It was just a trap. When they expected the ice abilities, he only needed to use the other element.
"Fire Transformation... Release."