Chapter 28: Despair
Before they had the chance to think, the Mid Level Demon ran to Kirika first, hitting her with its paw.
However, the moment it struck her blade, the strength pushed the sword back, almost hitting her body. If not because of her reflex that spun the blade so that its body instead of its edge that hit the body, she would have been cut in half.
Even so, that strength still launched her several meters away.
*Bam!*
"Kh." Kirika gritted her teeth, struggling to get up.
Meanwhile, the demon turned its head to Noel and did the same thing.
"It's too fast." Noel struck the paw with all its strength, but Ardagan couldn't pierce through his body. In the end, the demon overwhelmed Noel with its strength and launched him to Kirika so that he could kill them both together.
"Do you have any thing to use against this demon?" Kirika asked as she pushed her body hard so that she could stand up.
Noel remembered that he just received three Honor Points from the Military Service Medal.
"I have. Give me ten seconds." Noel nodded with a serious expression. "If that doesn't work, we might die here."
"Alright. I'll do my best." Kirika agreed without hesitation.
Meanwhile, Noel was thinking which skill he should get this time. He needed to use two Honor Points to exchange one Skill Point. Hence, he could only get either the Swift Strike or Mega Slash.
On one hand, Swift Strike could take advantage of Ardagan's sharpness, allowing him to kill the enemy easily. On the other hand, he remembered that he couldn't cut the demon earlier and Mega Slash offered the solution.
"I need something powerful." Noel hurriedly exchanged two Honor Points with one Skill Point. After that, he chose Mega Slash.
Just like when he learned the Ardagan Swordsmanship, Noel felt his instinct was sharpened by the knowledge of the skill, allowing him to perform this attack at instinctual level.
On the other hand, ten seconds were up. Kirika gritted her teeth as Noel had yet to come over to help her.
'Wait a minute. Did he use me to run away?' Kirika widened her eyes, realizing that Noel had abandoned her.
"I'll curse you even if I die!" Kirika gritted her teeth as her hands felt numb from stopping the demon's fangs.
However, some blue particles suddenly appeared in the corner of her vision.
"Eh? What's that?" Kirika widened her eyes, but she also saw the beast's eyes glancing to the side to see what happened.
Before they could move, Noel entered their vision as he swung his sword.
Mega Slash.
"Die, Demon!" Noel shouted as he used all his strength to make this swing, hitting the demon's body.
Surprisingly, the sword this time managed to cut through the demon's skin. And because Noel aimed for its neck, the demon would die if the attack succeeded.
Even Kirika had some hope that the attack would succeed.
Unfortunately for them, the skin and flesh of the Mid Level Demon was harder than they thought.
Just after three centimeters in, the sword stopped.
"What?" Noel and Kirika widened their eyes as their faces became pale, losing all hope.
"I can do it once more." Noel refused to give up. He pulled his sword and planned to swing it again, cutting the same spot.
But the demon shifted its target from Kirika to Noel. It let go of Kirika's sword and spun its body so that its paw could hit Noel's chest.
"Impossible." Noel panicked. Because he was raising his sword to strike the demon, it made his body vulnerable.
The paw struck Noel's chest as the latter hurriedly spat a mouthful of blood before getting blown away to a tree.
*Bam!*
"Noel!" Kirika shouted his name, but Noel passed out due to the impact. "Kh. As expected, it's hopeless."
The demon once again attacked Kirika, but this time, its paw blew away her sword before hitting her on the stomach.
She also crashed into a tree. But unlike Noel who was already injured and tired, she still managed to maintain her consciousness, albeit this might be the worst nightmare for her as she would experience getting eaten alive.
The demon walked to Noel first because he was the one who managed to injure him, but when it was about to bite him, a yellow particles glowed in the air.
"That's… like what he did earlier…" Kirika muttered, finding a woman suddenly emerging from the darkness and attacked the demon.
Her sword was glowing in yellow, brightening the darkness. At the same time, lightning spark even manifested around the sword.
The demon managed to react to her. It struck the blade with its paw.
Just like Noel and Kirika, that paw would blow away the sword, but its opponent this time was on a whole different level.
When the claws and the sword clashed, lightning sparked and pushed each other back.
"What?!" Kirika widened her eyes, never expecting to see someone who could fight a Mid Level Demon head-on.
However, the woman showed it was not luck by striking the demons a few more times, albeit each of her strikes was parried by the demon's claws.
"Tsk." The woman clicked her tongue and said, "I'm still not strong enough… To think I would struggle to a mere Mid Level Demon."
'Not strong enough? You were fighting that demon on equal ground… the same demon that knocked both of us out…' Kirika complained inwardly as she had no energy to shout to her, nor she intended to do so.
*Roar!* The demon beast let out a huge roar as the flame on its head and tail flared up, becoming stable at three times the original size.
The demon's eyes became bloodshot and the claws expanded, becoming bigger and sharper. Its body started to bulge as the demon's body grew by a bit.
"As expected of a Mid Level Demon, it has the berserk state…" The woman smiled and shouted, "Alfred, Lezlev, check their condition and bring them away. My fight against this demon will be a bit dangerous from now on…"
That was right. The woman was none other than Anna Stargaze. However, she had yet to realize that the two people she was going to save were Noel and Kirika because of the darkness and her focus on the demon beast.
Gifts
-- Gift
received Weekly Power Status
-- Power
Ranking 
-- Power
stone