System vs Rebirth

"We are out." Anna looked back and noticed that the demons didn't chase after them because of the flood.

Dimitri, who had activated his True Spirit Body, only had the same amount of time as Duke Briton when he first activated his True Spirit Body.

Hence, it would be better not to waste this opportunity.

"I will go first so that we can catch up to them."

"It's on you, Dimitri. You just have to target Qiel and their entire army won't have no choice but to stop." Anna nodded with a serious expression.

"Understood." Dimitri disappeared into the shadow.

Qiel might only bring a thousand demons with her, but there were two Devil Saints with them. There was no need for the Superior Demons, considering Noel couldn't send out all his power as well.

If it was only Dimitri and Anna, she had the confidence to take both of them down in this place.

Dimitri suddenly appeared behind them with black-colored energy enveloping his body.

As he raised his blade, it felt like there was a black curtain attached to the sky.

"So, you've come." Qiel secretly signaled the two Devil Saints to take their position as her body was enveloped with light.

"Shadow Expansion!" With a single wave of his sword, the curtain expanded toward Qiel. Anna already told her that he only needed to stop Qiel, so he did.

As expected, the demons stopped. This black curtain contained massive energy that cut everything apart, including the ground. When the demons tried to stop it, they were immediately slashed into two.

However, before it reached Qiel's position, a piercing light flew toward the black curtain, bending it to the limit before breaking it apart. At the same time, the light lost all of its energy and got engulfed in the residual power of the black curtain.

Dimitri raised his head, looking at the one who stopped his attack. Qiel had also transformed.

On her back were a pair of white and black wings. Instead of a horn, she actually had a third eye on her forehead.

Her bow was extended. The upper part had a black-colored extension, while the bottom part had a white extension. The arrow she formed was white in color, but the energy that shrouded it was dark.

"Profound Cannon." Qiel released the arrow.

The arrow flew much faster than anything she had shot before. Even though there didn't seem to be any weird energy flowing out of the arrow, Dimitri had to wield his sword with both hands and strike the arrow with all his might just to deflect the arrow.

*Boom!*

The arrow landed on the ground a bit farther away from him, causing a massive explosion that even left a crater 30 meters in diameter. And it was just from a single arrow. If this kind of arrow hit the city wall, even the Spiritual Barrier Rune wouldn't be able to stop it.

"You are a fool, Dimitri. If you think that you can defeat us here, then you're dead wrong. This will be the place you shall be buried." Qiel spoke, her voice gave off a bit of an ethereal feeling.

"Utter nonsense. I have always wanted to assassinate the strongest sniper in history, then how about I achieve it today?" Dimitri smiled while raising his blade.

"If you assassinate me during the night, I might not be able to do anything against you. But it's daylight now." Qiel harrumphed.

"Shadow might be able to blend with darkness during the night, but the shadow is much darker during the day!" Dimitri suddenly disappeared.

"Take care of Anna and the soldiers!" Qiel ordered the demons and the two Devil Saints.

"Do you think you have time to order your people?" Dimitri used her shadow to appear behind her.

Qiel turned around while swinging her blow to stop Dimitri, but the latter grabbed her wrist and planned to cut her down.

However, a stream of light appeared around them. Even Dimitri was wrapped in this light as they suddenly flew into the sky like an arrow.

That was right. Qiel turned them into an arrow with her ability and launched them into the sky.

There was a lack of shadow in the sky, so Dimitri wouldn't be able to utilize his power.

"!!!" Dimitri saw Qiel flapping his wings to ensure that she remained in the air, while Dimitri had no choice but to fall down. Qiel even aimed her arrow at him.

Dimitri smiled. Even if they were in the sky, as long as he had the sun, it was enough.

With a snap of his fingers, Qiel's wings suddenly closed up.

'My wings? No, the shadow on my wings?' Qiel realized how Dimitri did it, but it was too late. She had released her arrow, which ended up with her shooting her own wings and creating a massive hole in them.

Still, the arrow headed straight toward Dimitri.

Dimitri pulled back his sword, utilizing Qiel's shadow once again to connect his shadow. He aimed at the arrow and made a thrusting motion.

Shadow Connection.

Suddenly, the shadow from his blade and Qiel's shadow extended as if they were trying to reach each other.

The arrow hit this shadow, having a hard time piercing through. At the same time, the connection from behind began enveloping the arrow, neutralizing it.

Qiel waved her right hand, forming multiple arrows around her. After that, she took one and drew her arrow.

The other arrows followed this arrow and flew straight to Dimitri in all kinds of directions.

Dimitri didn't know why this woman used this kind of power. The arrows didn't contain a lot of energy, so even a weak defense would be enough to stop them.

With that thought in mind, Dimitri spread his shadow into multiple spikes, hitting one arrow after another. There was even an arrow so white that it almost blended with the sun. Fortunately, Dimitri saw it coming and blocked it.

However, he felt something even more dangerous coming from his side. He instinctively raised his left arm, which ended up being pierced by an arrow.

"!!!" Dimitri couldn't believe it. It was no wonder why Qiel made such weak arrows. It turned out she was trying to lower his guard.

She even played with the brightness of the arrow, which ended up blinding him with another arrow.

Because it didn't contain a lot of energy, it could blend perfectly with nature and almost hit Dimitri.

A smile formed on Qiel's face as if implying this was a payback for forcing her to shoot her own wings.

Both of them were about to land. Even Qiel couldn't repair her wings mid-air due to the extensive damage. When she flapped her wings, she had a hard time maintaining her altitude, so she also planned to land gently on the ground.

Meanwhile, Dimitri came crashing down. When he was about to reach the ground, Dimitri waved his hand.

Shadow Manipulation, Net Form.

The shadows expanded from the tree branches and connected with each other, forming a net. He landed on top of it and used the spring to actually launch himself toward Qiel.

Intertwining Arrow.

Qiel released another arrow to stop Dimitri. This time, it was a straightforward arrow that contained a lot of energy. She must want to stop his momentum with brute force.

However, when Dimitri struck this arrow, it didn't meet much restriction. Instead, it actually split into two, looping around Dimitri from both sides before curving back toward him. They even joined back together.

Dimitri used his shadow to pull his body, causing it to spin in mid-air. It used the rotation to hit the arrow before extending the sword with the shadow.

Qiel took the full brunt with her bow, causing her to be launched back to the ground.

The shadows around her began to move before turning into spikes around her.

If not for Qiel's fast reaction to jumping away, there would have been a lot of holes in her body. Even if she was fast enough, some of the spikes still grazed her skin, causing some superficial wounds.

Even the wings didn't escape unscathed, making her unable to fly. It seemed that Dimitri was planning all this.

As long as she was on the ground, there were a lot of shadows that could become his weapon. That was why this place would be her execution ground.

Qiel looked at Dimitri with a solemn face. Even though the situation was a bit unfavorable for her, Qiel wasn't afraid of him. After all, she had planned all this.

*Boom!*

An explosive sound echoed from behind them, alerting Dimitri.

"!!!"

…

A moment ago.

Anna looked at the incoming demons and said, "Get ready! We will turn ourselves into a spear and pierce through their formation. Leave the two grandmasters to me."

"Yes!" The soldiers shouted, ready to move in unison. Although there were a total of one thousand demons among them, they were the elite soldiers of the Ardagan Family. This number was still within their means, especially with Anna and Dimitri leading the group personally.

"It's impossible for you to stop us. It's your destiny to fall on our hands, Anna Stargaze!" One of the Devil Saints actually spoke while stopping the demons. It seemed that he was trying to lower their morale by reminding her of the severity of her situation.

"You don't have to waste your words on me. All I need is to kill both of you, and this battle is as good as ours." Anna snorted.

"Do you think you can stop us? Even if we are still a bit weaker than the previous Devil Saints, we are still Devil Saints."

"You're just mere replacements. Don't talk like you are someone good. The two of you aren't enough to defeat me." Anna snorted. "No need to say anything! Get ready!"

Anna, who was just about to engage with the demons and the two Devil Saints, was quite shocked by the sound of an explosion. She couldn't help but turn around and notice the incoming reinforcement.

"Huh?" Anna blinked her eyes a few times. There were about another one thousand demons coming from behind and she could actually see Laufey and a Superior Demon Tiger with him.

The Devil Saint smiled. "Yes. We both definitely don't have the strength to capture you, especially since you have your True Spirit Body. But what if there are Laufey and another Superior Demon?"

"You are simply too arrogant, Anna Stargaze. You don't realize that we're simply buying time for them."

Laufey also had a True Spirit Body. It could be said that Laufey was her equal on this battlefield. If Laufey chose to stop her while the others exterminated the knights, even she might not be able to do anything.

"Surrender Anna Stargaze. We won't treat you badly… at least until we get your fiance."