System vs Rebirth

Noel followed the instruction and reached the location where he could see the other side of the mountain.

It only took him two seconds to find the nest. After all, there was quite a big part of the trees that covered the mountain that had been burned into the ground.

The Fire Bird Demon should cause it with its fire, so Noel knew where he had to go.

On the one hand, it would be great if he could kill the monster on the ground. But knowing it was a bird, he would have to face the bird from the sky.

'Since the bird's physical body is made of fire, the trees won't be able to protect me from the bird. So, I guess it's better to fight it in a place where I can see all my surroundings to avoid the ambush from the bird.' Noel muttered inwardly. He glanced to the side, finding Rose and Dimitri on the side.

Because of the bet, Dimitri agreed to keep other demons away from him. Rose had no way to convince Noel, so she ended up helping Dimitri.

"I guess, it's time to make my move." Noel smiled. He stared at the nest while circulating his Spiritual Energy. "Sword Fall!"

Three giant swords appeared on top of Noel. Instead of falling down, Noel pointed the three swords upward. He remembered the parabolic movement lesson, so he shot them upward like an arrow, trying to reach the nest with his height advantage.

It seemed that the fluctuation of Spiritual Energy from the three swords had woken up the Fire Bird Demon. Before it even reached the nest, there was a vortex of fire that swallowed the three swords, evaporating the Spiritual Energy.

"!!!" Noel couldn't help but feel a bit surprised. After all, what the demon burned was not his ability, but the Spiritual Energy itself.

After that, the dust around the nest started to fill the area, carrying all the heat from the demon. It didn't take too long for the demon to fly into the sky, searching for the person that dared to disturb its sleep.

The bird had a wingspan of thirty meters. Noel looked so tiny before it, but more importantly, this bird's body was completely made of fiery red flame.

The flame was circulating on its body. It would continue to burn unless the demon died. The heat that the dust carried alone was enough to light up fire on some trees. So, Noel could imagine what would happen if he took a direct hit from that fire.

"I see. No wonder Anna says this guy is strong. Just looking at this is enough to give me a shiver." Noel smirked. "Still, I have become a Spirit Master now. I'm not going to be afraid of a mere bird."

Noel was oozing killing intent from his eyes, provoking the bird.

*Cry!*

The bird let out a loud cry that woke up all the demons nearby. They tried to respond to its call, but Dimitri and Rose had started moving around to suppress them, so Noel could focus on the bird.

He smiled while covering his body with Ice Aura, cooling his body from the heat. Their ability was the opposite, so the bird knew that he had to crush Noel if it wanted to live peacefully again.

"Come," Noel said, giving one last provocation.

The bird flapped its wings, heading straight to Noel.

"As expected, instead of ice or new sword skills, I should test this one first." Noel smirked and gathered the Spiritual Energy into the tip of his fingers.

Instead of ice, Noel actually released a black phoenix from his fingers.

Undying Phoenix.

The Phoenix made of Undying Flame flew out. The size was only a fourth of the demon and the heat from the flame couldn't be compared to what the demon had, but the moment the demon saw it, its instinct was telling it to dodge.

"!!!" The demon shifted its direction, avoiding Noel's phoenix.

"…" Contrary to the demon's shock, Noel had become calmer. From that dodge alone, he knew that the demon was afraid of his flame. In other words, his flame was far superior to the phoenix.

'It seems that I have underestimated Ardagan's flame. Interesting.' Noel smirked. Although he wanted to continue using his fire, he wanted to test all his abilities first.

So, he let the demon approach him before waving his hand again.

A huge block of ice suddenly appeared in front of him. It was then split into multiple thin plates, facing the demon.

Ice Mirror.

The demon looked at the ice, feeling weird. It felt the strong fluctuation from the Ice Mirror, but it wasn't as dangerous as the previous Undying Phoenix.

Hence, it tried to challenge Noel's ability head-on to learn the level of Noel's power.

*Cry!*

It let out another cry as the demon's fire body flared up, emitting more heat that tried to melt the Ice Mirror.

*Bam!*

The demon hit the mirror with its body, trying to evaporate it with its powerful flame.

Surprisingly, the fire from the bird actually failed to melt it before the impact. It only partially melted the mirrors, causing the demon to hit the mirrors for a second before the ice completely disappeared.

"…" Noel frowned. Ice Mirror was one of the latest abilities he got, so it could be considered superior compared to what he had before. Yet, the demon could easily melt it.

If he wasn't careful, he might lose this bet.

Still, this was a challenge for Noel. He could finally compete with a Peak Level Demon by himself. So, he couldn't help but feel excited.

A smile appeared on his face as Noel used the Split Step to move to the side, avoiding the bird.

"!!!" The bird was confused because there were two Noels heading in different directions. It was confused, so it ended up continuing on its trajectory, missing both Noels.

It immediately turned around to see which one was real, but Noel had returned to his original position, making it look like an illusion.

Noel waved his hand, provoking the bird. "Come on. I'll take you on."