Noel and the others had reached the foot of the mountain. They looked up, observing the towering mountain.
It had lots of pointy rocks sticking out and looked very scary. But that wasn't all there was to it, they could see fluctuations of Spiritual Energy coming from the mountain. It was clear there were a lot of movements between the trees that covered the mountain.
There were one to two hundred demons standing in their path and there should be the same number of demons on the opposite side.
Noel and the others had decided to climb the mountain. Even though the mountain was filled with demons, this was the best path. Even if there were a lot of demons, they shouldn't be high ranking demons.
"Remember, we have to kill the demons as quickly as possible. We can't let the demons alert the others as there is a chance that it will cause a lot of ruckus to the point it reaches the valley and the swamp area." Nicole pointed at the top. "As soon as we reach the top, we have to get down immediately. After all, the demons' senses are more sensitive than us.
They would be able to surround us in all directions if we are stuck at the top."
They nodded, understanding Nicole's concern.
"Unfortunately, it seems that we can't allow you to hunt as you like, Master," Dimitri stated while taking out his weapon.
"I know that already. Safety is more important than training." Noel nodded with a serious expression.
As soon as they reached an agreement, they hurriedly climbed the mountain.
There were a lot of noises coming from the mountain. However, they couldn't back down. They used the pointy rocks as their footholds and kept jumping, increasing their climbing speed.
However, trouble soon came. Since the pointy rocks were sticking out of the mountain, there were hardly any covers from the trees.
It didn't take too long for them to be seen by nearby demons.
Nicole warned, "Coming from the left!"
Damian immediately turned in their direction, finding four High Rank Demons. With a single wave of his hand, he covered these demons in a thick layer of ice.
After that, Noel took out a few rocks the size of a human head and formed the Forward Enhance Rune behind those rocks. The rune energy shot the rocks forward, hitting all the frozen demons.
Those demons ended up breaking apart. With this, Damian didn't have to reach their location to kill them.
Damian glanced at Noel first and nodded to him as if giving him approval. After that, he continued moving forward.
Nicole couldn't be bothered by what they did since she had to be at the very front, scouting the area ahead.
"There are ten demons coming toward us from both sides and the front."
Damian and Dimitri took out their weapons and were ready to kill their targets. Even Nicole decided to help them.
In the end, Noel and Anna killed two demons while the other eight were split between those three.
They continued to climb the mountain without any sign of stopping. Even though the air had gradually become thin due to the elevation, they still had to keep going.
This was also another reason why Nicole wanted them to go down as soon as they reached the top.
The mountain's height was almost two thousand meters. They would have a hard time breathing on top of the mountain.
Aside from the number of demons they had to encounter on their way up, there weren't a lot of problems. They just had to keep doing this good work until they reached the top.
Their pace steadily increased as a result of them getting used to fighting in this type of terrain. Even Noel continuously refined his steps while aiding them with his runes.
Noel was extremely versatile with those runes. He could attack them from afar with runes or cut them with his sword. Once he got his mastery, it would be hard to fight him.
That was why Anna also began using all her abilities, except for the runes she had learned in her previous life. She couldn't make Damian think she had all Noel's knowledge after all.
The closer they were to the peak, the more efficient their movements became. Before Nicole even warned them, the two top experts had executed the demons.
The climb might take thirty minutes, and at least eighty demons had been slain, but they finally reached the peak. No more demons stood in their way.
All that was left would be climbing down and reaching their destination in another week.
"Finally. We have reached the top!" Anna's eyes flashed. The moment she reached the peak, the entire horizon expanded.
The world felt like it was spread out below her. The sun was shining brightly, making everything look golden and beautiful.
If this was an adventure, it would feel like all the hardships were worth it. It would surely relieve some fatigue just watching this beautiful scenery.
Unfortunately, it seemed that the situation was more serious than she originally thought. After all, Nicole was cursing everything beyond the mountain. "I hate this mountain."
She could kind of understand why Nicole didn't like it. Beneath them, they could find several buildings that had been abandoned. The buildings weren't big, so it looked like a camping site that the previous civilization built.
And not far from the foot of the mountain, they could see a high-rise building, appearing to be the den of demons.
There were some asphalt roads that hadn't been covered by greenery, so it was clear that the two buildings were connected.
If they took another look at the horizon, they would find a few dots in the horizon. Those dots were not demons. They were buildings one. It seemed that there was an abandoned city ahead.
While this might be a great discovery, this would probably become the biggest hurdle for the group.