A Demon's Journey

William went to talk to Noah with a determined look on his face. Noah allowed him to walk inside his tent and asked him rather curiously, "What's the matter, William? Is there something you want?"

A bitter smile appeared on William's face as he heard those words. He spoke out, "Indeed. I was going to inform you about something, Master Noah. I wish to leave your group and go on a journey by myself."

Noah was peacefully drinking his tea. And when he heard this statement, the cup fell on the ground, spilling the tea everywhere. His pupils widened and he stared at William while asking him, "What happened?! Are you not happy here?! Did I do something? Why do you want to leave?"

Noah was a little too shocked to hear that William was leaving. He recalled that those couples were leaving as well. They were going to begin their new life. Although they would become informers for Azaroth, they would still leave his group.

But why was William leaving as well? Was he tired of fighting? Or did he also want to settle down in a peaceful location? He couldn't understand what was happening. Why was everyone leaving him?

"This is Master Azaroth's wish actually. Before I left with you for this journey, Master Azaroth told me that a genius can never grow under a genius. I finally understand what he meant," William spoke.

When Noah heard that it was something that Azaroth wanted, he began to calm down. If it was Azaroth's wish, he couldn't complain that much. However, he was also confused as he didn't understand what Azaroth meant by those words, "What did Boss mean?"

"We have been traveling, fighting, and training together for the past month or so. I have noticed that the training and fighting style was initially helping me develop, but not anymore. In fact, I began able to launch multiple attacks smoothly. This was something I couldn't attempt earlier." William spoke.

Noah nodded as he had noticed William's rise. William spoke ahead, "However, I have also noticed that I haven't spent my time trying to understand the spear. I also want to gain complete control over my twin variant elements. But I haven't even started on this training."

"All I am training here is to begin fighting in close combat. Now that I am pretty proficient in close-combat, I need to leave to work on my Spear Skills, and my control over the twin variant elements."

"I have complete belief in my potential that it's much greater than the warrior you fought, Noah. I should be able to surpass him easily with the skills and elements that I possess." This was indeed a fact.

William didn't just possess great talent in spear techniques, but also twin variant elements. And lastly, William actually hadn't even begun to use the Innate Divine Strength that he possessed. Azaroth had handed him a couple of cultivation techniques that he had to cultivate every day. But William didn't have the time to cultivate these techniques yet.

He had a feeling that he would experience a massive boost once he learned to utilize his Innate Divine Strength as well.

Noah was completely silent as he listened to William's reasoning. He had a serious look on his face as he spoke, "It has only been a couple of months since you gained the ability to train as you like. You hold too great expectations for yourself. I also believe that your potential is far greater than that warrior I fought earlier. However, if you think you can quickly cover the distance between you and him, then you are wrong."

"What you have achieved is already enough to step over the hard work of many warriors. Even in this group, other than me, who is strong enough to defeat you? Let me answer that question for you. No one at all!" Noah spoke with his voice full of emotion.

"Whether it's Luna or Aria, they had been training for nearly all their lives. Yet, you surpassed them within two months! Your power is growing greatly, and you are also quickly learning to control it. There will always come a time when the rate of growth of your power seems to have slowed down." Noah spoke seriously.

"I will give you your personal space. You can train separately. Just remain in the group and come when I ask you to fight," Noah appeared to be requesting William to stay. William remained fixed at his position as he stared at Noah.

"…What I seek is a journey, not a battle. I need to walk around and actually see the world with my eyes. I need to understand what is going on in the world and how I can assist Master Azaroth. I believe this is the reason he made me his 8th Retainer. He didn't want a mere subordinate, he wanted to form one last group that would assist him. And I can't do that if I remain in this group, Noah," William spoke.

Noah suddenly turned around as he heard that statement. He knew William was right and if he tried to stop him anymore, it would affect Azaroth's plans. Maybe this was what Azaroth had envisioned when he asked Noah to lead William to the battlefield.

William noticed Noah's sadness and hugged him from behind. He spoke with a gentle voice, "I know that you will feel lonely. I know you need my assistance to manage everything, brother. I know you are already feeling extremely melancholic because the warriors who had formed a couple are also leaving this group. You don't want them to leave but since Master Azaroth has given his decision, you can't go against it."

A few tears were released from Noah's eyes as he heard that statement. William's words hit right on the mark as this was indeed the case. William slowly patted Noah's head and spoke, "This will be a valuable experience for you. You need to learn to get used to the fact that not everyone will stay together with us until the end."

"Each individual has a different path in their life. We are only walking together temporarily. When the time comes, we must split up," William spoke while slowly caressing Noah's head.

"This will make you even stronger. Whether it's emotionally or mentally. You must learn to limit your group and interactions with everyone. At the very least, don't hold such a great emotional attachment with them. I am sure you can't do this straight away. You are going to be very hurt before you slowly learn to remain detached." William spoke.

"Always remember that Master Azaroth and all of us will never leave you. We will be there for you no matter the situation," William spoke as he wiped Noah's tears.

Noah was extremely touched to hear those words. He turned around and hugged William one last time before William departed from the Glerian Kingdom's camp.

William's decision to leave was extremely saddening for Noah, but it was the best decision that William made today. William had also formed some bonds within the Heretical Paladins group, but he severed them all in his pursuit of power. He was on a journey to find out about himself and master his abilities.

Noah soon contacted Azaroth and informed him of William's departure. Azaroth wasn't surprised to hear this statement. He also noticed that Noah seemed to be drowning in sorrow.

Azaroth didn't plan to comfort him at this moment. There were some other individuals who would do that.

While Noah was feeling down, he received support from many individuals. Even though Noah tried to keep a cold look on his face, his grief was visible to all the subordinates who knew him well.

Even Luna and Aria found out that Noah was drowning in sorrow. After talking to some of their comrades, they found the reason behind Noah's grief. They were touched when they found the reason behind Noah's grief.

The other members knew about the reason behind Noah's grief because a few of them overheard Noah's conversation with William. They tried to keep the information among themselves, telling only their close friends.

The ones they told couldn't hold back and these members also told their close friends. Soon, nearly one-fourth of the members of Heretical Paladins knew about this fact. Luna and Aria were included in these members.

After finding out about this fact, these all members held a small meeting to discuss about the situation. Just what they should do to deal with this situation. Most of them were rather straightforward men and planned to inform Noah, "We won't leave you, master!"

However, this plan was quickly trashed. This was all because a couple of warriors gave the reasoning that if Noah realizes that they knew about his secret, he will feel embarrassed.. In fact, he could even order them to disperse. 

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