Chapter 378: Frieren: Opening Domination of Aura
Five hundred years was, for a long-lived species, merely the changing of scenery from spring to winter. At most, one might sigh that quite some time had passed, yet without any deeper sense of loss.
During these years, Frieren's footsteps had already crossed many corners of the continent.
From the icy plains of the far north and the ruins of the Demon King's Castle upon them, to the southern lands of humanity.
The glory of the Southern Unified Empire still survived in scattered tales, yet it had long since become history buried beneath the flow of time, no longer spoken of openly.
She witnessed kingdoms rise and collapse, watched conflicts between races, and even exchanged brief words with ancient beings hidden deep inside forgotten caverns.
Because of this, her travel pack gradually became filled with all sorts of strange grimoires and peculiar magical tools gathered from every corner of the world.
Her strength also steadily grew during these long travels, and her understanding of magic became increasingly profound, especially in the field of Space Magic.
Perhaps after a little more time, she would truly be capable of independently constructing large-scale teleportation spells, stepping into the ranks of top-tier Space Magic Magicians.
Of course, compared to Teacher Flamme, she was still far behind.
After all, Teacher Flamme had gone from learning Space Magic to independently casting teleportation spells in less than ten years.
Frieren, however, was already satisfied with herself.
She did not possess Flamme's absurd magical talent.
What she possessed was simply an elf's nearly eternal lifespan and a curiosity toward magic that had never faded.
Her beautiful appearance remained unchanged even after five centuries. Time could not leave traces upon an elf so easily.
Only those emerald-green eyes had become calmer and deeper.
Today, Frieren was walking through a forest.
According to an old map she carried, there should be a small human village nearby. She intended to replenish some supplies there and perhaps see whether any villagers had commissions involving magic.
Over the years, many of the grimoires she collected had come from helping people solve strange problems.
Although most of them were eventually given away by her.
After all, she was still traveling and could not carry an endless number of books.
Still, there were a few interesting ones she deliberately kept aside.
Someday, when she returned to the Magic Association, she planned to gift them to Kurtz-sama and Serie-sama.
However, before she could even approach the village, Frieren suddenly stopped walking. A faint magical fluctuation entered her perception. It was weak, but within it was a distinctly non-human Aura carrying a hint of malice.
'A demon!'
Without hesitation, Frieren quietly concealed her own presence and moved toward the source.
During these five hundred years, she had encountered many demons. Most died beneath her staff, while some stronger ones escaped after fierce battles. There were even a few terrifying existences she could only temporarily seal because killing them was impossible at the time.
Among them, one demon had been especially troublesome. Even Frieren had not been confident in defeating that one.
Yet after seeing her use Serie-sama's signature Light Spear magic, the other party immediately fled without hesitation, not even looking back, as if deeply fearful of it.
That memory still felt strange to Frieren even now.
Pushing through a dense cluster of bushes, she finally saw the village. And standing upon a small hillside nearby—
Was a demon girl?.
Frieren's eyes showed slight surprise.
The demons she usually encountered were already mature individuals who had survived for decades or centuries. A demon this weak was rather rare.
The other party had long pink hair tied into twin ponytails hanging over her chest, with several loose strands falling over her forehead. A pair of spiraling dark-red horns curved upward from her head. Her face was delicate and beautiful, with pale skin and light blue eyes.
At this moment, those eyes were filled with nervous excitement. She wore a dark-colored dress made from decent material, simple yet neat. The magical fluctuations surrounding her were unstable, almost immature, as though she had only recently learned how to properly control her power.
Frieren quietly observed her. Her strength was probably equivalent to that of an excellent human mage. But her mana itself was not especially large. More importantly—
Her emotional fluctuations were strangely rich. Just from her face alone, Frieren could already see nervousness, excitement, anticipation, and unease constantly changing.
That made her very different from the demons Frieren knew. Most demons were either cold and calculating or twisted by naked violence. This one, however, resembled an inexperienced child.
Meanwhile, the pink-haired demon—Aura—was staring at the village below.
She had only been born recently. After barely grasping her innate magic through instinct, she could no longer suppress her curiosity toward the world outside.
Occasionally, she encountered older demons and learned from them that the current era was terrible for demonkind. Because of a certain terrifying existence from the distant past, demons could no longer easily gather into large armies. Most could only hide themselves carefully.
For a newborn demon like her, the outside world was dangerous. But Aura was extremely confident in her innate magic. "Obedience Magic." It forcibly compared the total mana of both sides. The weaker party would absolutely obey the stronger one.
She had already tested it on magical beasts and ordinary animals several times before.
The results were excellent. And now, the strongest magical presence inside this village felt pitifully weak in her perception.
It was the perfect place to test herself. Taking a deep breath, Aura suppressed the strange nervousness in her heart and prepared to step forward.
Then—
"Stop."
A calm voice suddenly sounded beside her. Aura nearly jumped in fright as she turned around instantly.
There stood an elf girl with long white twin-tails. The other party wore simple traveling clothes and carried a pack on her back.
'An elf Magician?'
Aura immediately sensed magical fluctuations from Frieren. 'Weak. Very weak. Not much stronger than ordinary humans.'
Aura relaxed almost immediately. 'Hmpf, just an average elf mage.'
After calming down, she became excited instead. 'An elf magician! Perfect. Now I can test my magic on a good enough subject.'
Straightening herself, Aura tried to assume an imposing posture.
"An elf magician, huh?" she asked. "What's your name?"
Frieren did not answer. She just looked at Aura quietly, as though studying something interesting.
This demon's emotional expressions somewhat resembled Solitär. Except Solitär lacked expressions entirely, while this one had too many.
"Hey! I'm talking to you!" Aura puffed her cheeks slightly in annoyance. Still, she quickly decided not to waste time.
Light gathered before her hands. A massive scale formed between her and Frieren.
"Hmph. Let me show you the power of Lady Aura!"
The Scale of Obedience manifested completely. Mana from both sides began gathering upon the scale.
Aura confidently released her own magic power. The scale tilted slightly toward her side. At the same time, Frieren's mana was forcibly drawn onto the opposite side. Aura crossed her arms proudly while waiting for victory. To obtain an elf Magician servant during her very first attempt—
Surely no other demon could boast such success. Thinking this, her smile widened further. Truthfully, Aura had not originally been so expressive. But not long after her birth, she encountered a very strange existence. That person claimed to be human.
Yet the Aura of a demon around them was overwhelmingly thick. Although Aura had only spent a short time near them, she still changed considerably afterward.
Her thoughts returned to the present. Looking at Frieren standing motionless, Aura assumed the elf simply did not understand what was happening.
"Don't worry," Aura declared proudly. "I'll make good use of you!"
Frieren, however, merely tilted her head slightly and continued observing the scale with interest.
It was almost as if she were studying the structure of the spell itself.
Aura's confidence suddenly wavered slightly. 'Why is this weak elf so calm? Where is the fear, the panic?'
Then—
The scale violently trembled.
Aura's smile froze. The side representing Frieren's mana suddenly sank downward with terrifying force.
Meanwhile, Aura's side was lifted helplessly into the air.
"W-What?!" Aura's eyes widened in disbelief. "This is impossible!"
She frantically tried to stabilize the scale, but it had completely left her control. The weak mana surrounding Frieren disappeared. In its place emerged a vast, abyss-like magical power. The overwhelming pressure instantly swallowed Aura whole. It was unimaginably enormous.
Only that mysterious "human" she encountered before had ever possessed greater mana than this. Fear surged uncontrollably through Aura's body.
"Sometimes," Frieren finally spoke calmly, "what you see isn't necessarily real."
The scale shattered. But the effect of the Obedience Magic had already activated. And the one being dominated—
Was Aura herself.
"No way...!"
Aura felt an absolute binding force wrap around her soul. She understood instantly. She had become Frieren's servant. Any command from Frieren would become absolute. Even suicide.
"You... you cheater! Shameless elf! MHAAA! You liar! You hid your mana on purpose!" Aura's eyes filled with tears from rage and fear. This was her first attempt at using her innate magic on another intelligent being.
And she immediately encountered a shameless, cheating, lying monster.
Frieren ignored her shouting completely. She walked closer and calmly gave her first command.
"Aura. Kneel."
Aura's body instantly moved against her will. She collapsed onto her knees before Frieren.
"I'll ask you something," Frieren continued. "How many people have you killed so far?"
Under the effects of the Obedience Magic, Aura could neither resist nor lie. Biting her lip tightly in humiliation, she answered quietly:
"None... I haven't killed anyone yet. This was my first attempt."
Frieren blinked once. "So this was also your first time using this magic on someone?"
Aura nodded furiously, her blue eyes full of grievance. She truly felt absurdly unlucky.
After confirming Aura had never actually killed anyone, Frieren silently thought for a moment. Then she remembered the Magic Association. She had not returned for over five hundred years. She wondered how things were now.
How was Master Kurtz's research progressing?
And what had become of Solis? As for the demon before her... Though weak and noisy, she was still somewhat special. Perhaps he would find her interesting. Whether Kurtz would keep her for observation, use her in research, or simply kill her afterward was not Frieren's concern.
She merely felt there was a chance he might be interested. That alone was enough reason not to kill Aura immediately.
"Stand up," Frieren said calmly. "You're coming with me."
Aura stiffened. Despite every instinct screaming against it, she rose obediently to her feet. Fear trembled through her entire body. She had no idea where this terrifying elf intended to take her.
"W-Where are we going?" Aura asked weakly.
Frieren had already turned around and begun walking away from the village. Without even glancing back, she answered in her usual calm voice.
"Home."
Aura froze.
'Home?'
'Whose home?'
'This elf's home?'
'What kind of horrifying place was that supposed to be?'
Looking at Frieren's receding figure and feeling the absolute restraint upon her soul, Aura gritted her teeth before finally following behind her.
'At the very least... I am still alive.'
[End of Chapter]