Lektüre

Duncan.

The blonde girl gently woke up the young mage who was lying on the table on the high platform.

The young mage put on his monocle.

"... Sorry, it seems I accidentally fell asleep."

He wore a beautifully crafted badge on his chest.

"That medal, it's to recognize your achievements, isn't it?" The girl leaned against the railing, glancing at the young mage out of the corner of her eye. "Congratulations."

The young mage glanced at it.

"Yes, what I gained was not only that, but also an enormous fortune that is unimaginable to us minor nobles on the border."

"With these, you won't die..."

"What?"

The young mage then realized what was happening.

He looked at the woman with disbelief.

Lektüre turned around, her smile gentle, "What's wrong, Duncan?"

The young mage smiled.

"So it was just a dream, Lektüre..." He toyed with the badge. "I still vividly remember obtaining it; it felt like all my efforts had finally paid off. I was planning to rush back to Weise the next morning to tell you the news..."

"However, on the night of the medal award ceremony..."

"I have received your obituary."

"Lektüre".

I couldn't see you one last time.

"I... haven't worked so hard for this kind of thing, or for money."

"... Even if it's just in a dream, seeing you one last time would be enough for me. After all, I've always been afraid of seeing you again."

"Finally?" The girl turned around.

"Yes."

"I lost to Macht."

"The gap in our strength is simply too great. In the past half-century, I have never slackened in my training of magic, and even so, I still could not defeat him."

"So what?" The girl walked up to the young mage. "From childhood to adulthood, I've lost count of how many times you've lost to him. But you've never given up."

"Those were all just practice matches..."

"So what?" The girl's expression remained gentle as she walked behind the young mage and hugged him.

"The Duncan I know, even when faced with dire circumstances, will struggle ugly until the very last moment."

"... Really? You really are her."

"Speaking of which, there was indeed one time before..." The young mage recalled a training session where he had scraped Macht.

It's so good to see you.

He thought about it.

"... Frieren," Duncan's Goldification dissipated, and he looked at Frieren, "How many years has it been?"

Those who are Goldification will remain frozen in that moment forever, and it's normal for Frieren, as an elf, to have an unchanged appearance; he thought a long time had passed.

"About an hour has passed," Frieren replied.

"Sigh..." the elderly mage sighed.

"What's wrong?"

"... I was reminded of my past self."

"In his youth, he pursued fame and fortune, and to establish prestige, he also put on airs in his speech and behavior."

"Looking back now, it was so foolish."

"Speaking of which, what is this?" Duncan looked at the protective shield-like thing on himself and Frieren.

"This is protective magic, I just created it," Frieren replied. "This way, it won't be affected by the Diagoldze magic. Don't worry, I have plenty of magic."

"... Unbelievable, you actually found a way to counter the magic that Diagoldze."

"However, the situation is very bad now. It took me quite a while to find an opportunity to undo your Goldification."

"I see. So, our location has been exposed, right?"

"Yes, it's been a long time since I've encountered an opponent who's been chasing me so relentlessly." Frieren looked at the Demons approaching from behind.

"... I still can't believe what I'm seeing." Macht held up his broadsword, "But since you've truly broken the spell of Diagoldze, I can't let you go back alive."

"You never intended to let me go in the first place, did you?"

"Hello, Frieren." Solitär her right hand on her chest. "Let me introduce myself first. I am Solitär, the Great Demons."

"Oh, I have no interest in who you are," Frieren replied. She remembered appearing in Macht's memories; she was a master of the same level as Macht...

"Let's chat for a bit," Solitär sent a chat request.

"We have nothing to talk about," Ms. Fu refused.

Let's chat~

"I don't want to talk."

"Is that so? I thought it was a pretty good proposal." The girl, with her hands behind her back, smiled sweetly. "That way, you can live a little longer."

"Really? I'm so happy, I'm almost moved to tears by your compassion."

"It seems you can now perfectly handle the magic of Diagoldze. It's hard to believe that anyone could reach this level in just two months."

"... It took me more than two months. I witnessed the magic of Diagoldze when I fought Macht six hundred years ago."

"I don't remember ever seeing you before," Macht interjected.

"I suppose so. To you, I'm just one of those mages who fled in terror before you. I know you've long forgotten me."

"It took me almost a hundred years just to remove the Goldification from my right hand."

"Because of my experience back then, I was confident from the start that I could restore my Goldification body." Frieren looked at her hands, "Although it will take some time."

"Yeah."

"Magic is imagination, it's the world. Combined with the analysis of your memories, I can now even recreate the entire Golden Land."

Macht showed a hint of surprise.

"However, restoring the Golden Land will take some time." Frieren summoned her staff. "Have you asked all your questions? Let's begin the battle."

Frieren unleashed Hellfire Magic, sending black flames hurtling towards the two demons.

Macht flew high into the sky to evade, while Solitär used all-around Defensive Magic to defend herself, and Duncan took the opportunity to create distance.

He and Frieren were both pure ranged mages, but their opponents were different.

"Are you serious?" The girl in the dress, encased in Defensive Magic, smiled. "Even if you've mastered the method to counter the magic that turns Diagoldze, making it ineffective, your opponents are two Great Demons."

"Leaving aside whether you can truly defeat us," the girl in the dress continued, "Under the current circumstances, retreat is the best option, isn't it?"

The four individuals exchanged Killing Magic, attacking and defending against each other.

This is the most useful magic.

"I also want to retreat," Frieren said expressionlessly, "But the risk of letting Macht, the 'enemy of humanity,' from Golden Land leave is too great."

"'An enemy of humanity'? That's truly devastating. You clearly saw his memories, didn't you? That guy genuinely wanted to coexist with humans, unlike me."

Duncan dodged Solitär's "Sword-Controlling Magic," Frieren used her staff to block the oncoming broadsword from Macht.

"Oh? You actually managed to dodge that... that's impressive." Solitär praised.

"Indeed, you genuinely desire to coexist with humans, Macht." Frieren parried the attack. "I hold your ideals in the highest esteem. As far as I know, you are the second Demons truly desires to coexist with humans."

She used the word "only".

"But that's also why we can't understand each other," she continued. "Macht, the more you yearn for coexistence, the more humans will die at your hands."

"So what?" Macht responded indifferently, "As long as we understand humanity, the path to coexistence..."

"Is that so? Then how many more people do you think we need to kill before we can understand each other?" Frieren said expressionlessly. "The former Demon King, like you, longed to coexist with humanity. To achieve this ideal, he destroyed about two-thirds of the nations and civilizations."

She wouldn't even use "he," preferring "it."

"Macht, at the ultimate goal, what awaits you is the extinction of humanity."

"There are no pushovers among humans; they'll patiently wait until that day comes."

"Macht, karma is a cycle, and what goes around comes around. Your retribution has come."

"... karma, huh."

"One day you'll get your comeuppance, just like I am now." Oh... that man said those words.

"Have I become 'evil'? What an unparalleled glory! Let's do it, Frieren, I feel I'm very close to the answer," Macht responded to the elf.

"... Frieren, please, let me deal with him." Duncan chose his opponent.

"Can you win?" the elf questioned.

Duncan didn't speak, he just silently looked at Frieren.

"I see," she replied, "Then I'll take care of Solitär."

"That's fantastic!" Solitär laughed, her voice filled with excitement.