An Encounter on the Road

After they left the hills, the road gradually leveled out, and scattered patches of farmland began to appear on either side. Two days later, the outline of a small village appeared at the edge of their vision. Yet what drifted through the air was not cooking smoke or the aroma of food, but a faint smell of scorching and the searing heat of lingering mana.

Faint clamor came from the village, mingled with screams and the sound of something exploding. Strangely, though, they sensed no despair of humans on the verge of death. Instead, the commotion was panicked and tinged with confusion.

Lowell stopped and looked toward the village. "Monsters are attacking. Not many of them."

Frieren stopped as well and tilted her head to listen. "Yes. There's no smell of human blood yet."

They exchanged a glance and slowly approached the village entrance. The sight before them was rather peculiar: the villagers had gathered in an open space in the village, terror on their faces, yet none of them had been hurt or killed. The remains of numerous low-level monsters lay scattered on the ground around them—charred goblins and ghouls torn apart by some force, their wounds still wreathed in lingering arcane light.

Most demons were essentially masses of mana, and their bodies vanished after they were defeated, but some low-level monsters did not.

The battle was clearly not over. Several piercing whistles came from the other end of the village.

They looked past the low houses toward an open space outside the village. There, a thoroughly one-sided battle was underway.

A small figure hovered several meters above the ground. She was a human girl who looked to be about ten years old, dressed in a deep-blue mage's robe that was somewhat oversized but clearly made of high-quality material. The hem fluttered in the surging mana. Her fluffy red curls were tied behind her head with a simple hair tie, bouncing lively with her movements. Her cheeks still bore the innocence of a child, but her green eyes were astonishingly bright, shining with concentration and... a trace of unmistakable excitement.

"Hmph! Filthy creatures with no sense of your own mortality, how dare you disturb Lady Ruby's peace!"

The girl—Ruby—spoke in a clear voice, deliberately pitching it higher as it echoed through the air. She swept both hands swiftly, her movements carrying the rhythm of a dance.

"In the name of the stars, gather—Arcane Missiles!" As she called out the name of the spell in a full-throated voice—though it seemed entirely unnecessary in actual combat—several spheres of energy shining with white light formed instantly before her. As if alive, they traced tricky arcs through the air and struck several wolf-shaped monsters attempting to surround her with unerring precision. The monsters were blasted to pieces amid their howls.

Immediately afterward, she pointed an oak staff slightly taller than herself, with a ruby set in its tip, forward. Her voice rose even higher. "Bear witness! Crimson flames that purify all—Greater Fireball!"

A fireball larger and more white-hot than an ordinary one roared forth. Rather than flying in a straight line, it deftly curved through the air and engulfed a troll hiding behind a ruined wall, preparing to launch a sneak attack. The heat warped the air, and the troll let out a brief scream in the flames before it was reduced to charcoal.

She seemed to relish the utterly overwhelming battle. She spun lightly in the air, her sleeves fluttering, as though putting on a dazzling performance. As she cast her spells, she kept up a running commentary:

"Ahaha~ Did you see that? This is what happens to anyone who makes an enemy of Lady Ruby!"

"Too slow, too slow! To Lady Ruby, you move like crawling snails!"

"Three on the left... done! More trying to slip away on the right? Take my Pyroblast!"

Her fighting style was efficient and fierce. She alternated between arcane energy and fire magic in a dazzling display, driving the remaining monsters steadily back and leaving them powerless to retaliate. Rather than a life-and-death struggle, it was more like a monster-clearing magic show conducted entirely by her.

Lowell and Frieren stood quietly in the shadows at the village entrance, watching. The villagers' attention was entirely fixed on Ruby in the air, and none noticed their arrival.

"What do you think?" Lowell asked softly, his gaze still on the little figure flying about.

Frieren observed for a moment, then offered her analysis in an even tone. "Abundant mana and precise control. The tracking on her Arcane Missiles and the way she changes the shape of her fireballs aren't standard methods. She has her own understanding of them. She can handle this many monsters alone without a frontline warrior to cover her, while making sure the ones that get away don't hurt the villagers. She's very strong."

Her assessment was objective and calm, without any discernible emotion—a judgment made purely from a mage's perspective.

"It looks like this is the Ruby Serie mentioned, the one who's 'a little clever.' Come to think of it, flight magic has only become widespread in the last few years. The fact that she can fly is impressive enough. She really is the royal capital's number one genius mage. Mm, though I'd say that only extends to 'the royal capital's number one genius mage.' She's still some way from being 'the royal capital's number one mage,'" Lowell said. He recalled the bunch of fresh little blue flowers in Serie's study.

Frieren also looked away from Ruby, sweeping her gaze over the monster corpses on the ground before returning it to Lowell.

"Probably."

The village was in no danger, and the battle was nearly over. Ruby was clearly handling herself with ease in the air, even enjoying it somewhat. The two exchanged a glance, neither intending to step forward and disturb her.

Just as the last few monsters were swept up in Ruby's flaming whirlwind and reduced to ash.

At the edge of the village, a patch of shadow that had been empty suddenly began to writhe, thick as ink. A figure slowly emerged from it.

He was tall and slender, dressed in a well-tailored black robe, with skin so pale it was almost translucent. His most obvious difference from a human was the pair of curved horns growing from his forehead, marked with dark red patterns. His face could be called handsome, but his violet-red eyes held nothing but cold indifference.

"Tch, a bunch of trash."

He glanced at the monster remains vanishing across the ground, undisguised disdain in his tone. His voice was deep and resonant, but carried an inhuman chill.

"I thought they would use up more of your mana. I didn't expect them to be so easily defeated."

Ruby landed lightly on the ground, her little face flushed from the battle. Her eyes instantly sharpened, however, and she fixed them on the uninvited guest. She tightened her grip on her staff and leaned forward slightly, ready for a real fight.

"A demon?" The teasing had faded from her clear voice, replaced by a more serious note. "The 'stink' on you... it's different from those grunts."

The corners of the demon officer's mouth curved almost imperceptibly, as though he found that amusing.

"A perceptive little one. I am Camilla, the 'Shadow Weaver'... though of course, there's no need for someone about to die to remember my name."

Before he had finished speaking, his figure suddenly blurred. An instant later, he appeared behind and to Ruby's side, his pale fingers reaching out like claws. Ominous black mist coiled around his fingertips as he aimed straight for her heart from behind! He was far faster than the monsters before him.

"Body-enhancing magic? Still too slow!"

But Ruby reacted as if she had eyes in the back of her head. Without turning, she slammed the butt of her staff into the ground.

"Boom!"

A ring of Arcane Blast erupted outward from her, sending dust flying from the ground. Camilla was forced back half a step, and some of the black mist around his fingertips was scattered.

"Hmph, a petty trick."

Camilla snorted coldly and held his hands loosely before his chest. The shadow beneath his feet writhed like a living thing and stretched out, forming several pitch-black tentacles that silently snaked toward Ruby from every angle.

Ruby leaped and dodged nimbly, her red hair tracing dazzling arcs through the air. From time to time, she swung her staff, firing searing beams of light or detonating Arcane Missiles with precision at the bases of the tentacles.

"Are you a coward who can only hide in the shadows?"

Ruby flipped deftly in the air, evading a pincer attack from two shadow tentacles while sweeping a blazing net of fire from her hand. Several other tentacles sizzled as they burned. "Your magic is a long way from the 'Seven Sages of Destruction' my teacher told me about!"

Violet light flashed in Camilla's eyes. He seemed slightly provoked by the words "Seven Sages of Destruction." No longer relying solely on his shadow tentacles, he began to chant an obscure incantation. The temperature of the surrounding air plummeted, and ice crystals with an eerie purple hue began to form on the ground.

Icy shadow mana surged toward Ruby like a tide. In its wake, even the air seemed ready to freeze.

Ruby's little face turned serious. She held her staff upright before her, and the gem at its tip blazed with red light.

"Flame Barrier!"

A wall of searing fire shot up from the ground and slammed into the icy shadow mana. A fierce hissing filled the air as steam spread and ice and fire intertwined, the two sides locked in a stalemate for the moment.

On closer inspection, however, Ruby's breathing remained steady, her gaze focused, with even a faint hint of excitement at finally finding a worthy opponent. Camilla's expression, meanwhile, had grown even darker than before. He clearly had not expected this little human girl to withstand his killing move so easily.

At the village entrance, Frieren quietly watched the clash of ice and fire in the distance and offered a soft assessment. "A composite spell of shadow and ice... This demon really is much stronger than the ones before."

Lowell nodded slightly. "Yes. Most demons only study one kind of magic, so this one seems rather unusual. But that child hasn't used her full strength yet. Even after killing so many monsters, and while still flying, she has plenty of mana."

His gaze fell on the ruby at the tip of Ruby's staff. The mana gathering there was far more immense than what she was displaying now.