The Fall of Aura

At the center of the battlefield, the Undead Army swarmed in.

But instead of immediately unleashing a wide-area attack spell as she usually did, Frieren gave the Puppets due respect. She broke the control over them with the tremendously costly Purge Magic, granting them freedom and dignity at the end.

One by one, the fully armed undead soldiers fell before Frieren, freed from Aura's control.

Aura watched, growing more and more impatient.

She had spent countless hours and immense effort amassing the Undead Army, a formidable force capable of looking down on the Northern Countries.

Their numbers dwindled one by one, and the power in Aura's hands gradually diminished.

Watching Frieren, gracious and composed, elegant and unruffled amid the vast army, she could not resist a taunt.

"Hey, Frieren, why aren't you using your big spells? You used to love using them, didn't you?"

Frieren spoke indifferently.

"These Puppets were all warriors worthy of respect in life. I must give them the respect they deserve."

With that, Frieren dodged the Puppets' blades and cast Purge Magic, continuing to purge the Undead Army.

White light flashed, and another Puppet fell from the sky, escaping Aura's clutches.

Aura looked at the Undead Army blanketing the sky. Though victory was assured, she had no idea how long it would take to bring Frieren down.

A day? Two days? Seven days?

Oh, heavens!

Seven days and seven nights spent fighting, out here in the wilderness?

No warm springs, no soft bed, no beautiful maids, no thunderous cries of adoration...

That would be unbearable. I couldn't stand it for a moment.

I have to finish Frieren off quickly, return to my cozy palace, and enjoy a wonderful lunch.

In that case, Frieren, enough of this tiresome nonsense. Let's settle this decisively!

Let the first battle be the final battle, and decide everything in a single fight.

Aura stared at Frieren and saw that her mana was far inferior to her own. Her smile grew even brighter.

"Magic That Makes People Obey!"

Her fingertips moved gently, and the golden Scales of Obedience swayed slightly as Aura activated the magic she was most proud of.

Throughout the ages, countless human champions, warriors and mages alike, had fallen to this magic and become Aura's Puppets.

They obeyed her absolutely, to be manipulated as she pleased.

Even those with strong enough wills to resist a little could not ultimately escape the fate of becoming slaves.

Now it was the lovely young Frieren's turn.

Obedience Magic was actually very particular about fairness.

It drew on the souls of two people and compared the strength of their mana.

The person with more mana would win, while the loser would become the winner's Puppet, stripped of dignity and individuality, manipulated at will, and forced to obey absolutely, never to regain freedom for the rest of their life.

When the magic took effect, Frieren's soul was pulled from her body as a pale blue orb of light and came to rest on the right side of the scales.

The black soul inside Aura also flew onto the scales.

The Scales of Obedience measured the strength of Frieren's and Aura's mana.

Aura had been appointed one of the Seven Sages of Destruction by the Demon King five hundred years ago, and her mana was at a level corresponding to about five hundred years.

As for Frieren, as far as Aura knew, she had first appeared eighty years ago and was often accompanied by the Hero. Surely her mana could not compare to Aura's!

"Clink, clink, clink~"

Just as Aura had expected, the Scales of Obedience tipped toward her.

Aura smiled and picked up a longsword, ready to strike Frieren dead once she became a Puppet, turning her into a Puppet that obeyed absolutely.

"Death is upon you, yet your expression hasn't changed. Frieren, you've earned my admiration."

Stopping three meters from Frieren, Aura smiled, making no effort to hide her appreciation.

"I could say the same to you. Death is upon you, yet you can still smile. Aura, you've surprised me."

Frieren looked at Aura indifferently, as though looking at a dead woman.

With Frieren's original elegant tactics, purifying the vast Undead Army would have taken at least a dozen days.

But in the end, Aura had been deceived by Flamme's teachings.

A thousand years ago, Flamme had told Frieren that just as demons used words to deceive humans, she could conceal her mana to deceive demons.

Demon society was a rigidly hierarchical jungle, where the amount of mana one possessed determined one's status and treatment.

Thus, demons would never willingly conceal their mana, and that gave humans a chance to defeat them.

Ever since then, Frieren had suppressed her mana day after day for a thousand years, displaying only a tenth of it, or even less.

Eighty years ago, when the Hero Himmel invited Frieren to join his adventure, Heiter and Eisen had even looked down on her for having so little mana and being so weak.

Now, that arduous training would become an unparalleled divine weapon, piercing the heart of Guillotine Aura, one of the demons' greatest masters, in an instant.

"Buzz, buzz, buzz~"

Aura waited patiently for Obedience Magic to take effect.

The golden Scales of Obedience shifted again. The pale blue soul sank, as heavy as a mountain.

The black soul rose, as light as a plastic toy.

The difference was clear at a glance. The contest was decided.

Aura's pupils contracted, her hair stood on end, and her long pinkish-purple hair stirred without wind as sweat drenched her back.

"Impossible, absolutely impossible! My mana is unrivaled in the world. How could it be less than yours?"

Like a beginner's instructor in an online game, Frieren said, "I've spent almost my entire life suppressing my mana. You misjudged me, Aura."

"Are you an idiot? Why would you do something so inexplicable?"

The bleak reality tore bloodily through Aura's reason, and she roared in unwilling rage, resorting to personal insults.

"Yes, it's foolish. But this way, I can defeat demons."

Frieren glanced at Aura casually and decided to stop pretending and show her hand.

The immense mana that had lain dormant for a thousand years suddenly surged forth, sweeping in every direction like a tornado and churning freely between heaven and earth.

Vast and majestic, the mana shot into the sky, shaking the heavens as though it would tear the firmament apart.

Frieren stood at its center, her robes snapping fiercely. Like a goddess from an age of myth, noble and elegant, she ruled the sky and earth and looked down upon all living beings.

Aura looked at the overwhelming mana before her and wanted to cry, to roar at the top of her lungs, to curse Frieren for a hundred years.

But there was no time.

Frieren turned around and calmly commanded, "Aura, kill yourself."

As the words fell, Aura discovered in horror that she had lost control of her body.

Her left hand rose beyond her control and, in accordance with Frieren's will, placed the sword she had meant to use to sever Frieren's head against her own vulnerable throat.

Am I going to die?

Am I going to die just like this? Killed by my own magic? How humiliating, how unbearable...

Frieren, you innocent-looking elf, I never imagined you were such a liar, a scoundrel, a bastard, a petty villain, so despicable and shameless!

You deceived the great me and cut short my path to revival through uniting the demons. You'll go to hell for this. Ha, you'll definitely go to hell!

Don't get smug, don't you dare get smug. I'll be waiting for you on the road to the underworld...

Two clear tears burst from Aura's eyes. Watching the blade cut through her throat, she closed her eyes in despair.

For five hundred years, she had roamed the world unchecked, turning countless powerful enemies into her Puppets and severing who knew how many heads, her demonic might renowned far and wide.

She had never imagined that one careless move... would cost her everything, leaving her to slit her own throat and throw her life away.

How... ironic.

"Splurt~"

The longsword slid across her throat, and Guillotine Aura, a great demon of her generation, fell with a crash.