Killing True Magic

Frieren reached out and touched the base of the stone statue.

The wind and rain of the past few decades have worn away many of its details; the statue's cloak has several tears, and the reliefs on the armor are now just some blurry outlines.

Even Himmel's face, which he had repeatedly insisted on being sculpted to be handsome enough, is now hardly clear; only the smile at the corner of his mouth still vaguely retains its original appearance.

"But come to think of it, it really does look a lot like him."

Frieren looked up at the statue and said.

"You can barely make out their face, how can they resemble them?"

Lorenzo examined it carefully for a moment.

"Smile."

"Frieren replied."

Whether on her journey to defeat the Demon King or at her final funeral, Himmel always seemed to leave people with this smile. Just seeing it made people feel that no matter how difficult things were, they could eventually be resolved properly.

"After all, back then, everyone lived in a rush and died in a rush."

Frieren withdrew her gaze from the stone statue.

"Let's go, it's time to deal with these historical issues. After that, we can then restore this statue."

The three continued deeper into the forest, and the closer they got to the location of the seal, the quieter the surroundings became.

"It's just ahead."

A clearing surrounded by mountains and forests appeared before the three of them.

In the center of the open space stood a huge black stone statue, its surface covered with moss and vines, with even some unknown plants growing in the gaps between its shoulders and head.

Perhaps because there really were living beings inside, the stone statue is still lifelike even after such a long time. If you were to compare it with the Himmel statue at the village entrance, just looking at the degree of preservation, someone who didn't know better would think that Qual was the beloved hero, while Himmel had become an insignificant minor character.

Frieren stepped forward and touched the stone statue to check the seal's condition.

"It's already very fragile; at the current rate, it can only last a few months at most."

Frieren withdrew her hand, a few specks of black powder that had rubbed off the surface of the statue clinging to her fingertips.

"Furthermore, Qual has regained some consciousness and is attempting to break the seal from within, so the actual duration of its effect may be even shorter."

"Does it need to be reinforced again?"

"Need not."

Frieren answered very decisively.

"Continuing to seal it is just pushing the problem onto future generations. Besides, given Qual's current understanding of seals, even if it is reinforced, it won't last long."

The reason they chose to seal Qual back then was simply because they had no way to resist the Killing True Magic created by the enemy.

But things are different now; times have changed.

"I'm about to break the seal, you two be careful."

So Frieren placed the tip of her staff against Qual's chest and slowly poured Mana into the seal.

Then the sealed Demons slowly stood up, and the black stone shell attached to its body began to crumble.

Qual opened his eyes again.

For him, the decades-long seal was nothing more than a dreamless sleep. The surrounding forest had changed drastically compared to his memory, but the elf standing in front of him remained exactly as he had always been.

"Frieren."

Qual looked down at her.

How much time has passed?

Eighty years.

"Eighty years..."

Qual looked around, but did not see the other three people he remembered.

"And what about Himmel, that monk, and the dwarf?"

"Himmel and Heiter are dead, but Eisen is alive."

"I see."

Qual's gaze returned to Frieren.

"Now that you've returned, the Demon King must have already been defeated. Now you're here to deal with me, this unstable element?"

Why does this sound so strangely pathetic, like someone discarding a donkey after it has served its purpose? Isn't conquering the Demons the only logical thing to do?

Then, it looked at Fern and Lorenzo standing behind it.

"Are they your new companions?"

"Um."

"One of them is even my disciple."

"Disciple?"

Qual's gaze lingered on Fern.

The purple-haired girl's Mana wasn't weak, but it was far inferior to Frieren's. As for the man next to her, the power structure within his body was so strange that it couldn't be immediately understood.

But none of that matters. As long as we kill Frieren first, the rest of us are no threat at all.

Qual raised a hand, and a complex attack spell was instantly completed in front of it.

"Fern."

Frieren remained standing in the same spot.

"Yes."

A jet-black beam of Mana suddenly shot out.

Fern's prepared defensive True Magic was immediately deployed, with several semi-transparent hexagonal barriers piecing together in front of the three, forming a complete defensive line to directly confront the incoming Killing True Magic.

Boom--

The violent impact sent mud and gravel flying everywhere.

Ripples appeared on the surface of the defensive barrier, but there was no damage whatsoever. The Killing True Magic that was once said to be able to penetrate any defense was thus blocked head-on by Fern.

For the first time, Qual showed obvious surprise.

"You managed to defend against it?"

"This is the defensive True Magic that humanity developed after you were sealed away."

"Frieren said."

"Based on your Killing True Magic, and after decades of analysis and refinement, the modern True Magic system was finally formed."

Qual gazed at the still-present hexagonal barrier, pondering for a few seconds.

"I see."

"It transforms Mana itself into a defensive structure, and then adjusts the spell according to the nature of the attack. The construction speed is fast, and the defensive range can be freely combined."

"However, this True Magic consumes a lot of Mana, and in pursuit of defense against True Magic attacks, it sacrifices resistance to physical attacks."

Fern finally understood why Frieren had repeatedly emphasized that they couldn't be careless; after only seeing it once, Qual had already found the weakness of modern defensive True Magic.

If they took a few more glances, wouldn't that be terrible? Wouldn't they be able to expose all aspects of modern True Magic?

Qual raised his hand again, and this time dozens of Killing True Magic unleashed simultaneously behind him.

"In that case, we just need to ensure you don't have enough time and Mana to complete your defense."

Without needing further reminders from Frieren, Fern had already raised her staff forward.

Semi-transparent hexagonal barriers appeared one after another from different directions, but this time they did not piece together to form a complete defensive line that could cover the three people as before. Instead, they only unfolded at the point where the Killing True Magic was about to hit.

"By reducing the range of each defense to decrease unnecessary Mana consumption, and by constantly changing the position of the barrier according to the attack trajectory, we can compensate for the fact that defensive True Magic cannot be maintained for a long time."

"That's quite an idea."

Qual raised his other hand, and more attack spells appeared in the air.

"However, merely achieving this level is not enough to compensate for the difference in Mana consumption."

This time, instead of clustering behind Qual, they dispersed around the open space, forming a near-complete encirclement of Lorenzo and his companions.

"If the attacks come from all directions, you'll have to build a full-body defense, but how long can a human with Mana last?"