The Strategy Meeting

Fern brought Zanze and the others back to their hotel, and then told Frieren and the others about the news from the Graf Granat Earl Territory.

"I never expected Aura to go this far this time."

Frieren put down the grimoire in her hand, her expression unusually serious.

To so brazenly conquer an Earl's territory is reminiscent of the Demon King's Army's era. Moreover, the dead soldiers will be manipulated by Aura, and the food and weapons stored in the city will become the Demons's capital for continuing their southward advance.

If the Graf Granat Earl Territory is not recaptured soon, the surrounding towns will soon suffer the same attack.

"If Aura intends to continue south, this town will be its first stop."

"I am speaking to the crowd while leaning against the doorframe, "Genau said.

"Moreover, the ability to dismantle the barrier left by Flamme is definitely not True Magic that Aura originally possessed."

If it possessed the ability to break through barriers, it wouldn't have been blocked from entering the city eighty years ago, nor would it have needed to wait so many years to launch another attack.

"So the problem lies with those three unknown Demons."

"Fern said."

"Is it possible that it's related to Tropo?"

Lorenzo immediately thought of the map and note they had found on the island in the middle of the lake.

"Possibly."

Frieren nodded.

"But Tropo itself isn't good at analyzing True Magic; it's most famous for its Magic-Nullifying True Magic and its unparalleled martial arts."

Magic-Nullifying True Magic? That sounds contradictory.

If True Magic is used to ban True Magic, does that mean its own True Magic falls within the scope of what is banned?

"Magic-Nullifying True Magic can restrict all True Magic that acts upon the outside world within a certain range."

Frieren continued to explain.

"Once inside Tropo's domain, ordinary True Magic cannot even let their Mana leave their bodies. Offensive True Magic cannot be used, defensive True Magic cannot be deployed, and even True Magic attacking from afar will vanish into thin air when it gets close."

"Tropo devoted almost all of his long life to honing his martial arts skills, making him no less capable in close combat than any warrior. Once an enemy's True Magic is blocked, he will immediately kill them with melee combat."

For True Magic who are used to solving all problems with True Magic, this kind of enemy is simply their natural enemy.

"How cunning these Demons."

Stark commented that the Demons's body is already much stronger than a human's, and it has spent so much time training. He felt that even his master wouldn't have an advantage if he encountered it.

"However, there's no need to worry too much. Tropo is already dead, and even if it were to be resurrected through some unknown means, it would never willingly submit to Aura's command."

Seeing that the atmosphere was a bit heavy, Frieren spoke up to comfort her.

No matter what, Tropo was one of the original Seven Sages of Destruction of the Demon King's Army, and his strength, seniority, and status in the Demon King's Army were far superior to Aura's.

"Our immediate priority is to confirm the identities of those three Demons."

Zanze steered the conversation back on track, since the three Nameless Great Demons capable of breaching the barrier left by Lady Flamme seemed extremely dangerous no matter how you looked at it.

"So let's send someone to investigate first."

"I'll go."

Übel immediately raised his hand and spoke.

"No."

Zanze refused just as decisively.

"Why?"

"Do you even know what reconnaissance is? If I sent you, you'd definitely cause a huge mess."

Zanze stared at her expressionlessly. As her master, didn't he know her well enough? She probably thought that killing all the Demons who discovered her was enough to complete the reconnaissance.

"Let's just send the Familiar to scout ahead."

Lorenzo then took out two birds and suggested...

"Familiar?"

The others looked at him with some confusion.

"It's a True Magic creation that can be remotely controlled and used for reconnaissance."

Did all the True Magic in this world rely on their physical bodies to scout before the war? No wonder Frieren always said that the mortality rate of True Magic was high; it would be strange if the mortality rate could be reduced.

Fern carefully examined the Familiar in Lorenzo's hand.

They closely resemble crows, covered in jet-black feathers, making them difficult to spot without close observation.

Actually, there is a problem.

Are they real animals?

"Fern asked."

"It was obtained through animal modification."

Besides his daily stargazing, Lorenzo hadn't been idle these days; he captured many "animal friends" and transformed them into his Familiars.

After all, the forest lacks everything except small animals.

"I can share their vision, so as long as these Familiars fly to Graf Granat Earl Territory, we can stay here and observe the situation inside the city."

Even if they are discovered, it doesn't matter. After all, it's common knowledge that the lives of Familiars are not lives. At least in the eyes of most Magecraft, they are consumables that can be discarded at any time. As long as they can bring back valuable information, losing a few Familiars is not a big deal.

"Okay, let's do it that way."

Frieren said to Lorenzo.

"Can we see the images they transmit back?"

Zanze asked.

"It's not impossible."

Lorenzo let the crows perch on the windowsill, then placed a silver basin filled with water in the center of the table.

He reached out and gently stroked the water's surface, instantly creating ripples that divided the water into different sections, each reflecting different angles of the room's interior.

"What convenient True Magic!"

"Stark sighed."

Then Lorenzo opened the window.

The crows flapped their wings at the same time, flew into the sky against the cold autumn wind, circled once above the inn to determine their direction, and then quickly flew away to the north.

The image in the silver basin also changed accordingly.

The town's streets, squares, and crowds shrank rapidly, eventually being replaced by vast forests dyed in golden and deep red hues.

The Familiar flies much faster than ordinary birds, and before long, the first image transmitted by the crow showed a plume of black smoke rising into the sky.

Then the forest came to an end, and a city ravaged by war gradually appeared before them.

"Reduce altitude."

Immediately, the image on the left side of the silver basin began to descend rapidly.

The Familiar, using the still-rising smoke and dust as cover, flew into the city through a gap in the collapsed city wall.

After crossing the city wall, everyone could finally see the traces left by the battle.

Broken spears and shattered shields littered the streets, and the exterior walls of houses were covered with charred marks left by True Magic bombardment. Large patches of dark red blood stretched from near the city gates to the inner city, but hardly any corpses could be seen.

"The bodies were all taken away by Aura."

"Frieren said."

The soldiers who died in battle had been enchanted with Obedience True Magic, and their heads were severed, becoming the Undead patrolling the streets.

Just a day ago, they were doing everything they could to protect this city.

"That's disgusting."

Übel's smile faded slightly; even she didn't particularly like this kind of True Magic that blasphemed the dead.