Resurrection and Heroic Spirit Summoning

The Familiar continued flying towards the city center, approaching the Earl's castle along the eaves and tree canopies.

Not long after, three horned figures appeared in the scene, standing in the square in front of the Earl's castle.

The leader was a male Demons dressed in a dark suit, whose appearance resembled that of a human nobleman.

A petite girl followed beside him, a short axe at her waist, and the last person was a very young-looking green-haired man.

Genau recognized them at a glance.

"Lugner, Linie, and Draht are all executioners under Aura's command; they lack the ability to break through the barrier."

Lugner can manipulate blood, Linie is good at reading other people's Mana and imitating their movements and fighting styles, and Draht can create extremely fine Mana threads to sever the enemy's body.

All three types of True Magic do possess considerable destructive power, but none of them can break through the barrier covering the entire Graf Granat Earl Territory.

Lorenzo controlled his Familiar to land on the rooftop opposite the Earl, using the chimney to conceal his presence while also connecting his hearing to the Familiar.

The voices of three Demons talking then came from the silver basin.

"Ugh, how boring."

Linie stretched and looked at the Headless Knights patrolling back and forth in front of the door with a bored expression.

"Since those esteemed officials arrived, we've had nothing to do."

Those adults?

Everyone in the room noticed the name at the same time.

"Being bored is better than dying."

Draht leaned against the broken stone pillar, a few almost transparent Mana threads wrapped around his fingertips, as if he were playing cat's cradle.

"I don't want to become the enemy of those adults."

"Do not gossip about the guests."

Lugner stopped the two from continuing their conversation.

"Lord Aura has given the order that all we need to do is defend the Graf Granat Earl Territory, deal with the remaining humans, and await further instructions."

I really don't understand why we need to be so cautious.

Linie swung her legs.

"Now that those men have become Lord Aura's subordinates, it probably won't be long before we can march all the way to the south."

"When the Lord becomes the new Demon King, will we be able to get a position similar to the Seven Sages of Destruction?"

Becoming the new Demon King? Who exactly did Aura take as his subordinate? Does he have such an arrogant tone?

"Don't oversimplify things. They're in very poor condition right now; they don't have the power they had in life."

Lugner glanced at Linie and ruthlessly shattered her naive fantasy.

"Ah, those esteemed officials have come out."

Linie suddenly stopped swinging her legs and turned to look at the Earl's mansion.

The tightly closed door slowly opened.

The first to emerge from the shadows was a tall, red Demons with long horns and sword blades on its arms, who looked incredibly fast.

The second Demons wore a long robe that almost reached the ground, revealing only his pale chin and large, sharp horns extending from the sides of his hood.

The Demons that emerged last was the least noticeable; it was not tall, and could even be described as somewhat thin, and it was not carrying any weapons.

But when it stepped into the sunlight, the three of Lugner lowered their heads in unison.

"What's wrong, Frieren?"

Lorenzo noticed a change in Frieren's expression; she was staring intently at the last Demons to emerge.

After a moment of silence, Frieren slowly spoke.

"Tropo."

The atmosphere in the room instantly froze.

"It is Tropo, one of the First Generation Seven Sages of Destruction, who possesses 'Magic-Nullifying True Magic'."

"The other two are Leibach and Verona, both of whom were renowned generals in the early days of the Demon King's Army."

"The one at the front is Leibach, who is also skilled in close combat. The blades on his arms can easily cut through most defensive True Magic, and his True Magic can also make him extremely fast."

"And the one with the hood is Verona, who is especially skilled at analyzing True Magic. She can completely grasp many extremely difficult True Magic with just a glance."

"It sounds a bit like that Qual."

Lorenzo recalled the Corrupt Sage had been sealed away, who had also learned Fern's defensive and offensive True Magic with just a glance.

"No the same."

Frieren shook her head and said.

"Its talent and abilities far surpass those of Qual."

"So it seems that Lady Flamme's barrier was broken by it?"

"Fern said."

"That's most likely it."

But they're all dead.

Zanze couldn't help but ask.

Leibach died in the northern canyon, Verona died on the imperial border, and Tropo died near a lake—these are all clearly recorded in the history of True Magic.

"It seems that Aura really has mastered some method to resurrect the Demons."

"Genau said with a solemn expression."

The Headless Knights controlled by Aura was left only with fighting instincts, unable to think, and had no consciousness from his previous life. However, the three Demons in front of them were clearly able to act on their own, and the attitude of Lugner and the others towards them was not like that of puppets without will.

No wonder Linie is so confident. If she can revive them, then she can revive the Demon King too, and the Demon King's Army could even launch a full-scale attack.

"No, this shouldn't be a resurrection."

Lorenzo observed the image in the silver basin and spoke.

I feel like I've seen them somewhere before.

His body was barely sustained by unstable Mana; his soul and vessel could not fully merge; and only a portion of his former power remained.

Point--

It seems to be from some failed Heroic Spirit Summoning experiments in the Department of Spiritual Evocation.

Considering Aura's previous search for Tropo all over the world, could it really be "Heroic Spirit Summoning"? But how exactly did Aura obtain this method?

I feel that continuing to think about it might have very adverse consequences for me, so I'd better stop here.

"I think I know how Aura resurrected them."

So Lorenzo gave them a brief explanation of the basic principles and content of Heroic Spirit Summoning.

"So, as long as the spell that sustains them is found and destroyed, these three Demons will disappear on their own?"

Genau immediately grasped the most important part.

That's the theoretical idea.

Lorenzo looked at the cracks that covered Leibach's body in the image.

"But the core of this ritual is probably Aura himself."

Although the accumulated Mana over five hundred years cannot compare to that of Frieren, its scale is still considerable enough to supply these "weakened" Great Demons.

So in the end, we still have to defeat Aura.

Übel seemed to feel that things had suddenly become simpler, and a smile returned to his face.

"Killing just one Seven Sages of Destruction would also conveniently eliminate three Ancient Demons. Sounds like a great deal, doesn't it?"

"The prerequisite is that we can get past thousands of Undead, break through the protection of three ancient Demons, and successfully approach Aura."

Genau offered a blunt reminder.

"Furthermore, we currently do not know exactly how many more Demons Aura has resurrected to serve it."

If that's all there is to it, that's fine, since at least we have some intelligence. But if we go through all that trouble to get to the Earl's castle, only to find that the Demon King is waiting there, then all our efforts will have been in vain.

"Tsk, why do you always boost others' morale while belittling your own?"

Übel looked at Genau with some displeasure.

"I was just assuming the worst-case scenario."

"It's precisely because you always talk about the worst-case scenario that it makes people uncomfortable."

"If you haven't even considered the worst-case scenario, then when you actually encounter it, you'll only face certain death."

I always felt that someone like you must have a very hard life.

"Same to you."

Genau's tone was calm, but his disdain was completely undisguised. He then straightened up from beside the door frame.

"Furthermore, continuing to speculate here won't yield any more information."

"Now that it's confirmed that Aura is located in the Graf Granat Earl Territory, we should get there as soon as possible. The longer we delay, the more likely it is to summon more Demons."

"That's true."