Under Control

A gust of night wind swept through.

It stirred up a few wisps of dust on the silent street.

Pfft.

The oil lamp in the inn's lobby went out, plunging the surroundings into darkness.

Shane gripped the hilt at his waist and slowly backed away. Staying alert to his surroundings, he frantically racked his brain for a way to protect himself.

He didn't know what their opponent was, but he knew one thing for sure: it was no friend.

The three golden traits on his forehead had no combat applications. His clothes had only a few defensive traits that boosted his resistances, and his pants... Never mind, the pants were even less useful. [Auto-Clean] and [Constant Temperature] weren't going to help him at all.

As for the traits on his weapon, Shane glanced at [Deflection Field], which had just finished recharging. He could only use it once a day, so he needed to be careful.

"Mm... Why's it dark...?"

Frieren's hoarse, sleepy mumble came from behind him, making Shane jump.

The elf girl had a ridiculous mess of hair. She rubbed her eyes and yawned, still half asleep.

Growl.

A loud stomach rumble rang through the quiet. Frieren asked, "Is there anything to eat?"

Shane thought, You finally woke up.

Forget about food for now. Think about staying alive.

A fierce gust suddenly gathered in the street and swept toward them with a chilling force.

"Look out!" Shane drew his sword to face it.

To his surprise, Frieren's sleepy eyes snapped open. She stretched out a hand and summoned her staff in an instant. A pale blue barrier unfolded before them, blocking the attack. Layer upon layer of interlocking hexagonal defensive spells formed an airtight honeycomb shield.

It was [Defense Magic], capable of withstanding any attack.

Shane had no time to marvel at Frieren's quick reaction. He hurriedly gave her a brief explanation of the situation.

Frieren lowered her head slightly and thought for a moment. Her [Mana Detection] couldn't sense any monsters, so their opponent probably wasn't part of the [Demon Race].

The fierce wind that had attacked them gathered in the street once more.

Before their opponent could launch another attack, Frieren raised her hand and fired. A white beam of magic shot out, piercing the night in an instant.

Strangely, once the attack faded, the street was still empty.

"Shane, are you afraid of heights?"

"What do you mean...?"

Before he could finish speaking, Frieren cast [Flight Magic] and shot into the air. At the same time, she grabbed Shane by the clothes and hauled him up with her.

"Ah—!"

Shane couldn't help crying out. The sensation of his feet dangling in midair was hard to get used to.

"Hey, hey! That wasn't a question!"

Frieren ignored his complaint and carried him up high enough to look down over the entire town.

Beneath the night sky, the once-lively, brightly lit town was now pitch-black and lifeless.

But in the woods just ahead of the town, on the way to the [Ghost Bunker], a long line of tightly packed shadows moved slowly, one after another.

"Found them." With that, Frieren grabbed Shane and flew toward the long line of shadows.

Once they got closer, Shane finally saw that they were all townspeople.

Their eyes were shut tight, and their stiff limbs moved them forward like marionettes. Black smoke billowed from their bodies.

"They're being controlled."

At Frieren's words, Shane immediately thought of Aura, the [Guillotine].

He quickly scanned the surrounding woods and fields, but saw no suspicious figures.

Aura, one of the [Seven Sages of Destruction] serving under the [Demon King], wielded the [Scales of Obedience]. She could place her own soul and her target's on opposite sides of the scales, then use her five hundred years of mana to overpower any opponent and tip the balance.

In the end, she beheaded every opponent she defeated and turned them into a puppet army she could command.

She was a ridiculously powerful member of the [Demon Race].

But something didn't add up. To improve her puppet army's combat strength, Aura liked to "collect" capable human warriors and commanders. Since when had she started collecting ordinary people?

While Shane wondered about this, Frieren was thinking too.

She had faced Aura head-on before and knew her well. The magic controlling the townspeople was very similar to the [Obedience Magic] Aura used, but it was clearly different.

Neither of them rushed into action. Instead, they quietly descended to the ground and followed the line from the rear.

In front of the collapsed entrance to the [Ghost Bunker], the townspeople came to a stop.

Driven by an unknown force, they began digging at the collapsed mine entrance with their bare hands.

Frieren and Shane exchanged a look. Shane nodded and stepped forward to keep watch, while Frieren began chanting a spell behind him.

This was the plan they had just discussed: Frieren would try using [Purification Magic] to dispel the control over the townspeople and see if it worked.

A flash of magic passed over the nearest child.

The child immediately crumpled to the ground.

"It worked!"

Shane was delighted.

But before he could enjoy the relief, everyone else stopped what they were doing and turned toward Shane and Frieren in unison.

Without the slightest pause, their bodies suddenly twisted into all sorts of shapes, and they charged at Shane from every direction.

"!"

Shane was stunned. He drew his sword, ready to cut them down.

But just as the blade was about to clear its sheath, he abruptly stopped. The person charging at the front wasn't a stranger. It was the lovesick landlady, who had always treated him kindly.

He cursed under his breath, then swung the scabbard, using the sheathed sword as a club to strike the landlady hard at the back of the neck.

The flailing landlady immediately collapsed, unconscious.

The others were the same. Though the mysterious force controlled them and made their movements unnaturally twisted, they were still ordinary people. Most of them went down with a single blow.

Behind him, Frieren continued casting [Purification Magic], and the townspeople fell to the ground one after another.

Just as Shane began to breathe a sigh of relief, a sudden change occurred.

Black smoke rose from the people lying on the ground, streaming toward the empty space at the center and gathering into a gigantic phantom skull.

Its expression was twisted with rage.

Then a shrill, hoarse voice like a vengeful spirit's howl rang through the night sky:

"Damn it! Why are you interfering with me?!"

As it howled, a fierce gust burst from the skull's mouth, carrying countless piercing shrieks as it slashed toward Shane.

Shane felt as though his eardrums were about to burst.

Luckily, Frieren reacted fast. With a flash, a magic barrier spread out and firmly shielded Shane.

"Magic! Magic again! Damn magic!"

For some reason, the skull flew into a rage when it saw Frieren's magic. In the blink of an eye, the entire skull turned blood-red, then shrieked and dove toward the two of them.