Frieren: Demon of Domination

In an ancient castle located deep in the forests of the northern countries—

A portion of the Demon King's army led by Aura the Guillotine, one of the Seven Sages of Destruction, was stationed in this recently occupied human territory.

And as the nightmare of the northern nations, Aura, one of the Grand Demons under the Demon King—

Was currently receiving reports from her subordinates upon her throne.

"How interesting..."

"You're saying another new hero has been born among the humans?"

"Yes, Lady Aura."

"The hero's party consists of four people total, with their leader named Himmel."

"He has gathered a dwarf warrior, a human priest, and an elf mage, and they are now advancing toward the Demon King's castle."

"An elf mage?"

Without showing any emotional response to the other three people in the intelligence report,

Only upon hearing the word 'elf' did Aura rarely perk up with interest.

"Even more interesting. There are still elves alive?"

"I thought they had long gone extinct."

"Hmm... what is that elf's strength like?"

"Unknown as of yet."

"What about that hero Himmel?"

"Very strong, if the information we received is correct."

"How strong?"

"He has already defeated nearly ten Generals in succession."

"And wherever he has passed, all demons have been defeated by him."

"This even includes Lord Rivale of the Wolf Pack."

"I see."

Aura propped up her chin, showing an interested expression.

Setting aside the Generals, to actually defeat Rivale who is a Grand Demon like me...

Hero Himmel—

With such power, he could probably be counted among the top tier of heroes.

"Where has Himmel's party reached now?"

With anticipatory feelings, Aura asked her subordinate.

"Near the Krut Wetlands in the central countries."

According to the original plan, she was supposed to attack Count Granat's Territory next.

And looking at the route from the Krut Wetlands to Ende at the continent's northernmost point...

Count Granat's Territory was undoubtedly a necessary passage.

That is to say—

The hero's party would pass through her territory.

Aura's lips curved upward, revealing a malicious smile full of dark humor in her pleasure.

"Decided..."

"Let this so-called hero's party become members of the undead legion."

"How pathetic, I'm thinking about things from before I was trapped again..."

"Hehe—"

"In human terms, is this what they call seeing your life flash before your eyes?"

In the crude room of the Heaven Vein Dragon's castle, a Grand Demon with a dejected expression was imprisoned here.

—Aura the Guillotine of the Seven Sages of Destruction.

Even up until half a month ago, she who possessed this title was an existence that could make children stop crying.

Aura's magic was called Obedience Magic, also known as Domination Magic.

The effect was simple yet powerful—

She could place her own magical power and her opponent's on scales in her hands,

Thereby making those with less magical power than her unconditionally obey her.

For five hundred years—

Aura, who possessed Domination Magic, often needed no battle against enemies.

She could instantly end conflicts just by releasing that massive magical power.

'Self-proclaimed undefeated heroes,'

'Warrior monks who defeated dragons with their bare hands,'

'Assassins hired by nobles,'

'One of the three great knights of the north,'

'A prince of a nation who commanded and won multiple wars...'

These human heroes who had once come to subjugate Aura all fell before the invincible Domination Magic.

They were turned into mindless puppet soldiers by Aura and joined her undead legion.

Hundreds of years of invincibility made Aura extremely confident in her own power.

Until half a month ago when she encountered that man before Grand Mage Flamme's tombstone.

Until her undead legion was destroyed overnight—

Even she herself was controlled by Agusheed through Domination Magic.

"'Aura the Guillotine'..."

"Standing before you is the strongest Grand Demon who has survived since the mythical age."

Agusheed's cold words haunted Aura's ears like a nightmare,

Making her regret from the bottom of her heart her sudden curiosity and attempt.

"Absolutely unlucky..."

"Being helpless against the Grand Isolation Barrier when attacking Count Granat's Territory was one thing."

"I was clearly just trying to find a way to break Grand Mage Flamme's magic—"

"But why did I have to run into that man mourning at her tombstone?"

Thinking of Qual and Todd who had provided her with clues about Flamme's burial place,

Aura had reason to suspect that those two absolutely knew of Agusheed's existence

And were well aware of the relationship between Grand Mage Flamme and him.

But she had no way to blame the two.

Because demons were just like that.

No matter how many of their kind were killed, specifically how they died, whether they died from internal conflict—

For them as demons, these were completely irrelevant matters.

Aura was the same.

And even more so—

For her, even if the demons killed were long-time companions who were utterly loyal to her,

She wouldn't feel the slightest regret or anger.

"Cold-blooded and heartless"—

This was a saying created by humans over the long passage of time.

The meaning it wanted to express was—

'Demons inherently possess no compassion or sense of guilt.'

Most of the time, humans used this to describe their disgust and hatred toward demons.

This was a very correct and objective assessment.

Without doubt, even the Demon King himself quite agreed with this statement.

Because demons were such creatures.

Once, an adventurer who had fallen before Aura, close to death, had said these words to her.

And she at that time had merely scoffed.

"Foolish."

—Having boring emotions like compassion or guilt was actually a flaw.

So when the boomerang of the past hit her own head,

Aura had absolutely no reason to complain about those kinsmen who disregarded her life and death.

But to vent the depression and irritation in her heart,

She could only attribute all the causes to those two people.

"Damn Himmel!"

"Damn Frieren!!"

"Damn hero party!!!"

Aura cursed in her heart the hero party that had forced her to seek methods to break through barriers.

But her curses didn't last long.

—Tap tap.

—Tap... tap...

Two sets of footsteps from outside the house broke through Aura's thoughts in the silence.

"Besides that wooden man, there are others here?"

Aura widened her eyes, with irrepressible doubt and curiosity in her heart.

But her curiosity likewise didn't last long.

Because the answer was soon placed before her.

Click—

Accompanying the sound of the door opening, Aura's gaze uncontrollably looked toward the two figures standing at the door.

Then her pupils contracted, and her skirt and body began trembling uncontrollably.

She had already begun to grow familiar with Agusheed's figure during this time.

So although afraid, she wouldn't lose composure too badly.

But the figure standing beside him with twin swords at his waist was different.

That time at the northern plateau—

The scene where this man had nearly slit her throat in one encounter left Aura with an unforgettable memory.

"Hero... Hero... Hero of the South?!"

The violin lady, who didn't understand why humanity's strongest hero would appear in the strongest Grand Demon's castle—

Let out what could truly be called a scream of despair.

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