Frieren: Understand Humans, Aura!

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During their conversation, Flamme suddenly widened her eyes.

Thud!

When the sound of a magic cannon piercing through the air was heard, Aura had no time to react.

Rip—

Just as she thought she was about to die, a rock rose up from behind her, forming a high wall that blocked the magic cannon. This wasn't the deadly magic of the Elder Sage of Corruption, lacking that near-beam speed of penetration.

The stone barrier provided enough delay for Aura to activate her defensive magic.

Thunk—

The defensive magic, capable of even stopping deadly spells, easily blocked the magic cannon. The translucent, diamond-shaped shield scattered the black-purple magic cannon in all directions, burning melted holes into the ground and the surrounding forest. The force of the impact resonated through the shield, sending a shockwave that rippled outward, rustling leaves and causing the ground to tremble slightly.

"Huh? The only chance to defend yourself was not given to yourself, but to someone else?"

A voice came from the shadows in the forest.

Aura turned to see Flamme clutching her abdomen in silence, and two demons stepping out from the shadows, dispelling their invisibility magic.

One is tall and the other is short. The tall one has short horns while the short one has long horns. They have similar faces and should be demons with the same bloodline. The aura they exude has reached the standard of a great demon, which makes Aura feel threatened.

After all, her forte wasn't direct combat, and her most proud Auserlese, was unusable due to a missing crucial item.

"Aura, run… I'll hold them off."

Flamme was half-kneeling on the ground, blood unstoppably flowing out of the hole she was covering, and probably also from her internal organs such as intestines. It was already very good that she could stay conscious, and it was impossible for her to fight fiercely.

"I was careless—"

Although she was seriously injured and her consciousness was hazy,, Flamme's mind was very clear. In an instant, she assessed the situation: The magic aura of her and Aura combined was no match for the two demons. The best case scenario was that Aura ran away quickly, and she used her remaining strength to hold the demons back.

'I can probably stay conscious for another thirty seconds.'

"Thirty seconds, that's the time I can buy for you, Aura."

Flamme's voice was calm, her tone steady, not indicative of being at death's door but rather normal.

——It was indeed normal. Flamme had prepared mentally for situations like today since she dedicated her life to slaying demons.

"Ah—Aura, don't grieve over my death… As long as you live and continue slaying demons, my death will be meaningful… You must stay calm and don't act on impulse, at this moment...

"Make the most correct decision, Aura!!"

Bang—

Aura suddenly struck Flamme's back head. The poor Flamme, not even seeing who attacked her, fell down in a daze, her head bleeding.

"Huh?" x2

The scene of backstabbing left the two pursuing great demons momentarily stunned. Their eyes widened in surprise as they processed the unexpected turn of events. Then their gazes shifted to Aura, who had removed the cloth from her head, revealing her demon horns glinting in the sunlight.

"As a fellow demon, I'll let go of your previous attack, considering you didn't know my identity." Aura declared, her voice steady despite the chaos around her.

Her eyes fell on the fallen Flamme. Her hand trembled, her face contorted in pain from defying her compliance magic. The command "don't harm humans" made knocking out Flamme the limit. It was completely impossible to cause further harm to her. She could feel the strain in her muscles, the internal battle between her will and the magical constraints placed upon her.

Now, she can only hope that her two compatriots can help her kill this great enemy of the demons!

"Do it quickly!"

Aura stared intently at the unconscious Flamme, alert for signs that she might wake up.

The two demons exchanged glances and quickly reacted, the magic cannon appearing in the air again.

Boom!!!

The explosion was deafening, and as the dust settled, Aura stood unharmed under a protective shield, her eyes blazing with anger and frustration. The translucent shield shimmered, evidence of her quick reflexes and powerful magic.

"Wait, are you crazy? Why are you attacking me?!" she yelled, her voice cutting through the lingering echoes of the blast.

"We heard it. You are her friend too, right?" 

"Ridiculous! How can demons be friends with humans!" Aura's voice was filled with indignation.

"Then why are you standing in front of this human?" 

"Uh?"

Aura was stunned. She looked down and realized, to her horror, that she had unknowingly shielded the unconscious Flamme, raising a defensive spell. Her body had acted on its own, defying her conscious intentions.

If she hadn't blocked him, the attack from the two demons would have easily crushed Flamme into a paste.

Her body… acted on its own… This was not Aura's intention. She could feel her heart pounding in her chest, the weight of her actions pressing down on her.

But…but…there are no conditions for the activation of obedience magic! It is clearly just "don't harm humans", but there is no rule, she can "just sit there and watch humans get hurt".

What was going on?!

Aura's mind raced with confusion and frustration, grappling with the inexplicable loophole in her magic's constraints. The rigid boundaries imposed by her compliance magic felt suddenly porous, leaving her questioning the very foundation of her powers and their limitations.

"Although it is rare and we have only heard about it, there are still demons who have defected to the human side."

"I'm not, I don't! I'm a pure-blooded demon from the red family!"

"You're lying. Which demon has such rich emotions?"

"......"

"You're an oddball among demons, aren't you?"

"…Maybe."

There was no way to explain. Seeing the demons raise their staffs again, Aura gritted her teeth, hoisted Flamme's arm, and placed her on her back.

Then Flamme absolutely couldn't die.

She had just knocked Flamme unconscious, and the backlash from the obedience magic had already caused cracks in her soul. If Flamme died, even indirectly due to Aura, the resulting backlash would severely damage her soul. At the very least, she would suffer from schizophrenia, and at the worst, she would fainted directly.

No matter which situation it was, she had no way to escape from the pursuit of the two great demons.

"Flamme, oh Flamme—"

Aura lowered her head, staring at the face of this human mage who only existed in legends, and he let out a long sigh, unable to hide her sadness.

"Why must I always save you?"

"Does the goddess truly favor you and not me?"

Then, the sound of magic cannons rang out, and beams of killing magic pierced through the mountain.

——

"She got away."

"Yes."

"Very strong, that unknown demon."

"She didn't use her full strength."

"Indeed, judging by the fluidity of her magic flow, she must have stronger magic. Why didn't she use it?"

"Luckily it didn't work."

"Otherwise, we might be dead."

On the mountaintop, two mutilated figures floated in the air, surveying the surroundings, but they couldn't find any trace of their target.

The tall demon was missing an arm and a leg, with a huge gap in his torso. There was no bleeding, and the cross-section of the wound was all burnt by the high temperature. They had never encountered such an attack magic with such strong penetrating power.

The shorter demon was even more severely injured, Only one horn was left on his head, and the other horn and half of his head were missing. There were not many wounds on his body, and it was obvious that the attacker was prepared to kill with one blow.

They only survived due to their unique magic.

Mirror image magic required two users, with highly synchronized magical flow. The effect is shared perception and life. As long as the two people are not injured in the same fatal part at the same time, they can survive. They can even repair fatal injuries by mirroring the other party's undamaged fatal parts.

Aside from overlapping shoulder wounds, the rest of the injuries of the two demons were healing rapidly. It was visible to the naked eye that the flesh and hair were growing back.

Scanning the area once more, they found no residual magic.

Such complete magic concealment simply not something that the demons who usually indulge in the leaking of their magic power can do - this discovery undoubtedly confirmed the two demons' speculation that the purple-haired demon had betrayed and turned to humans.

"That human has killed many demons recently."

"You've never seen this person before?"

"She appeared suddenly, with magical knowledge beyond the human beings of this era. The flow of magic power, the construction of magic, and the concealment of aura, every part was done perfectly."

"Any clue about her teacher?"

"Not sure, but definitely not human. The techniques she used is definitely not something that humans can master today."