Frieren: Understand Humans, Aura!

Boom!

An air manipulation spell: Schneid!

The air, compressed by magic, formed nearly tangible blades that slashed toward Aura. The shimmering blades cut through the air with a sharp, whistling sound, their edges gleaming menacingly as they converged on their target.

Aura quickly erected a defensive magic, the blades came from all directions, too numerous and too fast for a localized defense to handle. A full 360-degree barrier required more time than she had.

Thud!

Aura threw herself to the ground. Her demon physiology granted her exceptional agility, allowing her to roll swiftly and narrowly avoid the deadly onslaught. She rolled several times, her body moving fluidly as she sought cover behind the bar.

The air blades shredded the wooden bar into splinters, the sharp fragments scattering across the room. When the debris settled, Aura was nowhere to be seen, having used the chaos to disappear from sight.

Flamme, her eyes sharp and focused, scanned the room. Though she couldn't sense Aura's presence with her magic—likely due to some concealment spell or Aura's own innate abilities—her keen vision caught a flicker of movement. A hint of purple, barely visible, flashed near the window in the back kitchen.

Aura was attempting to escape through the window, her movements swift and desperate. Flamme wasted no time, casting an acceleration spell on herself. Her body blurred as she moved, closing the distance between them in an instant.

Crash!

Half the inn collapsed in on itself as Aura, now holding up a round shield, barreled through the window and into the open, rolling out like a ball. The force of her escape sent wood and glass flying, the noise echoing down the street and drawing startled cries from onlookers who frightened and ran away upon seeing the horns on Aura head.

Flamme was relentless, her hands moving in a blur as she struck at Aura with rapid, precise attacks at a rate of three times per second.

The surrounding buildings bore the brunt of the collateral damage, walls and windows shattering under the force of the unleashed magic. Despite the destruction, Flamme's focus was unwavering. She sensed the slight fluctuations in mana as Aura struggled to defend herself, confirming her suspicions: this was no ordinary demon.

A high-ranking demon!

If she were allowed to escape, the damage she could cause to humans would be incalculable!

Bang!

A levitation spell: Erdbebensto! It lifted a massive rock, the size of a house, from deep underground, and it crashed down towards Aura with terrifying speed and force. The ground trembled as the enormous boulder rose, its shadow casting a dark pall over the battlefield.

A heavy physical attack, the bane of defensive spells designed to counter magical attacks.

The egg-like defensive barrier that wrapped around Aura shimmered and crackled under the strain, but the sheer weight and power of the falling rock were too much. The barrier shattered like glass, and just before being crushed, Aura was squeezed out by the force and narrowly escaped being flattened.

After struggling miserably for a few moments, she realized that running away was not a solution. Her breath ragged and her eyes burning with resolve, she turned around to face Flamme head-on.

Seeing the demon stop, Flamme slowed her approach, her eyes narrowed with caution. She knew all too well that high-ranking demons possessed powerful destructive spells capable of turning the tide of battle in an instant. The tension between them was palpable, the air thick with anticipation.

'Verheiz!'

Sizzle!

Sure enough, the moment that demon raised her hand, flames suddenly appeared around Flamme. The flames roared and twisted, creating a fiery barrier. She was completely confused about the flow of mana and the principles of the spell.

With a loud bang, a massive explosion of fire surrounded Flamme, the heat intense enough to scorch the earth beneath her feet. But as the smoke and flames cleared, Flamme emerged from the dark dust unscathed, protected by an ice crystal spherical shield. The shield glimmered in the sunlight, its surface unmarred by the attack. Flamme couldn't help but feel puzzled. 

No attack power at all.

It was a fire spell characterized by an explosive release of energy, yet it hadn't even broken her first layer of ice.

Flamme glanced at the purple-haired demon floating in the sky, her figure gradually fading. With a precise gesture, she unleashed a beam of light, a powerful anti-magic spell designed to disrupt and reveal concealed entities. The spell disrupted the demon attempt to vanish, revealing her fully to Flamme's sharp gaze.

"Don't even think about running away. I've memorized your mana. Although you're very good at hiding, it's inevitable that your mana will leak out when you maintain flying and invisibility magic."

"Your perception is much sharper than the last time we met."

"You can't escape."

"I know."

Aura slowly fell down, she just wanted to give it a try.

It would be nice if they could end this conflict without getting hurt, but this was Flamme, the most gifted human mage in a thousand years.

There was no way she could escape unscathed from Flamme.

"Why didn't you attack me and just keep fleeing? Aren't all demons bloodthirsty monsters?"

"Mostly. I'm probably a demon who doesn't fit in."

Aura replied dejectedly. It wasn't that she didn't want to fight back, but a command prevented her from harming Flamme.

This was inherently an unfair battle.

Aura, despite being a high-ranking demon with centuries of experience and power, found herself restrained by an invisible force. Without this restriction, she, a demon who had honed her abilities over five hundred years, might have been able to engage in a prolong fight with the young Flamme, who was still in the process of mastering her magic.

If Aura dared to attack and harm Flamme, her soul would suffer from a severe magical backlash due to the command she was bound by. The pain and consequences of such an action were too great to bear, forcing her to choose the path of least resistance—to flee and avoid the conflict altogether.

She had escaped easily before, so why was it different this time?

Aura tilted her head in confusion and asked, "Why are you so much stronger than last time?"

"The last time we fought was a long time ago."

"It was only ten years ago."

"It's already been ten years."

Flamme raised her staff and answered, not in a hurry to attack. If both sides of the mages were serious in the battle, life and death would only take a moment.

She was waiting for a better opportunity.

At the same time, the conversation just now also made her fall into memories.

'Yes, it's already been ten years.'

'But I... still haven't seen her.'

"Aura, where on earth did you go?"

"I'm right here." Although Aura didn't quite understand why Flamme kept repeating her name during the battle, she honestly raised her finger and pointed at herself and responded.

"Ha—" Flamme exhaled a cold breath, gripping her staff tightly, veins popping out, "Don't play this joke on me again!"

Flamme's anger reached its peak.

The demon's seemingly innocent demeanor and straightforward responses were grating on her nerves. What she hated most about demons was their tendency to mimic and deceive, despite not truly understanding human emotions. They would say anything, no matter how implausible, to manipulate and survive, often trampling on the most sincere emotions of others.

"That's why I want to kill all demons." she muttered to herself, her voice filled with a mix of determination and bitterness. "Aura taught me magic, surely for this purpose!"

"Go to hell!!!" Flamme shouted, unable to contain her rage any longer. She lashed out with her staff, channeling a powerful spell, her emotions fueling the intensity of her attack.

Flamme couldn't wait any longer. The tension and confusion had reached a breaking point, and she found herself losing control of her emotions. She hadn't anticipated being the first to crack under the strain of their confrontation.

Without realizing it, she had let this demon disturb her thoughts. Despite the demon's lack of sweet words or disguise tricks, the sight of the purple-haired demon's innocent and pretty face alone made her feel uneasy, as if the demon mere presence was unsettling her balance.

Could this be a new spell created by demons??

Swish—

A flash of white light shot out from Flamme's staff, aimed directly at Aura. However, the hasty attack was far less effective than Flamme had expected. Instead of severing the purple-haired demon's head as she had anticipated, the spell was deflected by an offset force field Aura had erected. The cutting spell, designed to penetrate defensive magic, barely grazed Aura, only managing to leave a minor mark on her left horn.

It was a cutting spell Flamme had been saving for a decisive moment. This spell was analyzed by her when she was fighting against the demons ten years ago. It could penetrate the demons' defensive magic.

But Aura had avoided it, and there will be no next time.

Flamme saw that after the strike, Aura had reconfigured her defensive magic to include a displacement field, rendering the cutting spell ineffective against her from now on.

————

'Damn it… Damn it! Damn it!!!'

'Flamme! Why do I always have bad luck every time I meet you?'

'Why can't someone as hateful as you just die!'

"Raaaaaaaaah!!!"

Aura roared, firing Magic Cannon: Sturmkanone, blasting Flamme who was struggling to maintain her shield away.

'I'll kill you! I'll kill you! I'll kill you!!!!'

Aura gritted her teeth and covered the horn on her head with her left hand. Blood flowed from her forehead, obscuring half of her vision.

Pain, pain, pain, pain, pain!!!

The moment she gave in to her murderous intent, a tearing pain exploded from the depths of her soul. This pain was a result of the compliance spell, binding her with the command "do not harm humans." Even though Aura had not used lethal magic, the spell punished her for the mere intent, and she knew that a more lethal attempt would likely have rendered her unconscious.

'Damn Frieren!'

'Damn humans!'

Bound by the command "do not harm humans," Aura was like a bird in a cage, her nature to fly stifled.

Day after day, year after year, the accumulated desires and the imprisoned bloodthirsty nature almost drove Aura crazy.

Flamme's relentless pressure had finally awakened Aura's suppressed ferocity. She grinned, baring her teeth, her eyes glowing with a feral red light. 

Like a hyena, she clung to Flamme relentlessly.

With a powerful magic cannon and superior mobility from her flying magic, Aura overwhelmed Flamme using her mana advantage.

"Flamme, in this world, humans and demons are fundamentally different!!"

Boom!!!

A roaring flame of magic erupted, and Aura's red flame stream surged from top to bottom like a tsunami, engulfing Flamme in its fiery embrace.

The intense heat forced Flamme to hold her breath, while the thick smoke clouded her vision, making it hard to see.

"Short-lived humans, compared to the eternal demons, face an insurmountable wall!" Aura covered half of her bloody face with one hand, while the other half of her face radiated contempt.

With a wave of her hand, a massive burst of mana consumed, resulting in a barrage of magic cannon that fell like rain.

Boom, boom, boom!!

The relentless collision between the magic cannons and Flamme's shields created a cacophony of high-frequency impacts, each strike threatening to overwhelm her defenses. Despite her efforts to retreat and dodge, Flamme was eventually forced to half-kneel on the ground, exhaustion evident in her every movement.

She looked up, her eyes straining to see through the haze, and noticed that the shield she had summoned was already dimming and on the verge of collapse. The situation was dire.

Flamme had already resigned herself to death but felt no regret in pursuing this demon.

The demons and humans have a long-standing grudge against each other, and any meeting between two mages from the two sides will result in a fight to the death.

"I despise you short-lived vermin who have stolen the power of magic!"

"Why can't humans just go extinct?"

With a final, resounding crack, Flamme's shield shattered, scattering fragments of energy into the air.

Flamme closed her eyes, ready to face her end.

But after a moment of silence, she dared to open her eyes again, expecting the worst. To her astonishment, the dense barrage of magic cannons that had filled the sky was gone. The attacks had ceased, leaving an eerie calm in their wake.

The purple-haired demon stood straight in front of her, looking down at her despite her short stature.

Aura stepped with deliberate force on Flamme's hand, which clutched the staff in a desperate attempt to maintain some semblance of defense. The weight of Aura's foot made Flamme wince in pain, but she could do nothing to resist. With her other hand, Aura pressed down on Flamme's neck, forcing her head to the ground. The pressure was relentless, and Flamme struggled to breathe as her neck was pinned firmly.

Opening her mouth, revealing sharp teeth, She moved her head closer, preparing to bite, a predatory gleam in her eyes.

Flamme, overwhelmed by fear and the inevitability of her fate, closed her eyes tightly, bracing for the bite. Her heart pounded wildly, and she could feel the cold sweat on her forehead.

Aura's smile grew wider with satisfaction as she watched Flamme's terror. The left side of her face was smeared with blood from the recent battle, and the sight of her smile, twisted by the blood and cruelty, only accentuated the savage traits typical of her demon race. The smile, although filled with triumph, had an eerie and hideous quality to it, reflecting the ruthless nature that demons were known for.

"Flamme, you've lost."

"If you're going to kill me, do it quickly. Since when do demons chatter so much?"

"You want to die, but I won't kill you!"

"...Why?"

"Remember this day forever. You were defeated by the Seven Sages of Destruction of the demon race!"

"What's the point?"

"This proves that humans will always be a weak race, fit only to be food for the demons."

"You want to humiliate me with this?"

"It is a humiliation to humanity."

"I'm just an ordinary mage and cannot represent humanity."

"A thousand years from now, things will be different."

"You're a madman."

"Let's just take it as it is."

Aura crushed Flamme's staff underfoot, splintering it with a final, decisive stomp. She released her grip on Flamme's neck, allowing her to breathe freely once more.

With an air of cold detachment, Aura stood up slowly. She turned her back on the defeated mage, walking forward without looking back. Her steps seemed a little unsteady.

Flamme lay on the ground for a moment, gasping for breath, her chest heaving as she struggled to recover. Gathering her strength, she propped herself up and moved to lean against a nearby tree, seeking support. Her body was drained, and even though she harbored a fierce desire to strike the demon from behind, she knew she lacked the strength to do so.

She could only watch helplessly as the purple-haired demon disappeared into the distance, her silhouette fading into the horizon. Flamme's eyes were filled with a mix of humiliation and burning hatred, a testament to her resolve.

"One day," she vowed through gritted teeth, her voice barely more than a whisper, "sooner or later, I will kill you with my own hands!"

————————————

To be honest I'm quite confused about the power scale in Sousou no Frieren and whether to name all the spells or not. What determines whether a spell has a name or not? Do all spells need to have a name? What happens to nameless spells? Anyone can answer this?

Anyway, what do you think about the fight, lemme now your thought...