The epicenter of the battle had transformed into a charred wasteland. The air was thick with a swirling dust cloud, reaching higher than the tallest trees, mixed with debris from everything that had once existed. Magic still lingered, clinging to the scene like a haunting reminder of the devastation. The visibility was near zero, as the sky itself seemed to burn with residual energy.
"Hah... hah... Aura, are you okay?" Frieren's voice was strained, the exhaustion evident in her words.
Aura's breath came in ragged gasps, though her usual defiant tone still held. "If I'd been a little slower, we'd both be dead..."
"Yeah, but we made it in time," Frieren replied, her hands shaking as she wiped the sweat from her brow. Despite the relief in her voice, her body was clearly fatigued from the massive use of mana.
Aura slowly approached, her movements slow and deliberate. She was in no better condition than Frieren. Her body was a battlefield of its own—one arm was missing from the elbow down, and her torn and battered form seemed as if it might collapse at any moment.
Frieren watched as Aura didn't reach for any healing magic, but instead, she saw her focusing her mana on something else—her scythe. It materialized in a sudden flash of black light as Aura gripped it tightly with her remaining hand.
"That should've been enough to pulverize even Macht in one strike… Are you sure you don't want to heal your arm?"
"I can't waste any more mana."
"Fair enough."
The two stood in silence, alert and tense, as their magical senses reached out to detect the source of the disturbance. The swirling dust continued to hide what lay beyond it, but slowly, a silhouette began to emerge—one that Aura recognized immediately.
A horned figure, encased in a shimmering sphere of translucent hexagonal barriers, appeared through the haze.
"What… is that? A barrier? A defensive field?" Frieren's eyes narrowed, her brow furrowed as she assessed the situation. "It's way too strong for something conjured so quickly…"
Aura, despite her exhaustion, smirked faintly. "As expected of you, Frieren. If my eyes weren't as sharp as they are now, I'd be dead."
Before either of them could react, the sphere around the figure cracked and dissolved, revealing Schlacht—unscathed, save for the faint, almost imperceptible strain in his movements.
At first glance, Schlacht seemed unharmed. His confident stride as he advanced only solidified that impression. But Aura's eyes caught something that wasn't visible to the untrained observer. His mana, once almost double Frieren's reserve at the start of their clash, had diminished significantly. It was now barely half of its original strength. She could tell it was from Frieren's relentless assault—a blow that Schlacht had barely managed to defend against.
This observation convinced Aura that they still had a chance. Sharing the same determination as Frieren, she refrained from wasting mana on anything unnecessary, focusing instead on gauging the exact threshold where her Spell of Obedience: Auserlese, could take hold. Frieren, meanwhile, conserved her energy for another offensive.
Schlacht stopped a few paces away from them, eyeing them coldly. There was no trace of hesitation in his demeanor.
The tension in the air was palpable, and then—"Spell that slashes almost anything: Reelseiden."
Schlacht voice rang out with the name of the spell, and in an instant, the air shimmered with blinding speed. Aura's scythe, along with Frieren's staff, were sliced as easily as if they were made of paper.
Aura's heart skipped a beat as she saw her own hand—mid-palm—severed clean off. The realization struck her like a wave. What was that spell?
She felt the cold sting of shock as she instinctively reached out to grab Frieren, pulling her away from the destructive force, but there was no time to think. They both retreated quickly, widening the distance between them and Schlacht.
"What was that…!?" Frieren's voice quivered with both shock and disbelief. Her heart pounded in her chest, still reeling from the ferocity of the attack.
Aura's thoughts raced. "I don't know either. One thing's clear: it's not a demon's magic, like those devastating lightning spells. This is human magic."
"Human magic is surprisingly easy to observe and learn," Frieren said, her tone almost impressed despite the severity of their situation.
The earth cracked and writhed, as if alive, and surged upward in a violent wave, twisting and turning, shaping itself into towering walls of dirt—an encircling dome that closed in around them, trapping them within.
"Earth Control: Bargland!" Schlacht's voice rang out with unshakable authority, the power in his words reverberating through the ground.
Aura narrowed her eyes, taking a step back, sensing the overwhelming disadvantage they were now at. Her mana was already strained, and the walls were rapidly closing in. 'I have no time to waste…'
With a quick motion, she conjured another spell under her breath, summoning a fierce sandstorm that blasted through the air. The wind howled, obscuring their visibility and masking the trace of her mana from detection. With a sharp glance at Frieren, she turned and bolted for the remaining forest, diving into the hollow of a massive, ancient tree.
The forest was eerily quiet for a moment, save for the rustling of leaves in the wind. Inside the hollow, a few moments of silence passed before Frieren's voice broke the tension.
Inside, Frieren broke the silence.
"Aura…" Her voice was weak, barely above a whisper. "Drink my blood."
Aura's eyes flashed. She could hear the underlying urgency in Frieren's voice. "To think you'd go so far just to kill a demon…" Aura murmured, her expression unreadable as she turned back toward the elf.
Without another word, Aura stepped closer, her fangs elongating as she sank them into Frieren's neck. Frieren gasped in pain, her body trembling as she tried to remain still.
"... ngh…!" Frieren winced as the pain surged, but she didn't pull away.
"... ahh…" Aura's voice was low, almost soothing despite the cruel act. As she drank deeply, her eyes gleamed with an unholy light, a sinister satisfaction spreading across her face.
Yet, there was more than just the thrill of feeding—Aura shuddered, her body responding to the power coursing through her. For demons, mana was life. But the mana of another, especially an elf of Frieren's age, was a different matter altogether. A fresh, almost intoxicating wave of power surged within Aura.
The benefits of consuming an elf's mana were far beyond what she'd expected. As Frieren's mana flowed into her, Aura felt her reserves replenishing at an alarming rate. 'This... this is more than I anticipated…'
On the other hand, Frieren's own energy began to drain rapidly. Her body went limp, her breath shallow, as she collapsed against the tree, her strength fading fast.
"...ugh…" Frieren's voice barely escaped her lips, barely a whisper as she struggled to remain conscious.
Aura withdrew reluctantly, her fangs leaving a dark stain against the elf's pale skin. She sealed the wound quickly, but the damage was done. Frieren slumped against the tree, disoriented and weak, her body still trembling from the aftermath of the blood loss.
Aura stood, her posture straight, almost regal now with the surge of mana coursing through her. Her reserves were at least 70–80% restored, enough to face Schlacht with renewed confidence.
She turned to leave, but then, from the shadows ahead, a presence loomed. She stiffened, her senses alert. Schlacht stood just meters away, his gaze fixed on her with unnerving calm, his posture relaxed but filled with quiet menace.
"You must know by now that I have no intention of killing you, Aura," Schlacht's voice was a deep, rumbling murmur, almost thoughtful.
Aura's lips twisted into a smirk, despite the severity of the situation. "Yeah, if you wanted me dead, you could've done it long ago. But this one's orders are absolute. I don't have a choice."
Her words rang with a certain bitterness, but her eyes never wavered from his. Despite the threats and the tension, Aura didn't make any move to harm Frieren or offer her up in a desperate attempt to survive. No. Instead, Aura conjured a scale in her remaining hand, its balance carefully maintained as she presented it to Schlacht with surprising respect.
At this moment, her visible mana was slightly higher than Schlacht's. However, his presence still radiated an ominous power that she couldn't quite place.
Schlacht observed the scale, his expression unreadable. "And besides… betrayal isn't something to be proud of."
Aura's smirk deepened, unfazed by the implication. "Spell of Obedience: Auserlese."
She whispered the incantation under her breath, and the magic unfolded around them like a shiver in the air. A wave of power surged as the scales tipped in her favor, with the dark, flickering essence of Schlacht's soul resting precariously upon one side.
Aura felt a surge of triumph. She had him—if only just. The scale remained tilted in her favor, but something about the moment felt too easy, too predictable. The battle was far from over.
Schlacht chuckled softly, his eyes closing in a slow, almost amused blink. "…As expected."
When his eyes opened again, they were locked on Aura with a piercing gaze that sent a chill through her.
"This is how Aura of the Guillotine lost to Frieren."
Suddenly, the world seemed to shift. Schlacht's mana erupted around them like an unstoppable tidal wave. The ground trembled violently as if a storm had just cracked the earth wide open. The sandstorm was blown away in an instant, and the very air around them seemed to distort under the sheer force of his unleashed power.
Aura's breath caught in her throat as she realized what was happening. 'He's been suppressing his mana… all this time. Just like Frieren. No, this—this is far beyond what I anticipated.'
The full scale of Schlacht's power now unfolded before her. His mana reserves, once concealed, now surged far beyond anything Aura had ever felt. The gulf in power between them was unimaginable—his reserves outstripped Frieren's, and by far, they far exceeded her own.
In the face of this, all Aura could do was brace herself. She had underestimated him. And now, she could see how much more this battle would cost her.