Like a Beast Would Protect its Young

Flamme squinted, her sharp eyes narrowing as she confirmed that the golden spear she had launched from a hundred meters away had found its mark. The purple-haired demon, was now crumpled on the ground, her body trembling as blood pooled around her. The spell to seal her mana had begun to take effect., sealing her mana and rendering her nearly defenseless.

Satisfied, Flamme gave a curt nod before turning her attention to the soldiers under her command. Their faces were stern, disciplined, and ready to execute her orders without question.

"Go and capture that demon. Be careful not to let her escape. Demons are very cunning; even without mana, they'll do everything they can to run away. Don't let your guard down. Don't show mercy. It doesn't matter if you kill her."

Then, Flamme turned to track the other two sources of mana in the air.

"There are two more demons that have escaped. I'm going to capture them." she announced, her tone as calm and measured as ever.

"Yes, Miss Flamme."

The soldiers responded with a unified salute, their armored hands clanging against their chests in acknowledgment. Without hesitation, they moved swiftly toward the purple-haired demon, who was now coughing up blood and struggling to stay conscious.

This was a standard tactic of Flamme's demon-hunting squad. Flamme would first conceal her presence and severely wound the demons from a distance or seal their mana. The soldiers would then close in and relentlessly suppress the demon, giving it no time to break the mana-sealing spell or use complex magic to turn the tide of battle.

This tactic often proved effective.

Even a powerful demon, after being suppressed by the soldiers at close range, had no energy to deal with their injuries and break the mana seal, and could only struggle unwillingly, and then as time passed, they lost too much blood, became exhausted, and were powerless to wait for death.

The soldiers approached the purple-haired demon who was desperately crawling away, thrusting a spear down at her.

Swish!

The soldiers' advance was suddenly interrupted by a sharp clang as one of their spears was cleaved in half by the demon's axe. The soldiers' eyes widened in shock. Despite the golden spear lodged in her chest and her body wracked with pain, the purple-haired demon still had the strength to fight back.

Undeterred, two soldiers immediately lunged at her from different angles. Her response was swift and brutal—she grabbed one spear with her hand, and with a feral snarl, she caught the other in her teeth. Her eyes, once hollow with exhaustion, now blazed with a desperate, savage light. The soldiers felt a chill run down their spines as they stared into those terrifying, purple eyes—eyes that belonged to a cornered beast fighting for its life.

"This is definitely a sage-level demon!" one of the soldiers shouted, his voice tinged with panic. "And she just went through a great battle! If she weren't already weakened, even Miss Flamme wouldn't have been able to seal her mana with a single strike! We have to subdue her now, before she recovers!"

The urgency in his voice galvanized the others into action. They couldn't afford to give the demon any more time to recover. All the soldiers charged at once, their spears aimed at the demon from every direction. The length of their weapons gave them an advantage, keeping them just out of the demon's immediate reach. The plan was simple—overwhelm her with sheer numbers and wear her down until she couldn't fight back.

But reality defied their expectations.

All the spears that stabbed at the purple-haired demon were caught by her or blocked by axes. Even though there was a golden spear stuck in her chest and she was unable to move, the purple-haired demon's terrifying desire to survive still supported her to fight back.

The strength of over a dozen men couldn't overpower her.

Instead, there were signs of breakage on the spear held by the purple-haired demon.

"There's an elf over here! It's the one being hunted by the vanguard! How should we handle it?"

"Kill on sight!"

One of the soldiers noticed Frieren, the white-haired elf, lying unconscious nearby. Since she couldn't resist at the moment, the soldiers had initially ignored her. But soon, someone recognized Frieren as the traitor who had used demon magic and launched a magic cannon attack on human soldiers.

Without hesitation, one of the soldiers stepped forward, his spear aimed directly at Frieren's heart. With Aura still engaged in battle, the soldier saw an opportunity to eliminate the white-haired elf before she could wake up and pose any further threat. He lunged forward, his spear thrusting downward with lethal intent.

Stab!!!

No one had anticipated what happened next. The purple-haired demon, who had been fiercely resisting her attackers, suddenly threw herself over the unconscious elf, shielding Frieren with her own body. As the soldiers moved in to deliver the final blow, one of their spears plunged into Aura's back, the sharp point emerging from her left rib.

"Ahhhhh!!!"

A guttural cry of pain escaped the purple-haired demon lips as the spear lodged deeper into her flesh. Her once formidable resistance faltered, her body trembling with the shock of the injury. But despite the agony, she refused to collapse entirely. Instead, she used what little strength she had left to wildly swing her axe in every direction, forcing the surrounding soldiers to step back, wary of getting too close.

Her movements were slower now, less coordinated, the once-precise strikes of her axe reduced to desperate, erratic swings. The spear embedded in her body limited her range of motion, and she couldn't reach any of the soldiers who remained just out of her grasp, but she wasn't about to let them near Frieren.

The soldiers exchanged uneasy glances, their confidence shaken by the demon's unexpected act of self-sacrifice.

"What is this demon doing?" one of the soldiers muttered, his voice tinged with confusion and disbelief. "Is she trying to protect that elf? This is so strange... I've never seen a demon act like this before. It's almost like... like... the way a beast would protect its young."

"Demons are a type of beast too," another soldier snapped, trying to mask his own unease with anger. "So it's not surprising they share some behaviors. Stop daydreaming! This is a powerful demon! If you dare drop your weapon, you will be the next to die! Stab her quickly! Pin her to the ground!"

Stab, stab, stab!

Blood splattered across the ground like blooming flowers.

Once the first spear had pierced the demon's body, immobilizing her, it became easier to aim the next ones. Especially since the purple-haired demon foolishly remained by the unconscious elf's side, refusing to budge an inch.

The second spear came swiftly, its iron tip slicing through the air with a sharp whistle before embedding itself deep into the demon's torso from the opposite side.

The third and fourth spears followed almost simultaneously, each one driving into her flesh from different angles.

The soldiers, their faces grim with determination, watched as the spears pierced the demon's body, pinning her in place like a grotesque, living statue. Blood began to pool around the wounds, dark and viscous, staining the earth beneath her.

Generally speaking, this situation was enough to end any battle. When any creature, no matter how powerful, is impaled by multiple spears, it usually spells the end. The soldiers were trained for such scenarios—once their spears were lodged deep within the prey, they would twist the shafts in opposite directions. This motion would tear through flesh, muscle, and bone, effectively shattering the creature's body from the inside.

The soldiers prepared to execute this final, lethal maneuver, their hands gripping the spear shafts tightly, ready to end the fight.

But something was wrong.

The moment they tried to twist the spears, the soldiers were met with an unexpected resistance. The demon's body, despite being impaled from multiple directions, remained terrifyingly strong. Her muscles didn't tear, her bones didn't snap; instead, her body seemed to harden, as if she were made of something far denser than flesh. The spear shafts, which should have been turning easily by now, began to tremble. The soldiers' hands shook with the effort, and they felt an unsettling vibration run through the wood, as if the spears themselves were protesting against their force. It was as though the demon's body was absorbing their strength, refusing to yield to the fatal twist.

Frightened and uncertain, they quickly abandoned the twisting motion. Instead, they pressed down with all their might, using their combined weight to drive the spears deeper into the ground, hoping to pin the demon completely. The four spears now acted as stakes, each one anchoring her to the earth, preventing her from moving even an inch.

"Hey, wait, isn't this enough? I'm starting to feel bad for her. Is she really a demon? Why does her expression look so much like a human's? Did you see her eyes just now? She has emotions!"

"Are you out of your mind? Is this your first time on the battlefield? Demons are best at imitating the expressions of humans begging for mercy before they die, and use this to confuse humans. Don't you know that? Quickly stab it with your spear! These four spears can barely hold her down!!"

The moment of hesitation passed, and the soldiers resumed their assault with renewed intensity.

Stab, stab, stab!!

Another seven or eight spears struck down from above with brutal force. Two pierced deep into her torso, reinforcing the previous four that had pinned the purple-haired demon to the ground. The remaining spears targeted her limbs—thighs, calves, shoulders, arms—each one thrusting through her flesh and into the earth below, securing her to the ground with an unforgiving finality.

Yet, as the soldiers drove their weapons into her, they noticed something that made their blood run cold. One or two of the spears, aimed at her torso, failed to penetrate fully. The demon, with a strength that defied belief, had grabbed the tips of the spears with her hands, even as they pierced through her back and abdomen. The tips, which should have plunged into the white-haired elf beneath her, were held tightly in the demon's bloodied grip, unable to advance even an inch closer to Frieren.

"Hey, look! She's still protecting that elf, even though she's almost dead. I've never seen a demon like this... She's lost so much blood, why can she still move and still... alive?"

"Who cares why she's still alive? Demons have incredibly strong life forces. They can survive for days even with their hearts pierced! Don't let up! Mercy to the enemy is cruelty to yourself! She's starting to struggle again... Press down! Push harder!"

Stab, with a sickening thud, another spear was driven through Aura's right forearm, pinning it to the ground. The force of the blow caused her to release her grip on her axe, which fell to the ground beside her with a dull clatter.

Aura stared blankly at the spears embedded in her body, her vision blurring. Blood flowed from her wounds in thin, red streams, pooling around her on the cold, hard ground.

Yet, despite the overwhelming pain, she wasn't dead. The spears, though they had ravaged her body, were also clogging her wounds, slowing the bleeding and keeping her alive—if only barely.

But—'It hurt...'

'It hurts so much, it hurts so much, it hurts so much, it hurts so much, it hurts so much, it hurts so much!!!!'

Aura cried out in pain, her tears streaming down her face like strings of pearls, glistening in the cold light of the battlefield.

The agony was unbearable, far worse than anything she had ever experienced. It was worse than the backlash from the obedience spell, worse than the soul-tearing agony she had endured in the past. Every nerve in her body was aflame, screaming in relentless torment. Aura wanted to cry out loud, to release the anguish that consumed her, but her throat was blocked, her voice hoarse and choked, unable to escape.

'I want to run, I want to run away, anywhere, to the demons, to Kribi, to Zanze—anywhere is fine, as long as I can escape from here...'

She knew she had the chance to flee. Despite Flamme's seal on her mana, Aura could still use it internally, strengthening her legs, breaking free from the spears pinning her down, or even slaughtering these humans who tormented her. If she abandoned all else and focused solely on her own survival, she could escape. There were places where Flamme could never find her, where she could hide and lick her wounds. 

Aura is best at escaping.

When the Seven Sages besieged the Hero of the South, didn't she escape? When Himmel the Hero severed the Scale of Obedience with one strike, didn't she also escape? Even when Frieren ordered her to take her own life, didn't she flee into the past...

As long as she wants to escape, Aura will definitely be able to escape! No one can catch up with her!!

But then she heard a soft murmur, a faint whisper that reached her ears despite the chaos around her.

"Aura..." Frieren's voice, barely audible, escaped her lips as she lay curled up beneath Aura's protective body. The elf, whose mana was exhausted and whose spirit was at the limit, could finally fall asleep peacefully from the pain of genocide.

Frieren's face was serene, almost peaceful, as if she were lost in a beautiful dream. Despite the blood that stained her and the horrors that surrounded them, she looked like a white rose in full bloom, untouched by the chaos.

"Frieren... I hate you..." Aura stopped crying when she was too tired.

She was best at running away.

But this time.

No matter what, she couldn't escape.