Captured

Damn, already gonna reach 50 stones again, isn't that too fast? （ ﾟ Дﾟ)

Anyway here's the the chapter for today. If somehow it really reach 150 stones today, I will release another chapter shortly.

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The great deathmatch between the demon and the human progenitor of magic had begun—

Flamme's progress was faster than Aura had imagined. Each spell she cast was more refined, more powerful, and more creative than the last. Her understanding of magic was evolving rapidly, as if she were rediscovering her innate abilities at an accelerated pace.

In the face of the modern rapidly developing magic system, even a great demon, if lagging behind by a century, would find itself helpless against the new era of magic due to technological iterations.

For instance, Elder Sage of Corruption Qual, who, as a demon sage who developed "killing magic," was among the best of the great demons. But after being sealed for nearly a hundred years, he was unprepared for the latest "defensive magic," and was killed by a novice human mage because he was unfamiliar with the characteristics of "defensive magic."

This incident served as a stark reminder of the dangers of stagnation, even for the most powerful beings.

Not to mention, Flamme, the human mage from a thousand years ago.

None of the magic she knew could break through the limitations of defensive magic. Aura, with five hundred years of mana, could sustain a 360-degree defense without any blind spots, and the consumption was bearable.

Within the first hundred moves, Flamme couldn't even touch Aura's body.

If Aura wasn't restricted by obedience magic that forbade her from retaliating, the first hundred moves would have been enough for her to kill Flamme. Aura's superior experience, raw power, and tactical acumen would have overwhelmed Flamme in a direct confrontation.

But after a hundred moves, the situation completely changed. The dynamic of the battle shifted dramatically. Aura still absentmindedly maintained her defensive magic, moving at high speed with her back to Flamme. She was waiting for Flamme's mana to be exhausted or for her wound to open due to intense movement. By then, even if she couldn't harm Flamme, she could negotiate with an absolute advantage.

However, when the remaining beams of magic disappeared on the surface of the defensive magic without any magic penetration, and Aura felt a sharp pain in her head, she froze, stunned by the unexpected sensation.

Blood flowed down her forehead, over her eyebrows, and finally into her left eye, turning her vision red and blurring her sight.

When she touched upwards, she felt a piercing pain in her left horn. There was a wound like a slash, which was split across the base of her left horn and almost cut it off.

"It worked!"

Flamme's voice came from behind. Aura looked around, finding no visible cracks in the diamond structure of her defensive magic. Her mind raced with confusion and disbelief.

'How did she do it?'

Cold sweat broke out on her forehead.

"Impossible, no mage of this era could break defensive magic!" she murmured in disbelief.

"Hehe, but my teacher taught me magic beyond this era." Flamme replied, her tone dripping with pride.

"Your teacher, that old hag?" Aura's eyes widened with the realization.

That explained it.

"You deserve to die for insulting my teacher!" Flamme shouted, her voice filled with righteous fury.

Another beam of magic cannon came, but this time Aura dodged instead of blocking with defensive magic.

'Damn it, is she developing variable magic based on Zoltraak?'

Then she fled in panic again.

Magic cannon beams followed one after another, endlessly, as if Flamme's mana was bottomless.

Her breath came in ragged gasps as she pushed her body to its limits, weaving between the trees and using the natural cover to avoid the relentless onslaught. The pain in her horn throbbed with each movement, a constant reminder of the danger she was in.

"Why do you have to keep chasing me? Even if I lied to you, I didn't hurt your life, did I?"

"My teacher is missing, you must have killed her!"

"How could I kill her?!"

Aura's eyes widened. Kill Serie? What could have happened to give Flamme such an illusion??

That monster, is there anything in the world that can kill her?

"Wait… don't run… cough, cough…"

When the coughing sounded, Aura's heart moved and her fast-moving legs slowed down. She glanced back and saw Flamme clutching her abdomen, a pained expression on her face.

It seemed that it wasn't her mana that ran out, but her body that couldn't hold on. Flamme's once relentless pursuit had faltered, and she now stood, visibly weakened.

"Hey, hey, we can talk, right? You should have noticed that I never fought back against your offenses. I just put up a shield to protect myself... Maybe we can try to talk and maybe we can reconcile?"

Aura's proposal seemed to have struck a chord with Flamme. As Aura stopped, she also stopped tacitly, leaving a distance of a hundred meters between the two of them. No one dared to get close to the other, and they were wary of each other from a distance. The tension in the air was palpable, a fragile truce hanging by a thread.

"I'm sincere. If I kept running, you might not catch up." Aura loudly reminded Flamme, hoping to appeal to her reason.

Not paying attention, she crushed a piece of earth beneath her feet, nearly falling into the bottomless abyss behind her. Aura looked down silently and found that she had nowhere to retreat, and the sweat on her forehead was getting more and more. The edge of the cliff was dangerously close, and one wrong step could send her plummeting into the void.

Aura, a mage who mastered flying magic, wasn't afraid of falling from a height.She is not afraid of falling from heights, but this does not mean that she can fly long distances. The mana consumed by flying magic is higher than that of defensive magic, and both consume a lot of attention. Even if she wants to fly down from the cliff with her mana, she will most likely become Flamme's aerial target. If she is not careful, she may lose her footing and fall, and be smashed into a meat paste.

Luckily, Flamme, due to her physical condition, didn't pursue further. The intense pain and exhaustion from her injuries had rendered her incapable of continuing the chase. She leaned against a tree, her breath coming in ragged gasps, and her expression a mixture of relief and frustration.

Her eyes, still filled with determination, fixed on Aura with a burning question.

"You said - you can't kill my teacher, what do you mean?" Flamme asked, her voice trembling with both pain and urgency.

"Literal meaning."

"If you didn't kill her… then tell me, where is my teacher?" Flamme pressed on, her desperation evident.

"How could I know?"

'That was Serie. She could go anywhere in this world; no one could track her movements.'

'Well...it's not completely impossible to find.'

"Wait… if you insist on finding her."

"Go to the Lawenberg Mountains, the highest peak."

That was where she had once worked. It wasn't Serie's residence, but it was a library where Serie occasionally stayed. Every few decades, Serie would retreat there to immerse herself in the vast collection of magical books amassed over the years by human mages who had served her.

The development of magic in the world wasn't linear but advanced suddenly at certain times. Serie only needed to consolidate information at those times to have a comprehensive understanding of the world's magic development.

"..."

The opposite Flamme fell silent, her eyes narrowing as she seemed to contemplate the credibility of Aura's words. The intense emotions and desperation from their earlier confrontation were now replaced by a cautious skepticism.

"I'm quite sincere, right?" Aura shouted loudly.

"There is indeed sincerity."

"Then can we reconcile?"

"Come over here."

"Can you put down the staff?"

"You first undo the shield magic."

"We should be able to become friends, right?" Aura continued, trying to maintain a conciliatory tone.

"...To be honest, I've never seen a demon like you."

"Very friendly?" Aura asked hopefully.

"Very stupid."

"Uh?" Aura's confusion was palpable as she tried to make sense of Flamme's reaction.

Boom!

An orange-yellow magic beam erupted from Flamme's staff, blasting the unsuspecting purple-haired demon to the edge of the cliff. The force of the blast sent Aura tumbling through the air, her eyes widening in shock.

At that moment, Flamme felt a pang of guilt. Of course, it was not because she believed the purple-haired demon's claim that he was a good demon. That kind of nonsense could only fool a one-year-old human child or an elf who was less than a hundred years old. The idea that anyone could be deceived by Aura's feigned sincerity was laughable.

She felt guilty just because she bullied a fool. 

She clearly didn't put down her staff, didn't stop gathering her mana, and didn't even stop looking murderous, but the purple-haired demon believed her lies about reconciling with her just because of her few words, removed her defensive magic, and approached her without any precautions.

Just...just like a child who lacks love and longs for trust and has just begun to develop emotional cognition——

Flamme shook her head, dismissing her feelings.

Demons lack emotions. Although they exhibit emotions, they are merely mimicking. They can never truly understand humans.

"It's not enough; a demon's life isn't so easily ended—"

Flamme, holding her nearly collapsing body together, took one step after another towards the cliff edge, determined to deliver the final blow to the severely injured purple-haired demon.

"Stop, leave that demon to me."

Flamme was about to move when she heard a voice behind her. She turned to see a short, blonde elf. Though she looked like a young girl in appearance, her demeanor was that of a much older being, exuding an aura of ancient wisdom and power.

This was an elf who had lived for an unknown length of time, her eyes holding the weight of countless centuries.

Flamme quickly assessed the situation and decided to trust her. She collapsed to the ground, bending over and gasping for air, her body finally giving in to the exhaustion and injuries.

Elves and dwarves, like humans, are on the same side and can be trusted. Especially elves—Flamme had heard that the demon king had ordered the extermination of elves. In terms of hostility towards the demons, you can even trust the elves more than humans.

Flamme didn't see the blonde elf make many movements. She simply reached out toward a direction below the cliff, and suddenly, a crimson mushroom cloud appeared in the dense forest. The shockwave and sound took several seconds to reach Flamme, but even from such a distance, it still pushed her back several steps before she steadied herself.

"You are a very powerful mage," Flamme looked at Serie, unable to hide her surprise.

"The strongest," Serie said flatly, her expression calm and composed, as if such displays of power were routine for her.

"Maybe."

Flamme had not met many magicians, but among those she had seen, Serie was indeed the strongest. However, the world is vast; there might be stronger ones somewhere else.

After taking a look at the explosion in the distance and confirming that a demon who wanted to take the opportunity to escape had lost her ability to move, Serie smiled with satisfaction and turned to Flamme and asked:

"Who taught you magic?"

"My teacher, her name is Aura. Do you know her?"

"I don't."

"If you know anything about the magic I use, please tell me."

"Have no idea."

"Is that so…"

"Did your teacher not explain the origins of your magic?"

"No, strictly speaking, I'm not her disciple. I just happened to be taught by her."

"So you don't know what your teacher looks like?"

"…Indeed."

Flamme's eyes dimmed. Her only hope now was that what the purple-haired demon said was true, and her half-teacher Aura was not dead, but left her alone in the forest for unknown reasons. If that was true, she would definitely find Aura and make sure that Aura was still alive.

'This is truly interesting.'

Serie's gaze alternated between Flamme and the motionless demons beneath the mushroom cloud in the distance. It was the first time she had seen such a twisted relationship.

'Should I say you are too lucky or too unlucky? Aura, this disciple of yours has a magical talent that even surprises me.'

'For you, it must be extremely unlucky because this human girl regards demons as her lifelong enemies.'

'But for her, meeting you is really the best thing. In this era, there is probably no one more suitable to teach her than you.'

"Your teacher is a magician with a vision at least five hundred years ahead. The magic she taught you far surpasses the current human magic system."

Serie looked Flamme up and down and concluded.

"Remember her teachings well. Even if it's only once, it will be enough to benefit you for a lifetime."

A certain stupid demon seemed to have not yet realized that this era was much more backward than the oldest era of human magic in her memory.

This is also the reason why Serie decided not to kill Aura——

Maybe she isn't a good demon.

But she was stupid enough.

Fools can't do bad things.