Demons Attack the Elf Village

worth.

"It exists. I heard Serie used it quite often in the past. I'm not sure how many people can use the flower field magic, but hers is definitely the strongest and most complete version." When talking magic with Frieren, the tipsy Millialde was absolutely serious. Should be reliable. Even among the generally long-lived elves, the Mage of the Mythical Era, Serie, was increasingly becoming a legend. To approach legendary status within a race where lifespans easily span centuries or millennia showed her worth.

Besides, this senior wasn't some slacker elf; it was well-known she constantly honed her own strength. Even by elven time standards, she occasionally made waves, achieving feats—a genuine, living figure from the Mythical Era. Thankfully, being somewhat related allowed for some past communication and mutual understanding, better than humans viewing her directly as a living fossil, the progenitor of magic—that would mean truly knowing nothing about her. Everyone had heard legends about her to some extent.

"Frieren, if you're looking for magic, consulting Serie is definitely the right choice."

"...But that requires leaving the village, right?" Millialde shook her head; figuring out further strategies was beyond her capabilities. Though she heard Serie had a magic workshop as a settlement, heaven knew its exact location; finding it could be laborious. Inquiring would be easy enough—just go out and explore—but the outside world was rife with conflict, easily inviting trouble, not to mention the demons watching predatorily.

"I understand."

"Researching my current magic is enough for now; it'll keep me occupied for a while." Frieren poked the crimson flower bud in her hand; it felt soft. She initially wanted to combine it with flower field magic for easier control, but better to master this first.

"This magic of yours is very dangerous. I sense an extremely ominous aura." It sobered her up. "So, what special thing have you invented this time? Truly a genius. Your growth rate rivals humans." Getting stronger.

"Still far from it. A large part of my magic development is bottlenecked."

"No matter. With your talent, forget centuries, ten years should bring progress. Take it slow."

"We might not be able to wait that long. Aren't there rumors the demons are already researching killing magic? If they succeed first, it'll be troublesome."

"Don't live with such a sense of crisis." Millialde remained carefree throughout. True, the demons were aggressive. But even excluding her friend whose combat power was off the charts, the village had some capable elven mages and warriors. Frieren had even supervised their training once. Although she usually didn't manage affairs, her prestige and merits undoubtedly made her the village leader; the combat power cultivated was sufficient to handle some demon armies. By human standards, even Millialde herself counted as a mage; she wouldn't fear ordinary demons. General Azart was indeed tricky, having killed numerous humans and even destroyed national-level armies, but they hadn't found the elf village yet. Finding some shut-ins who rarely leave home wasn't easy; let him continue getting lost.

Oh well. The conversation with her friend made Frieren realize invoking a sense of crisis wouldn't work. Forcing some talented compatriots to practice magic these past years was good enough; sufficient for defense, but far from proactively eliminating threats. Better observe the situation first. The immediate priority was completing the Flower of Aeonia, making it stably usable in reality, controlling its contamination range as much as possible without spreading.

"How about creating an isolation zone?" She actually considered directly generating a wasteland, overflowing with contamination that would make any living creature avoid it—guaranteed to be even more painful for mana-based creatures like demons. Ruthless and efficient enough. But wanton destruction wouldn't earn a good reputation, easily leading to condemnation, even becoming a public enemy. Before having clear control methods, Frieren didn't intend to abuse the Flower of Aeonia. Anyway, she had other legion-level magic. Power is enough.

"Millialde, I'm going to start researching barrier magic, at least setting up a defensive line for the village. You need to help too. The reward is some new wine recipes I discovered. How about it?"

"Okay, okay! I'll head to your workshop right away."

"Call the other mages too; maybe we'll find someone with talent for barriers. I need to place some identification traps around the perimeter first. See you later." The two had cooperated many times, their synergy flowing like water.

The so-called wine recipes were just some local specialties from the Lands Between; a completionist player wouldn't miss even such minor life details. Besides, it was just a pretext; Millialde would help her regardless. The elf village might be slow-paced, but unity was sufficient, stronger than the perpetually discordant demons.

The silver-haired girl walked out of the village entrance. Without transition, a dense forest stretched out, lush and green, extending to the horizon—magnificent and beautiful... Unfortunately, the furthest edge burned with fire, occasional wisps of smoke drifting over. The aftermath of demon armies hunting humans; clearly, they had confirmed the general direction of their target. That General Azart, under orders from the Demon King, wasn't the type to give up easily. Besides targeting elves, he had the task of conquering territory, certain to unleash bloody slaughter nearby. Reaching the elf village was merely a matter of time.

Attack? Frieren preferred a defensive counterattack strategy over this. Reality differed from games; the luxury of arbitrary attacks wasn't available. Backed by the elf village, she still hoped to utilize the home-field advantage, for example, by setting traps.

Frieren walked around the village perimeter, placing magic that identified demons and exploded. The triggers included various types like Crystal Burst, Farron Dart, Glintstone Pebble, etc., mixed with diverse attributes like curses, poisons, fire, and frostbite. A reckless attack would surely result in heavy losses.

Each time she passed a spot, the magic formula would conceal itself, disappearing, merging with nature as if never there, leaving no trace, silently waiting. Mana signature concealment techniques were also applied to the traps; ordinary mages wouldn't detect them. It would be even harder for an enemy advancing in large formations. Whether flying or not, large numbers would inevitably trigger corresponding traps, resulting in severe injury if not death.

"That should be enough." After circling around, Frieren nodded with satisfaction. At least they had more defensive measures, better than being wide open. Besides, setting traps wasn't a mage's typical style. Even if demons attempted ambushes, they'd ultimately engage in frontal combat, unlikely anticipating traps. And she felt no psychological burden; dealing with inhumane monsters required no adherence to rules, just strike freely. All means are fair in war; conversely, she was prepared to counter various underhanded tactics herself.

"Time to organize my equipment. Get ready." By now, Frieren could manifest some talismans into reality. Although each account had limited item capacity, combining them was invaluable. Only by defending well can one attack.

"Once the barrier magic shows progress, and after clearing out some demons, I can leave for a while." For elves, finding a fellow shut-in was easy, especially someone as famous as Serie shouldn't be hard to locate. Step by step, slowly; after all, time was what they had most.

Once the research plan was formally decided, she got busy. Barrier development was led by herself and Millialde, starting with covering several hills around the village with a basic version. They worked tirelessly in the workshop for two days and nights before producing the first prototypes. Everything should be tested first.

Today, finally, was practice time. Frieren, holding an inscribed magic stone, arrived at a small hill near the settlement. Tactically, this high ground was easily contested. Building a fortress would be too conspicuous, making a barrier a good choice.

Bang! She first tested a light attack against the barrier in her hand; it held, the effect acceptable.

"Just don't know how it scales up," Millialde shrugged. "Let's be clear, we're all beginners; flaws are highly likely."

"Relax, I'm not overly strict. Experiments always involve successes and failures; it all counts as experience." The silver-haired girl carefully placed magical markers. 

I heard demon sages included barrier experts, boasting indestructibility and wide range effectiveness—that level was truly profound. In contrast, the two elf girls could only work meticulously, embedding markers on a small hill and linking them.

Omm! A hum of magic signaled the circuit completion, forming a large, self-sustaining totem, just one step remaining. Frieren immediately activated the formula.

As expected, a ring of light rose from her feet, rapidly expanding like an inflating bubble, finally forming a semi-circular dome protecting the area. Initially, its light distortion was obvious, but it quickly vanished. Some minor illusion magic was mixed in with the barrier, complementing each other, sufficient for basic defense.

"We succeeded!" Millialde was ecstatic. For once, she found interest outside of alcohol, passionate about the rising barrier, as if a spark of curiosity rekindled.

Frieren, her long hair dancing in the magical wind, also smiled. Her dress billowed, stunningly beautiful. Even among elves, she was considered pretty, more importantly, possessing an otherworldly aura that pulled Millialde out of her alcoholism. Nearby villagers who saw also waved and cheered. Everyone knew what the two were doing, genuinely happy. Elves considering their kin so thoughtfully were rare nowadays.

"Thank you for your support, Millialde. Now we can place them separately around the village."

"I didn't do much."

"You head back first. I still have some experiments to run." Hearing this, the elf girl, initially planning to suggest celebratory drinks, pouted slightly, warned Frieren to be careful, then left briskly. Though slightly regretful, she never held onto unpleasant feelings, forgetting them instantly. Since her old friend planned some solo experiments, let Frieren handle it; likely something dangerous to stay away from.

Millialde guessed correctly. Because, which is stronger: barrier magic's defense or Scarlet Rot's corrosion? An interesting subject.

When the surroundings were empty, the silver-haired girl raised a defensive barrier with her left hand. Ruinous Lightning magic! Crimson Karmic Fire magic! These were Frieren's commonly used attack methods in reality, effective in legion battles, very handy. 

But their effectiveness diminished greatly against defenses; someone at her level could often defend accurately. No wonder battles between mages often devolved into beam struggles—just efficiency.

"Breaking a barrier requires more mana, same for a shield. Thus, people prefer fast, massive physical attacks... Does another path exist to bypass defenses directly?" First, she caught a pheasant, enveloped it in a defensive barrier, then tried the soul attack from Dark Souls.

Caw! Suddenly, the pheasant cried out pitifully and died. Its body still held a flicker of life, but showed no mental response—just an empty shell, soul severely damaged.

"I've been adapting soul magic to reality's rules these past few days; it worked!"

"Soul Healing should also be effective, but after the strike, it's incomplete. If I use the Mimic ability, also from Dark Souls, to mimic a fake, complete soul, will repairing it affect the physical body?" Do it now. Activating the formula.

A moment later, the pheasant barely stood up. Unfortunately, its body swelled and twisted into a strange, disgusting meatball. Even the experimental result reeked of Souls-like flavor.

"If this mimicry is controllable and reversible, could it form a transformation magic? For example, letting a person's soul mimic a dragon, thereby allowing the body to briefly transform into a dragon form? Perhaps reference the process of Dragon Communion users becoming dragons?" New research topics popping into her head made Frieren's eyes brighten.

Self-soul modification using intelligent life is most efficient, but more absurd than performing brain surgery on oneself. The slightest mistake could easily result in becoming neither human nor ghost—not worth the risk. Soul magic must be continuously perfected; currently limited to offensive tracking, modification research should wait.

Today's theme was testing defense, shouldn't get sidetracked. Next item: Blooming.

A scarlet flower bud appeared in Frieren's hand. Placing it against the defensive barrier, the new test pheasant on the other side still showed traces of Scarlet Rot, even mutating towards a new form of life—better than the soul experiment failure, at least.

"Viewing Scarlet Rot merely as pollution or corrosion is academic laziness. It's more like creating another ecosystem, albeit one conflicting too greatly with the existing one, unable to coexist harmoniously."

"Regardless, another armor-piercing option." Frieren, constantly涌现 new ideas, decided to continue researching barriers next, then test the spear's performance using the shield. Surely beneficial.

Several Days Later, Forest Outskirts.

A routed human army ran frantically, not daring to stop for a moment, gasping for breath as they retreated towards the dense forest ahead. Screams occasionally echoed from behind, flesh flying, limbs severed. Demons were hunting them. After being scattered and broken in a frontal battle, these monsters continued pursuit to consolidate their victory. Begging was useless; the enemy showed no mercy, pure killing machines.

The survivors had only one thought: escape. They couldn't mount any effective offense, only trying to increase distance. Falling even one step behind meant life or death; ordinary soldiers couldn't last a single round.

The leading demon pursuer spoke coldly, "An army without organization is just a flock of lambs waiting for slaughter. What's the delay? Hurry up, the General ordered us to finish off the enemy quickly."

"Yes, sir." The pursuit continued, almost a one-sided slaughter. The human army, already demoralized after failing in the large-scale field battle, now lacked the strength to resist, only fleeing constantly. Many smelled the stench of blood, heard the screams and pleas, practically on the verge of mental collapse.

"We can't escape, it's over. Why are there still no reinforcements?"

"Don't count on it! Fire the signal flare! Warn anyone who can see that demons are active here, must stay away—"

"Fight them!" Some desperate soldiers turned to face the enemy, clashing with the demon pursuers. Blades flashed, leaving both sides covered in wounds. Though they inflicted some damage, the disorganized human army couldn't pose an effective threat, quickly collapsing completely, leaving no survivors, only silence.

Just then, the demons noticed a group approaching—a man in red mage robes, also wearing light armor: Azart, one of the demon generals. His mana signature flared without reservation, a pillar of light rising as thick as his body. Seeing him, the demons bowed, reporting the conclusion of the foregone pursuit.

"Good. This cleans up the human forces active nearby."

"Unfortunately, they managed to fire a warning flare."

"No matter. There's no one left alive within ten kilometers anyway. Just their way of finding meaning in death." Azart knew the situation here well, having personally commanded the extermination mission. But it wasn't over.

His main task was eliminating the elves. Even killing a few sporadically was far from fulfilling the Demon King's orders. He had to find a settlement and exterminate them completely; otherwise, this race would eventually grow into an unmanageable threat. Fortunately, interrogations yielded results; some elves mentioned the existence of a village. Highly likely, an elf settlement with a complete social structure still existed.

Having one troublesome individual like Serie who could only be ignored was enough; another one would make even the Demon King lose sleep. And the demons wouldn't tolerate such a threat. The mission should be prioritized; clearing armies was merely incidental.

He asked sternly, "How much intelligence have you gathered? Can you pinpoint the specific location of the legendary elf village?"

"Apologies, Lord. This information is either too old or too vague. It only vaguely mentions the forest in this direction, but it's too vast. Searching—it's unknown how long it would take."

"Better kill mistakenly than let one escape." Azart added coldly, "Continue the operation. Set fires. Burn a section, explore a section. Much more efficient this way."

"Reporting, General! Frontline Commander Yunus, attacking the fortress, urges us to hurry. Otherwise, his strength alone as a warrior isn't enough to breach the walls."

"Yes, that's why we're speeding things up." He paid little heed to his colleague's urging. Yunus was, after all, a greater demon warrior, his personal guard equally battle-hardened; combined, enough to level a large fortress and surrounding towns. Asking Azart to return was likely to minimize losses to Yunus' own forces. Puny Yunus simply didn't understand His Majesty the Demon King's farsighted plan to annihilate the elves. Potential threats must be cleared first. Even the All-Knowing awaited good news from here. The mission allowed no failure. As for damaging the environment a bit, truly insignificant. Proceed without restraint.

Receiving the order, the demons immediately began action. As commander, Azart wasn't idle either, quickly sending messages to his troops, ordering them to assemble. Soon, battlefield pressure nearby would lessen, but human forces would also realize: an ancient, long-lived race with magical talent was about to be exterminated.

Deep within the Forest, Elf Village.

Still peaceful, very quiet. But the shriek of a signal flare shattered the tranquility. Even the slowest knew the situation wasn't good. They shaded their eyes, looking afar. Estimating the explosion direction, it should be several kilometers away. Quite a distance through the forest, but the issue was, there shouldn't have been any disturbance at all.

"It's an army warning. Means enemies are pursuing, and they're surrounded."

"Could be scattered routed soldiers. Think about it, war's been raging outside the forest, conflict is normal."

"No, too close. Coming for us."

"Where's Lady Frieren?"

"Been researching in the magic workshop for three days and nights. Heard there's progress on barrier magic..."

"Quick, tell her! Let the village guardian make the judgment!" The decisive village chief looked around. "Everyone, prepare yourselves."

Most elves had received Frieren's healing or magic instruction. When minor troubles arose, she always paved roads through mountains and built bridges over rivers without issue. Thus, everyone trusted this guardian, knowing her strength was unfathomable. Though they watched her grow up, her talent these past few years had grown explosively, comparable to a top human genius, yet possessing the foundation of the elf race.

The preparedness the chief spoke of meant a potentially fatal conflict might occur. Without Frieren's strong support, they definitely couldn't survive. Even if everyone couldn't immediately change their slow-paced lifestyle, they knew crisis struck again. Would it pass after enduring like before? Or was it life and death?

Magic Workshop.

Actually a misnomer. A simple, plain cottage style, thatched roof, even a chicken coop nearby. The real secret lay underground. Magic's power had hollowed out a full 20 meters depth, constructing a testing ground within the rock layer. Divided into multiple levels, simultaneously cultivating numerous magical materials like herbs, etc., smelling fragrant.

Currently, Frieren was experimenting with barriers in an isolated room. A rhombus-shaped crystal floated up from the silver-haired girl's hand.

"...The most basic barrier works." It had already reached a deployable defensive level, but her desired standard was making even greater demons feel troubled, even retreat. Currently far from it, just slightly inconvenient for some mages, lacking both defense and anti-analysis capabilities. Should be enough for an extra layer of protection for the villagers. Best ask everyone's opinion.

She had a plan: phased construction. Deploy barriers based on first and second version experience, eventually forming a multi-layered bunker.

Bang bang! Suddenly, urgent knocking sounded, followed by a warning call: "Lady Frieren! There are signs demons are heading towards the village!"

____

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