"Are we not going to tell her..."
Watching Fern grip her staff tightly ahead, Shane let out a quiet sigh.
If the girl had just properly studied magical history, she wouldn't be this nervous right now.
Frieren, however, remained calm. "Experiencing it firsthand leaves a deeper impression than rote morization."
Alright then—
"Fern, I'm going to lift the seal. Don't let your guard down."
As she spoke, Frieren planted her staff before her. An invisible wave of magic surged from beneath her feet, sweeping over Qual.
Rustle—
The seal on Qual completely fell away.
The silent demon slowly rose. A towering shadow lood over the three of them, and those pitch-black eyes gradually lit with a sharp glint.
"Long ti no see, Frieren."
A low, hoarse voice echoed from above, faintly vibrating their chests.
"How many years has it been?"
"Eighty."
"Only eighty years, huh."
"For us, that's indeed short."
Hearing Frieren's answer, Qual pondered for a mont before speaking again.
"For you to dare release after such a brief ti, you must have co prepared."
Shane was slightly surprised.
As expected of a demon sage—sharp mind.
But before he could dwell on it, Qual raised his arm.
"Then let see how you plan to deal with ."
Whoosh—
A thick beam of black magic shot straight at them.
Fern erected a wide [Defense Magic] in front of the three. With a loud bang, Qual's attack slamd into the barrier—completely blocked.
At the sa ti, Shane activated [Nurical Mirroring], perfectly copying Qual's physical stats.
Although Qual wasn't a warrior-type demon, his towering, muscular physique alone caused Shane's physical abilities to surge dramatically.
Using the light and dust kicked up by the magic beam as cover, Shane activated [Sprint], combined with the concealnt effect of [Goddess's Barrier], and vanished.
Then, he appeared behind Qual.
Sword drawn, lying in wait.
As the dust settled—
Frieren praised Fern's response.
The girl kept a tense face, disbelief and confusion flickering in her eyes. "Lady Frieren… that magic he used… it seed like…"
Frieren wasn't surprised by her confusion. That's what happens when you don't study.
Magic is the realization of imagination—but imagination evolves with ti. Even the sa spell changes with the era, eventually transforming into sothing entirely different.
The "killing magic" Zoltraak invented by Qual was the first "piercing magic" in history. It surpassed the imagination of all mages—far too powerful.
After that, mages across the continent began analyzing it tirelessly.
In the end, they successfully deciphered and modified it, incorporating it into the human magic system as [basic attacks], spreading it widely. At the sa ti, they reverse-engineered its principles to create a more powerful [Defense Magic].
"Fern, you need to study properly."
A trace of sha flashed in Fern's eyes, her cheeks faintly reddening.
In front of them, Qual hadn't noticed one person missing. He stared at Fern's [Defense Magic], stroking his chin as he fell into thought.
"Such an exquisite defensive formula. Is this your thod of countering ?"
He was imrsed in analysis.
Shane could clearly sense his excitent.
"Matching the frequency of attack magic to disperse and cancel its power… impressive imagination. However, such a complex formula must consu a trendous amount of mana."
Qual grinned, sinister, as countless magic formulas instantly ford around him—preparing a saturation attack.
He had found the weakness of [Defense Magic].
Frieren took a slight step back, leaving Fern to face him alone.
This was a rare opportunity—to fight a true demon mage head-on.
Fern lived up to her training. Under Qual's overwhelming barrage, she distributed her defenses, precisely intercepting each attack, ticulously minimizing mana loss.
Shane kept watching her movents.
Crack—
A small section of Fern's barrier shattered.
Qual was decisive. He imdiately seized the mont, gathering all scattered magic formulas in front of him, preparing a final full-force strike.
At that mont, Shane moved.
Crackle—
A surge of electricity coursed through Qual's body.
"That's enough. Lesson's over."
Shane dispelled [Goddess's Barrier], revealing himself. Under Qual's shocked gaze, he slashed at his lower back.
[Electrocution] triggered—paralysis applied.
[Poison Dependency] triggered—weakness inflicted.
[Tornt] began draining 1% of his current HP per second.
Under the continuous damage of [Tornt], [Poison Dependency] and [Electrocution] kept triggering in succession—paralysis, weakness, immobilization, silence, slow, stiffness, stun…
Qual dropped to his knees.
"When did you…"
He looked at the panting Fern and the expressionless Frieren, realization dawning as he clenched his teeth.
"You were using as practice."
Shane didn't answer. His sword remained pressed against Qual, cautious as ever.
"I want to know—what's your relationship with the human sage nad Sharl? What were you researching? What was your goal?"
Hearing the na Sharl, Qual gave Shane a strange look.
"How do you know about my contact with Sage Sharl? The history of human sages was severed a thousand years ago. You shouldn't know such secrets."
"Answer , and I'll grant you a quick death."
The constant damage and stacking debuffs dimd the light in Qual's eyes.
He carefully observed Shane.
After a mont, he suddenly laughed.
"So that's it… so that's it. If you know this, it ans Sage Sharl's experint succeeded."
Shane's heart tightened.
As expected.
They had been planning sothing!
"Hahaha… human potential truly exceeds expectations."
But then Qual shook his head with difficulty.
"However, it's too late. A thousand years have already passed. Even if the experint succeeded, it's aningless now."
"What are you talking about? What do you an 'aningless'? Explain yourself."
Qual looked at Shane and smiled slyly.
"I won't tell you."
"Judging by the ti, the one who once taught —the Saint of the End, Lady Tot—her curse should now cover over 80% of the world. It's almost complete."
"In less than twenty years, all humanity will be wiped out. Just as Schlacht the Omniscient foresaw—the demons will ultimately win this racial war."
"Kid… you're too late."
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