Inside a newly constructed branch of the Continental Magic Association, located within the Empire.
A row of First-Class Mages stood in two lines, each face written over with the same taut, barely-contained anxiety.
Not fifteen minutes ago, they had been reporting to Serie as they always did — routine, ordinary, unremarkable. And then, in the space of a single instant, Serie had gone still. Something had passed across her face. Without a word of explanation, without even a backward glance, she had teleported out of the hall and vanished.
It was deeply unusual behavior.
After all, there were precious few things in this world that could stir Serie's interest enough to make her act on her own initiative. The God of Magic spent most of her time draped across her throne with an air of profound boredom, listening to the reports of those below her.
But just now, Serie had disappeared — her expression grave.
There seemed to be only one possible explanation for that.
And so, the moment their thoughts turned to that willful, mercurial girl they had all watched grow up — there was nothing left for any of them to do but wait in tense, wordless silence.
Of all of them, it was Sense whose feelings were the most tangled.
She wanted, of course, for Lady Serie to bring Fíliya back. Whatever Fíliya had become — even if she had become a demon — she was still her beloved little sister. As long as someone could stop Fíliya from making the mistake of setting herself against the entire human world, there was still hope. Everything could still be salvaged.
Carrying that thought, Sense became acutely aware of her own heartbeat — each pulse faster and harder than the last — and found herself waiting with growing, desperate anticipation for Serie's return.
Sometime later — barely thirty minutes, if that — Serie reappeared on her throne.
Her robes were visibly stained with blood. She had returned alone. And from the look on her face, the God of Magic was carrying a weight that did not sit lightly.
That quickly...
Sense's first feeling was bewilderment at the timeline.
Her second was a sinking of the heart, as she registered the fact that Serie had come back alone — without Fíliya.
"I'm sorry, Sense."
Serie spoke first, and her first words were directed downward — an apology, offered to Sense where she stood below the throne.
"That child is not who she was. Even I cannot bring her back."
Serie's answer was brief.
"Lady Serie... you're injured?" Lernen, standing at the head of the formation, asked carefully.
"Yes, that's correct — though most of what you're seeing is the child's blood. I didn't shed much of my own."
As she said it, the corner of Serie's mouth curved — involuntarily, just for a moment — into something that resembled a smile.
If she hadn't been thinking about the larger picture, her instincts as a pure battle-maniac would have found no small amount of pleasure in the fight she'd just had with Fíliya.
But the moment she remembered that she hadn't been able to resolve anything, the smile died on its own.
"If Fíliya was the one injured more, then why..." Genau began, his voice low. He didn't finish the sentence — but everyone in the room understood what he was asking.
"There was nothing I could do. That child appears to have acquired some form of... [Immortality]. I tried to break her legs — and my attack landed. It worked."
"But in the span of a single blink, her legs were already whole again. It wasn't divine healing. It wasn't simply a strong regeneration factor. I am absolutely certain of what I saw — it was [Immortality]. Which means I have no means of stopping her, and continuing to fight would have been pointless."
Serie's words sent the mood of the room plummeting.
Fíliya was already powerful enough to trade blows directly with Serie — and now she also possessed Immortality. What kind of threat was this? How were they supposed to deal with an enemy like this?
"It isn't quite as dire as it sounds... Though I say [Immortality], nothing in the world of magic is truly absolute. [Immortality] can be severed — there are means. But how to eliminate [Immortality] is an extraordinarily difficult problem to solve. Even if we pooled the full strength of the entire Association and the Empire together, it would not be something achievable in the short term."
Seeing the dejected look on everyone's faces, Serie moved quickly to offer some reassurance — but in the same breath, her own brow drew into a deep, troubled furrow.
"So before we decide that [Eliminating Immortality] is the method we'll use against Fíliya... I need all of you to help me think. Is there any other way? Speaking plainly — I do not want to kill that child. You feel the same way, don't you, Sense?"
"..."
Sense said nothing. As a sister, she obviously had no wish to harm Fíliya — but as a First-Class Mage of the Continental Magic Association, she had no choice but to regard the Fíliya of today as a threat to humanity.
"What about Frieren? Contact her. Stop letting that woman wander around at her leisure — it's time she contributed something."
Serie turned to look at Falsch. Falsch's shadow magic was the most suitable tool for tracking and contacting someone at a distance, so she had decided to dispatch him again to reach Frieren.
As for Serie herself — she was in far too foul a mood to consider leaving the hall.
At an angle none of the others could easily see, Serie's hands were clenched into tight fists at her sides.
Because in that moment, the image had come back to her — Fíliya, insufferably self-assured, the arrogance written plainly across her face.
Serie. You cannot do anything to me — just as you could never do anything to the Demon King.
You little brat... the moment I figure out how to deal with you, you had better be clean and ready, because I am coming for you.
Serie seethed, quietly and viciously.
"So then... what do we do now? Do we convene all First-Class Mages immediately to discuss countermeasures? Researching a solution magic specifically targeting [Immortality] is going to require an enormous amount of resources."
Lernen spoke again.
"That can't be rushed. For now, notify all branch offices. Have them coordinate with the cities in their respective areas — and above all, establish several defensive lines to prevent anyone from making for the far north and heading toward the Demon King's Castle."
Serie issued the order without hesitation.
Regardless of what Fíliya was planning, the only thing they could do right now was exactly that: stop as many of those deluded, bewitched fools as possible from answering her summons and walking into the Demon King's Castle.
---
Inside the Demon King's Castle, Fíliya was in a thoroughly bad mood.
The castle she had gone to such trouble to repair had, in the course of the battle with Serie just now, been reduced to rubble once again.
...Well. What can you do. Patch it back together.
But the surrounding walls and stones had been pulverized beyond usability, so she simply went into the nearby mountainside and pulled out a fresh supply of solid, intact rock to rebuild with.
Fortunately, her mana was now vast enough that spending it freely wasn't any kind of concern — and she moved quickly. Before long, the Demon King's Castle had been restored to its prior form.
"You're injured."
Only after Fíliya had finished did Solitär slowly appear at her side.
"Mm, it's nothing. I'd be more surprised if I came through a fight with the God of Magic completely unscathed, wouldn't you say?"
Fíliya looked at Solitär with calm, untroubled eyes.
"Honestly, it was something else — in barely half an hour, I nearly got killed by Serie three times... I suppose I still need to get properly accustomed to this body. My reaction speed in combat feels just a little slower than it used to be."
Killed... three times?
Solitär caught on the phrase with a flicker of confusion.
"The good news is that I'm not so easy to kill anymore. Here — watch."
As she said it, Fíliya simply demonstrated.
There was a sharp, clean crack — and Fíliya snapped her own forearm.
"—!"
Solitär flinched. But before she could get a single word out, Fíliya's arm was already whole again.
"..."
Solitär stared. The shock was even greater now.
A recovery at that speed was far beyond what self-healing could account for.
"And — I kept my promise to you, by the way. There is absolutely no chance now that I'll die before you do."
Fíliya smiled as she looked at Solitär.
The words gave Solitär pause — and then, in the next moment, a memory resurfaced: that old, anxious worry she used to carry, that Fíliya's human body meant she had no way to live on alongside her, to stay at her side into the far future.
"...You're right. Looking at things now, I'm the one who'd better be careful."
Solitär came back to herself and turned to Fíliya with a quiet smile.
"Mm. But don't worry — I promised, didn't I? No matter what happens, I will protect you."
"...How reassuring that is."
____
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