And with a wave of his hand, he directly had the fully armed soldiers surround the entire town in the cover of night, sealing it off completely and forbidding anyone from entering or leaving.
As for him, he brought the two along and moved through the streets and alleys just like that.
Because if they were mages from the Holy Wand Court and the Magic Special Forces, they should possess fairly strong magic, so finding them shouldn't be too difficult.
Compared to him, Solitar was better at detection magic. She quickly locked onto a residence by the roadside.
"The reactions inside should all be pretty capable," Solitar said with a smiling expression as she looked at the building, "There are three in total. Their methods of concealing magic are quite decent, but… in front of demons, this level is nothing worth mentioning."
"So, does the report say there are three mages staying together?", Ash turned his head and looked at the logistics officer who was also the town mayor, following beside him.
As a military-controlled town supporting the checkpoint, although merchants and travelers were not prohibited, every individual had to report clearly, even their place of residence had to be registered. And during this tense period, a curfew was enforced, and staying overnight or gathering in someone else's home at night was not allowed.
As for key personnel in the army, they had been subjected to obedience magic. Therefore, the mayor, who mostly knew of the existence of demons, was not surprised by Solitar's words. He quickly flipped through the recent registry but shook his head.
"No. This house belongs to Elton, but he's a warrior. There are no mages in his household. Right now, it should only be his wife and three children at home."
"The demon wolf has no reaction, which means there's no smell of blood… so they've just been taken hostage or something?", He glanced down at the demon wolf brought by Linie, then walked straight toward the building.
Arriving in front of the two-story stone structure, he simply touched the door lightly with his fingertip. A faint glow flashed, and the door instantly turned into fine powder, disappearing without a sound.
And just like that, stepping through the drifting dust, he calmly entered the pitch-black interior. But the moment he stepped inside, the demon wolf behind him began to grow restless.
His entry destroyed the simple barrier that sealed off scent and sound, and immediately both he and the people outside could clearly smell the thick stench of blood.
Before he could even take a proper look, a massive fireball came flying straight at him, accompanied by the glow of killing magic.
Yet he didn't retreat a single step. Raising his hand, he threw a punch.
BOOM!
With a brief explosion, the fireball shattered instantly, its light scattering.
With just one punch, he crushed the incoming attack.
At the same time, from behind and above, came the sound of someone breaking through a window to escape. But in the next moment… before he even turned around, he heard the sound of a blade cutting through flesh.
With a brief glance back, he clearly saw that the mage who had tried to flee hadn't even gotten far. Linie, who had leapt over ten meters into the air, swung her sword without hesitation.
The man's head separated from his body midair.
Inside the house, the remaining two mages, who had been restraining him, hadn't even managed to launch another attack. Their magic circles had just formed, and as flames burst forth, Ash raised his hand again.
BOOM!
An invisible repulsive force expanded instantly. Furniture along its path was crushed into pieces, and even the flames were easily dispersed by this brute force.
The two of them were slammed away together and pinned against the wall, their bodies spread out like the shape of the character "大," unable to move at all.
The soldiers behind him rushed in at this moment, drawing their swords in unison and pointing them at the two immobilized mages. As Ash released the pressure of the repulsive force, they immediately surged forward and restrained them.
"They don't look like they're from the Holy Wand Court or the Magic Special Forces… bait, maybe? Whatever, they're suspicious anyway. In times like this, even killing the wrong ones won't be too far off. Interrogate them and find out who they are and what they want."
He glanced at the male and female mages and casually gave the order, then walked deeper into the house to search for the residents.
———
After just a brief search, Ash had already found the source of the blood.
In the basement, there were three children's corpses, and not far away, the body of a woman.
All four were slumped against the wall, legs stretched forward, hands nailed into the wall. The floor was covered in thick pools of blood, so much that it looked like the basement had flooded with it. Their bodies were covered in wounds, but there were no signs of resistance. They had simply been tortured.
Opposite them, a middle-aged man stripped naked, revealing a sturdy physique, was tied to a chair. All ten fingers were gone. Not a single part of his body was intact. There was also a penetrating wound on his forehead.
"They used the children and wife, along with himself, for comprehensive torture during interrogation?", Ash asked without turning his head, "Who is this man?"
"Elton is a mercenary captain. Normally he handles monsters near the checkpoint and assists with escorting military supplies. He also takes on various odd jobs."
"A mercenary captain?", Ash murmured, then said, "Why interrogate someone like this… no, if he worked with the army, he probably knew quite a bit, didn't he?"
"Yes. It's said he had good relationships with many officers."
"Well, maintaining relationships is necessary when you rely on that kind of work…"
Making connections was necessary anywhere. As long as it didn't involve crime, he had no intention of interfering. But… what exactly had this man said before he died?
The kingdom didn't forbid officers from bringing their families to live near the border. After a long period of peace, some believed living behind the walls was safe, so with permission, they brought their families.
Before war approached, officers usually couldn't return home, so finding a mercenary captain made sense. But, the man was clearly a capable warrior.
And indoors, when a mage faced a warrior, as long as the gap wasn't too large, the warrior usually had the advantage.
Yet after leaving the basement and examining the first floor, Ash found no signs of a struggle. These mages didn't seem strong enough to easily defeat a warrior indoors.
If there had been even a somewhat intense fight, it should have been noticed quickly in a place like this. And if magic had been used, the army's mages would have reported it.
So then…
"It wasn't the mages who subdued him," Returning to the basement, Ash looked at the hole in the man's forehead and immediately recognized it as a dagger wound.
But thinking about it, with a mage's physical strength, it would be difficult to pierce a human skull with a dagger.
"Could it be that shadow warriors were also involved in this operation? Then the target should be," Solitar began with a smile, but before she could finish, Ash suddenly realized something and rushed out of the room.
"The target is the barrier. Bring them along. Let's check the barrier core."
As he spoke, he had already dashed out ahead, flying toward the barrier. Solitar and Linie didn't say anything and quickly followed, heading back toward the checkpoint they came from.
———
Although not as strong as the national defense barrier, the kingdom's barrier was still a newly constructed high-grade one, improved and deployed by the Sage of Corruption based on the barrier left behind by Flamme within the kingdom. Even the empire found it difficult to break.
So for the empire, just as the kingdom found their ancient defense barrier troublesome, they equally hated the kingdom's new protective barrier.
The Holy Wand Court, the Shadow Warriors, and the Magic Special Forces all dealt with both demons and humans. However, the Shadow Warriors were actually established specifically to target humans, slaughtering enemy leaders and adventurers deemed unnecessary or threatening.
According to what Ash had heard, the Shadow Warriors had existed since the empire's unification a thousand years ago, created as a special assassination unit.
They specialized in enhancing magic concealment, making them warriors designed to assassinate mages.
After all, warriors also rely on magic power to display superhuman abilities, and all living beings in this world possess magic. If magic is completely concealed, then those who rely too much on magical detection would find it very difficult to notice them.
As a critical facility valued by both offense and defense, the barrier core's location and its guarding personnel were highly classified and carefully selected. But…
"A kingdom that has flourished for a century has still rotted in the end. What kind of important figure came to inspect that they even pulled away the elite guarding the barrier core?"
A man dressed in tight black clothing, the captain of the Shadow Warrior squad, looked at the soldier lying in a pool of blood, whose throat he had quietly slit from behind. Thinking of the information he had extracted from the mercenary captain earlier, he couldn't help but sigh softly.
After a thousand years of inheritance and refinement, their stealth abilities were unparalleled in the world. Even first-class mages, even someone like Frieren, would find it hard to detect them.
After extracting the location and coming alone, the group of six had unsurprisingly reached this place without a sound.
But before he could figure out what kind of important figure would warrant pulling away the defensive force of the barrier core, the door of the bunker-like structure housing the core opened again.
A woman in the same tight black outfit stepped out.
"Number 7, it's done. The barrier core has been destroyed."
"Set up the signal flares. If possible, eliminate that important figure and the high-ranking officers."
The captain of the Shadow Warriors, known only as Number 7, looked up at the sky.
Without energy supply, although the purple glow of the barrier had not yet disappeared, it wouldn't last long before dissipating on its own.
The shadow warriors scattered like ghosts, immediately following Number 7's orders to set up delayed signal transmitters.
Even though the barrier would disappear on its own soon, launching signals would allow the already-preparing imperial army to know they had succeeded and advance early, catching the kingdom off guard.
As for them, before the signal flares launched, they could withdraw in time and strike their targets amid the chaos.
———
After completing their main objective, the Shadow Warriors moved like ghosts through the heavily guarded rear of the checkpoint, preparing to kill as many officers and mages as possible to weaken the defending forces.
However… they hadn't even moved twenty meters when Captain Number 7 saw three figures flying in the sky.
He immediately mimicked a bird call, and the six of them hid in the bushes in unison, preparing to ambush the mages.
But unlike usual situations, among the three, the smiling, harmless-looking girl (Solitar) was not drawn by the corpses on the ground. She spotted them instantly.
Before even landing, her gaze fell directly onto the motionless shadow warriors hidden in the bushes. She showed a surprised expression, then pointed at their positions.
"Over there, there, and those spots too, there are people. And they have quite remarkable magic concealment. If they were human, probably very few could detect them. Even ordinary demons would have trouble noticing them… are these the Shadow Warriors? How interesting."
"Kill them?", Only after being reminded did Linie notice the ambush below and turned her head curiously to ask. Ash, however, shook his head slightly.
"No. I want their method of concealing magic."
"?"
'How is this possible? Someone discovered us from over ten meters away? Who exactly is that woman? Why is there nothing about her in the intelligence?', Even the cold-blooded assassin Number 7 couldn't hide his shock. As her finger pointed at him, a chill ran through his body, as if his blood had turned cold.
But he didn't hesitate and quickly signaled to the others.
At close range, they were confident in defeating ordinary first-class mages. But against mages already floating in the air, they lacked effective means. Even third- or fourth-class mages were difficult to deal with.
After all, they weren't demons. For demons, flight magic wasn't even considered magic, just as natural as walking or drinking water. Even demon warriors could fly. But they were human, they simply couldn't fly. Against airborne mages, they were nothing more than moving targets.
Indoors, when a mage faces a warrior, as long as the warrior is slightly stronger, most mages, unless specialized in close combat, won't even get the chance to cast magic before being killed. So in many cases, it's basically an instant kill.
Conversely, in open terrain, when a warrior fights a mage… without the advantage of distance, the situation reverses.
But now that the opponent had already taken flight, under normal circumstances, even trying to escape would be nothing more than a dying struggle.
Yet as death soldiers raised by the empire since childhood, the six of them, even knowing the chances were slim, still turned into shadows once more and scattered in different directions to flee.
Even if there would certainly be casualties, as long as someone escaped, it would count as a victory.
But reality was far harsher than they had imagined.
They hadn't even managed to run ten meters…
BOOM!
The earth suddenly let out a strained groan. The bushes were flattened completely, instantly exposing their positions. Even their own bodies became unbearably heavy.
Four of them were caught off guard and slammed to the ground, unable to get up again.
"Since you're here, don't leave," Ash landed lightly on the ground, casually placing a hand on Number 7's shoulder.
"Die!"
A mage daring to approach at such close range made Number 7's heart surge with excitement. Enduring the abnormal gravity, he suddenly turned and slashed with his bloodstained dagger, drawing a straight line through the air.
But the scene he expected, blood spraying, did not appear.
Instead, his wrist was grabbed first. His legs lifted off the ground. In an instant, he was swung into the air and then smashed down like a sandbag.
The stone-paved ground caved in. Number 7's sturdy body was forcibly embedded into the earth, his muscles convulsing uncontrollably in pain.
Another person rushed toward Ash, but Linie suddenly dashed forward at astonishing speed, leaving afterimages in the air. As she passed by, she cleanly cut the person in half at the waist.
From the severed woman's body, no blood sprayed outward. Instead, it poured out rapidly under gravity.
"Lord Ash's magic is really convenient. This way, clothes don't even get dirty."
Expressionless, Linie crouched beside the woman, resting her chin on her hands as she watched her lose the ability to struggle as blood drained away.
On her still somewhat childish face, there was no sympathy, no fear, and no sense of guilt. It was like a child casually pulling out a frog's organs and then curiously watching it struggle.
'Strange… based on the direction they came from, they should have seen where we set up the signal transmitters. Why aren't they destroying them?', Number 7 gritted his teeth, enduring the pain, forcing himself to stay calm and think, trying to understand what was happening.
Ash looked down at him coldly and stepped on his chest.
"The national defense barrier is too troublesome. Sure, analyzing and breaking it is one way, but since you chose this method, we can just go along with it. Instead of struggling to break it under protection, it's better to let you come out yourselves, eliminate your active forces, and then slowly dismantle it."
"Don't… don't bluff! Without the defensive barrier, facing the empire's iron cavalry, you will definitely!"
"Alright, leave the rest to the specialists," Ash didn't wait for him to finish and turned toward the barrier core to check the situation.
Although he had learned some mental magic recently, he still couldn't read memories. He would need specialists. Otherwise, only torture remained.
Just before he lifted the gravity pressure, countless golden greatswords appeared in the sky and fell, mercilessly severing the limbs of the five people.
Screams rang out. The soldiers who arrived upon hearing them didn't even frown and quickly began dealing with the intruders.
Seeing Ash completely ignore the signal transmitters, Number 7 finally made his decision.
Even though he couldn't understand where Ash's confidence came from, he still drove his mutilated limbs forward, crawling on the ground, trying to destroy the magical devices.
But before he could even touch one, Ash stepped on the back of his head, forcing his face into the ground.
"Stop trying to do anything. And don't think you'll get an easy death. You people are the ones who casually slaughtered my civilians, right? Once you lose your value, I'll hang you and your companions on the city wall."
After saying that, he had the soldiers drag the shadow warrior away.
———
Moments later, the six signal flares shot into the sky.
They didn't illuminate the heavens, but they cut through the dark night, radiating multicolored light.
'No… absolutely not… if this continues, we won't be able to hold it!', Number 7, his mouth stuffed with cloth, could only make muffled sounds as he watched the signals rise, his heart filled with struggle and desperate cries. But with his limbs destroyed, he was powerless to stop any of it.
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