Fern cooperated immediately, putting on a stern face as she said unhappily, "Lady Frieren, you're acting poorly. Please reflect on this properly!"
"Uh… sorry…"
The lines hadn't really changed, but just swapping the person made all the difference. Frieren wore a sullen look, obediently fixing the hair Ash had messed up while lowering her head to admit fault. At the same time, she secretly shot a resentful glare at the culprit who had let Fern out.
The strange structure of this party or rather, its "ecosystem," really opened Denken's eyes.
But he didn't say anything. Silently, he led everyone toward the plain, unremarkable wooden hut behind them.
———
The barrier manager's wooden hut had only one and a half floors. Whether it was the lower level or the slanted attic above, both were completely empty.
Inside and out, the wood hadn't even been painted, preserving a fully raw, original look. There were no decorations, just simple tables and chairs, and beyond that, absolutely nothing.
The only thing worth praising was that the windows were still properly installed.
There was no helping it. Although it was the manager's residence, in reality, the managers responsible for adjusting and maintaining the barrier across generations would leave immediately once their work was done, never lingering here.
Because the existence of the Golden Land was too distorted… at least for mages.
After all, such a vast area had been turned into gold by magic, yet contained no magical power whatsoever.
For a mage, it was hard to suppress that intense sense of dissonance. It felt deeply uncomfortable, like common sense itself had been inverted.
If one had to use an analogy, it would be like a girlfriend who looked like a beautiful girl at first glance, but was actually "equipped". Anyone with normal preferences would probably feel depressed for quite a while.
But ordinary people couldn't even see the Golden Land at all.
Because this massive barrier had an added layer of cognitive interference magic. Normal people would unconsciously ignore its existence.
Otherwise, even objects that merely resembled it might stir up greed for gold in passersby, leading them to constantly harass the barrier.
"The girls can sleep upstairs. Denken and I will stay down here, or should we go take a look inside the barrier? By the way, what's the situation in the Golden Land right now?"
After glancing at the Golden Land a couple more times, Ash casually made some arrangements. Driven by curiosity, he wanted to go inside and take a look, and unconsciously turned to Denken at the end.
Denken didn't hide anything and said bluntly, "Not sure for now. The advance team died too quickly. They didn't manage to send back any useful information."
"Good grief. And you still want to go in under those conditions?", The overly straightforward answer made Ash's mouth twitch. He almost felt like throwing the guy out of the room.
But Denken had his own convictions, and a strange confidence in both his own safety and Macht's actions.
"It's fine. If it's me, I should still be able to go in."
"Because you're his disciple?"
"Yes."
Even though almost no one could come out alive, and those who did were released deliberately as a warning to keep others away, Denken still seemed genuinely confident.
That strange confidence made Ash unable to hold back a remark, "Are you planning to appeal to a demon's feelings?"
"I know it sounds stupid, but my situation is different from those people. And Macht is wearing the Dominance Ring. He's been ordered not to harm the people of Weise."
"But the Dominance Rings across the entire fortress city are already destroyed. That bracelet can't function anymore. In that case, thinking you're special, aren't you just relying on feelings?"
Ash's rebuttal was logically sound, but hearing it come from his mouth made both Frieren and Fern's expressions turn rather strange.
They hadn't thought much of it before, but now, knowing he was actually a demon, it was hard not to find his words odd.
As if recalling something, Fern quietly tugged at his sleeve and pulled him outside. Leaning close, she whispered cautiously, "Lord Ash, do you know that demon called Macht?"
"Sort of."
"Then he probably wouldn't attack you, right?"
"Well, we're the same kind. We can talk things out… maybe?"
Faced with the girl's worried question, Ash instinctively looked away, unable to say that they had already fought the moment they met.
After all, if Fern worried too much, wouldn't she try to stop him from entering the Golden Land?
"Then if you go in with Lord Denken, there shouldn't be any danger, right?"
"It's fine. He even takes special care of humans he knows. There's no way he'd show more hostility toward someone of his own kind."
"Really?"
"Of course."
Grinning, he reached out and wrapped an arm around Fern's shoulders, even lightly ruffling her hair. That made her blush awkwardly and stop asking further questions for the time being.
———
Entering the Golden Land was extremely dangerous. At the very least, the many golden statues of warriors and mages standing near the barrier were enough to prove that.
So although Fern was a bit worried, she had no intention of following them inside. Frieren also didn't plan to go in either. After all, with the situation unclear, running into Macht could easily turn them into liabilities.
However, at the edge of the barrier, looking at a nearby adventurer party that had been turned into gold, Fern couldn't help but ask, "These people are already outside the barrier. Why hasn't anyone tried to save them? Like using the Goddess's magic? I remember it can remove all kinds of abnormal conditions."
"Because the Goddess's magic has no effect on goldification," Frieren glanced at them and answered without hesitation, "If it could undo it, this place wouldn't have ended up like this, and the Empire wouldn't have had to abandon the city."
"That makes sense. Oh right! What about magic nullifying crystals?", As if discovering something new, Fern asked, "Don't those nullify all magic? This is also a magical effect. So if we used magic nullifying crystals…"
"In a conventional sense, yes. But this isn't conventional magic. Didn't I just say? It's the absolute peak of magic that humans can't reach. It's beyond what common sense can measure. It belongs to the domain of great demons."
"Even magic nullifying crystals don't work?"
"Same answer. If they could resist goldification, this place wouldn't look like this. As the golden area expands day by day, you could just scatter magic nullifying crystals around it to suppress it, right?", Frieren tapped a golden statue outside the barrier, a man drawing his sword to fight to the death, and calmly continued, "And during the long war against the Demon King's army, countless heroes in the northern lands alone were turned into gold. Hundreds of years have passed, and not a single one has been saved. They're all still sleeping inside the gold."
"So… magic nullifying crystals simply don't work on this kind of magic?"
"Exactly. The limit of magic nullifying crystals is probably the limit of humanity. As for warriors, it's hard to say, but among mages who could surpass him, it's probably only Serie or Ash," Even for Serie, aside from overwhelming magical power, Frieren didn't have any particularly good strategies.
In terms of mastery over a single field of magic, Serie definitely couldn't match a great demon. But she knew far too many spells and possessed overwhelming magical power.
You could even say that someone like Serie, who had lived from the mythical era until now, probably had some special magic to avoid being nullified by magic nullifying crystals.
At the very least, magic nullifying crystals had their limits. They couldn't even nullify Aura's obedience magic among the great demons.
"Speaking of which, if that's the case," Since every great demon had unique, extremely unconventional magic, what about Ash's magic? Fern couldn't help thinking about it, her curious gaze drifting toward him. But with others around, she couldn't ask directly.
Ash, however, had no intention of saying it.
In truth, his gravity magic still worked inside that mine.
Humans couldn't develop magic nullifying ore, but that was their limitation. His magic could directly break through the interference and act on the magic nullifying crystals themselves.
The reason he pretended he couldn't use magic was just to clear out potential threats inside, and to take them along for a walk.
Otherwise, there were many ways to leave the pit. There was no need to honestly walk through the mine.
"Lord Ash, why are you looking away?", When he suddenly averted his gaze from her, Fern, who knew him well, narrowed her eyes.
"Ah! Denken!", Without even looking at Fern, he immediately changed the subject and casually patted Denken's head, "How do you take care of your hair? You still have so much left!"
"Huh? Do you have hair loss problems?", The sudden head pat and strange question left Denken baffled. Ash was equally caught off guard, but could only bite the bullet and admit, "Huh? Yeah… actually, I have a friend who cares about that."
"Then when we go back, I'll tell you my hair care secret… but in return, I'll be counting on you later."
"Deal! No time to waste, let's get going!"
With that, he forcibly changed the topic and pushed Denken forward, following him through the barrier as it opened.
But when he glanced back, he saw Fern and Frieren looking at him with a deadpan look on their faces.
From the movement of Fern's lips, it was like she was saying, 'When you come back, you'd better explain properly what your real intentions are.'
———
The Golden Land's great barrier had many functions. Cognitive interference was just the most basic one, and because the area was so vast, its effect wasn't particularly strong. Skilled warriors could easily see through it.
That was because the barrier mainly focused on strengthening its ability to block demons, which meant humans could occasionally slip inside even without the manager opening a passage.
Even so, the Magic Association hadn't bothered to strengthen its ability to block humans.
After all, they had no obligation to protect people who were throwing their lives away. Harsh as that sounded, human lives really weren't worth much in this world.
Walking along a forest path made entirely of gold, Ash admired the glittering scenery and the statues of adventurers who had wandered inside, while speaking without turning his head, "Be careful. In the Golden Land, a moment of carelessness can cost you your life."
"You're not wrong, but I'm the manager here. And this is my hometown. Shouldn't I be the one saying that?", Denken replied.
"Fair point," Ash nodded, but suddenly stopped midway.
"What is it?",nThinking he had spotted something, Denken instinctively grew alert, pulling out his staff and preparing for battle.
But Ash simply stared ahead, deep in thought, "By the way, which way are we supposed to go?"
"What? Y-you don't know the way?", Denken was stunned, disbelief creeping into his voice.
"This is only my third time here, and it's my first time walking on the ground. Besides… forests all look the same. How could I possibly know the way?"
"Then why are you walking in front?"
"I drifted into it."
"..."
That overly casual answer left Denken speechless.
"What's wrong? Don't tell me you don't know either?"
"This way. And from now on, I'll walk in front. Please follow me properly."
Letting out a long sigh, Denken felt an indescribable unease about this journey. Still, he chose not to say anything more and quickly moved ahead.
The two continued forward, but the silence around them grew more and more unsettling. In the vast world, it felt as if only their footsteps and breathing existed.
No insects, no birds, no beasts, no human sounds.
It was as if the entire world had been sealed by the magic that turned everything into gold, falling into an eternal slumber. Even Denken couldn't stop a chill from creeping up his spine.
And when they reached the open city gate, they immediately witnessed the horrifying and spectacular "Golden Bamboo Forest" in the plaza.
More accurately, it was countless upward golden spikes piercing through the abdomens of intruders, leaving them suspended in midair.
There were mages and warriors among them. Every face was frozen in terror from their final moments, their eyes filled with deep despair.
Just seeing those lifelike expressions and their current fate was enough to make anyone hesitate.
Judging by Macht's power, it was obvious these people had been deliberately placed here as a warning.
"Macht's taste is really awful," Ash casually patted one of the golden pillars.
"Indeed… it's in terrible taste," Denken agreed.
"But it does reduce casualties. In a way, it's almost a kind gesture. Most people who wander in would see this and run away in fear."
"That's true… let's not enter the city. We'll go around it."
Denken didn't want to invite unnecessary trouble. Though he wanted to see the city he had once lived in, their goal now was his hometown… and his wife's grave.
So before they were discovered, he immediately turned and led Ash away from the city.
In reality, they had already been detected the moment they entered.
Although the Golden Land's range far exceeded that of a single city, Macht's sensing ability was both precise and vast enough to cover the entire area, including the city.
Even someone like Frieren would have difficulty escaping his detection… so for Denken, no matter how hard he tried to hide, it was impossible.
Leaving the city only avoided provoking him.
Near the city entrance, countless lifelike golden statues of residents froze everything at the exact moment before disaster struck, with no one aware anything was wrong. It made Ash feel like he was in a giant wax museum, and he almost wanted to take a proper look inside.
After leaving the fortress city and circling around it, the two flew for quite a long distance before finally spotting an ordinary village.
There was a simple fence at the entrance, and inside were ordinary flowers and plants with nothing special about them, except that everything had been turned into gold.
But compared to the fortress city, there wasn't a single person here. Clearly, just as Denken had said, the spread had only reached this place in recent years.
Under the shadow of that tragedy, the surrounding villages had long been abandoned. No one dared live near a great demon, which was why there were no golden human statues here.
As Ash curiously looked around, he suddenly heard Denken mutter ahead, "Nothing has changed."
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