Starting the Strategy from Frieren

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Taking advantage of the break in the large group, Frieren went to the woods to practice magic.

She wore a simple white long dress that trailed on the gray ground. Her small waist was accentuated by her hair reaching her hips, and the floor-length dress couldn't hide her well-proportioned legs. From a distance, one could still see her flawless profile.

However, contrary to her delicate appearance, Frieren began practicing her recently learned strongest attack magic. This magic accelerated metal projectiles using forces generated by an electromagnetic field, making it far more lethal than traditional attack spells. It could even pierce through magic shields in an instant.

The downside was that it was very difficult to control and required complex charging. A moment's distraction could cause it to explode prematurely, which is why she only practiced far from the crowd and under Flamme's supervision.

"It's four in the afternoon… I wonder if Evan has changed his sleeping schedule. If not, he's probably still lying in bed," she thought.

"…"

Frieren had long since gotten used to Flamme occasionally mumbling about Evan, and it didn't interrupt her charging of the magic known as the electromagnetic cannon.

Just as she was about to successfully launch it, Flamme suddenly pressed down on her hand holding the wand, stopping her.

"Wait a moment."

"Hmm?"

"I sensed two great demons rapidly approaching us. It seems they are chasing a human. That magical response… Evan?"

Flamme couldn't help but complain, "What kind of heroic deed did he do to attract such a large-scale pursuit from two great demons?"

Despite her complaints, Flamme was genuinely concerned for Evan's safety. She began channeling magical energy into Frieren's wand to stabilize and expand the already constructed electromagnetic field, adding a fist-sized iron block into it.

Frieren's original electromagnetic field was only the size of a fingernail, which made it difficult for her to control. Yet Flamme appeared to handle it with ease; circles of blue arcs continuously danced and gradually grew larger.

"Wait for me to count down from three. When I say 'one,' we'll release the restraints on the metal block together."

"Okay." On the other side, Evan finally let out a sigh of relief upon seeing a large group stationed with royal guard flags and accelerated toward them.

"Stop it, Marth. This chase has failed. We've exhausted too much magical energy, and you're injured. It's not suitable to fight against the fully armed royal army," Rivale said as he blocked Marth's path, but Marth clearly disagreed.

"Rivale, you're being overly cautious. Even if our magical energy is low and we've been ambushed, so what? I have obedience magic! As long as my magical power exceeds that of my opponent, I can control them. Compared to me—a great demon who has lived for over nine hundred years—losing one-fifth of my magical power isn't something humans can match."

"Caution isn't a bad thing. The magic that ambushed us earlier makes me feel uneasy, especially now that we're here; there's a strong sense of foreboding within me," Rivale continued. "This time, just listen to this old man's advice: never underestimate humans. Let's withdraw for now and reconsider our strategy."

"Hmph! Are you ordering me?"

Marth pushed Rivale's arm away and began descending. "I take back what I said before; you're not cautious but simply cowardly. With proper defenses in place, that strange magic wouldn't affect us at all! If you won't go, then I will! It's just a royal army; I've wiped out armies before."

Marth indeed had confidence stemming from his survival through numerous battles among demons, climbing step by step to his position as a great demon—almost reaching a thousand years of life—a remarkable achievement among demons.

The longer one lived, the more magical power they accumulated. He was confident no human could surpass him in magical power, even though he hadn't brought his own army for stealth purposes.

But that wasn't a big issue; as long as he entered casting range, his opponent would inevitably become his obedient slave. The resources at his disposal would only increase with every battle fought. As for being interrupted while casting magic? Nonsense! In front of someone who had already opened their magic shield…

Could anyone really take him down while his shield was active?

Boom—

Accompanied by the sound of electrical noise and a loud explosion, a projectile heated into molten iron during high-speed movement broke through the sound barrier and rushed toward Marth.

The magic shield he had high hopes for didn't even last 0.1 seconds before being shattered completely. The searing molten iron pierced through Marth's entire abdomen without losing momentum and streaked across the sky like a shining light.

Rivale glanced back at Marth, who was no longer alive, and accelerated away from there. "Sigh… Young people just don't listen to advice."

He began contemplating how to report back to the Demon King about this failure; failing the mission itself wasn't too concerning. What was troublesome was that Marth—who possessed obedience magic—was dead; it would likely be several hundred years before another one capable of such magic appeared again.

Considering humanity's current displayed potential for development, could demons really wait until that day? Evan saw the electromagnetic cannon piercing through the sky below and immediately recognized it as Flamme's doing. He quickly made his way into the woods to meet up with her.

After exchanging simple greetings, they headed together toward the crash site of the great demon struck by the electromagnetic cannon.

Marth's body had been split in half and fell into the muddy water. He reached out in an attempt to grab his fallen obedience scales lying not far away, but that short distance felt like an insurmountable chasm; no matter how hard he tried, he couldn't reach them.

"This scale belongs to me now; you have no objections, right Evan?" Flamme said as she picked up the scales and began playing with them in her hands.

If Marth were human at this moment, he would undoubtedly be furious enough to spit blood—after all, it was his belonging being taken without regard for his existence!

Unfortunately for him as a demon, he lacked such rich emotional expressions and after struggling in vain succumbed entirely to death.

"That scale is your trophy; taking it is only natural. I'll take his corpse," Evan decisively stored Marth's body in his spatial ring for safekeeping; after all, he was a great demon! Such valuable material couldn't be overlooked—even if just used as a power bank!

"Flamme, I really owe you this time; otherwise I'd probably be done for," Evan said gratefully.

"It's only natural for a teacher to protect their student. Now tell me why this situation arose," Flamme instructed.

Evan recounted everything clearly—the purpose behind their actions and details about the new weapon's capabilities.

Upon hearing about how he could instantly refine monster birds into his own magical energy, Flamme's eyes sparkled with excitement.

"Are there any side effects? If there aren't any side effects then make one for me too!"