Above the clouds.
A great dragon beat its wings, parting the sea of clouds and scattering a cascade of sunlight as it soared. Due to the unique winds at this altitude, some daring wild geese began to follow, their numbers growing until they formed a vast, V-shaped flock.
People along the way watched, dumbfounded, having never before seen a great dragon that allowed birds to follow in its wake.
Little did they know, it was Flamme, pushing forward at full speed.
A testament to the sheer quality of Serie, the Founder of Magic, the mana she had casually infused was enough for Flamme to squander on a journey spanning the distance from the Northern Lands to the Central Lands, crossing mountains and ridges, traveling day and night.
Only now did she reach the border of the forest and the elven lands.
Yet, there was not a trace of joy in her heart. An inexplicable palpitation grew ever stronger, a nagging feeling that something terrible had happened.
The great dragon glanced left and right but had yet to find any trace of demons. This, however, meant nothing. With the Miracle-Worker illusionist concealing their tracks, it would be all too simple. Besides, sensory perception was not Flamme's forte.
First, descend.
The view from above the clouds was still not clear enough, so she descended in a dive. She was almost there; this was the final sprint.
"My apologies, geese. I hope you make it home soon."
With Flamme's movement, they lost their updraft and could only return to a normal flock formation. Yet, in the next moment, the birds veered as if they had suddenly discovered something, their haste betraying an instinctual flight from a terrifying threat.
At that moment, she too saw it clearly. Shouldn't the edge of the horizon be a verdant green?
Now, it was a sheet of scarlet.
"That's Master's Scarlet Rot! How is that possible? No, she would never attack Elf Town... The barrier can defend against contamination, so this must be a quarantine zone. Has it really gotten this serious?!"
Her ominous premonition came true. Below was clearly an inferno, the rising corrosive energy forcing all to keep their distance.
Flamme was stunned, finding it hard to believe, her heart trembling. What could possibly be left of the elven village in such a scene? Wouldn't it all be a ruined wasteland after a cataclysmic strike?
She hastily accelerated her dive, plunging deep into the forest's core.
It was alright.
The Scarlet Rot had automatically skirted a circle, which happened to be precisely where the town was located. Despite being a supremely corrosive magic, its spread had been halted. It must have been programmed to do so; as expected, she had been thorough.
But that wasn't the crucial part. Why was the town faintly shrouded in a shadow?
A shiver ran down her spine as her intuition screamed a warning.
Her instincts desperately told Flamme not to advance further, that the faint "Overlapping City" before her was filled with an unsettling strangeness.
Looking closely, it seemed as if towering buildings had risen from the ground, each one solemn and magnificent, a world apart from the somewhat rustic elven architecture.
"This isn't a barrier, but some kind of projection, a distortion of reality..."
Her vast knowledge allowed her to make a basic assessment. What kind of disturbance could cause this? Could magic create such a phenomenon? This was on the level of a Goddess's miracle, far beyond a mere curse.
But it was not a good thing.
The shadow was filled with attributes of strangeness, bewitchment, decay, and corruption—it was clearly fraught with danger.
And for some reason, it looked familiar... Yes, the tentacle Miriadel had shown her before had a similar effect, and she had sensed it from Frieren as well.
"That failsafe was entrusted to Sister Miriadel for when Master couldn't fight."
"—So the All-Knowing One timed the attack perfectly, first triggering the Water Mirror Demon's Scarlet Rot, then battling everyone. When Sister Miriadel judged that the losses would be catastrophic, she finally activated the Dream Entry."
"No, the losses have already occurred, haven't they?"
Flamme knelt and scooped up a handful of soil. It was mixed with glittering gold dust, but it wasn't real gold; it was the creation of some magic.
Macht, the strongest of the Seven Sages, had also attacked the town.
She had guessed there would be more than one of the Seven Sages, but she hadn't expected it to be the one who could turn all things to gold. It was likely that all the elves had been turned into golden statues, with only the Water Mirror Demon and Miriadel able to resist.
Unfortunately, they alone couldn't save everyone and could barely protect themselves, so they had no choice but to initiate the Dream Entry.
A close call.
The fact that the Dream Entry could be activated at least meant Sister Miriadel was alright, but it also brought another problem: Master Frieren was in grave trouble, so much so that she couldn't even provide support.
An opportunity that the All-Knowing One would seize had to be a once-in-a-lifetime chance. The situation was dire.
But worrying would solve nothing.
The red-haired girl paced back and forth with her arms crossed, sometimes glancing at the scarlet forest, other times sighing at the town gate, conflicted. Should she enter this nightmare zone or not? An extra fighter was needed, of course, but she might just be a burden.
With too little information, she couldn't make a sound judgment, but one thing was certain: demons had also entered the dream.
Excluding the Water Mirror Demon, which couldn't dream, would Miriadel be enough on her own?
Frieren had never said she had an army lying in wait in Yharnam to swarm and solve the problem. Quite the contrary, she herself was likely in trouble, which probably meant things in the dream weren't going well either...
Swoosh!
Suddenly, a cold wind gusted from behind her.
Almost simultaneously, Flamme ducked, then followed through with a back-sweeping kick that struck her opponent squarely on the chin. It was a demon that had been transformed into a Corrupted Kindred.
The kick, laced with fire, ignited the creature, causing it to sizzle and burn.
And there were more. With a screeching howl, two more accomplices appeared.
The monsters and beasts that originally inhabited the forest had also become corrupted monstrosities, directing the utmost malice towards the only normal living being. A cacophony of roars surrounded the lone red-haired girl.
Her lips twitched as she muttered, "You've really made a mess. I'll have to eliminate you all."
Inferno.
Crimson flames rose from her hands, forming a longsword.
With a casual swing, she unleashed a wall of fire that instantly vaporized several weaker kindred. The undiminished power swept across a hundred meters, leaving no survivors within the fan-shaped area.
Only the corrupted demons managed to dodge in time, yet they too dared not launch an attack lightly.
Why was it so powerful? Even Flamme's eyes widened, having misjudged the destructive range of her own spell.
Her own mana output had increased!
Because of the sudden surge of mana Serie had transferred into her, her body's mana capacity had expanded, like a stomach stretched by food, leading to a bigger appetite... Could mana work the same way? Frieren's blessing must have been a factor as well.
Master had built a solid foundation and trained her in mana control, not rushing to increase her total mana.
But that part of her training had just been supplemented, simply and brutally, by the strongest mage.
Flamme recalled the blonde elf's smile, feeling it was even more profound now. Serie must have seen through Frieren's teaching philosophy and, feeling that a genius should grow faster, decided to give things a push.
"ROAR!"
A howl broke her train of thought. Numerous Corrupted Kindred were swarming her.
Fewer than expected, only a few dozen. It must be the result of the Water Mirror Demon controlling the contamination.
"Letting you escape would have terrible consequences." The red-haired girl's flame sword blazed fiercely.
"You will all die here."
The next moment, a massive explosion and a fireball erupted simultaneously.
A cloud of fire scattered a rain of embers over the Overlapping City.
Since the contamination was already this severe, she didn't need to hold back. Fire was nothing in the face of Scarlet Rot, but it was an excellent weapon against these creatures, so Flamme opted for bombardment.
Flames spread, and rings of fire bloomed outward with her at the center.
The elemental magic she had learned from Frieren emphasized destructive power and range—true army-annihilating magic.
BOOM!
The outer flames turned the weaker Corrupted Kindred to firewood, instantly reducing them to ash.
They were no match for her. Having often studied them in the laboratory, she naturally knew their weaknesses and swept through them with unstoppable force.
First were the kindred transformed from beasts, which were cooked through amidst their screeches, their bodies sizzling and steaming.
They were already fragile, barely surviving the cycle of reincarnation as mutated creatures, and were now at the end of their rope. Their utter demise upon facing the fire was no surprise.
The scorched earth had even lost a touch of its scarlet hue.
A flicker of joy appeared in Flamme's heart.
As she thought, the Flower of Aeonia that Master had given the Water Mirror Demon, while seemingly intimidating, had actually been greatly weakened.
Its primary effect was corrosive damage against demons—it was specifically targeting them. The environmental damage and biological mutation were not as severe; the soil still harbored a large number of normal plants.
It was equivalent to a special kind of forest fire. Moreover, if Frieren were willing to use her Flower Field Magic to cover the area, it would recover even faster.
Relieved, Flamme dedicated herself to the battle.
Next were the monsters. These creatures, who already possessed some magical ability, were tougher to deal with after becoming kindred. Ten of them had survived.
Of course, they had also gone mad, attacking normal creatures indiscriminately.
These things were incredibly aggressive, charging through the flames for a suicidal strike.
Swoosh!
Just as she was about to counter, Flamme tilted her head, dodging a beam from a Killing Magic spell. It was the three demons.
Although they had completely mutated into different forms and were rapidly decaying with little time left, they still killed humans by instinct. Even a sneak attack was a considerable threat. She couldn't be careless; she had to get serious.
Suddenly, the monster before her opened its gaping maw: Rotten Breath.
In an instant, the red-haired girl sidestepped, then took to the air for a short flight before feeling safe. Even so, she was tainted by a trace of rot, but thankfully it was an amount she could forcibly dispel.
What a pain.
A direct hit from Rotten Breath would be disastrous, and unfortunately, they all loved to spam the move.
The corrupted monsters spewed relentlessly.
They fought with a flamboyant abandon, as if to drain all their life force for a fleeting moment of battle—truly the style of a corrupted creature.
But with Flamme as their target, it was unbearable. She had no choice but to create distance and retaliate with ranged magic.
Meanwhile, the corrupted demons maintained their precise sniping with Killing Magic, their posture screaming that they would not let any human escape.
Thops's Barrier!
An attack of this level was no longer a threat. With a raise of her hand, she returned the magic to its sender, leaving the demons covered in soot.
Next, the red-haired girl hovered in the air, cupping her hands as flames surged.
Flames erupted from the cracks in the ravaged ground, as if she were standing at the mouth of a volcano.
The area was enveloped in high heat, steam filled the air, and even the fine hairs on her skin ignited and turned to dust.
The hot wind gathered, forming a swirling vortex.
The fire tornado, under Flamme's control, expanded again and again. Its core was over ten meters in radius, but the cloud of intense heat it generated continued to grow.
The sky above turned crimson as cinders rained down, scorching the earth.
Faced with her wide-area bombardment, the corrupted monsters recoiled instinctively, turning to flee.
They were mad, but not so far gone as to lose their sense of self-preservation. Faced with the fatal flames, they chose to retreat. They couldn't withstand it; even the demons scurried away.
However, they had all underestimated Flamme's control.
The moment the fire tornado formed, it immediately blasted towards its targets. The inferno raged, the shimmering heat distorting the view ahead.
And another trick.
Thunder cracked from the air. It was faint, but it quickly spread along their footsteps, ensnaring them. Their bodies trembled, their movements growing sluggish.
They couldn't escape the blanket of fire to begin with, and with the paralyzing effect of the lightning, they were now lambs to the slaughter. The slowest corrupted monster was instantly turned to charcoal; moments ago it was baring its fangs, and now it was a roasted piglet.
Suddenly, the assault paused without warning, allowing the corrupted demons to narrowly escape.
"Wait, did that thing spread?"
Flamme's intuition blared.
She glanced back and felt that the phantom of the Overlapping City had moved a step closer to her.
Strange, but it didn't seem to be spreading in any other direction. Why?
Could it be that her frequent contact with Frieren and Miriadel, who possessed similar powers, had attracted it...
Killing Magic!
The incoming beam of light forced the red-haired girl to focus on her spellcasting, unable to be distracted.
Damn it, they attacked the moment they saw an opening.
The Overlapping City behind her was stirring, and the corrupted creatures before her were restless.
Letting this out-of-control group escape would inevitably spread contamination and, worse, could tarnish her master's reputation.
Even if Frieren herself didn't care, Flamme felt she couldn't let the trouble fester.
Cleaning up these monsters was the priority.
With this thought, Flamme held nothing back. Fire was too slow; she needed to end this quickly.
She spread her hands and held a crackling arc of electricity, which instantly swelled into a twenty-meter-long crimson lightning bolt trailing streamers of light, more brilliant than the fire tornado, as if vying with the heavens.
Lightning Blade!
The crimson thunderbolt descended from the sky and struck the demons. Lightning and fire erupted simultaneously, instantly reducing their corrupted bodies to ash, along with the other monsters, of course.
Her single display of power left a deep trench in the ground, its cross-section vitrified and reflecting the sunlight, the smell acrid.
Flamme then carefully sensed her surroundings and confirmed that all enemies were eliminated before finally breathing a sigh of relief.
As long as they didn't get out, it was fine. This battle had to be contained within the elven forest, otherwise her hometown, Northwind Fortress, might also be affected.
Suddenly, she felt a chill on her back, as if being watched by a sharp gaze.
Turning around, she was met with the phantom city, now even closer. It had closed to within ten meters, its towers and tiles dimly visible in the gloomy light.
The dream was actively approaching her?
Flamme's heart sank and she clenched her jaw.
She had guessed right. Because she herself was tainted with a similar aura, she had drawn its attention.
She could, of course, choose to leave, but would that mean living in constant fear? Worrying endlessly about her master and Sister Miriadel without taking action? That wasn't her style.
The red-haired girl took a deep breath and then cast a series of protective boons, fully prepared.
She hadn't been this cautious even when dealing with the corrupted creatures just now. The dream was simply too strange.
Her only piece of intelligence was the "little stories of Yharnam" Frieren had told at the dinner table, which had been the stuff of childhood nightmares.
And now, one day, they would become Flamme's travel guide.
But now was not the time to retreat. Though it was dangerous, they should be in need of help. She couldn't just ignore them.
"Since you've come for me, I'll play along. We'll see about this."
As soon as the words left her lips, she took a step forward, her figure melting into the strange and silent phantom city, and vanished.
______
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