"Hmm, let's go. It seems if I want to fully understand this magic, I'll have to meet with the leader of the Seven Sages of Destruction. Besides, I'm quite curious about this fellow who actively befriended humankind only to betray them later. I want to see what he's really made of."
Fíliya clapped her hands, drawing the attention of the three demons back to herself.
Then, the group set off again, starting to walk towards the brilliant barrier that was visible to the naked eye.
And the closer she got to this 'Great Barrier of the Golden Land', the more incredible Fíliya found it.
"Tsk tsk, no wonder it could trap the ever-so-arrogant leader of the Seven Sages of Destruction. To think it could concentrate the magical theories of so many different countries and peoples into a single barrier... truly brilliant."
Fíliya gazed at the pure white barrier before her and couldn't help but marvel.
Solitär did the same, placing her hand on the barrier to feel it for a moment before a brilliant smile spread across her face.
"Mm, it's practically a work of art... Fusing so much human wisdom. An ordinary demon could never break this barrier; they'd be trapped for a lifetime..."
"Unless it's a Greater Demon who enjoys studying 'human knowledge', right?"
A teasing smile played on Fíliya's lips as she looked at Solitär.
"Solitär, how long would you need to completely dismantle this barrier?"
"Completely dismantle it...? It's a shame to destroy something so exquisite."
Solitär shook her head but began to think. After a moment, she gave Fíliya her answer.
"About two months. Two months should be enough for me to destroy this barrier."
Hearing Solitär say this, Fíliya immediately put on an expression that, in Solitär's eyes, was rather punchable.
"Hmph hmph... I'm different. If it were me, a week would be enough."
Fíliya said smugly, which annoyed Solitär so much that she lifted her foot and lightly kicked Miss Fíliya's ankle.
The action seemed to say, 'What are you so smug about?'
But Solitär had to admit, although there was still a clear gap in power between Fíliya and herself, when it came to Analysis Magic (Analysieren), this girl had already surpassed her.
A slight feeling of unwillingness... Solitär felt a subtle emotion in her heart. She had thought she could always stay ahead of Fíliya, but in less than a year, Fíliya was closing the distance at an incredible speed.
Humans truly are wonderful... No, that's not it... Fíliya truly is wonderful, that's it.
Solitär thought back to that night, and only today did she feel completely certain. Her 'love for humanity' had indeed become concrete—incomparably so, focused entirely on one specific person.
If she were asked to study other humans now, she would find it utterly uninteresting...
If it wasn't Fíliya, she couldn't muster any interest at all.
Snapping back to reality, the competitive Solitär immediately looked at Aura.
"Huh?"
Aura blinked blankly, thinking to herself that she hadn't provoked Solitär today. 'Why is she looking at me like that?'
Then she heard Solitär speak.
"Aura, you try. Feel this barrier."
Solitär urged Aura on, even proactively reaching out and pulling Aura in front of her.
Er... By now, Aura had learned to read the room, more or less. She could tell Solitär was deliberately trying to poke fun at her, but she didn't call her out on it, lest she face an even worse outcome.
So, Aura took a deep breath and placed her hand on the flawless, pure white barrier of the Great Barrier of the Golden Land.
One minute, two minutes, ten minutes passed. Finally, Aura turned around, her forehead beaded with sweat.
She first wiped the sweat with her sleeve, then spoke awkwardly.
"Er... I don't understand it at all. I have no idea how to deal with this barrier."
Aura chose to confess honestly, without making excuses for herself.
This barrier was forged from countless pieces of human wisdom. She herself didn't understand humans well at all; aside from this girl Fíliya, she'd never even interacted with any others.
Besides, when Solitär and Fíliya tutored her on human knowledge, Aura was completely uninterested, looking as if she were only barely memorizing it.
Asking her to break the Great Barrier of the Golden Land was simply asking too much of her.
"Heh... o(￣︶￣)o, and that's why you're Aura."
Seeing Aura's defeat, Solitär finally emerged from her gloomy mood and no longer minded the teasing tone Fíliya had used with her.
Hmph...
In response, Aura just curled her lip disdainfully, thinking, 'You can only find your confidence by picking on me.' 'You think the great Lady Aura can't see through you? If I could actually beat you, I would have turned on you long ago.'
Just then, a tall figure appeared in Miss Fíliya's field of vision.
She watched the male demon gradually approach, thinking he was... ...a bit peculiar.
Even before speaking with him, Fíliya was certain this was the legendary Macht of the Golden Land. After all, it was only possible for a single demon to be trapped inside this great barrier.
And this Macht's first impression on Fíliya was one of an incredibly cold, 'inhuman' feeling.
Having already 'trained' Aura quite well, Fíliya had almost forgotten that perhaps this cold, 'inhuman' feeling was the true nature of the Demon Race.
The three by her side had been significantly influenced by her, becoming what they are now.
Next, Fíliya noticed his... enormous horns, which were a size larger than even Aura's great horns.
But what she found even more interesting... ...was the hair color of this leader of the Seven Sages of Destruction, Macht. It was exceptionally rare and bold.
How should one name this color, somewhere between magenta and a flashy pink? Fíliya was a bit stumped.
She had absolutely no talent for the fine arts and wasn't sensitive to colors. She simply thought that for a man with such a calm, even cold demeanor, to have hair of such a vibrant shade created a wonderfully strange sense of contrast.
When Macht finally stopped in front of her, Fíliya couldn't help but note his prominent, shiny forehead.
Isn't this leader of the Seven Sages of Destruction's hairline a bit too high? Fortunately, he's a demon, so there's no risk of him going bald.
Then, Fíliya's attention shifted to Macht's attire.
She saw him wearing a dark green formal suit with a golden sash, and both of his hands were covered in gloves the same color as his hair.
If one ignored the remarkably conspicuous and somewhat contradictory large horns on his head, he really did look like a melancholic nobleman of the human race.
Just then, Fíliya noticed Macht's mouth open slightly, as if he were saying something to their group.
Unfortunately, due to the effect of the Great Barrier of the Golden Land, Macht's voice could not reach Fíliya's ears.
So Fíliya could only turn to look at Solitär, since Macht was speaking directly to her.
___
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