The moment their gazes met, Fíliya felt a sudden chill.
One of the figures rushed over at high speed and, with a look of deep resentment, threw herself directly into Fíliya's arms.
"Thank goodness... I thought I was going to die."
Miss Ehre first cried out in a tone of immense relief, but then immediately puffed up her cheeks, staring deathly daggers at Fíliya as if lodging a silent complaint.
"Umu... well, you see, I didn't mean to leave you behind, Ehre. Look, I just wanted you to get a little more training, and didn't you do a great job?"
Fíliya understood Ehre's implication and quickly offered some comfort. Fortunately, Miss Ehre was very easy to handle; with just a few random words of appeasement, the child immediately revealed a smile.
"So, what did you guys encounter?" Fíliya asked hurriedly, seeing that Ehre was fine.
"Tsk, we ran into Sense's replica... Speaking of which, it's one thing for you to be an examiner, woman, but could you stop causing trouble for us examinees?"
Wirbel scratched his hair with a look of extreme displeasure, then glared viciously at Sense, who was squatting in the corner. Sense chose to ignore this directly, but Fíliya could not tolerate it.
She immediately activated [High-Speed Movement Magic] and delivered a flying kick straight to Wirbel's waist.
Wirbel was sent flying several meters. After struggling to climb up from the ground, he immediately roared in anger. "Hiss! My waist! Are you crazy? What are you doing!"
"Nothing, I just suddenly felt like kicking you." Fíliya glared back at Wirbel without showing any weakness.
"Ma... Little Bei, don't you know Fíliya cares most about her doll-like sister? This is the price for your rudeness."
To the side, Übel wore an expression of watching a good show, covering her mouth as she snickered.
"So, did you resolve it?" Fíliya narrowed her eyes and looked at Übel.
"Mm, yes. At first, Little Bei and Little Ai were struggling in a hard battle. We just happened to pass by and helped them solve it. After all, my magic is 'Scissors', so it's very suitable for dealing with [Hair]."
Übel pressed a finger against her lips, but Fíliya chose to completely ignore her malicious attempt at acting cute.
Seeing this, Übel continued. "Eh? Can't Fíliya give a bit more reaction? I listened to your words properly. Didn't you tell me to do 'Good Deeds' before? I count as having saved two of your friends this time, right?"
"I feel it is necessary to make a correction: it is [One], at most [One and a Half]," Fíliya said with a solemn face.
"Umu... whether it's one or a half, I did a good deed, right? Shouldn't Fíliya praise me?" Übel narrowed her eyes, looking at Fíliya with a teasing expression.
In response, Fíliya merely clicked her tongue in annoyance.
Although she liked looking at others with that kind of expression, she found it somewhat irritating when someone stared at her with such a punchable face. Looking at this guy, looking at that terrible expression, that meager figure slightly shorter than herself, and that disgusting green hair... yet these things looked so good on Solitär.
That's right, Miss Fíliya admitted she was, in every sense, a hypocrite.
"Ah, you're so amazing~~ Come, let's shake hands," Fíliya recited in a tone devoid of any emotion, extending her hand.
Immediately after, a sharp pain shot through Übel's hand.
"Hiss! Pain... It hurts!"
Übel pulled her hand back in panic, then hurriedly rubbed the agitated spot with her other hand. "Umu... Isn't Fíliya a Mage... How do you have such great strength?"
Although she had been toyed with, Übel wasn't angry; she was just very curious about where Fíliya got such strength.
"Heheh." Fíliya turned around directly, putting distance between herself and Übel.
As for why? Of course, she didn't have that much strength; she had simply amplified the pain receptors by one or two times.
"...Wirbel, apart from Sense's replica, did you encounter anything else?" After standing firm a few meters away, Fíliya returned to serious mode and asked Wirbel.
"Of course, we also met the replicas of those two brats. They were taken out easily by me," Wirbel said with a wicked grin.
As for the 'two brats' he mentioned, he clearly referred to [Lawine] and [Kanne].
Mm, it was easy to imagine... As long as he used [Visual Binding Magic] to control Kanne and prevent her from generating water, the ice-wielding [Lawine] was obviously no match for Ehre either.
Fíliya nodded, instantly understanding the flow of the battle.
"Tsk."
Lawine also clicked her tongue in annoyance. She was irritated by two things: one was being treated as a [Brat], and the other was the phrase [Taken out easily].
"In other words, replicas of everyone will indeed appear... Then, do you have any other intelligence regarding the replicas?" Fíliya continued to ask.
"...These replicas seem to respawn infinitely," spoke the 'Little Glasses' whom Fíliya had subconsciously ignored. Of course, the one appearing this time was still his clone.
"Mm, that's right. Ehre and I encountered the ice and water brats twice," Wirbel nodded in agreement.
"Hey, you Wild Dog, calling us brats left and right—do you believe I won't smash your dog head in?!" Lawine finally seemed unable to endure it anymore; after all, she also had an unforgiving, violent temper.
"Ha? You want to die, brat?" Wirbel's eyes widened in anger.
But Fíliya slowly walked in front of Lawine, wearing an expression that said, 'I'm protecting this child, what are you gonna do about it?'.
In response... Wirbel could only take a deep breath. Fine, he indeed couldn't do anything about it.
"Alright, alright. Lawine, there's no need to lower ourselves to the level of someone with no breeding. Let's continue thinking about how to clear the level. However... the title [Wild Dog] is really quite nice."
Fíliya patted Lawine's head very happily, thinking that Wirbel's messy silver hair, the scars on his face, and that attitude of frequently 'biting people' really did give off the feeling of a [Wild Dog].
"Mm, since the replicas respawn infinitely... there is only one method left."
After a brief moment of thought, Fíliya directly began assigning tasks to everyone. Of course, during this process, she also explained the current situation to the four latecomers.
"First, let's discuss amongst ourselves. State your own weaknesses, and then let the person who counters you deal with your replica. Of course, we don't seek a kill; just stalling them is enough."
"The rest, leave to me. Let me meet this counterfeit Frieren and see what level she is at." Saying this, Fíliya walked straight toward the giant gate.
But she was instantly blocked by Ehre and Edel.
"No! Dealing with Frieren alone is too risky! Even for you, Fíliya, that's impossible, right?"
"That's right, let's continue to discuss and find a method with a higher win rate..."
Fíliya looked hesitant.
"By the way, can we let Miss Edel try?" Fern, a victim of Edel's magic, stepped forward at this moment. "Miss Edel's Mental Magic is very powerful. Perhaps we can avoid combat directly?"
"Eh? Me...? But Frieren's mental barrier is very strong, I'm not confident I can break through it," Edel said with some hesitation.
"Well, trying is never wrong," Miss Fern continued to suggest.
"No need to try. That child can break through my mental defenses," Frieren quickly took over the conversation. She had realized this as early as the day she cast magic together with Edel. It had to be said that, solely in terms of [Mental Magic], this young human girl was indeed a rare genius of this era.
"Then... doesn't that make things simple?!" Fern exclaimed excitedly, but Fíliya immediately extinguished her hope.
"Uh... I forgot to tell you guys. The replicas created by the [Water-Mirror Demon] have no intellect at all, only the same combat intuition as the original. So [Mental Magic] is useless. If it were possible, I would have let Edel try long ago."
Fíliya spread her hands helplessly.
"Then, please let me go in with Fíliya. I am very clear about Lady Frieren's bad habits. If it is to kill Lady Frieren... I should be able to help!" Fern said with a solemn face.
Facing this rebellious disciple whose mouth was full of intent to kill her master, Frieren actually smiled with unusual gratification. In her view, this was proof of Fern's [Growth].
"That won't do. That fellow Frieren's biggest bad habit is [Underestimating the Enemy]. Clearly a guy who has lived for over a thousand years and experienced countless life-and-death perils, yet she still commits such low-level errors... But this happens to be convenient for me. If you go in with me, Fern, facing two opponents, [Frieren's] carelessness would be cured."
Hearing Fíliya's evaluation, Frieren lowered her head somewhat guiltily and began playing with her fingers. She had to admit that Fíliya was right. If she could fix this ailment of [Underestimating the Enemy], she wouldn't have lost to humans so many times in the past.
But the reason a bad habit is a bad habit is precisely because it is very difficult to correct...
"Cough... In that case, I will go in with you. If the two of us join forces, we should be able to resolve it very quickly." Frieren gave a dry cough and stood up directly, walking towards Fíliya.
But Fíliya immediately held her down by the shoulder.
"No, I have a very important mission to give you." Fíliya became very serious when she said this, and Frieren realized the gravity of the problem.
"Mm, that's right... I must say, everyone present is incredibly lucky to have walked into this hall alive." Fíliya didn't speak directly to Frieren but instead glanced at the others again.
"If it were truly my [Replica] coming to ambush you all, you wouldn't even have the chance to use that [Emergency Escape Golem], you know?"
Fíliya spoke slowly, and her words indeed caused many people to feel a lingering sense of fear.
"It seems everyone has realized the severity of the problem. So, Frieren, you are to go find me, and then kill [Me]."
"And I... will kill you. Understood?"
____
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