Frilian at Elden Ring

"...The one controlling the monsters must be the adjutant, but the number is definitely limited, and not many can be summoned in a short time. Let's deal with the puppets first."

Having made up her mind, the silver-haired girl entered the dense fog of the forest.

Azaert and his group formed a defensive line on the outermost perimeter and slowly advanced. They encountered no obstacles along the way and easily traversed the ruins burned by the wildfire, where no living beings remained.

"General, isn't being so cautious too much trouble? Why don't we just charge in all at once?"

"Don't underestimate the elves."

"Since there might be powerful beings among the elves, why don't we send out Seven Sages of the Seventh Rank from the start?"

“Idiot, we’re still searching for uncertainty. If we find something that allows us to wipe them out in one fell swoop, that would be ideal. If not, we can always retreat and report to the all-knowing Shurahat, who will then know how to deploy our forces.”

Azalt had already planned out all the details. The mission was the priority, but it was also important to survive and take the intelligence with him. He didn't believe that any powerful elf would leave no chance to escape.

Upon hearing this, the demons breathed a sigh of relief and continued their steady progress.

"stop!"

Suddenly, the adjutant made a hand gesture to warn, "Just now, one of the puppets lost contact."

"That can't be right. Could it have been done by some other monster? Aren't your puppets supposed to share vision? Don't they know who the culprit is?"

"It was too fast. It felt like I lost contact with just a flash of lightning... Some monsters also possess lightning attributes, but they wouldn't be able to kill with such precision in one strike. There must be something wrong deep in the forest."

"Be careful, and put away your contempt."

Even with Azaert's power, he felt a chill run down his spine. What was waiting in the shadows for the demon team to be captured?

"The hunt continues. The enemy is moving too fast. I'm not sure if it's a group or a single person... If it's the latter, perhaps we should wait for reinforcements."

"In short, release your puppets from control and let them run rampant. We'll continue our advance."

"As ordered."

Although the ominous sign was not good, soldiers could not return empty-handed, otherwise the other demons would not show mercy. Besides, His Majesty the Demon King's orders were absolute, and they had to investigate the legendary forest where the elves lived.

On the other side, deep in the forest, the monsters rioted together, but died the next moment from a touch of crimson magic, their corpses blooming with Ionian flowers.

Frilian pulled the Greatsword from the head of a giant wolf monster.

"...Contact seems to have been lost."

As long as they kill enough and fast enough, they can block the enemy's battlefield vision without revealing themselves. Now, the demons have no choice but to advance.

She glanced back at the numerous monster corpses, proving that the Soul Injury and Crimson Corruption's defense-breaking and rapid kill were indeed very successful, with an efficiency that was top-notch among known real-world magic, and all of it was controllable.

However, the demons are better test subjects; we'll just wait for them to come to us, and leave the demons to the village.

81

Chapter 81: Defeating the Demon Invaders.

Frilian doesn't plan to engage in direct combat from the start, for a simple reason: it's highly likely that the elven village will be affected.

Her magical perception enveloped the enemy first, and she knew very well that there were several enemies among them who could cause large-scale destruction. She had to eliminate them first, or at least reduce their numbers. To be on the safe side, she would defeat them one by one.

It's been a long time; it's time to get back to stealth combat.

She raised her staff while simultaneously using invisibility, naturally mimicking her form, and then completely concealed her magical aura. Even the most perceptive mage would have no chance of detecting her before the battle began...

Middle of the forest.

"Something's wrong."

Suddenly, Azaert stretched out his hand to signal a halt to the march. "The miasma is getting thicker and thicker; even my magical perception is being weakened."

He frowned, looking around warily but found nothing.

The adjutant replied, "According to intelligence, this place has always been shrouded in miasma and fog, and even the most daring merchants avoid it. They only exchange goods occasionally when the season is good, which is why the legend of the Elf Village exists."

"Whether elves exist or not, there should at least be a large number of monsters and the like, and the environment should be suitable for their growth."

"And now you can control fewer and fewer puppets, right?"

"really."

"I'm not asking you to agree, you idiot. If it's suitable for growth, why don't we see it? There's only one possibility: a certain overlord has been clearing out the territory for years, preventing these guys from growing. That's why we haven't encountered many obstacles."

Upon hearing this, the demons came to their senses. Logically, they should have witnessed all sorts of monsters, especially after setting the fire, which should have caused chaos. However, all was silent.

Those birds and beasts that escaped are not included.

Powerful monsters will detect a threat immediately. If they encounter a group of menacing mages, they should avoid them at all costs, or if they are provoked, they should simply attack. In either case, a war should have broken out long ago.

Strangely, the squad hasn't encountered any battles yet, which is illogical; there must be something unusual about this forest.

Is it possible that the dragon ate the monster and then went into hibernation?

"maybe."

"No, those guys may be sleeping soundly, but they should have woken up long ago with such a commotion. Besides, with the magical reactions of so many of us, a monster that doesn't sense danger wouldn't be able to take over an area."

Azaert refuted one of the conjectures.

Although there were only a dozen or so demons present, they were all skilled fighters, undoubtedly forming an army for a scattered race.

The ability to mobilize an army of this size certainly relied on the Demon King's endorsement, ultimately leading to this pursuit. And they did indeed have something to gain: they had previously injured an elf, but deliberately let him escape.

They're obviously fleeing in this direction, so that's the right way.

That's why it's strange; why are they so calm? They should have shown their true colors long ago.

Even though all sorts of clues point to the answer, there are always distracting factors that make it hard to be sure. It feels strange no matter how much I think about it, but there's no more evidence.

Azaert finally gave the order: "Spread out and search, and keep in touch."

He hesitated. Should he split his forces? Was that the right thing to do? But then he thought that they hadn't encountered any fatal threats so far, so it was better to expand the search area. As long as they were fast enough, they could just assemble as soon as they heard any movement. It didn't matter.

"As ordered."

The demons marched aggressively into the depths.

After separating, they continued on their way. He was accompanied only by an adjutant and a soldier. The three of them snapped tree branches under their feet. The bushes in front of them grew denser and denser, and they had to light fires every now and then.

The reason for not flying is to avoid being discovered in advance, since there are definitely mages among the elves, so it's best to be careful.

Using an explosion to ignite a wildfire was already a dangerous experiment.

If the battlefield situation were clear, he wouldn't be so reckless. It's precisely this uncertainty that causes him to be tense at times and relaxed at others, leading to inconsistent tactical execution...

While Azart was pondering, the demons who had first entered the depths of the forest were already enveloped in thick fog.

"That's strange, there shouldn't be such a thick fog."

Completely baffled, he angrily blew a gust of wind, and sure enough, an ancient tree trunk appeared before him.

However, the next moment the tree bark twisted into a human shape, and before we could see it clearly, it unleashed its sharp edge.

Click!

Having revealed her true form, Frilian pierced the heart with a single blow. This was effective because the soul magic attack had preemptively disrupted the defensive barrier, allowing even the most ordinary weapon to kill the demon without hindrance. Not content with this, she used a wisp of crimson, corrupting magic to completely annihilate the enemy, first blooming an Ionian flower, then its petals fluttering away, withering, and solidifying the corpse.

It disappeared completely after a while, its beautiful death so striking that it seemed to attract other of its kind to come closer.

Its killing efficiency is really fast.

Moreover, she did it silently. Experiments proved that her fighting method was correct: using the attributes of soul and corruption to quickly break through defenses, and then killing with weapons.

"Let's keep doing this and kill a few more."

After witnessing the demon corpses on the ground turn to ashes, Frilian disappeared and blended into the natural background.

This method is not at all magical, but that doesn't matter; it's all about practicality. On the contrary, the demons, because of the survival of the fittest, must constantly display their magic, making them like a beacon in the Misty Forest, so let's not hold back.

Azart's squad continued forward, but became increasingly relaxed, because the men they had sent out hadn't made any moves, indicating that there was no danger in the forest...

"Someone!"

Suddenly, a figure appeared in the thick fog. They rushed over, only to find it was a demon. A scarlet flower bloomed on its face. Apart from a fatal wound to the heart, there were no other signs of struggle on its body. The killer was clearly swift, accurate, and ruthless, delivering a clean and decisive blow.

"Shouldn't you have been exploring westward? How come you ended up ahead of us?"

Before he could finish speaking, the demon suddenly collapsed onto the tracks with a thud, turning to ashes from head to toe in the next instant. Before anyone could take a closer look, he vanished into the wind without leaving a trace.

Its sudden behavior put the group on high alert, as they thought it was some kind of omen, and they quickly set up defensive barriers.

"Everyone on high alert, watch out for a sneak attack."

Gah!

Their frantic movements only startled a few crows into flight, causing no real effect. Even Azart felt a chill run down his spine. Despite being wary of everything around them, the three of them had no idea what was happening and had no choice but to risk coming to the scene of the death.

"...There are residual magical energy, so he must have died at the hands of a mage. But how could he have done it so silently without revealing any trace of his presence?"

"General, is it possible that this was an attack by an undiscovered, special monster?"

"Impossible. The elite hunters I chose wouldn't be destroyed by mere stupid monsters. Even if they lost, they would definitely leave clues."

"That's strange."

The investigation was interrupted once again. Despite the deaths, there was no substantial progress made; it was as if the deaths had been in vain. This result infuriated the demons, especially since it was a slap in the face to their commander.

Why all this trouble over a mere exploration and chase?

Azaert said in a deep voice, "Tell everyone to assemble immediately. We'll stay put, hurry up."

Fortunately, the dense fog did not restrict the spread of magical information, and there would be no problem as long as communication was within a certain range... Logically speaking, that should be correct, but there was no reply after the message was sent.

As soldiers, they should at least have responded, but the complete silence in this forest was eerie. It had swallowed too many sounds, and the lives behind them; the worst-case scenario was the death of all the scattered demons. How could that be? They weren't just a few cats and dogs; they shouldn't have been wiped out so silently, but the corpses just now contradicted that.

There is no news at the moment.

The adjutant's expression gradually turned serious.

"The forest doesn't reject sound, but it also swallows it up. Or, to put it another way, can it distort or even arbitrarily alter our information? Magic messages are unreliable, don't count on them. There's a very strong team surrounding us, or it could just be one person."

"Elves?"

"We don't know. The worst thing is that we've already fallen into the enemy's trap, and we don't even know how many enemies there are."

Having fought a lifetime of wars, Azart had never experienced such a humiliating situation. He was like a lamb to the slaughter, laid out on the table for the enemy to kill.

"The worst-case scenario is that they are all dead, because the enemy would never leave any survivors if they dared to do this. Let's think about tactics now with only us as the premise."

"I will activate the puppet now."