What if you are reborn as a demon after a funeral?

But Aura wasn't angry; he just covered his mouth and chuckled.

"Even after all these years, you still don't know how to cherish women, or... is this some kind of coy refusal?"

"I thought that after so many years, you would have changed a bit, but I didn't expect..."

Faced with this kid he'd practically raised, speaking like a brat, Ash's feelings were truly complicated. He even let out a deep sigh: "Ha... what kind of nonsense have you been learning all these years?"

“What are you talking about? Aren’t you my mentor?” Aura smiled and shook his head: “And I still remember that time… on a cold winter night, after I washed my feet with cold water, the longing look in your eyes when you wanted to warm my toes and then lick my feet clean.”

"No...please don't create non-existent memories, okay? I'm not a masochist or a pervert, that's what you want me to do, isn't it?"

"Is that so? It really doesn't exist?" Aura narrowed her eyes slightly.

"I'm a decent person, I would never do such a thing."

"No~ I remember you told me that."

"what?"

"Nothing is impossible! And memories don't even need to exist, as long as—they can be created!"

At the end of the conversation, Aura, who had already retreated and created a safe distance without anyone noticing, suddenly flipped his hand, and purple energy instantly gathered and transformed into golden scales: "Obey the Demon...!"

"—Strike first."

The moment Aura took the scales that had been used to cast the Obedience spell in her hand, Ash darted forward and closed in on her in an instant.

His actions were completely unlike those of a mage, leaving Aura no time to think about why he was so agile before he suddenly swung his hand.

There was a loud "bang!"

The metal scales shattered instantly with his palm, while Aura remained frozen in place, unable to react for a long time.

After a long while, she raised her hand in astonishment and looked at her long-lost brother: "You... have given up gravity magic?"

"how do you feel?"

"...Your magical power is almost the same as mine, this is not the feeling of giving up at all."

"You really know they're almost the same? You dare to use this scale to control me under these circumstances? This isn't like you."

"Haha~ This is of course based on your previous suggestions, and an emergency mechanism has been set up. If I lose, the scales will automatically break."

"...Isn't this a derogatory term?"

"Thank you for the compliment, it's my honor." Aura, who was not ashamed but proud, nodded with an endearing smile and quietly stepped back again.

Because she now realizes that the safe distance she had set aside earlier wasn't enough... after all, she never expected that this guy would actually go and learn martial arts.

However... before she could take more than a few steps, Ash walked forward with a smile, grabbed her by the corner, and roughly pulled her towards him:

"Don't rush off yet. We siblings haven't seen each other in so long, shouldn't we catch up properly?"

"You bastard...! All these years have passed! And you still treat me like this!"

The familiar treatment, which remained vividly in his memory even after hundreds of years, made Aura, whose head had been pulled and whose whole body was tilted to the side, grit his teeth in anger.

The demons behind her tensed up once again, filling the air with a dangerous atmosphere that seemed ready to erupt at any moment.

But... if someone else did this, the proud Aura would definitely do anything to have the Undead Army and his men annihilate them.

When Ash did this, she was surprisingly only dissatisfied and annoyed, but it didn't reach the point of a complete breakdown of her rationality, and she didn't seem to be very angry.

However, she was also very dissatisfied with herself for thinking she could accept this treatment, and even couldn't help but glare at him fiercely from below.

The Burial of Frilian: A Thousand Years Later: Chapter Forty-Three - "A Solid Sibling Bond"

Aura's fierce glare further intensified the tension in the atmosphere.

Even though the atmosphere was already tense enough that the surrounding demons felt they could hardly breathe, she hesitated to give the order to attack.

It was as if this was just a family matter that should be resolved internally by the two of them.

Of course, the demons are all orphans with living parents, so they have no concept of home or relatives. They just watch and wait, completely bewildered.

Even after being separated for so long, Ash was well aware that Aura had actually been holding back when he was fooling around.

After all, if you really wanted to control him, you would normally have to use the Undead Army and your subordinates to wear him down first, and then use the Obedience Magic... This should be the safest approach when facing a formidable enemy.

In the past, Aura would use Obedience Magic to weaken the enemy and ensure her victory.

Therefore, he naturally didn't let Aura embarrass herself in front of others for too long. He released her horns, freeing her, and under her frustrated glare, he smiled and combed her messy hair with his fingers before following her into the castle.

.........................

The castle occupied by Aura once belonged to humans, but now it is hers.

Whether it was found or not, the walls of the audience hall in this ancient castle deep in the mountains and forests were mottled and the ceiling was covered with cobwebs, indicating that it had been abandoned for a long time.

Only the throne where Aura sat was spotless, as if flaunting his power, as if it were brand new.

Of course... before Aura sat down, Ash saw a young demon girl wearing a gray robe and with two small horns wipe the already spotless throne clean before she went up.

"...This really surprises me. You actually adopted a little demon?" Ash sat on the armrest of the throne, curiously looking at the little girl who was now hiding in the corner.

"Ah, Linne? I just happened to see her. She seems to have some potential, so I picked her up." Aura, who was biting into an apple, glanced at the little girl and explained casually, but when she looked at him, she suddenly lost her appetite and threw the apple she had only taken two bites of onto the ground.

This caught Linne's eye, and she dashed out to pick up the apple and started eating it right there.

Seeing how obviously hungry the child looked, he couldn't help but complain, "...Did you mistreat this kid?"

“I have no such strange interest.” Although she didn’t want to get involved, Aura still casually said, “Line, don’t pick up food.”

"...Yes, Lord Aura."

Linne was quite decisive; she casually tossed the apple aside and hid back in the dark corner.

This made him look at her more curiously, but then he remembered his business and looked at Awula again: "Speaking of which, Awula, why are you here?"

"You know about my magic, right? You always need some people to help you subdue the enemy at the beginning, don't you?"

"You've even become one of the Seven Sages of the Seventh Breach, do you really think you'll be loyal to someone else?"

"How could that be?" Aura couldn't help but roll her eyes.

For her, who had no loyalty, the life or death of the Demon King was of no importance, nor was the survival of the Demon Clan. She only registered her name because she saw that the other party was strong.

That's right, she's just a figurehead; otherwise, she wouldn't be in this remote mountain forest.

Although the "Seven Sages" are theoretically elite demons directly under the Demon King, in reality, let alone her.

Even the Seven Sages of the Golden Land, who is second only to the Prime Minister and the Demon King and can be called the strongest, are outwardly said to be the elite demons directly under his command. In reality, however, he does not listen to the Demon King at all, does not participate in the affairs of the Demon King's army, and even tells Shurahat that he has no interest in the Demon King's army.

...Unless Prime Minister Shurahat threatens death, he will temporarily compromise. But it is common for Mahat to kill the Demon King's army. Aura is also too lazy to care about the Demon King's army and humans. He just wants to control whoever comes here.

Even so, they are still one of the Seven Sages of the Demon Realm... not to mention the other demons, it can only be said that Shurahat, who devoted himself to the Demon King, was a very strange exception.

Of course, Aura wasn't interested in other demons either, but she still curiously sized him up:

"Speaking of which, Ash, you suddenly disappeared for over five hundred years, but before you disappeared, you seemed to have become a general among humans?"

"There is such a thing."

"And then? Where did you go?"

"What? You're worried about me?"

Realizing that Aura seemed to have investigated him, he couldn't help but smile and casually ruffle her hair.

But this only earned her a glare from Awula, and the hand that had been on her head was casually slapped away.

Then, Aura grinned mischievously:

"Although I want to say no, thinking about it carefully, it does seem to be true... If you die, who will lick my feet?"

"Uh...should we continue this topic?"

"Isn't this what you came here for?"

"...Stop spouting nonsense you don't even believe yourself, okay?"

He couldn't understand how this guy still remembered this after all these years, which made him wipe the cold sweat from his forehead.

But Aura asked in bewilderment, "Am I being serious? And besides that, I can't think of any other reason why you came to me."

"Are you serious?"

"of course."

"Couldn't it be something like missing someone?"

"Miss you? You haven't been here for so many years?"

"I also have all sorts of things to do."

As the ordeal continued, his stomach began to ache slightly, because... he had almost realized that Aura seemed genuinely serious.

So he decisively stopped pursuing this strange topic and said bluntly, "I'd better just be frank—I want to become the Demon King, so I need your help."

"I see, that's why you came to me." Aura nodded slightly in surprise, then rested her elbow on the other side of the throne armrest, propped her chin on her hand, and looked up at him: "Indeed, my magic is very effective when prepared."