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

However, the meteorite's falling speed was even faster than their magical speed, even...

The abnormal gravity created by the purple lightning surrounding the meteorite caused spells such as wind blades, fire pillars, and ice cones to have their flight paths distorted or deflected upon entering it, or to be twisted and broken like other intangible spells, making it impossible for them to approach the meteorite itself.

The magic dissipating in the sky even burst forth with dazzling, seven-colored light, like fireworks, and...

Aura, shielded by a large group of undead soldiers, hadn't even seen the outcome she'd been hoping for arrive, but instead discovered...

"It can even turn corners?!"

Not only was her magic deflected, but the meteorite even veered off course at supersonic speed, heading straight for her as she tried to enter the castle, leaving her completely dumbfounded.

She subconsciously gathered magic power between her hands, wanting to take the initiative and attack.

It was just a simple attack that gathered magic power and then launched it. Even for Aura, who already possessed a vast amount of magic power, it was enough to form a powerful blow. But the moment the magic power had just gathered... a dazzling light instantly stole her sight.

Boom——! ! !

With a deafening roar that seemed to shatter the heavens, the area where Aura stood was instantly engulfed by scorching flames and a sandstorm that blotted out the sky.

The earth trembled violently, and the majestic castle behind them seemed to be unable to bear the weight, trembling and emitting a low groan.

The brick road in front of the castle was also torn with dense and intricate cracks under the impact, like a huge spider web spread across the ground.

Immediately afterwards, these cracks seemed to come alive. Driven by the shockwave, they surged and spread outwards like giant waves in a raging sea. Every broken brick and stone turned into a deadly missile, indiscriminately bombarding all directions.

The shield-bearing soldiers guarding Aura were easily torn apart by the "meteorite" as if they were made of paper, and their bodies flew around like scarecrows.

Even the demons who wanted to come to the rescue were unable to advance an inch amidst the raging shockwaves, flames, and shard-like cannonballs; some were even sent flying backward.

Soldiers further away also succumbed to the disaster, many of them collapsing amidst the earth-shaking impact.

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

In the unimaginable impact, Aura, a mage who lacked close combat skills and whose physical abilities were far inferior to those of a warrior, didn't even feel pain.

In the end, all he could see was the approaching fireball, and before the magic could even spread out, he lost consciousness.

If Ash hadn't held back, she would probably have been shattered in the explosion.

When the dust settled, the surrounding demons and undead legions finally saw that their master had fallen beneath Ash in the enormous crater... and had simply passed out.

It was precisely for this reason that the Undead Legion immediately entered standby mode, while the demons, amidst cries of alarm, instinctively ceased all hostile actions.

"Lord Aura... you failed just like that...?"

"As expected of Lord Aura's elder brother...!"

"It's really...unbelievable..."

......

Amidst astonishment and disbelief at reality, the eyes of these disheveled demons were filled with shock, fear, and worship.

Although Ash's abilities were almost completely countered by Aura's, the fact that he was utterly defeated by one of the Seven Sages of Collapse in just one encounter was enough to illustrate the gap between them.

Even now, they can't think of any way to intercept that high-speed "meteorite" in the bizarre space distorted by abnormal gravity.

But even when faced with a monster they absolutely couldn't defeat, they just stood around, looking completely lost.

Although it wasn't just Ash and Aura who used to decide labor allocation based on strength, the demon society was also completely dominated by the strong.

But they are, after all, Aula's subordinates. If they surrender without even waiting for Aula to speak, it will likely cause them considerable trouble later.

However, Ash wasn't very interested in them. He ignored the guys who seemed to want to say something, and just like before, he grabbed Aura's convenient horn, picked up the unconscious guy, and casually hoisted him onto his shoulder before striding into the castle.

He was already looking forward to seeing what kind of interesting expression Aura would have when she woke up.

The Burial of Frilian: A Thousand Years Later: Chapter Forty-Six - Aura's Compromise

The day after the duel.

It wasn't until evening that Aura's consciousness gradually returned. He opened his eyes in a daze, staring at the familiar ceiling and blinking for a while.

It took her quite some time to finally understand the situation and realize her own failure.

"Why...why is it like this...?"

"I'm sorry, but my magic is just right to bypass your swarm tactics."

"Despicable scoundrel...!" The familiar voice from beside the bed made her turn her head instantly to glare at him, her face filled with humiliation and resentment.

Although she knew that she would still lose even if the situation were repeated, she would still feel better if she cursed him first.

Moreover, she was genuinely unwilling to accept it.

Faced with this duel after 500 years, although he had expected an overwhelming situation, it was actually even more overwhelming than he had imagined. However... he was the one who was overwhelmed.

...To be honest, if it weren't for the fact that she still had some pride, such a sudden and complete defeat would make her want to cry right now.

Even though she held back her tears, she was so filled with remorse that she unconsciously started tearing at her blanket on the bed, while glaring at Ash with fierce eyes. The torn blanket in her mouth seemed to be a substitute for him.

This put considerable pressure on Ash, who even worried that he might be bitten. He slightly distanced himself from her before shaking his head with a sigh:

"Are you some kind of spoiled child? Don't you even know the principle of accepting the consequences of a bet?"

"Despicable scoundrel—!!"

"Fine, fine, I am a despicable person." She gritted her teeth and gave a low growl of resentment, just like before, but Ash shrugged indifferently: "Say what you will, but don't forget what you said."

"...What do you want to do?" Although she was very unwilling, she also realized the difference in their strength and was forced to compromise after a long period of contemplation, just like she had done five hundred years ago.

However, even now, she doesn't forget to warn: "Let me make this clear beforehand! If you want to bully me like before, I won't just obediently let you do whatever you want!"

"What kind of person do you take me for?"

"rat."

"Isn't that enough? Besides, wasn't that a fair fight? Where was it despicable?" she retorted casually. To prevent her from arguing back, he slapped her across the face to silence her. "Right now, instead of this, you should come with me first."

“...What is this compared to this!” Aura complained, pushing his hand away, but then sighed deeply as she lay on her side: “I didn’t make things clear before, but let’s make it clearer now.”

"what?"

"Although I also want to be the Demon King, the real troublesome guys aren't just the Demon Kings. The Omniscient Shurahat and the Golden City Mahat are both very troublesome. Even if the two of us go up against each other, we might not be able to win. Do you really think we'll have a chance?"

"...Let's leave Shurahat aside for now. Mahat from the Golden City probably has no interest in these things anyway."

"Really? But besides these, there are quite a few troublesome guys."

"Let's leave that aside for now. We need to make the necessary preparations before things happen."

The demon race is small in number, but its hidden power is vast, and a powerful demon will occasionally emerge. No one knows how many powerful demons are hidden in this world.

Those guys are good at hiding, they're hard to find, even the Demon King might not know where they are.

Moreover, it would be much more convenient and efficient for Aura to directly control the high-ranking humans than to let Aura control the Great Demon Clan.

"Leave your men here, and don't even take the Undead Legion with you to the Empire."

"Empire? Why?"

There is only one empire in this world, and the empire is not only the strongest among the northern nations... but also the strongest nation in the world.

Because that empire was the surviving successor of the great empire that had occupied most of the world a thousand years ago.

Even in this attack by the demons, they were the toughest nut to crack on the front lines.

"...The Empire is a real pain. In fact, if it weren't for the Empire, the Central Continent would have been taken over long ago. You don't mean for me to control that emperor, do you? Don't even think about it. If it were that easy, it would have been taken over long ago." Just thinking about that troublesome Empire made Aura look like she was tired of the idea.

But Ash understood what she meant, even better than she did. Sitting at the desk in the room, he poured himself a glass of water and casually said:

"Indeed, it would be very troublesome if we went in and got surrounded... After all, the Empire inherited too much of Vlame's legacy and developed for a thousand years after that."

"Volameh? Ah~ the progenitor of human magic from the books you read before?"

"...So apart from those great demons, the most troublesome one is the Empire."

Although he hadn't intended to directly confront the Empire, but only planned to do some things first, just thinking about the Empire gave him a headache.

Although it was only a part that survived the siege of other countries around the Great Empire, it was the strongest part, with the capital city at its head, and neither the demons nor the humans could conquer it.

Vlame, with a beautiful vision, spread magic to human society, primarily within the Empire, hoping to make it a beacon of light for humanity... However, the actual situation is somewhat similar, yet also somewhat different.

He was indeed a mainstay in resisting the demons, but it seemed somewhat inappropriate for him to be considered the light of humanity.

According to Ash's knowledge of the future, after the Demon King's death and the Demon race descending into chaos, the Empire, having lost its greatest threat, was prepared to be eliminated, making it the greatest contributor to the world's largest magical civilization and strongest human nation.

Their admirers included Vlamé—whose master was Celia, and his apprentice was Frilian.

Even at that time, Celia emerged after hearing Volame's will. She had been teaching magic to humans for over half a century, and Frilian was one of the heroes who helped them eliminate the Demon King, their greatest threat.

...

...

(P.S.: To avoid being considered out of character, I'd like to clarify that the Empire's assassination operation is the latest plot development in the manga.)

The Burial of Frilian: From a Thousand Years to the Present: A Regular Self-Promotion of an Old Book