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

A faint sense of sadness gradually melted into the air after the two disappeared, permeating the air around the three of them.

Perhaps they would never see each other again; all three of them inevitably had this thought.

But in this era, it's just a normal thing, and although there's regret... there's nothing we can do about it.

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

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

After bidding farewell to everyone, Ash flew into the clouds, facing the cool morning breeze... The actual direction he headed was completely opposite to what he had told everyone; it was entirely to the north.

He strives for the future, studying magic with corrupt sages in that manipulated kingdom and trying to gather more demons to prepare for what's to come.

After that, during that period of seclusion and spiritual practice, the years flew by in the blink of an eye.

About twenty years passed in the blink of an eye, and he suddenly noticed that a strange organization had appeared in this world—the Continental Magic Association.

The headquarters is located in the Holy Capital, while the branch is located in the second largest city of the kingdom—the magical city of Oisaster.

Because he needed a lot of land and recently wanted to expand further, the local lord, who was under his control, couldn't make up his mind and gave him the application, which is still on his desk.

"...I heard it's an elf? Or rather, Seria? It must be an imposter."

Looking at the application, having heard rumors that the founder was Celia, he couldn't help but wonder if it was Millie, a friend he met in the elven village, or some other elf impersonating her.

My impression is that Millie is proficient in plant magic... although mainly for brewing wine, her magic was already quite powerful a thousand years ago. But thinking about it carefully, Millie clearly has no interest in the world or humans, so it's probably unlikely.

As for Celia, that's even more impossible.

According to Frilian, the will that Vlamour asked her to pass on contained the wish that Celia would come out and teach humanity.

But at that time, the will was almost instantly shattered into pieces by Celie, who scoffed at it.... She rejected it outright a thousand years ago and even tore up her disciple's will, so how could it suddenly reappear now?

It's also impossible for Frilian. She and Celie don't get along, so she wouldn't use Celie's name, much less be the kind of person who would start a sect.

This prompted him, with a mixture of curiosity and a desire to expose the imposter, to personally visit the magical city, wanting to see for himself who the legendary founder of the Continental Magic Association was. However...

As a duke in name only, he entered the Magic Association's reception room as if it were his own territory and kicked the door open without any politeness.

Bang! The large double door, when opened, was already crooked and half-destroyed.

“Let me see—uh? Is it real… really Celia?” Before he could finish speaking, his expression froze.

The Burial of Frilian: A Thousand Years Later: Chapter Sixty - A Master and Disciple Who Exchanged Hearts for Each Other (3K)

In the reception room reserved for Seria at the Continental Magic Association branch, a routine meeting is being held.

But the meeting was only halfway through when the door to the meeting room was kicked open.

When everyone turned to look, the newcomer still had an arrogant expression, as if he was there to challenge them, but... before he could finish speaking, he suddenly stopped.

Because the moment the door was kicked open, the challenger—Ash—saw from afar that at the far end of the room, on a large wooden chair, sat a figure that looked like a child with an ungainly posture—it was clearly Celie herself.

"Huh?" Celia, equally startled by the sound of the door being broken down, looked up and noticed Ash's expression gradually stiffening. Unconsciously, the corners of her mouth curled up into a wide smile: "...Hooray~?"

"—Excuse me, I've entered the wrong room!"

After a brief moment of stunned silence, Ash quickly stepped forward, picked up the broken doorknob, and swiftly pulled it all back and straightened it.

Having completed all of this in one go, he smiled awkwardly yet politely and nodded slightly to everyone in the room: "You can continue, don't worry about me."

As he spoke, while everyone inside was still stunned and hadn't come to their senses, he casually closed the broken door again.

Just as he turned around, breathed a sigh of relief, wiped the cold sweat from his forehead, and was about to leave quickly...

"Where are you going, my good disciple?" His shoulder was suddenly pressed down, and a familiar voice came from very close behind him.

"...Spatial teleportation? That's a bit scary..." Ash sighed softly, then patted his face, trying to calm himself down.

Then he slowly turned around, a smile on his face as if he were seeing her for the first time, and looked at the petite figure floating in mid-air, feigning surprise as he said:

"Oh my! Isn't this my respected master, Celia? How long has it been since we last met? A thousand years, perhaps? I never expected to see you here, what a wonderful coincidence!"

“Tch, what a pretentious guy,” Celia clicked her tongue in disdain.

"Do you think that by pretending you didn't find anything, and that we just met, I'll let you off the hook as if nothing happened?"

"What do you mean by letting go? What kind of relationship do we have?" He tried to talk about their past relationship and play the emotional card.

But this only prompted Celia to coldly reply, "What relationship? A relationship of not seeing each other for a thousand years, what other relationship could it be?"

"Ha, ha...that's really hurtful! I miss you so much, I think about you every day..."

"There hasn't been a single word for a thousand years?"

"...Uh, is that what you're concerned about? That's not like you at all..."

“Indeed.” Celia nodded thoughtfully, causing him to smile as well. “Then! To celebrate our reunion, why not…”

"Don't be so happy yet. Since you're here, you should have been prepared for the consequences, right?"

"...What kind of awareness?"

"In short, let me see what progress you have made in the past thousand years before we talk about compensation."

"Compensation? The gate thing? I... no—wait a minute!"

His smile was frozen as he tried to say something more, but then he saw magic gathering between Celia's hands, which made him break out in a cold sweat.

A terrifying smile spread across the ancient elf's face, and then...

Boom-! ! ! !

The sound of an explosion echoed throughout the Magic Association building.

Ash's figure weaved through the flying flames... He had no intention of fighting at all; he simply wanted to escape first, after all, as long as the green hills remain, there's no fear of running out of firewood.

But the explosions continued one after another, showing no signs of stopping.

"Don't let anyone get hurt, okay? Otherwise... we'll have to keep going."

With the warning ringing in their ears, the entire building was almost instantly destroyed, and the outer wall collapsed as well.

The barrier set up around them offered no resistance and easily succumbed to this terrifying energy.

However, once everything calmed down, the situation at the scene was strangely astonishing.

Even disregarding the smoke and dust, the towering flames reached over a hundred meters high. The impact of this energy should have turned the surrounding area within a few hundred meters into ruins, creating a horrific tragedy.

But in reality, only the interior of the Magic Association was damaged, with no impact on the outside.

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

It is almost impossible for such a terrifying attack to occur within the Continental Magic Association, an authoritative organization that has gained renown throughout the continent in a short period of time.

However... the impossible still happened, and not a single person stood up to stop this tragedy.

No, those who actually have the courage to stand up will probably turn into pieces of meat flying through the air in the next instant.

There are usually quite a few staff members here, but the actual number of deaths is zero.

And only one was injured.

Covered in ash and blood, Ash looked extremely disheveled and was the only victim in this incident.

"...What sins did I commit to deserve coming to this godforsaken place?" he muttered, lifting the wall behind him. He felt that this level of violence was definitely down to the level of torture.

This made him turn around and look at the elf strolling towards him with an air of leisure, and he remarked:

"What are you doing?! There's a limit to everything, you know? If it weren't for me, someone would be dead by now!"

"No one died, right? And I did hold back a bit, so consider this a test for you."

"...Your Magic Association is finished, isn't it?"

"It's alright, isn't it time for you to make compensation?"

"Wait a minute? I only broke one door, right??" A sense of foreboding washed over him in the now partially ruined Magic Association. He glanced warily at the "girl" standing before him: "You wouldn't be thinking of...?"

"It's that...you wouldn't..." Celia's smile was exceptionally bright, making him almost want to curse as he hesitated to speak: "...No, you...I...?!"

"Since it was going to be demolished and expanded anyway, now that you're here, someone will pay for it, right?"

"but....."

"How about you have my position?" Before he could refuse, Celia offered him a huge temptation:

"Although this organization has only been established for a short time, it is considered quite good among human organizations. How about it? Consider it compensation for accidentally injuring you. I wouldn't entrust this hard work to anyone else."

"No, wait a minute, let me sort this out first..."

After being beaten again, the sudden shower of strange gifts left him bewildered. He rubbed his forehead with one hand, remaining silent for a long time before asking suspiciously, "You suddenly turned violent towards me, and now you're giving me so many benefits..."

"Think about it, if I suddenly give it to you, my men definitely won't be obedient to you, right?" Celia spread her hands with a bright smile, looking like she was doing this for your own good, and coaxed you gently:

"Besides, under normal circumstances, why would I want to harm you? Otherwise, how would I demonstrate my abilities and save those people? I'm paving the way for you. Isn't this the master-disciple relationship you've always talked about? — The organization I created will be inherited by you!"

"That can't be right... You just thought it was too much trouble for you, so you wanted to beat me up to vent your anger and dump all the hard work on me, right? And now you're even calling it inheritance?"

Ash gathered his thoughts, wiped the blood and ash from his face, his expression etched with frustration. He even asked, genuinely bewildered:

"You clearly hate doing these troublesome things, so why did you come out? To fulfill your disciple's last wish after 1000 years? When did you become so gentle??"

"Haha, as expected of you, Ash." Celia shook her head and laughed, "Only you dare to speak so recklessly to me."