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

The elderly nobleman, leaning on his cane, walked towards them, braving the shockwaves from the clash of magic.

"Wait a minute, Mahat, are you and your friends planning to tear this down too?"

“How could that be… Lord Gluck, I was merely exchanging pleasantries with a unique and promising junior.” Mahat withdrew his surging magic, then leaned forward and bowed slightly to Ash.

"Let's leave it at that for now... If we make a move now, not only Lord Gluck, but both of your men will suffer."

"Who are you calling a subordinate?!"

Already angry at being looked down upon, the arrogant Aura was now completely enraged and charged forward to challenge him to a duel.

However, Ash grabbed her by the horn and forcibly dragged her back: "Alright, Aura, let's call it a day. Don't we have important business to attend to?"

"...That's true." Aura, with an expression that said "you're lucky," crossed his arms and uttered a harsh statement:

"I'm letting this go today because of Ash! And I also have some important business to attend to, otherwise I would never have let it go like this. But there won't be a next time! If I ever run into you again... be prepared to atone with your death!"

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(P.S.: I recommend the book "Arknights: Jedi Soldier," a fanfiction based on the Arknights series. Those interested can check it out...)

Arknights: Jedi

The Burial of Frilian: A Thousand Years Later: Chapter 85 The Golden City - A Brief Encounter - A Failed Experiment (5K)

Aura's arrogant and ruthless words made even Ash, who was holding her, feel a headache coming on.

After all, the way she said those things sounded like something a petty thug would say that would get chased and beaten up... or maybe it was saying those things that would get her chased and beaten up?

In short, he felt incredibly ashamed and even wanted to pretend he didn't know Aura, while Mahat...

"Quite the pride, huh?" Mahat responded dismissively, completely ignoring the guy who was being dragged away by Ash, who was quickening his pace.

Ash dragged Aura along with unprecedented ease, and Aura's initial resistance was much less than expected.

This made him suddenly realize that this guy was absolutely certain that he would be caught, which was why he was making those threats and acting all arrogant, like he was going to take down the other person in a one-on-one fight.

This inexplicably made him feel a sense of regret, thinking, "I should have known better than to grab her earlier and instead see how things would end up..." He just felt he had grabbed her too early.

"What are you thinking? You have that 'I agree with you' look on your face... By the way, how long are you going to keep holding onto me like that!?"

As soon as Aura, who had been being dragged by his horns, was a certain distance away from Mahat, she couldn't help but slap his hand away and arrogantly said, "If you hadn't stopped me, I would have definitely taught him a lesson!"

"Well, never mind, let's get down to business first."

I thought about not stopping her and encouraging her to try again, but I felt that Awula definitely wouldn't go, and we might even have a fight, which would only cause trouble for me.

So he simply stopped talking and wisely refrained from saying anything more.

Unaware of the truth, Linne clapped her hands and exclaimed expressionlessly, "As expected of Lady Aura, you are truly amazing!"

"Hmph, need I say more? Everyone says he's just lucky."

Aura shook her head smugly and deliberately flicked her ponytail that naturally fell over her shoulder.

This made Ash hesitate for a moment, but in the end he just reached out and rubbed Linne's head before giving up on complaining and going back to the battlefield to do serious business.

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Near the battlefield, far from the former fortress city, lies a high platform created by magic and concealed by illusion.

While Aura was collecting dying soldiers, Ash, who was bored and forced to accompany her, suddenly remembered Mahat's words, "Now is about time," his desire to understand "guilt," and the words and actions of the elderly nobleman he "liked," whom he even called an adult.

This series of events, coupled with Aura's statement upon arriving at the battlefield that Mahat had been serving the city among humans for over 30 years, led him to connect these events and immediately conceive a bold hypothesis.

"Mahat... nothing, running among humans and even serving them, could it be that he wants to..." He muttered to himself, feeling as if he had discovered the root cause of Mahat's strange behavior.

But at that moment, Aura suddenly slapped his thigh, pointed to the soldiers fiercely fighting their opponents in the distance, and excitedly said:

"—Ash! That one's pretty good! I've had high hopes for him for three years. Do you think he'll die? Probably?! I really want to add him to my collection~! His opponent seems evenly matched too, maybe they'll both perish!"

"...When I'm thinking about something important, can you please be quiet and stop bothering me?"

Although he was visibly annoyed, he still followed her hand and looked at the two soldiers charging at the forefront of the battlefield in the distance.

The two were fighting fiercely and were both seriously injured; they might not survive the night.

But he didn't care about any of that right now. While dealing with Aura, his thoughts had already drifted to the city fortress he had passed by earlier.

As night deepened, the chaotic battlefield finally came to a temporary halt, and the two armies returned to a standoff.

However, despite the numerous casualties on the battlefield throughout the day, Awula only carefully selected a dozen or so blood-stained soldiers.

She casually gave them an order to protect her below the platform, and then very casually lay down on the ground... or more accurately, on Ash's lap, who was sitting cross-legged on the ground.

“Lord Ash, I won’t stand on ceremony either.” Lina followed suit and lay down on the other side without any hesitation.

"...You guys are all so willful."

With his left hand touching the girl and his right hand touching the loli, Ash was enjoying the similar yet slightly different feel of the pink hair. However, since the two of them were unable to move, he could only silently close his eyes and train his magic all night, waiting for time to pass.

The following day, just as dawn was breaking.

The two girls were also waking up, stretching. He then used the excuse of having something on his mind to part ways with the two confused girls for the time being... and flew back to the fortress city of Viize.

Because he had roughly figured out the situation, the reason why Mahat served humans and lived with them in that city was clearly because he wanted to know human emotions.

Will Mahathir succeed? After 30 years of painstaking effort, will he finally succeed...? He's really curious.

After all, this is quite relevant to his future plans. In addition, the fact that humans have discovered that he is with the demons is also a potential problem before the plan is implemented.

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

Inside the urban fortress, protected by double walls and numerous towers, the morning air was bustling with activity, and pedestrians came and went in an endless stream.

Ash broke free of the height-restricting barrier and, flying at high speed, quickly spotted the target after passing through the city.

At that moment, the conspicuous demon man, Mahat, was walking with his Lord Gluck, the elderly nobleman with a cigarette in his mouth, on a quiet street in a corner of the city. He quickly landed on the ground in front of the two men.

The sudden appearance of these visitors made the two of them instinctively stop and look up.

At this moment, Gluck smiled at the elderly nobleman with a cigarette in his mouth: "Your friend has come to see you again."

“We wouldn’t call each other friends.” Mahat shook his head slightly, but looked at Ash with a playful smile: “To appear at this time… Did you discover something?”

"Probably, after all, you've revealed quite a bit of information."

"Is that so? Actually, I was planning to do it a while later, but now... it's about time, after all, Lord Gluck is getting old." Mahat smiled at the old man beside him and slowly uttered his farewell whisper:

“Lord Gluck, the time I spent with you was short, but it was priceless to me, so—I have decided to destroy it all with my own hands.”

"As a final remark, it's really cheesy... but I think so too. You're quite the good friend who teases me." Gluck seemed to have anticipated this, showing no fear at the sudden comment. Even when Mahat looked surprised, he laughed:

"What are you surprised about? Mahat, we've been dealing with each other for thirty years. You've been helping me be the executioner in the shadows, helping me gain real power, all for this day, haven't you?"

"...Because killing a friend of many years and the prosperous city I built with my own hands, rather than a stranger, allows me to better understand the concepts of malice and guilt."

Mahat calmly and directly stated his true purpose in serving the city, before turning back to Ash and suggesting, "Could you wait for me for a moment?"

"What are you waiting for? Aren't you already casting the spell?"

Ash, who had been on guard the whole time, took two steps back as he spoke, because—the floor tiles beneath Mahat's feet were rapidly turning gold.

Even the protective spells that automatically appeared beside Ash collapsed almost instantly upon being touched.

This bizarre situation made him react like an ordinary person encountering sulfuric acid, desperately trying to avoid the spreading gold.

But as a nobleman with mediocre strength, even bordering on non-combat ability, Gluck had no intention of running away. He simply stood there, took a deep drag of his cigarette, and looked at Mahat with a smile:

“Mahat, you are an important friend of mine, and just as much of a hopeless scoundrel as I am, so... one day, you will surely get your comeuppance.”

“Is that so?” Mahat nodded slightly, but sensing the killing intent directed at him, Ash, in order to strike first, interrupted their conversation without warning and slapped Mahat with his hand: “For example—like this.”

The lightning, driven by gravity, shot out from his arm.

The ground cracked under the abnormal gravity, but in the blink of an eye, Mahat flung off the cloak draped over his shoulders, which instantly transformed into a wave-shaped golden shield.

Boom! ! !

In an instant, Mahat was knocked back several meters, and the two houses behind him collapsed under the influence of the abnormal gravity wave from the dissipation of the power lightning, kicking up clouds of dust.

However, when the smoke and dust cleared, the thin golden shield remained completely intact.

Even the damaged land was only the part that failed to turn gold; the rest of the area was undamaged, not even a single paving stone was destroyed.

Ash couldn't help but click his tongue in amazement: "This is truly astonishing. These gold pieces are indeed indestructible, just like the rumors suggest. Or is it that my skill is limited?"

"I heard you're also a Great Demon. You're really powerful." Gluck, whose lower body had been turned to gold but had temporarily stopped due to his interference, looked at him curiously and casually said, "But you'd better run away, okay? He's much stronger than you think."

"I think I sensed it, but... you seem pretty relaxed."

"Because I've lived long enough. I was a villain who should have died long ago anyway, so what difference does it make whether I die sooner or later?" Gluck seemed quite indifferent, but he took a couple more puffs of his cigarette during the process.

On the other side, Mahat, who restored his cloak to its original state and transformed it into a golden spear in the next moment, walked unhurriedly towards the two of them, stepping on the ground that was rapidly turning golden:

"Honestly, I don't really understand why you came back... Are you here to die?"

"No, it's just to verify my conjecture, and also to deal with the humans who discovered me with the demons... But judging from the current situation, it doesn't seem like there's any need to take action."