Frilian: This Demon Isn't So Cold

The following day, a group of boys and girls of different ages were gathered together.

"Today I'm taking you to broaden your horizons and show you what real monsters look like!"

Ahead, Sylvia, acting like a precocious little adult, had become the leader of this group of gifted oddballs despite her mediocre talent.

"So, Professor Sylvie, who is stronger, you or Professor Carlos?" someone asked curiously.

"Of course it's him! I wouldn't dare take you there without him." Sylvia immediately pushed Carlos forward, hiding behind him. "I don't have that kind of ability."

Upon hearing this, the boys and girls laughed, and some even teased the two of them.

"Although this monster is relatively safe, we still can't be careless. We must keep our distance," Sylvia said, ignoring their teasing.

"Understood!" a group of novice mages replied.

"That's what they say, but someone will definitely cause some trouble later," Sylvia whispered to Carlos after seeing their reaction.

"Yes, I'll be careful, but aren't you going to tell me what that monster is?"

"You really didn't know?" Sylvia's small face showed a look of shock.

"How would I know?" Carlos asked her curiously.

"Fine." Sylvia pouted. "I thought you already knew what it was after last night."

"I'm not an encyclopedia, I don't know everything," Carlos said with a hint of helplessness.

"Hmph, you'll see when you get there." Sylvia crossed her arms, then waved her hand at the excited students below, "Let's go!"

"good!"

The group left the city separately, then reunited outside the city and moved towards the mountain road.

"Teacher, what should we do if we can't find the monster?" A student raised his hand and asked politely.

Hearing this question, Sylvia sighed and facepalmed. "I'm asking you, as a mage, what are your basic abilities?"

"Magic detection... Okay, I understand."

The student touched his head, blushing with embarrassment.

In fact, with Sylvia's level of magical perception, she couldn't detect anything either, just like the students. But since there was someone nearby who could sense it, following him was definitely the right thing to do.

On their journey to eliminate the monsters, Sylvia cast a spell on everyone to boost their energy—a goddess-type spell recorded in the sacred texts.

Carlos was surprised, feeling the extra energy in his body; it actually had an effect on him too…

Truly worthy of being called Goddess Magic!

We're almost there.

As noon approached, Sylvia, who was teaching her students a question-and-answer session on the road, suddenly heard Carlos say this, so she stopped and the scene immediately fell silent.

The sound of conversation ceased, and everyone could hear the breathing of others.

For these students who had never actually encountered monsters before, what was about to happen would be their first experience in their lives. No matter how much they pretended to be indifferent beforehand, they would still feel nervous when the moment came.

"They're almost here," Carlos reminded them again, while simultaneously casting a [barrier spell] around the group of students to ensure their safety.

Everyone held their breath.

The sky darkened without anyone noticing, and the bright sunlight seemed to have been blocked out by something, disappearing completely. A chilling, gloomy atmosphere emanated from the surrounding forest.

However, what they saw next was not a monster.

"Mother?"

"dad!"

"grandfather?"

"grandmother!"

Hearing the questioning voices from the group behind him, Carlos couldn't help but twitch his lips.

Is this a meeting of immediate family members? Where are the siblings?

"elder sister?"

"elder brother!"

The chatter of the boys and girls didn't stop; they seemed quite surprised. Weren't they supposed to be looking for monsters? Why were their relatives showing up instead?

"No, it's an illusion!" Finally, someone realized, "This is a monster! It's just disguised as one of our relatives! Think about it, how could they all be here at the same time?!"

“That’s right.” Sylvia looked at the monster that appeared not far in front of her with a gentle expression. “This kind of monster is called ‘Phantom Demon’. It can read our memories and create illusions of the people it cherishes most in order to prey on humans. So as long as you don’t be bewitched by it and keep your distance, you’ll generally be fine. But I really didn’t expect there to be so many around here.”

Even if the phantom ghosts aren't a big threat, the situation is still different if so many of them appear at once.

Fortunately, she had someone next to her who didn't feel any pressure at all.

"What did you see?" Sylvia asked nervously, her voice sounding a little unnatural.

This was her most important purpose in coming here; eliminating the monsters was secondary.

"I didn't see anything, just a group of long-haired monsters with their faces covered, surrounding us."

Since the monsters didn't choose to attack directly, Carlos also resisted the urge to annihilate them outright and patiently answered Sylvia's questions.

"How is that possible?" Sylvia was initially incredulous, then quickly realized, "Wait, do you have some kind of mental defense that prevents you from seeing it?"

"That might be the reason, but haven't you considered another factor?"

"What?"

"We have too many of us, and not enough monsters." Carlos checked the numbers again. "There are seven Phantom Ghosts in total, which corresponds to all of you except for me. So, what else do you think I can see?"

"That's true..." Sylvia was briefly convinced by him, then suddenly realized, "No, even so, what you saw should have been a monster disguised as a human, not the monster's true form?"

"Actually, I saw that too, but I didn't pay attention to them; I focused on the main body," Carlos continued to explain.

"...Okay." Sylvia was disappointed; her most important goal had not been achieved, and her voice became less lively as a result.

"Can we eliminate them now?" Carlos asked tentatively.

"Hmm, but let them see what the monster looks like first," Sylvia said, perking up. "So they don't think all monsters look so friendly."

"Okay." Carlos nodded in agreement.

The next second, Carlos unleashed his suppressed magic power, and the powerful magic began to emanate from his body. As a result, the immense pressure brought by this magic instantly dispelled the dark clouds that had been hanging over everyone.

As the dark clouds dissipated, the true appearance of the phantom ghost appeared above the illusion. Its enormous size, compared to that of a human, startled the group, causing them to fall to the ground with a thud.

The idea of ​​testing the waters with the attack magic he had just learned vanished at that moment.

Normally, when humans encounter tall adventurers, they can't help but feel inferior. But now, how can the size of a monster be described simply as tall?

"That's enough." Sylvia smiled slightly when she saw their appearance, and the seven phantom ghosts that had been surrounding them turned and ran away almost at the same time after sensing the magical energy emanating from Carlos.

But can they escape?

Carlos effortlessly dealt with six of them. When chasing the last Phantom Ghost that had already run a short distance away, he hesitated for a moment before dispelling the mental defenses he had set up.

He was very interested in this kind of monster called the Phantom Ghost. Since it was said that it could create illusions of the person he cherished most after reading his memories, he decided to come and see for himself.

Moreover, like humans, monsters have a strong desire to survive. Now that its six companions are dead, the remaining one must have reached the peak of its will to survive. Since it has already lowered its defenses, there is no reason for it not to take advantage of this to make a final, desperate struggle.

"..."

"..."

As the magic dissipated, Carlos stood beside the last Phantom Ghost that had been destroyed, his eyes slightly lowered, filled with indifferent calm.

Light and darkness separated them. In front of them, sunlight shone through the gaps in the leaves onto the phantom ghost, leaving behind fragmented light and shadow. The monster's body had just been blasted open, and now the opening was constantly widening, gradually turning into pure magic and dissipating into the air.

Carlos stood there watching it for a while, until the phantom's body completely disappeared, before turning back to the group.