Frilian: The Adventure of the Hero

A night breeze blew by.

A few wisps of dust rose up on the quiet street.

puff.

The oil lamps in the hotel lobby went out, plunging the surroundings into darkness.

Xia En gripped the hilt of his sword at his waist and slowly backed away, keeping a watchful eye on his surroundings while his mind raced, considering ways to protect himself.

He didn't know who his opponent was, but he knew for sure that they were no good.

The three golden affixes on his forehead had no combat attributes, and his clothes only had a few defensive affixes that increased resistance. As for his pants... well, they were even less useful; the [Automatic Cleaning] and [Constant Temperature] affixes were completely useless.

As for the weapon, Shane glanced at the [Deflection Field] which had already cooled down. This skill could only be used once a day, so he had to be careful.

"Hmm... why is it so dark..."

Frillie's slightly hoarse and indistinct voice came from behind, startling Shane.

The elven girl, with her messy hair, rubbed her eyes and yawned, looking sleepy.

Gurgle.

A distinct growl from her stomach broke the silence. Frillie asked, "Is there anything to eat?"

Xia En thought to herself, "You're finally awake."

Forget about food for now, think about your life first.

A sudden gust of wind gathered on the street, sweeping towards the two of them with a fierce momentum.

"Watch out!" Xia En drew his sword to defend himself.

Unexpectedly, the sleepy-eyed Frillie stretched out her hand and instantly summoned her staff, a pale blue barrier instantly unfolding in front of the two. Layers upon layers of hexagonal defensive spells interlocked, forming a honeycomb-like, impenetrable defensive net.

It is a [defense magic] that can withstand all damage.

Before Xia En could marvel at Frillie's quick reaction, he hurriedly explained the current situation in a few words.

Frillie lowered her head slightly and pondered for a moment. Her [Magic Detection] could not sense the aura of the demon, so the opponent should not be a demon.

The fierce winds that attacked them gathered again in the streets.

Before the opponent could launch an attack, Frillian raised her hand and unleashed a white beam of magic that shot out and instantly pierced the night.

Strangely, after the magic attack dissipated, the streets remained empty.

"Shane, are you afraid of heights?"

"What do you mean...?"

Before she finished speaking, Frilian used her [Flight Magic] to take off into the air, and at the same time, she grabbed Shane's clothes and pulled him into the air as well.

"ah--"

Xia En couldn't help but let out a loud scream; the tension of his feet dangling in the air made it difficult for him to adjust for a moment.

"Hey, hey, that's not an inquiry!"

Frillie ignored Shane's accusations and took Shane to a height that overlooked the entire town.

Under the cover of night, the once bustling town is now pitch black and lifeless.

However, in the forest leading to the Ghost Bunker to the side of the town, there was a row of densely packed black shadows, one after another, moving slowly.

"Found it." After saying that, Frilian grabbed Shane and flew towards the location of the long line of dark figures.

As they got closer, Shane finally realized that they were all residents of the town.

Everyone had their eyes tightly closed, and their limbs moved forward stiffly, like puppets on strings, with black smoke still emanating from their bodies.

"They were controlled."

Upon hearing Frilian's assessment, Shane immediately thought of Aura the Guillotine.

His gaze swept quickly across the surrounding mountains and fields, but he did not see any suspicious figures.

Aura, one of the Seven Sages under the Demon King, wields the Scales of Obedience, which allows him to place his own soul and that of his target on opposite sides of the scales. With his 500 years of demonic power, he overpowers all opponents and tilts the scales.

Finally, he beheaded all his defeated subordinates and turned them into a puppet army that he could control.

It is an extremely unreasonable and powerful demon.

But that doesn't make sense. In order to improve the combat power of the puppet army, Aura likes to "collect" puppets that are all human warriors or generals with considerable strength. When did she start collecting ordinary people?

While Shane was feeling confused, Frilian was also deep in thought.

She had clashed with Aura before and knew her well. The magic she now controlled, which was very similar to, yet distinctly different from, the [Obedience Magic] she possessed.

Instead of making a move rashly, the two quietly descended to the ground and followed at the back of the group.

……

The group stopped in front of the collapsed entrance to the Ghost Bunker.

Driven by an unknown force, they began digging with their bare hands to excavate the entrance to the collapsed mine.

Frilian and Shane exchanged a glance. Shane nodded and stepped forward to protect him, while Frilian stood behind him and began to chant a spell.

This was the solution they had just discussed: Frilian would try to use [Purification Magic] to dispel the control over the town's residents and see if it would be effective.

A magical light flashed on the child closest to them.

The child instantly lost his support and collapsed limply to the ground.

"efficient!"

Xia En was pleasantly surprised.

Before he could even celebrate for long, everyone else stopped what they were doing and turned to look at Shane and Frillie.

Without the slightest pause, those people's bodies suddenly twisted into different shapes and rushed towards Xia En from all angles.

"!"

Xia En was stunned and drew his sword to strike.

But just as the sword was about to be drawn, it suddenly stopped abruptly, because he saw that the person rushing to the front was none other than the infatuated landlady who had always taken good care of him.

He cursed under his breath, then had no choice but to swing his scabbard and strike the landlady hard on the back of the neck, stab her with the knife and scabbard together.

The aggressive proprietress immediately collapsed to the ground, unconscious.

The others were the same; although they were controlled by a mysterious force and their actions were bizarre and distorted, they were still ordinary people, and most of them could be taken down with a single blow.

Behind him, Frilian's [Purification Magic] didn't stop either, and people collapsed to the ground one after another.

Just as Xia En felt a sense of relief, an unusual phenomenon occurred.

The black energy was drawn from the people who had fallen to the ground, and wisps of it rushed toward the empty space in the center, converging into a huge phantom skull.

The phantom's expression was ferocious.

Immediately afterwards, a sharp, hoarse sound, like the howl of a vengeful ghost, resounded through the night sky:

"Damn it, why are you getting in my way!"

With that howl, a fierce gust of wind spewed from the skull's mouth, carrying countless piercing screams, and slashed towards Xia En.

Xia En felt like his eardrums were about to shatter.

Fortunately, Frillie reacted quickly, and with a whoosh, a magical barrier stretched out, firmly protecting Shane.

"Magic! It's magic again! That damned magic!"

Upon seeing Frillian's magic, the skull suddenly flew into a rage for some unknown reason. In the blink of an eye, the entire skull turned blood red and swooped down towards the two of them with a scream.