[Node 31: Frieren: Beyond Journey's End]
[Spatial anchor deployed. Teleportation ready.]
"Hoh—"
"Commander, didn't expect we'd meet again so soon?"
Shua—
Along with a flash of teleportation light, the two Stellaron Hunters who had been staying within the Xianzhou Delve appeared aboard the Astral Express.
Kafka casually hung her coat on a rack and walked forward with elegant steps, choosing a seat and sitting down.
An unfamiliar universe, unfamiliar people, and the Astral Express crew they had only briefly met before.
"Hmm... considering you two didn't have much to do over there, why not come help out?"
Setsuna snapped his fingers, and an Angeloid presented her with a glass of red wine.
"Oh!"
Silver Wolf blew a bubble beside her and glanced out the window at the scenery.
"This is awesome. Is this a new DLC and a new map?"
"Commander, your game updates pretty fast, huh?"
"If you follow the Astral Express from now on, you'll get new DLC every day. I'm afraid you won't be able to keep up with all the content."
Setsuna laughed.
"So then, Commander, what do you want me to do?"
Kafka crossed her arms, a mature and alluring smile on her face.
After losing Elio's guidance, the Stellaron Hunters had nothing to do, so she and Silver Wolf temporarily followed Setsuna.
They wanted to see where he would lead the fate of the universe.
"Hmm... this mission is simple. Go capture a few people and bring them back."
Setsuna sent her a list through the holographic interface.
"They're demons from this world. They have some research value, and Kiana's group is too busy."
"These ones need to be alive. The rest don't matter."
"Hoh—"
This was the first time Kafka had received a direct order from Setsuna.
She glanced at the mission list. With the guidance of the Sophon, every target's coordinates were precisely marked.
"Is this part of your script, Commander?"
"You can think of it that way. Or just treat it as a mission."
Setsuna couldn't be bothered to correct her habit.
"You're Stellaron Hunters. Taking care of a few demons shouldn't be difficult, right?"
"Mm—"
Kafka briefly scanned the overview of the entire world.
"Demons, magic, heroes... ah, such an ancient and nostalgic theme."
"Domination magic? Interesting. Silver Wolf, let's go take a look."
...
Whoosh—
Northern Lands, at the edge of Graf Granat's domain.
A wasteland far from human settlements—this was demon territory. The surrounding villages had long turned into dead zones, faint black mist lingering in the air.
Even the most experienced adventurers and heroes dared not set foot here.
Within an open-air fortress, a small girl with purple hair and eyes, two horns on her head, and dressed in a dark, tight midriff outfit sat on a chair, gently swirling the wine in her glass as she gazed thoughtfully at the distant town.
Her hair rested over her shoulders, with several small braids tied at the ends. Her appearance was cute, yet her lips often carried a dangerous smile.
In front of her and all around her stood countless armored puppet soldiers.
Their armor gleamed, weapons hung at their waists, and their movements were perfectly synchronized, like an elite medieval army.
The only difference was that none of the soldiers had heads.
Everything above the neck was gone—completely severed—yet this did not affect their actions in the slightest. They continued to stand guard around their master with unwavering diligence.
"Lady Aura, the Northern Lands have come under attack by an unknown force."
A gentleman with horns, golden hair, and blue eyes reported to the girl.
"Two days ago, a large number of angels suddenly descended from the sky, launching massive attacks on the Northern Lands and even the Empire further south."
"They claim to be from the Starsea Empire and intend to conquer the entire world. At present, the Northern Lands' armies have already been defeated."
"Huh?"
Aura froze for a moment.
"Angels? Lügner, are you sure?"
"That's what the common people are saying. I haven't seen them personally."
Lügner replied.
"The Northern Lands have already fallen into complete chaos."
For a medieval feudal regime, Angeloids were undoubtedly a dimensionality-reduction strike.
With only trebuchets, bows, and ballistae, there was no way to mount any meaningful resistance. The nation's military strength could be crushed in an instant.
After that came stabilizing order and reconstructing the administrative system—tasks the Angeloids and Sophons had carried out countless times with great proficiency.
"Hoh..."
Aura fell into thought.
As one of the Seven Sages of Destruction directly under the Demon King, she had led demon forces in a prolonged war against humanity.
She wasn't particularly interested in human civil wars, but for demons, this was a perfect opportunity.
Taking advantage of the chaos, they could invade cities, plunder spoils, behead humans controlled by magic, and expand her undead army.
It wasn't impossible to bring the Northern Lands under her control.
"Let's go. To Graf Granat's domain—the defensive barrier there seems to have weakened."
Aura rose to her feet.
Beside her, several of her executioners responded in unison.
Step, step, step—
The undead army marched in perfect formation, surrounding her as they advanced toward human cities.
Along the way, countless villages and towns fled at the mere sight of them.
The few who resisted—soldiers or otherwise—were either swallowed by the undead army or turned into part of it.
Suddenly—
Whoosh—
Two meteors streaked across the sky.
Boom, boom—
Kafka and Silver Wolf landed not far from the demon army.
"Hmm... Aura and Linie. These two are on the script, right? Alive?"
Kafka turned her head toward Silver Wolf.
Silver Wolf casually pulled up an interface and cross-checked the data.
"That's right, it's them. The others are elsewhere."
"Oh—"
"That's quite a crowd. Then again, they probably can't be called 'people,' can they?"
Kafka glanced curiously at Aura's undead army.
An otherworldly undead legion was something entirely new to her.
"I wonder who's stronger—these things, the Antimatter Legion's Voidrangers, or the IPC's soldiers?"
Pfft—
Silver Wolf suddenly chuckled.
"My bet's on the Voidrangers. But they don't have heads, so they probably can't listen to you anyway."
"???"
Aura looked at the two extraterrestrial visitors in confusion.
"Humans? Heroes? No... who are you...?"
From Kafka and Silver Wolf, she could not sense even the slightest trace of magical power.
Their attire was far too modern, completely out of place in this era.
"Oh? New enemies just spawned? Quite a lot of them."
Silver Wolf clicked her tongue and put on her goggles.
"Undead army plus high-level demons—a classic combo. Experiencing it in person is way more realistic than in a game."
"Huh? What are you talking about?"
Aura snorted...
She raised her hand and pointed forward.
Clack—
Several headless soldiers burst forward at speeds that didn't match their bodies, drawing their swords as they charged at the two.
"That demon is dangerous."
Aboard the Astral Express, Frieren observed the battle from high above.
"Her magical power is immense. She's a great demon who has lived for centuries."
"And those executioners beside her are troublesome as well."
"Oh."
Setsuna almost laughed out loud.
The thousand-year-old granny was still pretending—if Aura's entire group piled together, they probably still wouldn't be enough for her.
"Alright, you don't need to hide your magic power."
"The Starsea Empire doesn't do the whole 'pretend to be weak' thing. When we encounter enemies, we usually just crush them outright."
"Hm?"
Frieren paused, a little surprised.
"You... how do you know? You're not a mage, are you?"
"In the vast universe, there are many things besides magic that can be used."
Setsuna spoke leisurely.
"Watch. See how we efficiently deal with demons."
Clack—
"Haah—"
Kafka smiled as she swept her gaze over the creaking undead army closing in.
There wasn't a trace of tension on her face. Her eyes locked onto Aura within the crowd.
"Come then—let's have a bit of fun for once—"
"After all, anything outside the script is irrelevant."
Swish!!!
She drew two submachine guns from her waist, firing with both hands as she danced gracefully and elegantly through the army of headless soldiers.
Bang bang bang—
At point-blank range, the bullets shredded the puppet soldiers' armor and bodies alike, fragments of metal and flesh scattering everywhere.
Clack!!
The soldiers had just raised their spears and steel swords, yet before they could even reach her, they were torn to pieces.
Kafka weaved and leapt, her feet barely touching the ground as she moved freely, harvesting the undead army at will.
"You bastard!"
Several of Aura's executioners saw Kafka rampaging unchallenged and immediately joined the battle.
"Stop!"
Draht extended thin, pale blue threads of magic from his fingers, attempting to bind Kafka.
Lügner manipulated blood magic, extending streams of blood to track and capture her movements.
"Oh... threads made of magic? Interesting."
The next moment—
Swish—
"Too slow."
Kafka grabbed the magic threads and yanked Draht right in front of her.
Threads sharp enough to slice a human apart failed to harm her in the slightest.
Crack!
With a flourish of her blade, Draht was instantly decapitated.
Leaping into the air, she stepped on a headless soldier's body and casually threw the blade, piercing straight through the gentlemanly demon.
Boom!!
A burst of Imaginary energy erupted, blasting a deep crater into the battlefield.
Snap!
Her purple figure flashed again.
The last remaining executioner, Linie—wearing a formal dress, with pink hair and purple eyes—hadn't even had time to assume a combat stance before Kafka pinned her to the ground with one hand.
The two locked eyes briefly. The teasing glint in Kafka's gaze and the overwhelming aura she radiated were enough to make even a demon feel fear.
"Oh, you're on the Commander's script, so I won't kill you."
Kafka tilted her head, her voice gentle yet devoid of emotion.
"Listen to me. You don't know who you are. Your mind is in complete chaos. From now on, you will only obey me and the Commander."