Serie's hypothesis lightened the atmosphere at the table noticeably.
Watching the legendary Archmage calmly scooping ice cream into her mouth, Miles couldn't help but speak with deep admiration.
"Perhaps only someone with your composure could imagine the possibility of Aura the Guillotine being defeated."
"But we are, after all, ordinary humans. For the sake of survival, and for the families and friends in the city, we must still prepare for the worst-case scenario."
With a sigh, Miles continued, "Tomorrow, I'll head to the lord of the city, Count Granat, and report the quiet state of the demons you've observed. We can't risk a surprise attack that's long been in the making."
"The Aura assault, huh..." Gut tapped his fingers lightly against the table, mulling over the Seven Sages of Destruction member who appeared in the original story.
Aura the Guillotine. Her primary ability is the Obedience Magic invoked through the artifact Scales of Obedience, which lets her dominate the bodies of opponents whose magical power is lower than her own, maintaining control until their bodies completely rot away.
But on the flip side, if her own magical power is less than that of her target, the control reverses—the target gains command over Aura's body instead.
Because of this, it's hard to gain an advantage with numbers. A massive army might even be turned against you, becoming more of a liability than an asset.
To defeat Aura, individual strength is the key.
Either like Frieren or Serie—overwhelming Aura with sheer magical power, rendering her Obedience Magic useless regardless of whether it's cast or not, failure is certain.
Or like Hero Himmel—using absolute physical prowess to strike before Aura can even finish the casting gestures, sword at her throat before the magic completes.
These are the only conventional solutions.
But...
Is there a simpler solution that doesn't rely on overwhelming strength?
There is. Gut could think of only one. Though it's not something they can use just yet.
The solution is a spell called Magic to Purify Puppets Controlled by [Obedience Magic from the Scales of Obedience].
This spell can cleanse the controlled puppet army Aura commands.
Without her puppet army, while Aura is still a formidable mage, she's far from invincible. After all, most of her lifespan has been invested into building up magical power—leaving little time to refine other combat skills.
But while the spell can purify the undead puppets, it's far less effective on living people who are mid-battle and fall under Obedience Magic. Their lives might still be forfeit.
Still, the purification magic casts faster than Obedience Magic, and it's learnable by any human mage—it can be deployed in multiple spots on a battlefield. Unlike Obedience Magic, which only Aura herself can use via her artifact.
It would be a bloody battle, but one humans could win through numbers.
The problem?
The spell doesn't exist—at least not anymore.
Or rather, it once existed in history... but was long forgotten.
Gut only knew about it because of a small detail in the anime.
When Frieren first fought Aura, she ruthlessly bombarded the undead soldiers Aura had reanimated—fallen human warriors—with high-impact area spells. Afterward, Himmel scolded her for her lack of respect toward the dead.
But in their second confrontation, Frieren, now matured, chose to use a more taxing purification magic to free the corpses from Aura's grip out of respect.
This shift in approach reflected both her emotional growth and improvement in technique.
With Frieren's magical reserves, both options were viable. So her initial choice—despite knowing it would anger her companions—implied she simply hadn't learned the purification spell yet.
She later did—thanks to a twist of fate.
During her travels, Frieren returned to Heiter's home to see him in his final days. He, seeking a reason to keep her nearby and to entrust Fern into her care, tasked her with deciphering a magical tome unearthed from the grave of Sage Ewig.
Heiter claimed the tome contained lost necromancy and resurrection spells.
Of course, it didn't.
If Sage Ewig had such spells, he wouldn't be dead.
But Frieren did gain something: the Purification Magic that countered Obedience Magic was indeed hidden within those pages.
Gut thought about this. Their current journey with Serie would ultimately bring them to the Holy Capital—Strahl.
When they got there, he could bring a couple of good bottles and visit Heiter. If the grave hadn't been raided yet, perhaps he could talk Heiter into doing it now.
And once they had the tome, they could leave it with "old lady of the house"—Serie. With her level of expertise, she would probably decipher it faster than Frieren had.
After all, what's considered ancient history to "baby mage" Frieren was just the past to "ancient mage" Serie.
Having laid his plan, Gut turned to Serie to ask for her thoughts.
But just as he opened his mouth, he suddenly remembered something important.
Serie lived through the Mythical Era.
She personally lived through the time when Sage Ewig was active. Unlike the lazy Frieren, Serie had an intense interest in human magical progress.
So maybe... they wouldn't even need to rob Ewig's grave. Serie might already know his research firsthand.
So Gut asked, "Teacher, do you remember the human mage known as Sage Ewig?"
"A little," Serie replied while scooping a different flavor of ice cream. "He was friends with one of my disciples at the time and asked me some questions about soul magic theory."
"Perfect." Gut's eyes lit up.
Looks like one less grave needed digging.
----------
Powerstones?
For 20 advance chapters: patreon.com/michaeltranslates