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

"...What? Someone I know?"

"I am Joanna!" the old woman said excitedly, clearly thrilled to see someone she knew a thousand years later.

“Joanna… I think I vaguely remember her?… But I don’t think I do?” Ash stared at the white-haired, hunched-over old woman, finding it difficult to recognize her.

“Think about it carefully. I am Lord Vlame’s twenty-sixth disciple! Didn’t you used to sit next to me and listen to my lectures together?”

"...She has so many disciples." Ash remembered her after she said that.

A thousand years ago, Vlamed had many disciples, and Joanna was one of the most talented of them all, surpassing Frilian in her middle age.

Although the two were not very close, they were acquaintances.

Although this truly surprised Ash—he was surprised to see people from a thousand years ago here—he sighed deeply and spread his hands, saying, "And then? You should understand my position. Do you think you can stop me? Or... do you want to end up with an unhappy old age? I personally don't want that."

A flicker of hesitation crossed Joanna's eyes, but it was quickly replaced by determination: "Lord Ash, the Empire has been kind to me, and Lord Vlame once ordered me to protect the Empire. Although I don't know why you're doing this, I can't let you pass. But I can guarantee that if you leave now, I won't pursue you."

"I'll say the same thing to you: I won't chase after you if you want to leave."

"...How could I possibly leave?"

"Since that's the case, then there's nothing more to say. Considering we've known each other, I'll use the magician's method to send you to see Volame."

Since the other party didn't need to back down, he naturally had no reason to back down. His eyes instantly turned cold, and five black-purple orbs of light appeared around him.

This scene prompted the court mages to immediately unleash defensive magic, with the leader shouting a reminder:

"—My lords! This is a murder spell! It has extremely high penetrating power! Please hurry...!"

Before he could finish speaking, five dark beams of light poured out from the sphere of light, striking the translucent blue shields that the court mages had hastily deployed as defensive magic.

boom--!

A deafening roar erupted, and a blinding light burst forth from the point of impact, as if two stars were violently colliding.

The moment the beam of light made contact with the shield, waves surged across the shield, like a boulder being thrown into a calm lake.

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

The dark beams of light pounded against the shield with a frenzied force, wave after wave like a surging tide.

The numerous court mages felt the impact of the attack, which was completely different from ordinary attacks and killing magic, but they could only grit their teeth and let the veins on their foreheads bulge as they tried their best to maintain the shield.

More than thirty court mages, focused solely on defense, found their magical shields crumbling layer by layer at an alarming rate as the beam of light continued to strike, leaving them utterly astonished.

"This...this isn't! This is clearly not a murderous spell! His murderous spell is obviously...!"

Before the mages in the crowd could finish shouting, the leading court mage widened his eyes and roared at the top of his lungs, "—Stop talking nonsense! Increase your magic power! Quickly! Stack more defensive spells!!"

His voice trembled noticeably; in this life-or-death moment, extreme fear had distorted his tone.

The other mages followed suit, uttering shouts that seemed to be meaningless and merely meant to boost morale... but given the current situation, their shouts were filled with panic and helplessness.

The sounds of shattering glass echoed clearly in the hall. The defensive magic, like broken glass, dissipated into countless blue lights and shadows in the air. In just a few breaths, the more than ten layers of combined shields were completely pierced.

The beam of light that broke through the shield still had considerable power, and even galloped like a wild horse. The ancient mages, who reacted extremely quickly, were taken aback, but they instantly unleashed their strongest defensive magic as soon as the shield in front of them was broken.

Some summoned massive rock walls to try and block the beam of light; others used wind magic to try and divert the beam of light; still others manipulated matter to form elemental monsters to block their way.

However, murder magic is revolutionary, and improved murder magic not only has the attribute of countering defensive magic, but also has a stronger penetrating ability.

The several-meter-high rock wall was instantly pierced through like paper in front of the beam of light, turning into dust and scattering. The lava-like elemental bear and the ice giant managed to withstand it with their powerful magic, but even a single beam of light was enough to overwhelm them.

The gale, imbued with immense magical power, could only slightly deflect the beam of light, but could not alter its unbridled sweeping trend. However, a pillar of flame inexplicably appeared, offering a brief resistance.

However, Ash merely narrowed his eyes slightly, and the pillar of light instantly expanded, breaking through all obstacles in an instant. Like the roar of death, it caused the shield-bearing knights in front of him and the court mages protecting the ancient mage to uncontrollably let out sharp screams.

But they could only watch helplessly as the pillar of light annihilated them, their desperate cries of "No—!" piercing the air, yet unable to stop the deadly force.

The mages struck by the beam of light were instantly engulfed, their screams turning from sharp to distorted, as if their throats were being tightly gripped by a pair of invisible hands.

The agonizing screams were interspersed with the sounds of bodies being eroded and destroyed by magic, a truly chilling sight.

Among the dead annihilated by that beam of light, besides the court magicians and knights, there were even four ancient magicians who hadn't had time to escape.

Upon seeing this, the surrounding soldiers and knights rushed forward without regard for anything else, but one of the beams of light instantly swept across the surrounding soldiers.

Before the soldiers could react, their eyes widened in terror, and they cried out in despair, unable to control themselves.

But their screams abruptly stopped in mid-air.

Because most of their bodies, the areas that were touched, vanished without a trace under that terrifying power, like ice melting and snow disappearing.

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

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

The beam of light mercilessly ravaged the hall, tearing the soldiers apart like fragile scarecrows, their blood splattering onto the floor.

Some soldiers tried to defend themselves with their weapons, but the moment the weapons and shields came into contact with the beam of light, no matter what kind of magic was attached to them, they were pierced through just like their bodies.

With a single sweep, hundreds of soldiers were cut in half at the waist. In the hall, where magical light crisscrossed, screams, blood, and entrails filled the air...

And all of this, under Ash's casually waving fingertips, wove together into a tragic song of despair.

The situation was far beyond what was expected, and as Joanna looked at the horrific scene, an overwhelming sense of despair welled up inside her.

Even so, with a solemn expression, she and the two beside her joined hands and raised their wands, creating a huge magical vortex in front of them, attempting to suck the pillar of light into it.

Although the two beams of light that were originally aimed at them were indeed drawn in, they were also constantly impacting the vortex, causing the magic vortex to rotate slower and slower, gradually showing signs of collapse.

The three sensed that the vortex was about to spiral out of control, but they still gritted their teeth and persevered, even though they knew they probably couldn't hold out for long.

Ash watched all this expressionlessly, raising his hands slightly to add three more orbs of light, and continued to manipulate the beams of light to wreak havoc.

His eyes were cold, and he felt no pity. At least in his eyes, those who stood in his way... were not worthy of sympathy.

As time went on, more and more soldiers fell, and the mages gradually became exhausted, plunging the entire hall into chaos and despair.

Under the sweeping beams of murderous magic, human bodies instantly turn to dust. The blood from the remaining severed limbs and fragments still gathers in small puddles on the ground. Combined with the scattered limbs and fragments, it makes one wonder if they are in hell.

The ancient mages, with all their might, once again joined forces to summon an even stronger lava demon than before, which charged forward menacingly, carrying dark red hellfire.

Ash simply flashed forward, instantly appearing in front of the demon. With a wave of his hand, black lightning, along with his palm, slammed directly onto the demon's head, slamming it to the ground, and then kicked it down.

The lava demon exploded with a roar, splashing hot lava all over the ground.

The few retaliatory spells cast by the other mages struck Ash, but without him even needing to defend himself, they were automatically annihilated and distorted before his powerful magical barrier, ultimately disappearing without a trace.

Two more orbs of light appeared beside Ash once again, intensifying the cleaning of the scene, and then slowly walked towards them as before.

This scene caused the already fearful soldiers to completely break down when their despair was shattered once again.

Some soldiers were so frightened that they collapsed to the ground, completely unaware that their pants were soaked with urine. Finally, one soldier was the first to succumb to the pressure, screamed, threw his weapon on the ground, and ran away.

This action was like the first snowflake that triggered an avalanche; more and more soldiers followed suit, and soon, the sounds of soldiers abandoning their armor and weapons filled the air.

Even officers, knights, and mages disregarded their dignity and turned to flee in panic.

...In the chaos, Joanna couldn't see what was happening around her. She only noticed that her colleagues were dwindling, and it seemed that she hadn't truly survived to this day through her own strength.

When Ash's figure was seen again, most people had already fled. Ash suddenly stopped casting his killing magic and instead flashed to their side.

They were so fast that they didn't have time to use magic, and without the protection of most of their melee fighters, they were completely powerless to fight back.

No... given Ash's speed, those melee fighters are completely unreliable.

But he was clearly a mage, so how did he become a warrior? — This was something the ancient mages could never understand.

After all, a mage who wants to reach his level of skill simply doesn't have time to practice martial arts; it's impossible for a human to master both at the same age.

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

Unbeknownst to them, only three ancient mages, seven court mages, and about ten knights remained on their side.

Without exception, as they looked at the boy who was closing in on them in the blink of an eye, their eyes were filled with nothing but fear and despair.

At this critical moment, a few people who had not yet grasped the situation, out of instinct or resentment, even attempted to cast spells and wield longswords.

Ash remained expressionless, letting his long sword trace a cold, sharp arc through the air.

The blade flashed like lightning.

In an instant, several heads flew high into the air, and blood gushed out like a fountain, forming a blood mist in mid-air.

Those mages who were about to cast spells and knights who were about to step forward only had time to utter a short cry of surprise before the light of their magic was extinguished the instant their lives were extinguished, and their longswords fell to the ground.

The headless body, slightly slower, fell straight backward like a felled tree, crashing heavily to the ground and raising a spray of blood, causing the onlookers to instinctively take several steps back in horror.

...Given this situation, even the three ancient mages who were unaware of the circumstances understood that this guy was not only a mage but also a warrior, and a warrior who surpassed the empire's strongest warrior.

The previous magical attack was nothing but an insult to them.

If they had truly attacked in the manner of warriors, there would have been no such brief confrontation... Putting aside everything else, at least the twelve of them would have had absolutely no chance to resist if they were in the same hall with him.

But Ash strolled leisurely to their side, coldly observing the three remaining ancient mages, including the old nobleman he had deliberately kept behind who had initially been making pronouncements.

"The strongest in every era of humankind? Legendary magicians? You? Maybe you could be considered from the mythological age, but you old fogies dare to call yourselves legendary and the strongest? In the end—your era has long since ended! You... are nothing but outdated relics!"

The discrepancy in their intelligence led Ash to a contemptuous smile, a smile that, in the eyes of the mages who had hastily recovered and were unfamiliar with the current magical system and the enemy's situation, appeared like the mockery of a demon.

His voice was cold and calm, yet it pierced the hearts of the magicians like sharp blades.

The old nobleman's eyes widened, but the anger in them had long been replaced by fear. His staff fell to the ground with a clatter, and all traces of his previous arrogance were gone; he even looked somewhat pitiful.

They knew their fate was now in the hands of this...devilish boy, and their former glory and pride were being trampled underfoot.

However... Ash didn't really feel too happy about easily defeating these old fogies who didn't understand the situation and suddenly came to his aid in a battle.

His gaze unconsciously fell on the ground. From the beginning, he had no idea what the magic circle was for, but this time it was clearly not a self-destruction. So what was the magic circle for? Was it just a bluff?

........

.........

Chapter Eighteen: Crushing the Empire's Strongest with Fingertips; The Elf Who Secretly Assisted; The Turn Against and Submission Between King and Minister

Ash wasn't particularly interested in the old antique that had already intimidated him; he just stared at the magic circle, pondering why such a magic circle would be placed in this kind of place.

But if it's spatial magic, directly teleporting oneself out, then maybe... If it were possible, humans would definitely want to do that, but it's impossible.

This point has been mentioned before. Although there are demons who can teleport, there is no qualitative difference between their magic.

Not to mention Vlamé, even Celia doesn't have that... If she did, he would have learned it long ago.