Frieren: Reincarnated As a Demon

Chapter 140: Artificial black hole

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Under normal circumstances, a magician's magic power inherently protects their body, making it nearly impossible for external magic to affect vital functions, such as controlling the blood within them. Only those with extraordinary imagination or immense skill could bypass such defenses.

However, at this moment, Ash's imaginary magic power, with its extraordinary precision, successfully pierced through the protective magic enveloping the cloned body of the young lady.

As Frieren clenched her fist, an abnormal and overwhelming gravitational force twisted the clone's body unnaturally. In an instant, the two halves of the girl's form were crushed and compressed, reducing her to a tightly compacted ball of flesh.

Throughout this horrifying process, Frieren relinquished her cloned magical body, choosing not to resist with her own magic. Instead, she calmly embraced the inevitability of death. In her final moments, she channeled all of her remaining magic into the wand she held in her hand.

As her body disintegrated and death claimed her, the discarded wand began to glow, radiating an intense and ominous light.

"...A desperate attack?" Ash murmured, narrowing his eyes. He caught the attacking hair mid-air, pulling it forward and smashing it into his approaching replica with incredible force.

But just as this series of actions concluded, the ground beneath his feet collapsed, and the glowing wand erupted in a brilliant explosion, releasing an unimaginably intense light.

In an instant, the hall—fortified with powerful magical defenses yet already on the verge of collapse—was utterly engulfed. Even Ash's reconstructed iron wall of magic, designed to shield his body, was instantly expelled.

What kind of magic is this? How have I never encountered it before? Ash's eyes widened slightly, his surprise evident. The sudden dispelling of his defenses left him momentarily taken aback, realizing that this opponent had concealed a devastating trump card.

Although the disruptive force of the wand's explosion was brief, it was enough to create an opportunity—a fleeting window that every magician present, world-class as they were, instantly recognized.

The sacrifice of Frieren's replica had bought a single, priceless moment for all the magicians to strike, even if it meant risking their own lives.

Seizing the chance, they unleashed their ultimate attacks in unison.

A storm of fire, gravitational thunder, and high-energy magical blasts concentrated into spears of hair—now imbued with power so immense they no longer resembled hair—all hurtled toward Ash simultaneously.

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In the trembling, chaotic space, as the combined attacks closed in like streaking beams of light, Ash moved swiftly. Utilizing the opportunity created by Frieren's sacrifice, he launched his own magical counterattack.

Between his hands, as his opponents concentrated on their seemingly fatal assault, a singularity began to form—a gravitational point so dense it resembled a black hole.

With a casual flick, he released the black hole, and the tide of battle shifted in an instant.

The light began to twist and warp as if dragged by an invisible force. A dark vortex formed at the black hole's center, pulling in everything around it.

The moment the black hole fully manifested, it disrupted the gravitational field across the entire chamber. It was as if the end of the world had arrived, with the underground space twisting and warping under its influence.

Everything in the vicinity was drawn into the black hole almost instantaneously.

The first thing affected was the sound itself. Distorted by the black hole's overwhelming pull, the ambient noise turned into an ear-piercing shriek. Even that sound, however, was sucked in, leaving a deafening silence in its wake.

Bricks, stones, magical constructs, and even the walls and ceilings of the underground hall were peeled away layer by layer, collapsing into the void. Nothing could resist the black hole's inexorable suction.

From the smallest dust particles to massive rock walls, everything in the underground chamber was stretched, compressed, and grotesquely deformed under the immense gravity of the black hole. Even the supporting structures of the underground space disintegrated the moment they touched the black hole's edge, as if caught in an invisible crusher that ground them to dust before erasing them completely from existence.

However, the objects weren't merely swallowed. During their destruction, they emitted an eerie, fleeting light, reminiscent of the final shine of a dying star—brief, poignant, and hauntingly beautiful.

All the surrounding building materials were drawn in, creating a calamity far worse than any natural disaster. Fern, who had exhausted all her magic power and anchored her wand into the ground in an attempt to stabilize herself, was unable to resist the pull. She was dragged helplessly into the artificial black hole, vanishing into its void.

Sense's hair was caught as well, but she reacted swiftly, severing her long strands in an instant. The loose hair burrowed deep underground, anchoring itself in a section of compacted rock reinforced with magical defenses. It writhed and rooted like a spider clinging desperately to its web, resisting the black hole's relentless suction.

Denken, using his magic to control the earth and lift the ground beneath him, managed to hold on briefly. But within two seconds, the powerful pull overwhelmed him. He, along with the rock wall he had raised, was drawn into the black hole, disappearing in an instant.

Sense's clone also succumbed to the suction. Despite struggling desperately, it was pulled into the air, its hair peeling away and scattering to the ground in clumps. From a distance, it resembled a massive spider caught in the chaos of a violent storm. Meanwhile, Ash's own clone used gravity magic to counter the pull, managing to resist the black hole for longer.

But neither clone nor magician was spared the barrage of flying debris. As the earth was stripped away and rocks hurtled through the air at high speeds, they battered both Ash and his clone relentlessly.

Then, just as Sense was about to be fully stripped and drawn into the void, the black hole suddenly subsided—or rather, Ash himself dispelled it with a casual wave of his hand.

In the aftermath, the entire underground hall appeared as though it had undergone a cataclysmic rebirth. The once intricate and fortified space was stripped bare, reduced to its most primal state, with only exposed rock remaining.

"What a remarkable feat," Ash muttered, landing lightly on the ground. He nudged a loose rock with the tip of his boot, his face filled with admiration.

Under normal circumstances, the entire dungeon should have been consumed. Yet, when the ancient empire constructed it, they had painstakingly reinforced the external key traps and the deepest sections countless times. These fortifications made the structure extraordinarily resistant to magic.

It was precisely because of this magical reinforcement that the dungeon remained intact. Otherwise, even a Water Mirror Demon wouldn't have been enough to protect it. Countless magicians with mastery over earth magic could have easily bypassed the defenses by tunneling deep into the ground to defeat the demon directly.

But such a feat was impossible. The deepest section of the dungeon was an enormous area, and attempting to breach it with magic was nothing short of a pipe dream.

The effort to construct this place must have required an unimaginable amount of manpower and resources. Even an empire of today couldn't replicate such a feat. Not even Ash, with all his power, could bring himself to completely destroy this ancient treasure.

"You understand, don't you?" he said, his tone calm and devoid of tension or urgency. Even the hostility and malice that had lingered earlier seemed to have thinned. Ash sighed softly, gazing up at his own clone. "To destroy this…"

But before he could finish, the clone acted. Without hesitation, it drew its sword and charged at him again. The silent slash tore through the air, breaking the sound barrier as it hurtled toward Ash with deadly precision.

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Author Note:

Mission: Reach for the Peak

Objective: Reach 1,000 power stones before the end of this week.

Status: Mission Completed.

Reward: 3 chapters a day next week.

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Extra Mission: Power Surge

Objective: For every 400 power stones beyond 1,000, unlock 1 extra chapter.

Current Power Stones: 1270