Frieren: I Reject My Humanity!

Chapter 315 315: Final Battle

"Where am I…"

The moment Fern opened her eyes, she realized she was back inside the Demon King's Castle.

Not only that — every drop of mana she had spent, every ounce of physical exhaustion, even her wounds, had been perfectly restored.

Mr. Heiter? No — Mr. Heiter couldn't have replenished her mana as well, and besides, he had been badly wounded himself by the end.

It had been a brutal, grueling battle. All three of them had been brought to the edge of death, and Rivale's body had been ravaged beyond recognition. Only when she finally saw him beginning to dissolve did Fern allow herself to close her eyes with a quiet, shuddering breath of relief.

"Fern — are you all right?"

At the sound of that familiar voice, Fern spun around at once — and blinked in surprise. Scattered not far from where she stood were a number of faces she knew, lying here and there across the floor.

"Frieren… and Lady Flamme."

The moment she spotted them, the tension in Fern's chest loosened considerably.

"Looks like the three of us were first to wake up… but what's going on with Kraft?" Frieren tilted her head, studying the still-unconscious elven warrior monk with a faint look of puzzlement. "Did Fíliya give him special treatment or something? We fought the Demon King all over again — is there anything harder than that?"

"Fíliya split us apart… placed each of us in a different space and gave us different trials," Fern said slowly.

"That does seem to be the case. There's plenty about that experience I'd love to discuss with you both — but there are more pressing things right now." Flamme glanced around at the people still stirring on the ground.

One by one, others were beginning to wake. Himmel, Eisen, and Heiter pushed themselves upright at almost the same moment. They looked at each other — and all three broke into quiet smiles.

"Eisen… you've gotten so old. Your muscles are nothing like they used to be. Can you even fight anymore?"

Heiter's eyes gleamed with unmistakable mockery.

"When you died, I guarantee you were skinnier than I am now. And where's your wine? Don't tell me you couldn't even get one last drink in before you went."

Eisen shot back without missing a beat.

"To think… we'd be reunited like this." Himmel's expression was deeply moved. He rose to his feet almost immediately and walked over to Frieren's side. "Frieren — do you remember the Hero's Sword?"

"Hm? Of course I do. You couldn't pull it out back then," Frieren answered immediately, a little puzzled as to why Himmel was suddenly bringing up that sword — the one no one had ever managed to draw.

"Well… I was just thinking, maybe you should give it a try. You might be able to pull it out."

"What? I'm a mage. What are you talking about."

Frieren blinked.

"Because the way you fought just now… you looked more like a true Hero than I ever did. You were the one who led us to defeat the Demon King again."

"…I've just had a few extra decades of practice. Magic has advanced by leaps and bounds in that time," Frieren said, turning her head away with an expression that was just slightly flustered.

"Is that so… magic really is something else, isn't it." Himmel nodded to himself, looking thoughtful.

A chorus of coughs cut their conversation short.

"All right — this is the final stretch. Frieren, that goes for you too. Focus." Flamme looked at the two of them with mild exasperation, then reached out and flicked Frieren lightly on the tip of her nose — which had the immediate effect of snapping Frieren back to attention.

"Mm… fair enough. So what do we do now? We've made it out of that space, but… we still haven't been able to reach Fíliya."

"Well — knowing that child's personality, what do you think she'd do?" Flamme asked lightly, tossing the question back to Frieren.

"…Oh… I see."

Frieren's expression shifted to one of quiet understanding. She looked around the room — and when her gaze landed on a certain demon, her brow furrowed at once.

Macht was among those still unconscious. What kind of trial could Fíliya possibly put a demon through…?

Well. Either way, for now — they'd wait for everyone to wake up.

Fíliya was surely waiting for that exact moment, too.

Some time later, every last one of those sleeping figures finally stirred and stood.

After a brief exchange, Frieren noticed something was wrong.

Someone was missing.

Sense… and Edel, the one who specialized in mind-magic.

Why hadn't those two appeared here?

Frieren was deeply puzzled — but she had no more time to dwell on it.

An invisible pressure flooded the entire Demon King's Castle in an instant, making every heart in the room skip half a beat at once.

...…

In a world of absolute darkness, Sense took one look at the figure standing before her and immediately dropped into a combat stance.

"Are you going to try and stop me?"

Sense fixed her cold gaze on Solitär.

"Obviously. I'm not letting you anywhere near her."

Solitär's eyes were equally cold.

"I have to get to her side…"

"Funny — I have to stop you from doing exactly that."

"It seems there's nothing left for us to say to each other."

"There isn't. The first time I laid eyes on you, I knew a moment like this would come. But you've grown considerably stronger since then… is that what comes of taking the God of Magic as your master?"

"…Killing you would probably make Fíliya sad."

"At this point, do you really have the luxury of caring about that? And you'd better pray — that you don't make it too easy for me to kill you."

Solitär bared a cold, fierce grin and launched the first attack.

...Inside the Demon King's Castle.

"Looks like everyone's gathered," Fíliya said — and in an instant, she had appeared on the throne atop the high dais, gazing down at the crowd below with a calm, unhurried expression.

Everyone?

Obviously Sense wasn't here. Was Fíliya doing that deliberately? She couldn't have missed it…

"Fíliya — stop this."

Frieren pushed down the questions rising in her chest and stepped forward, holding Fíliya's gaze directly.

"Oh? Is this your answer?"

Fíliya let out a cold, quiet laugh.

"…No. This isn't an answer to anything. It's a personal request. I know you don't hate this world — and you don't hate humanity either. So please… let it end here. Before things reach a point that can't be undone."

Frieren spoke slowly, steadily — without ever lowering her staff.

Her feelings toward Fíliya were, without question, complicated.

Perhaps not unlike the way Fíliya herself had once defined their relationship.

She and Fíliya were, unmistakably, genuine frenemies.

Frieren was grateful for everything Fíliya had done — whatever her reasons, it was thanks to her that Himmel, Flamme, and Heiter had all been able to return to this world.

But gratitude was gratitude. If Fíliya remained set on this path, Frieren would still throw everything she had into stopping her.

"Awfully bold of you. Do you really think you and I are that close?"

Fíliya rose slowly from the throne, looking down at Frieren with contempt.

"It seems I've wasted far too much pointless mercy — and given you all far too many foolish illusions. Did you think this was just a painless little game of make-believe? How disappointing. Then let me… be the first to shatter those illusions."

The moment the words left Fíliya's mouth, she unleashed a volley of beams — blazing toward several targets in the crowd with terrifying speed.

The attack came with no warning, no windup, no telegraphing — and it genuinely caught Frieren off guard.

Just as Fíliya had said — Frieren had been holding onto illusions. Because up until this very moment, Fíliya had never actually hurt anyone.

But this time… it was different. It felt different.

Ordinary Attack Magic was already the fastest-travelling magic in the modern repertoire. And yet the beams Fíliya had just fired were even faster.

Not enough time…

Frieren could only watch in helpless despair as those attacks closed in.

Just as she'd feared.

Fern — how was that child supposed to react to a surprise attack that even Frieren herself had barely clocked?

The world seemed to slow to a crawl before Frieren's eyes. She could see Flamme moving — and Himmel's reflexes were sharper than hers, already closing in on Fern. But still not fast enough.

Macht?

Frieren's breath caught. The demon she'd been keeping a wary eye on this entire time was actually trying to shield Fern.

Gold Transformation Magic (Di Agolze) was already activating — that was Macht's advantage. His magic, too, required no windup at all.

But it still wasn't going to be enough. The gold had already crept up to Fern's knees, but covering her entire body was still a long way off — and before it could, Fíliya's attack would reach Fern and kill her.

And it wasn't just Fern. There was another girl in the room who had also been marked by Fíliya's strike.

Miss Ehre.

The girl caught in Fíliya's crosshairs wore the same blank, frozen expression on her face.

Naturally. Just as Fíliya had said — everything she had done up to now had given everyone too many illusions. So when the attack came, neither of these two girls had been able to react at all.

So it had all… just been wishful thinking on their part?

Frieren squeezed her eyes shut in despair.

But at that razor-thin instant — a massive surge of mana came crashing into the castle from outside.

This was the first time Frieren had ever witnessed it. Serie — with her power completely unleashed.

The pillar of mana wreathing Serie's body had taken on the density of something physical, its reach extending so far that no edge could be seen.

The two girls who'd been too close for anyone nearby to protect — Serie had saved them both from miles away, without so much as a scratch.

"Oh? The turtle pokes her head out just in time… Serie, did you spend any time studying the gift I sent you?"

Fíliya's lips curved into a faint, mocking smile.

Serie had no interest in conversation. She fired directly at Fíliya — a beam of absolute, world-ending black.

Magic to Disintegrate All Things.

Fíliya managed to dodge the black beam of annihilation — but even watching it from a distance, Serie felt something loosen in her chest. A quiet relief.

At least one thing was now confirmed.

Magic to Disintegrate All Things was an attack that not even the Demon King herself could afford to ignore.

The beam erased Fíliya's throne — and every wall behind it — reducing them all to nothing.

Sunlight poured into the space, and with it, something poured into the hearts of everyone present.

There was no denying it. Serie's arrival had given them all something to hold onto.

"Good… so you've mastered it. That's exactly how it should be. Without a genuine threat, it can't be called a battle."

Fíliya's silhouette reappeared, still looking down at them all from above.

"Then what comes next… is a battle that transcends legend and reaches into myth."

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