Chapter Summaries

Rewerdi attacked the village, where Genau and Stark had stayed behind to guard it. As Genau revealed his black-gold wings, Rewerdi anticipated defeating the pair and joining You'en to hunt four more First-Class Mages.

• Rewerdi arrived at the village with four longswords and recalled the demons’ plan to split the human defenders.
• Genau identified Rewerdi and warned Stark not to take its sword attacks head-on.
• Stark fought Rewerdi while trying to protect Genau, who said he could handle close combat himself.
• Rewerdi unleashed a powerful slash that shattered the ground, but Genau dodged and flew behind it.
• Genau cast [Magic to Control Black-Gold Wings], and Rewerdi welcomed the prospect of fighting powerful prey.

Genau and Stark fought Rewerdi together, eventually creating an opening by luring him into a failed killing strike and cutting off part of his tail. As Rewerdi revealed that he remembered Genau’s murdered partner, he warned him about checking for survivors and threw a sword toward the supposedly undetected Rienta.

• Genau and Stark attacked Rewerdi in alternating close-quarters assaults, but Rewerdi adapted to their moves and wounded them both.
• Rewerdi knocked Stark into a wall and cut his chest, then pursued him to finish him off as Genau rushed in to help.
• Stark deliberately allowed Rewerdi to strike, creating an opening for Genau to sever part of Rewerdi’s tail while Stark grabbed Rewerdi’s arm.
• Genau and Stark drove Rewerdi back against a wall, where Rewerdi recognized Genau as the partner of a First-Class Mage he had killed.
• Rewerdi told Genau to be more careful when checking for survivors, and Rienta arrived at the village with his mana suppressed.
• Rewerdi threw a longsword toward Rienta’s position near the church, leaving Rienta wondering how Rewerdi had detected him.

Rienta arrived at the church clearing, healed Stark and Genau, and took over their fight against the four-armed demon Rewerdi. After suppressing Rewerdi with a torrent of projected swords, Rienta charged in with overwhelming speed and strength, leaving Rewerdi reeling from the impact.

• Rienta blocked Rewerdi’s flying sword and protected Stark and Genau with [Rho Aias].
• Rienta reached Stark and Genau, healed their wounds, and drove Rewerdi back with [Projection Magic].
• Stark and Genau stepped aside while Genau identified the demon as Rewerdi, a Great Demon known as Divine Skill who specialized in the Four-Sword Style.
• Rienta armed himself with projected swords and the Candle-Clasping Blade, then charged at Rewerdi.
• Rewerdi crossed his swords to block Rienta’s attack, but Rienta’s force sent him flying backward.

Rienta defeated Rewerdi by luring him into a trap and using Intangibility before returning to Stark and Genau. Genau then found Yurius dying beside a weeping boy, and Yurius called him a kind person.

• Rienta deliberately exposed himself to draw Rewerdi into an attack, then used Intangibility and a rapid assault to kill him.
• Rienta returned to Stark and Genau, and Stark praised how cool he had looked.
• Genau searched the village for Demons, found none, and returned to leave with Yurius.
• Genau found Yurius bleeding on the ground beside a weeping boy and tried to stop the wound with his hand.
• Yurius asked if Genau still wanted to save him and told him he was a kind person.

Methode dispersed Hemon’s fog, allowing Fern to kill him with a long-range Demon-Slaying Magic attack, while Methode defeated Liz. After returning to the village and sharing a meal, Frieren’s group prepared to part ways with Genau and Methode, who were heading south with the Norm Knights.

• Methode analyzed the fog and dispersed it with Fog-Dispersing Magic, revealing the moonlit forest.
• Fern used an intense long-range Demon-Slaying Magic attack to kill Hemon, and Methode overwhelmed Liz with Ordinary Offensive Magic.
• Rienta organized a celebratory feast with Stark and Genau after the group returned to the village.
• Methode asked Frieren if she could travel with her after the mission, but Fern reacted with open hostility.
• Genau told the group the Norm Knights had arrived and thanked them for their help before leaving with Methode to head south.

Dunkel set out alone toward the Barrier sealing the Golden Land, while Rienta’s party learned that a village on the Northern Plateau had been attacked by a flight of dragons. Rienta volunteered to subjugate them, but Fern and Stark tried to stop him.

• Dunkel dismissed his knight escort at the forest’s edge and continued on foot, remembering his late wife Lecktirei and his last visit decades earlier.
• Rienta, Frieren, Fern, and Stark arrived at a damaged village where the chief explained that dragons had attacked it.
• Frieren recalled that she and Himmel had once faced a whole flight of dragons, alarming Fern and Stark while Rienta grew excited at the prospect of treasure and magical materials.
• The village chief confirmed the dragons had nested nearby and asked the party to subjugate them.
• Rienta eagerly accepted the request, but Fern and Stark pulled him aside and warned him that confronting a flight of dragons was too dangerous.

Frieren agreed to help the village against a group of dragons after the chief offered a Grimoire as payment. Rienta used Tracking Magic to locate the dragons, and the four set out toward the forest while the chief watched them leave, unsure whether he had done the right thing.

• Frieren told the chief that the village could not be saved and advised the villagers to move, but he said it was their home.
• Fern and Stark persuaded Frieren to accept the commission, and she asked the chief what he could offer as payment.
• The chief offered [Magic That Prevents You from Biting Your Tongue When Saying Tongue Twisters], and Frieren accepted it.
• Rienta used Tracking Magic on the claw marks left on a wall and found the direction the dragons had gone.
• Frieren, Fern, Stark, and Rienta left for the forest as the chief and his grandchildren watched them go.

Rienta and the others reached a canyon filled with dragons and prepared to subjugate them, while Rienta became preoccupied with a familiar palace in the canyon. Stark drew the dragons into battle as Rienta waited for a chance to investigate the building.

• Rienta followed [Tracking Magic] through the forest and mountains until he and Frieren, Fern, and Stark reached the dragons' canyon.
• Frieren judged that the dragons were weaker than the Red Mirror Dragon but could overwhelm the group if they surrounded them, so she planned to draw them together and attack.
• A dragon spotted the group, and Stark charged into the canyon while Rienta used magic to protect him and prepared nearly a thousand blades.
• Stark fought the dragons alone, taking them down with his Poleaxe as Rienta watched for an opportunity to act.
• Rienta focused on the palace-like building in the canyon, which looked familiar to him and seemed like a possible focus of the commission.

Stark, Frieren, Fern, and Rienta defeated a flock of dragons and discovered the palace called Divine Capital Prefecture, where Rienta recognized the Fire Demon, Heiterge. Heiterge trapped them in a dungeon and resurrected the dragons as invulnerable skeletons, then revealed that he knew Rienta understood this was not a game.

• Stark fought off the dragons until Frieren, Fern, and Rienta helped him finish the flock.
• Rienta and the others found the palace bearing the plaque “Divine Capital Prefecture,” and Heiterge emerged from inside.
• Rienta told Frieren, Fern, and Stark what he knew about Divine Capital, then they surrounded Heiterge.
• Heiterge filled the canyon with black flames and announced that the [Fire Demon] limited-time dungeon had begun.
• The black flames resurrected the slain dragons as skeletal monsters, and the group's attacks passed through them without effect.
• Rienta confronted Heiterge and said this was not a game, prompting Heiterge to confirm that Rienta knew the truth.

Rienta and his companions faced Heiterge and a horde of resurrected bone dragons beneath a barrier. After explaining the health bars and assigning roles, Rienta launched a torrent of swords at the enemies while his companions prepared to help.

• Heiterge conjured health bars over himself and the bone dragons, revealing that the dragons had 10,000 health each and he had one million health plus a second bar.
• Rienta asked Frieren to analyze the barrier, and she agreed while secretly studying the black flames that had resurrected the dragons.
• Rienta warned the party not to lower their guard until the dragons' health bars were empty and assigned Stark, Frieren, and Fern roles in the fight.
• Rienta began the battle by unleashing a torrent of projected swords across the canyon, striking the bone dragons and Heiterge's fiery dragon-head defense.
• Stark asked Fern whether all mages could be so powerful, and Frieren explained the conditions that had allowed Rienta to build up his attack.

Rienta and Stark attacked Heiterge after Frieren and Fern destroyed the remaining Bone Dragons, but Heiterge revealed a power that could freeze time and greatly increase his speed. He sent both fighters crashing into the ground and restored his black-flame dragon head, leaving Frieren and Fern facing the renewed threat.

• Rienta’s blade storm devastated the canyon and reduced the Bone Dragons to fewer than ten, but Heiterge healed his wounds and began regenerating his health.
• Rienta charged Heiterge with Stark while Frieren and Fern attacked the remaining Bone Dragons with [Ordinary Offensive Magic].
• Heiterge blocked Rienta and Stark’s attacks, then spoke of the [Rabbit] and froze everyone in the canyon while Rienta’s thoughts remained active.
• After time resumed, Heiterge used the [Rabbit]’s power to kick Rienta and strike Stark with his tail, sending both crashing into the ground.
• Heiterge restored the black-flame dragon head as Frieren and Fern’s spells arrived, and craters formed beside them where Rienta and Stark landed.

Rienta, Stark, Frieren, and Fern regrouped against Heiterge, whose memories as Demon Xiaolong had revealed that he was trapped inside the Fire Demon Dungeon as its boss. Frieren turned the black flames against Heiterge with Hellfire, but overlapping voices challenged her attack.

• Rienta healed himself and Stark after Heiterge sent them flying, and Fern noted that Heiterge seemed to know Rienta well.
• Frieren planned a coordinated attack, with herself and Fern leading while Rienta and Stark moved in close to create openings.
• Heiterge recalled recovering memories of his life as Demon Xiaolong, Honoroy ordering him to establish the Fire Demon Barrier, and Rienta telling him to remain the Dungeon boss.
• Frieren cast Hellfire, transformed the black dragon head into crimson flames, and sent it spiraling toward Heiterge.
• Two overlapping voices from within the flames challenged Frieren, asking whether she dared use fire against the Fire Demon.

Frieren, Fern, Stark, and Rienta attacked Heiterge together, but his health stopped falling and his body began to recover. Rienta suspected Heiterge was entering another form and prepared to use Domain magic, ending with the opening words of a chant.

• Rienta realized Heiterge had two souls, Shendu and Demon Xiao Long, and credited Frieren with exposing the weakness using Hellfire.
• Frieren, Fern, Stark, and Rienta launched a coordinated assault that nearly depleted Heiterge’s health.
• Rienta noticed Heiterge’s health had locked and his damaged body was recovering, so Frieren told Fern to stop attacking.
• Rienta told the others that Heiterge would probably change into another form and said he could handle it.
• Rienta raised a longsword with Telekinesis and began his chant: “I am the bone of my sword.”

Heiterge recalled his death at Qual’s hands and his revival after a mysterious young man asked his name. In the canyon, Rienta’s chant transported him and Heiterge into Rienta’s Domain Magic, where Heiterge asked whether the Hero of the South had sent him.

• Heiterge remembered how Qual’s Man-Killing Magic destroyed his expeditionary force and left him dying before a young man asked his name.
• Rienta activated Magic Array Patterns linked to the swords and blades in the canyon, and he and Heiterge vanished as the black flames and Barrier Magic disappeared.
• Frieren recognized that Rienta had cast Domain Magic and reassured Fern that he was all right.
• Inside the domain, Heiterge and Demon Xiao Long shared their knowledge, and Heiterge asked Rienta who he was and whether the Hero of the South had sent him.

Rienta fought Shendu, who possessed Heiterge, inside his Domain Magic and defeated him. Heiterge's soul was drawn into a Magic Array Pattern, and Rienta returned to Frieren, Fern, and Stark in the canyon.

• Shendu suppressed Heiterge's consciousness and tried to bargain with Rienta, then attacked when Rienta refused to believe him.
• Shendu empowered Heiterge with weakened abilities from the Twelve Talismans, and Rienta realized they resembled his own magic.
• Rienta sent an endless barrage of magically enhanced blades and swords at Heiterge until his soul emerged from the body.
• A Magic Array Pattern sucked in Heiterge's soul, and Rienta dismissed his Domain Magic.
• Rienta rejoined Frieren, Fern, and Stark, and Fern told him not to face such a dangerous enemy alone again.

Rienta and his companions received a Grimoire as a reward after returning safely from defeating the dragons, and Frieren explained why she accepted payment by recalling Himmel’s views on rewards. The chapter then shifted to the Hero Party sheltering from rain, where Himmel realized his journal was missing.

• The village chief welcomed Rienta and his three companions back, relieved that all four had returned and the dragons were defeated.
• The village chief gave Frieren the Grimoire of [Magic That Prevents You from Biting Your Tongue While Saying Tongue Twisters] as their reward.
• On the road, Frieren told Fern and Stark that Himmel had taught her to accept rewards so neither side would owe the other a favor, though she admitted she wanted to try the spell.
• Rienta and Stark argued about whether Rho Aias could protect against dragons after Stark said he would rather have a spell that stopped dragons from biting him.
• At Codoria Lake, the Hero Party waited out heavy rain, and Himmel searched for his missing journal while Frieren, Heiter, and Eisen asked what was wrong.

Rienta and Xierhai spent the week-long blizzard drinking tea and discussing Codoria Lake, which remained unfrozen despite the severe weather. When Frieren’s group returned with groceries, Rienta recited a poem praising the snowfall, leaving Stark and Xierhai confused as the group prepared for him to cook.

• Rienta drank tea with Xierhai and wondered why Codoria Lake had not frozen during the week-long blizzard.
• Frieren suggested that a powerful grimoire might lie beneath the lake, and Rienta considered investigating it when the storm ended.
• Frieren, Fern, and Stark returned with ingredients, and Xierhai explained that his boat could not sail in the storm.
• Rienta stored the ingredients and recited a poem about the snow as an auspicious sight.
• Frieren praised Rienta, while Stark asked what he meant and Rienta prepared to explain the poem.

Rienta and his companions returned to their rented house and learned that the blizzard could keep them stranded by Codoria Lake for months. As they settled in, Rienta served Hot Tea Magic, while Xierhai discovered that his teapot and cup had vanished and rushed after them.

• Rienta and his companions left Xierhai’s lakeside cabin and discussed Codoria Lake’s dangerous weather and the difficulty of crossing it.
• Frieren explained that the group would have to wait months for the blizzard to pass because crossing the lake or mountain ranges was too dangerous.
• Frieren declared that the trading port was perfect for passing the time, then regretted her enthusiasm when Fern gave her a reproachful look.
• Rienta led Fern to the kitchen to prepare dinner, and Stark asked him for four servings of Hot Tea Magic.
• Xierhai found his teapot and After the Rain, the Sky Turns Azure cup missing and hurried toward Rienta’s rented house.

Rienta and Fern prepared experimental dishes while Xierhai came to explain that he had mistaken Rienta’s magical tea set for the valuable set Rienta had mentioned. After Frieren and Stark realized the mix-up, they called Rienta out to face Xierhai.

• Rienta made crab-stuffed oranges, while Fern invented a dish that Rienta recognized as stargazy pie.
• Xierhai nervously visited Frieren and Stark because he feared he could not afford the tea set he thought had been damaged or borrowed.
• Stark served Xierhai tea in the same cup, and Frieren explained that the tea set came from Rienta’s [Hot Tea Magic].
• Xierhai explained his misunderstanding, and Frieren and Stark realized he had mistaken a magical creation for the valuable tea set Rienta had described.
• Frieren called Rienta out of the kitchen, and he emerged holding a spatula, confused to find Xierhai waiting.

Rienta and his companions shared a meal featuring his Crab-Stuffed Orange and Fern’s experimental Stargazy Pie, then spent the winter in Trade Port City. When they prepared to leave after the blizzard ended, Xierhai reminded Rienta about the Abandoned Monastery in Codoria Lake and Himmel’s autobiography.

• Rienta served Crab-Stuffed Orange and Fern’s Stargazy Pie, and the group sampled both dishes during dinner.
• Rienta encouraged Fern to keep improving her Stargazy Pie, while Frieren and Stark ate the rest of the meal.
• Rienta spent the winter developing magic and ice fishing, Stark trained, Fern studied magic, and Frieren bought nearly every Grimoire in Trade Port City.
• After winter ended, Fern led the group to the Lakeside Cottage, where Xierhai agreed to let them set sail.
• Xierhai stopped Rienta and asked whether he remembered the Abandoned Monastery in the lake and Himmel’s autobiography.