Chapter Summaries

At the Ruined King's Tomb, Ton rejected Duncan’s plan to cooperate and several examinees entered separate passages, while Duncan organized the rest into a group. The group entered the far-right passage together, with Sense joining them but refusing to help.

• Duncan proposed that the examinees split up to inspect the labyrinth’s four entrances, but Ton accused him of wanting to use others as expendable scouts and went alone.
• Elder entered the second passage, followed by Adonis, while Lanto took the third passage and Ubel followed him despite his objections.
• Duncan asked the remaining examinees to let him lead; Frieren declined to lead and agreed to help, and the group chose to explore together for safety.
• Sense joined the group, saying she would neither cause trouble nor help, while Rabiñe told Kanne that her brothers’ expedition to the tomb had been canceled and later wiped out.
• Duncan led the group into the far-right entrance, followed by the other examinees, Frieren, Fern, Kanne, Rabiñe, and Sense.

Duncan led the group through the labyrinth, where Frieren identified a trap and the party defeated three gargoyles while he unlocked a stone door. Inside the next area, Duncan stopped when he saw Laufen standing before him.

• Duncan warned the group about a hidden floor trap, and Frieren directed them away from a trapped passage at a three-way junction.
• Duncan examined the magic lock on a stone door as Laufen spotted three gargoyles emerging from the ceiling.
• Laufen, Lichta, Kanne, Rabiñe, Länge, Methode, Bly, Dunster, Fern, Wirbel, and Ehre worked together to defeat the gargoyles.
• Duncan unlocked the stone door, and the group entered the area beyond it.
• Duncan stopped when he saw Laufen standing in front of him.

After defeating a stone replica of Laufen, the group realized that the Ruined King's Tomb’s replication magic could copy more than appearances. Moving walls split the party and forced them into a stone chamber, where a replica of Elder launched a surprise attack.

• The group defeated the stone replica of Laufen, which crumbled into gray powder, and Duncan concluded that the magic had copied her abilities and memories.
• Methode warned that several replicas working together could pose a serious threat, and the passage walls began closing in on the group.
• Duncan and Lichta slowed the walls long enough for the group to retreat into a larger stone chamber, then Lichta escaped as the walls slammed together.
• A stone replica of Elder emerged from the joined rock walls and fired a barrage of mana-reinforced earth and stone into the chamber.
• Duncan, Methode, and Länge raised overlapping barriers as Duncan assigned the others to suppress the replica, protect Edel, and watch for further copies.

Genau explained the Water-Mirror Demon’s ability to create perfect replicas and why the Ruined King’s Tomb was chosen for the exam. After Frieren’s group defeated the replicas of Wirbel, Ehre, and Scharf, Frieren remained troubled, and Fern opened a passage through the wall so they could reach Duncan’s party.

• Genau told Falsh that the Water-Mirror Demon read intruders’ memories and created replicas matching their abilities, and that the labyrinth tested teamwork and self-analysis.
• Frieren’s group defeated the replicas of Wirbel, Ehre, and Scharf, whose skills and fighting styles closely matched the originals.
• Fern noticed Frieren was lost in thought and offered to break through the thick wall separating them from Duncan’s party.
• Frieren agreed, and Fern blasted a clean, person-sized opening through the rock wall.
• The group passed through the opening to meet Duncan and the others while Sense silently watched Frieren.

Frieren's group found that Duncan's party had left the stone chamber and followed them deeper into the labyrinth. As Duncan's party advanced, they discussed the limits of modern magic in confined spaces and the abilities revealed in their fight with the replicas.

• Frieren's group examined the empty chamber, found faint mana traces leading deeper, and followed Duncan's party.
• Duncan said labyrinths restricted modern mages because powerful spells could harm companions or trigger cave-ins, and Lichta stressed the need for a team.
• Duncan asked Edel about her Mental Magic, and she explained that the replica of Elder seemed to have no mind for her voice to affect.
• Laufen noted that Methode's Goddess Magic had healed her, and Methode said her magic might be different from that of other priests.
• Duncan's party continued through the passage in silence.

Duncan’s group was ambushed by the Sense replica, whose mana-infused hair nearly killed Bly and overwhelmed their defenses. After escaping the attack, Duncan decided they would confront Sense and then search for Frieren and the others.

• Sense’s hair struck from above and pierced Bly’s chest before Duncan’s shield stopped the attack.
• Methode failed to heal Bly, so he crushed his bottle and his golem carried him away from the fight.
• Sense’s hair attacked the shield from multiple angles and targeted its weak points, forcing Duncan to plan an escape.
• Duncan coordinated a counterattack with Methode, Länge, and Dunster while Lichta raised a massive rock wall, allowing the group to flee deeper into the labyrinth.
• After the group reached a safe corner, Duncan decided they would face Sense and then find Frieren and the others.

Ubel and the wounded Lanto were trapped in a passage by a duplicate Ubel holding Lanto’s escape-Golem bottle. Ubel left her own bottle with Lanto and charged the duplicate to retrieve his.

• Ubel and Lanto reached a dead end while the duplicate Ubel waited nearby with Lanto’s bottle.
• Lanto reasoned that the duplicate could not talk or smile and was waiting for him to weaken from blood loss.
• Ubel asked whether Lanto was the original, but he gave her no clear answer.
• Ubel offered Lanto her own escape-Golem bottle and told him to wait while she recovered his.
• Ubel rushed at the duplicate, aiming her wand at its throat, and their close combat began.

Ubel fought her replica in the labyrinth passage and let it restrain her until Lanto arrived and broke its line of sight. After learning that Ubel had staged the danger to make him come, Lanto asked whether she could resonate with him, and Ubel led him onward.

• Ubel fought her replica, testing its abilities and looking for an opening to use Gaze Restraint Magic.
• Ubel stopped herself from casting the spell, and the replica immobilized her with Gaze Restraint Magic and aimed its staff at her neck.
• Lanto fired Ordinary Attack Magic at the replica, blocking its view of Ubel long enough for her to break free and destroy it.
• Ubel found that the bottle the replica had held was fake and told Lanto she had expected him to come because he had left her escape-golem bottle untouched.
• Lanto asked if Ubel could now resonate with him, and Ubel smiled and led him deeper into the passage.

After Duncan and his companions defeat the cooperating replicas of Sense and Adonis, they assess the danger and decide to press deeper into the dungeon. Duncan leads the group onward, warning that their next enemies may know their abilities and tactics better than they do.

• Sense and Adonis crumble into ash after Duncan and his companions defeat them, and Duncan notes that the replicas can cooperate.
• Duncan warns the group that the replicas can conceal their mana and urges everyone to watch for ambushes with their eyes and ears as well as their mana sense.
• Laufen asks whether Duncan can continue fighting, and he explains that the battle relied on tactics but admits he is winded from running.
• Duncan decides the group should move deeper into the dungeon before more replicas surround them, and Methode agrees.
• Duncan leads the group into the passage, reminding them to stay alert and trust their companions without relying solely on mana sensing.

In the dungeon, Sense asked Fern why she continued pursuing magic, and Fern said she liked seeing Frieren happy. Frieren was swallowed by a Mimic while pursuing a supposed spellbook, then emerged covered in slime and said she had hardly ever been alone in her thousand years.

• Frieren admired old magical junk while Sense asked Fern why she pursued magic, and Fern said she enjoyed seeing Frieren happy.
• Kanne returned from scouting and reported that she and Rabiñe had found no secret passages.
• Fern detected that the last treasure chest was a Mimic, but Frieren insisted it might contain a rare spellbook and opened it.
• The Mimic swallowed Frieren, and Fern tried unsuccessfully to pull her free before Frieren advised her to push instead.
• The Mimic spat Frieren out, Kanne washed off the slime, and Frieren told Fern she had hardly ever been alone for a thousand years.

The groups continued deeper into the labyrinth after learning that defeated replicas could reappear, while Frieren considered who the labyrinth might be able to replicate. The chapter ended with a presence stirring in a deeper, darker part of the labyrinth.

• Duncan warned that replicas could reappear and urged his group to move faster before they ran out of mana.
• Elder and Adonis continued through another passage, with Adonis sensing faint traces of plant life.
• Lanto and Ubel proceeded through a quiet passage without encountering further danger.
• Fern used a map of the labyrinth to predict that the groups would soon converge near its deepest area.
• Frieren warned that many possible enemies had not appeared and questioned who the labyrinth could replicate, prompting Fern to mention Lord Lowell.
• The groups moved toward the labyrinth’s depths as an unknown presence stirred and sent a tremor through the labyrinth.

Duncan’s group opened the final door of the labyrinth and found a horned figure in black armor sitting on a throne, radiating overwhelming mana. They withdrew and waited for the other teams, while Frieren arrived and confirmed that the figure had appeared.

• Duncan opened the ancient stone door, revealing a vast hall and a horned figure in black armor seated on a throne.
• Lichta questioned why they had sensed no mana before opening the door, and Duncan ordered everyone to retreat from the hall.
• Duncan concluded that the figure had either appeared just before the door opened or was deliberately warning them away, and said it could kill them all if it fought.
• Duncan decided to wait for the other teams and proposed that everyone share their strengths and weaknesses in case they faced clones.
• Frieren’s group and Ubel and Lanto arrived, and Frieren asked whether the figure had appeared; Duncan confirmed that it had.

Lowell joined the examinees and recognized the armored figure in the hall as a copy of his Perfect Warrior magic. Sense refused to pass the examinees, so Lowell reluctantly went to deal with the copy while Frieren prepared to follow alone.

• Lowell arrived and admitted that the armored figure in the hall looked like his Perfect Warrior magic.
• Lowell suggested that Sense pass the examinees because nobody had been hurt, but Sense refused, explaining that other copies would have appeared if he had not been there.
• Sense told Lowell that he had caused the trouble and interfered with her exam.
• Lowell reluctantly volunteered to confront the copy, and Frieren said she would go alone.
• Duncan agreed that the others should stay back and watch for more copies as Lowell approached the throne.

Lowell and Frieren fought the black-armored replica in the hall, with Lowell matching its swordsmanship and Frieren using magic and a frost-parasite magic tool to hinder it. The replica activated glowing red lines across its armor and unleashed a stronger mana presence as Lowell and Frieren prepared to fight more seriously.

• Lowell challenged the throne-bound replica, which vanished into a rapid sword attack and began a close duel with him.
• The replica caught Lowell's sword with its metallic bare hand, and Lowell blasted it with concentrated dark magic, damaging its hand.
• Frieren attacked with Ordinary Attack Magic, then froze the replica's damaged hand with a frost-parasite magic tool.
• Lowell cut the replica's helmet with a flying sword, then met its punch head-on before they exchanged knees and separated.
• Lowell and Frieren agreed to get more serious as the replica activated dark red lines across its armor and its mana grew stronger.

Lowell and Frieren fought the replica of Lowell with an armored stone giant, spells, and coordinated attacks, but the replica survived. After Lowell taunted it, replicas of Frieren and the stone giant appeared, turning the fight into a three-on-three standoff.

• Frieren summoned an Earth Elemental Colossus, and Lowell covered it in black armor to create a Perfect Stone Man Warrior.
• The replica powered itself up and clashed with the armored giant while Frieren disrupted it with spells and Lowell attacked its armor.
• Lowell and Frieren trapped the replica in a coordinated assault, but it escaped at the last moment and remained standing.
• Lowell taunted the battered replica, and a replica of Frieren emerged from the floor and summoned another stone giant.
• The replica of Lowell armored the new giant, leaving both sides with three fighters and prompting Lowell to rue his jinx.

The examinees defeated several clones through coordinated attacks, but Methode warned that more dangerous copies could reappear in the cramped hall. When Sense’s clone attacked Ubel with strands of hair, Ubel asked Duncan to drop her defenses and calmly prepared to counter.

• Lichta, Rabiñe, Kanne, and Wirbel defeated the Rabiñe, Kanne, Ton, and Scharf clones.
• Laufen, Ehre, and Fern destroyed the Methode clone, while Dunster, Lanto, and Scharf defeated the Lichta clone.
• Methode warned Duncan and the others that Sense’s clone, as well as Fern’s and Duncan’s, could reappear without being detected from afar.
• Ubel claimed she could defeat Sense, and Sense’s clone attacked her from the shadows with dozens of hair strands.
• Duncan raised a defensive barrier to block the attack, but Ubel asked him to remove it and said, “Found you.”

Ubel defeated Sense’s replica by cutting through its hair, while Lowell and Frieren battled their replicas in the ruined hall. Elder then emerged from the deepest chamber after killing its guardian, causing the replicas to crumble and ending the battle.

• Ubel cut through Sense’s enchanted hair and destroyed Sense’s replica, surprising Sense and Methode.
• Ubel told Lowell that the replicas avoided damaging the dungeon, and Lowell tested the observation by striking a rock wall; his replica moved to protect it.
• The replicas and their summoned giant suddenly froze and crumbled into gray powder, ending the fighting in the hall.
• Elder emerged from the deepest chamber and said he had killed the guardian inside.
• Lowell realized Elder had reached the goal by sneaking past the battle and praised him for it.

Sense announced that everyone who reached the innermost chamber had passed the second exam. After leaving the labyrinth, Frieren, Lowell, and Fern returned to the inn, where they spent a quiet evening together.

• Sense congratulated the examinees and declared that they had conquered the Ruined King's Tomb and passed the second exam.
• Duncan noticed Frieren trapped in a golden Mimic, and Lowell freed her while Kanne rinsed the slime from her hair and face.
• At the labyrinth entrance, Lichta taunted Ton until Duncan told him to stop, while the Golems treated the examinees' injuries.
• On the walk back to the inn, Frieren encouraged Fern and Lowell reassured her that she had done well in the exam.
• At the inn, Fern helped Frieren wash and dry her hair, while Frieren enjoyed an ice pop from Lowell.

Ruby visited the Continental Magic Association's headquarters in Oysast, where she reunited with Sense, Frieren, Fern, and Lowell. Himmel arrived after sorting out a hot-spring bill that implicated Lowell, then gathered their old companions for a meal at Lowell's expense.

• Ruby affectionately teased Sense, then greeted Lowell, Frieren, and Fern when they entered the reception room.
• Ruby pinched Fern's cheek and called her cute, while Fern remarked that girls in Oysast kept pinching her cheeks.
• Ruby explained that Himmel had been called away over a hot-spring inn bill sent to the North Country Bank, making Frieren and Lowell act suspiciously.
• Himmel returned and confronted Lowell about a black-haired gentleman who had registered under his name.
• Lowell claimed the false registration had helped local tourism, and Himmel accepted the excuse while asking Lowell to treat everyone.
• Himmel called Heiter, Eisen, Millialdai, Levi, Stoltz, and the others into the room, leaving Lowell resigned to paying for the reunion.

The reunited companions shared a lively feast in Oysast and caught up on their lives, from Levi and Stoltz’s work against the remaining Demons to Millialdai’s life as a teacher. Heiter reminisced about Lilisa, while Frieren and the others enjoyed the warm company; the gathering ended with the peaceful night outside.

• Ruby praised Levi for killing five Great Demons alone, and Levi credited the front-line fighters and companions for keeping the battle stable.
• Himmel said Levi had found a way to protect others that suited him, while Lowell toasted Stoltz for his adventures with Wirbel and their work clearing Demon forces.
• Millialdai told Frieren that teaching had given her new meaning as she watched her students grow into capable people.
• Heiter invited Fern to drink, but she refused because she was underage; Eisen backed her up, and Heiter explained that he had resumed drinking since Lilisa left for the Empire.
• Ruby quietly placed food on Sense’s plate as Frieren enjoyed the meal and listened to the others share stories in the peaceful tavern.