Chapter Summaries

Rhode recognized Shulahart as the demon he had defeated two hundred years earlier, but Shulahart escaped through a teleportation gate before Rhode could reach him. Rhode returned to White Castle, where Serie and the Dwarves had finished off the remaining enemies.

• Shulahart recognized Rhode and the Holy Sword Atos, then panicked at the thought that Rhode had survived for two hundred years.
• Shulahart used his mana and a magical artifact to activate a Teleportation Array and escaped just before Rhode's attack struck his cave.
• Rhode saw the spatial fluctuations left by Shulahart's teleportation and chose not to pursue him, suspecting the Land of Ayr and the Light of Ayr were the enemy's true objective.
• Rhode flew back to White Castle and found Serie and the Dwarves victorious, with the Demon Race members and monsters defeated.

Rhode and Serie learned that Shulahart had commanded the Demon Race’s attack to delay them, possibly as part of a scheme targeting the Land of Ayr. They decided to reach the Land of Ayr quickly using Norn’s hidden Teleportation Array and Orge’s scabbard as its power source.

• Rhode told Frieren and Serie that he had failed to catch Shulahart, who had fled after detecting him from afar.
• Rhode suspected Shulahart’s attack and a dark fluctuation were connected to the Land of Ayr, and Serie agreed they should go there immediately.
• Serie revealed that Norn had built a hidden Teleportation Array linked to the royal capital of the Land of Ayr.
• Rhode and Serie agreed to power the array partly with magic stored in Orge’s scabbard and partly with magic supplied by mages hired by White Castle.

As Serie and Rhode prepared an ancient Teleportation Array to reach the Land of Ayr, Frieren realized that her teacher was the legendary God-Slayer Rhode. The array activated successfully, and Rhode, Serie, and Frieren departed White Castle Plaza.

• Rhode coordinated with Barin while Serie used her memories of spatial markers to connect with the ancient Teleportation Array in the Land of Ayr.
• Frieren pieced together the clues and concluded that Teacher Rhode was the legendary Rhode the God-Slayer.
• Serie completed the Magic Circle, and Barin’s hired mages helped supply it with magic power.
• Rhode channeled magic from Orge’s sealed relic core into the array, while he and Serie supplied the remaining power.
• Serie declared the gate stable, and Rhode, Serie, and Frieren stepped through it and vanished from White Castle Plaza.

Graosam tried to seize Holy Sword Ayr’s Light, but its Faith Power violently rejected him. He used Mental Magic to erase Emperor Ayr Fidel’s suspicions and persuaded him to use royal blood to lift the sword’s first seal.

• Graosam entered the underground chamber with Fidel and was pained by the Holy Sword’s Faith Power.
• Graosam reached for Ayr’s Light, and the sword blasted him backward, injuring his arm.
• Graosam concealed the cause of his injury and used Mental Magic to dispel Fidel’s suspicion.
• Graosam asked Fidel to use his blood to lift the sword’s first seal, and Fidel questioned how he knew the royal secret.

Graosam used Fidel’s blood to lift the Holy Sword’s seal and began corrupting it with a dark crystal. Rhode, Serie, and Frieren arrived through the underground Teleportation Array just as the corruption and the sword’s power clashed, leaving Graosam trapped and exposed.

• Graosam had Fidel bleed onto Light of Ayr, weakening the sword’s repulsive force and lifting the seal on its pedestal.
• Graosam pressed the Dark Purple Crystal to the pedestal and sent black vines through the Magic Circle to corrupt the Holy Sword.
• A Teleportation Array opened in the chamber, and Rhode, Serie, and Frieren emerged between Graosam, Fidel, and the sword.
• Graosam recognized Serie and tried to retreat, but the clash between his corrosive mana and the Holy Sword’s energy held him in place.
• Rhode and Serie identified Graosam as a demon, while Frieren raised her wand, and Rhode remarked that they had arrived at just the right time.

Graosam tried to delay Serie and Rhode by revealing that Shulahart had found a successor to the First Demon King, while the Twisted Dark Matter continued corrupting Holy Sword Ayr’s Light. Just as Graosam began describing the coming upheaval, the corruption surged into the sword and it changed.

• Rhode questioned Graosam about the magic covering Holy Sword Ayr’s Light and recognized that the Demon’s bodies dissipated after death because they had lost the gods’ favor.
• Graosam claimed he had information about Shulahart and the new Demon King to keep Rhode from attacking him.
• Graosam revealed that Shulahart had found the First Demon King’s origin essence and used it to identify a powerful successor revered as the new Demon King.
• While Graosam spoke, the Twisted Dark Matter visibly overtook the Holy Sword’s core, and Rhode watched without intervening.
• A roar erupted from Holy Sword Ayr’s Light as the dark matter contracted into the blade, which then changed.

Graosam seized the corrupted Light of Ayr and used its power to overwhelm Serie, but Rhode swiftly severed his arm. Graosam then sent the Holy Sword through a Space Rift to Shulahart, leaving Serie furious and Rhode unmoved.

• Graosam grabbed the corrupted Light of Ayr and absorbed some of its Faith Power.
• Serie attacked Graosam with a Light Lance, but he shattered it with the Holy Sword and forced her back.
• Rhode struck from behind and severed Graosam’s right arm, taking the Holy Sword from his grip.
• Graosam detonated the Corrupted Crystal, creating a shockwave and a Space Rift, then sent the Holy Sword through it.
• Serie fired Light Arrows at the Holy Sword, but Graosam blocked them and the Rift closed; Graosam lay wounded and declared that the Demon King would obtain the sword.

Graosam succeeded in teleporting the corrupted Light of Ayr to Lord Shulahart, but Rhode revealed that the sword still resonated with him and remained protected by a powerful restriction. Serie learned that the demons could eventually break the restriction, though Rhode expected it to take several hundred years.

• Graosam celebrated after Light of Ayr was teleported away, while Serie prepared to kill him.
• Rhode stopped Serie and showed her a thread of magical resonance connecting him to Light of Ayr.
• Serie warned that Shulahart or the new Demon King could gain control of the sword's Faith Power.
• Rhode reminded Serie that he had placed a restriction on Light of Ayr when he enchanted it a thousand years earlier.
• Rhode explained that the demons could break the restriction, but deciphering it would likely take several hundred years.

Rhode explained that the Demon Race could not truly wield the Faith Power in the Light of Ayr and revealed that he had deliberately let them take the Holy Sword to track Shulahart and investigate the Goddess’s power. After Rhode forced Graosam to reveal how Shulahart had fused a fragment from the First Demon King’s Castle into him, Serie killed Graosam.

• Rhode told Serie that the Demon Race could use only a limited, side-effect-ridden version of Faith Power and could never command the Holy Sword’s core.
• Rhode revealed that he had let the Demon Race take the Holy Sword so he could follow them to their lair, find Shulahart, and investigate the familiar power he sensed within it.
• Rhode asked Graosam whether the power in the Holy Sword came from fragments of the Goddess’s power and questioned him about how he had endured Faith Power.
• Rhode attacked Graosam’s mind with Light Arrows until Graosam confessed that Shulahart had fused a fragment found in the First Demon King’s Castle into his body.
• Serie killed Graosam with a Light Lance after Rhode finished questioning him.

After Graosam’s death, Rhode realized Shulahart’s divine-power technique might help him break the limits of his Life Formula, so he let Shulahart escape with the Light of Ayr while the Land of Ayr stabilized. Months later, Rhode and Serie followed their connection to a new Demon King’s Castle in the north.

• Fidel regained his memories of the Holy Sword’s theft and collapsed in despair, while Rhode chose not to pursue Shulahart immediately.
• Rhode concluded that Shulahart had found remnants of Erik’s divine power and developed a way for humans to bear Faith Power, a technique Rhode wanted to study.
• When the Southern Unified Empire invaded again, Serie appeared on the battlefield and forced its forces to withdraw.
• Rhode and Serie left the royal capital without alerting anyone or bringing Frieren, following Rhode’s connection to the Light of Ayr.
• Several months later, Rhode and Serie arrived above a weathered castle protected by a dark-purple magical barrier.

Rhode and Serie discussed how to approach the new Demon King's Castle, deciding against recreating the Celestial Divine Kingdom's attack and preparing to enter by other means. Inside the castle, Shulahart worked to break Rhode's restriction on the Light of Ayr while the Demon Race's leaders gathered nearby.

• Serie urged Rhode to summon the Celestial Divine Kingdom and destroy the new Demon King's Castle, but Rhode explained that the required Faith Power and conditions no longer existed.
• Serie suggested using the Light of Ayr, but Rhode joked that she would have to seize it in front of the Demon Race and warn them not to interfere.
• Rhode drew Orge and began constructing a Teleportation Array, while Serie asked whether its full release could break the castle's Barrier.
• Rhode decided against blasting the castle because he wanted to capture Shulahart alive and learn what he knew about the more powerful Demon King.
• Immortal Beze, Golden Land Mahat, Fenn the Undead, and Rivalai gathered in the castle's Council Chamber while Shulahart tried to break Rhode's restriction on the Light of Ayr.

Shulahart struggled to break the seal on the Light of Ayr while the Demon Race's leaders discussed their campaign against the Elves. He warned Rivalai to halt attacks near the Elf Kingdom and beware of Rhode, unaware that Rhode and Serie were already above them.

• Rivalai questioned Shulahart's claim that the Demon Race could use the Light of Ayr's power, and Shulahart explained that Rhode had sealed away its accumulated Faith Power.
• Immortal Beze and Mahat criticized Shulahart's failure to unlock the sword's deeper power, while Shulahart insisted that its leaking energy remained valuable.
• Rivalai reported that Bazalt's forces had destroyed seventeen Elf villages, and Fenn complained that they had left no intact corpses for his necromancy.
• Shulahart worried that Serie or the surviving human swordsman might discover the attacks, then warned Rivalai to pause operations near the Elf Kingdom until the seal was broken.
• Rivalai agreed to relay Shulahart's order, and Shulahart resumed working on the seal as Rhode and Serie watched from above.

Rhode and Serie stormed the Demon King's Castle to find Shulahart and the Light of Ayr. After breaking through the castle's defenses and cutting through its defenders, they headed toward the center, where Rhode sensed Shulahart and an even greater presence.

• Rhode and Serie detected the Light of Ayr beneath them and charged toward the Demon King's Castle.
• Rhode tore through the castle's magical Barrier, and Serie shattered it completely with a spell.
• The Demon Race attacked, but Serie blocked their magic while Rhode cut through the defenders with Orge.
• Serie froze the Monsters and demons in their path, and Rhode raised vines to cover their retreat as they advanced toward the castle's center.
• Rhode sensed the core of the Light of Ayr and another immense presence, then called out to Shulahart.

Rhode and Serie broke into the Demon Race’s Council Chamber, where Serie faced four Seven Collapse Sages at once. As Serie overwhelmed them, Rhode used Light of Ayr to stop Shulahart, leaving their battle poised to begin.

• Rhode and Serie reached the Council Chamber moments after destroying its Barrier, catching Shulahart and the other demons off guard.
• Mahat, Fenn the Undead, General Rivalai, and Beze recognized Serie’s immense magic power and joined forces against her.
• Serie blocked their combined assault with her Magic Shield and trapped all four beneath a relentless barrage of attacks.
• Rhode confronted Shulahart, who reached for Light of Ayr to gain power.
• Light of Ayr rejected Shulahart under Rhode’s control, freezing him briefly as Rhode began to act with Space Magic.

Rhode cornered Shulahart and demanded the magic that let someone bear Faith Power, but killed him when Shulahart claimed it was sealed. As Rhode and Serie prepared to deal with the remaining demons, a terrifying pressure suddenly descended.

• Rhode teleported beside Shulahart, severed the hand reaching for the Holy Sword, and demanded the magic that let someone bear Faith Power.
• Rivalai attacked Rhode to save Shulahart, but Rhode blocked him with a Magic Shield and sealed himself and Shulahart inside a magic cage.
• Shulahart recognized Rhode as the God-Slayer and claimed he had sealed the magic, so Rhode cut off his head and preserved it with Enchantment Magic.
• Rivalai broke through the cage too late, and the demons in the Council Chamber lost their fighting spirit when they saw Shulahart was dead.
• Rhode joined Serie and asked what to do with the rest, and Serie ordered their deaths before a terrifying pressure descended.

The new Demon King arrived in the Council Chamber and revealed that she had fused with the Goddess of Fertility’s power, recognizing Rhode as a God-Slayer. After she effortlessly broke Serie’s attack, Rhode struck her with Orge, and their clash devastated the chamber.

• The Demon King emerged from a Space Rift, and Rivalai, Beze, Mahat, and Finn bowed to her.
• The Demon King called Rhode a God-Slayer, and Rhode realized she had fused with the Goddess of Fertility’s power and could see events from a thousand years ago.
• The Demon King touched the Light of Ayr and sensed its seal and connection to Rhode.
• Serie attacked the Demon King with Ice Lances, but the Demon King’s shield shattered and assimilated them.
• Rhode unleashed Orge’s god-slaying power at the Demon King, who blocked the strike with a golden Barrier.
• The collision shattered the Council Chamber’s walls and pillars and blew away its dome.

Rhode pierced the Demon King’s wrist with Orge, but her blood threatened to corrupt the sword and her wound healed almost instantly. As Rhode prepared to unleash his full power, the Demon King called for the battle to end, claiming Shulahart’s achievement gave Rhode the key he sought and was useless to her.

• Rhode shattered the Demon King’s barrier and charged through the storm, driving Orge through her wrist.
• The Demon King’s dark golden blood began to assimilate Orge, but Rhode flooded the blade with magic and pulled it free.
• The Demon King’s wrist rapidly healed, and she declared herself a perfect life as Rhode retreated.
• As Rhode prepared another attack, the Demon King told him and Serie to end the fight for the day.
• The Demon King said she knew Rhode sought the formula for the composition of life and that Shulahart’s achievement was useless to her, while Serie insisted the destruction and Shulahart’s death were not enough.

Rhode confronted Demon King Annalise, who hinted at a mysterious connection to the Goddess of Life, and battled her with his full power as Humanity’s First Mage. He stopped his domain before it could consume the corrupted divine aura inside her, then left without learning the truth.

• Annalise gave Rhode Light of Ayr and let him and Serie depart, while the Seven Collapse Sages questioned her decision.
• Rhode turned back and attacked Annalise with his full human magic, beginning a fierce battle that devastated the Demon King's Castle.
• Rhode and Annalise exchanged powerful attacks using space magic and life magic, while Serie kept the Seven Collapse Sages from interfering.
• Rhode trapped Annalise in his light-devouring domain and sensed the corrupted aura of the Goddess of Life within her.
• Rhode withdrew his domain to prevent the divine power from escaping, and Annalise recovered enough to let him and Serie leave.

Annalise ignored the awakened Savior Sword - Esterian and ordered the Seven Collapse Sages to rebuild the Demon King's castle and watch Rhode from a distance. A year later, Frieren and Aila prepared to leave on an adventure, while Rhode urged Frieren to visit elf villages because she might encounter someone important.

• Annalise sensed Esterian awaken in response to the power that had leaked from her battle with Rhode, but dismissed its warning because no one could draw it.
• Annalise appointed Mahat to fill Shulahart's position and ordered Rivalai to observe Rhode and Teacher Serie without making contact.
• Rhode examined Shulahart's head for magical memories while Serie watched Frieren and Aila prepare to depart.
• Serie advised Frieren to stay calm when facing enemies, and Aila agreed to protect her on their journey.
• Rhode suggested Frieren visit elf villages, saying she might encounter unexpected people or events.

Rhode sent Frieren and Aila on a journey, warning Frieren not to let her human life pass by while seeking strength. He then discussed the Demon King and his plan to master Shulahart's magic with Serie, before resting with his head in her lap as she massaged him.

• Rhode urged Frieren to keep her journey to five or ten years and remember to return home, and Frieren agreed.
• After Frieren and Aila departed, Serie asked Rhode about the Demon King, and he described her as a dangerous, corrupted amalgamation whose death might drag the world into the Abyss.
• Rhode told Serie he planned to observe the Demon King and focus on mastering Shulahart's magic, a process that could take a century or longer.
• Rhode said mastering the magic would give him an elf's lifespan and end his need for Reincarnation, delighting Serie.
• When Rhode rubbed his temples, Serie invited him to rest on her lap and gently massaged him, feeling inexplicably flustered.