Chapter 31

Chaos Flower is the thirty-first chapter of Yamada Kanehito & Abe Tsukasa's Frieren: Beyond Journey's End.

Summary
Twenty-nine years after the Hero Himmel's passing, Frieren's Party travels through the Laub Hills. Sein is complaining due to the lack of variety in party members. The party soon approaches a village, where they notice the villagers are all sleeping. As Sein examines them, he identifies that the villagers have been cursed by a monster. He asks the party to hurry as the easiest way to dispel the curse is to eliminate it. However, before they leave the village, Stark falls asleep as well, followed by Fern some time later. Sein and Frieren proceed onward, until Sein senses the presence of a monster. Hearing this, Frieren tells Sein to wake her when the monster appears before succumbing to the curse as well. Sein then proceeds to engage in a fight with the monster, a confusion flower that reflects magic. Having trouble against it, he decides to awaken Frieren, trusting in her words that she would defeat the monster, which she proceeds to blast with offensive magic. After awakening, the villagers thank the party, who proceed to head on their way.

Plot Details
Twenty-nine years after the Hero Himmel's passing, Frieren's Party is traveling through the Northern Lands, specifically the Laub Hills. As they journeyed along the road, Sein suddenly remarked that something was missing from their group. Curious, Frieren and Fern tried to guess what it could be, with Fern jokingly suggesting that perhaps it was a thief, as Frieren was known to fall for mimic traps. But Sein's comment was not so easily guessed, as he proclaimed that what they truly lacked was a mature, older woman, as he believed that every party should have at least one. Stark chimed in, pointing out that Frieren was indeed an older woman, but Sein quickly dismissed her as not fitting the bill of a lady. Attempting to steer the conversation away from this uncomfortable topic, Stark pointed out that they were approaching the next village.

As they arrived in the village, they were met with a peculiar sight - everyone seemed to be asleep. Frieren and Sein examined the villagers closely and quickly deduced that a curse had been cast upon them. Stark asked Frieren what a curse was, to which she explained that a curse was a spell employed by a demon or monster that humanity did not yet understand, and could petrify or put people to sleep. She added that they had yet to discover a way to lift them using human techniques, causing Stark to fear that the village was doomed. But Frieren was quick to reassure him that there was still hope, as the 'Magic of the Goddess' used by the priests could lift curses.

As Sein worked to determine the nature of the curse, Stark asked Frieren what made the 'Magic of the Goddess' different from other types of magic. She explained that it was recorded in holy scriptures, and only those in possession of those scriptures could use it. She added that the principles of that magic were barely understood, much like demon magic, and therefore did not appeal to her. She also noted that it was difficult to handle unless one had the 'Blessing of The Goddess', which also made them more resistant to curses. Stark then asked if even she had a hard time defending against curses, to which she replied that mages could not sense them, although she could tell that the village was still being affected by the curse due to the feeling of being attacked.

Sein finished his examination and proclaimed that the curse was rather unique. He suggested that they strike at the source of the curse, since it would be quicker, and revealed that the source was a monster. He had even figured out its location. As they were discussing this, Stark fell victim to the curse. Frieren asked if Sein could lift it, to which he replied that he could only keep Stark awake for 5 seconds.

With no other option, they set off towards the monster, having to carry Stark along the way. Along the way, Fern also fell asleep. Sein and Frieren decided to leave them there, protected by a barrier, and set off towards the monster. Sein said they were close, and Frieren told him to wake her up when the monster appeared. As she fell asleep, she warned Sein not to fight the monster alone and that she would defeat it. Sein doubted her ability to do so in just 5 seconds, adding that he also had offensive magic.

The monster then appeared. Its petals seemed to shimmer like a mirror, reflecting the light in strange ways. It was a Chaos Flower, a monster that put people to sleep and slowly drained their mana, using them as fertilizer. Sein attacked using the spell "Three Spears of the Goddess," and launched it at the creature's core, the weak point of all Chaos Flowers. But to his surprise, the spell was deflected by the mirror-like leaves of the Flower. He realized that if he couldn't strike directly at the core, the creature's leaves would reflect his spells anywhere.

He considered waking up Frieren, but quickly dismissed the idea. Her spells were too powerful a risk to be deflected, and he couldn't communicate with her in the five seconds she would be awake for. He didn't understand what was going on in her mind, and he couldn't trust her to accomplish it. A flashback of Heiter, his mentor, and Warrior Gorilla came to mind. Heiter had always told them that adventurers like them didn't need trust or good communication skills. All they needed was to believe in each other's words. Sein took a deep breath and decided to believe in Frieren. He reawakened Frieren and with a quick gesture, Frieren eliminated the monster with ease.

The villagers, now reawakened, thanked Sein, but he was modest and insisted that he hadn't done anything special. The villagers insisted that they couldn't have asked for a better way to be reawakened. As they continued their journey, Frieren thanked Sein for his trust and told him that the moment she woke up, she knew the monster was the type of demon that could reflect spells. Sein could only respond with amazement at her abilities, to which she replied that it was thanks to him that they had managed to get out alive. She was proud of him. Other than that, Sein couldn't help but think of the beautiful, older villager lady who had thanked him, and they then continued their journey.

Characters in Order of Appearance

 * Sein
 * Frieren
 * Fern
 * Stark
 * Heiter
 * Gorilla

Locations

 * Laub Hill

Battles

 * Sein & Frieren vs. Confusion flower monster

Events

 * Frieren's Party awakens the village under the confusion flower monster's curse

Spells

 * Unnamed magic that levitates objects
 * Unnamed barrier magic
 * Three Spears of the Goddess
 * Uncurse Awakening
 * Offensive magic (possibly Zoltraak)

Chapter Notes

 * Sein has the greatest curse resistance as a priest, followed by Frieren, then Fern, then Stark
 * Mages cannot sense curses
 * Curses must be canceled using rituals and equipment
 * The chapter title was localized from "Confusion Flower" to "Chaos Flower" by Viz Media