Chapter 5

Killing Magic (をす) is the fifth chapter of Yamada Kanehito & Abe Tsukasa's Frieren: Beyond Journey's End.

Summary
Twenty-seven years after the Hero Himmel’s passing, Frieren and Fern are in the Größe Forest. Frieren is training Fern on defensive magic. Defensive magic is powerful, but it burns a lot of mana. It is directly linked to their survival. After training, the Frieren and Fern go to a village where a villager takes them to the place where Qual, the Elder Sage of Corruption, was sealed. Qual is a demon that committed immeasurable atrocities on the land 80 years ago and the Hero’s Party sealed him away. Frieren came to eliminate him as the seal is going to be undone soon. They reach the place and Frieren decides to remove the seal the next day and dispose of Qual. Back at the village inn, Frieren explains to Fern that she sealed Qual because he was too powerful to beat. He developed Zoltraak, the first piercing magic in history, which could pierce all of mankind’s defensive magics. The next day, Frieren undoes Qual’s seal, and he fires Zoltraak at the duo. Fern easily blocks it with her defensive magic, making her comment that Zoltraak was just ordinary offensive magic. Frieren explains that Qual’s magic was overly powerful, but in just a few years after his sealing, Zoltraak was analyzed and mankind was able to develop powerful defensive magics to defend against it. Qual is able to deduce that defensive magic is taxing on one’s mana and fires Zoltraak in different directions at them. However, Fern is still able to defend the duo as she has already witnessed this in training. Frieren fires Zoltraak at Qual, destroying him with his own magic. Frieren and Fern return to the village and the villagers show them their gratitude, and they continue their voyage.

Plot Details
Twenty-seven years after the Hero Himmel’s passing, Frieren and Fern are in the Central Lands, specifically the Größe Forest. Frieren is training Fern on defensive magic.

Fern seems to have gotten used to defensive magic, as she is able to block attacks from the front, so Frieren targets an opening in her defense, attacking her back. To defend that type of attack, Fern puts defensive magic all around her, and Frieren attacks again. After that, Frieren decides to end training.

As they travel, Frieren explains to Fern that defensive magic is powerful, but it burns a lot of mana and that if she continues expanding its size, she will exhaust her mana in a minute or two. Fern states then the correct decision would be to expand it to specific areas the moment she would be hit. They have only been training defensive magic lately as it is directly linked to their survival. This one defensive magic is enough to protect against the majority of offensive magic. Fern is curious about how immensely powerful it is. Frieren asks if Fern read the magic chronicles book she gave her, and tells her that magic is not only about combat.

Frieren and Fern reach the village they were looking for, and a villager recognizes Frieren and leads her to the place where Qual was sealed. Qual is the Elder Sage of Corruption, a demon that committed immeasurable atrocities on the land 80 years ago. The Hero’s Party sealed him away. Frieren asks the villager how he knew about her coming, and he answers that before his passing, Himmel would visit the village once every year to check on the condition of the seal. He also told the villager that Frieren would show up once the seal would be close to breaking. They reach the place where Qual was sealed, and Frieren decides that she will remove the seal the next day and dispose of Qual.

Back at the village inn, Frieren explains to Fern that she sealed Qual away simply because he was too powerful to beat. He was an outstanding sorcerer even amongst the Demon King’s army. He developed Killing Magic, or Zoltraak, the very first piercing magic in history, which could pierce not just all of mankind’s defensive magics but even equipment imbued with magic resistance. Fern asks if he would not be overly powerful then, and Frieren agrees, saying he was, and that is why that power backfired on him. She again states that Fern still hasn’t read the magic chronicles, but lets her sleep instead, as Fern would understand tomorrow anyway.

The next day, Frieren undoes Qual’s seal. Frieren tells him that it has been 80 years, and the Demon King was killed. Qual supposes that he should avenge him, and fires Killing Magic: Zoltraak at the duo. Fern easily blocks it with her defensive magic, surprising Qual and making him remark that it must be a rather advanced technique. Fern is confused, and she states that Zoltraak was just ordinary offensive magic. Frieren explains that Qual’s magic was overly powerful, but in just a few years after his sealing, Zoltraak was analyzed and Killing Magic was incorporated into the magic systems of mankind, and powerful defensive magics were developed from those new defensive techniques. The magic resistance in equipment has remarkably improved as well, and Killing Magic no longer kills. Frieren tries to get Qual to cooperate in order to give him a peaceful death, but he is able to deduce that defensive magic is taxing on one’s mana and fires Zoltraak in different directions at them. However, Fern is still able to defend the duo as she has already witnessed this in training. Frieren fires Zoltraak at Qual, destroying him with his own magic, and he dissolves into black dust.

When the duo returns to the village, the villager thanks Frieren and says they can now live in peace. Frieren notices his hat and seems to remember it from somewhere, and recalls that the old villager was a stupid brat who once flipped up Frieren’s skirt when the Hero’s Party came to the village a long time ago. This angered Himmel, making him say that he always wanted to look under there. Frieren states how he is still alive, and the villager replies that because of Frieren it seems he can live longer and that it was worthwhile to believe in Himmel’s words.

Frieren and Fern continue their voyage, and Fern tells Frieren how she thinks Himmel believed in Frieren, making her smile.

Characters in Order of Appearance

 * Frieren
 * Fern
 * The villager
 * Qual
 * Himmel

Locations

 * Größe Forest

Battles

 * Frieren & Fern vs. Qual

Spells

 * Defensive magic
 * Killing Magic: Zoltraak

Chapter Notes

 * Frieren offers to read the magic chronicles to Fern as her bedtime story, but Fern refuses
 * Himmel used to state how Frieren seemed cold as she never came to check on Qual's seal
 * It is said that in the village's region, 40% of the adventurers and 70% of the sorcerers were killed by Zoltraak
 * It seems time passes similarly for demons as it does for elves, as Qual thought of 80 years as insignificant
 * Defensive magic is designed to align with offensive magic and disperse its might
 * After Qual is defeated, Fern can be seen reading a book, which is speculated to be the magic chronicles Frieren gave her