Chapter 98

Retribution (い) is the ninety-eighth chapter of Kanehito Yamada and Abe Tsukasa's Frieren: Beyond Journey's End.

Plot Details
A young Denken is awakened by Lektüre and apologizes for falling asleep. Lektüre notices his new badge and congratulates him on his promotion. Denken says he will be rewarded enough money for both of them to live comfortably and prevent Lektüre's death, but he suddenly realizes that his modern-day self is dreaming. He tells the Lektüre in his dream that the night he received the badge—the day before he was supposed to head home—he was notified of her death and thus missed his opportunity to see her in her last moments. Denken thanks her for the chance to meet again even if their reunion was through a dream and discloses Macht's victory to her. As he dwells over the difference in skill between himself and his master, Lektüre reminds him that he has never given up despite his many losses against Macht in their past training sessions, which suddenly stirs his memory of a session where he managed to injure Macht.

Back in the present, Frieren dispells Diagoldze and frees Denken, whom she informs that merely an hour has passed. She casts a protection spell to prevent Diagoldze from taking effect, and they search through the gold-transmuted forest. Macht and Solitär quickly discover them despite Frieren's mana concealment, and Macht voices his astonishment over Frieren dispelling Diagoldze and declares that as something he cannot afford to let go. Solitär introduces herself, and Frieren determines that she is a powerful demon on a similar level as Macht.

Solitär points out how quickly Frieren managed to analyze and dispell Diagoldze, which Frieren attributes to a previous encounter she had with Macht six hundred years prior, an event Macht himself does not remember. Frieren explains that a century passed before she was able to restore her right arm, which was transmuted to gold during their battle. Macht realizes that Frieren was attempting to get him to cast Diagoldze during their initial encounter in Weise so she could improve her negation spell, but as he was wary of her, she was unable to provoke him into it and is shocked she would gamble like that. Frieren points out that him being wary of her meant that Diagoldze was not a perfect curse and spells such as Mistilzeila could affect it. As such, through the visualization properties of magic, she could construct the theoretical foundation of a negation spell through his memories, giving her the ability to restore the Golden Land.

Macht and Solitär are subsequently attacked by Frieren's flames, and Solitär suggests Frieren and Denken retreat given their opponents. Frieren rejects this offer, considering the ramifications of letting Macht go free, and Solitär refers to Macht's resolute desire to coexist with humans. Although she acknowledges that Macht is different from other Demons in this sense, Frieren tells him that the only other Demon she met with this wish was the Demon King, and the result of it was the killing of nearly two-thirds of the entire human population during the king's golden era. As such, she wonders to Macht how many more humans will need to die before he achieves his wish. She claims retribution against him, and, reminded of Glück's last words before being transmuted into gold, he welcomes her challenge.

Denken requests that Frieren leave Macht for him to defeat, and she complies, choosing to instead face off against a delighted Solitär.

Characters in Order of Appearance

 * Lektüre
 * Denken
 * Macht
 * Frieren
 * Solitär
 * Serie
 * Demon King
 * Glück