Chapter 93

Great Barrier is the ninety-third chapter of Yamada Kanehito & Abe Tsukasa's Frieren: Beyond Journey's End.

Summary
A dejected Macht sat inside the destroyed Fortified City of Weise and lamented his failure to feel new emotions. Before he could proceed to leave the city, however, Serie appeared behind him and demanded he return the city back to normal or be killed. It turned out that Macht could not return the city back to normal, which Serie took note and concluded it was because Macht was a monster who could not understand humankind and thus could not construct a visualization of himself returning people back from gold. Enraged at her provocation, Macht attempted to use his magic on her, but it was reflected back onto his own body, making the demon take a step back.

When asked about her identity, Serie introduced herself as a Great Mage who had lived for so long that even the demons had forgotten the fear she brought. Macht, realizing that the enemy was different than everyone else he had fought, dispelled the curse applied on himself and engaged in battle. They fought for a while, where Serie effectively neutralized all of Macht's attacks, taunting the demon in the meantime to his chagrin. In the midst of their confrontation, Lernen and another first-class mage intervened, temporarily containing Macht in a magic prison. Lernen appealed to Serie to leave the demon alive until they could find a method to return Weise to normal. He proposed that the First-class mages would seal Macht inside a barrier until a solution could be found, Serie acceded to his proposal after some persistence, and Macht was thus sealed inside the Fortified City of Weise.

Macht's memories concluded as Frieren and Denken finished analyzing his memories. Due to the process taking up too much of her mana, Frieren could not move afterwards and relied on Fern for help. At the same time, Solitär showed up at the Great Barrier of El Dorado and began to break it down.

Plot Details
Macht appeared to have remained inside the Fortified City of Weise several days after bringing about its destruction, to the point of losing track of how many days had passed. He lamented the fact that he still remained alive in spite of the Stone Bracelet of Sovereignty's command, thus having failed to gain any new emotions. The demon told himself that he could not stay inside Weise forever and decided to leave, yet still clinging to the feeling that he had been able to grasp something back when he decided to destroy the city. He resolved to move on and make it work for the next time, but Serie showed up behind him, declaring that there would be no next time for him and demanded he return everything to normal.

Macht was caught off-guarded, not able to detect her mana until she declared her presence, and asked who she was. Serie restated her demand, saying that a demon should not risk his life for it. When Macht still did not return the city to normal, Serie smirked. It turned out that Macht himself could not revert his magic on people. Serie explained that magic is the world of visualization. As such, transmuting people into gold is not equivalent to recreating people from gold. Since Macht was a "monster who does not understand human beings", he could not visualize himself turning people back from gold, thus rendering his curse irreversible once cast. Macht was greatly angered by Serie's statement. Notwithstanding the threat she had on his life, he turned around and grabbed Serie's shoulder, attempting to cast his magic on her. However, the curse began to affect his hand instead, making the demon retreat.

Macht quickly realized that his magic was deflected back onto him. Serie said she would have been able to reflect the curse on his whole body if he had tried a little more seriously. He questioned how it was possible, since the principles of Di Agolze is indecipherable with the magical techniques of mankind. Serie told him that there was no need to understand its principles, since the magic she was using, Mistelzila (Curse reflection magic), simply reflects anything it perceives to be a "curse" back at the caster. She called it the proof of mankind's wisdom during the Mythical Era, as well as an extremely primitive magic which disregards all analysis. It was a magic she disliked, but perfectly suited to deal with Macht. She chided Macht for the destruction of Weise, commenting that he had quite overdone it.

When the demon asked her identity again, Serie introduced herself as a Great Mage who had lived so long ago that even the demons had forgotten the fear she used to strike in them. Macht acknowledged her as different from all the reckless daredevils who had challenged him before. He reverted the curse reflected on his right hand and summoned his blade from the cloak. He lunged forward and struck Serie with it. The elven mage defended herself with a space-warping magic, musing on how fascinating it is that Macht was capable of returning his own body from gold. She attacked back with a blast-type magic, which Macht defended himself by remaking his coat and turning it into gold as a barrier. Serie recognized that he could revert the coat as well. She taunted Macht that in spite of the excellent magical technique he possessed, he still could not construct a visualization of remaking people from gold; in the end, even though he was close to the pinnacle of magic, he was but a monster in nature.

Macht appeared insulted at this insinuation, telling Serie to shut up. He remade his sword and attacked Serie with multiple Soul Tracks. The elf effortlessly blocked them with defensive magic before unleashing an explosive counterattack. As the explosion faded, Macht was revealed to have guarded himself with a sphere of defensive magic, which intrigued Serie even further, to see a demon capable of using multiple kinds of magic. She asked Macht what magic he was about to show her next, but before Macht could respond, a First-class mage appeared and interrupted the fight. He summoned a small barrier to seal Macht inside, as Lernen approached the battlefield.

Macht and Serie both remarked that they had been interfered. She scolded her disciples for making unnecessary interferences as she had told them to stand guard outside. Lernen appealed to Serie that if she killed Macht then, they would lose the magic of Di Agolze forever and with it the chance to save the Fortified City of Weise. Serie lightly chastised Lernen for the idea, claiming that Macht was too powerful to be left alive. If Macht felt like it, he would be able to transform the entire Northern Plateau into gold. Nevertheless, Lernen persisted with his request and proposed that the First-class mages present would seal Macht inside the Fortified City of Weise until they could find a way to revert the curse, no matter how long it would take. Serie expressed her skepticism at the prospect yet acceded to the proposal regardless, declaring she had already lost interest and they could do whatever they liked. Lernen thanked her for the permission and proceeded to form the Great Barrier of El Dorado along with the other First-class mages present.

Back in the present, Denken and Frieren had finished reading all of Macht's memories. The process consumed a large amount of Frieren's mana, rendering her all but motionless as a consequence. As Fern came behind to support her, she said her apprentice would have to help feed her, change her clothes, bathe and tie her hair. Fern retorted that it was what she always did for Frieren anyways, but was cut off short as she sensed an enormous amount of mana for a split moment. On the edge of the barrier, Solitär showed up, declaring that it was time to decipher the Great Barrier of El Dorado.

Characters in Order of Appearance

 * Macht


 * Serie


 * Lernen


 * Denken


 * Frieren


 * Fern


 * Stark


 * Solitär

Locations
Fortified City of Weise (El Dorado), Northern Plateau

Events
Macht versus Serie

Spells

 * Di Agolze (Universal Golden Transmutation magic)


 * Mistelzila (Curse Reflection Magic)


 * Soul Track (Human-killing magic)


 * Defensive Magic