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 are in 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 in the Northern Lands, specifically the Laub Hills. As they journey along the road, Sein suddenly remarks that something is 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 is not so easily guessed, as he proclaims that what they truly lack is a mature, older woman, as he believes that every party should have at least one. Stark chimes in, pointing out that Frieren is indeed an older woman, but Sein quickly dismisses her as not fitting the bill of a lady. Attempting to steer the conversation away from this uncomfortable topic, Stark points out that they are approaching the next village.

As they arrive in the village, they are met with a peculiar sight - everyone seems to be asleep. Frieren and Sein examine the villagers closely and quickly deduce that a curse has been cast upon them. Stark asked Frieren what a curse is, to which she explains that a curse is a spell employed by a demon or monster that humanity did not yet understand and could petrify or put people to sleep. She adds that they have yet to discover a way to break curses them using human techniques, causing Stark to fear that the village is doomed. But Frieren is quick to reassure him that there is still hope, as the Goddesses' magic used by priests could lift curses.

As Sein works to determine the nature of the curse, Stark asks Frieren what makes Goddesses' magic different from other types of magic. She explains that it is recorded in holy scriptures, and only those in possession of those scriptures can use it. Frieren adds that the principles of Goddesses' magic are barely understood, much like the magic of demons, and therefore it does not appeal to her. She also notes that it is difficult to handle unless one has the "Blessing of The Goddess'", which also makes them more resistant to curses. Stark then asks if even she had a hard time defending against curses, to which she replies that mages cannot sense curses, although she can tell that the village is still being affected by the curse due to the feeling of being attacked.

Sein finishes his examination and proclaims that the curse is rather unique. He suggests that they strike at the source of the curse, since it would be quicker, and reveals that the source is a monster. He has even figured out its location. As they are discussing this, Stark falls victim to the curse. Frieren asks if Sein could lift the curse, to which he replies that he can only keep Stark awake for 5 seconds.

With no other option, they set off towards the monster while carrying Stark. Along the way, Fern also falls asleep. Sein and Frieren decide to leave them in the forest protected by a barrier, and set off towards the monster on their own. Sein says they are close, and Frieren tells him to wake her up when the monster appears. As she falls asleep, she warns Sein not to fight the monster alone and that she will defeat it. Sein doubts her ability to do so in just 5 seconds, and adds that he also has offensive magic.

The monster then appears. Its petals seem to shimmer like a mirror, reflecting the light in strange ways. It is a subspecies of the Chaos Flower, a monster that puts people to sleep and slowly drains their mana and uses them as fertilizer. Subspecies are produced through mating with native plants. Sein attacks using the spell "Three Spears of the Goddess," and launches it at the creature's core, the weak point of all Chaos Flowers. But to his surprise, the spell is deflected by the mirror-like leaves of the flower. He realizes that if he can't strike directly at the core, the creature's leaves will reflect his spells and damage the surrounding areas.

He considers waking up Frieren, but quickly dismisses the idea. Her spells are too powerful to risk being deflected, as she can potentially devastate the village they are trying to save, and he can't communicate with her in the five seconds she will be awake for. He doesn't understand what is going on in her mind, and he can't trust her to accomplish striking precisely at the weak point of the flower without communication. A flashback of Heiter, his mentor, and Warrior Gorilla comes 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 takes a deep breath and decides to believe in Frieren. He reawakens Frieren and, without a word, Frieren strikes at the weak point of the monster with ease.

The villagers, now reawakened, thank Sein, but he is modest and insists that he hasn't done anything special. The villagers insist that they couldn't have asked for a better way to be reawakened. As they continue their journey, Frieren thanks Sein for his trust and tells him that the moment she woke up, she knew the monster was the type of demon that could reflect spells. Sein can only respond with amazement at her abilities, to which she replies that it was thanks to him that they managed to get out alive and that she is proud of him. Sein can't help but think of the beautiful, older villager lady who had thanked him, and again bemoaning the lack of an older lady in their party, they then continue their journey.

Characters in Order of Appearance

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

Locations

 * Laub Hills

Battles

 * Sein & Frieren vs. Chaos Flower subspecies

Events

 * Frieren's Party awakens the village under the Chaos Flower's curse

Spells

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