Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

Early spring, 81 years after the Demon King’s defeat, Northern Plateau, Kino mountains.

Fern, Stark, Frieren and Himmel were walking down a dirt path through the forest. They were dressed in warm clothes, due to the still cold weather up in the mountains, only Himmel was not sporting a scarf or gloves, just a thicker tunic and a woolen vest under his cape. Himmel was leading their odd group forward, arms crossed behind his back and humming a tune. He looked giddy and a bit impatient, like he was expecting something to happen.

“Where are we going?” Fern asked “I know we have time until the inspection date but this is quite far from the beaten path.”

“We are going to one of the Goddess’ monuments! It is one of the relics said to be left behind by the Goddess of Creation.” – Himmel said cheerfully and grinned, briefly flashing his sharp fangs before composing himself.

“Why are we going there? Is there something important to be done?” – Stark asked.

“Well, we do have time until the inspection and you can think of it as some training!” – Himmel pointed at the young warrior.

“I also want to try and take revenge on the monument.” – Frieren added.

“Revenge? For what?” – Fern perked up, curious.

“Last time we passed through here with the Hero party, I tried to decipher the magic on the monument but couldn’t, so now that we are passing through again, I want to try one more.” – Frieren looked forward with a slight smile on her lips.

“Frieren-sama…” – Fern gave a firm stare at her mentor’s back.

“Don’t worry!” Himmel stepped in, feeling the heat from the look “I will help make sure she doesn’t get too carried away and make it back in time to continue the journey.”

“I also promise to give up if I can’t decipher it by then.” – Frieren promised, it was not like she won’t ever have the chance to come back here some day in the future.

Those words seemed to reassure Fern and she stopped pointedly staring at her teacher. Still…

“You look jittery, Himmel. Something on your mind?” – Frieren looked up.

Throughout the decades in which they travelled together, both while on the journey to defeat the Demon King and after that, Frieren got to know him very well. She wanted to learn more about Himmel, to know more of this strange, incomprehensibly compassionate, self-sacrificing demon that confessed his love for her. It had been such a shock to everyone, to learn the truth about their party leader, enough of a shock for her worldview to be shattered completely. He was something impossible- a demon with a heart, a demon that could cry, love, laugh and care for others.

“Nothing, I am just exited to be a- to be revisiting this place! Yes.” – Himmel pointedly tried to avoid eye contact.

Frieren frowned ever so slightly. He was definitely trying to not say something, he had almost slipped earlier. She could practically sense there was something going on with him – he was almost bouncing with anticipation and barely contained grin.

‘He’s never been a good liar but he can be stubborn when he wants to. He won’t tell me so easily, even if I know there is something going on.’ – the elven mage thought.

She was not worried about what might have caused Himmel’s sudden mood shift. In the first years after his reveal as a demon, she might have held some suspicion still, but by now she knew it was nothing to be worried about.

“Alright, keep your secrets then, but when I figure it out…” Frieren shot him a playful smirk “I will rub it into you for years.”

“Oh, please have mercy!” – the hero swooned and trembled as if he could collapse at any time.

In the back, Fern and Stark exchanged glanced and wordlessly pointed at the duo.

…………………………

Eventually, the quartet reached the clearing where the Goddess monument stood… well, used to stand. All that was left from the tall stone monument was the broken remains and the stone’s base. Himmel couldn’t help the slight instinctual jolt when he saw the rubble but composed himself. It was important to keep himself composed at this moment.

“So, this is the monument?” Fern leaned closer to examine the remains “It appears it has crumbled some time ago.”

“That’s it alright, still has that feeling of holy magic on it. Don’t be mislead by its looks.” Himmel nodded “I remember when we visited it last time. Frieren was so excited to see it and try to study the magic. To bad we had to- erm… Well, that!” – he said awkwardly, painfully obvious there was something he was trying to hide.

“You are not good at this at, Himmel.” – Stark looked at the hero.

This man was the one of the heroes that defeated the Demon king? Really?

“Hey! It’s just that I don’t want to lie to my friends and family! I can deceive humans if I need to, I just choose not to do it. Makes me feel… off.” – Himmel looked down at the grass, kicking a pebble.

“I kind of can’t believe that.” – Stark was unconvinced.

“He is telling the truth.” Frieren joined the conversation “He is the one that sweet-talked the kind and spared us from being executed. You have not seen him yet, but once he switches to it, he’s frighteningly good at finding people’s weaknesses and the best way to make them believe his words. We also did not notice was a demon for years but that was more him not telling us he’s actually a demon and letting us assume he’s a human, so he’s got that.”

“You know, you can still work on how you say things, Frieren.” – Himmel huffed and chuckled good-naturedly.

“Have you deducted something, Frieren-sama?” – Fern asked the other mage.

“Yes, I have been examining the remains for a while now.” Frieren kneeled before the stone remains, left hand stretching out to touch it “Although the ancient writing might be gone, I can still examine the magic present in this stone and try to transcribe it… Hm?” – Frieren paused.

The elf noticed something new, something she did not remember seeing before when the Hero party visited the monument. In the bottom right corner, someone had carved letters in the stone.

“What is this?” – she tilted her head slightly.

“It appears like some writing from one of the Holy Scriptures Heiter-sama used to read to me. I believe it was from the chapter about the time-traveling bird.” – Fern noted.

Frieren traced over the carved letters with a finger.

“Fiala… Toll?” – Frieren read the unfamiliar words out loud.

*Fwooosh~

A gust of wind suddenly hit Frieren’s back, snapping her out. She had blanked-out for a moment there. Wait, wasn’t the monument almost completely destroyed, how is it whole again?

“Hm?” – Frieren tilted her head at the sight.

She was not to worried, however, she did not feel anything amiss with the surroundings and felt three familiar mana signatures behind her.

“Have you discovered something, Frieren?” – Himmel asked her.

She turned to look back, about to dare him to come and try testing the stone himself with his own mana, fully aware the demon was not a fan of most Goddess-related relics, even if they couldn’t bring him harm. But the moment she turned back, she froze.

‘Eisen… Heiter?’ – her eyes widened.

This was impossible. Eisen had chosen to remain at his home, having aged quite a bit after they split ways and Heiter… The priest had died. She and Himmel had seen their friend off in his last days so how- how were they here, looking how they did over 80 years ago?

‘The monument!’ – her head immediately turned to look at the stone, whole and unmarked.

She tried to channel some mana into the monument but nothing happened, the scenery remained the same. Could it be that somehow, she was back in the past? There were no tricks she could detect, everything felt real. The fact that they were exactly the same as when they travelled towards Ende was pointing towards her being in the past. She tried putting more mana into the stone but there was no reaction from it or her mana sense.

“Nothing… nothing is happening at all…” – she stared forward at the monument.

Chapter Text

Frieren walked behind the group, her mind distracted and still going back to the monument. This situation… it was all too unexpected and too real to just be an illusion. She was alone there, technically, despite her old comrades being with her.

Heiter had died, she and Himmel had been there in the priest’s last years, helping take care of Fern and general upkeep. Himmel had taken the loss of yet another close friend badly. Knowing Himmel as well as she did, if he had also been transported here with her, she was sure he would have thrown himself at the priest, bawling his eyes out all over Heiter, sensibility be damned. Well, that and maybe the demon might have sunk his claws, blunted as they were into Heiter’s robes, and just clung to him before someone pried him off. A small smile quirked one corner of her mouth up.

‘Still, this is a serious predicament. I need to get back with the others eventually. I can’t stay here, least I do something that might change time. The longer I stay, the more I risk revealing something I should not from the future.’ She looked at the backs of the three other party members ‘But how would I do that, withour raising any suspicion or revealing the future?’

………………………………

Himmel discreetly glanced back at Frieren. She was trailing behind the party, deep in thought about something. Nothing that unusual from how she usually was when faced with some question, a difficult problem or something was bothering her.

‘I guess the Goddess’ magic really stumped her.’ – he thought.

Such ancient magic was bound to be hard to understand and confusing, he himself had difficulties with it, even if he ignored the natural dislike he felt for it because of his instincts.

‘And yet, when she touched the monument… I am sure something happened.’ – he thought and rubbed the center of his chest.

Something had shifted in the mana, he was sure of that, despite his limited knowledge on the subject, he was still a demon that could literally see the mana with his naked eye. Heiter and Eisen seemed undisturbed by it, which was strange, but he was sure something had happened! Sor just a split second, there was this buzz that passed through him and made the hairs on him bristle in agitation. His own mana, as little as it was flickered back in response to the sudden, unfamiliar feeling. It had been unlike anything he had felt so far in his life. It worried him something had happened for a second, but not even Frieren had reacted to the sudden shift.

‘Had I imagined it?’ – he asked himself, still frowning slightly as he slared out his mana a couple of times to readjust and center himself.

……………………………………………

Frieren couldn’t help but notice how different things were now. With all that she knew of the future, with all that she experienced during the journey and the decades after, now she noticed all the differences she had ignored in the past, all the ways the current Hero(ic) party differed from the people they ended up becoming after the Demon King’s defeat. And the one where it was most noticeable to her- it was with Himmel himself.

This Himmel, the one from the past was still the same demon that led them into the Demon King’s castle, the same one that risked his own well-being to save people, but this was the first time she noticed just how… restrained he was before his true nature was revealed to the party. The change had been so gradual over time that she had not noticed but now, when she was back in the past, it was almost jarring.

“Cone on, Heiter~! You know I was right about that girl in the tavern. I told you she was bad news but you did not listen and got pickpocketed.” – Himmel teased.

“S-shut up! Like you are any better!” the priest was blushing slightly “You gave away 5 silver coins just like that when we passed through that village last week!”

“Hey! It was for a good cause! They needed the money to help fix up the roofs after those salamanders set them on fire! How can I not help when I see their homes were destroyed? It is what a hero would do in this situation!” – Himmel puffed his chest before- he did nothing.

Frieren blinked a couple of times. He did it again, he held back. She was so used to Himmel’s antics from travelling together that she was almost anticipating how he would react (just how he learned to predict how she would react), except now he didn’t and that was jarring.

Usually. Himmel would have been leaning closer to Heiter, leaning in teasingly and maybe bumping into the priest, then after the banter, he would have grinned widely and thrown his hand around Heiter’s shoulders, where the priest would try and push the swordsman’s face away without much effort but instead none of that happened. Himmel still poked at Heiter, stil playfully pushed sometimes and smiled but never more that a polite smile. (His fangs would be on full display if he did so.) He never did the ridiculous, over-exagerrated teasing near someone, only from a polite distance. (They might see the short, ivory stumps hidden in his thick blue locks or the slight point of his ears.) Nor did he clamp onto people or put them in any sort of close proximity to his face. (They might accidentally brush against his filed horns.) He did not hop around treetops like a seed rat to scout ahead, he did not make random remarks what he wants to have for dinner out of all the creatures they’ve seen. (Because saying I really crave to eat a possum whole is not normal.) Gone were the brief, playful flashes of fangs, he always avoided touching anywhere near the area where his horns grew, despite her knowing he liked when the area was gently scratched, no raw meat in his meals, despite him admitting to her he liked it more when the meat was fresh and dripping blood (as morbid as it sounded). All the little oddities to his behavior, which now she knew were him just being a demon, were much more restrained or missing entirely, just so he could fit with others.

It was still the Himmel she knew, just a lot more reserved and wary around them. It was understandable, they did not know he was a demon, yet. (She remembered the shock all three of them experienced when faced with the truth, when those horns, covered in blood and hair sticking to Himmel’s face due to the bleeding cut near his hairline, were uncovered from their hiding place.) He did not know they would not abandon him if they knew the truth, he did not trust that they won’t turn on him if he were to reveal his true identity to them and that… that stung way more than anything else.

‘I can’t risk revealing something that might affect the future and change the outcome of this journey.’ – she repeated to herself as a mantra.

Yet, she still wanted to go and pat him, if only to cheer Himmel up, but her from the past would never do that, unfortunately. (His hair was really soft, fluffy even.)

=== Earlier that day ===

Zart, The lingering shadow, was tasked to observe the Goddess monument on this mountain. A monotonous task, but one that gave him a lot of time to experiment with his magic and improve his teleportation spells. He did not know why master Grausam stationed him there but it was not like he cared. Those orders were from one of the Sages of Destruction, Grausam was way more powerful than him, so he obeyed.

*Zuuuuuuuuuunnnn~*

The air itself hummed, just for a brief second, there was a disturbance in space-time itself. It was brief, but Zart felt a strong resonance from where the monument stood. Two unfamiliar signatures flared to life, just as the disturbance appeared. One quickly dissipated while the other lingered for a moment before fading away.

‘Now, this is interesting. Such a strong resonance and in an instant.’ – Zart thought as he stretched languidly.

Zart himself was specialized in spatial magic, a pretty niche field for even demons, due to how complex spells manipulating a concept such as space itself were. Yet, this exact understanding allowed him to have an innate sense about sudden spatial changes. He had a job to do, but also, he was curious to see what exactly was suddenly transported there in that instant.

=== Back with the party ===

Himmel suddenly stiffened as a faint gust of wind tickled his nose, with it, it carried the scent of fresh blood. He sniffed; the scent was coming from further down the road.

“Himmel, what’s wrong?” – Eisen asked.

“I have a bad feeling about this.” Himmel said, cheer gone from his face “Stay on guard.”

Frieren noticed him moving his head left and right, she knew he probably smelled something bad, his senses were much better than her own or those of any human. It was just another thing she knew was him being a demon, but also how now he was keeping it a secret. Back in the future, he would outright tell them what was bothering him instead of being vague like this. Yet, the group continued down the only path they had.

“How horrible.” – Heiter said, putting his sleeve to his mouth.

In front of them were the remains of a human and a horse. Their bodies broken horrifically, bones snapped and blood splattered on the ground.

“It’s like they were dropped from high up, but I did not see any flying monsters-!” – Himmel began but felt a chill down his spine.

In an instant, an unfamiliar magical presence appeared behind the 4 adventurers.

“A demon!” – Himmel instantly drew his sword and whirled around.

Frieren’s own staff appeared in her hand, a frown on her face. How could she have not noticed the hidden danger.

“Hm~ How curious. So, it was you that caused this disturbance in space-time?” – the demon glanced at them, his eyes roaming through the group before stopping on Frieren.

The whole area was covered in a faint haze, barely noticeable. The only reason Zart could tell was because he teleported in from further away and was suddenly in the area, everything in this area had been touched by the haze. And the elf, her whole body had some traces of the Goddess’ magic.

“It seems you were the irregularity that disrupted the space-time.” – the demon’s mouth quirked up.

“What are you talking about?” – Himmel pointed his blade at the mysterious demon.

“Well, it’s fine if you are not aware of what happened. I am a servant of one of the Seven Sages of Destruction – Grausam.” The demon did a little flourish with the long sleeve of his tunic “I am called Zart, the Lingering Shadow.”

“I am Himmel, leader of this party.” – Himmel introduced himself before suddenly dashing forward at an inhuman speed.

“Hoh.” – Zart was impressed, this human was quick, but it was not enough.

Zart instantly blinked out of existence and was gone. A few trees that stood behind the teleporter were cut and felled by Himmel’s slash but the demon was nowhere to be found.

“Where did he go?” – Esen asked.

Zart appeared behind Frieren and casually touched her shoulder and just like that she found herself high up in the sky, plummeting down to the ground.

“FRIEREEEEN!!!” – Himmel shouted in panic.

Zart gave a fang-filled grin as he watched the elf fall.

‘Dropping someone from the sky- for the people of this era it is an instant death scenario.’ Frieren thought as the air rushed past her ‘This is not good. I could easily use flight magic but that would mean revealing my knowledge of the future. Still… this is strange. I have no recollection of facing this demon, nor have I ever heard of them before. What should I do now?’ – she asked herself, unbothered by the freefall.

The elven mage looked at the scene playing down below even as she fell and saw that Himmel was putting down his sword. Most likely the demon was demanding they give up least she splatters to the ground. It was foolish tactic but knowing her companions, they would give in to the demands. That is why she aimed at Zart and fired a regular fireball spell. It was verry inefficient and slow, compared to Zoltraak, but it was the best spell for the situation.

………………………………………

“Drop your weapons, heroes.” Zart told them “If you do, I will generously let that elf live.”

“I don’t believe your words.” Himmel levelled Zart with a hard stare “Stop putting up a show. You don’t plan to let us leave this place alive, do you? You need a reason to do so.”

‘I suppose they have no reason to believe those words. I still do need to get the anomaly to master Grausam as instructed.’ – Zart though, but still stood his ground against the heroes.

They were at a standoff.

“She has around 60 seconds until she reaches the ground. Decide now, heroes.” – Zart told them.

“I guess we don’t have any other choice right now, if we want to save Frieren.” – Himmel sighed and began putting down his sword, despite his instincts telling him how foolish that was, discarding his main weapon. Eisen and Heiter followed his example, it was foolish but he appreciated the trust.

“What are you plotting?” – Zart looked at them warily.

“Nothing you might understand. This is just a very illogical decision, a weakness of ours, but if it saves Frieren-.” – Himmel said.

But then a fire blast came from the sky and almost hit Zart, the demon teleported a couple of paces back, leaving the spell to scorch the earth instead. Frieren had shot the spell at him, while still falling to her death. The control she had of her mana was commendable. She was not even panicking a bit.

“Well, it seems like the decision was made for us. We would be stopping you here after all.” – Himmel took his sword back and took on a defensive stance.

If Frieren thought they should be fighting, so they would. He and Eisen charged at Zart, sword and axe flying though the air.

*BOOOOMMM!!!*

A loud explosion shook the ground from a distance. Himmel did not let up on his attack, he aimed at Zart’s throat but the other demon was flying fluidly through the air, making him click his tongue.

A blaze of fiery red, a flash of white- Frieren! She made it! Himmel couldn’t help but momentarily sag in relief as the elf emerged from the forest, twigs and leaves stuck to her but she was alive and there to support them.

Eisen went for Zart’s knees, the warper instinctively flew back, only for a blast of heat to redirect him, making him go closer to where Himmel was waiting for him. Himmel aimed to kill, to behead Zart but the other demon just teleported out of the way. Himmel cursed internally and was about to go after Zart when two more blasts of mana drove the demon back, closer to the party. Heiter shot a few Judgement Spears, corralling the demon.

‘This is a problem.’ Zart thought as he moved to dodge another cut to his legs ‘This man has probably realized by now I have to touch an object directly to activate my magic, yet how can he approach me so confidently? Is he not afraid?’

‘Frieren…’ Himmel thought as the battle flowed smoother than it has ever been ‘Her attacks accurately pinpoint where I need support, making it easier to fight without worrying about falling to my death. It’s almost like she can read my mind or predict what I am going to do. This way of fighting… does not seem like her at all.’

Another magic blast was fired at Zart’s back, making the demon teleport away, but Himmel and Eisen were ready for that. The two warriors jumped at once and struck at Zart’s chest.

“Guh-!” – Zard grunted in pain as his flesh was split by the twin strike, a deep x-shaped gouge spanning his torso.

Zart fell to the ground, barely keeping on his feet and stumbled away from the party.

“Seems like we have the upper hand now.” – Himmel pointed his blade at Zart’s throat.

“Really? Do I really look that weakened?” – Zart looked at the party with the same analytical look demons wore.

“Don’t let him touch that cliff!” – Frieren shouted but it was too late.

Zart fell back, one palm touching the cliffside and teleporting a large chunk above the 4 adventurers while he himself zipped away to watch from a safe distance. It was a shame, he would not be able to bring the anomaly alive and whole to master Grausam but it was more important to get rid of these adventurers and remain alive. They were dangerous and his life was in danger. Any demon would choose to preserve their life first after all.

Meanwhile the group stared up in horror as they saw the giant chunk of rock plummet towards them. There was no way any of them could run fast enough to avoid being crushed.

‘I didn’t think it would be possible but he really pulled it off and teleported the whole cliffside above us. There is no magic from this era that would be able to deal with this now.’ – Frieren stared up with a serious expression.

She glanced back at her companions, their eyes met and- they now seemed strangely calm, way too calm for someone about to get crushed.

“You look strangely calm.” she remarked “What’s going on?”

“Well, you are also strangely calm. So I figured the same?” – Heiter said.

“Right.” – Eisen nodded.

“You can stop putting on the airs, Frieren.” Himmel looked her in the eyes “You are hiding something, some sort of magic that can save us. That is why you are not worried.”

“…” – she remained silent.

“So, I was right. You really have something like that.” – Himmel concluded.

To him her silence spoke volumes. He just knew her too well and she couldn’t help the amusement she felt.

“You may not believe it but we wholeheartedly trust you, so why not put some trust into us this time?” – Himmel smiled gently at her and extended a hand.

This was Himmel, alright, even if he was not the exact same as in the future, he always had this way of speaking, of giving people hope, a chance, trust. It made others WANT to be better, to match in kind Himmel’s own belief that he had in them.

‘Well, we’re goners if I don’t do something either way.’ – she huffed.

“Alright, but promise me not to say a word about what you are about to see to anyone. You have to keep it a secret.” – she barely held the small smirk off her face.

The three exchanged looks but nodded.

“Go for it.” -  Himmel cheered her on, giving his support to her, always.

She took a stance and pointed her staff towards the falling cliff above; mana gathered around her as even her twin tails whipped in the force of it. In an instant, her mana was not a steady flame but a raging inferno, a giant pillar. Above her staff, the magic circle appeared and spun rapidly before finally locking into place.

*BWOOOOOOOOOOOO!

A massive blast of concentrated magic was shot straight through the falling cliffside and it obliterated it in an instant. Massive stone crumbled into small chunks before it was blown away in the explosion. The party was safe. Now, she could not let Zart live, now that he has witnessed her magic, so she had to go and kill him. Frieren gathered magic around her and flew through the air to deal with the threat.

Himmel meanwhile was stunned, even more stunned than Eisen and Heiter after witnessing the feat of magic. Through his eyes, he saw everything that happened. Never had he suspected that she was hiding her mana that well. In his gut, he always had the feeling Frieren was the strongest mage he had met so far, but now he was her steady trickle of mana just explode outwards in a whirlwind of pure might, the destructive power of the spell she effortlessly wielded… It was breathtaking! More so now than even he felt the urge to kill something and present it as a courtship gift reignite inside him. His heartbeat accelerated and fluttered as he looked in daze at the bright flicker of Frieren’s mana flying in the distance.

“Himme, did you see that? She can f- Oh.” – Heiter turned back to ask something but paused.

“I think our leader is temporarily incapacitated, Heiter.” – Eisen said, pointing at the scarlet blush on Himmel’s face.

When Frieren came back, they would deal with the situation then and preferably by then their leader wouldn’t be on the verge of collapsing from being lovestruck. The two shook their heads as they waited- Himmel had a really weird taste in women.

Chapter Text

The party sat around a campfire, the fire crackled merrily but at the same time silence stretched over the group. Heiter and Eisen were exchanging looks and pointedly looking at Frieren. She on the other hand was sitting on a log and sipping on a cup of hot tea. Himmel… was acting odd again. Eisen and Heiter were starting to get worried; their leader had not said a word since Frieren blew up the falling cliff, they even had to drag him along the way, otherwise he would have probably stood frozen on the spot.

Right now, the blue-haired swordsman was sitting in an odd squat-like position with his knees and elbows tucked close to his chest and staring intently at Frieren, barely even blinking or moving. Just staying still as a statue and not making a sound. He must have been really shocked by her previous display of power. Heiter couldn’t help but shake his head, really, Himmel had the strangest taste in women,

Frieren on the other hand tried not to look too much at Himmel, in fact, she pointedly looked away from him several times. She was familiar with what he was doing- it was subtle but she could see his pupils widening and contracting every couple of seconds as he looked at her, or to be precise, the mana surrounding her. He was so dazed she did not want him to accidentally expose himself because of her.

“So, Frieren, seeing as Himmel is temporarily… unavailable, I must ask- what was that?” Heiter cleared his throat “How did you manage to destroy the whole cliffside, also you flew. Why did you not do that previously if you could and how? I thought only flying creatures and demons can fly.”

“I am curious as well. Such an incredible magic- Did you hide it on purpose or was there a reason for why you never used it until today?” Eisen looked up at her “I am sure if he was not still dazed, Himmel would also be curious about it.”

“Huh? Wha-?!” -Himmel suddenly snapped out of his stupor and almost leaped away as if burned.

Himmel looked a bit wary, guarded, as if he was expecting something bad to happen. He quickly relaxed once no one moved and took a casual stance. He had been so out of it he didn’t even notice they had moved to another spot. He shook his head and straightened out his tunic and cloak to look presentable in front of Frieren. She may have dazed him with the sudden mana rush but that did not mean he would not look presentable in front of her! He still had to prove himself, now even more so he felt the need to impress her.

“Hey, Himmel!” – Heiter greeted.

Himmel’s head snapped, his fussing over the creases and dust on his clothes momentarily forgotten. He stared straight in Heiter’s eyes, fangs biting the inside of his cheek while he held back a growl.

“Finally, back from Dreamland, I see!” Heiter continued without noticing Himmel’s conflicting state of mind “You done staring at the apple of your eye?” – Heiter chuckled and teasingly raised an eyebrow while looking between the swordsman and mage.

“Dreamland? What? I did not go anywhere; I was just a bit… distracted. Yes! Distracted!” Himmel’s brows furrowed “Also, stop trying to confuse me, Heiter. My eye has no apple. How can an eye even have an apple and why would I be staring at it?”

Heiter sighed loudly and shook his head, really, these two were hopeless. From the side, Frieren watched the familiar scene play out. It was a common sight during the 10-year journey they had. She sometimes missed these moments of good-natured teasing and Himmel’s tendency to take unfamiliar phrases literally and misunderstand their meaning.

“As much as I am happy Himmel is back with us, I think there is something we need to discuss. Isn’t that right, Frieren?” – Eisen interrupted, bringing the focus back to Frieren.

Now, with 3 pairs of eyes looking at her, Frieren had to finally decide what to do. Her original plan was over once Zart dropped that cliff on them, now she had to explain herself to the party. What should she say? She did not want to accidentally change the future in a way that would affect the future- if the Demon King was not defeated, then the whole world will be in danger, if someone learned of the advanced spells she knew, it could completely change the outcome of this whole war and in the worst case scenario, it might mean the demons win and wipe out humanity with the newly-gained knowledge. She did not doubt they would gladly test those new spells by killing en masse. Demons always liked showing off their strength, even Himmel himself was like that sometimes. She had to choose her words carefully, least she changed history and destroyed her future.

“Frieren?” Himmel leaned down a bit so their eyes met “It’s fine if you don’t want to talk about it now, we have time. Whenever you are ready, you can tell us then.”

“Himmel.” – Heiter looked at the party leader with concern.

“No, it is fine now. I will tell what happened.” Frieren took a breath “I came from the future.”

There was a long stretch of silence, only the rustling of leaves and crackle of flames could be heard.

“EEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEHHH?!” – the other 3 members of the group exclaimed in disbelief.

………………………………………………

There was much chaos and noise after the initial reveal, a lot of disbelief and countless questions too. Frieren had to carefully explain what she could and what she could not share and why she initially tried to keep this a secret.

“So, the Goddess monument sent you back here after you touched it?” Heiter mused “This is quite hard to believe but still it does sound like something a divine power could do. To be honest, I never even heard of something like time-travel happening outside of a few holy texts.”

“But it is what happened, one moment I am trying to analyze the monument again, then I am back here with you.” – Frieren said.

“You were back at the monument even in the future? Are you still traveling then?” – Eisen asked.

“Yes, me and…” she paused for a moment “A few new people formed a party and we were traveling when we passed through here again. I did not expect things would turn out like this.”

“I see… I guess you want to return to your new companions, right?” – Himmel asked, a tight smile on his face.

“Yes.” Frieren answered without hesitation “It was nice that I saw you all again, but I still want to go back and reunite with the others.” – when she said that a fait smile appeared on her lips.

“Oooh, I see!  So, our Frieren finally started being interested in people more! I thought I would never see the day!” – Heiter shed a fake tear.

“Heiter, you are being too dramatic.” – Eisen chimed in.

“True! I still can’t believe it! So, Frieren, can’t you at least tell us something, like what happened in the future, what happened with the war? Did at least our journey succeed?” – Heiter leaned closer to the elf.

“Heiter, that’s enough. She already explained why she needs to keep that information to herself.” – Himmel chastised the priest.

“But!”

“No.” Himmel held firm “Besides, knowing the future wouldn’t really do much good. Would you give up? I told you all when each of you joined this party- I won’t force you to come with me. You can leave at any time if you think it is too much or decide you don’t want to follow me. I plan to keep that word.”

And they all knew Himmel would keep his promise. He never wanted to force someone to do things they don’t want to. Himmel aimed to give them the freedom to choose as much as he could, even if he had been a bit too insistent when recruiting Frieren.

“No, I will still follow you, Himmel. I decided that when you helped save the miners. I won’t leave until this journey ends.” – Heiter said.

“And that’s it!” Himmel nodded “Besides, not knowing what comes next makes things even more interesting! Now, everyone, let’s have a good rest. Tomorrow we are going on a quest to help Frieren return to the future!”

The others all nodded in agreement and settled down.

‘A new party, huh?’ Himmel thought ‘I guess that means we most likely failed or all of us except her died. Well, not too surprising. It was a logical conclusion after all. No way someone weak like me could face off against the king of all demons and live.’ – he chuckled quietly to himself as he settled on a short stump by the fire.

Underneath his cloak, his hands shook with nervous jitters, fingers trying to flex blunted claws as a strong wave of primal panic and uncertainty gripped him. He did not want to die, no one wants to die! He’s a demon, he logically KNEW what would happen, even if he and his party had managed to beat some impossible odds, so why does hearing Frieren found a new party bother him so much?! This was a constant battle he had with his self-preservation instincts and today it was making him even more jittery than usual, his breathing and heart rate had increased. Soon, he would need a new distraction from the looming threat of inevitable death. Good thing this impromptu quest would provide ample time for him to let off some of that tension and collect himself before he did something he would regret.

“So, Frieren.” he addressed her, fingers scoring lines on the tree stump he was sitting on “Since you can’t tell us about the future, can you tell me about the experience?!” – his eyes sparkled.

“What are you asking me about? I don’t get it.” – she looked equally as confused as the other party members by the sudden question.

“I mean, how did traveling back in time feel? Was it sudden, was there some sort of indicator or shift in the mana, did some outside force pull you?” Himmel rambled on “Teleportation and time-travel are such interesting concepts! I want to know what it was like. The principles behind it are just so complicated to even comprehend and put in action, not to mention the mana it would- Ahem! I mean, your situation is kind of similar to one of the stories I read in ‘Legends od Solis valley’ back in the day, chapter 10, page 104 to be exact! It was about this urban legend from a night in a beer house that was usually open until late at night when a stranger comes in, wearing clothes unlike any the barman has seen and speaking in tongues…”

Frieren couldn’t help but listen to Himmel as he rambled about the whole supposed legend of a man that supposedly came from the future to reveal some secrets no one could understand before vanishing never to be seen. It was a silly story where it was most likely untrue, but she liked it when Himmel spoke about his books. Just like she loved studying magic, Himmel loved to read interesting stories and speaking about them always brought joy to him. It was one of the many little quirks of his that she adored and learned to appreciate during their travels in the future.

=== The forest, a few days later ===

“So… Zart is dead.” – Grausam said with a flat tone, as if just reading some piece of paper instead of learning someone died, not that he really cared much about others dying.

The Sage of Destruction flew over the battlefield, chunks of debris still littering the ground, the broken carriage pushed to the side of the road, the corpses of the horses and humans long gone.

‘Just as Schlacht predicted all those winters ago. The death of Zart happened, just as he foretold and it marked the appearance of an anomaly in the space-time in this area.’

Grausam flew away from the battlefield and towards the monument, robes fluttering in the wind. As he approached the site, he felt a familiar mana signature and quickly descended from the sky. In front of the Goddess monument stood another demon, a female demon with teal-colored hair and a dress. She stood in front of the stone monument, staring intently at it.

“Oh, Grausam, you are a bit late to arrive.” – she addressed him without even turning around.

“Solitär. I see you too have arrived.” – Grausam approached her.

“Yes, such a shame I was not here to witness it myself. Ah, such an interesting thing!” she clasped her fingers together “It is the rule of the world- time never rewinds. No matter how many advancements in magic are made, the flow of time remains constant, and yet, someone actually managed to travel back in time. This sort of forceful distortion can only be done by the act of a god.”

“The Goddess of Creation.” – Grausam concluded.

“Yes. It seems we demons might need to deal with such a mighty being in the future. Ah, Frieren, the traveler Schlacht-sama spoke of. Wonder what secrets she holds of the future? I want to study all of that, all of her.”

“Solitär.” – Grausam almost growled dangerously.

“I know~ I won’t defy Maou-sama’s orders. I will make sure to follow the great Demon King’s plans. I received the same orders as you. We all were in the throne room that day. Me, you, the other Sages and the Saintess. Isn’t that right, Tot?”

From the forest emerged two other figures, a dark-skinned female demon and a towerin male demon with light hair.

“Oh, some mysterious secret meeting with the Demon King himself? Now this sounds interesting. Not something I expected to hear.”

“Rivale. Why are you here? Shouldn’t you be fighting the human army further east?” – Grausam asked.

“I came because I heard there would be a fight, at least a more interesting one than what I was doing against those human knights. No one really exceptional has shown up lately. So, I followed.” – he simply said before sitting on a boulder, still slightly warmed from the sun.

“He flew after me when I got the summons the time has come for the prophecy.” – Tot clarified.

“Back to the point, with Zart’s death and the disturbance in space-time, things alight perfectly with one of Schlacht’s prophecies. He never spoke much about them while he was alive but Maou-sama did warn us of this anomaly- Frieren, an elven mage that would come from 80 years in the future.” – Grausam stepped forward.

“Indeed, this is all so interesting. Who knows what other secrets the future holds?” Solitär tilted her head “Still, even with that who knows how many times he has seen the future, thousands, millions of times? We might never comprehend the thinking or someone as exalted as Schlacht the Omniscent. So, it would be best to just follow Maou-sama’s orders as he intended. The way we have enjoyed so far.”

“I shall adhere to that too.” Grausam looked at the other demons and summoned a shimmer of mana on his palms, shifting colors like the many colors of the light spectrum “I can use my magic to extract the knowledge of the future from Frieren’s mind and end everything.”

“So, that is why you wanted us to cooperate?” Tot turned towards Rivale “What do you think, Rivale-chan?”

“I don’t care. I leave all the details and thinking to you, young’uns. All I care about is if there is a worthy opponent to fight.” – Rivale grinned, baring his sharp canines, obviously eaged to spill some blood in the midst of battle.

“Figures…” Tot said before looking at Grausam “You heard him. I don’t care that much, this sounds ridiculous and I would rather go back and pursue the completion of my curse. You can have him instead. Move.”

Rivale scooched over to make more than enough room for Tot not only to sit but stretch back on the warm boulder.

“I am not particularly good at fighting or strong, I I’d rather live in secret for now until my curse is ready. In 100 years or so it would be ready. I don’t want to perish, so I will be taking my leave, adios.” – she stretched her back one last time before floating up and then flying away from the clearing.

“It seems this leaves us for now.” – Grausam looked at the figure quickly disappearing in the sky.

“That was a wise choice. I understand her thinking, I am a cowardly demon too, after all.” – Solitär placed one hand on her chest.

“Are you also leaving, Solitär?” – Grausam asked.

“No.” she summoned a sword “I will provide support but from the shadows.”

“Well, that settles it. It will be us that will face this threat from the future.” Rivale stood up “Tell this old man one thing, do this Frieren travel with someone?”

“Yes, a party of 4, a human priest and a swordsman, a dwarven warrior and her, an elven mage.” – Grausam looked up at the taller demon.

“Is the warrior strong?” – Rivale asked, eyes gleaming with anticipation.

“Yes, very strong~.” -Solitär confirmed.

“Good.” – Rivale almost rumbled, already eager to face a new opponent.

Chapter Text

The time-traveling bird… Fiala Toll- the words that were carved on the monument. Once she figured it out, it became almost painfully obvious what she needed to do, the way to return home was now open. Only thing was, they had to reach the monument first.

“This has been quite the respite from our quest, but we’re almost at the end.” – Himmel said, almost melancholically.

Frieren was pleased to see he had calmed down and his steps were much lighter, the tension in his back had disappeared in the days it took them to search for clues.

“Speak for yourself, respite my sweaty robes! I am exhausted, beat, we’ve trekked so far these couple of days, fought monsters, climbed a cliff, a dragon almost ate us. This had]s been as far from a break for me as it can.” – Heiter sighed, looking exhausted, dragging his feet a bit.

“We could rest a bit here before continuing the journey back to the monument. We are not in that much of a hurry at the moment.” – Eisen suggested.

“I agree with him!?  - Heiter quickly joined.

“Good idea, Eisen!” Himmel looked at her “What do you think Frieren? This place looks good for a short break, right?”

“Yes, let’s…” she suddenly stopped speaking and looked up “Wait… I can feel something. In the distance there is a great source of mana.”

At the same time, Himmel also had looked up, scanning the area, his stance ready for battle.

“It’s coming at us!” – Frieren said.

“Approaching fast!” – Himmel said at the same time, looking at the forest.

Now Heiter and Eisen were also on guards. Eisen shuddered under his red manteau, feeling a shiver down his spine, his hands still shook ever so slightly as he pushed Himmel away from himself.

(BAAAAAAAAAAAAMMM!!!

Something big and fast fley out of the forest and collided with Eisen. The swarf barely had time to block the hit with his axe. He could feel the metal shake and bend under the pressure. Eisen was pushed back, feet tearing gouges in the earth, despite pushing back with all he got. He was being forced towards a sheer drop, but at the last few meters, he managed to skid to a stop.

Gravel and dust were kicked up into the air, creating this heavy cloud that covered the area. In the haze, all Eisen could see was a pair of glowing eyes staring down at him. Sharp, predatory and not unlike a beast’s.

“Eisen!” – Himmel shouted in worry, sword already drawn.

The blue-haired swordsman could literally see the sheer amount of mana curling around their assailant, the killing intent hung heavily in the air. This was another demon, no doubt, and it seemed that they have come specifically to challenge them.

“I’m fine, Himmel!” – Eisen grunted.

The dust cleared, revealing the form of the demon- long blonde hair, tall and built like a brick wall, a pair of large bull-like horns growing from the side of his head, slitted eyes eagerly staring down at Eisen and a fanged grin on full display.

At that time, magic swords were conjured above the group and rained from the sky. Heiter put a quick shield over himself and Frieren, Himmel had to jump and roll back to dodge the blades as they sunk deep in the ground.

‘This magic… Solitär.’ – Frieren remembered the greater demon’s magic clearly, having fought her recently… in the future that is.

“There’s another one hiding somewhere nearby! Be careful!” – she warned her party members.

“Go!” Eisen shouted, still locked in with the blonde demon “I will handle this one, you help Frieren reach the monument!”

Himmel noticed the look the blonde demon was giving Eisen and he did not like it. He did not want to leave his companion with a demon so eager to fight, but when faced with a rain of swords above them, he had to make a choice.

“Got it! We’ll be going ahead!” Himmel looked at Eisen one last time “Run if you must. Just don’t let him toy around with you!”

Heiter, Frieren and Himmel then ran for the monument, all while dodging the magically conjured swords falling from the sky.

“Impressive.” the blonde demon’s grin stretched even more “It has been more than a century since I’ve faced a warrior that could block a punch from me. You are indeed as strong as I’ve heard!”

Eisen gripped his axe a bit tighter and spun it around, knocking back the blonde demon’s fist. Yet despite that, the demon seemed unbothered, even if there was a scrape on his knuckles.

“I am know as Rivale, one of the Greater Demons.” he licked a tiny drop of blood from his scraped knuckled, the tiny scratch closing itself rather quickly “If we were speaking in term you humanoid races use… I would be a general, I think? Not that I really care. I see no point in titles when facing another warrior on the battlefield. Bless me with your name.”

“Eisen, also a warrior.” – was Eisen’s curt reply, he did not take his eyes off the demon.

“I’ve heard about you. One of humanity’s strongest, or so do they say. I am quite pleased to see the rumors don’t exaggerate.” – Rivale circled Eisen, not unlike a cat stalking a mouse.

Eisen responded in kind, sizing up the opponent and holding his axe ready to strike, wondering what sort of trickery the demon would use.

“You know, most of my brethren prefer using magic to fight, to show their strength through it alone. I, on the other hand absolutely crave the thrill of battle, to clash claws and weapons with an opponent, to test my strength against the best warriors out there, learn from each fight, improve, grow stronger as I take in each felled opponent.”

Rivale’s sharp fangs glinted in the moonlight, an eager look in the demon’s eyes painted a grim picture to Eisen. Most likely this demon devoured countless strong warriors after killing them in battle. Eisen was determined not to become his next meal.

“Now, I see that your weapon of choice is a battle axe. To show respect to the most esteemed, humanity’s strongest warrior, I shall also use the axe.” Rivale created a large black axe with his magic “Be proud! Before you stands demonkind’s strongest warrior! Now, let’s both enjoy this battle!”

Both dwarf and demon dashed towards each other at an incredible speed, their weapons clashed, a shockwave from the sheer force of the strike kicked up another cloud of dust in the air.

…………………………………………

Himmel, Heiter and Frieren ran through the forest, swords still rained from the sky but the group was able to duck through some trees and shorten their path here and there. The foliage hid them partially from the onslaught of blades, but it also made it hard for Heiter and Frieren to move. Himmel had no issue with his night vision but noticed his companions lagging and getting snagged on branches, even tripping sometimes.

“We can’t do this for too long, we have to move back to the beaten path.” – He told Heiter and Frieren.

“But if we are out in the open-!” – Heiter began but had to stop when a sword cut straight through the branches above and almost grazed him.

‘Solitär is attacking us this moment. She was not that eager to directly confront us last time, well, when we met in the future, so why is now different? Is she acting on someone’s orders?’ – Frieren wondered.

The trio burst out from the tree line and were back on the path, running as fast as they could towards the Goddess monument. At that moment, Frieren wished she could just use flight magic, but unfortunately, they had not learned that yet in this era. It was too risky to show her spells now, especially when facing 2 demons she knew would be still alive in the future. Wait… 2 demons only?

‘Something doesn’t feel right. But I can’t really sense anything else.’ – Frieren thought.

The trio ran, dodging a couple of swords and a lone figure standing-?! A lone figure?! Since when was he-?! Immediately, Heiter, Frieren and Himmel looked back at the figure that suddenly appeared in the middle of the road. It was a tall black-haired demon in robes. He had been standing there this entire time, waiting for them, they just had not noticed him.

‘Not good! This is Grausam, even though he looks different from what I remember, that is definitely him! And his magic is…’ – Frieren aimed her staff at the demon.

“Too late. This will be the end for you.” – Grausam spoke calmly and lifted one arm.

On his palm waited a ball of mana, glowing an ominous red with a black halo at its edges, before it suddenly burst out into a bright flash of white and- everything-faded.

………………………………………

Himmel’s eyes shot open suddenly, waking up abruptly and knocking the chair he was sitting on to the ground. He was facing- he was- he… Where was he?

“Himmel!” Heiter’s voice called “Finally found you! What were you doing here, dozing off?”

Heiter and Eisen approached him, both dressed in rather official-looking suits and looking dapper. He looked around only to notice the many winged crosses decorating the place along with mosaics and colored glass depicting the Goddess of Creation. Chandeliers lit up the whole place, candles and incense burned, releasing a smell that slightly irritated his sensitive nose, he was in a church.

“Come now, you don’t want to miss your own wedding now, would you?” – Eisen laughed, combing his beard.

“Wedding?” he looked down, only to notice he was wearing a white suit “What are you talking about? Weren’t we-?”

“Come on now, Himmel! We defeated the Demon King already, stop worrying about that! Today is your happy day! Now, come, everyone is waiting!”

Himmel was still confused, his brain simply was not processing the scene in front of him. What was he supposed to say here? What should he do? What was the appropriate way to act? Why as he still alive? Why was he in a church and in a white suite? Were those not meant for the ones getting married? What should he say? Should he apologize? Should he try and find the groom? Should he strip? How should he act at this moment?!

“Get moving, Himmel. The bride is waiting.” – Eisen pushed him forward.

Heiter held the confused demon’s hand as he led him to the altar. Another priest stood there already and someone in a white wedding gown, a veil covering her face but the white hair, the long ears, it was obvious who it was, if only Himmel’s mind was still not stuck trying to comprehend the situation. He was pushed on the altar and faced the bride, the veil was lifted up and he was face to face with Frieren, looking up at him… dressed in a wedding dress… and he was in a wedding suit… impossible, improbable, illogical!

“Himmel, you are here.” – she spoke.

=== Meanwhile out of the illusion ===

“Himmel, Frieren!” – Heiter frantically shook the two of them.

They were kneeling on the ground, frozen, unresponsive to his attempts.

“It is futile. I have placed them inside an inescapable illusion. They can’t hear you.” Grausam addressed Heiter “The Goddess’ protection might have prevented my mental magic to affect you, but that won’t matter for much longer. You cannot win against us.”

Grausam pulled out one of the many swords embedded in the ground and pointed the blade at the priest. Heiter gulped nervously, cold sweat on his brow, but he kept his position, standing between the demon and his incapacitated companions.

“It might seem so, but I can’t just let you kill my friends. I will protect them.” – Heiter pulled out his holy book and faced the Sage of Destruction.

=== In the illusion ===

Himmel stared at Frieren’s face with wide eyes. If he were just a human, like Grausam wrongfully thought, such an illusion would have been the perfect honeypot trap- defeating the Demon King, marrying the woman he loved and getting a happily ever after. What more could a man wish for logically? It had been the perfect illusion and one that had claimed the life of many as they were helpless once trapped inside. What Grausam never suspected or even thought possible, was that the ‘human’ hero Himmel was not even remotely human to begin with. Love might be an easy trap for a human, but for a demon, one which until recently did not even comprehend human emotions, much less understand what love was, the sudden shift deeply disturbed him.

Himmel felt cornered, trapped, his mind simply could NOT process the situation in front of him logically. This church, this whole scene looked all real to him- the sights, the smells, music, voices, even the touch of the clothes, but the calculating, logical part of his brain refused to accept this reality, even if he wanted it to be real. He KNEW it would be impossible for his to defeat the Demon King, no one had in over 1000 years, so how could a powerless demon like him stand a chance? He had some luck but against the king, he’d be dead. He also realistically knew he would never be able to marry Frieren, not only was he sure he would die, but also she hated demons, after all his kind had done to the elves, it was expected of her to do so. He knew that he would not be able to keep if his disguise indefinitely, sooner rather than later, they would find out he did not age like a human, it was a miracle no one had said a thing after all this time, but he knew his luck would be running out eventually. She would notice just how inhuman he was, she would then kill him on the spot. There was no chance she would ever agree to marry him. He had not even completed one proper display of courtship to her! She had not shown any interest to any of his attempts after all!

So, instead of feeling comfort at the situation, he felt dread and panic, like he was a sitting duck, just waiting for slaughter. He scanned the area for any clues, for any indication of an exit. His heart beat faster and his muscles tensed. None of this was real! None could be real!! It did not make ANY seNsE!!!

*Snap-!

…………

Frieren found herself trapped in a curious illusion- she was getting married, apparently. She had quickly concluded this must be some sort of magic, despite every sense telling her this was all real. Who was she waiting at the alter for?

The doors had opened and she saw a very confused Himmel being dragged by Heiter along for the ride. The look in his eyes, was so lost and confused she was also momentarily stunned. It looked like he could not even comprehend what was happening around him, when usually he was very alert and ready to take charge when the situation got dire. That must be the real Himmel then- were they trapped in the same illusion?

“Himmel, you are here.” – she looked up at him.

Their eyes met, yet the look did not change, Himmel’s eyes frantically scanned the area, his pupils had contracted into pinpricks and she could hear his panicked breathing from where she stood.

“Himmel, are you alright?” – she asked but it seemed like he did not hear her.

She saw it the moment it happened- all of a sudden, something seemed to snap and Himmel… was gone. The Himmel she knew melted away almost instantly, his demeanor changed completely, gone was the panic and confusion so clearly visible, instead his face went slack, eyes turned sharp and cold, the familiar calculating look demons usually had was on his face. The shift itself was jarring- she had never seen him with that look… no, she had once before at the king’s castle, she just had not paid that much attention to him or the others back then.

…………………………

Blau analyzed the spell that tapped him- the magic itself was intricately woven. All his senses pointed to it being reality, with his feeble mana, he had no chance to force his way out of this trap. It was meticulously crafted, but his enemy’s assumption had been very wrong and had not managed to completely ensnare him- a wedding? Why use something so illogical to trap another demon? This was just a stupid human fancy with no practical meaning.

‘What could I do to escape before the enemy decides they are done playing and decide to kill me. It would be so easy for one of the Sages to dispose of a low-rank like me.’

His eyes landed on the crowd of people that had ‘gathered’ to witness this. They were looking at him with confusion- no sense of wariness, all unaware of the danger that stood in front of them. They were part of the illusion, right? Would he manage to destabilize the spell by breaking free of the scenario? Or maybe… if he slaughtered them all, he might disrupt the illusion by ruining the scene, by turning the happy wedding into a bloodbath-!

“Himmel…” – a voice, someone touched his hand.

He looked down at the offender and potential enemy, his blue eyes cold as ice, who was it that- Frieren. It was Frieren.

……………………………

Frieren did not like what she was seeing. That cold look did not belong on Himmel, especially like this. When his cold gaze had landed on the crowd, the crowd of people, the crowd where Heiter and Eisen sat (even if they were not real), she felt a shiver down her spine. She knew that look- the deceptive calmness and casual gaze as a demon contemplated who to slaughter first.

‘He- no! He can’t be thinking that! That’s not right, how could he- Oh, that’s right. He’s still a demon.’

She was reminded once more of the reality of things- it was just… so easy to forget that Himmel was a demon with the way he acted and how much he liked seeing people happy and enjoyed helping. Underneath all of that, at his core, he was still a demon, and demons, when threatened, would try anything in order to not die.

“Himmel…” – she took hold of his hand.

Frieren had made her mind- she could not let Himmel go down that path. If it was a normal situation, she knew Himmel would not hurt innocent bystanders, so she had to snap him out of it before it was too late.

His gaze immediately zeroed on her and she froze for just a second- his eyes were cold as ice, logical and lifeless, lacking the usual warmth that was there. He was observing her, like a beast, ready to pounce.

“Himmel.” She repeats again, this time firmer “How are you feeling now? You were not hurt, right?”

“F-Frieren…” Himmel almost choked as he said her name “W-wha- what was I?! No…”

He shook his head, still looking distressed, but also aghast with himself, with what he had thought of doing. Now, though, they did not have the time to waste on that.

“You noticed it too, right? We both are trapped in an illusion.” she looked around “This whole place, to all of my senses, looks real, but I know this is not right. We were fighting Grausam before waking up here. But, every bit of this world seems real to my five senses, my recollections, even my mana sense detects this as real- I am trapped here.”

“Yes, we must have fallen under his illusion spell. I’ve heard about it- Paradise Guidance they called it. An illusion so complete it is indistinguishable from reality.” he said grimly, remembering what he had heard during his time in the army and from his travels “Unfortunately, it seems to be true. I can’t find any flaw in the spell; I can’t even feel the real world. I am trapped as well.”

The two stood in silence, ignoring the flustered illusion priest that was trying to wed them and the confused crowd.

“So, what’s the plan? What should we do now?” – she asked Himmel.

“What are you talking about? We both are trapped here. There is no way out.” – Himmel said with a trembling voice.

Frieren watched as his hands shook, claws flexing and movement jerky. He was obviously barely holding himself from snapping again and lashing out. As for Himmel, he was fighting his survival instincts again- it was obvious, he had suspected his demise would come but it had never been more certain than now. He was going to die here, wasn’t he? Yet, he did not want to die yet.

“You are usually the one that thinks of different plans all the time. It always managed to work out- somewhat at the very least.” Frieren decided to lighten the mood a bit “We might not have sparkle powder nor a sack with live chickens at the moment, but that does not mean your brain suddenly can’t think of some sort of a ridiculous plan to get us out of here, right?”

“Haha- that, where did that come from now? I never thought you’d ever mention that.” he could not help the laugh that escaped him when he remembered that particular event involving said spark powder “But this is different. We are trapped in an illusion, out bodies are probably- No, wait, maybe…”

Frieren couldn’t help the slight smile that appeared when Himmel started thinking. His planning definitely could use work, even in her future, but his plans, even if they seemed ridiculous at first, at least worked out somewhat at the end.

Himmel’s eyes darted all around the church, noting everything around and listing anything that might be useful in breaking the illusion, then his eyes landed on one of the chandeliers, candles lit on it, then on the many candelabras, all of which also held lit candles. Slowly, but surely, a ridiculous idea started forming in his mind. He straightened his back and turned to face Frieren.

“I think I have an idea, but I need your help with this.” he extended his hand towards her “Would you honor me with a dance, milady?”

“Well…” Frieren was a bit surprised at the question, but accepted his hand “I have nothing else at the moment.”

“Well, then! Shall we dance?” he took hold of her hand, while placing his other hand on her waist “Some dance music, please! We need to celebrate this properly!” – Himmel shouted at the pianist that sat in the illusory church’s corner.

The man awkwardly nodded at the sudden request and started playing a lively waltz. The crowd present started to murmur and look at the two of them with confusion. It all looked so realistic.

“You are a foolish man, Himmel.” – she wanted to tell him the truth, that she thought he was brilliant, that she placed her thrust in him, yet she could not, least that changes the future and the eventual outcome they both reach.

Himmel took one last steadying breath and mentally apologized to the ‘people’ here and the old priest (may he rest in peace) about what he was about to do. It was time to show exactly why he had been forbidden by law to dance in an enclosed space or anywhere near fire.

=== Out of the illusion ===

Heiter dodged another attack from Grausam, the sharp blade almost grazing his cheek, all while he summoned a glowing green shield to protect himself from a couple of swords raining from above.

“Are you trying to buy time?” Grausam looked at the priest “I told you it was futile. No matter how long you might persist, it will be a fruitless act. They cannot escape the illusion once trapped.”

Grausam swung his hand and a couple more swords flew up and towards Heiter, following his instructions. The blades clashed with the shield and sparks flew before the priest was forced to his knees, barely preventing the shield from cracking and letting the blades reach his companions.

“I will hold on to the bitter end.” Heiter said, glaring at the Sage of Destruction “Himmel has always managed to make what seemed impossible become possible. I will buy him as much time as I can. I know he’d never give up and eventually manage to find a way out of that illusion of yours.”

*Crackle~ Crack!

The shield started to break under the onslaught of blades, still pushing against the glowing barrier. Sweat ran down Heiter’s forehead as he watched his defense slowly chip away- he did not have too much time left.

“It is time to finish this.” – Grausam said, lifting his hand.

Immediately, 3 more swords flew up in the air and pointed at Heiter, ready to skewer him.

‘T-this might be it.’ Heiter thought at the sight, fear gripping him ‘Sorry, everyone.’

Something quickly whistled through the air. Both Heiter and Grausam had to dodge as one of Solitär’s blades flew straight at them.

*Shik!

The blade imbedded itself in the ground where they stood with a surprising amount of force. Grausam and Heiter both looked at the direction from where the sword came. There, stood Himmel and Frieren, both back on their feet and holding each other, or more like Himmel held Frieren up slightly, as if they were in a ball hall instead of on the battlefield. Himmel had extended one foot far forward and there were obvious skid marks left in the dirt.

‘Have they broken out of the illusion?’ Grausam squinted at the pair ‘No, their eyes are still closed, they still must be affected by my spell, so how could they be moving?’

Then, as if moving to some sort of music, Himmel started leading Frieren into a series of sways and steps that… were so very uncoordinated it could barely even be called a dance. Grausam was done playing around- he would dispose of the two men and take the elf back to the Demon King so they can extract the full knowledge she had of the future. He moved his hand and Solitär summoned 3 more blades before launching them at Himmel.

“Himmel! Watch out!” – Heiter cried out and tried to protect his friends.

The blue-haired hero, continued with his steps becoming surer, faster, but still as uncoordinated and chaotic. The swords were about to reach him but he suddenly jerked to the side and leaned sideways in such a weird angle all of them missed the mark.

“How?” – Heiter wondered out loud.

Himmel then snapped up straight and entered a spin, he was now practically carrying Frieren around as he brought her in a wide spin. One of the elf’s heels caught the handle of a sword and knocked it to the ground before Himmel did this- weird sliding-back step right on the sword. The blade was sent flying through the air before it embedded itself in a nearby tree.

Heiter gulped nervously, a sinking feeling of dread began to form as he watched his party leader go through series of weird motions, spins, uncoordinated dance moves and bending his body through the motions of this weird ‘dance’ that Heiter did not think would be possible without breaking one’s spine. Dodge another slash, avoid a blade launched at you, kick up dirt in the demon’s eyes, send some random rock or a discarded sword flying at random, slide along the ground to avoid an attack, toss Frieren up and then catch her in another spin of heels that was more like swinging a mace or a sack of potatoes rather than a human being, but Heiter could not help but notice it was actually working!

Grausam was getting frustrated; things were not going according to plan. In some way, somehow, the blue-haired man was moving on his own and was not completely trapped in the illusion. He did not know if this was some weird battle technique or a weird tribal dance,  but he was actually fighting back from within the illusion. The black-haired demon tried to slash at the hero’s back, only for the man to drop into this weir bow down before kicking back into a backflip, SOMEHOW! Before Grausam could even pull back when he realized what was going to happen, he got kicked in the chin by Himmel.

Frieren hung mostly limp in Himmel’s hold, even as he spun her around his body and used her heels to ram into Grausam’s kidneys.

“Ghak!” – the Sage gasped at the sharp pain as two hard heels were driven into his unguarded side.

Himmel was not done, after the spin he held Frieren close and leaned down, almost nailing the other demon in the groin when his leg suddenly shot back to keep balance and not faceplant on the ground. Grausam stumbled backwards before taking into the air to create some distance from the disaster that was Himmel still in the middle of his performance on the ground.

Grausam lifted one hand high in the air and the sky around him was covered in swords, Heiter watched the scene, frozen in shock, before the demon swing his hand down and the swords rained towards Himmel and Frieren. It seemed that the Sage of Destruction was no longer caring to keep Frieren intact. As long as she was not dead, he did not mind maiming her a bit, if that would mean the blue-haired hero would die. Swords rained from the sky but still the pair somehow managed to avoid all of them, not even one sword managed to nick them. Himmel’s chaotic movements made aiming harder and impossible to predict where Himmel would be next, the hero even did a sudden split on the ground and two blades just whizzed above his head. Just as Grausam thought this must be the worst of it-

*Shiiing~!

A sword came flying back at him, Himmel had done a half-spin and kicked one of the swords back the way it came from. Grausam had to dodge to the side to avoid being beheaded, but the sharp blade still cut off a few strands of hair.

*Shiing! Ca-chak!

There was a second sword, then a third. Himmel had taken hold of Frieren by the arms and back, he spun them around quickly in a wobbly line across the battlefield. The elf’s heels were left free in the air and they would randomly hit the swords embedded in the earth or some coming at them, then knock them down or flying in a different direction. Himmel was no better, with him bending his body and sliding around, dirt, rocks and metal flew in all directions. The two were a maelstrom of chaos, deadly projectiles flying in every direction.

“Guaah!” – Heiter practically threw himself away from the duo.

The priest army-crawled to the safety of the trees, flinching every time he heard something come flying near him.

“Divine Protection!” – Heiter shouted.

And just in time, not even a second later, a sword hit the barrier, just mere centimeters from Heiter’s face. He would have died if he had been any slower, with haste he crawled faster and ducked behind a tree.

Grausam tried fighting back, but whatever he threw at the pair, only seemed to give Himmel more ammunition. Metal screeched and sparks flew as swords clashed and scraped against each other.

=== Meanwhile inside the illusion ===

Frieren was surprised and, honestly, amazed.

‘I did not know it was possible to cause a fire inside an illusion.’ – she thought as she was spun around, getting a good 360 view of the church’s interior.

Everything was on fire, the wooden benches were naught but burns charcoal, carpets and lavish banners were set ablaze, flames crawled up the walls and around them as the church was set ablaze. It was… baffling to be honest, just how fast had this turned into a blazing inferno once Himmel started the ‘dance’ he mentioned.

‘Now I understand why he declined to dance whenever we were invited at some lord’s manor to celebrate after helping.’

“Where did you even learn to… dance like this?” – she asked him.

“Well, it was for the wedding of a close friend of mine. She decided to teach me since she wanted to have me at the party, issue was… both of us were terrible. I can’t count how many times she accidentally stepped on her husband’s feet during the dance. As for me-.” He chuckled awkwardly “I accidentally knocked some stuff down and it somehow caused a huge fire. Half the church burned before we were able to put it out.”

“Wow, this is actually impressive. Kind of like how you managed to do all this.” – she vaguely gestured at the fire around them.

“Not really. I was lucky it did not spread to any of the houses.” he shook his head “I would have never lived it down if that happened or someone got hurt.”

“Well, good thing it didn’t happen, right?” – she looked at him.

Himmel just hummed and after a short spin leaned dangerously down. For a moment, as she hung suspended in his grasp, she feared that maybe he would fall on her or maybe, he might lean in, but he managed to keep his balance, smiled playfully at her and rose back up.

=== Outside of the illusion ===

Chaos and destruction. That was how Heiter could describe the scene in front of him. The clearing was littered with countless gouges and blades embedder in many surfaces od just laying on the ground. At some point some of the foliage had caught fire that was slowly growing, the tree he was hiding in was missing branches and looked more like a darts board than a tree at the moment. Grausam was not doing any better, the demon looked disheveled and was slightly limping after Himmel finally managed to lick him between the legs at some point, even Heiter had winced in pain. Then, immediately after Grausam had doubled in pain, Himmel had spun Frieren around and one of her feet hit Grausam’s face, so now he also had a boot-shaped bruise on his cheek but also was missing a couple of teeth.

*Klanggg!

The sound rang out as Grausam parried another blade that was kicked in his direction. The Sage of Destruction actually winced when he noticed another pirouette from Himmel coming closer to him. He was still trying to extract useful information from Frieren as he was fighting them, but it was getting more difficult to concentrate with all the damage he was taking. He knew Solitär would not come out of hiding to assist him.

“Would you stop with this wild flailing?!” – Grausam seethed.

“Hey! Weren’t you the one that said it was futile? They can’t hear you from inside the illusion!” – Heiter shot back at the black-haired demon, taunting him.

“You-!” – Grausam turned to look at Heiter.

It had worked; the distraction was enough to divert Grausam’s attention away from Himmel. The blue-haired hero’s foot snagged onto yet another sword laying on the ground and kicked it forward at an incredible speed. The blade whizzed through the air and straight at Grausam. The Sage jerked in shock and tried to dodge but it was not enough.

*Shick!

Blood flew through the air as Grausam’s hand was cut off at the elbow and then fell to the ground. This pain of having a limb sliced off was the final straw that broke his concentration and removed the illusion. Himmel and Frieren’s eyes fluttered open and they gazed at each other, Himmel still holding her close to his chest while Frieren’s legs dangled slightly above the ground. A small blush dusted Himmel’s cheeks once he realized the position he was in, so he quickly let go- now was not the time for this!

“Frieren, go to the monument! We’ll hold them off you.” he drew his sword and faced Grausam “There must be some reason they want to stop you, so run as fast as you can.”

“Be careful.” – Frieren said before she turned her back to them and ran.

‘Hmm… Grausam, a troublesome opponent, but thankfully he’s lost an arm now and looks not so good. I must praise Heiter for holding his back so long.’ Then Himmel’s eyes scanned the nearby trees ‘It is hard, but I think I can faintly sense where the demon controlling these swords is hiding.’

“You… you really are a frustratingly annoying man, Hero Himmel.” – Grausam addressed him, clutching the bloody stump where his hand once was.

The demon might have looked calm but Himmel could feel the murderous intent just by looking at him and by the feel of the other demon’s mana.

“I appreciate the compliment, but now I think it is time we face each other properly, instead of you using those creepy illusions to trap me. I will not allow you to hurt any of my companions any further.”

Frieren ran as fast as her feet could carry her, her mana sense was constantly scanning the surroundings, least she was ambushed like before but it seemed her old party members were holding their own against the three demons. There it was- the monument. She jumped, her hand outstretched to touch the stone slab.

‘Fiala Toll.’ – she repeated the spell in her mind.

The moment she touched it, a hum filled the air, this time a pillar of golden light lit up the sky as the spell was activated and sent Frieren’s consciousness back to her time. Everyone paused for a moment to gaze at the scene.

“It seems we have failed in capturing the elf. This marks the end, there’s no longer a reason to continue fighting.” – Solitär sighed to herself, she had really hoped to be able to study someone that travelled back from the future.

*Clang~!

Himmel’s blade collided with the sword Grausam still held, but it was obvious the black-haired demon was not adept at using a blade. The sword shattered upon impact and Grausam had to let go of the unusable weapon. One of the broken shards of metal cut his cheek.

“No reason to fight? I find that difficult to believe, especially for demons like you. You all are dangerous, too dangerous to let go like this.”

“Hero Himmel, I might not like this type of fighting or leaving things in this state, but it seems I have no other choice at the moment.” – Grausam glanced at his severed arm before locking eyes with Himmel.

Himmel recognized the threat and the challenge, he could not help it when his hair bristled slightly. Grausam definitely would not let it go so easily, they will surely meet again, but at the moment they were at a standoff.

“And what if we don’t want to just leave things as is?” – Himmel asked, pointedly looking back at Grausam, daring the injured demon to do something.

“Weell~ That would be foolish, no? You might be able to pull something off, Hero Himmel, but…” Solitär hummed “We just might go berserk and lay waste to humanity, then your precious Frieren won’t have much to return to in the future.”

Himmel was, honestly a bit surprised to hear something akin to praise coming from the mouth of a greater demon, but he held firm, least they catch his bluff. He knew Heiter was injured and could not continue fighting for too long, despite the priest holding himself up quite well.

“So~ What would it be, Hero? I personally find both ideas quite appealing~.” – Solitär said.

Himmel finally pinpointed her location in the trees and swung his sword using the warrior’s aura. The wind pressure from the swing cut the top part of the tree off.

“Begone.” – he told the greater demon.

The two other demons disappeared in a cloud of smoke, leaving Himmel and Heiter alone. The two of them quickly ran to the Goddess monument, only to find Frieren unconscious but unharmed body.

“Eisen! We’ve got Frieren! It is time to retreat!” – Himmel shouted once ha had her in his hands.

Eisen, still was in a heated clash with Rivale, but he heard his leader’s order.

“Oh, don’t tell me you are just going to retreat? Surely you are not going to turn your back on an enemy.” – Rivale looked at the dwarf.

“Maybe a more gallant warrior would not, but you got something wrong here. I am not some fearless warrior, nor am I the strongest. It’s just that most of my fellow warriors had died off by fighting to the bitter end every single time.” Eisen looked up at the demon “So, see you never, hopefully.” – Eisen then did something unexpected and waved a buye-buye to the demon.

“What-?!” – Rivale was confused by the sudden mood shift.

“Lightning Strike!” – Eisen struck the ground down with all his might.

The rock underneath cracked and began to fall, blood also spurted out, the powerful strike had not only shattered Rivale’s axe but also managed to injure him- his right eye was gone.

“My leader is calling me, so I must take my leave.” – Eisen said before turning back and running as far away from the battle maniac of a demon as he could.

“Haha! Marvelous! This is the first enjoyable battle I’ve had in a while!” Rivale couldn’t help but grin widely, not caring he was falling “Warrior Eisen, I salute you for your valor, you are indeed worthy of being called one of the strongest.” – just as he was reaching the ground below, he activated his magic and floated up, grinning widely, fangs on full display.

Himmel carried the unconscious Frieren in his arms as they retreated to safety.

“So… sorry for bothering you at this time, but shouldn’t we, I don’t know, do something about the fire?” – Heiter gestured back.

Some smoke was already rising as the fire burned in the forest.

“Should be fine! It is early spring, the ground is wet still so it should not spread too much, I hope.” – Himmel winced and looked a bit ashamed.

“Hope you are right.” – Eisen shook his head but did not pause.

The three of them had dealt with enough trouble today.

=== Future, 81 years after the Demon King’s defeat ===

Frieren woke up with a start, it was daytime again, the monument stood in front of her, broken, the magic she felt inside it was fading quickly, as if it had completed its purpose. She looked back, only to see Himmel, Stark and Fern looking at her. Although, Himmel looked rather nervous.

‘So, I have returned?’

“Frieren-sama? Did something happen.” – Fern asked.

“Nothing much, just…” Frieren stood up and looked at Himmel “You knew about this, didn’t you?” – she squinted at him.

“Sorry…” – he mumbled and looked down at his feet.

“How long was I out?”

“Just a little bit.” – he mumbled again.

“So, it was not that long. It was not just a figment of my imagination, judging by how you were acting. What do you have to say about yourself?” – she lightly bonked him on the head.

“I-I am sorry, alright?! I could not really say anything before this, plus you made us promise we would not tell anyone about it! I was just doing what you asked of me.” – he tried to defend himself.

“Well, I can’t really blame you for that. It was indeed important that We did not mess up history.”

“Phew~ I am so happy I don’t have to keep it all secret now that it is over. It was so tricky to not mention anything all this time, especially when I was unsure what might have happened in the future.” Himmel grinned brightly, eyes full of curiosity “So, now that we are here, can you answer some of the questions I have about time travel? I’ve wanted so much to ask about it for the past 80 something years!”

“Sure, I can tell you.” Frieren nodded, but then got a bit of a dark look in her eyes and hit him again “But not before you pay! Take this!” – she was hitting him but her punches and chops did not really hurt that much.

“Hey, why are you bonking me again? I thought we were good!”

“This is because of that ‘dancing’ of yours! I was sore for a whole week after that!”

“Sorry~” – Himmel whined.

Fern and Stark just stared at the odd interaction, not really understanding what was happening.

“Should we… try and stop them or something?” – Stark asked.

“Just let them be. They are adults; despite not acting like it, they will settle it themselves.” – Fern told him and just stared as Frieren chased Himmel around.

=== Bonus: Back in the past ===

Frieren woke up with a groan, her whole body was aching, especially her feet and back. She rose up from her sleeping back with a groan and a wince. She looked around- they were in a camp, the fire burning merrily as a pot of stew simmered on top, Eisen was cleaning his axe, Himmel was checking the edge of his sword, while Heiter poked around the hot coals with a stick.

“Ugh… by body hurts… What happened? Weren’t we at the monument?” – she asked the party, groaning.

“Oh, seems you are back with us.” – Himmel mused under his nose.

“What?” – she turned towards him.

“We were but you could not decipher the magic, so we left.” – Heiter explained.

“I see, why does my whole body hurt then. Feels like I was trampled over.” – she asked.

“Ehehe… I-I don’t know? Maybe you slept wrong or something?” – Himmel said awkwardly.

Frieren wanted to ask him more, not really buying the whole story about sleeping wrong, but a sharp throb from her shoulders stopped her.

“Uugh… this is the worst. I am going to lay back down, hopefully somewhere softer this time.” – she settled back under the covers.

Heiter, Eisen and Himmel exchanged knowing looks and nodded to each other. While she had been unconscious, they had reached an agreement. Just as the Frieren from the future asked, they would keep this a secret and also, once their journey was over, some time in the distant future, at least one of them would venture out and make sure the spell needed was engraved on the monument. It was what they had to do to complete the cycle.