Chapter 259

At the edge of the group, Sense had remained silent the entire time.

She looked at Haruto, her lips moving slightly as though she wanted to say something, but in the end, she kept it to herself.

Haruto was not a registered examinee and ordinarily should not have been allowed to participate in a battle during the First-Class Mage Exam.

However, the appearance of Haruto’s replica had increased the difficulty of the examination through no fault of the actual candidates. Under those circumstances, allowing Haruto himself to join the fight was arguably the fairest solution.

The problem was that if Haruto’s replica was substantially weaker than the real person, his involvement would still distort the examination.

Sense had no clean solution to that contradiction, so she chose to remain silent.

Seeing that the proctor raised no objection, the others naturally had no reason to refuse Haruto’s help.

Haruto could deal with his own replica.

Frieren’s replica, however, was another matter entirely.

Denken and his companions had already experienced firsthand just how terrifying it was. A handful of basic offensive spells casually fired by the replica had been enough to drive them into a desperate retreat. Fighting it head-on was out of the question.

For a while, nobody could come up with a particularly good solution.

They did not seriously consider simply waiting for Haruto to defeat his replica and come help afterward either.

Haruto might be confident that he could win, but as far as Denken and the others were concerned, there was no reason to believe the battle would end quickly.

Besides, although Haruto’s replica had displayed terrifying physical strength, landing a clean attack on a prepared mage was hardly easy.

Frieren likewise understood better than anyone how difficult it would be to defeat a perfect copy possessing all of her spells and abilities.

While everyone was struggling for an answer, Richter suddenly spoke.

"The most effective ways to defeat a mage stronger than yourself are binding magic or mind-control magic."

Frieren’s replica was extraordinarily powerful, but the real Frieren would be fighting alongside them.

If they could restrict the replica’s movement or disrupt its spellcasting rhythm, then even the smallest opening might be enough to decide the battle.

Denken considered Richter’s suggestion reasonable.

Frieren, however, knew her own defenses too well.

"I’m resistant to both."

Ordinary binding spells and mind-control magic would have little effect on her. She had specifically developed those resistances to defend herself against the magic used by demons.

"We only need to create an opening for an instant."

Denken looked at her seriously.

"If we can give you that one opening, you should be able to destroy the replica."

He was not particularly surprised that Frieren had resistance to both forms of magic.

They did not need to restrain her for long.

A single moment would be enough.

As for whether they could actually create that moment—

Denken turned toward Methode.

"Methode, you’re fairly skilled with those kinds of spells, aren’t you?"

Methode raised her eyes, her expression remaining composed.

"I wouldn’t say skilled."

Despite saying that, she was clearly willing to try.

She walked up to Frieren, spread her arms—

And hugged her.

Then she closed her eyes and began casting a binding spell.

Frieren blinked in surprise at suddenly being embraced, but did not push her away. She simply assumed physical contact was somehow part of Methode’s casting method.

Standing nearby, Haruto lowered his head to hide a smile.

Methode’s binding magic did not require physical contact at all.

She was obviously taking advantage of the situation to openly hug Frieren.

Fern’s brows drew together slightly.

The look she gave Methode contained a faint trace of suspicion.

Something about this did not feel entirely innocent.

Still, given the circumstances, she could hardly interrupt.

Several seconds later, Methode stopped casting and reluctantly released Frieren.

"How interesting."

She looked genuinely puzzled.

"The binding spell had absolutely no effect."

"Normally, that only happens when the difference in mana between the caster and target is enormous."

Methode could sense that Frieren possessed more mana than she did, but the apparent gap should not have been large enough to render binding magic completely useless.

What Methode did not know was that Frieren had spent centuries suppressing her mana.

To most observers, she appeared to possess only somewhat more mana than an ordinary mage.

In reality, Frieren had accumulated mana for a thousand years.

The true scale of it was almost unimaginable.

Methode studied Frieren’s perfectly calm face, then prepared to test mind-control magic.

"Frieren, please look into my eyes."

Frieren obediently met her gaze.

A faint light appeared within Methode’s pupils.

Frieren did not react at all.

Methode finally gave up.

She stepped back half a pace and shook her head.

"Mind-control magic doesn’t work either."

"With my ability, I can’t break through Frieren’s mental defenses."

With both approaches failing, the others’ expressions turned grim.

Methode was not particularly specialized in mind-control magic, so it was still technically possible that someone better at it could succeed.

Unfortunately, among everyone currently present, Methode was already the most capable with that type of magic.

"In that case, we’ll have to fight it head-on."

Frieren gave a small sigh, sounding somewhat helpless.

Privately, however, a trace of anticipation had begun to stir.

Fighting an opponent who perfectly reproduced every aspect of her own abilities would certainly be troublesome.

But it was also a rare and genuinely interesting challenge.

"Can you win?"

Denken asked.

Their ability to pass the First-Class Mage Exam depended on it.

"I don’t know."

Frieren answered without hesitation.

There was no such thing as guaranteed victory when fighting yourself.

One tiny mistake could overturn the entire battle.

Then Fern quietly spoke.

"Um... I might be able to kill Frieren-sama’s replica."

Everyone immediately turned toward her.

Fern’s cheeks reddened slightly under all the attention, but her expression remained firm.

Frieren had raised and trained her.

Fern knew her extremely well.

And more importantly, she knew Frieren’s fatal weakness.

She was confident that if the opportunity appeared—even for only an instant—she could seize it.

"And if this turns into a battle of attrition, there’s no need to worry too much."

Haruto spoke up as well.

"I’ll take care of my replica as quickly as I can and come help."

"At that point, it’ll be three against one. Our odds will be pretty good."

The others looked at him with some confusion.

They had no idea where his confidence came from.

Frieren, however, seemed to trust him completely.

"Then let’s put together a plan."

A slight smile appeared on her face.

The atmosphere around them felt strangely nostalgic.

It reminded her of long ago.

The strategy naturally revolved around Haruto, Frieren, and Fern.

Just then, heavy footsteps approached from farther down the corridor.

A moment later, Dünste staggered into view.

He brought bad news.

Edel, who specialized in mind-control magic, had failed to seize control of one of the replicas.

That immediately eliminated mind control as a viable option.

After they gave Dünste some basic treatment, Lawine and Kanne arrived as well.

Unlike him, neither appeared seriously injured.

Lawine brought two pieces of crucial information.

The first concerned the true nature of the monsters within the King’s Tomb.

Every replica in the dungeon had been created by the Spiegel, the water-mirror demon residing at the deepest point of the ruins.

The second was even more urgent.

The replicas were continuously converging toward the deepest level.

Within less than half an hour, all of them would gather here.

If that happened, every examinee still inside the Ruins of the King’s Tomb would be trapped.

"We can’t wait any longer."

Denken looked around at everyone present, his expression grave.

"We have to move now and destroy the Spiegel before all the replicas finish gathering."

The situation had become urgent.

Nobody hesitated.

They quickly finalized the plan.

Haruto, Frieren, and Fern would enter the central hall and engage Haruto’s replica and Frieren’s replica before pushing through to the Spiegel itself.

The remaining mages would stay behind in the corridor and intercept the other replicas converging on their position, buying the three of them as much time as possible.

Haruto rolled his wrists, his joints cracking sharply.

Frieren and Fern tightened their grips on their staffs.

The three exchanged a glance.

Then they turned together and pushed open the doors leading into the central hall.