Northern Plateau, Dorah Region.
At this time, three years remained until Diego's disappearance.
Night gradually deepened, a cold moon hung high.
Diego, covered in blood, sat cross-legged on the ground, letting Alicia wrap bandage after bandage around him. The ground was littered with the corpses of magical beasts slowly dissipating into magic particles.
Watching Frieren and the others slowly approach, the corner of Diego's mouth curved up slightly as he gave a small nod in greeting. "Looks like the decapitation operation went quite smoothly. What about that great demon?"
"I cut it down with one sword." Sui anxiously ran to Diego's side, checking his injuries up and down. "Never mind that for now—are your wounds serious?"
Diego let out a disdainful laugh at her words, patted Sui's head, and said softly:
"Still perfectly lively. If they can't even figure out the difference in strength and dare to challenge me, Diego Brando, that pack of dragons wouldn't have even a one-in-ten-thousand chance of winning."
"…Monster. That guy summoned hundreds of dragons to block the way." Frieren's gaze fell on the dissipating corpses of the dragons. Holding her staff, she muttered under her breath, "Suddenly declaring a decapitation operation and leaving one person at the canyon entrance to hold off hundreds of dragons—truly willful."
"There's nothing for me to do—great!" Mabel beamed, clapping her hands softly. "In the end, not a single dragon got through. I was holding the Freeze God Sword and almost fell asleep waiting—"
"Yes, no need for the Freeze God Sword."
Mabel ☄ฺ(◣д◢)☄ was instantly enveloped in black aura, glaring resentfully at Diego.
"Everyone, listen to me. I'm a little worried that Dio's strength might be exploited by the demons." Alicia furrowed her brows tightly, her voice thick with unease. "There are plenty of demons skilled in mind-manipulation magic—for example, one of the Seven Sages of Destruction, the Miracle Grausam. If Dio were to be…"
Alicia didn't continue. After a moment of silence, Diego's loud laughter suddenly rang in her ears.
"Hahahahahahaha—!!!"
"Wait, Dio—Alicia's concern isn't unreasonable. We really should consider the possibility of you being controlled…" Frieren opened her mouth, trying to speak with the still-laughing Diego.
"Hahaha… Frieren, remember this: no one can command me, Dio. If that moment ever comes, I'll end myself with my own hands.
And the same goes for all of you—kill me without hesitation, attack with full power right away…"
...
Seventy-eight years after Diego disappeared…
—Central Countries, Weila Region—
"Frieren-sama, wake up." On the carriage, Fern gently shook Frieren, who was lying across her lap. "We're almost at the village."
Ugh… my leg's numb…
"Is that so…" Frieren rubbed her eyes and yawned.
"Frieren-sama didn't sleep well? You look like you had a nightmare."
"No, this time it was a wonderful dream!" Frieren smiled lightly, her expression full of tender warmth, as if she had returned to those five years of traveling—a brief yet joyful journey.
Before long, the carriage reached the village. The two once again headed to the market to gather supplies.
In the market, a kind old woman stopped the pair as they were about to leave with their goods.
"Are you planning to cross the mountain pass ahead? I advise against it. Several people have gone missing there recently."
"Have magical beasts appeared near the mountain path?" Frieren asked.
"I heard the missing people were taken by ghosts. Some in the village have seen them too."
Frieren thought for a moment and decided to go with Fern to ask the villagers who had seen the ghosts, gathering information together.
...
After inquiring around the village and returning to the inn, Fern summarized the general information: "Deceased family members or friends appeared in front of them again, looking exactly the same as when they were alive. Some were even spoken to by the ghosts."
"Phantom Ghosts." Frieren nodded without hesitation, making her judgment. "I originally thought it might be undead controlled by corpse-manipulation magic, but from what's been described, that's not the case."
"Why?" Fern asked.
"Fern, you really haven't read the magic ecology book I gave you. Looks like I'll have to read it to you before bed again."
"I'll read it tonight. Frieren-sama, please stop treating me like a child."
"…Undead are corpses or skeletons and such, so they wouldn't look exactly the same as in life." Seeing Fern a little unhappy, Frieren continued on the topic of Phantom Ghosts. "This thing has quite twisted tastes. Let's leave the village early tomorrow morning and go around it."
"But everyone in the village is really troubled right now." Fern stood by the edge of the bed, her expression showing reluctance. "Frieren-sama, let's go subjugate the Phantom Ghost."
"Fern… you really resemble Alicia right now. Should I say it's no surprise, since you grew up by her side?" Frieren sat on the bed, looked up at her for a while, then gave a somewhat helpless smile. "Fine. If Fern wants to do it, then let's do it. We're crossing that mountain tomorrow anyway."
But Fern, this doesn't sound like something Dio would do. In a situation like this, he would definitely say, "What do the lives of that flock of pigeons have to do with this great one?"
Then he'd just take a detour and leave.
Afterward, Frieren lay straight back, enjoying the softness of the bed, and quickly fell asleep.
"But I'm also Frieren-sama's disciple." Fern looked at the sleeping Frieren and spoke softly, gently pulling the blanket over her.
"Frieren-sama, good night. Sleep well."
One night passed.
[Alicia, you want to go help those villagers again?]
[…Since that's what you want to do, there's no helping it. Finish it quickly and let's go.]
Mm… it's Dio. I've been dreaming about him a lot lately. I feel like… we've become a little similar…
"Frieren-sama… Frieren-sama… wake up. It's time to set out." Fern woke Frieren, who had rolled off the bed onto the floor.
Then she helped the groggy Frieren change clothes, wash up, braid her hair, and fed her breakfast…
Hehe~ Frieren-sama really takes forever to get up every time.
Wait… am I turning into some kind of mother figure for Frieren-sama?!
...
The mountain breeze carried away Frieren's sleepiness. The sound of the river murmured in their ears, accompanied by the clear calls of birds, as the two walked along the mountain path.
The weather today was clear as usual.
In just a few minutes, the two reached the spot where villagers had been disappearing one after another.
"It's practically overflowing with clues… full of openings." Frieren sensed the nearby residual magic and immediately understood the situation.
"It's illusion magic. I remember the magic ecology book mentioned that some magical beasts use illusions to capture prey." Fern shared her understanding.
"Oh! You actually read the book properly this time!" Frieren looked as delighted as a child who just got candy.
"After all, I promised Frieren-sama." Fern put her hands on her hips, looking completely natural.
As they spoke, the two continued deeper along the mountain path, following the river forward.
The fog gradually thickened, mysterious and serene like a goddess's veil, yet filled with a sense of danger.
"Fern, when we see the Phantom Ghost later, attack without hesitation." Frieren looked at Fern's profile with some worry, solemnly reminding her while explaining the habits of Phantom Ghosts.
"Phantom Ghosts are extremely picky eaters—they only prey on humans. Among illusion-using magical beasts, they are especially cunning and greedy. They create illusions of the person the target 'cherishes' the most."
"Illusions pose no threat to mages. A high-density magic hit will make them dissipate quickly."
"The key is—can you do it? I've shattered the illusion of my pleading Master before."
Fern blinked and answered without hesitation: "Of course. I know it's fake."
"Shattering the illusion of someone you cherish is like personally killing them—it's not a pleasant memory. Though I'm used to hearing my Master's pleas, so I didn't feel any guilt."
"What do you mean 'used to hearing my Master's pleas'…" Fern muttered powerlessly.
As the two went deeper, the fog grew thicker, air currents sped up—this meant the Phantom Ghost was getting closer. The two summoned their staffs and warily scanned the surroundings.
To ease Fern's tension, Frieren asked teasingly: "Fern, who do you think will appear as your illusion later?"
"If nothing unexpected happens, it should be Alicia-sama. What about you, Frieren-sama?"
"Probably… my Master—no, this time it should be Dio…" Frieren paused, looked up in thought for a moment before answering.
As she spoke, the white fog began to obscure their vision. Alicia, clad in white holy robes, emerged from the mist, smiling exactly as she had before parting.
Here it was—the Phantom Ghost.
"As expected, it's Alicia-sama." Saying so, Fern began gathering ordinary attack magic in her staff.
But the magic stopped the moment Alicia opened her mouth.
Shwa!!!
"Frieren-sama, who is this…" Fern was shocked by the figure before her. Her face paled, and even her voice trembled slightly.
"Dio…!!!"
Most mages of this era grew up in greenhouses. Even Fern had only hunted magical beasts, so she was overwhelmed and breathless under the overwhelming killing intent once released by Diego Brando as a mage killer.
The instant Alicia opened her mouth, a figure shot forward like an arrow, claws plunging straight into Alicia's chest. The dissipating illusion stared in disbelief at the blond man before her.
Diego's face showed no expression. He coldly watched the illusion vanish as he withdrew his hand. To him, such an imposter was nothing but blatant humiliation.
Then the man turned his head, his equally icy gaze locking onto Frieren and Fern. Slowly raising his dragon-transformed claw, he aimed it at his own temple and thrust without hesitation.
Pfft!
Diego's illusion collapsed. The fog dissipated along with it, revealing the Phantom Ghost's massive form before the two.
"He didn't lie to me. Of course—Dio would unhesitatingly end himself…" Frieren murmured with lowered eyes. "But I must have disappointed him. He didn't even say a single word to me."
Yet I hesitated… even though I promised him to attack with full power immediately…
As the illusions of Diego and Alicia vanished, the illusion magic was broken. A human-like look of shock appeared on the Phantom Ghost's inhuman face.
Clearly, this was the first time it had seen an illusion solve itself, causing the magic to fail.
(Phantom Ghost: 666—what kind of play is this? No acting at all, just straight-up account takeover?!)
Shoo shoo shoo…
Boom!
A massive attack magic pierced straight through its chest.
Phantom Ghost, OUT!
"Frieren-sama, are you okay?" Fern saw that Frieren's mood seemed extremely poor. She hurried over to help the kneeling Frieren up. "Was that Diego-sama just now?"
"…Fern, do you think Dio is very disappointed in me?" Frieren hugged her knees, her voice muffled. "This feeling is so strange—worse than when I shattered my Master's illusion myself. I didn't even get a chance to act against Dio's illusion…"
"It's the first time I've seen a Phantom Ghost's illusion say absolutely nothing."
"No way. In Diego-sama's eyes, I only saw dissatisfaction that we didn't immediately kill the fake—no disappointment at all." Fern hugged Frieren and gently patted her back.
"Isn't one of the purposes of our journey to meet the real Diego-sama?"
"…Don't pat my head…"