Sousou no Frieren (Frieren: Beyond Journey's End / 葬送のフリーレン)

No wonder the Ruins of the King's Tomb have never been conquered.

I wasn't expecting to encounter these here.

Denken, can we deal with that, too?

The one thing I can say is that if this weren't a test,

I would've shattered my bottle a long time ago.

You're there like the wind

Beyond Journey's End

Episode 24: Perfect Replicas

We call the lord of the dungeon "Spiegel the Water-Mirror Fiend."

It is a monster from a mythical era that appears in Ewig the Sage's heroic tales.

We believe the Spiegel reads the memories of those who enter the dungeon

and creates perfect replicas of its targets.

There are similar monsters in the modern era such as the Einsam,

but the Spiegel's perfect replicas have physical substance

and copy the target's abilities, mana, and skills.

It is the reason the Ruins of the King's Tomb remain unconquered to this day.

Why did Sense choose this dungeon for her test?

A person is evenly matched against their copy.

Defeating them without suffering casualties

requires cool-headed self-analysis and teamwork.

It's exactly the kind of test a pacifist like her would put together.

This isn't good.

We should retreat.

Denken!

Now then, what are we going to do about this?

It's a dead end.

We're cornered.

Four-eyes, could I get your opinion as a cloning magic specialist?

I told you, my name is Land.

But ask away.

How perfect a copy of me do you think that replica is?

Übel, you're chatty even during combat, aren't you?

It's like you'd die if you stopped talking.

You've been watching me closely.

Yeah, that's true. I'd probably die.

And yet it's so quiet.

Does that mean it hasn't copied my memories or personality?

No, it's probably just incapable of speaking.

During the initial attack, it swiped my escape golem bottle.

I see. That is what I would do.

It knows about us, too.

It's not attacking despite cornering us because it's wary of your Sorganeil.

Either that, or it's enjoying tormenting us.

That's not funny.

You're bleeding a lot.

You know, you won't last long like this.

You're right.

Can I ask you one last question?

Are you the real one?

Who knows?

Uh-huh.

Use my bottle.

But you need that to survive.

Oh, yeah?

In that case, wait here, four-eyes.

I'm going to get your bottle back.

Hey, wait—

I expected it to close the gap.

I need to see its entire body in order to cast Sorganeil.

Whoever miscalculates the distance first will lose this battle.

If we're evenly matched, then who wins will come down to luck.

I've always been unlucky, so I don't like luck-based contests.

So I have no desire to fight myself.

You must really want to die.

My luck always sucks.

That's why I didn't want to do this.

But...

It looks like your luck was worse.

You were quicker than I expected, four-eyes.

Huh. So the bottle was fake, too.

Übel, you knew that it was a clone of me that was dying.

Why did you rush to your death?

Because I knew you'd come for me.

Do I seem that kind to you?

No, not at all. Not that it matters.

You didn't accept my bottle.

You don't want anyone to die because of you, right?

So I created a situation where my death would be your fault.

Thanks, four-eyes.

I think I learned something else about you.

I see. Good for you.

Are you able to empathize with me yet?

It'll take a little longer.

I think we're pretty close to the bottom.

Ms. Frieren, there are stairs over there.

Fern, let me see the map.

I believe we've fully explored this floor.

There's a hidden room behind this wall.

There's probably treasure there.

I've got a feeling there's a rare grimoire hidden inside.

But we didn't come across anything that looked like an entrance.

You're right.

But based on the structure, I'm certain there's a room here.

Ms. Frieren, this is incredible.

It depicts the achievements of the king buried here.

I've never seen such a well-preserved mural of the Unified Dynasty era.

This is a valuable discovery.

It's magnificent.

Our progress has been unnaturally smooth.

Are we really going to pass without incident?

Maybe.

What are you all doing here?

Structurally speaking, the bottom of this labyrinth should be beyond this hall.

And?

It's been half a day since that thing took up position there.

Huh. This is getting interesting.

Now this is how conquering a dungeon should be.

A perfect replica, huh?

That thing does seem to match my strength.

We can't reach the bottom without doing something about that replica.

Any ideas?

Well, if that's a perfect recreation of me, then its weaknesses

should be the same as the flesh-and-blood version.

Either restraint magic or hypnosis magic are best for defeating a stronger mage.

I'm resistant to both, though.