Chapter 113: Abyssal Dragon

The monastery father has nothing to add beyond his barren library, so the group changes tack and decides to mine the folklore and spoken traditions of older communities. Over a campfire Himmel and Eisen trade jokes about all the walking this will demand, earning the usual scolding from Heiter, while Frieren backs the point that crossing the Northern Plateau truly does take stamina. She notes how its settlements hide behind harsh terrain, perched on cliffs, marooned on lake islands, or tucked into caves, then wonders if that suits dwarves, a notion Eisen rejects since his people keep to the surface.

Reaching another village, the party finds the locals unhelpful until a thoroughly drunk Heiter loosens up the barkeep. At closing the man recalls a company of adventurers who spoke of a ruined Unified Empire city with a cathedral at its heart, a place that might hold records. Asked whether it had already been stripped, he notes that none of those adventurers ever came back.

Still nursing his hangover, Heiter is assured he will rally when it counts as the group reaches the ancient ruins. When Himmel asks about any magic nearby, Frieren directs his eye to the cathedral bell tower, where an abyssal dragon, the mightiest of all its kind, sits watch. The creature spots them at once and hurls a fierce blast, which Frieren turns aside with simple defensive magic.

She urges a retreat, but Himmel has a scheme, and after laying it out the party swiftly fells the dragon. Amid the celebration, with Heiter mending Himmel's wounds, Frieren fondly remarks that their victory rituals are unchanged, prompting Himmel to counter that she is the one who has changed, a claim she affirms by revealing she has taken on a pupil. The group then ventures into the cathedral, only for a mimic to swallow Frieren whole the moment she steps in.

Published on September 27, 2023 in Issue 44, this 113th chapter fills nineteen pages of the twelfth volume within the Goddess's Monument arc. The action carries the party through Kino Pass to the ruined Unified Empire city and its cathedral. Mana detection, defensive magic, Vollzanbel, and the Goddess's healing magic all appear. Viz translates the abyssal dragon as the Hell-Emperor Dragon, and the cover assembles Heiter, Frieren, Himmel, and Eisen.