"You will rebuild it.
Not from memory.
From mana."
—Serie, The Witch of the South Sky
Prologue: A Bond Forged in Cataclysm
Centuries ago, young Frieren found solace under Serie's tutelage during the Hero's War. Now, as Minus steps back into the Spire's depths, the same rough but sincere bond sparks anew. Series's voice is soft when they begin:
"You were my friend before you took the warmonger's path."
Minus hears echoes of Frieren's respectful deference, tempered with unease—Serie insists that their bond is reincarnated, not transferred. Still, in the slow build of this arc, mutual respect returns: Serie pushes, Minus adapts, and between them grows the ghost of something like rediscovered friendship.
Years One–Five: Rediscovery and Reclamation
These early years are spent in darkness and silence. Serie awakens the pylons each dawn; Minus faces Scharlachbrand, her brutal signature spell, twisted with six cannibalized human techniques. She attacks it with desperation.
On day thirteen, her body moves without her mind. A pulse of crimson fire erupts. The pylon collapses. Serie simply nods: "Better." Minus realizes magic is not memory—it is weight. She begins shedding hubris the day it first answers.
Years Five–Twelve: Scars and Ghosts
As the world heals above—from Demon King's fall to the rise of the Imperial Mage Association—Minus grapples with hauntings: dark, stolen spells still imprinted in her mana. Each fragment, when cast, surges against her core. Serie refuses to help; she makes Minus dissect each piece alone.
During this time, Minus reluctantly helps and supports Serie's plan to step into public life—to lead the Continental Mage Association and help humanity recover, and most importantly fulfill Flamme's will. Visits come from land mage Übel, Sense, Fern, and even Frieren. In one exchange, Frieren hesitates, watching Serie's conviction, and their tension flares—each representing magic's dual nature: tool and weapon .
Years Twelve–Twenty: Combat and Connection
Serie begins physical trials—duels where barrier chains, ancient glyph seals, and illusion magic rain down like rain. Minus endures soul-severing curses and near-death experiences. Serie is harsh but encouraging:
"Your tether is fine. But your soul trembles."
Minus learns to counter—not copy—by catching Serie's mana flow and sending it back. In one lesson she recalls Frieren's echoing fencing style—not to mimic, but to create. When she reverses Serie's own mana sealing spell to pin the elder's arm, Serie allows a small smile:
"You're beginning to look like her again."
"You mean like me," Minus breathes.
Serie offers no reply. But the lie is tender, and for a moment, they are friends again.
Years Twenty–Thirty: Secret of the Unspoken Spell
Amidst this, the world shifts. Serie starts getting more intel of Lowe through her trusted apprentices—a human Shadow Warrior turned Governor-General, ace Mage Hunter who defeated and killed Minus. He's been revealed to trample magic across the Empire; secret intelligence say he plans to kill Serie at the Foundation Festival.
On the thirtieth year, Serie reveals a pylon projecting a spell she's never shared—not even with Flamme. A three-century fusion of elven rootcasting and high-order human glyph theory. Its nature? A spell of pure unmaking—a song of destruction and memory entwined.
Minus trains in isolation for ten full cycles of the sorcerous seasons before she finally unleashes it as a silent crescendo: a radiant wave that dissolves instead of screams.
When she finishes, Serie steps forward. "You are ready."
Years Thirty–Thirty-Two: Prelude to the Festival
Serie gives Minus a crystal shard: an eternal key to forbidden archives, lost tombs, and libraries closed to humanity.
"He thinks he will be able to defeat me, even kill me. That foolish human thinks I'm weak and that he has a chance to beat me like he did you. You will show him that you're back and defeat him thus getting your revenge, fulfilling my part."
Minus recalls her bond with Serie and conflict with Frieren. She accepts the shard and her duty.
Epilogue: Festival Shadows
As the Foundation Festival unfurls in Eiseberg, Serie attends the grand ball under heavy guard—Sense, Falsch, Frieren, Fern, Stark . The city hums, but through it all lurks death—the Shadow Warriors assemble: Löwe in his gray suit, eyepatch, and scarred jaw. He's prepared. His butler spies from the balcony. His shadow warriors, Schritt, Wolf, Iris—they are everywhere .
Deep underground, Minus finishes her final preparation. Her spells are no longer scars—they are claimed though she only reclaimed a few back, it would be enough. Her staff sings with rebirth.
She was ready—not just to kill Löwe and get her vengeance, but to show the empire and the world that the witch they buried had returned.