LinieBaru Chapter 23: Subaru, Frieren and Methode (Patreon)

The offer had been simple. Serie had laid it out in that calm, measured tone that made everything sound reasonable, even when it was clearly insane. Participate in the exam. Make Frieren lose her mind by any means necessary. Ragebait the ancient elf until she snapped. That was the plan in normal words.

Subaru had stared at Serie for a long moment, her mind racing. She had already stated that Frieren did not particularly like her, that the elf had attacked her on sight, that there was a history of violence between her and that boy. Serie had simply waved her hand, dismissing the concern. She would kill Subaru, she said, if the demon did not comply.

So Subaru was here, standing in the middle of a hall full of mages who were staring at her like she was a monster that had wandered into their midst. Stuck between the jealousy war of two ancient women. Serie and Frieren, two mages with centuries of history and a mutual dislike that seemed to have no end. And Subaru was the pawn they were using to play their game.

It is so annoying, she thought. I did not ask to be here. I did not ask to be a demon. I did not ask to be caught between two grumpy old women who have been fighting for longer than most civilizations have existed. I just wanted to find answers. I just wanted to go home.

But at least Serie had guaranteed her safety, provided she complied. If she followed the rules, if she participated in the exam, if she made Frieren's life difficult, she would survive. That was the deal.

Now, they wanted every participant to know that she was a demon. The turban was gone, her horns exposed, her nature revealed to the entire hall. Subaru felt the weight of their stares, the suspicion and fear and curiosity that radiated from every corner of the room. She wanted to disappear. She wanted to run. But she could not.

Her eyes scanned the crowd, looking for familiar faces. She saw Übel leaning against a wall, her green hair bright against the stone, her expression smug. Übel wiggled her eyebrows at Subaru, a gesture that was somehow both teasing and threatening. Subaru felt a bead of sweat roll down her forehead.

Of course she is here, Subaru thought. Of course she is enjoying this. She probably planned this somehow. She probably knew this would happen.

Then the attack came.

"Zoltraak."

The word was sharp, cold, filled with killing intent. A beam of light shot across the hall, fast and precise, aimed directly at Subaru's heart. She had no time to think, no time to move. Her body tensed, her eyes widened, and she was one step away from jumping through the window.

Before the light could hit her, a mana shield appeared before her. The barrier was shimmering, translucent, and the beam struck it and dissipated, scattering into harmless sparks. Lernen stepped forward, his staff raised, his expression calm.

Subaru let out a breath she did not know she had been holding. Lernen, she noted. The old man who had interrogated her. The old man who had broken her bones. And now he was saving her.

"How can you let it join the exams?" Frieren's voice was cold, cutting through the murmur of the crowd. Her eyes were fixed on Subaru, her expression murderous. "This demon is extremely dangerous. It must die."

Sense, the proctor, replied in her usual flat monotone. "It was the command of Serie-sama."

Frieren's jaw tightened. "I refuse to join this exam."

Genau stepped forward, his voice firm. "You cannot bring violence into this hall. Otherwise, you will face consequences."

Lernen nodded. "It is fine if you want to leave, though you will miss the opportunity."

Frieren stared at Subaru. Her gaze was filled with fury, cold and sharp as a blade. Subaru flinched, her body shrinking back. She could feel the hatred radiating from the elf, the promise of violence that hung in the air like a storm cloud.

Then Frieren's shoulders relaxed, just slightly. Her voice was flat, controlled. "...Fine."

Subaru's heart was pounding. Her hands were shaking. She forced herself to stand still, to meet the elf's gaze, to not look away.

Genau clapped his hands together. "Great. Let the first phase begin!”

───✧───

The irony of the situation was not lost on Subaru. She had been assigned to the green team, which consisted of a tall blonde woman named Methode and, to her absolute horror, Frieren. The elf who had not only tried to kill her today, but had killed her before in one of the loops. The elf who was now supposed to be her teammate.

Subaru kept her distance. She stayed ten metres away from Methode, who was staring at her with an expression that was impossible to read. Methode's eyes were calm, curious, the eyes of someone who was observing a strange creature and trying to decide whether it was dangerous or just interesting. Subaru did not like that look. It reminded her of Übel, and Übel was trouble.

She stayed twenty metres away from Frieren. The elf showed no emotion, her face a blank mask, her posture relaxed. But the aura was there. The cold, heavy presence that radiated from her like heat from a fire. Subaru could feel it pressing against her skin, making her hair stand on end.

They had not spoken a single word to each other since the teams were announced. Subaru had tried to say something, to break the ice, to make the situation less awkward. But Frieren had simply looked at her with those cold green eyes, and the words had died in her throat.

Übel was on a different team. Subaru had seen her walking away with some blue haired guy and a gray haired girl. They looked confused, as if they were not sure what they had gotten themselves into. Subaru envied them. She would have traded places in an instant.

Genau had explained the rules again. Find the bird. Capture it. Bring it back. Three days. No murder. Simple. Subaru understood the rules. What she did not understand was why she had to be stuck with the two most unsettling people in the entire exam.

Now they were in the forest. The trees were tall, their branches forming a canopy that blocked out most of the sunlight. The air was cool and damp, and the ground was soft with moss and fallen leaves. Subaru walked behind the other two, her steps light, her eyes scanning the shadows.

She did not say a word. She just followed, her hands shoved into her pockets, her head down. She did not want to attract attention. She did not want to provoke Frieren. She just wanted to get through this alive.

Methode and Frieren walked ahead, their voices low, their conversation focused on the task at hand.

"The bird is fast," Frieren said. "As fast as an arrow. And it can sense mana. If we try to approach it directly, it will flee before we get close."

Methode nodded. "We could try to use bait. Something that will attract its attention and keep it in one place long enough for us to capture it."

Frieren considered this. "We have a few days. For now, we should scout the area, identify its nesting grounds, and plan our approach."

Subaru cleared her throat. "Um…"

They ignored her. They continued walking, their voices low, their focus on the mission.

Subaru tried again. "I can see the bird from about a kilometer away. Thanks to my eyes."

Frieren did not even glance at her. Methode tilted her head, as if she had heard something faint, but she did not stop walking.

Subaru sighed. Her shoulders slumped. She continued following them, her steps dragging, her mood sinking.

They walked for a while longer, the forest growing denser, the shadows deeper. Methode glanced at Frieren, her voice curious.

"Did you know the demon before?" she asked.

Frieren's expression did not change. "It was a lower demon. It served under Aura the Guillotine. It somehow, for some reason, killed a great demon."

Methode turned and looked at Subaru. Her eyes studied her, taking in her horns, her features, her posture. "And that makes her," she paused, searching for the right word, "a great demon?"

Frieren's voice was flat, dismissive. "An anomaly. A worm that must be crushed."

Subaru's patience snapped. "I am here, you know! Stop acting like you know everything!"

She took a step forward, her hands raised, her expression furious. She wanted to grab Frieren by the shoulders and shake her. She wanted to scream in her face. She wanted to tell her that she was not a worm, that she was not an anomaly, that she was a person, a human trapped in a demon's body, and she deserved to be treated like one.

Frieren raised her staff. The tip was pointed at Subaru's chest, and the air around it shimmered with cold energy.

"I care less about what happens to it," Frieren said, her voice steady, "but I need some answers from it."

Subaru raised her hands, her palms open, her expression still furious. "Then ask me questions! I am right here! I have been right here the entire time!"

Frieren held her gaze for a long moment. Then she lowered her staff and began to walk away. "Not now."

Subaru stared after her, her mouth open, her hands still raised. She wanted to scream. She wanted to throw something. She wanted to punch a tree.

Methode looked at Frieren, then at Subaru, then back at Frieren. A smile spread across her face. It was not a cruel smile, not a mocking smile. It was the smile of someone who had just witnessed something very interesting and was looking forward to seeing what happened next.

Subaru's eyes narrowed. "What?"

Methode giggled. The sound was light, almost musical, and it sent a chill down Subaru's spine. She did not say anything else. She just turned and followed Frieren, her steps light, her smile still in place.

Subaru stood there for a moment, alone in the middle of the forest, her hands still raised, her expression frozen.

"Why am I with freaks?" she muttered to herself.

She lowered her hands, took a deep breath, and followed them.

The forest was quiet. The shadows were deep. And somewhere ahead, the bird was waiting.

Subaru walked behind the duo, her steps dragging, her mood sour. The forest was quiet, the only sounds the crunch of leaves beneath their feet and the distant call of birds. Frieren kept turning her head, glancing over her shoulder, her green eyes cold and calculating. She was looking for a way to kill Subaru. Methodically. Carefully. As if she were studying a problem and trying to find the most efficient solution.

Subaru hated that look. She had seen it before, in the eyes of predators, in the eyes of people who had decided that she was a threat and needed to be eliminated. It made her skin crawl. It made her want to run.

But she could not run. Logically, she knew that running would only make things worse. Frieren would chase her. Frieren would catch her. And then, Subaru would die. Again.

And there was the other problem. Serie. The ancient mage had made it clear that she would kill Subaru if she did not comply with the deal. Subaru was not sure where her next reset point would be. Would she come back? Would she wake up in the tower, tied to the log, her bones broken? Or would she wake up somewhere else, somewhere worse? She did not want to find out.

So she stayed. She walked behind Frieren and Methode, her hands behind her head, her eyes on the ground.

She knew that Frieren would not kill her in front of Methode. The elf was too methodical, too careful. She would wait for the right moment, the right opportunity. And Methode would not interfere. She had made that clear with her smile, her amused gaze, her quiet observation. She was not on Subaru's side. She was not on anyone's side. She was just watching.

But honestly, Subaru needed answers too. She had been carrying questions for so long, questions about her body, her powers, her past. And Frieren was the only one who might have the answers.

"So," Subaru said, her hands on the back of her head, her tone casual, "I have been meaning to ask. How is that red haired boy from the forest that day?"

Frieren stopped on her tracks. The movement was sudden, abrupt, and Methode almost walked into her. The elf slowly turned her head, her frozen eyes locking onto Subaru. The look was cold, calculating, the look of someone who was deciding whether to answer or to attack.

"Stark is alive," Frieren said.

Subaru sighed a breath of relief. The weight that had been sitting on her chest lifted just slightly. She had not killed him. She had not destroyed him. He was alive, and that was good.

"Obviously," she said, "I did not harm him much. That boy was dead set on killing me, so—"

Frieren shot a beam of light from her staff. The attack was fast, precise, aimed directly at Subaru's face. Subaru's instincts kicked in. Her hand shot up, and a shield materialized in front of her. It was round, sturdy, with a star in the center and red and white stripes radiating outward. The flag of Japan. Captain America's shield, but with a personal touch.

The beam struck the shield and dissipated, scattering into harmless sparks.

"Not cool, lady!" Subaru yelled. "Not cool!"

Frieren stared at the shield. Her expression did not change, but there was something in her eyes, a flicker of curiosity. The shield faded, dissolving into mana that returned to Subaru's body.

Methode stepped between them, her hands raised. "Let us not fight," she said, her voice calm. "We have a mission to complete."

Frieren turned and continued walking, her steps measured, her back straight. Methode fell into step beside Subaru, her eyes curious.

"What was that technique?" she asked.

Subaru was on guard. She did not trust Methode. She did not trust anyone. But the question was harmless, and she needed to stay on good terms with at least one of her teammates.

"I can manifest weapons with mana," she said. 

Methode's smile widened. "What kind of weapons?"

"All kinds," Subaru replied.

Frieren looked back, her voice flat and cold. "It is a dangerous monster. Do not be fooled by its mimicry."

Subaru had enough. She had been patient. She had been understanding. She had tried to be polite. But this was too much.

"You can use pronouns for me!" she yelled. "Like 'she' and 'her'! I am not an 'it'!"

Frieren did not even slow down. Her voice was calm, dismissive, as if she were explaining something obvious to a child. "Demons are just evolved monsters. They are not equal to us by any means. They are just inferiors. Don't even think for a second that you're my teammate, worm.”

Subaru's mouth fell open. Her brain struggled to process the words. Then she realized something. Something that made her blood boil and her fists clench.

"You are a… racist," she said.

Frieren ignored her. She kept walking, her staff tapping against the ground, her silver hair still.

Methode smiled. The expression was warm, amused, the smile of someone who had just witnessed something very entertaining.

Subaru stared at her. "What?"

Methode did not answer. She just walked away, her steps light, her laughter barely audible.

Subaru stood there for a moment, alone in the middle of the forest, her hands shaking, her heart pounding.

"I am targeted by a racist elf," she muttered.

She took a deep breath, let it out slowly, and followed them.

───✧───

Subaru sat on the grass, her back against a tree, her eyes fixed on the ground. She had positioned herself far from where Methode and Frieren were sitting, as far as she could get without leaving the clearing entirely. The distance was not enough. She could still feel the cold weight of Frieren's gaze, the constant pressure of her killing aura. It was like standing in the shadow of a mountain, knowing that at any moment, the mountain might decide to fall on her.

She had this unfiltered rage towards Frieren. It burned inside her, hot and bright, a fury that she could not quite contain. She wanted to kill her. She wanted to wipe that cold, superior look off her face. She wanted to make her understand that she was not a monster, not an inferior, not a worm to be crushed.

But she could not. Every time Subaru looked at her, she felt the weight of that experience pressing down on her. It was like trying to fight the ocean with a stick.

Subaru closed her eyes. She focused on the mana inside her, the familiar pulse that had become a part of her. She reached out with her senses, feeling the flow of energy around her, the subtle currents of magic that filled the forest.

Her eyes glowed. The world around her seemed to slow, the colors fading to shades of gray, the sounds becoming distant and muffled. Time paused, and she was using the initial power of Erfassen, the ability she had discovered during the loops. Scan. She had used it against Stark, on Übel. It showed her how she could kill someone, the silhouettes of death dancing around their bodies.

Subaru's eyes went wide.

There was not a single silhouette around Frieren. The elf was sitting calmly, her staff resting across her knees, her green eyes fixed on Subaru with a cold, unwavering gaze. There were no lines of death, no patterns of vulnerability, no paths to victory. Frieren was untouchable.

Subaru's heart pounded. She fell from her sitting position, her body hitting the ground with a soft thud. She scrambled back, her eyes wide, her breath coming in short gasps.

That is impossible, she thought. It is impossible.

She had seen the silhouettes around Stark, around Übel, around every enemy she had faced. She had seen them around Rivale, the Bloody God of War. If she could see them around him, she should be able to see them around Frieren.

But there was nothing. Frieren was a blank space, a void in the pattern of death.

Does this mean that no physical attack can kill her? Subaru's mind raced, trying to find an explanation. This has to be a flaw. My inexperience. I have not used Scan enough. If I calculated correctly, I could buy enough time to conjure a destructive weapon capable of killing her. Maybe a conceptual weapon. Something that bypasses physical defenses and attacks the very idea of her existence.

She thought about the weapons she could create. She would need something more, something that could erase Frieren from existence. That would probably drain all her mana, leave her powerless and vulnerable. But Subaru really wanted to kill Frieren. She wanted to see the look on her face when she realized that the "worm" she had dismissed was capable of destroying her.

"It is pointless."

The voice was calm, flat, cutting through Subaru's thoughts like a blade. Subaru looked up. Frieren was standing a few metres away, her staff in her hand, her expression unchanged.

"Your evaluation ability," Frieren continued. "It will not work on me."

Subaru's eyes widened. Her jaw dropped. She stared at the elf, her mouth opening and closing, no words coming out.

Frieren's voice was patient, almost lecturing. "No matter what you try, you cannot kill me."

Methode looked up from where she was sitting. Her eyes moved between Frieren and Subaru, curious. "Is she trying to kill you, Frieren?"

Frieren did not look away from Subaru. "She has copied human mannerisms to the point where her body language speaks so. The anger, the frustration, the desire to strike out. It is all there, plain to see."

Subaru's face flushed. "I am not thinking of killing you," she said, her voice cracking. "I was just... I was just..."

Frieren ignored her. She turned and walked back to her spot, sitting down with the same calm grace.

Methode stared at Subaru. Then she gave a friendly smile. The smile was warm, inviting, the kind of smile that made you want to trust someone. But Subaru saw something behind it. A predator, watching its prey, waiting for the right moment to strike.

For the rest of the night, Subaru stayed awake. She sat with her back against the tree, her eyes fixed on the darkness, her ears straining for any sound. She thought Frieren might attack. She thought Methode might attack. She thought the forest itself might attack.

───✧───

Frieren sat apart from the others, her back against a tree, her staff resting across her knees. The fire crackled softly a few metres away, casting dancing shadows across the clearing. Methode was on watch, her eyes scanning the darkness, her posture relaxed but alert. The demon, Subaru, was huddled near the edge of the clearing, her back against a tree, her eyes wide and fixed on the shadows.

Frieren watched her. She had been watching her for hours, studying her movements, her expressions, the way she flinched at every sound. The demon was afraid. Good. Fear made creatures predictable.

As much as I want to kill it right now, Frieren thought, Serie will not let me. The ancient mage had made that clear. The demon was to participate in the exam. It was to be kept alive, at least until the exam was over. Frieren did not understand why Serie had made such a decision. It was illogical. It was dangerous. But Serie was the one who had set the rules, and Frieren had no choice but to follow them.

So my plan is simple, she continued. Finish the exam. Get the demon. Question it. Then kill it.

She turned the plan over in her mind, examining it from every angle. It was straightforward, efficient, and it accomplished everything she needed. But there was a part of her, a small, impatient part, that wanted to speed things up.

I could question it here, she thought. Serie explicitly stated not to kill the demon. She said nothing about not causing pain. I could torture it. Sever its limbs. Stab it a few times. See how it responds to the threat of death.

She imagined the demon screaming, writhing, begging for mercy. She imagined the look in its eyes when it realized that its life was in her hands. The thought was satisfying, almost tempting.

But it was also dangerous. Frieren was not sure if the demon would survive the torture. It was small, fragile, and its mana reserves were mediocre at best. If she pushed too hard, if she caused too much damage, it might die before she could extract the information she needed.

And what if it attacks others? The thought was cold, practical. What if it sees an opportunity to escape and kills the other participants? They are weaker, less experienced. They would not stand a chance against a demon who was one step away from killing Frieren.

A few hours ago, Frieren had felt a primordial aura. There was no denying that it was the power of the Megami. The demon was trying to see something through Frieren, possibly an evaluation technique. Frieren had quickly suppressed her mana so the demon failed to do whatever it wanted to do.

A demon with divine aura… 

That day in the cave when the Sword had come out from the Stone, they had realised something.

Himmel wasn’t worthy of the sword.

Demon King wasn’t the ultimate threat.

Because Frieren is staring at the ultimate threat.

She had seen what demons could do. She had seen them destroy villages, slaughter soldiers, and laugh as they did it. She had seen them wear the faces of humans, mimic their emotions, and then turn on them when they were at their most vulnerable.

She did not want that to happen here. She did not want to be responsible for the deaths of innocent people.

So she would wait. She would be patient. She would follow the plan.

The fire crackled. Methode shifted in her seat. The demon was still staring at the shadows, her eyes wide, her body tense.

Frieren closed her eyes. She would not be fooled by the demon's fear. She knew that it was an act, a carefully crafted performance designed to lower her guard. She had seen demons do this before. They cried, they begged, they promised to change. And then, the moment you let your guard down, they struck.

I love the formatting of this chapter, so nice to copy-n-paste.

Hope you enjoy the team dynamics. It's more about bonding and binding than actual battles. When we reach the King's Ruins' part, there will be continuous action.

Anyways, weekly updates, as mentioned earlier, hope you like it. Expect chapters in the morning, every Monday, New York time.