"You—what is your name?"
"... Linie."
"Linie, then. A beautiful name. I like what I see in you. Your magical sensing ability is excellent, yet your magical output is fragile and weak. You can do nothing with raw power alone. And yet, when it comes to tracking prey, you are first-rate. It's as if you were born solely to serve under someone and be useful to them.
On top of that, because your magic power is so weak, you're easy to control—no risk of betrayal."
"Very well… I will take you under my banner."
"... It is an honor."
Linie bowed smoothly, replying without the slightest expression.
How many times had this scene repeated itself, one wonders?
She deceived others into believing that her restrained power made her obedient, presenting herself as something whose value could not be measured by strength alone—an extraordinary magical sensing ability.
Deep down, she truly believed she possessed nothing else, that her worth extended no further than that.
But because this value was irreplaceable to a unit commander, the demon general Linie submitted to accepted her false loyalty without hesitation.
Years had passed since she killed that general—the one who wielded a magical axe.
The number of Demon King Army units Linie had secretly harvested since then, without either humans or demons ever learning of her existence, had grown beyond what could be counted on both hands.
Despite her short lifespan compared to long-lived demons, her accumulated experience easily surpassed that of legendary warriors. There was no stagnation. Through that experience and constant training, she refined the techniques she had copied using Irvazin—Mimicry Magic, and the precision of her forged blades continued to rise.
Then—Linie stopped showing any trace of her true power to the Demon King Army units she infiltrated.
She made them believe she was powerless, revealing only her sensing ability.
She no longer displayed the warrior techniques she had refined, nor the Weapon Creation Magic capable of reproducing any weapon.
In demon society, where everything was measured by magical output and relationships were decided by strength, Linie became a completely anomalous existence.
"Li… Linie… why… you…?"
And so, in the present, the general who had taken her in without the slightest doubt met the same fate—falling victim to her poisonous fangs.
The general was split in half by a treasure sword Linie held in her hands.
He had believed she possessed nothing more than the bare minimum of defensive capability.
That was why he never imagined she could create a sword capable of leaving a massive gash that shook the earth—much less wield it with such skill. Unable to comprehend reality, his body dissolved into dust of magical energy.
"..."
Linie confirmed the body had completely vanished.
—
As for the witnesses, they were plunged into utter confusion.
A demon they had been fighting moments ago had betrayed her comrades before their eyes and slaughtered them all.
They couldn't understand it.
They had heard that demon society was ruled by survival of the strongest, and that betrayal was not uncommon.
But for a single individual to betray an entire unit at once—who could have imagined that?
Worse still, she had done it while her comrades were engaged in battle with humans, stabbing them from behind.
An efficient method of betrayal, but one that led to absolute isolation.
"…What in the hell is that thing?"
The imperial army unit commander muttered this as he watched Linie standing before him, holding a bloodstained treasure sword.
He had been wary of her from the very beginning—not because of her combat power, as the mages in his unit had confirmed her magic output was no greater than that of an average demon—but because of her terrifying sensing ability.
No matter how well they hid, she detected them.
Even if they concealed their bodies with magic, she could see the flow of their energy.
No one escaped her senses. One by one, she uncovered his hidden soldiers, and the demons slaughtered them.
That was why, just as he was about to order her eliminated first—this happened.
The demons fighting the humans were killed from behind by Linie's betrayal and fell in moments.
With skill and a weapon capable of killing a general, she accomplished it alone.
If a human had done this, it would have been a legendary feat.
But it was done by a small demon girl.
His head nearly exploded from confusion.
Then—Linie's eyes slowly turned toward him.
An expressionless face. Pale pink hair. A slender body. A beauty that could enchant anyone who saw her—but one demons had learned to use as a mask to deceive humans.
There was no trace in her features of any prior killing intent.
—
The commander's heart skipped in sudden terror.
He knew that look.
It wasn't the gaze directed at prey about to be killed.
It was—
The gaze of someone preparing to clean up after a slaughter.
"Run! Everyone, retreat—!!"
But before he could finish—
"—Everyone, get out of here!!"
He turned and screamed at his soldiers, fully aware of the danger. Even if they attacked her all at once, their chances of victory were zero. An enemy who had single-handedly killed numerous demons—and even brought down the general leading them—was not something they could face. Fortunately, the demon commander was already dead. There was no reason to stay.
—
"Mimic Sword—change form."
"…What?"
At the moment he turned away, something black, wrapped in magical energy, passed behind him.
When the commander looked again, several of his soldiers had already fallen dead, thin swords embedded in their foreheads.
The blood froze in his veins.
Slowly, trembling, he turned his gaze back to Linie.
"..."
In her hands now was a white European-style bow, with a black grip, longer than her small body.
—Impossible… when did she?!
In the instant he turned away, Linie had already converted the treasure sword into energy, reshaped it into a bow, and unleashed a rapid barrage.
She wasn't just skilled with the sword. She could instantly forge weapons—and even snipe with a bow.
The demon who was thought to pose a threat only through magical sensing was, in truth, an unmatched combatant at both close and long range.
A fragile girl's appearance that suggested weakness, hidden power, fabricated incompetence—then merciless slaughter from behind.
What kind of nightmare was this?
Even the demon general who had attacked them earlier was merciful by comparison.
"G—"
One soldier let out a short scream of terror.
In that moment, the humans realized that this demon—who had not hesitated to kill her own comrades—had no intention of letting them live either.
"Retreat!! Full withdrawal!! Report to high command!!"
There was no room for hesitation.
They were exhausted from the prior battle, while Linie had barely been drained thanks to her surprise attack.
Given the difference in strength, the decision was obvious.
But… there was no escape.
Thanks to the bow technique she had copied from a human knight, and her eyes trained to observe every movement and every flow of energy, no one could flee.
Linie vanished from their field of vision, and before they could grasp what had happened, a rain of swords poured down from the sky.
"Gah!!" "Ghk!" "Damn it—!!"
Slashing, piercing, penetration.
Every sword-arrow struck a vital point with terrifying precision.
Some tried to retaliate with magic, but they weren't even given that chance.
Linie landed, leapt again, moved through blind spots, continuously firing blades of energy, carrying out a one-sided massacre.
"…Impossible… that bow style…"
The commander muttered in disbelief.
Absolute accuracy. A firing speed that left no time to activate magic.
He knew this style.
One of the Three Great Knights of the North—who had vanished decades ago after heading to confront Mahat, the Land of Gold.
"This technique… belongs to Sir Varhalt—"
The sentence was never finished.
A sword blade burst from his chest.
The last survivor, stabbed from behind by Linie, who had slipped behind him without him noticing.
The bow transformed back into a treasure sword. She twisted the blade mercilessly inside him, then pulled it free.
The commander bled to death without speaking another word.
"..."
Linie confirmed his death, then reshaped the sword back into a bow and began scanning the area.
She relied not only on sight, but on seeing the flow of energy and magical sensing at full capacity.
No witness could be allowed to remain—human, demon, beast, or familiar.
She let out a light breath.
Since she had begun using this bow style, the pace of killing had increased dramatically.
Anyone who saw the hunting ground could not be allowed to survive. For that purpose, she needed a long-range killing method.
And so, she returned to Sir Varhalt's technique.
At first, she couldn't use it while moving. But her eyes—trained to observe every detail for the sake of killing demons—had become more than sufficient.
After modifying the technique to suit herself, Linie acquired bowsmanship rivaling the greatest human warriors.
As long as her magic did not run dry, the swords would never end.
"…This will make the harvest more efficient."
She muttered as she dissolved the bow into energy.
She was always expanding her options this way.
The essence of her magic was not weapon creation—but the ability to derive solutions from everything she had copied.
She looked down at the corpses at her feet.
Half had died at the hands of demons.
The other half… she had killed herself.
"..."
Even if she had done nothing, they would have died anyway.
This was merely settling the account.
And yet—
That scene resurfaced in her mind.
A burning village.
Human screams.
The bodies of a farming couple in her stomach.
Once again.
No matter how much power she gained, that scene never disappeared.
She crouched in front of the human commander's corpse.
This is different from those two.
I'm a demon… humans are supposed to taste good.
She told herself this and opened her mouth, but—
Her fangs stopped just short of touching him.
That taste returned… and the revulsion.
"…!"
She stood up abruptly, a faint crease forming between her brows.
What am I doing?
The urge to kill demons never fades, yet the image won't vanish.
In fact, it had become clearer since she adopted this fighting style.
"…Do I need to kill more?"
If she became stronger, if she wiped out greater demons… perhaps that proof of her weakness would disappear.
She burned the bodies and left.
No trace remained.
—
And yet…
Without realizing it, Linie had saved a number of humans many times greater than the population of that burned village.
◇
"Thanks to you, we were truly saved. Our brave heroes."
"No need for thanks. In times of hardship, we must help one another, Count Bogen."
In one of the cities of the Northern Nations, the Hero's Party—who had set out from the kingdom to defeat the Demon King—arrived after spending their journey saving people wherever they went.
The northern front was suffering from the expansion of the war against the Demon King's army, followed by countless problems:
demon attacks, damage caused by monsters, and even conflicts among humans themselves.
Although these issues might have seemed trivial compared to the goal of defeating the Demon King, the hero Himmel could not bring himself to ignore them.
As a result, years passed, and they were still far from reaching the Demon King.
Even so, Himmel never abandoned anyone.
"This is the reward we promised. Please accept it."
"Thank you very much."
The handsome blue-haired young man, the hero Himmel, said this as he received the payment from the count who ruled the city.
Behind him, his three companions began whispering among themselves.
"…Finally done. As usual, it took way too long."
The one who said this was the armored dwarf carrying an axe—Eisen.
"No, no, the monster this time was genuinely stubborn. No wonder the northern warriors struggled against it. Without my blessings, who knows what would have happened…"
Said the tall priest with glasses, Heiter, smiling as he scratched his head.
"…Half of that suffering was because you were drunk and couldn't properly chant your blessing spells, you alcoholic priest."
The speaker was the silver-haired elf with twin tails, the mage who had lived for a thousand years—Frieren.
Heiter merely gave an awkward smile.
Frieren almost continued, but having seen this scene countless times, she fell silent.
"And the other reason the journey took so long is because you, Frieren, kept getting eaten by mimics every time you saw a spellbook."
"…I don't know what you're talking about."
She turned her face away slightly, her eyes avoiding theirs.
As they continued chatting, the count resumed his conversation with Himmel.
"When do you plan to leave the city?"
"Tomorrow. Our journey is still long. And until we defeat the Demon King and restore peace, there will always be people who need help."
"Hahaha, that truly is the talk of a hero. Then please allow me to host you tonight at my palace. The rooms are ready, and we will hold a banquet."
"Is that appropriate?"
"Of course. You must be tired from your travels."
"Then we gratefully accept."
And so, it was decided that the Hero's Party would spend the night at the palace.
While they were on their way to their rooms, the count asked a question.
"Have you heard the rumor spreading through the Northern Nations—the Executioner?"
"The Executioner?"
They exchanged glances. The name was unfamiliar.
"It seems you haven't heard of it. It's a rumor circulating among the soldiers fighting the Demon King's army."
"And what is it about?" Heiter asked.
"Simply put, entire units of the Demon King's army have been disappearing without any clear reason."
"That sounds… a little too convenient," Frieren said flatly. "And what does that have to do with the Executioner?"
The count smiled bitterly.
"Strangely enough, after those units disappeared, no further damage was recorded. This has happened countless times. So the soldiers began to believe that there is some entity deliberately doing this… and they named it the Executioner."
A heavy silence fell over them.
"…Are you saying a single individual is wiping out entire units?" Eisen said.
"If it had happened only once, we could call it coincidence. But with this many repetitions…"
Frieren furrowed her brow.
"If those units vanished without leaving remains, that means they were completely annihilated. And when demons are killed, their bodies turn into magical dust…"
She hesitated.
The idea of an entity belonging to no side, killing demons for personal reasons, was not impossible.
She herself had once been an example of that.
"But the real problem," the count continued in a grim voice, "is that human units have begun to disappear as well."
"…What?"
"Units that receive intelligence about the Demon King's army and go out to eliminate it… disappear as well."
Everyone's eyes widened.
"And what's worse… the high command has begun to look the other way."
A heavy silence followed.
"It seems they've concluded that sacrificing one human unit in exchange for completely eliminating a demon unit reduces overall losses…"
The count clenched his fist.
"What should we do? Rely on a hidden killer? Send soldiers to their deaths? Or fight honorably and suffer greater losses?"
No one could answer.
—
In his room, Himmel asked Frieren:
"What do you think?"
"I don't know… If it only killed demons, I'd say it's similar to me. But killing humans as well? That's a motive I can't understand."
She paused for a moment.
"If it's doing this based on overall casualty calculations… then it isn't human."
"And if it's a demon?" Himmel asked.
Frieren sighed.
"If I had to choose, I'd believe that more than it being human. But… it's still unclear."
She returned to her book.
Himmel muttered to himself:
"Even if it has killed humans… I'd like to meet it."
—
But despite that…
The Hero's Party never once encountered the entity known as the Executioner.