As the decisive battle draws near, the test-takers form a plan to take on their replicas. How will they overcome each other, and what awaits Frieren in the treasure vault?[1]
Plot
In the Ruins of the King's Tomb, Fern's attack against Frieren's clone fails, and the clone retaliates by summoning a black hole that encapsulates the surrounding debris, vaporizing it. Frieren continues to defend against various attacks and forms a giant rock golem with more of the remaining debris, enabling both her and the golem to exchange Judradjim charges with her clone from above. Fern flies above and blasts the clone with Zoltraak as it prepares another spell, however the clone is able to defend itself with a sphere of defense magic, which Fern notes. Frieren mentions that they expected it to be capable of performing as so, and the battle is now one of attrition.
Lawine and Richter follow the clones of Kanne and Lawine, located in an area predicted by Methode, and they prepare to ambush them. Prior to this, Denken instructs the examinees to split up and fight the replicas before they gather at the depths, with matchups determined based on each mage's most incompatible opponent or through strength in numbers. Laufen fights against Methode's clone, which she finds to be a laughably easy battle, Dünste and Kanne battle Richter's clone using their advantage of teamwork, and Denken searches for Sense's clone.
During their strategy meeting, Methode brings up the concern of three clones she is unable to detect: Sense, Fern, and Denken. Sense is a notable threat in particular, as Frieren cannot protect Fern if she attacks them during their battle, and they may die in such a situation. Richter chastises Sense for accompanying them and creating this issue, however, Sense reminds him that first-class mages are capable of overcoming adversities like these, and her clone's presence doesn't even count as one. Additionally, her exam can be passed through working together and keeping an eye out for each other, so it is a truly kind and peaceful exam.
Lawine and Richter manage to defeat the clones, though Lawine states that she didn't particularly enjoy the battle. They are interrupted by Sense's clone impaling them, despite her presence not being sensed by either of them. With both mages injured to the point of being unable to continue, Richter tells Lawine to break her bottle and not be stubborn, as they can take the exam again in the future. Their escape on the backs of their escape golems is witnessed by Denken, who realizes he is too late to save them even though he likely would not have been able to change the outcome as Sense's clone shows no openings.
While considering options to buy time, Denken is joined by Übel and Land. He tells them that defeating Sense's clone is necessary for the examinees to pass, and Übel declares that she can take on the task. Land expresses doubt, as Übel is weaker than both Denken and Wirbel. She concurs but reiterates that she is likely capable of beating Sense: her magic specialization, Reelseiden, allows her to cut through anything she thinks she can, and it doesn't allow her to cut through anything she thinks she can't. Land points out that the spell can be easily countered by defense magic, and based on their observations, Sense's hair has layers of defense magic applied. Übel tells him that this logic doesn't apply in this circumstance and she is referring to what she is able to visualize, before approaching Sense's clone. She tries to use Sorganeil, but it fails, which she reasons is due to how the clone's hair is dispersed and that hair is part of the body. As the clone moves to attack her, she casts Reelseiden.
Back near the depths of the tomb, Sense notices that her clone's matchup is Übel, as per her expectations. She thinks back to the second-class mage exam two years prior that she witnessed togehter with Falsch, where Übel had been in attendance. Mages were instructed to attack first-class mage proctor Burg, who wore an Immovable Cloak layered with defense magic, and they would pass if they made Burg take a step back. During Übel's turn, she slashes too deep and slices Burg in half, killing him and disqualifying Übel due to the "no-killing" rule that was enacted with the intention to prevent examinee attacks from hurting other candidates, with Burg's safety not being a consideration.
After the exam, Sense questions Übel on how she was able to bypass Burg's cloak to such an extent. Übel refers to her younger self watching her older sister sew, where she developed a fascination towards the sound scissors would make when slicing and gliding over fabric. She connects this with her visualization technique, where she sees cloth as something meant to be cut. Sense realizes that Übel did not focus on the typical logic surrounding magic and instead relied on her own intuition and feelings, allowing her to visualize cutting through the cloak despite understanding that logically, it couldn't be cut. Übel requests to leave and makes a last comment on Sense's hair, which she describes as pretty and likely difficult to maintain. Sense figures that she lost to Übel there, as Übel is her worst matchup. Back in the present, Übel easily cuts through Sense's clone, killing it.
Methode finds Wirbel, Scharf, and Ehre after the trio manages to defeat their clones. She begins to brief them on the situation, but suddenly senses the defeat of Sense's clone by Übel. Scharf finds it surprising that Übel was able to defeat it, but Wirbel responds that she was a bad matchup for Sense to begin with. Methode pitches in by comparing mage battles to a complex game of rock-paper-scissors, and Wirbel, understanding that the other examinees are trying to create as many options as possible for Frieren and Fern, agrees to help fight against the clones. Methode tells them that Denken and Fern's clones are currently their greatest threats, and, with the location of Denken's clone identified, she requests that they engage it and let her deal with Fern's clone. Ehre wonders if she can handle the clone on her own given it is quite powerful, and Methode explains that going solo will aid her mana detection and she confirmed her restraint magic works on the real Fern. The group moves to split up and confront their respective opponents.
Land is suddenly bound by Sorganeil, and he, Übel, and Denken realize that Übel and Land's clones have returned despite the defeat of Übel's clone earlier. They are then approached by clones of Kanne, Lawine, and Laufen, and Denken prepares to face them. Übel figures they will be engaged in a battle of attrition until the Spiegel's defeat and voices her excitement, to which Denken agrees.
Laufen continues fighting against Methode's clone, Methode is ambushed by Fern's clone, and Wirbel's group finds Denken's clone. Frieren continues exchanging attacks with her clone as she tries to create an opening for Fern. She decides to make a larger opening at the cost of injury, as she has always underestimated Fern and forcing an opening creates the opportunity for an even larger one. Both Frieren and her clone prepare a spell, which shatters the environment around them. Frieren's clone then releases a whirlwind and casts a massive, black version of Zoltraak, which Frieren defends against, but part of the attack breaks through and wounds her shoulder. This gives an opening for her clone to come up close and prepare to attack her at point-blank range, but Fern manages to engulf it with Zoltraak first. She then proceeds to rapid-fire Zoltraak on the clone, fatally wounding it and destroying its arms.
Fern prepares to finish off the clone, but it stares at her and suddenly launches an attack, slamming her against the wall of the room and crushing her staff. Disoriented, Fern wonders what happened and how the attack occurred, given that she could not sense any mana or register the attack as a spell. She proclaims Frieren's brilliance and considers the attack to be "the Height of Magic," but she also points out that it leaves the clone full of openings, and Frieren subsequently envelops it in an attack, ultimately killing it.
With the clone defeated, Frieren praises Fern for forcing the clone into using the attack, as she had not been in such a situation for eighty years. They enter the treasure room with the Spiegel and easily break it, making all the clones disappear and resolving all of the battles. The remaining examinees make their way to the depths, where Sense welcomes them into the treasure room and congratulates them for the achievement of clearing the dungeon and therefore passing the exam. When Denken inquires about the location of Frieren and Fern, Sense turns to Frieren, who is stuck in a mimic.
Back at the surface, a spirited Edel chatters about the golems' healing abilities to Richter, who asks who she is. The other failed examinees, consisting of Länge, Blei, and Lawine, sit behind them, with another golem carrying Ton arriving shortly after.
During Laufen's battle against Methode's clone, Laufen uses a spell that transforms her staff into a long whip in the anime. In the manga, she is depicted using ordinary offensive magic.
When Denken arrives at the corridor with Sense's clone, the manga depicts the clone simply standing in the hallway. In the anime, an additional detail of the clone setting up a web-like trap is included.
During the flashback to the second-classmage exam with Übel, an examinee's attempt to move Burg was shown and included visual justification for why the "no killing" rule existed, as the examinee's attack bounced off of the cloak and nearly struck him.
When Übel explains how her visualization works to Sense, her sister's face is not visible. This is different from the manga, where her sister's face is shown.
The anime includes an additional scene based on a volume extra from Chapter 54 in the manga: After Übel kills Sense's clone, Sense responds in her flashback with Übel that her hair is hellish to maintain and she prefers not thinking about it. Übel responds that she should just cut it if such is the case.
The anime shows Methode healingScharf with a Holy Scripture when she relays the plan to Wirbel's team, an addition that is not present in the manga.
In the manga, Ton is seen escaping from the clones of Wirbel, Scharf, and Ehre. In the anime, he escapes on foot and is later implied to have used his escape golem, as he appears on the surface with one.
Frieren destroys the Spiegel with a simple shattering spell in the anime. In the manga, she uses a spell with a giant explosion to destroy it.
When Frieren is stuck in a mimic at the depths of the dungeon, the anime adds two additional mimics nearby that have already been opeend.
