Freid Bagwa

Freid Bagwa (フリード・バグアー) was one of the secondary antagonists from the "Arifureta: From Commonplace to World's Strongest" series.

He was the supreme commander of the demon's army.

Appearance
Freid was a young man with a handsome face and muscular build. Originally, he had long red hair and golden eyes. Like all demons, he has swarthy red skin and pointy ears. After becoming severely injured during his encounter with Hajime, Freid sustained massive scars all over his body.

When Fried entered The Sanctuary, he was seen wearing priest-like clothes. His hair color also changed from red to white and grows a pair of white wings.

Personality
"I don’t know who you are, but you’ll pay dearly for interfering with my holy mission. God is with me. The day we finally meet will be your last. Heretics have no right to live."

- Monologue

Freid was calm, collected and very confident in his abilities. While he came off as arrogant due to him being able to use Ancient Magic, he knew the limits of his abilities and acknowledged when he was outmatched, and even choosing to avoid facing them head on. He would also use whatever means he could to destroy his enemies, whether it was through surprise attacks or taking hostages.

Freid cared a great deal about his comrades as he took the time to comfort Mikhail when the latter learned about the death his lover. Furthermore, The only reason why he pulled back his forced at the Heiligh Kingdom was because he didn't want to needlessly sacrifice the lives of his brethren after Hajime had already killed 100,000 of Freid's men. He also wished to help his fellow demons become stronger by giving them army of powerful monsters so they could conquer the other Great Labyrinths with the end goal being to strengthen Garland and the demon race by monopolizing Ancient Magic, only to fail because of Hajime and his companions.

Like Kouki and Hiyama, Freid was very delusional due to his beliefs and would twist facts to better match his beliefs. Despite conquering two of the Great Labyrinths, he refused to believe that the gods had been manipulating all the races for their own twisted game. Even after learning that the demon god and the human god were one and the same, he chose to believe their whole history of war was a trial to prove the demons were more worthy to follow Ehit, instead of accepting the truth that everything he and his fellow demons had done and died for has been for nothing but the cruel amusement of Ehit.

Background
Freid was born into a military family in the demon nation of Garland. At some point, his entire family had been killed during the demons' ongoing war with the humans of Tortus. Afterwords, Freid was adopted by the grand general of the demons' army, and raised him like his own son. Freid would eventually enlist into the army, as a way to repay his adopted father for having raised him. However, Freid's foster father had fallen gravely ill. Desperate to save him, Freid traveled to the Frost Caverns of Schnee after learning from the demon lord that he would be granted a form of Ancient Magic upon successfully conquering it. Despite Freid's hardships during the journey, which nearly resulted in his death multiple times, he ultimately succeeded in clearing the labyrinth. Unfortunately, the Ancient Magic Fried had acquired could not help him in curing his foster father, as it had only had the power to turn monsters into his familiars, and magically empower them. To make matters worse, Fried learned that his foster father had died from his illness while he was on his journey, and was simply handed a will upon his return home. Utterly distraught by these recent events, Freid once again left his home and travelled south in order to be alone.

While during his travels, Freid came across an injured white wyvern, who's flock had been under attack by a swarm of giant monster spiders. Freid was intrigued by the wyvern's uniquely colored scales and sought to have it become his familiar. They wyvern could sense how strong Fried was and knew immediately that it was no match for him, but still chose to stand its ground against him. As it charged towards him, Freid managed to restrain they the wyvern with chains made of light magic. As Fried was prepared to alter the wyvern, he ceased after questioning the point of even doing so, and released it from his magic chains. A moment later they both heard a loud scream that came from another wyvern that was fighting the giant spiders. This compelled the white wyvern to rescue its comrade, despite the injuries it had sustained. After the wyvern's failed attempt to protect the rest of its flock, the spiders were prepared to kill them, but stopped in fear when Freid suddenly showed up beside the wyvern. Freid was impressed at the wyvern's determination to protect its brethren, in spite of the overwhelming odds against him. He then placed his hand over the wyvern's forehead, to which it did not resist Freid's gesture, and the two of them mentally bonded where each of them saw the other's memories. Suddenly, the two of them were entrapped by webbing from the leader of the spiders. However, they were unconcerned with it and Fried instead proceeded to turn the wyvern into his familiar, to which it eagerly accepted. Freid then enveloped the wyvern in a pillar of light and transformed it into a white dragon. Together, the two of them managed to defeat the swarm of spiders. Afterwords, Freid transformed the other surviving wyverns into familiars as well, then held a burial ceremony for its brother that had been killed by the spiders. Freid decided to name his new partner "Uranos", which meant 'protector of the skies'.

When Freid returned from his travels, he used his magic to tip the scales of the demons' war against humanity in their favor by controlling more monsters and having them serve them. At some point he had also been appointed as the supreme commander of the demons' army.

Following the heroes from another world being summon by Ehit to fight the demons, Freid dispatched his subordinate Cattleya with a detachment of monsters to the Great Orcus Labyrinth, where they were training, in order to either recruit or kill them, as well as to obtain the Ancient Magic it contained in the process. However, Cattleya and all the monsters under her command were killed as a result of the unexpected appearance of Hajime Nagumo and his party.

Chronology
When the news Cattleya's death reached Freid, her fiancé Mikhail urgently approached him in order to confirm it. Upon revealing that it was true, as well as explaining that their earlier plan to kill the "Fertility Goddess" Aiko Hatayama were also foiled by Hajime and his party, Freid ordered a distraught Mikhail to train hard while he ventured to the Grand Gruen Volcano in order to obtain its Ancient Magic, after realizing that their newfound enemy was more of a threat than he thought. Freid took a detachment of monsters with him to the Gruen Volcano. However, most of them were wiped out when Fried fought the labyrinth's most powerful guardian monster, Patricia. Despite this setback, Freid emerged victorious, and proceeded to conquer the Labyrinth and gain its Ancient Magic. Afterwards, Freid laid in wait for Hajime and his party to arrive at the end and nearly killed him after launching a surprise attack from his dragon mount Uranos, just as soon as they completed the Labyrinth's last trial. Despite the element of surprise on his side, Freid was forced to retreat after engaging Hajime and the others in a battle, but not before destroying the Labyrinth's keystone and forcing the volcano to erupt all of its magma. As Freid fled, he was pursued by Tio Klarus in her dragon form and sustained serious injuries from her as he escaped.

After Freid recovered from his wounds, he led a large invasion which consisted of 100,000 demons and monsters to the Heiligh Kingdom and managed to easily breakthrough the kingdom's defenses thanks to the treachery of Eri Nakamura and Daisuke Hiyama. During the invasion, he and his forces confronted Yue and Shea, who wanted to get revenge on him for the injuries he inflicted on Hajime from their last encounter. Fried managed to separate the two girls using his Spacial Magic, and ordered many of his subordinates to fight Shea (including Mikhail), while he would battle Yue. At first, Freid attempted to recruit Yue, but she claimed that her only loyalty was to Hajime. Despite Freid's best efforts he was unable to injure her. Even his most powerful spell "Void Fissure" failed to inflict any real damage;However, it caused her to momentarily lose her focus long enough for Freid to have his Dragon Uranos charge in and restrain her. In reality Yue wanted Freid to get close to her and used her spell "Revival Reversal" to reignite all of Freid's old wounds he had been inflicted with from their first battle in the volcano. Before Yue could kill Freid he managed to escape due to his subordinates intervening and battling Yue long enough for Freid to retreat.

Freid then proceeded to meet up with Hajime at the palace courtyard after the latter had killed Hiyama and attempted to stop him by threatening to kill the people of the Heiligh Kingdom. Hajime caught Freid off guard and destroyed the majority of the demons' initial invasion forces using his sunlight convergence laser Artifact "Hyperion", without regard to the people of the Kingdom. Hajime then proceeded to insult and point out Freid's habit of assuming things on his own then bluffed Fried by threatening to destroy the rest of his forces if he did not retreat. Since he did not have any information regarding the light pillar or any other weapons Hajime might have in his possession, Fried then decided it would be too much of a risk if he continued the battle and decided to fall for the latter's bluff and retreated with Eri via a teleportation gate. Before departing, Freid vowed to personally kill Hajime in the name of his god Alva.

Following his defeat, Freid retreated to Garland, and later learned that the demons' campaigns against the Hoelscher Empire and the Beastmen nation of Verbergen had also ended in failure. It was at this time that he was ordered to report to the demon lord. After Freid arrived he apologized for the demons' recent defeats under his command believing that he failed due to underestimation of his opponent. However, the Demon Lord did not blame Freid, and instead claimed that his enemy was simply too powerful to defeat as things stool. The Demon Lord then claimed that he received an oracle from their god Alva and that aid would be sent them, in order to capture Hajime and his companions. Freid was about to protest the idea of bringing such powerful enemies to his homeland, but was interrupted when a pillar of light suddenly appeared in front of him. Freid believed it to be Hajime attacking them, but the Demon Lord calmed him down. It was then that the Apostle Hearst appeared in front of the two of them and offered the aid of herself, as well as 500 more Apostles, in order to defeat Hajime.

After Hajime and his companions finished exploring the Frost Caverns of Schnee, Freid, Eri, and the army of Apostles waited for them as they left, thanks to Freid suspecting Hajime would explore the Labyrinth at some point. Initially believing that they wanted to fight, Hajime and the others prepared themselves for battle. However, Freid claimed that he was merely offering them an invitation to visit Garland at the behest of his lord and that the Apostles accompanying him were to act as a deterrent in case Hajime decided to attack. Seeing him being accompanied by Ehit's servants, Tio asked Fried if he learned the true nature of the gods of Tortus as evil beings, after having already explored two Labyrinths that were created by the Liberators as a way to oppose them. Fried countered by claiming that he did not find the validity to their claims due to lack of evidence, other than what they had conveyed to him after completing the Labyrinths. He then went on by professing his devotion to Ehit, who was originally the god that humanity worshiped, and claimed everything up until now had been transpired by Ehit as a way for the demons to prove themselves as the chosen race that deserved to stand by their god's side. Freid then once again requested that Hajime and the others to accept his invitation to visit the Demon Lord. When Hajime hinted as refusing to attend, Freid then opened a portal to reveal that his teacher Aiko, his former classmates, and even Princess Liliana were being held prisoners at the Demon Lord's castle. Despite this revelation, Hajime was unfazed and still expressed his refusal to attend, Freid was prepared for this response from Hajime, and revealed one more surprise to him: the imprisonment of his adopted daughter Myu and her mother Remia. This immediately infuriated Hajime and sent out a murderous aura so powerful that scared even Fried. After confirming Myu and Remia were really imprisoned, Hajime reluctantly agreed to Freid's invitation. Freid then attempted to seize on Hajime's complacency by ordering him to disarm all of his Artifacts, as well as to shackle himself with a pair of Mana-sealing cuffs, but Hajime refused and rebutted by claiming that Freid had put himself in a dangerous position for kidnapping Myu and Remia and that he would massacre everyone within Garland, regardless of age or affiliation, if any harm came before the two of them. Eri attempted to defuse the tension by having Fried reconsider his order of having Hajime disarm, but Freid feared Hajime's power and did not want him to roam around his homeland unrestrained. It was then that Hearst interjected and had the Demon General reconsider his demand of Hajime by promising that she and her fellow Apostles could take on Hajime if a fight ensued. Ultimately, Freid listened to Hearst's advice, and everyone traveled to Garland through his spatial gate.

Physical Abilities

 * Master Tactician - Freid was shown to be a capable tactician. Understanding he would lose if he tried to fight Hajime head on, he waited at the bottom of the Grand Gruen Volcano to ambush Hajime and his party, launching a powerful surprise attack as soon as they dropped their guards and failed on killing Hajime though injured the latter. He attempted to use Hajime's classmates and the Heiligh Kingdom's civilians to force Nagumo to surrender which yet again failed due to Hajiime's unconcern nature. He yet attempt to use Myu, Remia, Aiko-Sensei, Princess Liliana and his classmates again to force Nagumo to surrender which still failed when Hajime has easily tricked Bagwa by feigning his surrender.
 * Enhanced Speed - Freid had sharp reflexives and excellent reaction time, capable of avoiding attacks that would've proved fatal had they landed.
 * Immense Endurance - Fried had a high level of tolerance toward extremely temperature, having managed to clear the extreme cold of the Frost Cravens of Schnee and the extreme heat of the Grand Gruen Volcano. In the latter's case, he was able to wait at final floor until Hajime and his party cleared the final trial . He took severely injury from Tio's attack in her dragon form. He later took yet another severely injury from Yue's attack and barely move with his injury.

Magical Abilities

 * Immense Mana - Being considered the strongest member of the demon race, Freid possessed a large quantity of mana. After undergoing the Apostle transformation process, Freid gained the immense mana of one of God's Apostles, allowing him to perform his spells on larger scales, and at higher levels than before.
 * Magic Master - Freid had shown to be a highly skilled magic user, even by the demons race's standards. He wa the only demon to conquer Frost Caverns of Schnee, a impressive feat that allowed him to change the entire war against the humans on his own. Using Metamorphosis Magic, he was able to create a massive army of powerful monsters with a wide variety of abilities which could even overwhelm the party of heroes with minor difficulties. After gaining access to Spatial magic, Freid make uses of it to launch surprise attacks from his enemies blind spots. And after becoming a Apostle, Freid's magic prowess increased as he can utilize his Ancient Magic on much higher degree capable of creating spatial barriers that couldn't be detected even with Hajime's "Demon Eye" and his Metamorphosis Magic was able to enhance his Ash Dragon's to the level of power that Uranus possessed during the ambush at the Gruen Volcano and Uranus to a level that surpassed a Divine Beast.

Skills

 * Farsight - A skill that allows an increased range of vision by focusing mana into the eyes.
 * Spatial Magic - One of the "Ancient Magics" originating from the "Age of Gods", which allows the user to manipulate the space around themselves, allowing them to either bend or expand the space near them or move themselves to another space or location. The true power of this magic is the ability to 'interfere with the boundary'. Meaning it can allow the user to manipulate anything, like the elimination of race-creature gap, or formulating new boundary to create a spirit world; it's possible to achieve those kinds of things.
 * Metamorphosis Magic - One of the "Ancient Magics" originating from the "Age of Gods", which allows a user to remake the form of a normal being and reform them into a different form. Normally it's used to remake a normal organism and turn it into a monster, or even manipulate the magic stone of a monster and remake them. But the true power of this magic is the ability to 'interfere with any organic material'. Meaning not only animals, but it's also possible to remake plants or intelligent beings, and reform their structure as needed. Even byproducts of organic material, like paper or food, can also be manipulated by this magic. The magic stone which gets created during the process is just a byproduct of the process.
 * Disintegration (Apostle Skill) - Magic that can melt almost anything.
 * All Elemental Affinity (Apostle Skill) - A skill to use all kinds of magic.
 * Spell Melding (Apostle Skill) - A skill to fuse any types of magic.
 * Mana Manipulation (Apostle Skill) - A skill to directly manipulate mana and use spells without the need of a magic circle or an incantation.

Spells/Attacks

 * Cosmic Rift - Spatial magic that connects two separate points in space and forms a gate. "I desire the end and walk the heaven and earth. My hands reach nothing and drift beyond dreams. Then I shall seek a fissure, a break in the seamless world. I break a hole in the boundaries and create a corridor into the divine realm— Cosmic Rift!"
 * Void Fissure - Spatial magic that forcibly contracts, then rapidly expands space in a certain area. The resulting shock waves caused explosions that can't be defended by regular means. "Shake the foundations of this world, which neither a dragon’s roar, nor a giant’s hammer, nor the marching of a thousand armies can hope to touch. Only the sighs of the gods may make the earth to scream out thus! Lament and despair your inevitable destruction— Void Fissure!"
 * Void Shatter - Spatial magic that splits space along the lines that the caster defines and cuts anything caught along them.

Ehit
Initially Freid despised Ehit due to being the god that the humans worshiped. After discovering that Alva was actually a vassal to Ehit, Fried becomes absolutely loyal to the self-styled god.

Alva
Freid was a devoted worshiper for the god that he people follow. He would kill anyone who disrespected or insult in the god's name. Following Alva's death, Freid succeeded him as Ehit's retainer.

Eri Nakamura
Eri was Freid's ally and co-conspirator. Despite this, he didn't completly trust Eri due to his predijuice of humans, as well as her insanity and lack of empathy. However, he was willing to work with her due to Ehit's interest in her.

Hajime Nagumo
Hajime became Freid's archenemy after after the former's party killed Cattleya and her forces. He failed on his first attempt to kill Hajime (although injured him) by ambushing him using his dragon mount and with this failure, he was forced to retreat. He encountered Hajime the second time when he invaded the Heiligh Kingdom, but he underestimated Hajime and then witnessed Hajime's satellite laser destroy many of Freid's 100,000 initial force. Hajime called Freid a fool for being dimwitted and refused to give him the locations of the Labyrinths. Hajime also threatened Freid that he will destroy more of his troops if he get lost with his remaining of his troops. With no other options, Freid retreated but gave a warning to Hajime, he swore revenge upon Hajime if they meet again. However, this never came to pass as in Freid along with his dragon mount Uranos were slain by Tio.

Yue
Freid was Yue's enemy. He asked her to join the demons' side, only for him to be offended and refused his offer by calling him ugly and claimed her loyalty belongs to Hajime alone. When Freid attempted to attack Yue for insulting him, she inflicted him a serious injury blow from her attack caused Freid to retreat from her, as he is too weak against her.

Tio Klarus
Tio was Freid's enemy and killer. When Freid retreated after failing to kill Hajime and his companions in the Gruen Volcano, Tio, in her dragon form, unleashed her attack and severely injured Freid. Even though he had recovered from his injuries, he bears scars from his humiliation by Tio and sworn to kill her and the others. During the final battle, Tio killed Freid and his mount Uranos. Despite being enemies, Tio respected Freid as someone who cared deeply about his people, as well as the bond he had with his Uranos.

Quotes

 * (To Uranos): "I want to become the guardian of my people, to make a country where they can live in peace."
 * (To Hajime): "I swear I'll make you pay for this. I swear it by my god. You'll meet your end at my hands."
 * (To Tio before his death): "The time for words has passed."

Trivia

 * Freid's backstory had not been revealed in the Web Novel.
 * Freid was the reason why the humans of Tortus needed to summon the students from Japan in their war against the demons.
 * Freid's thoughts and actions after conquering the Frost Cravens of Schnee can be considered the antithesis of Hajime's after he conquered the Great Orcus Labyrinth; where Hajime learned the truth of the gods and decided he didn't want to get involved their twisted game nor aid the human race by offering his Artifacts, Fried became utterly devoted to the demons' god and uses his Age of God magic to support the demon race with his army of monsters.
 * Freid was the third known person to have successfully cleared more than one of the Great Labyrinths (after Sharm Barn and Dienleed Galdea Vesperitio Avatarl).
 * Freid was the only known apostle hybrid that was originally a demon.

Gallery

 * -|Light Novel =