By Fuminori Teshima and COMTA. Released in Japan as “Maou no Ore ga Dorei Elf wo Yome ni Shitanda ga, Dou Medereba Ii?” by HJ Bunko. Released in North America by J-Novel Club. Translated by Hikoki.
Despite the cover art, which is meant to match with the previous volume, there is very little romance in this book, and there’s nothing resembling a wedding. Instead, for the most part, we get a half a book of talking and posturing, and then a half a book of a big shonen fight scene. We all know how much I love reviewing big shonen fight scenes. Did you know that these two really powerful characters fight, and for a while it looks like one is going to easily win, but then the other one pulls out some great moves and so it looks like he is going to win, but then the first guy says “I have told you before that all sorcery is useless against me!” and turns the tables again… etcetcetc. On the bright side, I definitely think we’re getting near the end of the series, as this volume ends very badly for our protagonists.
After letting the bad guys stew for a week or so while Zagan and Nephy admire their engagement rings, they finally go to meet with Marchiosas for the first meeting of all the Archdemons in a long, long time. While there, Marchiosas explains why he’s called the meeting: the entire world is going to be destroyed in about a year’s time, because Alshiera’s barrier is finally breaking down. They throw around ideas to try to fix things, but there really aren’t any good ones. After this goes on for a while, Marchiosas boots out Zagan and half the cast and talks to the most important one there, Furcas, who is the only one who actually CAN save the world. Unfortunately, Marchiosas and Furcas are talking at cross-purposes, because Marchiosas wants to save the world by rescuing Alshiera… and replacing her with Lilith, who will become the new living battery. Furcas does not find this an attractive offer.
So yeah, there’s a LITTLE bit of romance here, and it revolves around the only love triangle in this series. Selphy has been fighting a losing battle from the start, as the only gay character in a series that pairs everyone very heterosexually. She knows that Furcas is madly in love with Lilith. She also knows that Lilith, once she actually figures this out and examines her own feelings, will likely return those feelings. So she hates Furcas… but also knows he’s a good person, so is forced, here at the big penultimate battle, to use an “I want my beloved to be happy” move that leaves her half-dead. Good news, though, she’s far from alone. By the end of this book, Furcas, Zagan, Nephy, Foll, and several other people are heavily wounded, and Zagan is actually in a coma. Oh, and one of our heroines is also kidnapped. Basically, it’s a darkest before the dawn moment.
When is the dawn? Well, Book 20 is due out in Japan next month, so it will probably be a while. Fans of the series, especially if they like cool battles with magic powers and punching things, will enjoy this.
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