Title: Reign of the Seven Spellblades Vol. 7
Author: Sakae Esuno, Bokuto Uno (Story), Ruria Miyuki (Characters)
Publisher: Yen Press
Language: English
Format: Paperback
Pages: 196
Genre: Fantasy
Publication Date: July 23, 2024
The Story
Reign of the Seven Spellblades volume 7 begins the Pete retrieval arc! The destination is the third layer of the labyrinth which is where Ophelia’s workshop is presumed to be. Oliver, Nanao, Chela, and Vera Milligan make up their team as they head down into the depths of Kimberly Academy! Along the way, they run into some of Ophelia’s chimera; however, after a demonstration of her skills, Vera challenges them to do the same. In fact, in order to reach the second layer, they must overcome a chimera on their own!
The great ape boss which guards the entrance to the second layer was about to let them pass when a mantid-like chimera shows up and claims the throne for itself! This is time for the team to prove themselves to Vera so that she can escort them further down. Meanwhile, Pete hopes that someone will wake up and help him escape as he realizes that he’s too weak to do anything on his own. Joseph Albright is one of the ones to wake up and while he has some animosity towards Pete, his Reversi ability is his beacon of hope. The two agree to work together.
We also see that Lynette and Stacy Cornwallis are searching the labyrinth as well. Three teams… one for a friend, one for survival, and one for a servant are all wandering the halls. Oliver and his team make it to the entrance of the third layer; however, they run into an unexpected roadblock in the form of a human that might as well be a monster!
Characters
Hmm… I can’t think of anything that would constitute significant character development in this volume. Oliver’s devotion to saving Pete as well as quickly learning teamwork with Nanao and Chela could be seen as such but their personalities or beliefs didn’t change at all.
Vera, on the other hand, did try and seduce Oliver but that’s only because she suspects something from him. Of course, Oliver knows that she has a hidden agenda but what that is remains to be seen. Given how every teacher at this academy is into research in some way, shape, or form, it wouldn’t surprise me if her reasoning was as simple as that.
Outside of that, we did get some backstory on Ophelia but I wouldn’t really call this character development but, more or less, a bit of a history lesson to further prop up her motivation and goals… what the Salvadori lineage is for… and why she’s doing everything that she’s doing. It was more of a motive explanation rather than the development of her character. While we learned what her family’s history is like and her role in that, it didn’t change her personality. She’s just fulfilling a role and that’s something we’ve known for a bit now… we just didn’t know what or why so maybe you could count this as character development but it seemed more like a plot explanation with the way it was presented.
Final Thoughts
Overall, this volume was pretty straightforward. It was about two things… Ophelia’s motives and the search for Pete. We were treated to plenty of action along the way which saved us from an entire volume of walking and dialogue. When they were walking and talking, some interesting things happened, especially with Vera trying to get closer to Oliver. Also, Ophelia’s end goal and her Final Visitor (which was revealed during the backstory moments), were interesting. Obviously, if the spell completes and the Final Visitor plays their role, it could spell trouble which is why multiple parties are interested in finding her.
One thing was made clear, though… when they do find Ophelia, it will be a fight to the death so I would expect an epic encounter. I can’t imagine with her family’s lineage at stake, she’s just going to roll over and let anyone stop her. All signs point to us getting that fight in the next volume; however, I begin to wonder if it will be all for naught on Oliver’s side. Pete and Joseph seemed to have planned their escape and could actively be doing that. This means they could run into Oliver as they progress in or pass each other and discover they are gone when they reach Ophelia’s lab, thus having to confront her for almost no reason outside of just stopping her on general principle.
Either way, there are quite a few directions we could go. We’ll see which one is chosen next time around!
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This item was provided for review by Yen Press
