2V, with the newly-awakened First Demon King, Zero, has successfully taken over the Empire. All Liradans, including Korone, are under her control. And with Akuto out of commission and no one allowed to use magic, no one can stop her from commanding every aspect of the citizen's lives. What is 2V's true goal behind creating this Liradan-centered, magicless society?
Meanwhile, the injured Akuto has taken refuge in a black mage village with Fujiko, Keena, and Yoshie. What will he do when he meets someone who holds the secret to his mysterious birth...?
Giving this one 5 stars mainly because a lot happened, and it's really the setup for a big finale it seems.
So this picks up where the previous volume left off, the original Demon-king (Zero) and 2Volts, the doll controller who orchestrated the events of the previous volume, entering the real world from 4 dimensional phase space.
Lots of revelations and new story setup in this one, mainly concerning Akuto's origins, 2Volt's plans, and the general idea of the Demon-king and gods.
In terms of romance, not a whole lot, though Junko is still moving towards more of a meaningful acknowledgement of her love for Akuto. Also, her sister Yuko and the Demon-king's buddy (Hishiro? The brave) have more clear relationship development too (their part of the story was probably one of the most moving of the tale).
Besides that, there's more drama, revelations, and just general forward moving plot stuff. Some characters show almost inhuman insight into what will happen next, while others make huge mistakes that make you want to scream at the book. Overall though, can't complain too much with what this volume gave us.
This book continues right from the end of the previous installment. First with some V2 backstory and then with the main story itself. I was positively surprised that Hiroshi was one of the most important characters in the book, along with Yuuko, Keena and Yoshie. There was some character development, mostly on Hiroshis side and of course the revelation of a new villain which surprised most five years old readers of this series. Anyhow, it was a good and fun read, unlike the previous book. Can't wait to read the next one, since the story is progressing quite well.