By kiki and kinta. Released in Japan as “Omae Gotoki ga Maou ni Kateru to Omou na to Gachizei ni Yuusha Party wo Tsuihou Sareta node, Outo de Kimama ni Kurashitai” by GC Novels. Released in North America by Seven Seas. Translated by Jason Muell. Adapted by Brock Wassman.
If anyone had “zombie apocalypse” on your Roll Over and Die bingo card, well, congratulations. I can’t really be surprised, as not only is this series far more comfortable with being a horror book than a yuri book, but it’s several different types of horror book as well. That said, the undercurrent of the entire series is “we need to fix all this so we can live a peaceful happy life”, and, especially here, we are told that getting a peaceful and happy life does not mean sticking your head in the sand. Milkit has a quote that sums it up: “This world has no shortage of people willing to drag others down to make themselves feel superior and in control,” said Milkit. “The moment you accept that you can’t get away, you let them win.” This book is about not letting them win. Not that it’s a total victory, though…
Pictured on the cover are Gadhio, formerly of the Hero’s party, and his wife Tia. If he seems a bit less than happy, it’s because Tia’s been dead for the last six years. After Milkit gets kidnapped AGAIN, Flum discovers that the culprit is Milkit’s old master, the one who damaged her face and is in general one of the worst people in this book (and that’s saying something). Unfortunately, after Flum gets her brutal revenge and takes Milkit back, they discover that the dead are returning to life. Not just Milkit’s old master, either, but Gadhio’s wife and even Eterna’s adopted family have returned from the dead. They seem real… mostly? They’re being very friendly? But how much can this be trusted, especially since it seems to be part of a plot by the Church?
As with previous books in the series, this volume features a lot of body horror, brutal killings, and bad things happening to both good and bad people. There’s graphic descriptions of torture, and while there are fewer main characters dead than I had expected when I started, in the end surviving is about all our heroes really achieved. At the same time, of course, there are a few really sugary sweet yuri scenes sprinkled throughout (primarily Flum and Milkit, though there’s also some suggestive stuff between Ink and Eterna which I am far less comfortable with.) Milkit here decides that what she’s feeling for Flum is definitely love. Flum likely feels the same, but both of them are too shy, and possibly a bit too broken, to have it be much more than “we just want to be at each other’s side”. That said, I am appreciative of these scenes, as without them this book would be too dark to even read at all.
The Hero’s Party was also in this book, and things appear to be going very badly for them, as two are evil and two are likely going to be forced into evil. The next book in the series has Cyril on the cover, so I suspect we may see even more of them next time. Till then, this is still well-written and compelling, but save it for when you have a strong stomach.
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