Illustrated by Tsukasa Abe
Frieren, Fern, and Stark have reached the Northern Plateau, and there are many fierce monsters around. Within the plateau is a corporation that has tried to help the flow of goods and protect the small towns from demons, but even their resources are stretched thin. It seems on Frieren’s last journey through the Plateau, she worked up a sizable debt to the Norm Corporation, so they work out a deal putting her to use in their mines. Once Frieren settles the score, they’re off again and they find a village decimated by a powerful demon, but Fern isn’t the only First Class Mage answering their call for help.
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Sanji finally agrees to come with Luffy, which is great for many reasons: many volumes ago, Nami made off with the Merry Go, so they’ll have to take Sanji’s boat to track her down. Luffy already sent Usopp, an injured Zolo, and one of the pirate hunters after her, so the second pirate hunter, Sanji, and Luffy are on their tail now. But Nami may be going into a Lion’s Den. She had expressed interest in a great reward on a dangerous pirate, a Captain of the Fish-Men named Arlong. His brute strength makes Don Krieg look weak, and he has a crew of mutant fish-men with special abilities and strengths under his command. Nami’s treachery may run a bit deeper than everyone originally thought as Usopp uncovers her family home in a small village on the same island as the Arlong pirate compound.
In an epic flashback, we learn Sanji’s backstory and his debt to Chef Zeff, who saved his life but lost his leg in the process. Now, Sanji feels he owes a great debt and must save the Baratie Restaurant at all costs. Sanji goes up against the Indestructible Pearl, who has never shed blood in all his fights. After Luffy and Sanji make Pearl feel he is in danger, Pearl ignites the deck of the Baratie in self-defense. Then, Gin takes on Sanji himself and vows to take him down for Don Krieg, while Luffy has some difficulty getting to Krieg without landing in the ocean. Don Krieg then unleashes his mightiest weapon on the Baratie, punishing some of his own men and his enemies at the same time.
The fight against Muzan is here, and a new Lord Ubuyashiki must make tactical calls and lead the Demon Slayer Corps against their most powerful foe. The losses have been great, though, so the remaining Demon Slayers must come together to take on Muzan with the remaining Hashira who are alive. In the middle of the battle, Tanjiro is sidelined and takes a trip into an inherited memory from his ancestor. He relives much of Yoriichi’s young life after he left his family home, including the time he almost defeated Muzan.
The goodwill tournament is interrupted by several foes and one of them creates a shield over the students that is made specifically for keeping Satoru out. Inside the shield, special grade demons go after the students. Inumaki, Megumi, and Noritoshi face off against Hanami, who tells them humans are the blight of the planet. Todo and Itadori continue to fight together, and Todo help Itadori unlock the hidden potential of his powerful punch attacks. Todo reveals his true jujutsu powers, which include being able to change places with other jutsushiki forces.
In their continued efforts to find a cook, Luffy has indentured himself for a year at the floating restaurant for damaging the ship. But, on the horizon is the fierce pirate Don Krieg who, until recently, commanded 5,000 men on an armada of ships. Recently, they had gone onto the Grand Line and had been single-handedly decimated by a fierce swordsman Zolo had been hunting before joining Luffy’s crew: “Hawkeye” Mihawk. Sanji, the sous chef of the restaurant ship, agrees to feed Don Krieg’s starving crew because he believes a chef’s calling is to feed people, but then he calls for all the chefs, and enlists Luffy’s help, to defend the restaurant once the pirates have recuperated.
As the corps battles with Kokushibo, the Upper Rank Demon #1, we dive into his backstory of four hundred years ago. There, we see him and his his twin brother, Yoriichi, who was born with a special mark on his forehead, and who grew up to develop the several breathing techniques for the Demon Slayer Corps. Kokushibo was immensely jealous of his twin’s exceptional skill with the sword, and he spent most of his life trying to learn and catch up to Yoriichi’s skill. In the present battle, Kokushibo goes against Himejima, who must rely heavily on his use of seeing the Transparent World to fight this powerful demon, as well as Tokito, Genya, and Sanemi.
The goodwill tournament continues between the Kyoto and Tokyo jujutsu schools but it becomes clear very quickly that the Kyoto students have been given orders to kill Itadori. Todo, a strong student from the Kyoto school, takes Itadori on and challenges him to rethink what he knows about how he harnesses cursed energy The students square off against each other instead of fight the demons that have been released around the arena. We learn of Panda’s true nature and what makes him so special as he battles a student from Kyoto who has a similar situation. Maki and Mai come face to face and they use the battle to settle a familial dispute that has been raging for years.
Luffy and his crew finish their fight with the Black Cat pirates, and their reward is a new ship: the Merry Go. Usopp decides that his time being a villager is done, and that he must finally be a pirate sailing the seven seas. Initially content to sail on his own, Luffy invites Usopp to join the crew even thought they disagree on who should be captain. The crew find a few more folks who know Zolo during a cannon practice “accident”, and Nami saves the day with her advanced sea knowledge and knowing the signs of scurvy. The group agrees that they need a cook to do something with all the wonderful stores they have in the hold. One of the new folks help steer the Merry Go towards a floating restaurant that might have a cook Luffy could persuade to join the crew, but a skirmish between a naval officer gets Luffy in hot water immediately upon arrival at the restaurant.
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