There was never a doubt in my mind that the good guys would ultimately win. The question, however, was whether or not anyone — any of the heroes, in particular — would have to make a heroic sacrifice in order to attain victory against all odds. Trapped in a fortress, because if they leave, the seal around their necks would detonate. Abandoned by most of the military, because this is their punishment for disobeying orders. Up against a a horde of demons that stretches for miles. Commanded by a Demon Lord with insane regenerative abilities (or so we’re told). Worst of all, there are humans on the other side, demon sympathizers who are hellbent on sabotaging our heroes’ best laid plans. So it’s going to take a Herculean effort to achieve victory, right? Someone is going to die, right? After all, heroes can always be summoned back to the fray. Yeah, they might lose their sense of self, but the stakes have never been higher!

Does Xylo have a plan for the upcoming suicide mission? Of course he’s got a plan. The plan is to lure out the demon lord, then have Xylo swoop in and kill it like he has been doing since the start of the series. This way, they don’t have to rely on the original strategy of poisoning the demon lord (and themselves) to death. But as they say, the best laid plans of mice and men often go awry. So of course, the plan falls to pieces when they fail to account for every possible contingency. It always goes wrong, because it has to. ‘Cause we need the drama. And the problem is precisely because Xylo is too nice — too heroic for his own good. And this is all in spite of his surly attitude.

Our heroes just saved a bunch of miners from a Demon Lord, so it’s time to slow down, drop some exposition, delve into a backstory or two, treat ourselves to ice cream, and prepare ourselves for the next suicidal mission. Yes, ice cream exists in this setting. Teoritta and the heroes travel to a fortressed city that is holding the Great Exchange, a festival where soldiers (and heroes) can trade their scrips for goods or just general fun and merriment. There’s candy to snack on. We have what looks like yakisoba, ’cause even in a fantasy universe, we can’t escape Japanese cuisine. Ah well, at least it’s not takoyaki or a bowl of curry. But sadly, this episode won’t be all fun and games. Despite the festivities, Teoritta not dropping her ice cream is probably the only real bit of good news we get.

The surviving miners are about to get torn apart, eaten, or whatever it is that faeries do to their victims. Luckily, our trio of plucky Heroes — Xylo, Norgalle, and the conspicuously named Tatsuya — arrive just in the nick of time for dramatic effect. They quickly dispose of the faeries in the vicinity, but they know more are coming. As a result, Norgalle quickly goes about arming the miners with enhanced shovels and pickaxes for literally the fight of their lives.

We last left off with Xylo’s foreboding promise: “I’ll find you. I’ll find the one who set up me and my Knights. The one responsible for Senerva’s fate. I’ll find you… and I will kill you.” He said this as he was sentenced to be a hero. Buuuuuuuttttttt that’ll all have to wait, because he and his fellow heroes have a new mission: clearing out the nearby Zewan Gan Tunnels. After all, if he or any of the heroes disobey, they’ll lose their heads. It makes you wonder, then, if Xylo even has a plan. As long as the “Temple folk” have the power to detonate the seals around their necks, what can he do? How can he possibly even make any move against them? In fact, how long has it been since he was condemned to this fate. Does he even feel strongly about getting revenge anymore? Assuming he does, at some point, we need an arc where Xylo operate independently. Maybe that’ll be the final arc of the season.