Veldora didn’t show up because he sensed Rimuru was in danger—he wasn’t—but because he wanted Rimuru to give him the next volume of a manga he was really getting into. That’s kind of the lazy otaku energy I’m here for.
While he’s there, he’s all too happy to spar with his older brother’s only child, Milim (while pulling off Street Fighter and Dragon Ball moves!). When Rimuru tells him not to hurt her as she’s being controlled by Clayman, Veldora tries to correct him, but Rimuru is in to much of a hurry to listen.
After dealing with the magical beasts by freeing Nine Tails (who was suffering under Clayman’s Demon Dominate, a spell removed with Raphael’s help) Rimuru checks in on how Beretta’s fight against Viola is doing, only to find Beretta happily humming as she neatly arranges Viola’s parts around her.
After shit got super-serious last week, it’s good to see that playful humor return, along with easy but still cool-looking wins. The pieces are meant as an offering to Rimuru in hopes he’ll find a place for her new master Ramiris and her to live in Tempest.
Speaking of cool, Shion may have the best moves of anyone this week, easily freeing herself of Clayman’s bonds and pummeling the shit out of him. When he transforms into his apparent final boss form, he’s just as easily dealt with, showing just how large the gap is between Rimuru’s most trusted lieutenants and everyone else who isn’t a Demon Lord.
It’s when Clayman is on his back and bloodied when he calls for Milim to get over there and bail him out that Milim reveals to all that still didn’t know it that she’s acting of her own free will. I complained last week that we were basically getting a Milim devoid of personality, and this episode gave me exactly what I wanted: the regular sweet, joyful, and completely chaotic Milim Nava. Plus, Hidaka Rina finally gets to say words!
We learn that Milim was pretending all along in order to get Clayman where she wanted him: in a place where he couldn’t win, and where he’d reveal the person hiding in the shadows: Yuuki (apparently).
This calls into question why she had to destroy Carrion’s kingdom in service of that lie, but since none of its denizens were harmed and Rimuru has ample treasure and labor to rebuild the kingdom, all’s good in the hood!
That is, until we get what is supposed to be Clayman’s sadsack story about being the weakest member of the Moderate Harlequin Alliance, calling out to the heavens to give him more power, and the heavens rather curiously answering his call.
As he converts his soul and the souls of all he’s had killed into energy and power, we learn this was Rimuru’s plan all along: awaken this next-level Clayman so that he can be defeated once and for all and free all those souls. And after getting his warmup in with Milim, Rimuru chooses himself for the task of taking out Clayman—to demonstrate that he has arrived as a genuine Demon Lord.
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