KonoSuba: God's blessing on this wonderful world! (Episode 16) - Servitude for This Masked Knight!

The monsters attacking the town can be traced back to the dungeon that Kazuma and Aqua went to last, but how could that be their fault? Regardless, Kazuma and Darkness go into the dungeon to clean things up!

What happened?

After realising that Aqua’s magical seal that she used to purify the lich in the dungeon was so strong it was forcing all the monsters to leave, Kazuma agreed to help Sena get to the bottom of the problem. However, once they got to the dungeon Aqua refused to go in, traumatized by the last time when Kazuma left her behind.

Megumin will be of no use there either, so Kazuma and Darkness go together. There are loads of strange demonic puppets running around that explode once they touch someone. They are, of course, no match for Darkness who can take their explosions without missing a step. She’s also able to hit them, which seems to bring her no end of joy.

Eventually, they make their way to the room with the seal, but find someone sitting outside. He has a mask similar to the ones on the puppets. When Kazuma and Darkness approach, he reveals himself to be one of the Devil King’s commanders, Vanir a demon. He was sent to find out what happened to Beldia the Dullahan.

They manage to defeat Vanir, well, that’s what they thought. The body was actually just another puppet and Vanir is the mask which attaches itself to Darkness allowing him to take over… partially anyhow. Darkness is remarkably strong and able to retain some control. Vanir is surprised to find out that she is actually kind of enjoying it too.

While Vanir and Darkness argue, Kazuma slips into the room and wipes away the seal. However, once he comes out Vanir has got more control over Darkness until Kazuma places a binding spell on the mask. They run to the surface in the hopes that Aqua will be able to purify him. The only problem is Darkness’ magic resistance which is protecting Vanir.

Kazuma manages to fool Vanir, who is an all seeing demon, but it’s still not enough. Finally, Kazuma orders Megumin to blow up Darkness and Vanir. She doesn’t want to, but reluctantly goes through with it. Vanir is killed, but Darkness survived thanks to Aqua’s healing. They are rewarded for their actions and Kazuma is no longer under serveilance for being a spy.

What did you think?

This was another great episode. I don’t think it will ever get old watching these powerful commanders of the Devil King’s armies being surprised by Darkness and her insatiable lust for pain and embarrassment. Vanir and Darkness arguing was the best part of the episode, but only just. Vanir teasing Darkness and Kazuma was a close second.

As always with this series, there are consequences to their actions that always seem to come back to bite them. It’s a far more satisfying way to progress the story than just having random things happen to them and new quests appear. Everything so far has been caused by something that they did and it’s hilarious.

KonoSuba Episode 16 Darkness possessed by Vanir

What have you learnt?

This is kind of similar to foreshadowing in a sense because it prepares the audience for what is about to happen, however, the cause and effect cycle is most likely put together in the opposite direction. It’s achieved by constantly asking yourself what might happen as a result of what they just did. Even better when it’s a series of events that build towards this new event.

With the nature of chaos theory, there’s no end to what could cause these events to happen, but I think it works better when you can see the clear link. It’s especially effective for a comedy when it’s something fairly mundane that no one would have expected to go so horribly wrong. Like everything in life, there is a consequence to every action, so you might as well use that in your story writing.

What is Aqua wearing?

In episode sixteen of Konosuba: God’s Blessing on this Wonderful World!, the episode focused much more on Kazuma and Darkness while Aqua sat around drinking tea. There was one scene where Aqua tried to purify Darkness and Vanir. The spell had so much force that it created a gentle breeze that caused Aqua’s skirt to flutter. However, we are yet to catch a glimpse of anything that would prove or disprove any theories. I’m starting to think we may never know the truth…