Summary: The episode begins with Azazel —five hours after the parade—, seeing his comrades dying around him, being the next target of the Onyx Task Force.
Suddenly, Mugaro's light illuminates everything.
5 hours earlier...
In the morning that day, Kaisar, without permission, enters to Charioce's quarters, who's getting dressed for the parade.
Kaisar warns him that Azazel and rebel demons will attack in the middle of the event and begs him not to attend for his safety. To his surprise, Charioce refuses. He won't back down from such an important celebration and intends to entertain things by taking the head of the Rag Demon to commemorate the day the humans invaded Cocytus.
Although Charioce is sure of himself and what he'll do, Kaisar doesn't stop worrying about the circumstances and takes action on his own.
In the city center, the demons pass key points for the attack before Charioce's chariot reaches the central square.
While all the demons are tactically organized by marking the sites where they'll be attacking at noon, Nina is selling omelets at Rita's food stand while thinking about Chris/Charioce and how happy she was after last night.
She's so happy that she serves the people passing by with a big smile and is successful at promoting the day's food.
Nina is wearing the red chili that Chris returned to her on her clothes as a symbol of their bond.
Hamsa and Rita know that Chris likes Nina too, so they joke and tell her that it's a sure thing that she will see him again. Nina feels uncomfortable and doesn't want to discuss the subject anymore, so she goes back to serving the customers passing by the stand. Hamsa and Rita comment that Nina has surely taken a step into adulthood, and Rita feels nostalgic for the time when she experienced the same as Nina many years ago.
On the other side of the stand, on the chariot, Bacchus comments to Mugaro that he heard he has a special power and wants to know if he really is mute. Mugaro proves to him that he is by just being able to blow. At that moment, Bacchus finds a resemblance to someone he knows —he reminds him of Michael.
Sofiel visits him and asks if he has found the Holy Child. He indeed found him, but Bacchus hides Mugaro's identity, as he has a bad feeling about what the gods are up to with him.
Frustrated, Sofiel continues to search the city with other gods for the Holy Child.
Since the Orleans Knights won't parade, Kaisar asks Dias and Alessand to help him identify the rebel demons and protect Charioce from danger. Alessand tries to hide that he's been slacking off and complaining to Dias about the little recognition given to his division and joins the search.
Finishing their work, Nina and Mugaro go to the streets and join the crowd to wait for the parade. However, they fail to see anything because they're too short.
Seeing them in trouble, the baker and a friend of his help them and carry them on their shoulders so they can have a better view of the event. Although the king's carriage has already passed, Nina doesn't care. She just wants to enjoy the event.
Azazel is impatient because it's already noon, and Nina isn't in the tower as he asked her, so he looks for her in the crowd to take her flying with him to a nearby street.
Nina is upset with Azazel because she never wanted to get involved in his plans and was having a good time at the parade.
Mugaro shows up, happy to see his friend after days, and Azazel can't help but notice the women's clothes he's wearing, which shocks him since Azazel knows that Mugaro is actually a boy.
Hearing an explosion and the screams of the people attending the event, Azazel insists on engaging Nina in his plan against her will. He hugs her to turn her into the Red Dragon, but Nina doesn't react as she had before. Azazel tries several times but to no avail. And since he has no other choice, he tries to kiss her. As soon as Nina sees that he wants to overdo it with her, she pushes him against a wall to stop him from harassing her.
Nina is no longer nervous around him.
The only man who can make her heart beat now is Charioce, with whom she has fallen in love.
As it's time, the demons initiate the plan, but Azazel doesn't have the Red Dragon as promised, so he's at a disadvantage against Charioce, who waits for him and his men at the point where he was trapped.
In his absence and the negative turn of events, the rebel demons wonder whether Azazel has betrayed them as they try to blend into the crowd. Even when they try, Charioce has a more trained eye and sharper instinct, so he quickly identifies them and calls for their heads.
Finding themselves in a difficult situation, they have no choice but to react and attack the Royal Army.
While humans and demons fight, people evacuate the place, but Nina doesn't, as she has lost sight of Mugaro, whom she's looking for everywhere.
Azazel saves the lives of the rebel demons leading the attack and directly confronts Charioce's soldiers. Nevertheless, it's not long before he's completely overpowered, so all that's left is to let the rebels escape.
Azazel wants his comrades to live, so he decides to act on his own and distract the soldiers to give them a chance to escape. However, his idea doesn't turn out the way he wanted and his friends end up dying trying to escape.
Style: The idea is established from the beginning when Charioce expresses that he wants to hunt the Rag Demon in the middle of the parade to celebrate mankind's victory over the demons.
Point of view: Charioce's and Azazel's prevail as contrasts to represent victory and failure, respectively.
Tone: Threatening
Fixed literary devices:
- Transversal themes:
- Love
- Identity and Secrecy
- Transversal symbols (motifs):
- Flames
- Red chili
- Hug
- Ocarina
- Episode Themes:
- Victory and Failure
- Hunting
- Loyalty
Conflict: Victory vs. Defeat
Thematic elements:
- Victory vs. Defeat:
- The humans celebrate their victory for getting rid of the demons' rule 5 years ago when they invaded the demonic capital Cocytus.
- Azazel and the rebel demons ambush Charioce and his men before they reach the city square and wait in vain for the Red Dragon to appear. Nina is interested in the festival and isn't at the tower where Azazel had demanded her to be. The plans fail, and he loses his comrades in battle.
- Azazel's plans fail again when he tries to force Nina to transform into the Red Dragon, but she doesn't, even though he hugs her and tries to kiss her.
- Azazel fails to try to get his comrades to escape and ends up having them killed by the humans.
- Hunting:
- Kaisar warns Charioce not to attend the parade because the demons are planning something suspicious. However, instead of abiding by his suggestion, Charioce doesn't back down and tells him that he thinks it'll be entertaining to liven up the celebration with the Rag Demon's head.
- Azazel intends to kill Charioce as planned and thinks he has the upper hand since he believes he has the Red Dragon.
- Loyalty:
- Kaisar shows loyalty to the king and protects him from the demons as he fears they'll target him.
- Azazel remains loyal to his fellow rebels and helps them escape by acting as bait.
- Love:
- Rita remembers her first love when Hamsa mentions that Nina may have taken a step into adulthood on the Anatean holiday.
- Nina doesn't turn into a dragon by being hugged or seeing an attractive man other than Chris/Charioce.
- Identity and Secrecy:
- Charioce's identity remains a mystery to Nina since she didn't see his chariot during the parade and didn't have a chance to notice that he was Chris.
- Bacchus hides Mugaro's identity from Sofiel.
- Azazel is speechless upon seeing Mugaro dressed as a woman.
Symbols:
- Flames and Embers: Symbolize human power and the fall of Cocytus. This symbol appears when Charioce mentions the day they invaded the capital of hell and succeeded in subduing the demons.
- Red chili: It represents the bond between Nina and Chris/Charioce, but it also acts as an amulet against bad luck and death. Nina wears it on her clothes, as it is the chili that Chris returned to her when he passed by the food stand the night before.
- Vegetable omelet: Symbolizes happiness. It represents Nina's mood and state of mind.
- Hug and kiss: Affection, depending on how they are given.Just like the first time, the hugs Azazel gives Nina in this episode lack real affection, as he does it for the sake of getting a benefit in return. And the same goes for the kiss he tries to give her.Just like when Azazel hugs her in episode 4, these actions again act as contrasts to Charioce's actions towards Nina. Especially in episodes 13, 17, and 24.
- Ocarina: It symbolizes Mugaro's connection with the divine.Mugaro maintains his ocarina when Bacchus tells him that he has heard that he has a special power.The ocarina is an instrument ancestrally played to venerate the gods.
Scenarios:
- Royal City of Anatae
- Royal Castle
- Food stand
- Streets
- River Styx and Charon: In Greek mythology, the river Styx is crossed by the ferryman Charon, who carries the dead to the afterlife in exchange for coins.
- Traditional Scottish music: It's played during the parade.
- The Day of Victory: The title of the episode is inspired by the 1945 Japanese film Shōri no hi made (勝利の日まで), which is about Dr. Tokugawa, who develops comic bombs to drop during the war. When they explode in the battle zone, celebrities appear performing their specialty. However, the only bomb that's deflected, ends up exploding at the bottom of the sea.
Just as in the feature film, in episode 7, Azazel's plans go awry when the Red Dragon doesn't appear, and things don't go as he thought they would.
Foreshadowing:
- River: When the demons mark the bridge and travel by boat on the river that crosses the capital, it's an omen that they'll die since the river represents the passage from life to death.
- Bats: They announce death. They appear at the moment when Belphegor marks the bridge, being an omen of death for her and the rebellious demons.
Characters:
- Chris/Charioce: His hunter side is even more emphasized in this episode, as he ignores Kaisar's warning and intends to kill the Rag Demon in the middle of the parade since he thinks it'll be the perfect way to celebrate the liberation of the humans from the demons' dominion.Being ambushed before reaching the square, he decides that it will be the place where he and his men will confront the demons. His hunter's instinct is keen, as he easily recognizes the rebels in the crowd and orders their heads to be cut off.
- Nina: She stays away from the conflict between humans and demons, as she's only interested in enjoying the parade and attending the food stand with Rita. She's very happy about what happened between her and Chris during the Anatean festival and keeps thinking about him while she sells omelets.When the parade starts, she goes with Mugaro to watch it. As she's very short, she can't see anything, so her baker friend helps her to have a better view, although he warns her that the king has already passed, which doesn't matter much to her since she's not interested in seeing the king (*).(*): She's not interested in seeing him because she knows what he has done to the demons, and, from her point of view, he isn't the man people say he is. However, Nina ignores that Charioce is Chris.As she watches the royal army pass by, Azazel drags her along with him and demands explanations for not going to the tower as he asked the day before. Nina tells him she didn't go because she was watching the festival.Nina is unaware of Azazel's plans and objects to being involved in them, but Azazel insists and tries to make her turn into the Red Dragon when she hears an explosion. Nina doesn't understand why Azazel hugs her, so she pulls him off her when he tries to kiss her against her will.Azazel asks her why she doesn't transform, and she tells him that she doesn't know for sure, but that her heart doesn't race with him anymore.Nina wonders about the reason behind it and asks Mugaro if it's because she has experienced love.Seeing that Mugaro has disappeared from her sight, Nina goes through different streets in search of him.
- Azazel: He gets annoyed with Nina for not following his instructions by not being in the tower as requested. He flies around the city looking for Nina and, after finding her in the crowd, he grabs and takes her to a lonely street. He gets angrier when Nina tells him that she didn't show up because she just wants to enjoy the parade.As they talk, Muagro appears, and Azazel is shocked to see him dressed as a girl.Hearing an explosion, Azazel knows that his companions have started the attack against Charioce, and tries to turn Nina into a dragon by force after hugging her and trying to kiss her.When he asks her to explain why she won't transform, Nina tells him that her heart no longer beats strongly when she gets close to him, which ends up foiling all his plans.Azazel is forced to return to the point of attack and saves Belphegor from a deadly attack. He joins her and Dante to confront the Royal Army, but when they find themselves cornered by it, Dante regrets having trusted him.To make amends, Azazel acts as bait and gives his friends a chance to escape, but to his misfortune, Charioce's army is more skillful and kills his comrades in front of his eyes.
- Mugaro: Bacchus asks him if he really can't speak, and he confirms it by trying to do so and not being able to vocalize anything.When Sofiel visits the chariot, Bacchus tells him to hide, as he has no intention of telling Sofiel that he found the Holy Child.Later, Mugaro and Nina attend the parade. When Mugaro sees Azazel taking Nina with him, he follows them and goes to meet him.He sees the surprised look on Azazel's face when he sees him dressed as a woman, but he just smiles.When his friend shoots off on his way to the explosion site, he realizes he's in trouble and takes off after him.
- Kaisar: He shows loyalty to Charioce by warning him not to attend the parade because he risks dying in the trap set for him by the demons (*). He also asks Dias and Alessand to help him prevent the attack of the demons against Charioce.(*): Kaisar wants to prevent, at all costs, the imminent disaster that Azazel will cause, and, above all, he wants to protect Charioce's life.
- Rita: She prepares omelets at the food stand and realizes that Nina is in love with Chris when Hamsa comments that maybe something happened between them last night. Rita sees Nina so happy that she remembers her first love, which fills her with nostalgia.
- Hamsa: He also realizes that Nina has taken a step toward adulthood.Later, he learns that Bacchus doesn't want to give up the Holy Child because he has a bad feeling.
- Bacchus: He knows that Mugaro is the Holy Child, but he lies to Sofiel about not having found him because he senses that the gods want to use him for something he doesn't have a good feeling about.
- Sofiel: She continues to search for the Holy Child and gets discouraged when Bacchus tells her that he hasn't found him yet.
- Dias: Supports Kaisar in the search for the rebel demons.
- Alessand: Eats and slacks while Kaisar is away but joins the demon quest when his captain asks him and Dias to support him.He would have preferred to parade instead.
- Rebel demons:
- Dante: The leader of the rebel demons thinks Azazel has betrayed them and regrets trusting him when the Red Dragon doesn't show up and the plan doesn't go as they planned. He's killed by the Royal Army.
- Belphegor: The female rebel demon. She trusts Azazel and that he hasn't betrayed her and the rebels. She's rescued by Azazel, but ends up dying after a golem crushes her.
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