At the end of the last volume, Cou and Ren arrived at the city of Razfe Ankul, where they came across a young waitress trying to pay off her debts to a criminal gang extorting her for the money owed by her deceased parents.

The waitress, Lillia, and her sister, Rasati, became friends with Cou and Ren when they protected Lillia from a thug at the restaurant where she works. Despite the gangs promise to allow the siblings time to gather the money, however, others - including the thug who Cou and Ren had previously humiliated - try to seize Lillia for her Edel Raid powers, while Rasati fights in underground duels for her sake.

Cou and Ren do their best to protect Lillia from attackers and find work to gain the money to travel to the Edel Gardens. Meanwhile, the members of Arc Aile, Cisqua, Rowen and Kuea, watch over the illegal arena and its exploitation of the Edel Raids, unaware of Rasati or what she means to Cou and Ren - having separated from the others prior to entering Razfe Ankul. In their line of duty the three inform Arc Aile of the situation, leading to a planned raid of the establishment, before which they continue to watch over proceedings.

Naturally, this would could short Rasati's means of repaying their creditors, but even without this knowledge, she chooses to fight again, despite her injuries from other duels, in order to free Lilia, she informs Marl - the man who arranged for the gang to allow them to repay the debts at a slower rate, granting their freedom.

When one of the thugs who attacked Lilia offers that Cou and Ren should join the tournament, matters are further complicated by Ren's desire for the money that would help get her to the Edel Gardens, and running into the disapproving trio from Arc Aile. When their leader, Cisqua, realises that Ren, and not just Cou, wants to enter in the tournament, she steps aside though, and quickly takes to betting on their matches to get rich quick.

There are many more twists to the story, which occupies more than a half of this volume, but when all is said and done, the series again moves its attention to the questionable morality of Arc Aile, but this time with more focus. Ren, separated from the others and taken for 'protection', soon finds herself fleeing Arc Aile's entrapment, while Cou, Cisqua, Rowan and Kuea try to keep their party together, in spite of the divisive influence of Arc Aile, only partly aware of what is happening.

Animation remains a problem, but is less noticeably bothersome than it has been in previous volumes. The storytelling has also improved, with the four episodes amounting to a coherent progression of events, unlike the erratic and often haphazard motion of the almost entirely episodic volumes preceding it. What I continue to enjoy most in the series, however, is the subtlety engendered in the treatment of Arc Aile and the Edel Raids - accompanied by the exploration of the morality of its own fiction.

In Summary:

Fair, but unlikely to change your opinion of the series.