Synopsis

And so the Battle of the Classes continues. Piggy and company have only just finished fighting for their lives against a vicious devil when a fiend ambushes them. To make matters worse, the fiend is a former DEC player with a shaky grasp on his sanity, and he traps Piggy on the twentieth floor. The exam isn’t any easier for the rest of Class E as Class D is intent on sabotaging their efforts; meanwhile, nefarious clans are hatching deadly plots to end the class once and for all. Will Kano be able to save her brother’s classmates? Even if Class E makes it through the Battle of the Classes unscathed, student council elections are right around the corner. Piggy will find himself in the middle of the political machinations of the most powerful factions of Adventurers’ High. With conniving clans and scheming students on the scene, how much longer can Piggy keep his true strength a secret? (Source: J-Novel Club)

All Eyes on Piggy!

Continuing with the Battle of the Classes arc, Finding Avalon’s fourth instalment sees Piggy and the rest of Class E deal with the final parts of the class exam while facing the full brunt of the academy’s nefarious schemes.

Dealing with only small schemes and threats previously, the latest addition to the DEC universe truly shows how tough this alternate version of Japan really is. This show and tell begins with Class E’s run-ins towards the end of the Battle of the Classes exam. The powers that be are no longer content with running small-scale bullying campaigns and are moving towards actions that are a threat to life, including sending high-level adventuring teams to root out and stop Class E’s strongest members.

Furthermore, this latest volume also moves to show just how isolated Class E are. After surviving their encounter with the adventuring team, the class is actively punished for daring to fight back instead of being able to find justice.

Putting them in a place with only themselves to rely on, the author has done a good job of realising the scale of corruption in the world of DEC and that an economy built on dungeon-diving has created an almost insurmountable gap between those with powers and those without.

Piggy, the protagonist, also has his fair share of run-ins with corruption. In this volume, he ends up the guest of the Red Ninjettes, a powerful underworld adventuring group, and once again finds the secret about his powers being revealed on a knife edge.

Piggy’s situation only goes to reinforce the narrative of DEC’s societal problems. While the Red Ninjettes are less about direct methods of violence, their high-society parties are often just an excuse for sadism. These parties often involve the adventurers finding interesting commoners and then messing with them for their own amusement.

Not everything is doom and gloom for Piggy in this volume, however, as his deep dive during the Battle of the Classes brings forth some unexpected allies. In this case, he ends up befriending Arthur, a fiend and another game player reincarnated. As a result of this unexpected friendship, Piggy is able to create his first team. With trustworthy members such as Risa and Satsuki, this moment feels like a turning point and a way of adding extra security, as the problems they face going forward are only likely to become more and more dangerous.

Overall, Finding Avalon’s fourth volume continues the series’ strong tradition of incremental storytelling with purpose. In this latest volume, the author ups their game in terms of how they realise the world of DEC’s corruption. Both class E and Piggy’s storylines help to visualise that this alternate version of Japan is many times more dangerous than our own. Moreover, this volume does a good job of planting the seeds for future sequels. Piggy’s new team and the upcoming student elections promise big twists and turns to come.

I Give Finding Avalon Volume 4: 9/10