Jiro and Rago find themselves confronting Rago's memories during their illusion trial. And after they break free, it's time for their first real mission. A mysterious fog has cut off contact for a large part of the city, and its otherworldly nature means the Black Torch can finally do what they were meant for. Unfortunately, the fog hides all kind of surprises . . .
This volume is when the series really starts hitting its stride. It escalates the stakes quite a bit, while also providing more details about the villains and their goals.
Ichika continues to get the short end of the stick here, despite having an entire fight to herself. Her fight looks cool given the location and powers involved, but it's by far the weakest of the three because it doesn't challenge her in any way except physically.
Reiji's fight is better, because it finally gives him a personal stake in this mission. Even though his is more focused on backstory, it's setting up a reoccurring villain.
But the bulk of the volume is Jiro and Rago. I love the little cat expressions Rago makes, and how their "fusion power" is basically cat-man. I love that the backstory for Rago is that he just wanted to take naps until everyone tried to make their war his problem, so he opted for a third way just to spite them all. I also really liked the detail of how Jiro's suit has been affecting him more than either of them realized, and what it means for that to be gone.
The volume does end on a bad cliffhanger, so consider this a heads up.
Overall this is where we start drawing out the bigger picture. I'm not sure I entirely buy Reiji's backstory (although the one panel where he's standing behind his brother grinning is just hilarious), since he hasn't exactly shown himself to be the sort of person his brother is saying he is. But Rago's story continues to be strong, and the villains are finally getting more interesting as well. I rate this book Recommended.