MISC. MANGA, *Record Of Lodoss War: The Crown Of The Covenant

After making her return in the Castlevania-esque video game Wonder Labyrinth, everyone favorite anime elf Deedlit comes back in the latest in the Lodoss series, Record Of Lodoss War: The Crown Of The Covenant. Ryo Mizuno wrote a new light novel in 2019 taking place in the Lodoss universe over a century after the previous installment, making it the first one actually set in the genuine Lodoss timeline in a few decades, even though Mizuno has only written a single volume so far of this sequel. The manga adaptation is 3-volumes long written and drawn by Atsushi Suzumi which covers the entire light novel, meaning we won't get further chapters of the manga until Mizuno finally gets around to doing it despite the fact he had been plotting this for a whole decade. Lodoss fans are probably now feeling what Game Of Thrones fans having to frustrate with. Udon Entertainment has released the entire manga so far but beware that their lettering can get condensed in many of the narration boxes making it difficult to read in print.

A hundred years of prosperity have come to the cursed island of Lodoss with all six of its kingdoms conceding to a pact called the Covenant thought up by the wizard Slayn binding the six kings to peace treaty which was supposed to last a millennium. The once monster-infested smaller island of Marmo was settled by the previous heroes Spark and Neese as they became that nation's king and queen. Marmo currently has a royal family made of four brothers, the oldest of which left to become a priest. Word gets out that Diaz, the new king of the desert land of Flaim, has taken up his family's old crown and plans on separating Flaim from the Covenant. The three remaining princes of Marmo decide to take the initiative and secure their kingdom's future by planning a conspiracy where the second in line Alucia assumes the throne while the younger brother Zayd takes their brave sister Bino pretend to be outcasts and ally themselves with Diaz. The fourth prince Lyle embarks on his own quest with his thief friend Nola and former wetnurse-turned sorceress Helide go to search for the missing high elf Deedlit. Lyle gets some help from former Lodoss hero Leaf who is still alive because she's a half-elf and gives them griffins to speed them on their way. Lyle spends a few weeks in the Forest Of No Return where time moves differently than on the outside because its where Deedlit is supposed to be, and he eventually finds her after passing her personal test. Deedlit refuses to help as she doesn't want to tarnish the legend of the Knight of Lodoss that her mortal lover Parn left behind. Lyle then resolves to become the new Knight of Lodoss if Deedlit agrees to back him up. After returning to Marmo with his new title, Lyle plans to lead his new party to rescue the king of Kanon whose nobles have overthrown and taken prisoner while allying with Flaim. The saga continues from here with the Marmo princes' plot growing to fruition, even though Lyle is the main focus of the story.

The Crown Of The Covenant does suffer from what The Phantom Menace did as it focuses more on politics than being a genuine epic quest, like if the scene from Lord Of The Rings where the Fellowship was formed took up half of the first movie. Since Lodoss is largely based on Ryo Mizuno's old Dungeons And Dragons gaming campaigns, you would expect there to be a greater emphasis on high fantasy instead of royal protocol. Atushi Suzumi does a great job with his adaptation, meaning that the flaws are mainly Mizuno's fault. As there is currently no continuation until the next light novel comes out, Lodoss fans will be hungering for more.