The Tragedy that started from Zero

WARNING!!

This post contains spoilers of Arifureta Shokugyou de Sekai Saikyou and Arifureta Zero.

Arifureta Zero is a breath of fresh air from the usual pace of Arifureta. If Arifureta Shokugyou de Sekai Saikyou is written like the power fantasy with Nagumo Hajime at its center, Zero focuses on the rebel group known as the Liberators. Specifically, their high ranked members and how they got together.

Volume One is divided into two main events: The meeting of Miledi Raisen and Oscar Orcus and their respective backstories, and their meeting with Naiz Gruen and the introduction of God's Apostle Hearst.

Now if you've read the Arifureta Light/Web Novels, you know that there's a group called The Liberators who challenged the Mad God Ehito before and they lost. In an attempt by gambling for a future victory, they sealed themselves along with their powers and knowledge inside their respective dungeons, rewarding only those strong enough to clear it, which was the main focus of the Arifureta timeline.

If Arifureta told the story of Nagumo Hajime curbstomping his enemies to the ground because of his cheat creations, Zero pretty much does it the same way except toned down by a few levels. 

Don't get me wrong, Miledi, Oscar, Naiz, all of them can use Ancient Magic, which already sets them apart from common folk, but when they encountered a God's Apostle, it took three of them and everything they had to heavily injure her. Nagumo managed to beat one while all three combined and at death's door still wasn't enough to deliver a finishing blow. So while these Liberators are good at beating enemies, they can't finish off bosses. Yet. And this kind of pacing is something that I like far more than the main Arifureta timeline. It makes the characters grounded and, in the case of Oscar Orcus, since he doesn't have knowledge and technology of our world, it limits the power of what he can conjure. Though, there's no saying that he won't be able to create his own Donner or Schlagen in the future.

But I guess the biggest realization for me while reading this novella is the fact that this is a sad story.

This is a tragedy where we get ourselves attached to these characters only to see them fail in the end. Sure, they win later on thanks to Nagumo and his harem but these people that walked the path of rebellion before him, we see their struggle first-hand through these series. We would eventually learn how Miledi loses her body, the relationship the Liberators shared with each other, the people they saved that joined their group. Their struggles. Their fight. And their eventual loss.

I would be apathetic like Hajime if I didn't know who these guys were aside from being side characters in the main timeline but after immersing myself in this volume, I was attracted to Miledi's annoying charm, admiration for Oscar's wit, sympathy for Naiz's struggles. The banter they shared. How they duked it out and struggled against a single God's Apostle, resisting with everything they have and still losing, being spared only by a whim.

If you like Arifureta Shokugyou de Sekai Saikou, then I strongly recommend this spin-off series.