Title: The King’s Beast Vol. 17
Author: Rei Toma
Publisher: Viz Media
Language: English
Format: Paperback
Pages: 169
Genre: Romance, Fantasy
Publication Date: February 3, 2026
The Story
We open with Rangetsu vs Holborow. She quickly dispatched all of the troops that Holborow brought with her, but she didn’t do it unscathed. She suffered numerous injuries, but she learned how to control her self-regeneration to insane accuracy to the point where it just happens on its own now. For the first time in their fight, Holborow experiences tremendous fear.
After the battle, Rangetsu heads to the inner palace, where Sougetsu and Teiga are doing their best to hold back the enemy forces. Teiga reveals that he possesses multiple arcanas, although due to the number of them, he isn’t particularly well-skilled. Despite that, he’s able to take down some pretty key members of General Barre’s army. Barre himself is set to advance when Rangetsu surprises him from behind. Seeing the utter defeat around him, Barre surrenders.
We are then taken into the aftermath of the war. Due to her insane efforts, Rangetsu is heralded as a hero. Word has spread throughout the land thanks to the efforts of Prince Reiun. Stories, books, and even plays were being written about Rangetsu’s heroic acts, but things truly became inspired when Tenyou did something up on stage in front of the crowd! With the nation saved, we head into our final volume… the aftermath of a war, and the promises of a better future for Ajin.
Characters
While there were some sub-character developments, such as learning about Teiga’s multiple Arcana, the biggest focus was on Tenyou and Rangetsu’s relationship. Tenyou makes his true feelings known to Prince Reiun. Even though nothing has been made official as of yet, it’s pretty obvious to see how their relationship is going to end up. Well, to be fair, it’s been pretty obvious since the very beginning. This is a romance story wrapped in fantasy action after all.
Outside of that, Barre’s giving up seemed a bit abrupt, but he mentioned that he had no home or country to return to. It’s a situation where the nation of Rohan told him to win or not come back. Seeing his army fall was demoralizing to the point where he saw no point in continuing, thus just giving up and being cooperative. He was even given a bit of a redemption when Rangetsu healed him enough to open a portal back to the battlefront so that she could try something. Maybe there was a heart in him after all?
Final Thoughts
After the war, there was a definite feeling that the conclusion was on the horizon. We will most likely see if Rangetsu’s heroic acts were enough to sway a nation into giving fair and equal treatment to Ajin everywhere. I’m sure that with the stories that Prince Reiun spread around the country, and the results of his efforts bearing fruit already, we’ll most likely see a sweeping rights movement take place. I don’t think it’ll be perfect, but it will be good enough to give Prince Tenyou the world that he dreamed of.
As for their relationship, I think it’s all but a foregone conclusion at this point. If the endpoint wasn’t made painfully obvious by now, then I don’t know what you’ve been reading for the past 17 volumes. I would expect to see a lot of planning, along with the ceremonies, in the final volume to put a neat little bow around the entire package.
It’s been a heck of a journey, but the time for drama is over, and the time for some love, tenderness, and probably some antics, is here! The last volume is scheduled for the beginning of July, so we have a bit of time to wait, but wait we will, and I’ll see you there!
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This item was provided for review by VIZ Media
