Pandemonium: Chapter 5

## Chapter 5

A mysterious mercenary group roams the Land of the Variants.

*"That's impossible! Why.. Why are you all lying?!!"*

— Zipher, snapping at Domika.
Chapter 5 is the fifth chapter of the first volume of the Pandemonium: Wizard Village manga and the fifth chapter of the series overall, as written and illustrated by Shibamoto Sho. It was released on May 10th 2013.

## Overview

Chapter 5 expands on the tense relationship between Zipher and the villagers. Zipher opens up to Domika, revealing fragments of his past.

The chapter starts by expanding on the mercenary band side-plot which was teased in chapters 3 and 4. The mercenary force seems to be roaming the land near the Wizard Village. The group is apparently on a journey to eliminate Straight Thunders.

In the village, the tensions between Zipher and some of the villagers turn to violence. His fireworks display is stopped. Domika decides to tell Zipher the whole truth about the village, but a big fire breaks out in the village before she's able to. The chapter ends with Zipher running into a burning building to save Brow.

## Summary

The chapter opens with an incident involving the mercenary group. Traveling through the the Land of the Variants, they encounter Beatha, a traveling mouse. Crain, the leader of mercenaries, engages Beatha in a discussion. Beatha tells Crain that he recognizes the mercenary team as a brigade from the town of Arkhamheim, supposedly on a journey to eliminate Straight Thunders and Sky Golems. After being allowed to leave, Beatha walks away, wishing Crain luck on his mission.

In the village, being fed up with Zipher, Marco disrupts his fireworks display by punching him. Zipher feigns a positive attitude and sticks to the story that the fireworks are his way of showing gratitude to the townspeople. Domika intervenes to stop Marco from beating up Zipher any further. A debate starts over how much longer will Zipher stay in the village. In the end, Malsus gets involved and stops the discussion, stating that Zipher has to leave the moment he fully regains his strength. Marco punches Zipher one more time before Malsus commands everyone home. Unhappy by the disruption of the fireworks display, Brow brags to other children about having some at home.

Zipher asures Domika that he's fine and shows her some sprinkle fireworks. While impressed by their beauty, Domika realizes that Zipher smells of pyrotechnics. Lowering his guard, Zipher reveals that he was born into a gunsmith's family in a small town.

Zipher had lost his parents shortly after his birth. Too young to remember their faces, he was taken in by his closest relatives, yet  always felt alone. Zipher reminisces about how it all changed when he met her – his lover. She taught him a lot about life and things such as folk tales, songs and flowers. She even sew the coat and hat that he's wearing. Zipher states that he once believed he'd never be able to love anyone, yet she saved him from apathy. He had learned to do fireworks as a way of expressing his gratitude.

After hearing Zipher's story, Domika bursts in tears. She laments that the villagers can't bring back the dead to life. Domika decides to show Zipher "the true nature of the village" Their interaction is ruined by an explosion in the distance. The explosion sets a housing complex on fire.

As Zipher and Domika arrive at the scene, Grif is seen coordinating the effort to stop the fire from spreading. Malsus and Brepa emerge from the burning building carrying Kutar, Varak and Basil. Basil reveals that Brow is still inside. The intensity of the fire ramps up and villagers start backing off from the building. Fixated at the life threatening disaster before him, Zipher goes into a frenzy and runs into the flames, determined to not let anyone die.

## Characters in order of appearance

### Main characters

Crain

Zipher

Marco

Domika

Malsus

Brow

Molte

Anna

### Villagers

* Neil, Eva, Brepa, Gulon, Grif
* Agare, Shushu, Baal, Leto
* Bothy, Anu, Purso
* Andras, Kerone, Peryu, Wonk, Aimu, Ipiria, Makara, Rono, Sius, Haggis
* Basil, Nabel, Kutar, Ipos

### The Mercenary band

* Faust, Stock
* Beatha

## Trivia

* The mouse featured on the first few pages is named Beatha. He's one of the main characters from Shibamoto Sho's manga called Tsunousagi.
* Molte's locket can be seen in this chapter again. This time, Molte holds it in her hands.
* Zipher talks in length about his dead lover for the first time. Glimpses of the character can be seen on pages 16 to 18, but her name is kept secret.
* Up until Chapter 5, only individual houses have been shown to exist in the village. The aforementioned chapter confirms the existence of larger housing complexes in the village.

## Gallery

Beatha, a character from Tsunousagi.A staredown between Beatha and Crain .Marco assaulting Zipher over fireworks.Zipher showing sparklers to Domika.Dead lover revealed.Happy memories.Housing complex on fire.Child's play.Into the flames.

## References

1. ↑ http://hiyokonikki.blog.shinobi.jp/%E3%81%8A%E3%81%97%E3%82%89%E3%81%9B/pandemonium%20-%E9%AD%94%E8%A1%93%E5%B8%AB%E3%81%AE%E6%9D%91-%E3%80%80%E7%AC%AC%E4%BA%94%E8%A9%B1%E6%9B%B4%E6%96%B0%E3%81%AE%E3%81%8A%E7%9F%A5%E3%82%89%E3%81%9B%EF%BC%81
2. ↑ Beatha technically isn't a member of the mercenary band.