Manga: Sword Oratoria 4

Sword Oratoria Vol 4
Rating: 4/5
Buy or Borrow: Buy
Source: Copy courtesy of the publisher! 

Deep in the dungeon, the rogue town of Rivira is under attack by a new breed of monsters and it's up to the adventurers to defend it! Luckily, some of Loki Familia's best have the situation well in hand. But when Aiz faces-off with Hashana's murderer, she has a personal score to settle as well - why does this murderer know "Aria"!?After an unsettling defeat, Aiz's desire to level-up and become "strong" burns inside her more than ever, pushing her challenges in the Dungeon to the extreme. So her request that Finn and the others leave her behind in the lower levels must be for her singular goal...right? 

Volume 4 is off to a cracking start as there's an all out battle right from the beginning, and the pace is quick throughout as everyone is fighting and pulling off some insanely badass moves. I love how well drawn the battle scenes are, not to mention the magic circles and how this far in to the series...world building is still being woven in.  

Finn and Riveria really kick some ass this volume! And you know...Aiz and the others too, but it was nice to see two of the older members getting their moment to shine. There's a rather ominous cut scene thrown in, if you can call it that and the Bad Guy seems to know about Aria? There's plenty of worrying developments, and little breadcrumbs dropped, to be honest. 

Unfortunately Aiz didn't get to question the Tamer/murderer about Aria, and she thinks if she'd been stronger she could have, so she's having a little bit of a crisis. Which provides us the perfect opportunity to get a glimpse of some of her memories...and you know...that gives us some more clues and adds to the mystery. 

Aiz and Riveria team up and remain behind in the Dungeon for an epically drawn and super tense, edge of the seat battle that see's Aiz push herself to her limits. It's nice to see that she does actually have limits. Not in a mean way, but everyone bigs her up so much, it's nice that she's not completely over powered etc. 

This volume leaves us with plenty of questions about Aiz and her past, but it does end with a cameo from Bell and a splash of humour to lighten up the tense volume!