The following contains spoilers for Episode 14 of Is It Wrong to Try to Pick Up Girls In a Dungeon? Season 4, "Daphne Lauros (Friend)" now streaming on HIDIVE.
After a tremulous episode of twists and turns, Is It Wrong to Try to Pick Up Girls In a Dungeon? is back with episode 3 of its season 4 part 2. Previously, things had taken a grave turn for the Hestia Familia, with their already bleak fate further drowning in despair. While the current episode centered more around the party's ongoing battle with Amphisbaena, Bell and Ryu were given ample screentime to depict their horrid state of affairs, as their descent within the Deep Floors is yet to reach its conclusion.
Although the Familia is far from safety, things have started to look up as the fate revealed by Cassandra's premonition has weakened its grip, giving way to a smidgen of hope. Nevertheless, it's still too soon to reach any conclusion, as the merciless Babel continues to rein in on the Familia.
The Monster Within the Depths
Focusing on the unending fight between Amphisbaena and the party, the tide of battle seemed to be against the Familia by the end of last week's episode, with the same narrative trickling down to the current one. The twin-headed monster's unrelenting attacks severely debilitated the party, alternating between its blue napalm and red shroud, negating all efforts to subdue it. Fumed by the sight of their fallen allies, Aisha and Ouka dived head-on to strike the dragon, yet its crystalised skin and blue flame deterred all their attempts.
With one final try at defeating the monster, Ouka instructs Welf to create an ice platform, aiding him in closing the gap between Amphisbaena and him. Simultaneously, Mikoto, who had been pulled into the depths of the lake by the sea monsters, is shown casting her most powerful spell, almost in sync with Ouka's distraction. While her spell immobilized Amphisbaena, Haruhime, suddenly emerging from within the blue flames that had previously engulfed her, cast her support spell – empowering Aisha and Ouka with unprecedented power. With one strike, the two fighters struck each head, essentially defeating the unrelenting monster.
Towards the Life-Giving Sun
Once Amphisbaena was defeated for good, the floor started to tremble, with the ceiling slowly collapsing over the entire floor. The party now had two options – either climb towards the 24th floor to safety or descend deeper into the dungeon to save Bell and Ryu. Aisha and Daphne favored the former, stating that safety was the top priority for now. Liliruca and Welf wanted to save Bell and Ryu first, however, Aisha and Daphne’s dominating voices steered the argument in their favor.
While the rest argued, Cassandra went into deep thought, speculating what the contents of her premonition actually symbolized. The party finally decided to climb up to safety, and as they began to head out, Cassandra suddenly figured out what her prophecy meant, stating that to avoid death, they must follow the direction of the life-giving sun, meaning eastwards – the direction towards the tunnel heading to the deep floors.
Initially, Daphne completely disregarded Cassandra’s plea, calling her visions pointless and illogical. However, her persistence remained unabated, pushing the party to head towards the tunnel to save Bell and Ryu. The scene depicts Cassandra’s growth and character development, leaving behind her reluctant personality and going toe-to-toe with Daphne, even forcing her to acknowledge her premonitions. She steps out of Daphne’s foreshadows and ensures her own voice is heard – eventually convincing the entire party to head towards the 26th floor to save Bell.
The Deep Floors
While Bell and Ryu’s plight was sidelined for most parts of the episode, they certainly weren’t forgotten as the episode started off with a flashback from Ryu’s memories, dating back to 5 years ago when she joined the Astraea Familia. Since little has been revealed about Ryu’s past so far, a few much-needed revelations are expected within the next few episodes. However, the flashback soon ends as she wakes up, noticing an eerie sound coming from the shadows.
Another wave of Skull Sheep attacks the duo, and with Bell asleep, Ryu has to take on three monsters all by herself in a gravely injured state. Pushing through the pain, Ryu takes her dagger and barely kills two of the monsters, yet the third one manages to jump on her, almost killing her. Suddenly, a dagger appears from behind, just barely saving Ryu from the clutches of death – thrown by none other than Bell himself. He urges Ryu to take a nap, since his own 5 minutes were up, yet even as she slowly succumbed to slumber, the thought of saving Bell clouded her mind, depicting her undying will to ensure his survival at any cost. While not much has changed for the two since the previous episodes, things have started to look up, especially with the rest of the party’s descent towards the deep floors.