The Executioner and Her Way of Life

The Executioner and Her Way of Life (処刑少女の生きる道（バージンロード）, Shokei Shōjo no Bājin Rōdo; transl. "The Executioner Girl's Virgin Road")^[a] is a Japanese yuri light novel series, written by Mato Sato and illustrated by Nilitsu. SB Creative released eleven volumes from July 2019 to March 2025 under their GA Bunko imprint.

The Executioner and Her Way of Life
First light novel volume cover
処刑少女の生きる道 (Shokei Shōjo no Bājin Rōdo)
Genre	Adventure[1] Isekai[1] Yuri[2]
Light novel
Written by	Mato Sato
Illustrated by	Nilitsu
Published by	SB Creative
English publisher	NA: Yen Press
Imprint	GA Bunko
Original run	July 2019 – March 2025
Volumes	11
Manga
Written by	Mato Sato
Illustrated by	Ryo Mitsuya
Published by	Square Enix
English publisher	NA: Yen Press
Magazine	Young Gangan
Original run	June 5, 2020 – April 19, 2024
Volumes	7
Anime television series
Directed by	Yoshiki Kawasaki
Written by	Shōgo Yasukawa
Music by	Michiru
Studio	J.C.Staff
Licensed by	Sentai Filmworks SA/SEA: Medialink
Original network	Tokyo MX, BS11, AT-X
Original run	April 2, 2022 – June 18, 2022
Episodes	12

A manga adaptation with art by Ryo Mitsuya was serialized in Square Enix's seinen manga magazine Young Gangan from June 2020 to April 2024. It has been collected in seven tankōbon volumes. Both the light novel and manga are licensed in North America by Yen Press. A 12-episode anime television series adaptation by J.C.Staff aired between April and June 2022.

Synopsis

Setting

The story takes place in a world parallel to Earth. The inhabitants of this world created an advanced civilization with strong Japanese influences due to the arrival of individuals from Japan, called Lost Ones, with powerful abilities titled Pure Concepts. Over time, Japanese culture and language were integrated into this world.

It was discovered that with prolonged usage of their abilities, the Lost Ones would lose control, bringing disaster and calamity to the world. Even today, there exists four legendary disasters, dubbed Human Errors, whose effects rage on: the Sword of Salt, which turned the whole Western continent into salt that is gradually melting into the sea; the Pandæmonium, a fog-like dead zone in the Southern archipelago from which monsters regularly emerge; the Mechanical Society, a territory inhabited by mechanical soldiers who constantly expand their territory; and the Starhusk, which carved out the center of the Northern continent and set it afloat.

To prevent such calamities from happening again, the summoning of Lost Ones has become strictly forbidden and heavily managed by the Faust, a class of Church members in society. Among the Faust are Executioners, members that wield magic – etheric powers – and set out to secretly assassinate any Lost Ones that may still appear.

Premise

Top-class Executioner Menou has been tasked with eliminating Akari Tokitō, a Lost One summoned by King Grisarika. However, she fails and discovers that Akari possesses the Pure Concept of Time, making her capable of reversing her death even after being killed. Thus, Menou sets out on a journey with Akari. Though she tells Akari that the Faust are finding a way to send her back to Japan, Menou is secretly trying to find a way to kill her once and for all. Along their journey, they face threats from monsters, criminal organizations, and even the Faust itself, while Menou struggles with her increasingly conflicted feelings regarding her mission.

Characters

Menou (メノウ, Menō)

Voiced by: Iori Saeki^[2] (Japanese); Annie Wild, Brittney Karbowski^[3] (young) (English)

A young priestess who specializes in hunting down and assassinating Lost Ones before they can become a threat. She is well aware that most of the Lost Ones she kills are innocents who have done nothing wrong, but her training dictates that they cannot be allowed to live as their Pure Concepts will ultimately corrupt them. Even prior to meeting Akari, she had recurring dreams about meeting her in Japan; now, she acts as Akari's escort while searching for a way to kill her.

As a child, Menou was the sole survivor of a calamity involving a Lost One losing control of their power. The incident and the trauma left her soul "bleached", turning her into a blank, emotionless slate. She was then discovered by Flare, the top Executioner at that time, and taken in as her apprentice. As an Executioner, Menou possesses full mastery over her ether and primarily wields a knife and magical scripture.

Akari Tokitō (時任 灯里 / アカリ, Tokitō Akari)

Voiced by: Moe Kahara^[2] (Japanese); Melissa Molano^[3] (English)

A Japanese high school student who was forcibly summoned to the world by King Grisarika. Her Pure Concept, [Time], allows her to control any and all elements of time, including instinctively reversing time to revive herself if she is killed. She is initially portrayed as rather clumsy and air-headed, but also kind and innocent, leading her to easily trust Menou upon their first meeting as she believed that their encounter was fate. In truth, Akari has already made the world regress multiple times to prevent Menou's death, erasing her memories each time and leaving only a sense of déjà vu and a love for Menou.

Momo (モモ)

Voiced by: Hisako Kanemoto^[4] (Japanese); Cat Thomas, Holly Segarra^[3] (young) (English)

A young priestess and Menou's aide. She assists Menou on anything she needs during a mission, including reconnaissance, providing disguises, and providing support in battles. She has had a crush on Menou ever since they were childhood friends. With Menou insisting that she hide her presence from Akari, Momo begins to grow jealous at how close the two are getting. Momo has strong control over her ether and wields a wire saw.

Ashuna (アーシュナ, Āshuna)

Voiced by: M.A.O^[4] (Japanese); Rachael Messer^[3] (English)

The warrior princess of Grisarika. Rash and bold, Ashuna has little regard for her title or noble duties and prefers to seek out strong opponents to battle. She fights using a heavy sword that she can enchant with etheric flames. Though she dislikes the Faust, she is willing to work with Menou and Momo against common enemies.

Flare (フレア, Furea)

Voiced by: Yūko Kaida^[5] (Japanese); Molly Searcy^[3] (English)

A legendary and ruthless Executioner famed for incredible skill in magecraft as well as killing many Lost Ones. After saving a young Menou from a Lost One, Flare took her in as her apprentice. She has the ability to remember past iterations of the world created by Akari's power, and is responsible for killing Menou and Akari if the Executioner fails to follow through on her mission to kill her.

Orwell (オーウェル, Ōweru)

Voiced by: Tamie Kubota^[5] (Japanese); Shelley Calene-Black^[3] (English)

The Archbishop of the Church. Orwell acts as Menou's direct superior and orders her to bring Akari to their capital of Garm so Akari can be executed. Menou later discovers that Orwell, having grown exhausted and disillusioned from her years of service, has been kidnapping young girls to drain their youth for herself, and intends to use Akari to reverse time on herself. Her plan fails and she is killed by Menou after she taps into Akari's Pure Concept, super-aging Orwell to death.

Mitsuki (ミツキ)

Voiced by: Yuma Uchida^[5] (Japanese); Bryson Baugus^[3] (English)

A high school student who was forcibly summoned to the world with Akari by King Grisarika. His Pure Concept is [Null], which allows him to completely destroy any object he wants. He was killed by Menou to prevent him from abusing his newly found power.

Manon Libelle (マノン リベル, Manon Riberu)

Voiced by: Manaka Iwami^[6] (Japanese); Kristen McGuire (English)

The daughter of Count Libelle, a ruler of a port city, as well as her mother, a Lost One from Japan. Because she never inherited her mother's powers, people often scorned her. After her mother was killed by Flare, Manon grew to seek death. Today, she leads a subversive group called The Fourth, who consider themselves a "liberated" social class of their own. While publicly naive and mild-mannered, she has a penchant for sadistic murder. In private, she is an older sister figure to Pandæmonium, whose blood she uses to produce destructive pills.

Pandæmonium (万魔殿 / パンデモニウム, Pandemoniumu)

Voiced by: Anzu Haruno^[6] (Japanese); Juliet Simmons (English)

A Lost One that came to this world over one thousand ago, although she appears like a ten-year-old child. Her Pure Concept is Evil, allowing her to create and control monsters. Due to losing control, she became one of the Four Major Human Errors today. With her Pure Concept having completely corrupted her, Pandæmonium behaves like a little girl with no desire other than to spread chaos. Her blood is used by Manon to produce destructive pills.

Sicilia (シシリア, Shishiria)

Voiced by: Akeno Watanabe^[6] (Japanese); Courtney Lomelo (English)

A priestess in the city of Libelle who manages the local church. She is initially unfriendly towards Menou, having encountered Flare, her mentor, in the past.

Production

Light novels

In an interview, Sato explained that he did not want to be subjected to rapid production and wanted to release his story in a format that better suited the style of the story. As such, he chose to create a light novel series which could be treated like a "single epic story."^[7]

He based his story off typical elements of isekai works, but with a darker premise, in order to challenge himself as an author.^[7]

Anime

Sato collaborated closely with the director and writer for the anime adaptation, helping to select the most important scenes to be included. Yasukawa and Kawasaki worked on adapting scenes to convey similar emotions as the original novels, as well as prioritizing unusual ideas which conveyed the "soul" of the work.^[7]

Media

Light novels

The Executioner and Her Way of Life is written by Mato Sato and illustrated by Nilitsu. SB Creative released eleven volumes from July 2019 to March 2025 under their GA Bunko imprint. Yen Press licensed the series for English publication.^[8] The series ended with the simultaneous release of the tenth and eleventh volumes in March 2025.^[9]

No.	Title	Original release date	English release date
1	Thus, She Is Reborn Soshite, Kanojo wa Yomigaeru (そして、彼女は甦る)	July 12, 2019[10] 978-4-81-560118-8 (regular edition) March 18, 2022[11] 978-4-81-561580-2 (anime adaptation special edition)	March 9, 2021[1] 978-1-97-531969-4
2	Whiteout Howaito Auto (ホワイト・アウト)	September 13, 2019[12] 978-4-81-560393-9	July 27, 2021[13] 978-1-97-531971-7
3	The Cage of Iron Sand Tessha no Ori (鉄砂の檻)	February 14, 2020[14] 978-4-81-560481-3	November 16, 2021[15] 978-1-97-533580-9
4	Crimson Nightmare Akai Akumu (赤い悪夢)	August 6, 2020[16] 978-4-81-560713-5	May 3, 2022[17] 978-1-97-533645-5
5	The Promised Land Yakusoku no Chi (約束の地)	February 10, 2021[18] 978-4-81-560936-8	October 4, 2022[19] 978-1-97-534561-7
6	A Casket of Salt Shio no Hitsugi (塩の柩)	August 12, 2021[20] 978-4-81-561140-8	March 21, 2023[21] 978-1-97-535006-2
7	Lost Rosuto (ロスト)	April 14, 2022[22] 978-4-81-561399-0	March 26, 2024[23] 978-1-97-538063-2
8	Fall Down Fōru Daun (―フォール・ダウン―)	March 14, 2023[24] 978-4-81-561723-3	July 23, 2024[25] 978-1-97-538833-1
9	Wish Upon a Star, Pray to a Flower Hoshi ni Negai wo, Hana ni Inori wo (―星に願いを、花に祈りを―)	January 15, 2024[26] 978-4-8156-2514-6	August 12, 2025[27] 979-8-85-540890-4
10	Isekai Hito Shi Subeshi (―異世界人死すべし―)	March 15, 2025[28] 978-4-8156-2515-3	―
11	Kāten Kōru (―カーテン・コール―)	March 15, 2025[29] 978-4-8156-2516-0	―

Manga

A manga adaptation with art by Ryo Mitsuya was serialized in Square Enix's Young Gangan magazine from June 5, 2020 to April 19, 2024.^[30][31] The manga is also licensed in North America by Yen Press.^[32]

No.	Original release date	Original ISBN	English release date	English ISBN
1	February 9, 2021[33]	978-4-75-757098-6	October 18, 2022[34]	978-1-97-535114-4
2	August 10, 2021[35]	978-4-75-757414-4	April 18, 2023[36]	978-1-97-535229-5
3	March 25, 2022[37]	978-4-75-757838-8	September 19, 2023[38]	978-1-97-536195-2
4	June 23, 2022[39]	978-4-75-757982-8	January 23, 2024[40]	978-1-97-537550-8
5	March 25, 2023[41]	978-4-75-758484-6	September 17, 2024[42]	979-8-85-540235-3
6	August 25, 2023[43]	978-4-75-758737-3	February 18, 2025[44]	979-8-85-540237-7
7	September 25, 2024[45]	978-4-75-759433-3	December 30, 2025[46]	979-8-85-541938-2

Anime

At the "GA Fes 2021" event livestream, it was announced that the series would be receiving an anime television series adaptation.^[2] The series was animated by J.C.Staff and directed by Yoshiki Kawasaki, making his directorial debut,^[47] with Shōgo Yasukawa supervising scripts, Keiko Tamaki designing characters, and Michiru composing the series' music. Egg Firm and SB Creative produced the series. It aired from April 2 to June 18, 2022, on Tokyo MX, BS11, and AT-X.^[48][49][b] The first six episodes cover the first volume of the novel series,^[50] and the last six cover the second one.^[51] The opening theme song is "Paper Bouquet" by Mili, while the ending theme song is "Tomoshibi Serenade" (Serenade by Lamplight) by ChouCho.^[4]

Sentai Filmworks has licensed the series outside of Asia and is streaming it on Hidive.^[52] On May 11, 2022, Hidive announced that the series would receive an English dub, which premiered on May 20.^[3] Medialink licensed the series in Southeast Asia, South Asia, and Oceania (minus Australia and New Zealand).^[53]

Episodes

No.	Title [54][55]	Directed by [54]	Written by [54]	Storyboarded by [54]	Original release date [56][c]
1	"The Executioner" Transliteration: "Shokeinin" (Japanese: 処刑人)	Yoshiki Kawasaki	Shōgo Yasukawa	Yoshiki Kawasaki	April 2, 2022 (2022-04-02)
Mutou Mitsuki is summoned from Japan to another world by the king of Grisarika Kingdom who measures him for a power called Pure Concept. Mitsuki is surprised when the king summons another, a girl from Japan, while he is thrown out of the castle. He meets a priestess called Menou who explains people from Japan with powers called Lost Ones have been summoned throughout history and influenced the world's culture. She also explains that besides the commoners, society is split between the nobility, the Noblesse, and the Church, the Faust. Exploring his power, Mitsuki discovers his Pure Concept is highly destructive in nature. Menou kills him instantly, revealing she is an assassin for the church, specializing in killing Lost Ones before they can harm the world. She reports her successful kill to Archbishop Orwell and the existence of the second Lost One, the girl summoned after Mitsuki. A flashback shows Menou was the sole survivor of an disaster caused by a Lost One, who was then assassinated by Flare, the Executioner who eventually trained Menou. Menou is assisted by Momo, her aide and childhood friend who is obsessed with her. Soldiers attack, revealing the king wants to use the girl's unusually powerful Pure Concept to overthrow the church and rule without their interference. Menou kills the soldiers then infiltrates the castle where the Japanese girl, Akari Tokito, is being kept.
2	"The Lost One" Transliteration: "Mayoibito" (Japanese: 迷い人)	Yoshiaki Iwasaki	Shōgo Yasukawa	Yoshiki Kawasaki	April 9, 2022 (2022-04-09)
Akari reveals her Pure Concept is a healing ability before Menou assassinates her. However, upon Akari’s death, her power activates, revealing it is actually the Pure Concept of Time and it reverses her death, reviving her with no idea she just died. Contacting Orwell, Menou reveals Akari’s power makes her immune to assassination. Orwell demands Akari be brought to her in Garm in three days for a ceremony that should kill her. Menou finds Akari is absent-minded but also a romantic who desires adventure. She convinces her the ceremony will send her back to Japan but Akari is disappointed as she feels meeting Menou was fate. The church arrests King Grisarika for heresy. Momo is not happy Menou has to spend time with a target and insists on secretly travelling with them to Garm. Menou warns Akari not to use her power, but almost straight away she uses it to heal a little girl's injured hand, forcing Menou to distract nearby royal soldiers so they don’t notice. Momo notices Grisarika’s warlike daughter Ashuna on the same train to Garm. AS they depart, Menou feels sorry for Akari that she is taking her to her death.
3	"Taboo in [Red]" Transliteration: "Kinki no [Aka]" (Japanese: 禁忌の【赤】)	Shigeru Ueda	Shōgo Yasukawa	Shigeru Ueda	April 16, 2022 (2022-04-16)
Terrorists seeking Ashuna take over the train. Momo learns the terrorists want to trade Ashuna for their imprisoned leader. Heading to the roof of the train, Momo meets Ashuna. Ashuna, who has a grudge against the Faust and sees Momo is a priestess, attacks her and deduces that her target Aika must be on the train. The defeated terrorists reveal they are on a suicide mission they sacrifice their bodies to craft an armored warrior to destroy the train. Momo and Ashuna fall off the train during their fight. The warrior damages the train’s engine, causing it to speed up uncontrollably. Menou, Ashuna and Momo suddenly experience extreme déjà vu and Menou is joined by Akari, who says she was worried. Menou defeats the warrior but realizes she doesn't have enough power left to stop the train. Menou is forced to borrow power from Akari by connecting their souls to stop the train. Momo is annoyed when her duel with Ashuna lasts long into the next morning with no end in sight. Menou can’t shake the uncomfortable feeling that the train actually did crash and kill everyone, meaning Akari must have actually reversed time for the entire world to save everyone on board.
4	"The Ancient Capital Garm" Transliteration: "Koto Garumu" (Japanese: 古都ガルム)	Yoshiyuki Nogami	Shōgo Yasukawa	Yoshiki Kawasaki	April 23, 2022 (2022-04-23)
As Menou and Akari continue their journey to Garm, Menou recalls her childhood after she was rescued by Flare. Having had her soul bleached as the side effect of her village being destroyed, Menou lost all of her desires and motivations, only feeling compelled to follow Flare wherever she went. After witnessing Flare killing numerous Lost Ones, Menou decides to become Flare's apprentice despite Flare's warnings that executioners like her are villains. Intrigued by Menou's sudden determination, Flare decides to train Menou to become a perfect copy of her. In the present, Menou and Flare arrive at Garm and Akari asks Menou to take her on a "date" and show her around the city later. At the cathedral, Orwell welcomes the two girls, saying the special chamber will be ready in two days. In the meantime, Menou is tasked with investigating the mysterious disappearances of young girls. Menou assigns Momo, who managed to evade Ashuna, to take care of the investigation so she can keep her promise with Akari to go out on a "date".
5	"Goodbye" Transliteration: "Sayonara" (Japanese: さよなら)	Yoshihiro Mori	Shōgo Yasukawa	Yūichi Nihei	April 30, 2022 (2022-04-30)
Menou and Akari continue to spend time with each other before heading to the special chamber, where Menou prepares to witness Akari's death. Meanwhile, Momo continues to investigate the case of the missing women and follows a lead into the underground sewers. There, she finds Ashuna, who proposes joining together into a temporary alliance to figure out what is going on below Garm. Underneath the palace, the two girls discover a summoning chamber, proving the Noblesse in Garm are involved in summoning. However, Ashuna points out that the Noblesse do not possess the knowledge of summoning, which is exclusive only to the Faust, meaning a high ranking Faust must be collaborating with them. Momo realizes that the only person capable of such a thing is Orwell and sends a warning to Menou before she and Ashuna are attacked by monsters. Menou tries to interrupt the ritual but is cornered by Orwell, who explains that she plans to use the chamber to erase Akari's mind so she can use her Pure Concept to reverse her aging, effectively becoming immortal. Orwell was in fact responsible for the missing women, as she was attempting to use them in failed youth experiments before Akari was summoned. Intending to use Menou as a sacrifice to power the ritual, Orwell summons a monster to attack her.
6	"[Regression: Memories, Soul, Spirit]" Transliteration: "[Kaiki: Kioku Tamashii Seishin]" (Japanese: 【回帰:記憶・魂・精神】)	Katsushi Sakurabi	Shōgo Yasukawa	Yoshiki Kawasaki	May 7, 2022 (2022-05-07)
While Menou fights Orwell's monster, the archbishop reveals that it was her messing with an Otherworlder's power that destroyed Menou's village. Just as she is about to get sacrificed, Akari's power of Pure Concept of [Time] takes effect automatically, retrieving her memories, soul and spirit to a certain time point and allowing her to consciously use her Pure Concept to full effect, before she willingly erases her conscious knowledge about her power again in order to prevent her knowledge from jeopardizing the future. When one of the monsters she and Ashuna are fighting destroys Momo's hair ribbons, a gift from Menou, Momo goes berserk and damages the palace, and then attacks Orwell's cathedral, allowing Akari to rejoin Menou. Menou taps into Akari's Pure Concept, super-aging Orwell to death, and Ashuna takes her leave. During their joining, however, Menou and Akari have troubling visions of their future together, in which Akari unwillingly causes Menou to die to Flare after the Menou failed to complete her mission. Akari wishes for Menou - and only Menou - to kill her before that happens. Meanwhile, Menou vows to Momo that she will find a way to kill Akari once and for all.
7	"Port City of Libelle" Transliteration: "Minatomachi Ribēru" (Japanese: 港町リベール)	Yoshiyuki Nogami	Shōgo Yasukawa	Katsushi Sakurabi	May 14, 2022 (2022-05-14)
Menou realizes that the visions are actually flashbacks from the future, and that Akari has used her Pure Concept to rewind time by several months after she had caused Menou's death, which also made Akari lose her conscious memories of their time together. Menou takes Akari to the Sanctuary, purportedly a residential area for Lost Ones. They make a stop at Libelle, a port city and the site where one of the Four Major Human Errors, the Pandæmonium, had manifested and was sealed away. The city is also a base for the Fourth, a radical group of which Count Libelle, the city's ruler, and his daughter Manon, who have a grudge with Flare, are also members. Upon learning of Menou's presence in the town, the Fourth decide to assassinate her. Meanwhile, Menou decides to eliminate Akari by drugging her and sending her through the fog wall which contains Pandæmonium but Akari's power activates once more, sending her back to Menou's side. Additionally, Menou's resolve is beginning to falter as she begins to develop feelings for Akari. Meanwhile, Manon leads a young girl into an iron maiden-like device which harvests her blood.
8	"Monstrine" Transliteration: "Mayaku" (Japanese: 魔薬)	Yoshiaki Iwasaki	Shōgo Yasukawa	Kiyotaka Ōhata	May 21, 2022 (2022-05-21)
With the attempt to trap Akari in Pandæmonium a failure, Menou returns to Libelle with her only to be ambushed by members of the Fourth. The attackers are defeated and arrested, but are forcibly turned into monsters by Manon to prevent them from spilling any secrets. The other members of the Fourth confront Manon, as monstrine is supposed to be an addictive and euphoric substance to be sold to fund their operations, as well as hold people hostage with the threat of using the monstrine to turn them into monsters. Manon reveals that she secretly slipped monstrine into their food, leaving them no choice but to follow her orders as she continues her plans against Menou as revenge for the death of her mother. Menou is tasked by Pastor Silica to stop the production of monstrine in return for travel funds. Momo begins to investigate the source of the monstrine and encounters Ashuna again, who is also investigating the Fourth. Menou is able to secure an invitation to a ball Manon is hosting, but is forced to bring Akari with her when she insists on attending as well.
9	"At the Evening Ball" Transliteration: "Yakai nite" (Japanese: 夜会にて)	Shigeru Ueda	Shōgo Yasukawa	Kōichirō Sōtome	May 28, 2022 (2022-05-28)
Menou uses the ball to infiltrate Libelle Island in order to find evidence implicating Manon in monstrine production, but she encounters Ashuna, who challenges her to a duel. With no other choice, Menou battles Ashuna and is able to evade her, but loses her chance to scout the castle. Meanwhile, Akari regains her memories again and realizes events in this timeline have diverged significantly from the previous ones. Manon then approaches her, revealing she knows Akari is a Lost One. Determined to figure out why the timeline has diverged, Akari follows Manon. Momo infiltrates the monstrine production facility and opens the iron maiden, finding the girl inside. However, this triggers an explosive trap that leaves Momo incapacitated from a poisoned spike. Learning of what Momo has discovered, Menou asks Pastor Silica to have the authorities surround Libelle Island since they now have enough evidence linking Manon and the Fourth to monstrine production. As the authorities lay siege to the island, Akari confronts Manon, intending to get answers from her.
10	"The Daughter of a Lost One" Transliteration: "Mayoibito no Musume" (Japanese: 迷い人の娘)	Katsushi Sakurabi	Shōgo Yasukawa	Katsushi Sakurabi	June 4, 2022 (2022-06-04)
Manon reveals that somebody informed her that Akari has regressed the timeline multiple times, which was how she was able to take action to change it. She uses monstrine to give herself a living shadow and attacks Akari, whose Pure Concept is ineffective against her, but Menou arrives just in time to save Akari. Menou then faces off against Manon, who reveals she wanted to obtain taboo power to provoke the Faust into killing her, just like they did to her mother, a Lost One who was killed by Flare. Menou mortally wounds Manon, who uses her death as a sacrifice to summon the young girl, who reveals herself to be the Human Error Pandæmonium. Like Akari, Pandæmonium can't be killed due to the nature of her Pure Concept, which will automatically regenerate her every time she is killed. Pandæmonium then challenges Menou to find a way to kill her as she summons an army of monsters.
11	"Pandæmonium" Transliteration: "Pandemoniumu" (Japanese: 万魔殿（パンデモニウム）)	Yoshiyuki Nogami	Shōgo Yasukawa	Takeshi Mori	June 11, 2022 (2022-06-11)
Menou continues to battle Pandæmonium but soon begins to run out of Ether. Fortunately, Ashuna arrives at the scene and provides crucial support, allowing Menou to use a powerful spell to trap Pandæmonium. However, she manages to escape and summons a large monster. Meanwhile, Akari decides to use her power to help heal Momo but is confronted by a clone of Pandæmonium. She reveals that due to Akari's repeated resets of the timeline, the world is slowly collapsing, weakening the fog wall enough to allowing Pandæmonium to squeeze a small portion of her real body through a breach. Pandæmonium also reveals to Akari that her attempts to be killed by Menou's hand will be impossible due to more powerful beings like Flare having access to the Astral Archive interfering, and that there is a way to return to Japan. Outside, Menou figures out that the monster Pandæmonium summoned can only be manifested temporarily before it is pulled back into the fog wall, with the same happening to Pandæmonium herself. However, before Pandæmonium is fully pulled back in, she transformes herself into a monster for one final battle against Menou and Ashuna.
12	"The Duo's Journey" Transliteration: "Futari no Tabiji" (Japanese: ふたりの旅路)	Yoshiki Kawasaki	Shōgo Yasukawa	Yoshiki Kawasaki	June 18, 2022 (2022-06-18)
Menou and Ashuna battle Pandæmonium, but are forced to split up when Pandæmonium sends her minions to attack the town. While Ashuna protects the town, Menou battles Pandæmonium alone and is only able to prevail when Ashuna lends her sword and Akari arrives to provide her with power. Menou powers up Ashuna's sword with Akari's Ether and destroys Pandæmonium. As her body dissolves, Pandæmonium reveals to Menou that the Sword of Salt, the byproduct of another Human Error, can destroy any other Pure Concepts, meaning it can kill Akari. Menou is left troubled, wondering what she would do if she found a way to ensure Akari wouldn't be a threat without killing her. Akari once again suppresses her memories and the two continue their journey. Meanwhile, Momo sees Menou's growing friendship with Akari and vows to kill Akari in Menou's stead. Manon is revived by another Pandæmonium fragment, and it is implied Pandæmonium is Manon's older sister, having been sent to this world far ahead of her mother. Manon agrees to help Pandæmonium spread Chaos across the world. Elsewhere, Flare is informed that Pandæmonium and the Mechanical Society Human Errors are beginning to become active. Encouraged by this news, Flare resolves to kill Menou again in order to continue forcing Akari to reset the timeline.

Reception

By February 2022, the series had over 300,000 copies in circulation.^[57] By January 2024, the series had over 400,000 copies in circulation.^[58]

Anthony Gramuglia of Comic Book Resources praised the first volume of the light novels, saying that it "subvert[ed] pre-existing expectations" of isekai and was "required reading" for fans of the genre.^[59]

James Beckett of Anime News Network gave the anime adaptation a generally favorable review, noting that while not "perfect", it delivered a "genuinely compelling story" with a strong finale.^[60]

See also

• Is It Wrong to Try to Pick Up Girls in a Dungeon?: Familia Chronicle, another light novel series illustrated by Nilitsu

Notes

1. The kanji 生きる道 in the Japanese title, glossed with furigana as バージンロード (bājin rōdo, "virgin road"), are normally read as ikiru michi ("way of life"). "Virgin road" is a term used in Japanese to refer to a wedding aisle.
2. Tokyo MX lists the series premiere at 24:30 on April 1, 2022, which is effectively 12:30 a.m. JST on April 2.
3. The episodes first aired at 00:30 on the respective day, which was presented as the day before at 24:30 on the official website^[56]