It’s Shuna’s time to shine!
Episode 21 sees the Ogre Princess taking the fight to Clayman’s castle, which is pretty interesting in itself considering that Shuna has always acted in the sidelines rather than an active participant in any battle. Of course, she didn’t go alone; Hakuro and Souei act as her escorts to protect her from any danger.
That danger comes in the form of Adalman, the Index Finger in Clayman’s Five Fingers, who has set a trap that not even Hakuro and Souei’s acute senses managed to detect. However, Shuna did, though it is too late.
Adalman is an interesting character, not just because he is an undead who commands his fellow undead, but also due to his backstory and personality. Like most of the Five Fingers, he is bound to Clayman, but he was also a former follower of the god Luminus, hence his clergy robes, only to be betrayed by the same faith he has devoted himself into.
Of course, this only strengthened his resolve to defeat Shuna, especially when she starts to belittle his capabilities. And for good reason; while Adalman is a strong magic user, strong enough to use Disintegration, Shuna is still the better magic user, evident when she effortlessly nullifies the spell.
An interesting part here is how Shuna can use holy magic even though she’s a monster. There is a little bit of worldbuilding involved here, which is then tied to Adalman’s backstory.
In the end, Shuna defeated the Index Finger. But in a surprising and hilarious twist, Adalman and his army are freed from their curse and decide to join Shuna after mistaking Rimuru for a god.
Meanwhile, our favorite slime goes on a different battlefield: the venue for the Walpurgis. And it is here that he finally meets the Demon Lords, including Leon. Their encounter is full of tension, and we can see that Rimuru is just holding back his anger. However, it is nothing compared to his rage when Clayman finally enters the scene and briefly abuses Milim. For the first time, we finally see a brief glimpse of Rimuru’s ruthless side, and it should be interesting how Clayman will face the full wrath of Tempest’s leader.
Overall, episode 21 is an exciting prelude to the Walpurgis. The fight scenes are good, but the last five minutes is definitely the highlight.
Episode score: 8.5/10.