The 33rd story arc of the Tower of God series consisting of chapters 69 - 76 from the second season. The arc centers around Viole and the E-rank Regulars competing against one another in individual matches for the 1st Round of the Workshop Battle known as the Plug Game. The exception are the ten Team Leaders who have been assigned as the gamblers. These ten Regulars bet on each Plug match to try to collect points that will be required to make their teams for the Workshop Battle's 2nd Round.
Arc 32 | Return to the main Tower of God recap page. | Arc 34
30F - Workshop Battle: Battle x Gamble
The E-rank Regulars all make their way to the Archimedes' Grand Stadium. The FUG Team appears, which a Regular named Dede approaches Viole stating that he looks forward to seeing FUG win the Workshop Battle as revenge on Jahad and the Great Families for those that they've walked over. Ron and her teammate, Viviolga, notice the ruckus caused by Viole's appearance, which she figures that their top E-ranker, Mad Dog, isn't here, because it would break out into a bloody death match between him and Viole.
In the FUG Team's Grand Stadium waiting room, Viole's greeted by Sia to check up on him. Viole asks if she also has a personal issue with Jahad and the Great Families, but Sia answers that she's just on the team for the money, which Viole admits that he's glad that Sia doesn't have a sad story. Sia leaves in confusion, and is then greeted by Nobic informing her that Viole's not going to end up the way she seems to want. Nobic explains that he can tell that the Slayer-Candidate is like no other where everyone else is trying to trample over each other in order to climb up the Tower, but Viole's not like that. He leaves Sia off with a warning that Viole's giving off a light that everyone would follow after and fight to protect him. Nearby, Rak is seen watching over Viole.
At another waiting room, Shibisu remains concerned about Hatz going missing, but Anaak reassures him that it's better if he wasn't here given the loss of his precious sword. Shibisu is left wishing Khun was here to help his situation as Khun is seen walking nearby now with blonde hair, and wearing a mask.
At the Grand Stadium, the Workshop hosts, Io and Punk, explain the Workshop Battle. That it will be two rounds with the first one being individual matches, and the second being a team match. The team that wins the team match will be the overall winner of the Workshop Battle. The hosts also explains that ten people, who scored the highest during the One Shot, One Opportunity game have been picked out to be the gamblers: Shibisu, Mr. Mask (Khun), Goonter, Reflejo, Bellux, Hyun Chung, Rodni, Miya, Devil Bon, and Ron Mei. These ten gamblers are the Team Leaders that will be picking their teams for the 2nd Round after the 1st Round is completed. Io and Punk then state that the game for Round One is known as Plug. The rules for the game are the following:
For the individual fighters.
- 1) On a platform in the middle of a watery arena, eight Regulars will be brought out each round to fight.
- 2) They're each given a plug stick that they must put into one of three sockets in the middle of the platform.
- 3) There's only three sockets, so the first three Regulars amongst the eight that place their plug into the socket are allowed to move on to the 2nd Round. No matter what, a plug must be put into the socket to be announced as a winner.
- 4) Fighters who fall off the platform into the water, or drop their plug, are eliminated from the game.
For the gamblers.
- 1) Not participating in the matches, the Ten Leader gamblers are provided 500,000 points to work with to bet on who will be the winner of each match.
- 2) Once the individual matches are over, the gamblers use the points they've obtained to buy teammates and items that will help them win the 2nd Round.
- 3) Only the top-6 out of the ten gamblers move on to the 2nd Round.
The name list for the first match is given as Wangnan and Akraptor are glad to see that Prince and Miseng somehow made it into the Archimedes. The gamblers place their bets as the eight fighters that includes Wangnan, Akraptor, Miseng and Prince, are brought to the platform. The Group 1 Plug match begins. Wangnan and Akraptor are ready to finally save their Team Sweet-and-Sour comrades, but a beat up Prince appears on the platform, and orders for his teammates to run. Appearing on the platform is a crazed-looking Miseng wielding a plug with blood on it, which a beat up Prince warns them that she's gone insane.
The Group 1 Plug match begins. The powered-up Miseng goes about beating the two other Regulars not a part of Team Sweet-and-Sour as Prince returns to the side of Wangnan and Akraptor. Wondering what's wrong with her, Prince goes over how they were brought to the Archimedes by Verdi after being defeated by her. Verdi then tried to make them dolls by providing them with a flower claiming that it will make them stronger, but while Prince refused it, Miseng chose to use it since she wants to get stronger so that Viole and Horyang will return to her. They watch as Miseng easily defeats the other two Regulars, which leaves just the four Sweet-and-Sour teammates remaining.
Akraptor spots the flower in Miseng's hair being the thing that made her insane, and states that they should fight her to take it off. Seeing Prince scared, Akraptor provokes Princes by stating that the current him is weak compared to the one that wanted to go out on his own after he stopped being his daddy's spoiled brat. To prove he hasn't grown weak, Prince takes on Miseng, and manages to immobilize her with his Lighthouses during their duel to allow for Akraptor to go in and remove Verdi's flower. Despite Miseng collapsing, she asks for the group not to leave her as Wangnan, Prince and Akraptor put their plugs into the socket for the three of them to pass to the 2nd Round.
Wangnan, Akraptor and Prince move on to the 2nd Round as Akraptor carries the defeated Miseng to the exit with them. Before leaving, Prince yells out to Viole to challenge him once more, and will be sure to bring the Slayer-Candidate back to their team. Meanwhile, Groups 2 through 6 for the next five matches are announced with the crowd all noticing that the strongest E-rank Regular, Baragav the Mad Dog, will be entering soon.
A partially reunited Team Sweet-and-Sour look after the unconscious Miseng in the waiting room, which they're greeted by Verdi. She informs them that Miseng did everything on her own without Verdi knowing about it, and just needs rest to wear off the flower's after-effects. For a brief moment, Wangnan notices that Horyang stopped by their room just to see if Miseng was ok. Seeing the lists for Group 2 through 6, Goseng's been put into a match with Horyang and Blarode while Ehwa ended up in a match with Quaetro.
The Group 2 through 6 Plug matches begin shortly after, which five platforms are raised within the Grand Stadium to have the five matches going on all at once. Goseng enters her match that has people fighting to the death, but she's protected by Horyang. Blarode then goes about swifty beating everyone else as the three of them are the only ones remaining in their match. Horyang's ready to fight, but Blarode states that he doesn't wish to fight them, which means that the three of them are going the 2nd Round. Blarode also points out that their Group was clearly not the main show of these matches as he looks over at Baragav's platform.
Meanwhile in Ehwa's match, Quaetro wrecked havok with his flames to the point that only he and Ehwa remained given that she is also a fire-user, which gives the two of them an easy pass to the 2nd Round. Ehwa calls him out for not being more responsible with his flames, which disappoints Quaetro who believes that Ehwa is afraid of her own flames. Bored of his current match, Quaetro looks over at the platform that Baragav's match is taking place, and gets excited at what he's seeing.
Everyone focuses on Baragav to see what he's capable of. Since no one wants to face the Regular deemed to be the strongest E-ranker, Baragav walks to the socket uncontested, which the watching Blarode gives Horyang a bit of advice to never fight the Mad Dog. One Regular in the Baragav match decides to take up the challenge to face the Mad Dog, but the Mad Dog easily bashes the challenger's head off, much to everyone's shock that they couldn't see the attack due to how fast it was. Baragav then places the plug into the socket to pass to the 2nd Round, and then leaves off staring in Viole's direction.
Viole flashes back to a conversation he had with Reflejo learning about his toughest Workshop opponent, Baragav the Mad Dog. The Slayer-Candidate learns that Baragav, a pit fighter that was trained to be the perfect warrior, is one of FUG Slayer Baylord Yama's three Mad Dogs that were sent into the Tower to show off the strength of Yama. However, Baragav one day disappeared, and was never heard from again believing to have left FUG, and now hates the organization. Viole realizes that the reason Baragav has appeared once more is to fight him, the new Slayer-Candidate, at the Workshop Battle.
Back in the Acorn Workshop, Hatz managed to free himself from his cuffs. He then relies on Emily to help him find a way out of the room he's trapped in. The chatting bot provides the answer to a trap door hidden under his bed, and opens it to find a ladder leading down to another location. Hatz is left wondering where Emily is trying to lead him.
Following the completion of Groups 2 through 6 matches, more matches soon follow with some noteworthy winners: Group 7's match was Endorsi, Group 9 was Viviolga and Ridong, Group 10 was Bundawan, Group 12 was Tebo and Rebo, Group 14 was Verdi and Vespa, and Group 15 was Red Hawk (Rak in disguise) and Dinn (Dan in disguise). The last of which Viole realizes that Rak has made his way into the Workshop Battle. The lists are then provided for Groups 16 through 20 where Sia is seen for the Group 17 match, and Jue Viole Grace for Group 19.
Despite five matches going on, the attention is brought to the Group 19 match due to the appearance of the Slayer-Candidate. The match begins, but Viole is left confused to see four FUG jersey Regulars acting on his behalf against the remaining three to shield him a safe path to the socket. Watching the match, Blarode points out that it turned out boring given that four fake believers have appeared to try to take advantage of having the Slayer-Candidate on their side. However, Wangnan figures that it's not going to end up this way given that he knows Viole wouldn't accept something like this. Viole watches as the four fake FUG believers defeat the other three Regulars in the Group 19 match, but the Slayer-Candidate makes it clear that he doesn't appreciate them treating him as a tool, which confuses the four believers.
To the surprise and interest of everyone watching, Viole goes on to attack the four fake believers claiming that he's no god, and that they're fakes who are trying to use him to further their own dreams. Meanwhile, Anaak and Endorsi discuss how the Slayer-Candidate is looking like a decent fighter despite his opponents being small fries. However, Anaak points out that she caught a glimpse of Viole's face at the end of her duel with Ran during the One Shot, One Opportunity game, and admits that the Slayer-Candidate reminded her of Bam. Viole is seen wrapping up disposing the last of the fake believers, and then places the plug into the socket as the only one remaining in Group 19, which the crowd cheers seeing the Slayer-Candidate move on to the 2nd Round.
After Anaak leaves since her plug match is coming up, Endorsi tries to look up information on Viole. However, she's unable to find anything prior to his sudden appearance on the 20th Floor; believing that FUG is going to great lengths to keep control over their Slayer-Candidate. Given that Viole's always surrounded by his FUG teammates, Endorsi figures that the best time to find out the truth from the Slayer-Candidate, himself, would be during the party that's going to occur before the start of the Workshop Battle's 2nd Round.
On the way back from their Plug matches, Viole and Sia run into Nobic and Ran. They congratulate Viole for passing despite his rough actions, and tease Sia that she looks tired after making it through her 1st Round match. The Groups for matches 22 through 26 are then provided as Nobic sees that he's been assigned to Group 23 while Cassano and Yuto are in Group 22. Nobic leaves with Ran (who also has yet to play) to prepare for their matches as Sia heads off to rest. Before leaving Viole, Sia asks him to not go anywhere as she would be blamed for losing sight of him. She also asks Viole to never again say that he's not a god who can't grant people's wishes. Otherwise, he'd be useless.
As Nobic and Ran walk back to the Grand Stadium, the two of them go over the odd actions surrounding Viole, and deduce that he's hiding his past from certain people. They also come to the conclusion that FUG is up to something given that despite wanting to control their Slayer-Candidate, the organization brought Viole to Workshop against all odds that the E-rank Regulars gathering could end up revealing Viole's past. Ran also notices Beta walk by him, and notes to Nobic that said person isn't human.
Thinking back to what Sia said to him, Viole arrives at the Grand Stadium, and watches as Cassano, Yuto, and Nobic pass their Plug matches. Looking at the Regulars fighting, Viole spends the next moments thinking about how they've all come here to fight in order to make their wish come true, which he wonders why he's currently here at the Workshop Battle. Thinking it over, Viole thinks about Rachel, and where she could be at currently. The Slayer-Candidate then returns to his waiting room, and is surprised to see Beta waiting for him there.
With the Group 22 through 26 matches done, Io and Punk announce that Groups 27 through 29 will be the final Plug matches, and that a new rule will be provided for the gamblers. Amongst the noteworthy gamblers, Khun and Reflejo reached 1,000,000 points, Shibisu broke even at 500,000, and Ron Mei dropped all the way down to 10,000. The lists for the final 27 through 29 matches are then announced as the final noteworthy E-rankers that have yet to play Plug, Anaak and Ran, are shown to be facing one another in Group 29. Io and Punk then announce an all-in rule that the gamblers can place on a Regular that they believe will come out the winner. If they're correct, they will be rewarded with an extra 3,000,000 points, which catches Khun and Shibisu's attention.
Amongst the gamblers, Shibisu and Khun deduce that given Anaak and Ran's rivalry that started from their unfinished One Shot, One Opportunity duel, both are going to continue the duel in the Plug match to the point that there's no way both will make it to the 2nd Round as they will fight until one comes out the winner. Thus, it's a 50/50 chance gamblers will win their all-in bet choosing between the two of them. Khun makes his choice while Shibisu's seen gambling "all-in" with Anaak knowing that he's gotten this far thanks to his team. Thus, he trusts that Anaak will come out the winner. Meanwhile within the Grand Stadium, Paracule is seen having made it to the Workshop Battle, and is set to enter his Plug match.
The final Plug matches for Groups 27 through 29 begin as Rak, Shibisu and Khun are left surprised to see that Paracule has appeared in a Plug game not a part of Anaak and Ran's Group. Shibisu realizes that Rak must be in the tournament as well since he knew that Rak and Paracule were climbing the Tower together. Paracule spends his match of brutal fighting just running away from his opponents while Anaak and Ran's Group 29 still hasn't moved an inch. From the audience, Wangnan asks Blarode for his opinion on Anaak and Ran given that he's also a top E-ranker, which Blarode answers that it's a 50/50 match given Anaak's raw power, and Ran's strategic intellect. However, he figures Ran has the advantage since he can rely on the rules of the Plug Game to come up with a strategy to win.
Before the Group 29 match could truly get rolling, Ran asks for the hosts to add some rules to the game. Io and Punk refuse at first, but are soon convinced by Madorako since it's also what their audience wants. The hosts ask what Khun has in mind, which Khun states the following two rules:
1) Ran and Anaak will have a duel outside the Plug Game fighting for a spot to move on to the 2nd Round.
2) The remaining six Regulars of Group 29 will fight the Plug Game normally for the other two socket spots.
Khun, Shibisu and Blarode are left surprised to see Ran give up his advantage to take on the Fake Jahad Princess in a normal duel as the hosts accept the rule change. Anaak and Ran drop their plug weapons preparing to fight one another, which Anaak finds hilarious that Ran's challenging her to physical combat. However, Ran uses this moment to place an object in his mouth, and begins to chew it.
Seeing Ran continue to chew an unknown object gets Anaak irritated to charge forward before he could finish. She lands a premature punch on him, but Ran swallows the object afterwards, which creates a mark on his cheek, and transforms him into a fully charged electricity user. Ran then attacks Anaak, and manages to keep her on the defensive for now with his powerful electric attacks given that she has yet to understand why he now suddenly has a power increase. Meanwhile at Viole's waiting room, the Slayer Candidate asks the person in the room who he is. In return, Beta introduces himself while stating that he's similar to Viole in that he's a Living Ignition Weapon.
At the Acorn Workshop, Sophia searches for the missing Beta who escaped. This leaves the Acorn guards worried that what they've been doing on the Archimedes may be found out to the public. Meanwhile at the Grand Stadium, Cassano's with the rest of the FUG Team watching the remaining Plug matches, which he gets a message over a radio from Sophia warning him that Beta has escaped his cage.
The duel between Anaak and Ran continues as everyone's left shocked and amazed at the sight of the fight between two of the best E-Rank Regulars that's wrecking the entire stadium. Managing to keep up with Anaak in close-combat, the Fake Jahad Princess also ends up being overwhelmed by Ran's powerful lightning attacks due to being powered up by the object he ate. Ran reveals that what he ate was a lightning pill Baang made of his own concentrated shinsu that provided him a temporary five-minute power-up of increased strength and speed. The marking on his cheek being a tracer to show that the pill is still active.
Throughout the close-combat fight between Anaak and Ran, the latter continues to provoke the former in order to throw off her game. Watching from the gambler room, Khun provides his deduction commentary that he believed that Ran would be able to figure out Anaak's weakness of having her pride wounded by being beaten in strength, which she excels at. Having her pride broken by Ran's stronger display of strength ends up causing her to act against Ran without thinking properly, and eventually leads to Ran landing his trump card, the Espada de la Luz lightning spear, upon her to possibly finish the match. Believing that Ran will claim victory, Khun's betting screen is shown that he chose to go "all-in" on Ran, which Khun's left wondering if the match will end just as he expected.
Back to Viole's room, the Slayer-Candidate remains confused after hearing about Living Ignition Weapons since Horyang had told him previously that those Workshop experiments ended. However, Beta finds it amusing that Viole, who he deems as the "Completed One," doesn't seem to know about what's going on. As a result, Beta asks for the Slayer-Candidate to think about why FUG wanted Viole to participate in the Workshop Battle so badly. Before departing, Beta leaves off telling the Slayer-Candidate to ask Emily what the reward for winning the Workshop Battle is, and that he will soon learn about the crime he's committed towards all people that are Living Ignition Weapons.
Meanwhile, Ran and Anaak's fight looks to have come to an end after the latter had been struck by the Espada de la Luz lightning spear. The after-shock of the spear's explosion had knocked all the other Plug fighters, including Paracule, down to the water below the Plug platforms. Anaak is now lying on her back on the arena, which Ran taunts her that he believed she would try so hard to defeat him as she would view it as a defeat if she couldn't beat him in strength during pill mode. To his surprise however, he watches as the bloodied Anaak, now with a hole through her chest, manages to get up on her will-power alone. She claims that she can still win to restore her pride while his 5-minute lightning pill is still active. The two continue to battle in close-combat once more.
Anaak manages to force them off the Plug platform by smashing the arena floor, which drops them down to the rubble floating on the arena's water pool. Khun believes that Ran has this won if he just continues to attack the injured Anaak at long-range. However, seeing Ran confused as to how she's still standing, Anaak taunts her opponent asking if Ran's scared of fighting against someone that is inches from death. The provocation angers Ran as he ends up taking on Anaak in close-combat once more.
Once both are almost completely exhausted, Anaak and Ran go in for one final punch with their last bit of strength, but are interrupted at the last second by the arrival of Paracule popping out of the water, and knocking them both away from one another. With no energy left, Anaak and Ran are left unconscious floating on the water as everyone is stunned at the anti-climax that the duel has ended in both of them losing. Meanwhile back at Viole's waiting room, the Slayer-Candidate is left in stunned silence having asked Emily what the overall reward for winning the Workshop Battle is. Emiled answered that the reward is the Ignition Weapon known as Jue Viole Grace.
Long Summary
Making their way to the Grand Stadium of the Archimedes, the Regulars all around watch as Viole's FUG Team make their way towards it. The people off on the side gossip to one another surprised at how small the FUG Slayer looks. However, others point out not to judge by his looks given the rumors that he beat one of the top E-rank Teams, and that he seemed to have tied with a Ranker. Two E-rank Regulars, Macha and Paul Belkrohn, are seen watching as well. Paul is left unimpressed thinking that everything said about Viole has just been rumors as Macha replies that they will know if it's all true soon enough.
As the FUG Team continues to walk, an E-rank Regular by the name of DD steps out of the crowd, and runs towards them. The Regular grabs Viole's hands, and claims that he's really wanted to see the FUG Slayer. Dede explains that he's from a family that was diminished by the ten Great Families, and that he's a believer that FUG's Slayer Candidate will get revenge for him. He leaves off begging to Viole to defeat Jahad and the Great Families in the Workshop Battle.
Regulars all around are heard agreeing with Dede for Viole's FUG Team to win the Workshop Battle. Meanwhile, Ron Mei is seen walking through the crowd with one of her teammates, Viviolga. Seeing everyone around him praising the FUG Team, Viviolga is left annoyed that Viole's been getting all the focus, which Ron replies that he's some kind of superstar.
Viviolga asks about the location of the strongest E-rank Regular, Mad Dog, which Ron answers that he wanted to be alone in order to calm down. Had he been here, it would have ended up in Viole and Mad Dog fighting to the death.
Moments later, the FUG team have reached their waiting room for the Workshop Battle. Sia meets with Viole in private, and notices the FUG Slayer looking a bit down. She asks if it has anything to do with what Dede said to him, which causes Viole to ask if she also has personal feelings held against Jahad and the ten Great Families. Sia answers that it's nothing like that, and asks if Viole believes that she has some sad story about her past that led her to what she pulled at the Hand of Arlen. However, Sia answers it herself that she's only in this for the money, and that being a part of Viole's FUG Team sounded beneficial to her.
Having heard Sia's answer, Viole answers that he's relieved to hear that. Sia asks if it's because he now has an excuse to hate him, but Viole answers that he's just happy to hear that she doesn't have a sad story attached to her. Sia is left unable to say anything as she walks out of Viole's room, and wonders to herself why he would say such a thing. Nobic walks by, and questions why she's bothering the FUG Slayer again.
Beginning to walk away, Sia orders Nobic not to talk to her since they're still technically enemies, but Nobic replies to her that Viole won't be changed into the person that she's hoping he will become one day. Sia is left confused by the statement, which Nobic chooses to explain.
Nobic states to Sia that while everyone here seems to be focused on defeating each other to climb the Tower, Viole comes off as a much different person that seems to shine like no other. Nobic warns Sia that she shouldn't be trying to bother a guy like that because there are bound to be people forever chasing the light that he gives off. From a far away window, a cloaked Rak is seen looking into Viole's waiting room.
At another waiting area, Anaak and Shibisu discuss how they're going to approach the Workshop Battle. Anaak asks about what happened to Hatz, which Shibisu answers that something may have happened to him given that he hasn't returned since last night. Knowing that Hatz lost his precious sword, Anaak figures that they're probably better off not having him here, and states that the first Workshop Battle is going to be individual fights anyway. She states that Hatz should just be left alone for now, but Shibisu isn't so sure about it, and states that he wishes Khun was here. Nearby, Khun is seen walking near them now with dyed blonde hair, and wearing a gray mask that covers everything but his left eye.
Returning to the Grand Stadium, Io and Punk apologize once more to the crowd for forcing them to wait, and reminds them that the battle of the E-rank Regulars will begin shortly. Io and Punk introduce themselves as the hosts of the Workshop Battle, and are proud to state that they've gathered thousands of guests here to watch this.
The hosts explain that now only do they have Regulars from other Floors, but residents from the Tower's middle area, as well as several Rankers, have all arrived to watch the E-rank Regulars battle it out. Beta is seen hearing the announcement as Io and Punk give their gratitude to any guest that paid a high amount of money to make their way here.
Io and Punk begin to explain how the E-rank Workshop Battle is going to unfold. There are going to be two rounds, an individual battle for Round One, and then a team battle for Round Two. The Regulars who pass their individual battles will be the ones that move on to Round Two. These winning Regulars will then be sorted by Team Leaders that were picked out of the group based on their performance in One Shot, One Opportunity. Once the teams are established, Round Two will play out with all teams facing one another, and whichever team comes out the winner will win the Workshop Battle all-together.
Showing the pictures of ten Regulars on a giant screen, Io and Punk explain that these will be the ten gamblers that will be established as the Team Leaders who will be picking out the Regulars for their 2nd Round teams. These ten Regulars include Shibisu, Mr. Mask (Khun), Goonter, Reflejo, Bellux, Hyun Chung, Rodni, Miya, Devil Bon, and Ron Mei.
Io and Punk explain that these ten Regulars were the ones who scored the highest in One Shot, One Opportunity, and that they will act as the gamblers for Round One that don't have to participate in the individual battles. Shibisu is left confused by the gambler term, which Io and Punk explain that the ten leaders will be placing bets on who will come out the winner of each individual match with the money they will be provided from Workshop.
The hosts state that depending on how much the ten leaders win with their betting, they will be able to use the money to purchase their teammates and items for the 2nd Round team match. Ron notes off on the side that this sounds like a fun little game. After hearing the explanation, Shibisu deduces that the basic gist of it all is to gamble for enough money on the individual battles to then use to get an advantage for the 2nd Round.
Khun is also seen thinking it over, and points out another rule that only the six leaders with the most money will be able to move on to the 2nd Round. Io and Punk give one final statement to the ten gamblers, which is that they aren't allowed to leave until the end of the individual battles. Some of the gamblers begin complaining that they need to use the bathroom, but realize that the door out of their room has been locked.
Returning to the Grand Stadium, Io and Punk begin to explain how the individual battles are going to unfold. In the middle of the water area is the white platform the two hosts are standing on, and in the center of the platform is a circled area with three holes in it. Holding up a white object that looks like jousting stick, the hosts announce that this game is called Plug.
Io and Punk show the sticks before the crowd, and state that this object is known as the plug. They explain that eight Regulars will participate in each individual match all wielding a plug, and that the first three Regulars who manage to put a plug into one of the three holes in the middle of the platform will be announced as the winners of Round One. The hosts show off an example by placing a plug into the socket.
Continuing the explanation, Io and Punk explain that the Regulars can use any means to keep others from putting their plug into the socket. However, should a Regular drop their plug, or fall off the platform, they will automatically fail out of the game. The hosts also point out that their plugs must be placed within the sockets no matter what to be announced as a winner, even if there are just three Regulars left remaining on the platform. With their explanation finished, Io and Punk begin Round One by showing off the list of the first eight Regulars.
Upon seeing the list, Wangnan is shown to be shocked by the last of names. Amongst four unknowns, Johnson, Reg, Starfish-O, and Rek Curtain, there's also four people from Sweet and Sour. Wangnan sees himself, as well as Akraptor, Miseng and Prince. Akraptor comes running into Wangnan's waiting room asking if he caught the list, which Wangnan admits that he did, and is glad to see that Miseng and Prince somehow made it onto the Archimedes.
As eight gates begin to appear on the platform for the first match Regulars, the hosts ask that the gamblers use this time before the match starts to pick out who will be the winner. Io and Punk explain that each team leader will be handed 500,000 points to start with, and will earn back a higher sum of money if the Regular they placed a bet on wins the individual match. The hosts state that the higher a person bets on a match, the higher the chance they will have at having the advantage for the 2nd Round. They leave off warning the gamblers to be careful but decisive, as well as greedy but realistic. Looking down at the table showing the eight fighters, the gamblers are all seen making their decision.
Shibisu realizes that the two people Verdi brought with her have been picked for this match, and believes to have come up with a choice. Khun is seen also guessing what to pick, and decides that the choice is Prince despite all eight looking about the same level. Reflejo and Ron Mei are also seen thinking it over as they all touch the table with their pointer to make a selection. With all eight bets made, the match begins.
The eight doors on the stadium platform open as Akraptor and Wangnan come storming through claiming that they're here to save Miseng and Prince. However, they spot a beat up Prince on the other side, and wonder what's going on. Prince orders them to run, which confuses Wangnan and Akraptor even further. He states that it's because Miseng's coming, and then begins to fear for his life when Miseng steps through her door wielding a plug that has blood on it. Seeing her red glowing eyes, Prince warns his teammates that Miseng is out of her mind.
Wangnan and Akraptor look at Miseng in confusion wondering why she looks so different as Starfish-O and Reg are seen looking at the current fighters finding them to be weak. The two of them decide to charge who they believe looks the weakest, and decide to go after Miseng. However, the crazed Miseng turns in Starfish-O and Reg's direction, and swings her plug at both of them; knocking them back.
Wagnan and Akraptor, as well as Goseng and Khun from the audience, look upon Miseng in shock at what she was able to do as Starfish-O and Reg are seen getting knocked back beyond Wangnan, and off the platform. Six fighters remain at this point, and Wangnan looks at Miseng in shock wondering what happened to her.
Viole is spotted in the audience surprised as well at what Miseng was able to do as the Workshop hosts yell to the crowd that this is amazing seeing the weakest looking girl of the first match able to eliminate two opponents right off the bat. Prince is also seen running over to rejoin Wangnan and Akraptor at their side of the platform.
Io and Ponk state that those who picked the weak looking Miseng must be smiling at the moment, which is exactly the case with Shibisu given that he knows that Verdi must have done something to Miseng. Although he's a bit taken aback that Miseng doesn't look well as a result. Khun is also seen thinking the situation over, and is annoyed knowing that the doll-maker Verdi had done something to Miseng. He also worries that the Sweet and Sour members currently in the first match won't be able to make it through this despite the opposition being extremely weak.
Back to the match, Wangnan grabs hold of Prince ordering him to explain why Miseng is super-powerful and out of her mind. Prince answers that he doesn't get it earlier, which Wangnan replies that he saw the doll-maker girl back in One Shot, One Opportunity put a weird flower on his head. Still confused, Prince thinks back to what happened during said game. Prince remembers that he got knocked out by Verdi's powerful octopus trying to save a knocked out Miseng from its tenticles during One Shot, One Opportunity.
Flashing back to the time when Prince woke up after One Shot, One Opportunity, he was already aboard the Archimedes in a bed next to Miseng, who was also just waking up at that point. Next to their bed was Verdi having tea with herself, and is glad to see that the two of them have woken up. She asks Prince and Miseng to become her dolls, which confuses Prince. Verdi explains that she gained an interest in them seeing Prince fight against her octopus to try to save the girl, and sees them as a great couple. She asks for Prince and Miseng to become her dolls, and forever be married to one another, which sickens both Prince and Miseng. Prince complains that the octopus punch wasn't enough to defeat him, even though deep down, he knows he can't win against it, and Miseng complains about having marriage forced upon her.
Verdi's eyes become creepy swirls as she points out that if they were to become her dolls, they would become much stronger and perfect. She also states that the way they are now won't get them far in the Workshop Battle, but accepting what Verdi is offering to them could make it possible if they just accept their role as dolls. Hearing Verdi claim that she can help them get stronger catches Prince and Miseng's attention. Verdi explains that her doll-making skills helped make her pet octopus as strong as it curretly is, which confuses them even further. Verdi offers them a flower that is supposedly what provides the doll power, and asks that they call her Lord Verdi as repayment, which Prince refuses to do.
From outside the room, Shibisu and Vespa are seen walking by hearing Verdi going about her weird hobby again. Verdi is heard trying to force the flower upon Prince, who believes he's being tricked given his experience with the drink he was given from Tin during the Trustworthy Room game.
Still explaining the story to Akraptor and Wangnan, Prince explains that while he continued to refuse the flower, it wasn't the same story for Miseng. Before the start of the Workshop Battle, Prince went to Miseng's room to pick her up given that the two of them had been picked for the first match of the Plug game. However, what he sees is Miseng now covered in a dark aura as she smashes Prince across the room with her plug weapon. Looknig up at her, Prince realizes that she's now wearing Verdi's flower. Miseng would then beat up Prince endlessly until they were finally summoned to the Grand Stadium platform.
With the story finished, Wangnan admits that he finally understands now why Prince is covered in injuries. They watch as Miseng fights with the other two remaining Regulars outside the Sweet and Sour members as Wangnan is left irritated knowing that the octopus girl did something to her. Wangnan figures that there should have been doping tests implemented before the start of the game as Miseng swings one of the two other Regulars out of the stadium as if she was the baseball player Barry Bonds. Akraptor questions if Verdi forced the flower on Miseng by force, but Prince answers that he believes Miseng did it herself, which confuses Akraptor.
Prince explains that Miseng told him once that she believes it was her fault for being weak that Viole and Horyang left the team, and that if she was to become stronger, they would return to be with her again. Prince looks down in irritation knowing that Miseng is thinking this way due to her previous experience of her former team ditching her before she became part of Sweet and Sour.
Getting the gist of it, Akraptor figures that all they need to do is get the flower off to make Miseng weak again, which shocks Prince. He asks if Akraptor is out of his mind given how strong she is now, and states that their best option is to run. However, Akraptor ignores it, and orders for Prince to stop looking at him with his beat up face. Akraptor continues to call out Prince by stating that he's gotten worse since the Trustworthy Room game when he was still daddy's spoiled boy. Prince is confused by the statement, which Akraptor explains that the Prince back then had finally wanted to become independent from his father to become a real grown-up, but now refuses to handle Miseng, who's become a doll to Verdi.
Prince is left speechless and Akraptor continues his speech asking why Prince is now thinking differently compared to back then. Akraptor states that the Prince who spoke in over-confidence about beating Viole back then was better than the current one who refuses to fight a simple E-ranker that has become a doll. He orders for Prince to prove that that's not true by helping them bring Miseng back to normal, which finally gets Prince to act with them. He yells to Wangnan and Akraptor that he's not afraid of a witch's doll, which doesn't surprise Wangnan having witnessed how easy it is to handle Prince. Miseng next looks in their direction; having defeated the last remaining Regular outside the Sweet and Sour members.
Four fighters remain at this point. All of which are the Sweet and Sour members: Wangnan, Akraptor, Prince and Miseng. Seeing the crazed Miseng looking at them, the three look at her in fear with Prince unable to say anything, Akraptor believing that kids change so fast these days, and Wangnan believing that she must be high. Miseng charges at the three of them as Prince is ordered to stall her movements within his lighthouse field. Prince manages to do so, but with a simple swing of her plug weapon, Miseng breaks out of the field, which shocks Prince that it had been broken in one hit.
Wangnan goes in for a swing next, but is hit back easily by Miseng. Seeing Wangnan get knocked away, Prince deduces that Miseng is stronger from just borrowing the power from another E-rank Regular. He begins to question himself wondering if people can't strengthen themselves without borrowing from others, but yells to himself in anger to cut the crap, and goes for a swing with his plug to counter Miseng's plug that's aiming at him.
Prince manages to stand his ground as he's able to parry Miseng's powerful plug swing. Wangnan looks at him in surprise seeing Prince able to block such a powerful swing as the latter begins to laugh uncontrollably that he had been able to block Miseng. He taunts Miseng for being an idiot believing that she could get strong having to borrow from others, and yells at her that she will never get strong going this route. Hearing Prince's taunt, an angered Miseng goes in for another strike with her plug.
Seeing that Miseng fell for it, Prince sees this as his chance, and pulls out a thread from his Inventory Pocket. Utilizing the thread and his lighthouses, Prince uses a technique known as the Bora Bora Catch that connects the thread to his lighthouses. The lighthouse then sends its field control through the thread, and manages to grab hold of Miseng's plug.
Holding Miseng in place with the Bora Bora Catch, Prince yells to Akraptor that now's his chance to move in. Akraptor does so right away, and pulls off the flower in Miseng's hair. Akraptor falls to the ground happy that he got the flower as the dark aura on Miseng finally begins to fade. She falls face first into Prince's chest, which Prince orders her to get serious since the game isn't over. However, Miseng states that she can get stronger, and asks for Prince not to leave her since she doesn't want to be alone.
Unable to say anything else, Prince just states that he's still here with her. He states that she will need someone to look after her, which annoys Wangnan and Akraptor given that Prince is also someone that needs to be looked after. Moments later, Akraptor, Wangnan and Prince put their plugs into the platform sockets to finish the first match of the Plug game.
With the match over, Akraptor carries the defeated Miseng to the gate exit as Wangnan and Prince follow closely behind. Io and Punk are heard making the announcement that everyone should now understand how the Plug game works given the results of the first match. They then state that the the lists for the next five matches will be shown to them soon.
Prince spots Viole amongst the people watching, and yells to the FUG Slayer if he saw the powers of the new-and-improved him. He yells to Viole that he will be waiting for the FUG Slayer in the 2nd Round team game as Ran is seen next to Viole questioning if Prince is trying to commit suicide. Prince is seen being dragged through the exit gate by Wangnan as the former continues to yell to Viole not to look down on him.
After clearing the platform's been cleared, Io and Punk then provide the group lists for the next five matches, which leaves the stadium silent upon seeing a certain name in one of the groups. Finding the noise odd, Shibisu looks to the names, and sees the name, Baragav, for the 6th match. Baragav is known as Baylord Yama's Mad Dog, and the strongest current E-rank Regular.
Sweet and Sour gather in their waiting room taking care of the unconscious Miseng. Goseng and Ehwa arrive to see if Miseng is ok while Prince tends to his wounds. Wangnan stands silent against the while while Akraptor thinks back to the fight, and finds it unbelievable that Prince would actually say that Miseng will never get strong. The others begin to call out Prince as well for what he said, as Prince is left agonizing in his mind that they should feel bad for him given that he got beaten up.
At this point, Verdi arrives at their room, which gets Prince's attention given what happened to him. Verdi explains that she couldn't control her new powers just yet, and as a result, fell into madness. She adds that Miseng will wake up once she gets enough rest as Prince walks to towards her, and complains about the trick she pulled with the flower.
However, Verdi points out that Miseng took the flower without her even knowing about it, so Verdi never got a chance to properly control her. Verdi then grabs princes hand, and blushes claiming that she was really moved seeing Prince risk his life to save the girl, which sickens Prince knowing what's coming next. Verdi asks once more for him to become her doll, but like before, he refuses.
Wangnan than looks to the room entrance, and spots Horyang's wing for a brief moment before disappearing. Wangnan figures that he was probably worried about what happened to Miseng, and stopped by to check.
Ehwa then looks to the group lists that were shown for the next matches, and informs Goseng that they're set to fight soon. Ehwa shows one group where Goseng is going to be in a Plug match with Horyang and Blarode while Ehwa is going to be in a different match alongside Quaetro.
Ehwa points out how Goseng is going to have a chance to speak to Horyang again as Goseng is left wondering if being in the same group as Blarode is going to spell trouble as well. Wangnan provides Goseng some words of encouragement wishing her good luck as Ehwa is left wondering how her match will go given that she's in the same group as the crazy flame-user, Quaetro.
At the Grand Stadium, four more platforms appear with the original over the water for the upcoming five matches that will be going on at once. Io and Punk announce that the matches for Groups 2 through 6 will begin shortly as the eight gates of each platform begin to appear for the 40 E-rank Regulars that are about to fight. Goseng waits on standby scared if she will be able to do well here, but begins to lose anxiety knowing that Horyang is going to be in the match with her.
The hosts orders for the gamblers to place their bets, and explains that they will pick out five Regulars, one from each of the matches, they they believe will pass the test. Amongst the gamblers, Shibisu decides to play it safe after messing up with the Group 1 match. Khun sees this as his chance to make a move for a lot of money given that there's a low chance Goseng will be able to pass, but will be protected by Horyang to help her make it through.
The other gamblers make their choice as well as all eight gamblers finish placing their bets. Io and Punk announce that the betting is over, and opens the doors for the Regulars to begin the next five set of games for Groups 2 through 6. Goseng prepares herself as her door opens to step out onto the Plug game platform.
Seeing the platform before her, Goseng is left stunned, and unable to move, upon seeing the Regulars in her game already charging one another, and begin beating each other up with their plug weapons. Blood begins to spill everywhere as a tearful Goseng turns away, and is left unable to believe what she's seeing since everyone before her is acting crazy. One of the Regulars charges at Goseng claiming that she shouldn't take her eyes off the match, but has his effort blocked by Horyang, who hits the Regular away before he could land his strike on Goseng.
Unable to move due to being scared, Goseng falls to her knees, and explains to Horyang that her knees have buckled out of fear. Given that Horyang has had a crush on Goseng for a long time, Ilmar struggles to ask if she's ok, but is then interrupted by Blarode, who points out that this is a sweet sight seeing love on the battlefield. Horyang looks in his direction, and sees that all five of the other Regulars in their match have already been defeated; leaving just the three of them, Horyang, Goseng, and Blarode, as the last ones standing.
Blarode states to Horyang that it's been awhile as Horyang stands ready to fight, and is left amazed by Blarode's speed to have already defeated everyone else. However, Blarode replies that since it's just the three of them left, there's no more reason to fight here, and considers this repayment for the tea that Goseng provided him back at their Archimedes room. He also points Goseng and Horyang at another direction to inform them that they weren't the main players of this round of matches to begin with.
In Ehwa's Group 5 match, it went just as she expected with Quaetro going crazy with his shinsu flames. Quaetro laughs uncontrollably burning the Regulars in their match as they drop into the water to be eliminated from the game. Io and Punk announce that this Group involving Quaetro is hell, and point out that the flame-user does indeed live up to his name as a son of the Blitz Family with those frightening flames of his.
Ehwa is the only other Regular left remaining as she calls out Quaetro for being an irresponsible person just randomly burning people. Quaetro is left surprised to see Ehwa still standing, which Ehwa reminds him that she's also a user of flames that can protect herself from getting burned. Getting excited, Quaetro states that they should burn the stadium together, but Ehwa calls him out asking why he chooses to overuse his flames. Quaetro answers that it's because flames exist to burn and kill everything, but Ehwa orders him not to be savage, and to use the flames more carefully.
Surprised by Ehwa's answer, Quaetro comes to the conclusion that unlike him, she's afraid of her flames, and calls her lame for it. Quaetro calls her out that there's no point listening to her if she can't even handle her own flames, and decides to look at the other matches to see if there's anyone else he could burn, such as the strongest E-rank Regular, Baragav the Mad Dog, at the Group 6 match.
Looking to the Group 6 platform, Quaetro spots Baragav having been surrounded by the Regulars in his match-up since the Regulars know that they will lose to him if they fight individually. Seeing Baragav participating, the Regulars all give their thoughts on him. Khun wonders how he became the strongest while Anaak is seen annoyed wondering why he was decided to be the strongest. Ran questions if he's really the notorious Mad Dog while Endorsi remains interested to see if Baragav lives up to the title.
Baragav walks to the socket of his platform uncontested as Io and Punk announce that this was a given since no one wants to fight the man that's been proclaimed the strongest E-rank Regular. Blarode explains to Horyang and Goseng that Baragav has been the strongest E-rank Regular for a long time, but disappeared for awhile, and hasn't even taken part in any tests recently. He questions why Baragav has now decided to appear again for the Workshop Battle, and warns Horyang that he should enter into a fight with the Mad Dog. Before Baragav could reach the sockets, a Regular from his platform named Amaguta steps in between, and challenges the Mad Dog to a fight.
Io and Punk announce excitedly that there was someone ballsy enough to face the Mad Dog. However, Amaguta is ignored, and is asked by Baragav to cherish his life as he continues to walk towards the sockets. The hosts question if Baragav doesn't consider Amaguta a worry opponent as the Regular begins to get angry. Amaguta prepares to swing claiming that Baragav is just a dog, but suddenly, his head explodes, and Baragav never had to turn around.
Seeing the Regular's head explode the shocked spectators question what just happened as Viole is left wondering how Baragav managed to do that without creating a shinsu Bang. Moments later, Baragav places his plug into the platform socket as Io and Punk announce that the Mad Dog lived up to his name as the strongest E-rank Regular given that he never had to fight against Amaguta properly. Baragav then looks up in Viole's direction as the Mad Dog is announced to have made it to the 2nd Round.
Viole thinks back to a time before the start of the Workshop Battle where he was speaking in private with Reflejo. The masked Regular states that Viole's strongest opponent in the tournament will no doubt be Baragav, the Mad Dog of Baylord Yama. Reflejo explains that Baylord Yama is one of the top Slayers within the FUG organization, and that Yama wanted to show off the strength of his secret dog fights to the Tower.
As a result, Yama sent three of his dog fight warriors, known as Mad Dogs, into the Tower as challengers that will show off their strength; Baragav being one of them. Reflejo continues to explain that Baragav is a perfect warrior that was born for the sake of Baylord Yama's dog fights. And that power has clearly shown itself as the Mad Dog was given the title as th strongest E-rank Regular at an incredibly fast rate. However, confusion took hold of FUG when they got word that Baragav had one day disappeared from the organization's sights, and stopped climbing the Tower. Reflejo explains that there have been rumors of Baragav now hating FUG at the moment, and has been killing off anyone related to the organization. Viole begins to realize why the Mad Dog has come out of hiding, which Reflejo answers that the FUG Slayer is thinking correctly. That the Mad Dog is here to fight FUG's new Slayer Candidate.
Switching over to Hatz, who's still currently trapped in his Acorn Workshop cell, the swordsman is seen breathing a sigh of relief on a bed after taking off his handcuffs. He thinks to himself that he was lucky Cassano isn't good at applying cuffs since they were applied so loose that anyone could have escaped them.
Looking at the locked door in front of him, Hatz questions what should be his next move to get out of here, and has already figured out that using a Pocket to call for help is useless given that the room blocks off all transmission. Looking at the Emily terminal he was provided from Shibisu, Hatz remembers back to what his teammate said about how it's a famous chatting bot that all the Regulars are using these days. However, Hatz is left annoyed since it was his trust of Emily leading him to the Acorn Workshop that get him stuck in this mess in the first place.
Depsite the screw up, Hatz figures that he's got no other choice but to try to rely on her advice once more. He asks for Emily to tell him how to get out of the room he's trapped in, which the chatting bot answers to look under his bed. Seeing the answer, Hatz gets off from the bed he's been sitting on, and moves it from its current location. At the spot where the bed was placed over, Hatz finds the cover to a hidden exit, and lifts it up.
A ladder is revealed going down to an unknown location as Hatz is able to deduce that he can feel the shinsu flow connected to a much wider room somewhere down the ladder. Hatz remains confused as to why there was an escape entrance in the room, and looks back at his Emily terminal wondering how the chatting bot knew about this entrance. He looks down the ladder, and questions where exactly Emily is trying to lead him.
Back to the Grand Stadium, the matches following Groups 2 through 6 continue to unfold. Fighter Regulars continue to defeat one another, and the gamblers are either happy about their winnings, or are left completely crushed in despair upon losing a lot of points. The hosts are left wondering who will it be that comes out the winning six to emerge as the Team Leaders that move on to the 2nd Round.
Amongst the next set of Groups, several noteworthy Regulars come out as the winner of some of the later matches. Endorsi comes out the only winner of the Group 7 match due to her strength and beauty as a Jahad Princess. The Group 9 match comes out with two speedster sword users, Viviolga and Ridong, as the winners. The Group 10 match has the massive assassin, Bathman Bundawan, as it's only winner having slaughtered his entire opposition. The Group 12 match as the cruel, tiny, and cute monsters, Tebo and Lebo, as it's winners. The Group 14 match is won by the two newcomers to Shibisu's team, Doll-maker Verdi and Honeybee Vespa, who are stated to be the fastest amongst all E-rank Regulars. The Group 15 match has Red Hawk (which is Rak in a bird disguise) and Dinn (Dan in disguise) as the two winners.
Looking closely at the Group 15 match finishing up, Viole is able to make out Rak in his Red Hawk disguise. Io and Punk then asks for everyone to look to the lists for the next Regular names provided for Groups 16 through 20. Amongst the lists, Sia is seen in Group 17, as well as Jue Viole Grace for Group 19. The crowd begins to get excited finally getting a chance to see the great FUG Slayer in action as Viole realizes that his turn to fight is about to come up. Nobic warns Viole to be gentle given that it's only the first fight, which Viole agrees to, and states that he will be back soon.
Viole enters the Grand Stadium platform for Group 19's Plug game as Io and Punk ask for the crowd to focus on this match given that it's going to have FUG's new Slayer Candidate finally taking center stage. The hosts state that they look forward to seeing what the FUG Slayer has in store for them. Khun looks down at Viole worried knowing that it's Bam. Blarode from his waiting room hears the crowd noise in the stadium going crazy, and figures that the FUG Slayer must have finally entered as Baragav is seen paying close attention as well. With the Plug game about to start, Viole figures that he can just end his role in the game quickly given that all he has to do is move quickly to the mid-platform sockets to place is plug weapon in it.
The Plug game for Group 19 begins as Viole begins to dash for the sockets. However, he stops almost immediately when he sees four Regulars wearing FUG jerseys making a path for Viole to safely walk to the sockets. The four FUG jersey Regulars yell for the FUG Slayer to continue, which leaves Viole confused. One explains that the four of them have decided to worship the new Slayer Candidate, and that they will follow the path of Viole. He also adds that they've come up with this plan to block off the remaining three Regulars to allow for Viole to safely place his plug into the socket. One of the three Regulars outside the FUG jersey team complains that they're treating this game weirdly, which a FUG jersey member orders the Regular to shut up since they have no right to pass them until leader Viole completes the game.
Watching the Group 19 game unfold, Wangnan remains confused by the situation. Blarode walks up to him, and explains that what they're seeing is an example of Fake Believers. Seeing Wangnan confused by the term, Blarode explains that the four FUG jersey Regulars are just playing nice pretending to be Viole's worshippers, and are hoping to one day take advantage of having the FUG Slayer as an ally somewhere down the line. Figuring that the four FUG jersey Regulars all know one another, Blarode deduces that they came up with this wise plan since they have a better chance of helping the FUG Slayer pass to get the two remaining sockets as a reward rather than just all lose trying to gang up on the Slayer Candidate.
Continuing his explanation to Wangnan, Blarode states that the plan will cause the three remaining Regulars not to attack out of fear that Viole will come to the aid of the four FUG jersey Regulars. Then, once Viole has completes his plug placement, the FUG jersey team can just all gang up on the three remaining Regulars in the name of the FUG Slayer. Blarode also figures that this turned out to be a great result for Viole given that he can move on to the 2nd Round without having to waste some of his energy on the 1st Round's Plug game.
Io and Punk are heard making the announcement to the crowd about the odd event going on in Group 19 related to the four man FUG jersey team. Blarode admits that this match turned out more boring than he thought given that he was hoping to se the FUG Slayer in action.
However, Wangnan replies that the FUG jersey team messed up, which confuses Blarode. Wangnan explains that Viole is the type of person that doesn't enjoy fighting, but when the FUG Slayer believes that there's a time he needs to fight, he will become scary.
Looking at the four FUG jersey Regulars beat down the three left over Regulars, Viole asks what they're doing, which confuses them. One of the jersey Regulars reminds Viole that they're plan is to let Viole pass without any problems, but Viole replies that he didn't need it, and that he will pass with his own power. Walking up to the four of them, Viole orders the FUG jersey Regulars to not make him their god, and as an excuse to use him to help make their dreams come true.
Viole blasts one of the jersey Regulars back, and asks the remaining three if they still consider him their god since he's now proven to no longer be a convenient tool that they will try to abuse. The shocked FUG jersey Regulars attempt to strike at Viole seeing him now as a crazy bastard, but the FUG Slayer easily dodges out of the way, and smashes another of the jersey Regulars into the ground with a kick to the head. The spectators are all surprised and amazed by the strength displayed by the FUG Slayer as Viole looks to the two remaining jersey Regulars, and calls them fakes. Io and Punk make a surprised announcement finding the twist in the Group 19 match interesting that Viole is now attacking the group of Regulars that claimed to be FUG Believers. They also state that they wish they knew the thought process that's currently going on behind that long set of hair Viole has.
Blarode gives off a laugh admitting that it caught him off-guard seeing Viole as a tyrant over being someone that loves to be worshipped. Shibisu also states to himself that this event just further confuses him as to what Jue Viole Grace's character is. Seeing one of the FUG jersey Regulars thrown into the stands near them, Nobic and Ran are left wondering how this is supposed to be the Viole being gentle.
From another area in the stands, Endorsi and Anaak are seen watching over Viole's match. Anaak points out that it's nothing that impressive given that the FUG Slayer is just fighting small fries, but admits that his skills seem to be pretty good. They watch as Viole defeats the remaining FUG jersey Regulars, and is the only one of Group 19 to put the plug into the socket to move on to the 2nd Round. Anaak also points out that the FUG Slayer looks similar to him, which catches Endorsi's attention as to who the green lizard is talking about. The Fake Princess explains that for a brief moment, she caught sight of Viole's face during the One Shot, One Opportunity game.
She states that it happened the moment right before the FUG Slayer shot her with the light bullet that sent her up to the Archimedes. In that moment, Anaak was able to get a glimpse of Viole's eyes, and admits that it looked like the boy who died on the Floor of Tests, Twenty-Fifth Bam.
With Anaak leaving, Endorsi searches on her Workshop tablet for information on Viole, but comes up empty. She wonders if FUG has been making sure to delete all the old data on their Slayer Candidate given that there appears to be nothing showing up before his first appearance on the 20th Floor. Making the connection that Viole had told Traveller about the Twenty-Fifth Bam name, as well as Anaak revealing to her that Viole looks like Bam, Endorsi deduces that there can only be one answer to all this. Endorsi decides that she wants to check out Viole herself at some point to see if he truly is Bam, but knows that she won't be able to approach him easily due to being surrounded by his FUG Team, and that her status as a Jahad Princess will draw too much attention. She figures that her best bet to meet the FUG Slayer would be some time during the Archimedes party that's taking place moments before the start of the Workshop Battle's 2nd Round.
Viole is greeted by Nobic and Ran, who congratulate the FUG Slayer for passing the Plug game. Sia is also following close behind, but is tired from her Group 17 match that she managed to pass. Nobic reminds Viole that he asked him to face his match gently, and yet a Regular ended up in the audience near them anyway, which Viole apologizes for.
Sia then orders for Nobic to get out of the way since she wants to rest after completing her match. However, Nobic and Ran tease Sia that she looks like she's having a rough time after passing just the 1st Round, which gets on her nerves. Sia walks past them prepared to go to sleep as Nobic asks if she truly did pass her Plug game. Sia answers she was able to because her group was a bunch of weirdos, which disappoints Ran.
Io and Punk announce the Groups for 21 through 25 as Viole and company look to the lists for the next five matches. They see that Cassano and Yuto will be taking part in the match for Group 22 while Nobic has been assigned to Group 23. Viole asks about where Cassano and Yuto are currently, which is answered that the two of them are out getting drinks, but will surely be ready for their matches. Nobic leaves with Ran claiming that he should get a bit of exercise before his Group 22 match as Viole wishes him luck while Sia thinks to herself that she hopes Nobic fails.
Alone with Sia, she informs Viole once more that she's planning to get some rest. She also asks for the FUG Slayer not to wander around given that she will be the one that gets blamed if he disappears, which Viole agrees to. Before leaving, she also orders for Viole to not say those words again, which confuses the FUG Slayer. Sia reminds him of what he said about not making people's wishes come true during his Group 19 match, and asks that he not say that again, because gods who can't make wishes come true are useless for humans. Viole looks to the departing Sia in silence unable to say anything back.
Nobic and Ran continue to walk together as the former asks if the latter has noticed yet that something about this Workshop Battle feels off, which Ran agrees with. Connecting how Prince from the Group 1 match claimed that their Sweet and Sour team was here to get Viole back, and that Viole was hiding his face with Yuto's cloth during the fight against Shibisu's Team in One Shot, One Opportunity, Nobic deduces that the FUG Slayer is trying to hide something about his past. Ran adds to Nobic's deduction that the real question is why FUG let Viole take part in the Workshop Battle if their goal is to control the FUG Slayer.
As Ran explains, by allowing Viole to come here, there's too many openings for people he may have met previously to gather here, and find out about Viole's past. Nobic figures that simply showing off the power of their new FUG Slayer through the Workshop Battle isn't a good enough excuse to take such a chance, and figures that there's something else here FUG has planned that requires Viole to be brought here. Dropping it for now, Nobic decides that what they should worry about now is just finishing their Plug matches as he's left confused if something about him felt different just now (Nobic was shown with glasses, and Ran was shown with a mustache, as if they were Sherlock Holmes and Watson).
Nobic and Ran continue to walk as they pass by a hooded Beta now wearing a hat, who smiles at them. Ran takes notice of it, and thinks to himself that something feels strange about the hat boy as Nobic asks if something's wrong. He answers Nobic that the person who passed them just now isn't a human.
Viole, now back in his waiting room, thinks back to when Sia told him to not tell people he can't grant their dreams, or else he would be useless to those that consider him a god. The FUG Slayer gets up, and looks out at the Plug matches going on for Groups 21 through 25. The Regulars are seen battling one another as Io and Punk give their battle commentary that each are displaying amazing talents that should please the surrounding audience. They ask who will be the winners of these five matches as Viole looks down at his FUG teammates, Cassano, Yuto, and Nobic, doing their part to make sure that they make it to the 2nd Round.
Watching the Regulars battling it out, Viole thinks to himself that everyone appears to be fighting for something. They seem to be the kind of people that will wish for something, and will fight, struggle, and gather at a place such as this in order to make that wish happen. Viole is left questioning if he has a reason like them to be here, and wonders what it is that he actually wants. He thinks hard about why he's here, and what it was that brought him here, and the answer he came up with is Rachel. Viole is left wondering where Rachel currently is at the moment.
Walking down a stairwell, Viole hears Io and Punk announce that Nobic had placed his plug into the socket as the only one remaining in his Group. They also state that Nobic being the lone winner was unexpected given how chaotic the match was. The hosts then state that with Nobic's game finally over, the 21 through 25 matches have come to an end. Viole arrives back at his waiting room, but is surprised to see Beta waiting for him there.
The hosts ask if the crowd has been enjoying the 1st Round so far, and announce that they now only have one individual match left to get through. They also explain that of the 26 Group matches they've had so far, 48 Regulars have made it through to the 2nd Round's team game. Io and Punk ask the audience who it will be that gets the last tickets in the final match to move on to the 2nd Round as Ran is left wondering to himself if he's the only strong person left. The hosts then ask who will make it amongst the gamblers to be the six Team Leaders that make it though.
A crying Shibisu is glad to get back to his original 500,000 points. Mr. Mask (Khun) has 1,000,000 points, and states that he still needs more. Reflejo remains silent having gathered 1,000,000 points. In addition, Ron Mei is left with 10,000 points. Miya has 600,000. Bellux has 50,000. Devil Bon has 950,000. Goonter has 700,000. Hyun Chung has 15,000. And Rondi has 500,000. Io and Punk add that this final game will provide the answer to all the questions they've been asking. The hosts announce the Groups for 27 through 29 to show the lists of the final three matches. Anaak and Ran hear the surrounding excitement of the crowd as they realize that they've both been placed in the same Plug game for Group 29. Remembering their unfinished battle during One Shot, One Opportunity, both of them get interested in the upcoming fight. Ran and Anaak both state in their minds that it's about time to find out who between the two of them is stronger.
Shibisu begins to sweat given that it will be a tough match-up to bet on between Anaak and Ran since it's possible that either one could lose. The gamblers hear Io and Punk's announcement that a new rule will be added for these last matches. They state that there will now be an option for the gamblers to go all-in on a bet. Should the people who bet all-in come out the winner, they will be granted a bonus reward of 3,000,000 additional points, which shocks the gamblers. Having heard the announcement, the gamblers think over this new rule. Shibisu sees the 3,000,000 reward as a jackpot, and deduces that getting this right will surely win him a spot amongst the top-6 Team Leaders, as well as having a huge point advantage to make a team.
Khun finds the deal to be too sweet to believe in given that there isn't another Regular remaining outside Anaak and Ran worth taking a chance on. However, he also deduces that it will be hard to judge who between Anaak and Ran will come out the winner given that everyone knows about their unfinished duel during One Shot, One Opportunity. Khun comes to the conclusion that it's 50-50 on who to pick between Anaak and Ran, but believes to have come to an answer, and makes his pick between the two of them.
Shibisu continues to look at the choices of Anaak and Ran, and knows that it's 50/50 given that Anaak is a Fake Jahad Princess with half the strength of a normal Princess, and Ran is an extremely talented member from the Khun Family. He also knows for a fact that one will surely fail given that they both have a strong sense of pride, and won't let their fight during One Shot, One Opportunity go unfinished. Shibisu struggles to come up with an answer knowing that this choice spells complete victory or utter defeat.
Shibisu figures that he could also just play it safe not having to do this all-in bet since it's highly possible that three or more gamblers could end up losing everything on the all-in bet. However, he goes completely against that questioning why he's thinking this way. Writing an all-in for Anaak, a confident Shibisu thinks to himself that he managed to get this far up the Tower not because of his own skills, but because he's surrounded by outstanding people all around him, and trusts them completely. He decides to place his trust in Anaak to come out the winner of her duel against Ran. Meanwhile, a silhouette in the shape of Paracule is seen with glowing green eyes waiting for his Plug match to start. The person gives off a small laugh, and states that it's now finally his turn to shine.
The Regulars for Groups 27 through 29 arrive on the Grand Stadium platforms as Io and Punk announce that the betting is over, and that the last matches of the individual tournament will now begin. On the Group 29 platform that has the current spotlight Ran and Anaak stand opposite one another. To the surprise of Rak, he also spots the pickle Regular, Paracule, at one of the other Plug matches. Dinn, who's with Rak, asks if the alligator knows the pickle Regular as Rak is left wondering how Paracule even made it this far.
Shibisu spots Paracule amongst the Regulars amongst the extra Plug matches as well, and remembers that he hasn't seen him since leaving the team with Rak. He questions why Paracule is here now, and wonders if the pickle Regular being here means that Rak is also aboard the Archimedes somewhere. Meanwhile, Khun seeing Paracule again leaves him with a bad feeling that something weird is about to go down. At his platform, Paracule taunts his opponents that they're unlucky to have been placed in the same match as him, and states that he will cause a revolution by beating them with one shot. At this point, the matches begin.
At Paracule's platform, the Regulars all charge to the center, and begin fighting one another to a bloody deathmatch. However, Paracule begins to run away in fear being chased around the platform. He orders for the piece-of-trash Regular following after him to go away as a confused Khun is left wondering what Paracule is doing. Io and Punk announce that amongst the two outer Plug matches, the fighting is intense, and has fallen into complete and utter chaos.
However, that is not the case with the Group 29 platform that's currently in the spotlight. At Anaak and Ran's platform, all eight Regulars have still not moved from their original spot. Io and Punk figure that it's because people are highly tense, and afraid to move, knowing that they're on the same platform as two of the top-5 Regulars that are currently at war with one another. The silence continues as Anaak and Ran continue to stare each other down.
From the stands, Wangnan continues to watch alongside Blarode, as well as Quaetro, who's now rejoined his teammates side. Wangnan questions who will come out the victor in a between two of the top-5 E-rankers. Despite not wanting to admit he is one, Wangnan asks for Blarode's opinion given that he's also one of the top-5 E-rankers. Blarode answers that it's not an easy decision given that Anaak has the raw strength of Jahad behind her while Ran is exceptionally skilled, and can get out of many situations that Anaak can't. However, Blarode comes to the conclusion that Ran perhaps has the advantage given that this is a game that has rules, and he can create a strategy within that game to deal with Anaak's strength as a Fake Jahad Princess.
Back to the Group 29 platform, Ran turns his attention to the hosts, and asks for a rule change, which confuses them. Ran explains that the fight will only be between him and Anaak, and that they should just let the two of them duel without interruption from the other Regulars, which catches Anaak's attention.
The hosts state that they can't do that considering that the betting has already gone down, and would be unfair for the other Groups. However, Ran calls them out for how they can consider this fair given that the bets are only going to be focused on him and Anaak. He also points to the six other Regulars in Group 29 that they must also think this was unfair given that they ended up in the same group as two of the top-5 E-rankers.
The six other Group 29 Regulars begin to complain in agreement that this was unfair for them to have to fight against two monsters, which leaves Io and Punk in an awkward position. High Ranker Madorako gives the order over a radio to follow through with Ran's wishes since it's not only what the Regulars want, but the audience watching wants it to. Unable to counter any further, Io and Punk ask what rule change Ran wishes for.
Ran asks for two rule changes. The first is to drop the Plug game just to have a straight one-on-one duel with Anaak. Anaak is shocked by the statement as Ran continues that whoever wins between them will be the one that moves on to the 2nd Round. The second rule is that the six other Regulars in Group 29 can continue playing the Plug game themselves for the other two remaining spots.
Amongst the spectators, Shibisu is left confused wondering what Ran is doing facing Anaak straight-up. Blarode also questions Ran's decision considering that he gave up his strategic advantage playing Anaak in a Plug game, and wonders if Ran thinks that he can win against someone that has the power of Jahad in a fight.
The hosts ask if Anaak agrees with these changes, which Anaak states that it's of course a given that she accepts the duel. Dropping her plug, A confident Anaak claims that she will kill the cocky blue bastard known as Ran.
Io and Punk make the announcement that they've decided to accept the rule changes provided by Ran. Anaak and Ran will have a one-on-one fight off on the side for one of the 2nd Round spots while the six remaining Group 29 Regulars will battle it out for the final two Plug Game sockets. Ran drops his plug as well as he stands ready to face the Fake Jahad Princess, Anaak.
Anaak asks where Ran got the confidence to fight her given that he had to rely on cheap tricks durng their One Shot, One Opportunity fight. Creating something in his hand with his lightning abilities, Ran states that there won't be any cheap tricks this time, and will be going full-power against her.
Ran next places the object he created into his mouth, and begins to chew it, which confuses Anaak. From the audience, Nobic questions why he ate the object as Khun begins to realize what's going on.
Ran continues to chew the object as Anaak asks if he's taking a drug. Anaak states that she will kill him before he begins to feel fear at the sight of her power, but becomes annoyed seeing Ran ignore her, and continue chewing on the object. The enraged Anaak charges at Ran yelling that she will defeat him before he swallows, which Shibisu notes that she just performed quite a dirty tactic.
Before her punch could land, Ran finishes chewing as a giant electrical shinsu surge is felt within him. The sight of Ran acting weird surprises her, and doesn't manage to land that strong of a punch on him as a result. Ran gets knocked back as Anaak looks to her fist wondering why she felt scared at that moment despite it seeming like Ran didn't do anything. Ran finally swallows the object as an odd cross mark is seen forming on his right face cheek. His hair has also changed shape, and turned to a pale blue.
Electricity begins to flow all around Ran as he gets up claiming how annoying it was to be interrupted while he was trying to eat, which confuses Anaak. He shows his face towards Anaak prepared to fight as Anaak becomes more confused upon seeing the weird cross mark on the right side of Ran's face. She begins to laugh claiming that Ran must have eaten some outdated pill, but Ran begins to form electricity along his arms, and claims that Anaak will regret entering a fight where he can use his full power against her.
A surprised Anaak watches as Ran sends a giant blast of electricity towards her that ends up also destroying part of the platform that was beneath her. Anaak dodges out of the way by jumping into the air, but is left confused why Ran would fight so recklessly as it would cause him to exhaust quicker.
However, Anaak is quickly greeted by Ran appearing behind her in the air. Powering up another lightning bolt, Ran claims that he will show her the absolute difference in their power. He then fires the giant shinsu beam of lightning down upon Anaak.
Switching over to Viole, the FUG Slayer asks what Beta is doing in his room, which the latter answers that he's here to meet Jue Viole Grace. Beta introduces himself to Viole, and states that he's a Living Ignition Weapon just like the Slayer Candidate.
Within the Acorn Workshop, Researcher Sophia is seen calling for Beta since he left the room he was being kept in. She continues to call for his name, and comes across two Acorn guards wondering what's wrong. Sophia answers that Beta has disappeared, which shocks the guards. The guards begin to panic stating that they need to find Beta before word gets out about the work they've been doing here as another guard implied to be Lero-Ro is seen watching them from afar. Sophia then sends a message to Cassano over his radio to inform him that Beta has escaped out of his cage.
The fight between Ran and Anaak continues as the formers giant electric shinsu beam blasts all the way to the audience stands. Paracule is seen getting out of the way in time as the Regular that's been chasing him gets caught in Ran's shinsu beam. The attack also destroys a part of the stadium wall as the nearby watchers evade out of the way. Wangnan stands in shock at the power displayed by Ran as Blarode and Quaetro are seen enjoying the show. Wangnan asks if the two fighting truly are just E-rankers, which Blarode answers that they are, but are just at a much higher level. Anaak lands back to the ground safely at the edge of the Grand Stadium.
She looks back at Ran in excitement believing that the Khun Family member is just wasting his power trying to land inaccurate attacks on her. Ran charges forward to the Grand Stadium edge once more with a powered up lightning punch, but Anaak dodges out of the way, and claims that he's an idiot for trying to take her on as her specialty, close-combat fighting. She goes for a punch on Ran, but he manages to parry it with his foot. Anaak is left surprised to see Ran keeping up with her as the two continue to battle it out in close-quarters trying to land kicks and punches on one another.
Ran being able to keep up with Anaak begins to get on the green lizard's nerves as he manages to find an opening, and smashes her into the Grand Stadium's floor. Shibisu is left shocked to see someone managing to keep up against Anaak in what she's supposed to excel at compared to others as Blarode remains confused about what Ran did to himself to be able to keep up with the strength of the Fake Jahad Princess. Anaak gets up from the rubble, and claims that Ran wasn't this powerful during their One Shot, One Opportunity duel.
The green lizard asks what Ran ate that made him this powerful, to which Ran answers that he ate a lightning pill. Seeing Anaak confused by the answer, Ran states that he made a highly concentrated Bang made of his lightning shinsu, and ate it. He explains that eating the pill allows for him to use a temporary power up of explosive electricity due to his body being suitable to withstanding the sudden electric jolt the pill provides. However, it only works for certain people that can utilize electric shinsu as non-electric users would end up killing themselves trying to eat the pill.
Pointing to the cross mark on his right face cheek, Ran also explains that the mark is known as a Trace that will appear after eating the lightning pill. He states that the Trace will look different in size and shape depending on the effect and person that uses it, and that by eating the lightning pill, he gets better strength and speed than his normal mode. However, he also adds that it's got a five-minute time limit where the pill will finally wear off, and will leave Ran in a defenseless state where he won't even be able to walk for a short while. Anaak gives off a laugh asking if it's ok for Ran to tell him the lightning pill's weakness, but Ran remains perfectly calm.
Ran taunts Anaak that the reason he told her the five-minute time limit is because the five minutes will be more than enough time to defeat her, which enrages Anaak. From the audience, Shibisu is left worrying about Anaak that she doesn't fall for Ran's provocation, but is forced to watch the green lizard charge forward.
Ready to punch Ran, Anaak claims that she will kill him. The two engage in close-combat once more as Anaak taunts him that she will be able to knock him down after just a minute before his five-minute limit is up. However, Ran reminds her that the current him is stronger than her at the moment. He powers up a Maschenny Lightning Spear, and throws it at Anaak, which sends her flying from the edge of the Grand Stadium into the side of a Plug Game platform.
Reestablishing herself, an enraged Anaak claims that Ran isn't the only one that can fight using shinsu. She prepares her shinsu Bangs as Shibisu calls out to her to stop. Khun continues to watch the fight unfold, and admits that this is going just as he figured it would since Ran has already discovered Anaak's weaknesses from just their first fight.
Anaak fires the shinsu Bangs at Ran, but he easily zooms through the shots, and appears before Anaak at the Plug platform. He taunts Anaak that her Bangs are too slow to catch him, and lands a Maschenny close-combat lightning technique against Anaak's jaw. Calling it Arch Lightning, Ran lands an uppercut against Anaak that sends her flying up the edge of the Plug Game playform. Watching the match unfold. Khun deduces that Ran knew ahead of time that he had to win this match within the five minutes, or else it would be Anaak's easy win once the pill running out made him unable to move.
Knowing that Anaak could just run away to keep stalling until the pill ran out, Ran made sure to provoke Anaak into fighting him to make sure that it wouldn't result in her running away. Anaak continues to fly up after being hit by Ran's Arch Lightning uppercut until she's above the Plug platform. She attempts to counter him with a punch, but Ran easily blocks it with his foot, and taunts her that she can't beat the current him. Unable to move since Anaak's stuck floating in the air, Ran zooms in from every direction around her, and lands an attack on every part of her body.
Khun continues his deduction that the best skill Anaak has is being strong, and that while it's her biggest strength, it also happens to be her biggest weakness. Because Ran overwhelmed her strength-wise, it ended up hurting her pride since she's never felt such humiliation before being beaten at something she always thought to be the best in. In order to recover her pride of being the strongest, she jumped at Ran without thinking properly. Khun figures that Ran is not going to miss this chance to finish it now that he's managed to break Anaak's mentality, and will use his best lightning spear to finish it.
A bloodied Anaak begins to fall towards the Plug platform as Ran powers up another lightning ability claiming that this next attack is going to end it. Powering up his strongest Maschenny lightning spear, the Espada de la Luz, Ran sends it downward towards Anaak, which pierces into the green lizard.
Seeing Anaak get her body struck by Ran's lightning spear is enough to convinces Khun that he made the right choice. Believing the match to be over just the way he pictured it would go, Khun is revealed to have chosen to bet all-in on Ran before the start of the final Plug Games.
Back over to Viole's room, the FUG Slayer asks if he heard right about Beta being a Living Ignition Weapon, which Beta answers to be the case. Viole remains shocked by the revelation since Horyang told him before the Hand of Arlen incident that the Living Ignition Weapon experiments hand come to an end. This statement surprises Beta, and points out how disappointed he is that Viole didn't know about the experiments continuing given that the FUG Slayer is a completed version.
Viole remains confused about Beta calling him a completed version, which Beta admits that he's already guessed that the FUG Slayer looks like someone who doesn't seem to know how to wake up his devil just yet. Beta asks Viole if the FUG Slayer has thought his current situation over, and also asks if Viole has figured it out yet as to why FUG has brought him here to win the Workshop Battle. Walking up next to Viole, Beta explains that the prize of the Workshop Battle will belong to the winner forever, and asks Viole what the FUG Slayer believes the prize to be that FUG will want to hold on to forever.
Walking past Viole, Beta orders for Viole to ask Emily about the Workshop Battle prize that FUG wants to get their hands on. Beta also informs the FUG Slayer that knowing about the prize will provide Viole the answer of crimes he's committed against the Living Ignition Weapons that he will have to answer for. He leaves off stating to the completed Living Ignition Weapon, Viole, that they will see each other again at the party that will occur before the Workshop Battle's 2nd Round, and exits the room.
Returning to the Grand Stadium, Io and Punk announce that the amazing Ran has managed to land a critical hit with his Espada de la Luz upon Anaak. Anaak is smashed into the platform as it begins to crack and crumble. In the water, the Regulars from Paracule's group are seen trying to swim to safety as Paracule is spotted also in the water nearby begging for people to help him. Ran remains flying above the destroyed platform waiting for the smoke to clear from his Espada de la Luz lightning spear.
The hosts are seen praising Ran for his display of skills being able to keep up with the Fake Jahad Princess. Ran slowly lands onto the platform, and taunts Anaak that he deduced that she would attack him during the 5-minute power-up timer to try to repair her damaged pride. The smoke clears, and a bloody Anaak with a major injury to her chest after being struck by the Espada de la Luz is seen lying down on the platform. Ran states to Anaak that her arrogance is the reason that she lost this fight.
Ran begins to walk away stating that Anaak will never beat him as long as arrogance controls her emotions. However, the injured Anaak gets up ordering him to stop walking away. A surprised Ran turns around to see Anaak managing to get in a sitting position, and is left confused as to how she's moving given that while he had no intention to kill her not aiming for Anaak's heart, he still put her in a critical state to stop her from continuing to fight. Anaak states that there's still a chance to kill him to repair her pride since the 5-minute timer for Ran's lightning pill still hasn't ended.
Standing up before Ran, Anaak claims that she still plans to kill him within the 5-minutes, to which Ran replies that she will definitely die this time. Thinking back to the death of her mother, Anaak points out that she's not fighting this way due to her arrogance. It's because she's unable to run away.
Looking at Anaak's chest hole that was made by his Espada de la Luz lightning spear, Ran deduces that its a perfect injury for her to bleed out that not even King Jahad would be able to last much longer once enough blood is lost. Anaak charges forward attempting to land a punch on Ran, but is deflected easily.
Ran figures that Anaak's in such an injured state to the point that she can't even use shinsu body enhancement properly as the two engage once more in close-combat. Ran prepares another lightning attack with his fingers ready to land another final blow, but has his effort ruined when Anaak uses enough strength to smash the Plug platform they're standing on to finally completely break.
Anaak and Ran begin falling with the rubble of the platform down to the bottom as Ran is left confused as to how Anaak still has enough power despite the gaping hole in her chest. The two land on pieces of rubble floating on top of the Grand Stadium's pool water as Anaak stands ready to fight Ran once more. Ran wonders if the reason Anaak is able to still stand is because of her willpower to keep fighting, and admits to himself that this turn of events is surprising since he figured that Anaak would give up completely after having her pride completely shattered. Standing on the rubble, the two look towards one another ready to continue.
Seeing Ran unable to understand this situation, Anaak taunts him to finish her off already, and questions if the reason he hasn't yet is because he's become afraid of fighting someone who's close to dying. The taunt irritates Ran as he prepares himself to fight once more; claiming that what Anaak said was ridiculous. Ran aims a minor Maschenny lightning spear at Anaak, who dodges out of the way, and lands on the side of the broken Plug platform. Ran jumps toward her claiming that he will finish her as the two engage once more in close-combat.
The close-combat fight between Anaak and Rak continues around the edges of the Plug platform as what's left of it continues to break apart. The two land back on pieces of rubble atop the stadium pool as Io and Punk are heard announcing their amazement that their fight is shaking the entire Grand Stadium. The two are breathing heavily from exhaustion as the hosts point out that despite Anaak being forced into a corner at first, she's been showing incredible will and strength to continue fighting despite being severely injured. They ask who will it be between Anaak and Ran that will move on to the 2nd Round.
Despite the hosts hyping up the crowd, Khun still figures that the match is pretty much over given that Anaak is just barely hanging on with will alone. And while Anaak has great instinct to fight in close-combat, a weakness of hers is being unable to deal with long-range fighters. Looking back to his all-in bet for Ran, Khun deduces that so long as Ran doesn't choose to fight Anaak at a close distance, he still has complete control over this match to come out the winner.
However, Khun is left stunned when he sees Ran charge towards Anaak. Powering up his right fist with lightning, Ran yells at Anaak that he has no reason to be afraid of her. Seeing Ran of all people get provoked leaves Khun unable to speak as Blarode gives off a sigh pointing out that Ran's action has now made it unclear as to who will come out the winner.
Charging at Anaak, Ran can feel the effects of the lightning pill about to wear off. He also deduces that Anaak's at the point where she only has enough strength left to perform one last attack. The two send their punches at one another as the ten gamblers remain tensed up hoping that the person they bet on comes out as the winner. However, they're interrupted by the appearance of Paracule.
From below, Paracule comes shooting out of the pool water yelling revolution, and flips over the piece of rubble that Anaak and Ran were standing on. Paracule's sudden appearance leaves everyone stunned in shock at the sudden turn of events as Ran and Anaak land in the water. Completely exhausted, Paracule grabs hold of the rubble happy that he managed to keep himself from drowning as Anaak and Ran are spotted floating nearby in the water now unconscious.
Along with the rest of the gamblers, Shibisu and Khun are left speechless. The two of them realize that their all-in bets have failed since the result of the match is Anaak and Ran both losing.
Back to Viole's waiting room, the FUG Slayer stands silent thinking over what Emily just told him. On the Emily terminal Viole is holding, it shows the FUG Slayer asking what the final prize of winning the Workshop Battle will be.
Emily answers that the prize is the Ignition Weapon, Jue Viole Grace.
Workshop Battle: Battle x Gamble Tropes
- Arc Villain: Baragav is hyped up as one for Viole here.
- Cliffhanger: Viole learns that the final prize to be won at the Workshop Battle is the Ignition Weapon known as Jue Viole Grace.
- A Day in the Limelight:
- Some for Sweet and Sour since it's basically the group trying to return Miseng to normal after accepting Verdi's flower.
- For Anaak and Ran. Their 1st Round duel takes up a majority of the final chapters of the arc.
- Deadly Game: The Plug Game for the 1st Round of the Workshop Battle is basically the Regulars beating each other up to try to get their plug stick into a socket to move on to the 2nd Round. It also resulted in several deaths, such as what happened to the Regular that challenged Baragav.
- Flashback: A minor one where Reflejo explains to Viole before the start of the Workshop Battle why Baragav is going to be his strongest opponent.
- Great Escape: With the help of Emily, Hatz escapes his Acorn Workshop cell due to a trap-door that was hidden beneath the bed in the room he was trapped in.
- The Reveal: Viole is an Ignition Weapon that will be the final prize of the Workshop Battle.
- The Rival: A major rivalry between Anaak and Ran takes place here due to their unfinished fight during the One Shot, One Opportunity game. Their duel to finish the Workshop Battle's 1st Round serves as an attempt to resolve who's stronger.
- Sacrificial Lamb: It's implied that several Regulars died during the Plug Games, but the most obvious case was a Regular named Amaguta getting brutally killed by Baragav to hype up the one known as the strongest E-rank Regular.
- Shout-Out:
- A baseball reference is made during Miseng's fight comparing her to Barry Bonds.
- There's also a brief moment where Nobic and Ran had a mustache and a pair of glasses as if they were Sherlock and Watson during their deduction of Viole and FUG acting weird.
- Wham Shot:
- The shot of Miseng having gone mad from Verdi's Power-Up flower.
- Paracule ruining the duel between Anaak and Ran, which results in the both of them losing.
- Emily answering Viole's question that he's the Workshop Battle's final prize.
- World's Strongest Man: Baragav as the strongest E-ranker finally makes his first true appearance here.
