After passing through the Xelor and Osamodas Rooms, the Brotherhood of the Tofu has to cross the Iop Room, destined to Elely. However, much to their surprise, the room has an inhabitant, none-other than the infamous Dark Vlad, a.k.a., Goultard's evil counterpart.
Remembering what Goultard told him about him, Sadlygrove Percedal makes his decision and offers to stay behind and fight the fiery Iop so that the rest of the group can cross the room and reach the following floor and demigod. However, Dally's battle isn't going to be an easy one, as Dark Vlad not only is a legendary monster from the past, but also his master and, in a way, his estranged son, brimming with hate and fury. The two Iop who carried the role of Iop God are about to clash...
Tropes:
- Arrogant Kung-Fu Guy: When he's not using his Super-Speed to pummel Dally, Dark Vlad just stands around, throwing punches and kicks to the air while waiting for his opponent to recover.
- Ax-Crazy: Dark Vlad's perpetually in this mood, willing to massacre anyone who gets close unless they prove strong enough to give him a decent fight.
- Badass Boast: Dark Vlad, when he first challenge Dally, asks him if he think he really has what it takes to take him on. Cue to Dally powering up and retorting with an awesome comeback:Dally: You don't seem to know who I am. Let me refresh your memory.
Rubilax: You rule, buddy!
Dally: [walks up to Dark Vlad, with the face of Iop behind him] I am Sadlygrove of Percedal.
Dark Vlad: Uh? Well, pleased to meet you...
Dally: [headbutt] The first Iop God! [headbutts him several times until he's on his knees and with a chip on the skull] The question is... do you have what it takes? - Battle Aura: When Dally marches towards Dark Vlad, a phantom picture of Iop appears behind him.
- BFS: To end the duel, Dally turns Rubilax into a giant black claymore longer than he's tall. Cue to Dark Vlad summoning his fire sword and extending the fire blade until it dwarves Dally's. Rubilax tells him to just give up and admit that his is bigger.
- Blessed with Suck: In the flashback, Goultard speaks of a "curse" passed to him by his father, Iop, implying that he refers to Dark Vlad (which contradicts Goultard the Barbarian, where it's shown that Dark Vlad was born from Demonic Possession caused by Mongrelamus, the fallen Shushu Lord). Alternatively, he was talking of his immortality, which means that as long as he lives, Dark Vlad's threat still lingers.
- Defeating the Undefeatable: Dark Vlad is weaker than Goultard, but still one of the strongest, most vicious demigods of all times. Dally manages to defeat him in combat fair and square and forces him to give the command back to Goultard.
- Duel to the Death: What Dark Vlad has in mind, complete with morbidly Captain Obvious rule.Dark Vlad: The first one who dies loses!!!
- Fist Bump: How Yugo, Amalia and Ruel greets Dally before separating. Lampshaded by Amalia, who asks him if it's a new way to say "hello".
- Flaming Sword: Unlike Goultard and his divine broken sword, Dark Vlad fights with a large, fan-tipped broadsword which is constantly on fire and can project a fire blade to look even larger.
- Flashback: Dally has one when he remembers how Goultard told him of how the desert where his tomb is located was once a thriving metropolis, before Dark Vlad came and destroyed everything, all while crying as he reveals that Dark Vlad is one of his personalities.
- Foreshadowing: When the tower trembles as the Iop floor crumbles, we see the antechamber of the Feca Room, which will be visited later by the heroes.
- Get a Hold of Yourself, Man!: As Dally is taking a beating from Dark Vlad, Rubilax bluntly tells him that he let himself go and he has to be more high-spirited and reckless, like when he fought Ogrest.
- How We Got Here: The episode starts out of the blue with Dally recovering from Dark Vlad's attack, preparing himself and turning Rubilax in a sword to take his opponent on. Then, the whole scene rewinds and we see exactly how it happened.
- Implausible Deniability: As Goultard has some Manly Tears while getting over Dally asking about their familial relationship and describing how Dark Vlad committed that massacre, he claims that he got a raindrop in his eye. The sky is entirely cloudless.
- It's Personal: Two-fold, this battle for Sadlygrove is important both as Dally, who has to bring his master Goultard back to his senses, and as Iop, having to deal with his hate-filled, wrathful son.
- Laughing Mad: When Dark Vlad isn't showing off, fighting or throwing threats, he's laughing his skull off with gusto.
- Load-Bearing Boss: Due to the fact that every single column holding the Room up has been destroyed by the time Dally puts an end to the battle.
- Malicious Misnaming: While Goultard used the Affectionate Nickname Pipoun (Dally-O) for Dally, Dark Vlad uses "Papoun" (Daddy-O), to rub the latter's responsibility of being the Iop God and his estranged father in his face.
- Men Don't Cry: Goultard claims Iops don't cry, or at the very least, if they do, they'll only do it in private where no one can see them.
- Oh, Crap!: Dark Vlad has three of them:
- The first one when, after falling into Yugo's portal, is expelled right in front of Dally's Megaton Punch.
- The second one when he realizes that the giant stone column he was punching has broken and is about to fall on him.
- The final one when Dally grabs him by the skull and is about to smash him against the last pillar of the room.
- Papa Wolf: Deconstructed, Rubilax points out that Dally is so worried about Eva and his children that he's not fighting like he used to, and thus cannot gain the upper hand against Dark Vlad and properly enjoy the battle he's taking part in.
- Series Continuity Error: The flashback with Goultard telling Sadlygrove about Dark Vlad is supposed to take place some time after the OVAs, but the latter is shown to still have both of his arms even though he would have lost one of them by that point.
- Shout-Out: Adamai's similarity to Frieza is only reinforced when we see a flashback of him using his tail to lift and strangle Goultard. Bonus points for the Iop being a sayianesque proud warrior race.
- Use Your Head: Dark Vlad opens the combat by headbutting Dally, who answers by headbutting him back so hard he puts him to his knees and chip his skull.
- Vomit Indiscretion Shot: After being moved through Yugo's portals, Dark Vlad vomits magma onscreen.
- Warrior Therapist: Rubilax manages to restore Dally's high spirit as the fight is taking place, allowing him to find the Heroic Resolve he had once and defeat Dark Vlad.
- You Are Not My Father: In Dally's flashback to a meeting with Goultard some time after the Ogrest fiasco, he asks Goultard that since he's Iop reincarnation, if that makes them father and son. Goultard claims this trope is the case, but his Manly Tears and Dark Vlad's own words on the subject suggest this is more of denial and a coping mechanism on Goultard's part given his unresolved issues with Iop.
