Volume 9

The Battle Begins (開戦) is the ninth volume of The Promised Neverland series.

Synopsis
The search for the mysterious Minerva has led Emma to a secret room within Goldy Pond. Heeding Minerva’s clues, Emma and the other children have successfully escaped Grace Field House and survived the dangerous terrain of the outside world. But when Emma opens the door to the truth, will Minerva’s secrets be everything she’s been hoping for?

Plot
Volume nine of The Promised Neverland was a great blend of backstory, development, and action! We had so many big questions answered throughout the volume and one of my predictions also was proven to be true once again!! We find out what is behind the door that can only be unlocked with a pen from William Minerva. Emma unlocks the door and they find a communication room behind it along with a path to, yet, another room. This second room looks like an opening in an underground cave filled with a golden liquid that repels itself when you try to touch it. This is where the name Goldy Pond originated from. In this middle of this odd liquid is a floating house which contains a telephone and an elevator. Emma uses the pen to call the elevator but it doesn’t work. That’s when the phone rings and a pre-recorded message from William Minerva himself is played.

Here, we learn a LOT. I’ll detail Minerva in the characters section but Emma’s suspicions about the elevator were correct in the fact that it leads to the human world but the recorded message states that if they’re hearing this then it means the elevator was discovered and the path was blocked by the people who betrayed Minerva and turned his settlement into a hunting ground. They gain a TON of knowledge that will help them escape to the human world but first, they need to tear down the hunting ground in order to escape. They all return and formulate a plan but the hunting bell sounds a day early. Even though they were caught off guard, they still had their plan secured and they all got into positions. The hunters become the hunted as they begin to take the demons down one by one; however, our volume comes to an end with Emma coming face to face with the wild card amongst the demons… Leuvis!

Cover and Volume Illustration
The cover shows Emma with the children from the Goldy Ponds standing on top of multiple rooftops.

Chapters

 * 071. True Intentions (真意)
 * 072. Call (CALL)
 * 073. Rallying Up (決起)
 * 074. A Special Child (特別な子)
 * 075. Unyielding Reed (不屈の葦)
 * 076. The Battle Begins (開戦)
 * 077. The Foolish Weaklings (無知な雑魚共)
 * 078. One Down (まず一匹)
 * 079. Everything Put in This One Shot (この一矢に定むべし)

Author Notes
Wow, an anime version was announced! I can't wait for 2019!

By the way, when are you reading this book?

Of course there are those who are reading this right when it comes out, but perhaps there are those reading this after the anime has started airing. Are there people reading after the anime has finished? If you're from the future, let me know what you think!

By the way, 2019 is when Krone was born. I'm looking forward to reaching all the characters' birthdays slowly as we progress into the future.

Writer Shirai's personal highlights for The Promised Neverland fanatics, part 6!

1. Gillian's patches (the way they're drawn is amazing!)

2. The demon monkey's reactions (they're fun)

3. Emma's right hand on the cover and the left hand under the cover (the location!!)

Please enjoy this volume!

(Did you find where the "umeboshi in the shelter" is in volume 7? It's not just in chapter 58, but also in the bonus pages for volume 7!)

Trivia

 * In the Viz page, was a mistake the author, Santa Harukaze instead of the original author.