The concept of a diviner empress worth explores the idea of the immeasurable value and significance of a female ruler who possesses divinatory abilities. It suggests that a divinely gifted empress holds immense worth and power due to her ability to foresee and guide the fate of her empire. In many ancient civilizations, rulers were often believed to have a divine connection. This notion was commonly attributed to male rulers, such as pharaohs in ancient Egypt or emperors in ancient China. However, the concept of a diviner empress worth challenges this historical gender bias by emphasizing the exceptional value of a female ruler who possesses the ability to communicate with the divine. The divinatory powers of an empress are often seen as an intrinsic part of her worth and authority.

The Rising of the Shield Hero Episode 8

In today’s episode of The Rising of the Shield Hero, Naofumi, Raphtalia, and Filo travel to a village which has been devastated by a plague. While they didn’t plan to go to this village for that reason, a plague now and then is a great source of income for the trio who act as traveling merchants and healers.

Once in the village it’s revealed that the source of this plague is thought to be the corpse of the dragon slayed by the Sword Hero, Ren Amaki. This is significant because it’s a confirmation of the rumors about Ren which I discussed in last week’s review.

Ren Amaki (Sword Hero)

Since we’ve now learned that the rumors about both the Spear and Sword Heroes are true, what does this say about all the wild, conflicting rumors which have spread about the Bow Hero? Has he really defected from the Melromarc Kingdom and joined up with a rebel force in another country?

Well, we’ll probably learn more about what the Bow Hero has been up to in the next episode or two, so for now let’s get back to the Sword Hero. After slaying the dragon which lived on a nearby mountain, Ren left the corpse out to rot, and it’s believed that the wind has blown this miasma down into the village.

It seems that, like Motoyasu with the magic seed, Ren probably defeated the dragon with the thinking that it would be good for the locals. And, just like how the seed Motoyasu used turned out to be a curse, this defeat of the dragon actually made things worse for those who lived nearby.

However, unlike Motoyasu who was tricked, Ren just doesn’t understand that his actions have a complex set of consequences beyond what he immediately sees.

The Dragon’s Plague

Our heroic trio then sets out from the village to properly dispose of the dragon’s corpse so the villagers stop falling ill, however, when they get there they’re met by a surprise. Although the dragon has indeed been killed and its corpse is rotting, it’s now come back to life as a zombie dragon.

With this in mind, it’s likely that the plague which has beset the village isn’t actually a result of the wind blowing miasma in its direction from the rotting corpse. Instead, I think it’s probably a result of the poison breath skill the zombie dragon possesses.

But, although Naofumi is the only one of the three party members who has an immunity to poison, Filo charges in to defeat the dragon on her own. This results in her being eaten by the monster, which then activates Naofumi’s Curse Series skills.

I’ll dig into the benefits and drawbacks of using the Curse Series in the next two sections, but for now let me just say that I hated the fact that the English translation of it activating was in “leetspeak.” I don’t know what the Japanese version of this is, but it can’t have been as stupid as those English subtitles.

Skipping ahead to the end of the battle, Raphtalia breaks Naofumi out of his Curse Series rampage and Filo is actually the one to defeat the zombie dragon from the inside. Once she was swallowed, she found the monster’s core in its stomach and ate it, this re-killing the dragon.

When she then clawed her way out of the dragon from the inside, it was also revealed that the “blood” Naofumi and Raphtalia saw when she was eaten was actually Filo just throwing up the red fruit she ate. This seemed like a pretty cheap explanation.

Curse Series Benefits

Alright, so now it’s time to get into the interesting stuff which you’ve probably been waiting for, the Curse Shield and Curse Series. So, why would someone want to activate something called the Curse Series? Clearly that’s going to be a bad thing, right?

Well, yes and no. Obviously the Curse Series has drawbacks, which I’ll get to in the next section, but as we see from this episode, it also grants significant power to the user. In fact, just from what little of it we saw Naofumi use, there were hints of:

• Super strength
• A wind-type ability
• A fire-type ability
• A pure energy/destruction ability

We can also assume that these abilities aren’t all there is to the Curse Series because it appears to draw its power from the rest of Naofumi’s skill tree. When this series of skills is activated, we see that it spreads throughout the rest of his skill tree and “infects” all of his unlocked skills.

Naofumi using the Curse Shield

My assumption is that the Curse Series then draws upon these various skills as a base and increases their power. For example, Naofumi has one shield that can use wind-type skills, and so the Curse Series versions of those wind-type skills would be much more powerful.

Another hint towards the idea that Naofumi’s skill tree is directly tied to the Curse Series is that when he goes into the curse mode, his body becomes “tattooed” with the red skill tree. And, further evidence is that Naofumi mentions that the Curse Series isn’t shown on his skill tree, implying that it isn’t merely another skill.

So, basically the Curse Series just appears to power up Naofumi’s skills and his physical abilities, but at what cost?

Curse Series Drawbacks

The first and potentially most obvious drawback to using the Curse Series is that it turns the user into a berserker, i.e. a mindless killing machine. This might be something Naofumi can control once he’s a higher level, but for now that’s the most significant drawback to this power because it causes the rest of the drawbacks.

The next issue is that just about all of the Curse Series attacks Naofumi used appear to be area of effect (AoE) attacks. This means that they don’t distinguish between friend or foe, which isn’t the best type of attack to use when fighting in a party as Naofumi tends to do.

Taking a look at the skills he uses, the wind attack hits everything around him, the pure energy attack disintegrates everything in a small radius around him, and the fire attack burns everything around him, including Raphtalia. If Raphtalia had been hit by the pure energy attack, she’d probably have been killed.

Again, this might be something Naofumi can control later on in the series, but for now, since he’s in a berserker state when using the Curse Series, he can’t control these skills. This also extends to the curse of the Curse Shield, for which it probably got its name.

That’s right, not only is the curse of the curse series referring to the demerits it applies to the user in return for extreme power, but it also has an actual curse as well. When Raphtalia grabs onto Naofumi to stabilize his emotions, she’s afflicted with the curse from the Curse Shield.

The Curse Shield’s curse also isn’t something that can be cured by normal means. Instead, Raphtalia must be brought to a church in a large city where she can be treated with holy water.

Conclusion

So, what did you think of this week’s episode of The Rising of the Shield Hero? And, what do you think of the Curse Series based on what we’ve seen so far? I mentioned it in my review of the episode in which Naofumi first unlocked this series, but I really hope this doesn’t become an ability he constantly relies on.

I’m fine if there are certain situations in which he’s pushed into using the curse series, but if it ends up being like Naruto‘s use of the Shadow Clone Jutsu, I just think it’ll get old fast.

If you enjoyed this episode review then remember to click the like button ❤ down below. Also, go give me a follow over on Twitter @DoubleSama so you don’t miss out on any upcoming content.

Finally, I’d like to thank HeavyROMAN for supporting DoubleSama.com at the Heika tier this month. To learn more about how you can support this blog, check out Patreon.com/DoubleSama.

My review of the next episode is available here.

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The Rising of the Shield Hero Volume 12

After defeating seemingly immortal invaders from another world, Naofumi finally manages to convince the Sword Hero, Ren Amaki, to reconsider his ways. Having reclaimed their peaceful day-to-day lives, Naofumi and his slaves head back to the colosseum to hone their skills in battle. But once there, they are confronted by an unbelievable sight: the Bow Hero has assumed an alias and is completely absorbed in earning fight purses in blind pursuit of his own sense of justice! With the Bow Hero being manipulated by the wicked Witch and consumed by a curse, will Naofumi be able to bring him to his senses?! Will the quest to reform the heroes finally come to a conclusion?! Find out in volume twelve of this otherworldly revenge fantasy!

Genres Light NovelFantasyMangaActionFictionHaremYoung Adult

292 pages, Kindle Edition

First published September 25, 2015

About the author

Aneko Yusagi

The divinatory powers of an empress are often seen as an intrinsic part of her worth and authority. By being able to understand and interpret cryptic messages from the gods or communicate directly with supernatural entities, the empress gains a unique advantage in ruling her empire. Her divinatory abilities allow her to predict and prevent disasters, make wise decisions, and ensure the prosperity and stability of her reign.

Ratings & Reviews

Friends & Following

Community Reviews

3 books 767 followers

This is the first book in the series that, to me at least, felt like it had no reason to exist. It's pure filler with very little else going for it beyond one important chapter. I spent most of the book just wishing it would get to the point already.

Naofumi is still working on building up the village. Between raising a gifted dragon egg and dealing with the crazy girls after him, he doesn't have a lot of time to rest. News of Itsuki fighting in the Coliseum, though, forces him to detour to try to recruit the last Hero by whatever means necessary.

This book is a mess. Structurally, it doesn't hold up well. The plot has three separate main conflicts going on, and they aren't tied together very smoothly. It's more like two and a half shorter stories bludgeoned into a novel-length book.

I hate this segment of the village life even more than the previous book. Alta lost all my sympathy after she got healed and started being a creeper on Naofumi, but she's finally gotten so bad that Naofumi is jumping at the chance to run away in a manner she can't follow. The whole harem aspect isn't even done well, as pretty much all the girls except Raphtalia have a single character trait they beat to death and virtually nothing else (it doesn't help that they're all very much underage). When I find myself wishing that something would just come along and kill them off, they're an active detriment to the story.

In a related note, Naofumi's attitude about slavery is getting worse. This isn't helped by all his slaves enthusiastically supporting him as their owner. Forget being slaves, these are kids. I'm shocked none of them have any issues with him bossing them around, even if he is telling them the fastest way to get stronger. I don't actually mind Naofumi personally seeing this in a wrongheaded way, as that's part of his morally grey character, but it's a bit too much when everyone else decides to worship his decisions.

Gaelion is better. I liked that Naofumi finally got a dragon and decided to raise it, although predictably things go sideways before too long. I appreciate that Naofumi actually chooses a male, since the cast has been way too imbalanced towards the girls for too long. Although it's not the same case as Filo, Gaelion ends up as someone else Naofumi can talk to, and one of the few people around him who isn't interested in jumping him.

Itsuki's confrontation with Rishia was also decent. Rishia's been overcoming all her past limitations, and now it's time to go back to the person who both inspired her and rejected her. But Itsuki never thought much of Rishia, and his curse series has even further stopped up his ears, so their actual battle is an amusing sequence of "Hey, the person fighting you is over here!" I am disappointed the book never confirms which curse series he unlocked, as several guesses are offered but none confirmed.

The last part of the book is the only part I actually enjoyed. Sadeena has some interesting comments about Raphtalia's family, and that turns into a big mess by the end and gives Naofumi a new goal. I'm pretty sure this will be related to one of the Sacred Beasts as well, so that should hopefully bring the story out of this slump and back into a better plot.

Overall, it's been an extremely rocky road through this arc, and although I still have hopes the series overall will get better I'm getting less enthusiastic about having to buy the next book to find out what's next. I might look for the web novel to get an idea if the plot actually gets better or if the tacky harem plotline continues to dominate. I rate this book Neutral.

The Rising of the Shield Hero Season 3

We have all of the ridiculousness with two of the three other cardinal heroes, we have no idea where the Bow Hero is, there's a lot of politics going on, there is a connection being set up with the king's family relationship to the White Tiger children, and now we adopted a hero from another fantasy world. I'm concerned with how many plot points the story is juggling, especially considering that we only had one main issue in season two, and it somehow managed to get completely botched. These plot points are interesting and could fill up a season alone. Unfortunately, I'm starting to question the way Shield Hero plans on tackling these issues, given the sheer volume of setups.

This episode is a perfect example of that. The situation at the roadside, where Naofumi and his team were attacked by the most generic-looking characters I have ever seen, felt like something that was supposed to happen in season one. Our heroes were overpowered by random bad guys who were pulling meteors from the sky like they were Madara from Naruto . You could argue that Naofumi is so weak from the curse put on him last season, but now Raphtalia isn't cursed anymore from a de-buffing spell. Do I have that right? I can't tell if these are low-level bad guys that Naofumi is struggling against or if they're a big deal with no fanfare. Perhaps the scene was there to establish S'yne Lokk as a character and adequately introduce her to the group. I like the distorted filter over her voice, but the revelation that she is a hero from another world feels like it should've had more weight.

Establishing the power scaling for the other kids in the village feels important. Naofumi gives a speech about how leveling up and choosing your class can affect your overall potential, so there are pros and cons to letting the system decide what's best suited for you versus you deciding what's best suited for you. That was a genuinely lovely moment, and it's one of the few times I've felt like Naofumi is an actual leader, not a byproduct of him being the main character. The idea of hunting other people down should be handled seriously, but this setup was just an excuse to re-introduce the Spear and Sword Hero again. I have no idea what the Sword Hero is wearing or why he looks like he hasn't eaten in days, and something is going on with the Spear Hero's weapon. These are some plot points that have me curious about what is to come next, but after getting burned last week, my expectations aren't going to be exceptionally high.

Disclosure: Kadokawa World Entertainment (KWE), a wholly owned subsidiary of Kadokawa Corporation, is the majority owner of Anime News Network, LLC. One or more of the companies mentioned in this article are part of the Kadokawa Group of Companies.

Furthermore, the diviner empress worth highlights the importance of intuition, insight, and spiritual connection in leadership. It suggests that a ruler who is guided by divine inspiration and wisdom is more likely to make just and enlightened decisions for the benefit of her people. This concept challenges traditional notions of power and suggests that a ruler's worth should be measured not merely by their political or military achievements but also by their spiritual and intuitive abilities. However, it is important to note that the notion of a diviner empress worth is rooted in myth and folklore rather than historical evidence. While there are historical examples of female rulers who were believed to possess supernatural abilities, such as the Oracle of Delphi or the Chinese empress Wu Zetian, the concept of a diviner empress worth is more symbolic than factual. In conclusion, the concept of a diviner empress worth emphasizes the immeasurable value and power of a female ruler who possesses divinatory abilities. It challenges historical gender biases and highlights the importance of intuition, insight, and spiritual connection in leadership. While it may be a concept rooted in myth and folklore, it serves as a reminder of the potential for extraordinary women to shape the destinies of their empires through their divine gifts..

Reviews for "The Mystical Aura of the Diviner Empress: Capturing Her Worth in Art and Literature"

1. John - 2/5 stars - I was really disappointed with "Diviner Empress Worth". The writing felt amateurish and the plot was incredibly predictable. The characters lacked depth and their motivations were unclear. The pacing was also off, with the story dragging in some parts and rushing through others. Overall, I found it difficult to connect with the story and was left feeling unsatisfied.

2. Sarah - 3/5 stars - "Diviner Empress Worth" had an interesting premise, but it fell short in execution. The world-building was lackluster and the magic system felt underdeveloped. The dialogue was clunky and the romance felt forced. I appreciated the author's attempt to create a unique fantasy world, but the story never quite lived up to its potential.

3. David - 2/5 stars - I struggled to finish "Diviner Empress Worth". The writing was overly descriptive and filled with unnecessary details, which made it difficult to stay engaged. The characters felt one-dimensional and lacked any real growth. The plot had potential, but it was overshadowed by ineffective storytelling. Overall, I regretted picking up this book and would not recommend it to others.

The Diviner Empress: Her Worth as a Symbol of Female Empowerment