The Key to the Kingdom: Vol. 5

by Kyoko Shitou

Synopsis
The day has finally arrived -- the day the Dragon Man predicted that Badd would die! A wounded Badd accompanies young Asta back from his mission, in which the Prince learned the true meaning of the "Key" -- or rather "Keys." Now that Asta knows the identities of the sacrifices needed to unlock the Towers, he must race to save both friends and rivals. But a Dragon Man attacks them and Badd finds himself locked in a life and death battle!

Review
A lot happens in this volume, and interestingly enough, most everything is resolved. It's very good, very interesting, and needs to be experienced rather than read about.

I was mostly right about there being two Gaiuses, as there were also two Ceianuses, but apparently they inhabit the same two bodies. Although this makes sense, I fail to understand why Gaius gave the keys to the towers to the other competitors, as this would work against the real dragons. If they alternated personalities, I could buy it, but apparently the dragon tamer and his apprentice can only reclaim their bodies on the day of the solstice. Perhaps there's some information I don't have, because even in this book, they show a Gaius-looking character with Duke Alan when he descends to his tower. Maybe it'll be revealed in the next book.

Obviously, if the story continues, then the dragon tamer's scheme didn't work out. But there's still a lot of unanswered questions, like Badd's life has been saved by eating dragon flesh, but at what cost? The dragon tamer is still alive, so he must be dealt with, but at least his apprentice is dead. Who will succeed to the throne?

Final thought: I have to read the next book!