Chapter.17 is the seventeenth chapter of the Zatch Bell! 2 manga series by Makoto Raiku. The chapter was released on October 19, 2023 in Japan.
Summary[]
Sherry Belmont walks through the town, greeting locals. After giving a woman some grapes, a woman named Marie stops Sherry and tells her that she spotted Claude at a local bar. Sherry thanks Marie for letting her know with a glazed look. Sherry and her kids, Nicolas, Jean, and Flora, sit around the dinner table discussing their day. Flora tells Sherry that Nicolas skipped judo again. When Sherry asks him if it is true, Nicolas asks why he should care. Sherry tells him that her surname is prestigious and that the family has always made it a point to carry themselves with a strong sense of virtue. She claims their responsibility is to set an excellent example of education and character for the people around them, but Nicolas stops her mid-sentence. Nicolas skeptically says that the "real" French nobility was abolished years ago (something he learned in class), but Sherry states that what she said applies anyway. Angrily, Nicolas yells out that their father has been cheating on her behind her back. Flora begins to cry, and Jean gets mad at Nicolas for upsetting her. As Nicolas and Jean begin arguing, Sherry tells them that is enough. Sherry asks her children if she has pressured them too much. Flora indicates that she wishes she had more time for fun, but Jean says he doesn't mind it. Sherry gives her kids an inspiring message about the beauty of life.
In his room, Nicolas looks at a photo on his phone of his father kissing another woman while accidentally running into them in the town. Nicolas spitefully thinks about why his mother would allow Claude to cheat, believing it to be because of his wealth. As Nicolas vows to become precisely like Claude when he gets older, an odd-looking monster (later named Jimoda) appears in his bedroom. Nicolas screams and runs out the door, falling down the stairs. The monster chases after him down the stairs, but Sherry kicks him in the face just as he is about to get Nicolas. As the beast falls backward, Sherry asks Nicolas if he is okay, and Flora also hears him cry out. Sherry burst into Flora's bedroom to find a robust woman with man-eating plants attached attacking her. The woman looks at Sherry, quickly throws the bedsheet, and escapes with Flora and Nicolas. Sherry sees an enormous goat-looking monster holding Jean next to another unknown individual as she gets down the stairs. Suddenly, Albert snipes the arm of a goat-looking man, and Jean is released from his grip. Sherry and her three kids begin running out the door, but Nicolas trips and falls. The androgynous-looking individual casts Gurabirei and causes Nicolas and Sherry to fall to the ground forcefully. This surprises Sherry, as it was a spell from Brago's spellbook.
Jean and Flora see Nicolas and Sherry on the ground, and Sherry yells for them to get in Albert's car. Sherry questions the androgynous man on how to use Brago's spells, and he responds that Brago is dead. The four antagonists gather in the main corridor and tell Sherry that her kids are merely hostages, and if she surrenders, she will let them go. Sherry looks at Nicolas and tells him to run away no matter what happens to her. Crying, Nicholas quickly escapes, and Sherry stands before the four individuals. As the four of them begin to talk, Sherry thrusts herself into the androgynous man’s stomach, knocking him back. He casts Gigano Reisu, but Sherry dodges it, and it hits the robust woman. They call for Jimoda to be on the lookout for "the sniper." Nicolas looks back to see the debris from the spell in the corridor. He runs back to the house and begins throwing rocks at them, yelling for them to leave his mother alone. Sherry yells at Nicolas to run away while they fire another Gigano Reis at her. Sherry barely makes it out alive, but they cast another Gravirei to stop her from running. All of a sudden, a helicopter appears holding one of the sarcophaguses from the ruins, driven by Apollo Genesis, and he drops it on the ground.