The following contains spoilers for Season 2, Episode 7 of The Rising of the Shield Hero, "Infinite Labyrinth," now streaming on Crunchyroll.
In previous episodes of Shield Hero, Naofumi and his party chased the villain Kyo Ethnina through his retreat portal, and in so doing, Naofumi began his second isekai adventure in yet another world. In Episode 7, Naofumi and his friends awaken in a pocket dimension known as the infinite labyrinth. They soon discover that they're not alone.
Naofumi and his allies, Raphtalia and Rishia, face a brand-new challenge -- they find that their levels have all been reset, and are trapped in an enclosed pocket realm. Fortunately for Naofumi, he has an experienced guide named Kazayama Kizuna, another Cardinal Hero, to help him find his way around.
Naofumi can't navigate the deserted island, but his new ally Kizuna states that she has been trapped here for years, and that she's learned her way around. She introduces herself as the Hunting Hero -- armed with a fishing rod --making her oddly reminiscent of Hunter x Hunter's Gon Freecss. Much like Gon, this Hunting Hero has a positive, can-do attitude and healthy respect for the power of friendship, which is exactly what Naofumi needs in this bewildering situation. While experienced from his time in the kingdom of Melromarc, he never anticipated anything like this.
Naofumi and Kizuna pool their talents and knowledge to find their way off the island. Kizuna proves herself quite helpful and brings Naofumi to a temple, where she shows him a "bug" in the wall. The stone wall has a hole in it, where solid white energy glows. This is reminiscent of an out of bounds are in a game, a realm that characters are not meant to access. Naofumi and Kizuna improvise a solution and break throughthe infinite labyrinth, but their adventure is only just beginning, and Naofumi still knows very little about Kizuna. The information that she volunteers raises more questions than they answer.
So far, Kizuna has proven herself a reliable and optimistic ally for Naofumi, and considering the circumstances, Naofumi needs all the help he can get. That said, Naofumi knows little about Kizuna, and her identity has made him feel apprehensive and confused. To begin, she has no knowledge of the Waves, and she is an ally of L'Arc Berg the scythe hero and Glass, the fan hero.
Kizuna also tells Naofumi that she is one of the four Cardinal Heroes, the Hunting Hero, and Naofumi must wonder just how many sets of Cardinal Heroes there are in this ever-expanding universe. By now, Naofumi knows that Melromarc's world isn't the only one out there, and L'Arc hails from another fantasy realm. At least two groups of Cardinal Heroes have been confirmed, and the Seven Star Heroes, a group that queen Mirellia Melromarc mentioned iearlier in the series.
By now, the world of Rising of theShield Hero is packed with unique heroes wielding flashy weapons, and Naofumi can hardly keep track of them all. Kizuna is an example of how big this world has become, and Naofumi must take care in choosing the right allies. Kizuna appears friendly for now, but that may change when she reunites with L'Arc and Glass. A Cardinal Hero war could be on the horizon.
