Light Novel Volume 15

Rakudai Kishi no Eiyuutan Light Novel 15 is the fifteenth installment of the Rakudai Kishi no Cavalry light novel series, written by Riku Misora and illustrated by Won. It was released in October 2018.

Summary
Final decisive battle!

"I love you, Stella", the boy told his most beloved girl with a smile when everything is about to be lost-

''After fierce fights like Nene's and Tatara's, the trend of the "representative war" has largely shifted towards Vermillion's side. The battle that leaves only the ringleader Or-Gaule remaining has once again fallen into turmoil due to "Black Knight" Iris' unexpected betrayal. The "Puppet King" Or-Gaule that plans to escape, and the "Crimson Princess" Stella who pursues. The "Black Knight" Iris who is helping her younger brother, and "Worst One" Ikki Kurogane" who is standing in the way. When the fierce battle reaches the final stage, the howl of the red-haired girl reverberates throughout the battlefield!''

''The Vermillion War is finally settled! The 15th volume of farewells and bonds!!''

Chapters
Intermission: Final Words

The volume starts with a scene where strong shock and heat cut open someone's chest. Huge amount of blood is scattered in his field of view and his organs blew out of his torn chest. His whole body immediately becomes weak and his Device slides away from his grip. He then collapses on the ground in a sea of blood. As he is about to lose his life, he says "I love you, Stella" to his most beloved girl with a smile. He doesn't regret everything that happened since he first met her. Ikki Kurogane then loses consciousness and will never awaken again.

Chapter 22: Sword God

The scene is now at the start of the final stage of the representative war between Vermillion and Cradleland that takes place in Cradleland’s capital Lucier. Boomer, who has been providing commentary on the war in a helicopter, is now focusing on the battle between Ikki Kurogane and Iris-Gaule Ascarid, who are clashing against each other with their skills. Iris waves around her large battle axe that is filled with huge mana which causes the surrounding asphalt, concrete and steel to be crushed. Ikki intercepts the incoming storm of destruction with fast slashes and keeps pushing her back. Ikki is using “Dokuga no Tachi” to push back Iris who is wearing her armor-shaped Device “Orichalcos”. But Iris receives no damage due to “Orichalcos” possessing defense and healing power that is unparalleled in the League of Mage-Knight Nations. She then launches an upper swing with her battle axe that breaks the ground and shoots pebbles of asphalts towards Ikki. The gravels could damage the F-ranked Ikki that has defense power no different from that of ordinary people, but Ikki receives no damage due to using “Ten’i Muhou”. Ikki then immediately charges towards Iris and she intercepts his attack. Even though the A-ranked Iris should have far more attack, defense and magic powers than the F-ranked Ikki, she is unable to overwhelm him. After exchanging some attacks, Iris’ body is suddenly pushed back greatly once her blade meets with Ikki’s blade. Ikki’s sudden huge increase in attack power is due to him using “Madoka”. Ikki had analyzed Iris using “Perfect Vision” during the first 3 minutes of their battle. As a result, he is now able to use “Madoka” perfectly on Iris and the battle is starting to be in his favor.

The blow powered by “Madoka” has caused Iris’ posture to crumble and Ikki immediately gets very close to Iris. At very close distance, Ikki launches “Rekkou” towards her. Iris releases a cry of pain and blood is coming out from the gaps of her armor. Boomer thinks that the “Rekkou” that Ikki had just launched was probably powered with “Dokuga no Tachi”. Before Iris could rebuild her position and counterattack, Ikki immediately delivers a barrage of slashes on Iris with “Raikou”. However, while Iris can’t move due to continuously receiving the slashes, the speed of the slashes keeps increasing. The barrage of slashes is actually a technique called “Amatsu Raikou (heavenly lightning)”, an evolved technique of “Kyokujitsu Isshin-ryuu · Retsu no Kiwami – Amatsukaze” that is delivered with “Raikou’s” speed. The 90th to 108th slashes are delivered in roughly one beat, like a lightning strike that roars the sky of Lucier. The concentrated attack causes Iris’ body to be blown towards behind. She is then down on the ground on her back which rarely happens to her even in the A-League. There is a pool of blood that spreads around her body on the ground. Everyone in Vermillion who is watching are cheering for Ikki who has overwhelmed the “Black Knight” who is ranked 4th in the world. Even Stella’s mother Astrea is excited to see this and asks her husband Sirius if Ikki has won. But Sirius doesn’t share the same feelings as everyone and has a grim expression. Sirius says that he is indeed impressed by Ikki’s skills and that Ikki might have already obtained victory if this was the A-League. However, this is a serious battle that bets each other’s ego and so the “indomitable” knight won’t be defeated by something of this level. After Sirius said so, Iris immediately gets back up and her bleeding has stopped. Astrea can’t believe that Ikki’s “Amatsu Raikou” did no damage to Iris, but it’s not surprising to Sirius. This is natural since the battle is between an A-ranked and an F-ranked, and Ikki understands this better than anyone. Sirius is also angry at Ikki for not fighting together with Stella.

Ikki already had delivered attacks which included “Rekkou”, “Madoka”, “Dokuga no Tachi” and “Raikou”, but the result is Iris has fully recovered. Ikki on the other hand is quite exhausted after delivering his attack just now. Even if Ikki wins in terms of techniques and his attacks hit Iris many times, he is the one actually losing in the battle due to Iris’ overwhelming defense power. Iris is not just strong in strength but also has strong determination in protecting her younger brother Or-Gaule. Her armor-shaped Device currently represents her “indomitable” determination and Ikki understands that he needs to break her armor in order to defeat her. The only possible way he can do this is if he uses his final secret sword “Oikage” which puts everything Ikki has into one strike. However, Iris has seen Ikki used “Oikage” during his match with Stella in the Seven Stars Sword Art Festival and so she would be alerted once he puts his Device “Intestu” in a sword-drawing stance. In addition, there is also the side effect of his body’s self-destruction from using “Ittou Rasetsu”. Immediately after, Iris releases a scream for being fired up and charges fast towards Ikki. She makes a full horizontal swing with her battle axe on Ikki which he easily dodges by crouching, but the house behind him is blown away from the wind pressure. Iris then immediately swings her axe down towards Ikki’s head but he dodges by leaping towards the side. Her attack just now crushes the asphalt road and blows away the house connected to the road. Seeing this makes Ikki remember the time when Iris displayed physical strength that was able to knock BB off his feet. The healing power of Iris’ “Orichalcos” is not used for defense only. Any Blazer could strengthen their attack and speed with their mana only in the range where their body wouldn’t break, but in Iris’ case she can disregard the physical damage to her body due to her healing ability. Thus, she can release strength and speed that normally should have been impossible. Ikki then uses “Amatsu Raikou” again on Iris, but this time Iris uses her mana to increase her speed in order to try repelling Ikki’s slashes. At first, she is falling behind in speed. Even her tendons and bones are continuously being damaged and then healed while her body is trying to barely keep up with the speed of Ikki’s slashes. However, the speed of Iris’ axe swings is then gradually increasing and she is about to overtake Ikki in speed.

Ikki and Boomer can tell immediately that Iris has activated her trump card, “Regeneration Overdose (enhanced regeneration)”. It is a Noble Art that keeps regenerating Iris’ damaged body into a stronger body. Moreover, the accumulation of the strengthening that her body receives is permanent. As a result, Iris’ speed and attack power will keep increasing after every blow in this exchange of blades. “Amatsu Raikou” is then completely overtaken and Iris is delivering a rush of attacks on Ikki. He is trying to escape from this rush of attacks, but Iris won’t let him. Ikki though is still able to keep avoid getting hit by her axe swings even if just barely. In her heart, Iris praises Ikki for being able to reach this far despite having a body that is much fragile compared to his opponents’. Iris thinks Ikki will someday become a swordsman that surpasses even Edelweiss, but even so Iris believes she won’t lose. She knows that Ikki’s slashing can’t cause her damage even if it hits tens of thousands of time and that “Oikage” is probably the only technique he has that can damage her. But Iris is not worried about “Oikage” because she has seen before how “Oikage’s” initial movement is executed and so she won’t get hit. Iris’ axe swings are continuously getting stronger due to “Regeneration Overdose” and eventually Ikki’s posture is broken when her battle axe crushes the ground he’s standing on. During that opening, Iris is thrusting the butt end of her battle axe towards Ikki’s chest. However, the moment the axe’s butt end barely touches Ikki’s chest, he uses “Madoka” to rotate his body and hits Iris’ flank with his blade. Ikki’s counterattack causes Iris’ body repelled back, creating a distance between the two of them. Even though she didn’t receive any physical damage, her mind has received a large shock. Iris sees that there is no feeling of unrest or irritation in Ikki’s eyes and this makes her convinced that she was lured in. Ikki’s posture crumbling was actually a performance he made in order to ruin Iris’ momentum. Iris is amazed of Ikki’s mental power and even Boomer praises Ikki for still being calm in this unfavorable situation. Boomer is praising Ikki in a weird way which causes Ikki to have a slightly bitter laugh. Iris is surprised to see Ikki able to laugh in this situation which makes her wonder if he has a way to win this battle. However, even if Ikki’s spirit hasn’t wavered, it’s still a fact that none of his attacks will work on Iris and all her attacks are fatal to him. Thus, there’s no reason for Iris to be agitated. She believes that as long as she continues her rush of attacks, she will obtain victory. Iris then moves to attack Ikki in order to finish this battle and help her younger brother as soon as possible.

While Ikki is fighting Iris, Or-Gaule continues trying to escape by leaping on the threads that are spread all over the city but Stella with her wings of fire will caught up with him soon. Or-Gaule needs to slow Stella down and so he uses “Deus Ex Machina” to create a 300 meters tall giant made from nearby rubbles, buildings, vehicles and such. The giant delivers a fist at Stella but she swings her sword which destroys its arm. Stella then flies straight to the giant’s chest and the impact creates a hole that is 20 meters in diameter which causes the giant’s body to collapse entirely. Or-Gaule though had attached his threads into the giant and so Stella becomes entangled. However, Stella uses “Katharterio Salamandra” to burn the threads, and the office district of Lucier below gets erased completely. Or-Gaule and Stella are no longer in the sky and are grounded. Or-Gaule then remembers Iris’ action earlier and thinks it was stupid. Stella then asks if Or-Gaule doesn’t feel anything about Iris protecting him but he replies that he doesn’t. He understands that it is considered abnormal for a person to enjoy making others suffer and so he had worked hard to hide his true self when he was a child. It was really uncomfortable and not fun for Or-Gaule to pretend to be happy about something that he’s really not happy about. Or-Gaule then says Stella is the only one fighting him currently so he doesn’t need to escape anymore. He also says Stella is looking down on Iris since she left Ikki fighting Iris on his own. Ikki is strong to the point that Or-Gaule might not be able to win against him, but there’s no way he can win against Iris who can’t be cut down just by sword slashes. Or-Gaule then uses the threads coming out of his fingers like whips to attack Stella, but she catches the threads with her arm. Stella says Ikki will win because he promised he will survive and so she will do her part which is to take down Or-Gaule.

Ikki and Iris were evenly matched in the beginning but now Iris is using “Regeneration Overdose” to overwhelm Ikki. The swings of Iris’ battle axe are getting stronger and faster, and the resulting wind pressure alone is scraping Ikki’s flesh. His clothes are torn, blood is coming out from various parts of his body, and his breathing is now heavy. Everyone who is watching thinks that Ikki has fought enough and should stop. But Ikki doesn’t stop and keeps defending himself from Iris’ rush of attacks. The people in Vermillion don’t understand why Ikki is still not giving up, but Iris has realized the reason. Iris estimates that Ikki won’t be able to handle “Regeneration Overdose” anymore and will get caught by her attacks in 10 minutes. But there is no guarantee that Or-Gaule will survive against Stella for another 10 minutes. Iris’ goal is to help her younger brother and so even if she defeats Ikki, it is meaningless if Or-Gaule is killed. Ikki’s aim all along was to keep delaying this battle and eventually forcing a situation where he is able to use the only technique he has that can beat Iris. In terms of real strength, Iris is superior and so Ikki shouldn’t be able to win against Iris in a straight battle. But Ikki has been dragging Iris along with him by trying to force her to abandon long-term battle and make this into a short decisive match instead, which is why he hasn’t really been attacking ever since Iris invoked “Regeneration Overdose”. After making her decision on what to do, Iris stops her rush of attacks and creates a distance from Ikki. Iris has decided to accept Ikki’s invitation to a short decisive match even though she knows it’s a trap. She wants to save her younger brother and be by his side like they used to, even if the world doesn’t allow it. Iris then puts her battle axe over her head and releases her mana from all over her body, indicating that she’s about to show Ikki her strongest. Ikki thinks Iris’ strong feelings and all the power she’s about to release make her very strong right now. He responds by putting his sword into a sword-drawing stance and invokes “Ittou Rasetsu”. Unlike before, the blue light that would keep surging out from Ikki’s body can now be retained into his body thanks to his mana control training in Edelberg. In the next moment, the final clash between Ikki and Iris begins.

Ikki makes the first move by moving towards Iris in order to get her within his sword range. There are few conditions required for Ikki’s ultimate technique to be successfully delivered. The first one is Ikki needs to use “Ittou Rasetsu”. The second one is the mechanism of the sword-drawing, which his left hand grasps the blade so that speed and power of the sword swing will be of different dimension compared to normal swing. The last one is that Ikki needs to deliver the slash during a straight head-on crossing of blades with his opponent so that the power of the slash increases. Iris was able to prevent all these conditions being fulfilled earlier but Ikki has managed to create a situation where he is able to deliver his ultimate technique now. Iris puts her battle axe high above her head and exposes her torso as if inviting Ikki to hit her there. Iris plans to let her armor receive Ikki’s slash which will at least slow down the slash before she gets cut completely and during that moment she will swing her axe down to split Ikki’s head. However, Iris misunderstands the true characteristics of the slash Ikki is delivering. In this one slash, Ikki is giving everything he has including his ability to influence fate as a Desperado. The causation of “killing” is being influenced strongly and the result Ikki desires is being forced to occur. Thus, his final secret sword “Oikage” slashes through Iris’ “Orichalcos” with no resistance and cuts her torso deeply. The “armor” that was hit with the affected causation cracks and turns into black dust. Iris coughs up blood and Ikki catches her collapsed body.

Ikki declares that he has won this battle and Iris who is leaning on his shoulder also agrees. Iris’ abdominal wound is very severe and what’s more fatal is the side effect of “Regeneration Overdose” which her body that was strengthened too much has already exceeded the limit that can be maintained without “Orichalcos”. Therefore, Iris’ body begins to self-destruct the moment she loses the healing power of "Orichalcos". Her organs have burst, her muscles are torn and her brain tissues are dead. Iris’ body can no longer maintain the shape of a person and the damage she has received cannot be cured with “Capsule”. This is natural since the accumulation of body strengthening she received from “Regeneration Overdose” is permanent. Her physical body is altered to the point she cannot control with her own will and the self-destruction won’t stop. In other words, Iris can’t be saved anymore. Even though she knew this would happen, Iris kept using “Regeneration Overdose” for the sake of someone she loves. Suddenly, she notices that Ikki’s body is trembling. It’s natural since Ikki is not the kind of person that enjoys experiencing someone else’s death, especially when the other person was a friend and the result is brought with his own hands. Despite so, Ikki is doing his best not to show any sorrow on his face. Iris then gathers any remaining strength she has left and tells Ikki to forget about her. However, Ikki says that he won’t forget her. Even if history labels Iris as a villain, Ikki will always remember that she was a kind person who would desperately save her only family member even if the entire world became her enemy and that he won against such an amazing knight. He will carry all this on his sword because it’s the chivalry that he has chosen. Though she couldn’t hear Ikki’s words, Iris could tell from his body’s warmth that he will remember her and so she thanks him. Iris’ final thought is apologizing to her younger brother for not able to win even though she did her best. “Black Knight” Iris-Gaule Ascarid accepts her ending as she goes into a permanent sleep while being embraced by Ikki as shown in a pic.

Boomer announces that Ikki has won his battle against Iris. Seeing Ikki laying down Iris’ body makes him believe that Iris is dead. Boomer and everyone in Vermillion are praising Ikki for his victory and are relieved that he’s safe. Sirius on the other hand has become speechless because as a warrior he understands better than the Vermillion citizens about how Ikki achieved his victory. Sirius knows that it wasn’t really a close match because even though Iris' ability was superior, everything that happened since the beginning of the fight was within Ikki’s strategy. Ikki actually won against the world’s 4th ranked knight without being in any danger. This opinion is shared by powerful knights around the world who saw the match or will watch it later in a recording. After his victory, Ikki is now recognized as a knight representing the League of Mage-Knight Nations and he has earned a new nickname, “Sword God”. After laying down Iris’ body and cleaning off her blood that’s on his face, Ikki is struck with the reality of having killed someone and such feeling is strongly burning inside him. He is desperately fighting off the uncomfortable feeling since the war is still not over. He doesn’t think the current Stella will lose to Or-Gaule but he should fight while he still can. He has used up his mana and physical strength, but he can still fight. The backlash from “Itto Rasetsu” this time is not as bad as before thanks to Edelweiss’ training. After improving his mana control, Ikki was able to use his Noble Art more efficiently by concentrating the strengthening of his body on the necessary parts instead of his whole body and putting the energy that would have just wastefully damaged his body on his sword instead. He then restores his physical strength through autophagy, which is originally a mechanism to produce energy in starvation state but someone who can control their body as well as Ikki can activate this excessively. However, his physical abilities are not at maximum specs and his physical strength can only last about 5 minutes in another fight. This should be enough even if he can’t do much about his mana. Ikki then says to Iris’ laid down body that he won’t apologize because he also has someone important, and heads towards the next battle.

Chapter 23: Vermillion of Anger

Boomer announces that a medical team has officially confirmed Iris’ death and he is now focusing on providing commentary on the fight between Stella and Or-Gaule. The announcement is heard by the two and thus they know the result of the fight between Ikki and Iris. Stella is sad to hear that Ikki has killed a person but Or-Gaule on the other hand is disappointed that Iris who was ranked 4th in the world has lost. Stella and Or-Gaule are being surrounded by a wall of flame that is over 100 meters tall and forming a circle around them with a radius of about 30 meters. Stella has also already destroyed all of the nearby tall buildings in the area and so Or-Gaule can’t escape through the sky with his threads. Stella moves to attack Or-Gaule with her sword but suddenly few children come out of the shadow of nearby rubble and then are shielding Or-Gaule with their bodies. Stella quickly diverts the blade away and it hits the ground instead. The impact of the attack just now causes a hole in an underground shelter outside the wall of fire and then more than 100 people come out of the hole. They are the captured Cradleland citizens who are under Or-Gaule’s control. Boomer is complaining to Or-Gaule because the citizens are clearly not in their right minds and that they should have been evacuated to the suburbs, and so this is a violation of the rules. Or-Gaule thinks Boomer is being noisy and so attacks his helicopter which crashes after being cut in half. Or-Gaule says he doesn’t care about the rules anymore and there is no reason to fight fair anymore since he’s a terrorist. He tells Stella to remove the wall of fire or else those Cradleland citizens will head towards it. Stella complies and then thousands of people have gathered on the other side of the wall that disappeared. Or-Gaule tells the people he’s controlling to keep Stella busy in order to buy time for him to escape. However, Stella is not worried and people who are supposed to be in Vermillion suddenly appear in the battlefield.

Those who have suddenly appeared in the battlefield include Sirius, Tilmitt, Miriallia and the Vermillion Imperial Guards. Tilmitt uses “Star Ocean” to change road into a state like a marshland in order to stop Cradleland citizens’ movements. Miriallia marks the people that serve as “Marionette” hubs by firing paint balls at them like she did back in Kardia. She has learned the theory on how to identify the hubs which she didn’t understand at first when Ikki explained it before. The Vermillion army and the League of Mage-Knight Nations armed forces have also joined the battle and are restraining the people who have been identified as hubs. The Cradleland citizens thus are being released from Or-Gaule’s control, one after another. Everyone there tells Stella to go after Or-Gaule while they handle the Cradleland citizens. Or-Gaule realizes that Iris had placed “Divine Gates” all over Lucier. The armed forces that have appeared now couldn’t intervene before since the battles had been under the pretense of representative war conducted under the rules of the League. But now they are allowed to intervene because Or-Gaule has committed a serious violation of endangering non-Blazers. Or-Gaule tries to attack the people in front of him but Stella stops him by grabbing the threads that he’s about to release. She pulls him towards her and then cuts off his arms and feet. She then lifts up his limbless body by grabbing his collar. Or-Gaule says with a pale face that he surrenders and begs Stella not to kill him. Stella says she’s okay with it as long as a certain person agrees to it. She then throws Or-Gaule’s body high into the sky and suddenly a “Divine Gate” opens in the sky. What comes out of the door in the sky is Johann riding on his golden horse with Lunaeyes on his back. Johann launches “Circus Maximus” towards the defenseless Or-Gaule, leaving Or-Gaule screaming about not wanting to die before Johann’s spear crushes his head.

Or-Gaule’s body falls to the ground and gets squashed on impact. The Cradleland citizens are free from his control and Boomer who has survived the helicopter crash then announces that it is Vermillion’s victory in the war. Everyone present and those who are watching from Vermillion are rejoicing. Johann comes down to the ground and gets off his golden horse together with Lunaeyes. He walks towards Stella, with Luna lending her shoulder, in order to thank Stella for everything she’s done. He also believes he’s pathetic since he was unable to protect his parents, friends and citizens. Stella doesn’t think so since Johann kept fighting against Or-Gaule despite being already in worn-out state. She also says that Johann is not alone and that there are people who will support him in painful times. After hearing Stella’s words, Johann looks at Luna and says thank you. Johann and Luna then walk towards the crowd and seeing this causes Stella to believe the crisis is over. However, she then hears a voice singing the "Row, Row, Row Your Boat" song. This causes Stella to tremble because the voice belongs to Or-Gaule who is supposed to be dead. His headless body that has shredded organs and no limbs has gotten up, and pieces of scattered meat and rubbles are being sewed to the dead body with threads by force. A thin thread is then launched towards Johann and Luna. Stella is able to shield the two with “Laevateinn” but the force hitting her sword is strong. More attacks are launched towards Stella who is somehow able to deflect them, but their power is destructive even for Stella who has the strength of a dragon. She is then entangled by the threads which are preventing her from moving. Stella is confused because she was able to break out of the threads before with her dragon ability but this time the threads are much powerful than before. Sirius notices what has happened and runs towards Stella but she tells him and everyone else to get away from here. The huge increase in the threads’ power is due to Or-Gaule’s trump card having been activated. It is his strongest Noble Art called “Dance Macabre (dead spirit’s play)” which can only be used after his death.

“Now then, shall we begin the finale?”

Chapter 24: Tears of a Corpse

Or-Gaule’s body is slowly rising up with the scattered pieces of meat on the ground joining back to the body. The parts of the body that can’t be used are replaced with rubbles and cloths scattered nearby, and thus Or-Gaule’s body is back in the shape of a person. While laughing he then asks what is “right” and what is “wrong”, and then says that if the ones who attack first are “wrong” then he is not “wrong”. While restraining Stella with threads from his right hand, he uses the threads from his left hand to collect and sew nearby rubbles to create dolls. Or-Gaule is having a puppet show titled “La Croix Saglant” which tells the story of his past. Orleus-Gaule’s home ran a small restaurant in a village surrounded by mountains and forests. His father was a strong and influential man in the village who everyone could depend on. His mother was beautiful and kind, and was good at singing. His older sister was a strong and cool Blazer. However, the boy was not happy at all. 15 years ago, when he was 3 years old, Orleus first discovered that he could only find happiness in the suffering and pain of other people. He would bully other kids and make them cry. But his world was turned inside out when his parents and older sister got really angry at him, and he finally learned that what he thought was “fun” was actually “wrong”. Since then the boy started practicing the “right” his parent taught him and observed what other people wanted in order to play the role of “good” kid. Orleus was then loved by the whole village eventually but it was stressful for him. He was able to deal with the stress after his Blazer ability developed. He would secretly use his threads to injure other people, breaking up friends and families in not just his village but also in other towns. However, his actions were discovered by someone who was investigating the cause of the bad incidents that occurred in the region.

During the day of his 10th birthday party, a man in black robe approached Orleus and invited him to join Rebellion. Orleus was afraid of his world turned inside out again if everyone in the village found out about his secret, and so he attacked the man. However, the boy’s ability was no match against the man named Wallenstein. Orleus became scared and begged for the man not to kill him. Wallenstein then said that if Orleus was the only one that survived in the village after a week then the man would bring him to Rebellion, but if anyone else survived the man would kill everyone including the boy. Wallenstein also said that Orleus would definitely come to the man’s side because the boy was born pure evil. Orleus thought Wallenstein was being mean but the man claimed that he was trying to save the boy. Wallenstein gave Orleus a week to think about whether Wallenstein or the people in the village would be the one to kill him. After Wallenstein left, Orleus had planned to tell everyone in the village about everything. However, during his birthday party where everyone in his village was spreading joy, Orleus realized that he wasn’t really living because he couldn’t make a smile from the bottom of his heart. In order to protect the world where they can happily laugh, the people in his village were robbing Orleus’ right to live by saying things they believed to be “right” as if they were absolute rules. Once he became aware of this, the boy ended up hating his parents and older sister who were killing him while they were saying that they loved him or while they were pretending in protecting him. He hated the false world that was rejecting his existence. Thus, he decided to make that day the best day of his life by asking everyone there to give him life as a present. He proceeded to break everyone in the village and made the day his true birthday. The boy then joined Rebellion after breaking everyone in the village, which was a happy ending for him.

After the puppet show is over, Or-Gaule says to Stella that they both are no different because each is trying to kill the other for their own happiness. He then strengthens the threads that are entangling Stella which causes her to release a scream. Her face is turning dark red due to her flesh being torn, her bones breaking and her airway being blocked, while she’s unable to break free. The Vermillion and League forces try to go help Stella but they are suddenly cut down which is caused by Or-Gaule’s power to influence fate as a Desperado. His “Dance Maccabre” causes him to be even more powerful than Stella and so it is impossible for the other people there to win against him. This undeniable fate does not need any process leading to it and so Or-Gaule is capable of hurting them just by releasing killing intent. He then explains that he believes the same things that Wallenstein believed, which the world is filled with lies. The strong ones taking everything away from the weak ones and justify their idea of “right” by force, is the only truth in the world. Therefore, Or-Gaule wants to use his power to fight this world because anyone deserves to be happy. He is living like this because this is the only way he can be happy. Or-Gaule then says that Stella is kind and noble but is also a murderer that didn’t help him. He is fond of hypocrites like Stella and Iris, and of big liars that spread lies about being “right”, because he is most happy when he turns them into a mess. Or-Gaule then tightens the threads on Stella’s body and she can’t resist due to already have collapsed from oxygen deficiency. As shown in a colored pic, Stella’s skin is pale with her limbs hanging without any strength and her eyes show no signs of consciousness. Suddenly, Ikki appears and launches “Saigeki” that hits Or-Gaule’s forehead while he glares at Or-Gaule with hatred as shown in a pic. Ikki says that it was Or-Gaule’s choice to show up as everyone’s enemy right now and so it’s impudent that Or-Gaule is pretending to be the victim here. Or-Gaule then says in delight to Ikki that he has been waiting for him.

Once Ikki realizes that Or-Gaule can’t be killed by destroying the brain, Ikki pulls out his sword from Or-Gaule’s head and creates distance between them. Or-Gaule’s ability to control his dead body is troublesome for Ikki since his sword cutting is not fatal to Or-Gaule like it was to Iris. Or-Gaule is surprised that Ikki won against Iris and asks Ikki how it feels to have become a murderer like Or-Gaule. Ikki replies that it is the worst but it was his decision to kill Iris so he doesn’t intend to deceive himself by saying exaggerating things such as justice or evil. Or-Gaule finds Ikki to be boring and says he hates Ikki for saying such things since he doesn’t enjoy killing. He also says he was waiting for Ikki to come so that he can kill him in front of Stella’s eyes. Or-Gaule is about to launch “Grand Guignol” and wonders if Ikki can withstand it since Ikki is exhausted after his fight with Iris and Or-Gaule is now more powerful than he was alive. But Ikki who has good eyesight has determined the weakness of “Grand Guignol” after seeing it once before. Even though thousands of threads are launched, they have linear trajectory and the power of each thread is much smaller because the force is distributed equally to each thread. The threads are strong enough to cut human flesh, but they are not strong enough to cut rocks. Or-Gaule and Stella had created many holes in the ground during their rampage earlier, and so Ikki throws his body into one of those holes nearby in order to avoid Or-Gaule’s attack. In response, Or-Gaule then launches threads towards all directions in order to attack the Cradleland citizens and injured soldiers. However, all the threads are diverted upwards before they hit any single person due to spatial distortion. Or-Gaule realizes this is Nene’s doing and sees her standing on the top of a crumbled building. While Or-Gaule is distracted during that moment, Ikki cuts off Or-Gaule’s right arm that was restraining Stella with threads. “Grand Guignol” is a technique that is like Or-Gaule throwing away his own shield and thus leaving him unprotected as it takes time to rebuild it. Or-Gaule is not bothered because even though Stella has been released from Or-Gaule’s restraints, she is still unconscious from oxygen deficiency. Nene is also exhausted after fighting Naseem Al-Salem who was in the top 5 most powerful in the entire world, and all she could do is protect the bystanders. It takes one minute for Stella to recover with her dragon ability, but Or-Gaule believes he can kill the exhausted Ikki before then.

After reconnecting his arm to his body, Or-Gaule is using the threads extending out from his fingers to use them like whips and attack Ikki. Or-Gaule has concentrated the magic in his threads to make them more powerful and so the slashes aimed at Ikki are capable of even destroying the ground and nearby buildings. However, Ikki is able to avoid the slashing of the thin threads without difficulty even though Or-Gaule has more power and speed. This is not surprising because Or-Gaule’s rush of attacks has no skill or strategy and so it can’t hit someone skilled like Ikki especially in close combat. Ikki is also used to facing against powerful attacks that could kill him instantly, so he’s not afraid of Or-Gaule’s attacks. Ikki manages to get close to Or-Gaule by slipping through the gaps of the attacks, and then further damages Or-Gaule’s dead body. Even though Or-Gaule’s body repairs quickly, it looks like Ikki has the initiative in this battle which causes the wounded soldiers cheering for him. Or-Gaule is confused how Ikki is able to fight this well even though he should be out of mana and stamina already. The emotion of fear that he hasn’t felt in a long time starts to rise up within him which causes him to be irritated at Ikki. Or-Gaule then uses “Table Surprise (rotating stage)”, which his toes release threads that form like a spider web of 10 meter radius surrounding him in order to make Ikki slip. However, Ikki passes through the spider web without difficulty and slashes Or-Gaule’s body again. Even though everyone there is cheering for Ikki, Stella is the only one who is not happy. She can tell that Ikki’s movements right now are slow and not at the best. Ikki is just squeezing out whatever strength his body has left and so he’s like a candle on the verge of burning out. Ikki won’t last until one minute and it’s not easy for Stella to recover before then even with “Dragon Spirit”. Ikki knows he can’t destroy Or-Gaule’s body and it doesn’t matter if he can’t win. He then shouts to Stella that he’s going to die here. Ikki knows he can’t win against Or-Gaule and even Stella can tell too. All he can do is buy time for one minute in order for Stella to recover. Ikki thus declares all of his feelings to Stella with a smile despite his death approaching.

“''I’m so sorry that I can’t keep the promise from yesterday! But I don’t want to forget it! Stella, I was really happy to have met you! That day we met at Hagun, then competed and loved each other—That’s why I was able to become this strong!! All the things I didn’t know before and wouldn’t have discovered by myself, I received all of them from Stella! Everything that happened since the day I met you, I don’t regret any of them! Everything that happened until I ended up standing here today is my treasure!! And so, Stella! No matter what happens next, I don’t want you to regret thinking that it would have been better if you hadn’t met me! I don’t want you to think that it was a mistake! It wasn’t just me that got strong after we met that day after all!! Show it to me! The strength of my beloved knight!!!! The road to that, —I will create it''!!!!

After hearing what Ikki said, Stella becomes the angriest she has ever been. She refuses to accept what he said and tries to move. Once the fight between Ikki and Or-Gaule has reached 50 seconds, Ikki has completely run out of energy and can no longer move his feet. But right before his feet couldn’t move anymore, he had created afterimages with “Shinkirou” which causes Or-Gaule to miss when attacking him. Ikki also had predicted Or-Gaule’s attack and so before he ran out of energy he had already positioned his sword “Intetsu” where it would receive Or-Gaule’s attack. Ikki plans to use the power from Or-Gaule’s attack in order to create distance between them, which his body would be blown towards behind after receiving the attack with “Intetsu”. At this point it is already one minute after the fight started and Stella immediately starts moving in order to help Ikki. However, Or-Gaule saw through Ikki’s plan and his threads had wrapped around Ikki’s body at the same time they were received by “Intetsu” which prevented Ikki’s escape. During the moment Stella starts to move, Or-Gaule’s threads have pierced Ikki’s chest and are then pulled out. Immediately after, Ikki’s chest burst open with his organs dragged out. Ikki says “I love you, Stella” with a smile as he falls into a sea of blood and flesh. Or-Gaule laughs while mocking at Ikki’s fallen state and repeatedly stomping on the organs scattered on the ground. While placing his foot on Ikki’s head, Or-Gaule asks Stella if she’s enjoying this. Stella is not showing any emotion on her face due to the unacceptable reality in front of her while walking unsteadily towards Ikki’s body. Or-Gaule then mockingly says that if Ikki hadn’t met Stella then he wouldn’t have died miserably in such place, and thus everything is Stella’s fault and that she was the one who killed Ikki. Once Stella sees Or-Gaule’s foot crushes Ikki’s head, the last thread of her sanity is cut.

Suddenly, Stella releases a scream and scorching heat from her body as a result of her mind falling to despair. The scream then changes into a roar and the silhouette reflected in the light and heat is becoming one not belonging to a person. As shown in a pic, Stella’s skin becomes black with shining scales on some places, two horns are grown on her head, wings sprouted out from her back and a long tail has extended from her tailbone area. Nene knows that Stella has achieved “Excessive Awakening” after she lost her human mind. Nene warns everyone in the area to get away from there but not everyone can due to some of them being injured. Or-Gaule on the other hand is rejoiced by the scream, grief and despair coming out of Stella. He wants Stella to cry more, be angrier, despair more and destroy everything with her own hands. Or-Gaule plans to control Stella with his threads but she suddenly bashes her own head to the ground over and over. It is not strange since she has undergone “Excessive Awakening” and lost her beloved man. However, even though she has lost her calmness, the radiance of the light and heat is weakening and Or-Gaule expected her to attack the surrounding people instead. Or-Gaule tries to provoke Stella but she is not hearing any of his words. Stella screams at the remains of Ikki who was saying selfish things before. Ikki promised that he would survive and wouldn’t let anyone else be by her side, and so while angry she calls him a liar. Stella is in pain that she never experienced before and wishes she could forget what she has lost. However, Ikki told her not to regret having met him and that he loved her. Thus, she can’t forgive him because if he loved her that much then he should have known what it would feel like being left behind alone. Stella wanted Ikki to live, not to die while protecting her. However, she won’t regret everything that happened since she first met Ikki because it is something she has decided on her own will. Stella then stands up and says that she will show the power of Stella Vermillion who became strong after following Ikki’s back as he had wished. She will surpass Ikki and become much stronger in order to make him regret for not being by her side anymore. Stella declares so as she raises her sword and prepares to fight again. But during that moment, Stella hears a voice that says Stella had said good words. The voice belongs to Shizuku who has appeared and she further says that if Stella had said it would have been better to have never met Ikki then Shizuku would have attacked Stella again like she did during Hagun’s selection battles.

Shizuku greets Stella and asks if Yamanba fashion is currently trending. Stella who is surprised to see Shizuku asks why she is here. Shizuku replies it’s because a small country like Vermillion doesn’t have much people with healing techniques and so the League of Mage-Knight Nations headquarters has requested to member states for people to be part of the medical team. Kiriko Yakushi was originally supposed to come here but because something troubling is happening in Japan, Shizuku is here on her behalf. Or-Gaule is glad to see Shizuku is here and wants her to cry like Stella did after seeing that her precious older brother has become a stain on the ground. However, Shizuku is not upset at all and calmly says that despite Ikki always doing reckless things she loves him when he’s like that. Both Or-Gaule and Stella are confused why Shizuku is not upset at all despite Ikki is dead. It’s because Shizuku was powerless when Ikki was dying from the effects of Amane Shinomiya’s “Nameless Glory” before and so she refused to let such a thing happening again. She went to train under Kiriko Yakushi in order to learn the highest level of healing techniques. But Ikki is already dead and reviving someone from the dead has never been done before. Despite such fact, Shizuku doesn’t care and is kneeling down near Ikki’s remains while putting her hands together as if praying and closes her eyes. Once Shizuku says “Aoiro Sekai (blue world)”, blue light of magical energy comes out of her whole body and then converges to form a pair of wings on her back as shown in a pic. The wings spread feathers on Ikki’s body, and his flesh and blood that touched the feathers is broken down into blue light. Shizuku explains that “Aoiro Sekai” is an improved version of “Aoiro Rinne” which can be used on other people. She is using this Noble Art to break down Ikki’s body into single cell units and then rebuild it. Stella asks if it’s possible to revive Ikki and Shizuku replies that she wouldn’t be calm if she can’t do it. Shizuku also says that she will save Ikki and so there is only one thing Stella can do right now. Or-Gaule’s “Dance Maccabre” is not a healing technique but is just forcefully joining back pieces of his body together. He won’t be able to move anymore if his body is turned to ashes and so Stella should be able to defeat him. Thus, Shizuku tells Stella to take care of Or-Gaule while she continues to revive Ikki.

Stella believes in Shizuku and then declares to everyone that she will defeat Or-Gaule. She also tells everyone to protect and help each other so that they all can return home to Vermillion. Hearing Stella’s declaration causes the armed forces to regain their fighting spirit and create order. The Blazers form a circle with a radius of 30 meters that centered on Or-Gaule, which acts as a barrier between him and the Cradleland citizens. The non-Blazers help the injured ones and the Cradleland citizens to evacuate. Nene asks if Stella is okay since she knows from experience that “Excessive Awakening” can cause a person to lose their human mind. Stella is convinced that she’s okay because even though she was swallowed by anger and sadness, she didn’t regret having met Ikki. Stella declares to Nene that she won’t lose herself no matter what happens. The satisfied Nene then declares to Stella that she will protect everyone from Stella’s full power being released and so Stella should finish off Or-Gaule without worrying about anyone. Or-Gaule, who wanted to see Stella self-destruct, is irritated to see her and everyone else being fired up. Or-Gaule then launches an attack towards the Vermillion and League forces that are forming a circle around Or-Gaule. Nene is focusing on protecting everyone from Stella’s power and so Or-Gaule’s attack hits his target. However, the armed forces are able to withstand the blow because they have reduced the length of their battle line and strengthen its thickness, which the soldiers in each row are supported from behind by the soldiers in the next row. Dandalion, who came to the battlefield together with Shizuku and commanding the armed forces, says that if they can’t withstand it alone then they will withstand it together. The irritated Or-Gaule then aims at Shizuku in order to disrupt her process of reviving Ikki, but the thread he had launched is cut down by Sirius who is protecting Shizuku and Ikki. Or-Gaule then plans on using “Marionette” to control everyone but Stella won’t let him.

Stella uses her physical wings to move fast towards Or-Gaule in order to strike him with her big sword. Or-Gaule uses “Punk Decoration (action scene costume)”, which he wears an outfit that was sewn by his threads and the strong outfit will guard him from Stella’s strikes. Since Or-Gaule’s physical strength that has been strengthened by “Dance Macabre” is more powerful than Stella’s dragon strength, he also plans to challenge Stella with his fists that should be more powerful than slashing with his threads. However, Stella is more powerful now after undergone “Excessive Awakening” and so her slashes feel heavy to Or-Gaule. The battle becomes one-sided with Or-Gaule being pushed back. He slightly loses his balance for a moment and during this Stella cuts off one of his legs with her sword. His cut-off leg is immediately swallowed by flame and turns into black dust. Or-Gaule falls to the ground after losing his leg and Stella immediately takes this chance to swing her burning sword towards Or-Gaule which will destroy every single cell of his body. During this moment, Stella says to Or-Gaule that he can’t win since he’s alone. But Or-Gaule yells back that he didn’t want to be alone but he and everyone else had different sense of values and so there was no way anyone could understand him. Before Stella’s sword could hit him, Or-Gaule detaches his arm and fires it towards Stella’s lower jaw which causes her to be sent flying towards the sky. Or-Gaule further shouts that he’s not doing anything wrong and that everyone is making him the bad guy and is trying to kill him. He believes everyone is enjoying trying to kill him while smiling in their heart and using power to impose “rightness” as an excuse. Thus, Or-Gaule will also kill everyone and create a world where he is allowed to smile. He then releases black aura from his whole body and plans to release his most powerful offensive Noble Art, “Le Grand Guignol (massacre play)”. Or-Gaule removes “Punk Decoration” since “Le Grand Guignol” uses all of the threads he has at his disposal. It is far more powerful than “Grand Guignol” and will kill everyone in Lucier when it’s released. Stella knows that the next move will be the decisive blow since Or-Gaule is planning to release everything he’s got into this one attack and so she won’t win if she backs down. She then flies down towards Or-Gaule fast in order to release her most powerful Noble Art at him. As the distance between them decreases, “Katharterio Salamandra” and “Le Grand Guignol” are about to be released together. However, during that moment Or-Gaule is suddenly cut all over his body.

Or-Gaule is confused about why he is suddenly cut all over his body. Even Stella is confused at first but she then remembers seeing something odd earlier. When Ikki was fighting Or-Gaule, the number of times Ikki’s blade landed on Or-Gaule’s body was more than the number of times Or-Gaule repaired his body. This causes Stella to realize that Ikki was responsible for the cuts Or-Gaule is receiving now and this was what he meant earlier about creating a way for her. Other than normal slashing, Ikki had also used a different kind of slashing on Or-Gaule which would decide the battle. Ikki’s fifth secret sword, “Kuruizakura (off-season sakura)”, is an attack with delayed effect which his slashing used certain force and mechanism to create wounds that won’t open until later. He wasn’t just buying time for Stella and was actually also giving her a way to obtain victory. Because of the wounds Or-Gaule suddenly receives, “Le Grand Guignol” is not being released properly and he is unable to receive Stella’s attack. As a result, Stella’s “Laevateinn” pierces Or-Gaule’s chest and pins his body to the ground as shown in a pic. At the same time, “Katharterio Salamandra” is activated and Or-Gaule’s whole body is covered in flame. Nene’s intervention with her gravity ability prevents anyone else in the area to be burned. Or-Gaule can’t escape and he screams while his body is slowly turning to ashes.

“''NO! NOOOO! I DON’T WANT TO DISAPPEAR, I DON’T WANT TO! T, this is cruel!'' Everyone had always joined together to try getting rid of me! Even I didn’t want to be like this! Even I wanted to be born on the other side! Why was I the only one that no one would help?”

“…Certainly, I also think your circumstances were unfortunate. But there was someone who loved you like this and risked her life. But you didn’t look back at her…! You can resent me! It’s also inevitable for you to hate the world! But I won’t let you to say that no one helped you! I won’t allow you to say that you didn’t receive such love! The reason you’re disappearing alone is not because of “rightness”! IT’S BECAUSE YOU DIDN’T LOVE ANYONE!!!!”

Iris was a victim of Or-Gaule’s action but she continued to love him as a family and tried to protect him. If Or-Gaule had responded to Iris’ feelings, the outcome could have changed. But Or-Gaule didn’t and it proves that he’s just a selfish coward who only cares about himself. This realization causes Or-Gaule to be filled with regret and crying loudly. Eventually, his whole body is turned into ashes and Stella grabs some of them before they are swept away by the wind. Stella had planned to throw Or-Gaule’s ashes into the sea but has decided to put them in the same grave as Iris’ out of respect for her way of life. She says to Or-Gaule, who is now ashes, that if he regrets enough to cry then he should apologize to Iris on the other side. She then turns around to face towards other people in the area and raises her sword high to convey her victory. With this, the war between Vermillion and Cradleland is finally over.

'''Chapter 25: Conclusion. And Then...'''

Ikki was aware that he was dead, but now he wakes up in a room while lying on a bed. He sees Stella and wonders how he is still alive with his body healed. Stella tells Ikki that Shizuku came and reconstructed his body on a cell-by-cell basis. He is amazed that Shizuku was able to revive someone from death. Stella also informs him that Vermillion won the war though she said it in a way that made Ikki feel that she’s being distant to him. She also says it’s been 3 days and the Cradleland citizens didn’t suffer any casualty. Johann is somewhat okay since Lunaeyes is by his side. Nene also has gotten her arm back thanks to the League of Mage-Knight Nations having enough stocks of somatic cells in their cell bank for a KOK A-League player to use. But Tatara lost half of her face, one arm and half of her digestive system with her lower half of her body completely destroyed. The stimulant Tatara took prevented her dying from shock of pain and her brain has been cured from the side effects of the stimulant. However, her body is too damaged to be cured by “Capsule” and her lost body parts can’t be repaired. Body tissue can be rebuild with somatic cells but the maintenance cost of a cell bank is expensive, so the only ones who can use them are very rich people, top officials of a nation and Blazers that are vital to a nation. Ikki is glad everyone is still alive and asks for Shizuku in order to thank her. Stella says that Shizuku has been in the room the whole time but Ikki doesn’t see her which confuses him. Stella then explains that Ikki was dead and his body was too damaged, so Shizuku supplied her own cells to Ikki by becoming part of his body in order to revive him. Hearing such explanation causes Ikki to be shocked and crying. Stella realizes Ikki is misunderstanding things and asks Shizuku to come out. Shizuku’s snickering voice is heard and says that there is no other way even though she wanted to be worried by her older brother.

Ikki turns to the direction of Shizuku’s voice and is shocked to see her, in the size of a palm, sitting on his shoulder. He is shocked to see Shizuku’s body has become so small and semi-transparent. Shizuku explains that Ikki’s somatic cells were damaged at considerable amount but some parts of his body were still usable and so she used her own body to act as a “link” in order to repair his body. In addition, Ikki and Shizuku are siblings that share the same blood so there was perfect compatibility. But because she is also lending her own supply of somatic cells to Ikki, she can’t maintain her body’s original size. Shizuku wanted to remain like this but she knows Ikki would be against it. She then says that the reconstruction of Ikki’s body is finished and that his body is at the stage of self-repairing by making use of the cell growth space. Shizuku is currently inside Ikki’s body in order to help the process and she can separate from his body if he wants her to. A blue light then comes out of Ikki’s body and then forms into Shizuku in her original appearance. Ikki thanks Shizuku for saving him, but she’s giving off a strange reaction while looking at him. While her eyes look feverish in a scary way, her nose inflating and she’s hugging her own body, Shizuku says that Ikki thanking her while he’s in a very cute appearance might cause her to become a weird type of person. Stella also says that she understands how Shizuku feels, while Stella’s face is slightly dyed and her mouth is loose. Ikki is confused by the two’s behavior but when he looks at his reflection in the window, he realizes that his body has become smaller. Ikki panics after seeing his appearance is like when he was in primary school as shown in a pic. Shizuku explains that this is Ikki’s current true appearance.

“There is a limit to my mana and concentration ability, so we can’t stay united the whole day. It’s necessary for Onii-sama alone to have a body that can move to a certain extent. But the amount of somatic cells is not enough. After thinking what to do, as a good opportunity-’cough’! As a last resort, I tried reproduce the Onii-sama from childhood.”

Ikki was able to maintain his original appearance because Shizuku was sharing her somatic cells but after she left his body he is left with his own amount of somatic cells which is only enough to make a smaller body. Ikki understands that it was necessary and that it wasn’t Shizuku’s hobby though he was a little suspicious. Ikki has the physical ability of a 10 year old and so he can’t do reckless things like before or else his body will break. Shizuku says that even if Ikki looks adorable now Stella is not allowed to do lewd things to him because he has a small body and the burden is heavy. If Stella does something like “Ittou Shura of the Night”, Shizuku will spread about it through SNS. Stella strongly denies she will do such thing but Shizuku thinks Stella is a monkey that has been lusting for Ikki the whole year. Shizuku also doesn’t mind if Stella is doing such thing while Shizuku’s body is united with Ikki’s body because there’s no guarantee that the child that will be created during that time will be Stella’s. Stella thinks Shizuku is really scary and asks Ikki how she grew up to be like this, but Ikki doesn’t really know and thinks that his running away from home during middle school could be the cause. Shizuku then tells both Ikki and Stella that they should never forget that Ikki is a seriously injured person that has lost almost 30% of his body. Ikki complies since he can tell by himself that his physical ability has been reduced by about 50%. He then asks if he’s going to remain like this but Shizuku denies this. Ikki’s body has been repaired by making use of the body’s growth space and humans generally can still grow up to the age of 25, so there’s still enough room for growth in Ikki’s 16 year old body. If Ikki fully exploits Shizuku’s magic technique, he can return to his original appearance in half a year.

Nene suddenly comes into the room and also comments about Ikki’s current appearance. Ikki thanks Nene for protecting everyone while he was fighting Or-Gaule. Nene came to inform Shizuku that the League HQ evaluated her “reviving the dead” ability and so she’s being promoted to A-rank as of today. Ikki is delighted because the only other A-rank student knights in the League right now are Stella and Ouma. But Shizuku asks if she’s the only one getting a promotion since Ikki has been more active than her. Nene explains that Blazer rank is not like a medal, but is actually a standard created for the purpose of managing Blazers and so the criteria can’t be changed for the sake of just one irregular person. Shizuku is disappointed but understands that a Blazer whose life would be in danger after receiving just one bullet can’t even be given E-rank status. But Nene also adds that since Ikki has already achieved “Brute Soul”, his rank is just a decoration on the surface. There is no one in this world that looks down on him after seeing the Seven Stars Sword Art Festival and the recent battle just now. Nene also came to give Ikki a message from Levi Ascarid. Levi is grateful to Ikki for not making Iris’ last moments not of regret and so Ikki should contact her if he’s in trouble. She has promised to do everything in her power to help Ikki even if it’s just once. Nene also says that Iris’ body and Or-Gaule’s ashes will be buried in their hometown. Having Levi’s backing also means having the backing of the League’s France branch, which is something more incredible than achieving a high Blazer rank. Ikki wanted to decline the offer at first because he feels he’s not qualified to have it but Nene says that he can’t refuse it. Ikki is not the one to judge whether or not he has the right, and it’s useless to refuse because Levi is not the kind of person who would back down easily from someone else’s opinion. But the biggest reason is that it’s a necessary power for Ikki because his position has largely changed after this war. After defeating Iris who was the 4th ranked knight in the League, Ikki is now considered a major force for the entire League. Various types of people will try to come after Ikki from now on and so Nene tells him that it’s better to have more allies. Nene’s advice causes Ikki to remember the scheming that occurred during Hagun’s selection battles. He then realizes that in order to prevent something like that happening again and without troubling other people, he needs political power. Thus, Ikki accepts Levi's offer of help.

Nene tells Shizuku that they should leave especially since Shizuku needs to take a break in healing Ikki. But before they leave, Shizuku tells Ikki that what he did to Stella this time was the worst. She believes that even if a strategy that requires dying is the only way to achieve the best results, the people who choose that are scums. Shizuku is fine with it because she only loves her older brother, but Stella is different. Ikki loves Stella and has sworn to be by her side, so he needs to take responsibility for that love. Shizuku is not on Ikki’s side for this so she tells him to do his best to be forgiven. Shizuku said these things with a smile but Ikki can tell that she’s angrier than she’s ever been. After Shizuku and Nene leave the room, Stella locks the door and closes the curtain of the window. She approaches Ikki with anger which causes Ikki to be scared and trying to make excuses. Ikki argues that he couldn’t think of any other way to prevent everyone being killed by Or-Gaule but Stella doesn’t consider it as a good excuse. After remembering what Shizuku just said, Ikki realizes that what he did was selfish and he made Stella went through so much pain. He then apologizes to Stella and says that he will do anything to make Stella not hate him. She asks if Ikki will give her good morning and good night kisses every day, which he agrees. She also wants him to recite a different poetry on what he likes about Stella for an hour every day and that he will use the royalties produced from the distribution of the compiled contents to support her. Ikki finds it strange but Stella then laugh and says that she was just joking. She is not angry anymore because what she wants to say to Ikki was already said by Shizuku. But the biggest reason is because she’s happy to see Ikki alive. She then immediately hugs Ikki’s small body and apologizes because Ikki wouldn’t have to die if she had noticed Or-Gaule’s “Dead Maccabre”. Ikki replies that it was also his fault because he should have realized Or-Gaule’s trump card, not letting Stella fight alone or been much stronger. They then promise to each to other to be stronger so that what happened before won’t repeat.

Ikki and Stella kiss and feel each other’s warmth. This causes Ikki to remember that the world he saw when he was dying was a place of total darkness. He doesn’t want to go to such place again and so he has sworn to become stronger. Ikki tries to make the kiss deeper but Stella stops him. She is very emotional right now so she might not be able to hold back if they go further. But Ikki says it’s too late and that he can’t hold back anymore. Ikki grabs Stella’s back and head, and then gives her a rough kiss. This surprises Stella at first since she didn’t expect this from the usual Ikki, but she eventually let him deepened the kiss. During that moment, the door to the room was forced open by Stella’s parents who came to tell Stella something while panicking. When they enter the room, they clearly see the appearance of Ikki and Stella who had just kissed. Sirius is about to go berserk since he sees his precious daughter being that intimate with a man, but Astrea stops him by pinching his butt. Astrea is glad to see Ikki is okay and already filled with energy now. Ikki and Stella are embarrassed that their physical intimacy was seen by Stella’s parents. Stella then asks why her parents were in such panic when they came into the room. Astrea replies that it’s about Tatara and what she tells Stella causes her to be shocked while angered.

At Vermillion International Airport, Dandalion has prepared a small jet aircraft with autopilot function for Tatara who is in an electric wheelchair. The aircraft is a reward for Tatara’s role in the war but she asks if it’s okay for Dandalion, who is a branch leader of the League, to supplysuch goods to an assassin from Rebellion. Dandalion claims the only information he has on Tatara is that she’s a student of Akatsuki Academy. A League branch is not an extension of the headquarters but is actually a body that serves as a point of contact in order for member countries to cooperate with the headquarters, and so it more loyal to its country than to the League headquarters. The significance of the League’s existence is that small countries cooperate with each other and face the threat of major powers together, but the League’s expansion would be hindered if intervention in a nation’s internal affairs becomes too much. Such organizational structure is the reason why the League’s mobilization in the recent war was limited. Tatara thinks there might be a movement to create centralization of power with the recent war being used as a reason and so she might receive some “work” from the League. In order for her to continue her professional work, she needs to heal her body. She plans to have a surgery that will restore her body and then have rehabilitation immediately, but it will all take about a year. When Tatara is about to leave, Dandalion says Stella will be sad but Tatara doesn’t care. Tatara’s body was in a state where it couldn’t possibly be saved but Stella begged Shizuku to save Tatara even though Shizuku was reluctant in saving a terrorist. Tatara’s not sure what stupid thing Stella will do when she sees her and so she tries to leave fast. But as Tatara is about to board the prepared small aircraft, Stella shows up from the sky and destroys the aircraft.

Tatara is unharmed from the flying debris of the destroyed aircraft by using her reflecting ability and angrily asks Stella what she’s doing. Stella is also angry at Tatara who is trying to leave so suddenly and asks where Tatara will go even though the Abgrund family has been destroyed. Stella also says there will be an announcement of engagement between Lunaeyes and Johann once Cradleland has settled down. Since Luna is renouncing her succession to the throne, Stella will be the next queen of Vermillion. She wants to hire Tatara as a personal bodyguard since Tatara’s ability is best suited for such duty and she also offers benefits and residency. Stella believes no one in Vermillion would oppose Tatara since she helped saved the country and that Tatara should quit her work as an assassin and start a new life here. Tatara responds by asking Stella to come closer to her and then suddenly accelerates her electric wheelchair so that its footrest hits Stella’s shin which hurts Stella. Tatara says with an unpleasant face that Stella is misunderstanding things. Tatara wasn’t fighting for Stella’s country, but for a personal problem. Her wounds are the result of that and so she doesn’t need Stella’s pity. Tatara also says that Stella should be more careful about who she’s talking with if she’s going to be the ruler of a country. In the first place, whatever happens to Tatara has nothing to do with Stella’s life anymore. But Stella disagrees because she has come to love Tatara. Stella was able to become stronger after Tatara taught her what she was lacking, and Tatara fought so hard in the recent war, so Stella just couldn’t leave Tatara alone. Tatara thinks she has gotten too close to Stella and she doesn’t really hate her. However, Tatara believes she doesn’t have right to receive Stella’s kindness. She thanks Stella for worrying about her but she also says it’s a fact that she has killed dozens of people. Tatara also doesn’t believe all the things she had done were bad things because she was never taught such morals, so it’s meaningless for her to try to atone. At the very least she wants to stick with her beliefs and if she manages to survive through her crappy life without deceiving herself then she will be able to like herself. This is a battle which Tatara is betting her own ego and so she wants Stella not to interfere. Hearing Tatara’s explanation causes Stella to have no choice but to back down. Tatara also says that the person named Yui Tatara doesn’t truly exist in this world and so she is like a ghost that will be eventually be forgotten.

Tatara moves her wheelchair towards another small aircraft that was already prepared with her back facing Stella. She can hear Stella’s sobbing but she still keeps going so that she won’t be able to hear the sobbing anymore. However, Stella’s sobbing is becoming louder and less natural which causes Tatara unable to bear with it anymore. Tatara turns around and throws a card at Stella in order to shut her up. The card is Tatara’s business card as an assassin and it has her contact detail. Tatara will at least go to Ikki and Stella’s wedding ceremony and so she asks Stella to stop her weird crying. Stella becomes happy because it means she doesn’t have to forget about Tatara and can still form some connection with her. Tatara wonders why she did such unnecessary thing and if it was because she wanted to do so. Thinking about it is such a bother and so Tatara starts leaving in order to have a break. Once she’s in the small aircraft, she turns on the autopilot and set the coordinates for the Abgrund house’s recuperation facility. Tatara then realizes she forgot to tell Stella about something and so sends her an email. The message Stella had just received says that Tatara’s real name is Vier and so Stella should call her that when they meet next time. As the plane is leaving, Stella shouts her gratitude to Vier. Stella has decided to continue persuading Vier to choose a different way of life since the email she has received is proof that it’s possible.

Epilogue: Swooping Down Justice

The war between Vermillion and Cradleland has ended with the death of the main villain Or-Gaule, but everything is not restored back to its original state. Or-Gaule had already destroyed Rebellion’s headquarters before coming to Vermillion. As a result, the equilibrium maintained between the League of Mage-Knight Nations, the Union and Rebellion had collapsed. The world begins to change when it enters the era where the League and the Union would clash directly. The scene takes place during the first conflict which was more than two weeks before the conclusion of the Vermillion War. Few helicopters with armed soldiers have arrived at the destroyed Rebellion headquarters in the Alps. They belong to the United States supernatural powers unit, “PSYON”. Rinna Kazamatsuri, Sara Bloodlily and Charlotte Corde are prepared to engage them in order to protect Kouzou Kazamatsuri and Prime Minister Tsukikage. But Kouzou stops them because he knows one of the people that came is someone the girls definitely can’t win against. This person who descended down from a helicopter slowly without a parachute is a blonde-haired man wearing a visor as shown in a pic. The United States is the largest military power in the world and this man is PSYON’s commander, Abraham Carter. He is the country’s strongest “psychic” and is nicknamed “The Hero (superman)”. The volume ends with Carter asking Kouzou and the others a question.

“Prime Minister of Japan, Bakuga Tsukikage. In addition, the head of the country’s largest conglomerate Kazamatsuri Zaibatsu, Kouzou Kazamatsuri. As one from the United States which serves as the justice of the world, I ask you all. As of this moment, are all of you who are standing on this place enemies of the world or allies? Which one?”

Characters

 * Ikki Kurugane