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 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.
