Valvrave The Liberator Second Half Redo

To sum it up, it will take place right as the heroes return to the Module after destroying the Phantom and Liselotte’s death. Things play out the same, except someone actually asks where Saki is, and this makes Haruto more eager to get back out there. Course, the others also point out that he has no plan of attack. Inuzuka even says that they can only focus on what they can do now, making Haruto realize how much L-Elf is needed right now.

So he goes to L-Elf, who is still grieving over Lieselotte. This part remains the same. Heck, for the most part, it all remains the same, aside from Haruto being less comfortable with Shouko due to his mind still flashing back to Saki. Again and again, he tries to go to L-Elf, asking for help to come up with some sort of plan, given that they are still one pilot down. But again and again, L-Elf refuses to help, seeing how all his plans to save Lieselotte would all end in failure. He won't even allow Haruto to feed on him, telling him in a frustrated tone to find someone else, leaving Haruto disappointed. It results in him feeling alone, compared to the other pilots, who are currently trying to take it easy.

Then the big reveal happens. Again, same as before. Only this time, Saki says “Haruto, onegai tasukete” as the broadcast comes to an end. It’s something that brings her pain, because she promised herself that she wouldn’t show any signs of weakness. But with everything that happened to her up to this point, she can’t help but call out to the one she cares for.

It’s inaudible to most, but Haruto, upon seeing her mouth those words, and with her look of despair making him flash back to both the night of his assault on her and when her confession in the theater, clenches his fist and makes the decision to save her. He won’t leave her alone.

Obviously, he must help everyone on the module escape first. In a difference from the original, many of the ARUS foot soldiers are reluctant to turn their weapons on what they see as simple kids, regardless of the order and what was seen in the broadcast. Yohei is still shot, with the President ordering them to kill the rest, before Akira comes in in Valvrave 06, triggering a stand-off.

It's then that the soldiers note that he isn’t regenerating, confusing them even more. Despite the President of ARUS demanding them to kill all the “Type Seven Lifeforms”, the commander refuses, saying that they should instead take them as hostages and test them once they return to ARUS, as they can't be sure yet, as killing innocent children would not reflect well on them. The President reluctantly seems to agree, much to the relief of the students.

However, the President, who was informed by Cain and Amadeus that this might have happened, calls in another militia that was on site, this one funded entirely by the Council of 101. They aren’t Magius themselves but are in it simply for the protection and funding that is given to them. Equipped with bulletproof armor, and masks that cover up their faces, they seem much more inhuman than the ARUS forces. And the insignia on their shoulders, the head of a bull, with the group even being named "Taurus Company", implies that they are the forces that will continue to fight the heroes even 200 years later.

The commander, who at this point was helping to escort some of the students to one of the transports, is approached by the head of the militia, stating that they are taking over the operation, while also taking the President with them, as ARUS’s soldiers clearly aren’t doing their jobs. When protested by the ARUS commander, the head Taurus soldier then questions if they themselves aren’t inhuman monsters, wondering why they’d be so eager to defend these lifeforms.

With that, the massacre begins. To say that it is a bloodbath even more than in the show is an understatement, as now, not even ARUS soldiers are safe. Anything that is seen as potential enemies or allies of them is killed without mercy. Haruto must protect Shouko and the others on the way, escorting them to the shuttles, before he can join the other pilots, who currently have their hands full with trying to defend the transports from being shot down by Taurus Company.

It’s during this that he takes a bullet for Shouko when a sniper tries to assassinate her. Sadly, this results in the truth about his nature finally being unveiled to her, the one he never wanted to let know. This time however, she won’t sell him or the other pilots out. But she does feel extremely betrayed by him and runs away, even asking how she can trust the person who inadvertently killed her father, shocking Haruto, as he too is just now realizing this.

It ends up leaving him hurt, but also making him wonder if he can truly still be with her. After all, if he didn’t trust her enough to divulge the truth to her, then how can he be in a relationship that requires open communication, especially with her now revealing a secret of her own? However, he can’t dwell on this for too long, because he is needed in his Valvrave to defend the remaining shuttles. With Inuzuka snapping him out of his funk, he races to board it.

The rest of the battle proceeds as normal, only all the pilots survive, and follow the survivors to the rendezvous point. Just before that however, Inuzuka asks him what his feelings for Shouko are, given everything that happened. He was witness to the bitter confrontation the two had when the truth about Haruto was shown to her after all.

Haruto hesitates. He at first says that he still loves her, but after remembering the despair he caused her from keeping quiet about his condition, and how it impacted her safety during the escape, he settles on calling her his dearest friend still, (while silently admitting that he no longer sees her as his fated one). Satisfied by his answer, Inuzuka boards the Mass Driver, telling him he’ll back him up when meeting Shouko again.

As he flies off, Haruto starts to head to the Driver. However, he stops, as he then remembers the look on Saki’s face after her body healed. It was a similar look as to when he came to consciousness after the curse assaulted her and witnessed her broken expression, and when she mentioned how lonely she felt during their theater date.

Haruto is left conflicted as to what to do next. He doesn’t have a plan of attack, and desperately wants to mend things with Shouko as soon as possible, along with getting help from L-Elf. But he keeps flashing back to the despair on Saki’s face, feeling that he let someone else suffer in his stead yet again, and the longer he waits, the more she’ll continue to suffer. He remembers how she wished for her loneliness to be shared with someone, and she’s currently all alone and in hell right about now.

Now with a determined expression, Haruto makes his choice. He’s going off to save Saki. This is something he feels he must do on his own. After all, leaving her behind is what led to this massacre, and he feels he must take responsibility for this. And given how L-Elf is currently not going to provide any sort of plan, he can’t wait any longer, lest Saki must endure more at the hands of the enemy.

Here, we also get more insight as to what Saki has been going through. Turns out, she’s being used as little more than a lab rat, with all kinds of torture done to her all in the name of “finding out the weaknesses of the pilots”, and to see what exactly makes them specifically able to pilots the Valvraves, with the ARUS President hoping to get his men to use the captured Carmilla, and Dorssian officials have similar sentiments. This is all bullcrap on the part of the Magius side, but they’re still letting the humans conduct the tests on her.

Given that it ranges from drowning her, electrocuting her, and even cutting her open and slicing off parts of her body, it all very nearly breaks the poor girl. Not helped at all by the fact that it reminds her of her traumatic childhood, that she tried so hard to run away from, complete with memories of her abuse at the hands of her mother, and that she is alone once again, with no-one to ease her suffering.

A-Drei isn’t happy with seeing this happen to Saki, but as a soldier, he can’t really do much to help, aside from intervening when they try to cut her open again. He angrily tells them that this is against Dorrsia’s code of conduct involving prisoners but is rebuffed when told the orders come directly from the heads of Dorssia themselves. Though they do congratulate him on his capture of her, as it also allowed them to strike a decisive blow against Jior via the exposure of the pilots’ inhuman nature, leading to the massacre.

This disgusts A-Drei enough to turn away from all this, as he wanted to reform Dorssia to help protect innocent lives, Dorssian or Jiorian, not take them. As a result, He wants to let her go, but only after she gives him some answers about L-Elf. And heck, if it turns out L-Elf did betray him after all, then he’s going to let her stay as a lab rat. At the very least, he hopes to find out who exactly caused L-Elf to do all that, as he believes that that culprit, not Saki, deserves her treatment instead.

However, when he tries to interrogate Saki, she remains silent. She knows that Haruto was the one that shot his eye, and she fears what exactly A-Drei would do to him should he find out, especially given his statement that he’d make him go through what she’s enduring. So, she says nothing.

With everything that's happening without a way to stop it, A-Drei’s frustration over the entire situation finally spills over. He angrily asks her why she’s remaining quiet, when all it just means she’ll remain a lab rat for the foreseeable future, and given her immortality, that could be for another 200 years. Sadly, his interrogation time is up, and he must leave her cell.

It concludes with a frustrated A-Drei leaving Saki to be placed in the body bag again, all while the latter lets a tear fall from her eye. However, she silently tells herself that she’ll endure it, for the sake of Haruto, even apologizing for asking him to save her, as she doesn't want to burden him with more trouble.

Back to Haruto, he gets a message from the other pilots asking where exactly he is. When he tells him what he’s doing, the latter is incredulous at first, pointing out that he needs to sort things out with Shouko and he has no plan.

Haruto remains adamant in his rescue attempt though, saying he’s taking responsibility, as leaving Saki behind led to this whole mess in the first place. And given how L-Elf was fine with letting Akira die during the trip to earth, and his current despair-ridden self, he’s not going to wait on him for a plan this time around. Raizo offers to head back to assist him, but Haruto adamantly refuses, saying that they will be needed to defend the survivors in case of another attack.

Reluctantly, they let him go, with Inuzuka and Raizo wishing him luck, and that they can be counted on to keep Shouko and the others safe. With that he heads on out. However, he tells Inuzuka to try and get L-Elf out of his funk and sends a transmission to be unlocked by Akira and given to him.

The situation at the rendezvous point is less than stellar. The pilots are denied entrance due to the tensions surrounding their nature. However, unlike before, Shouko eventually lets them in, as she realizes that they need them, given that they will have Dorssian and ARUS forces on them soon. The fact that Haruto is not with them makes her grieve, thinking that she drove him away with her hurtful declarations. Though Inuzuka clarifies that that isn’t the case to her, she still can’t help but feel sorry.

That said, they are still without a clear game plan, and several, from Satomi to Takahi, and yes even Inuzuka and Raizo, try to get L-Elf to give them some form of strategy. But he’s still catatonic with grief.

It’s at this point that Akira is given the data from Inuzuka that was handed to him by Haruto. It turns out, it’s a video recording of the last conversation between the latter and Lieselotte, with her telling him about her wish for a sanctuary for all types of lifeforms and all that jazz. However, she’s still shy, so she gives it to Shouko. Just in time to, as she, despite her heavy heart, also decided to try to shake L-Elf out of his flunk, given her duty as their leader and all that.

Shouko, with transmission in hand, goes to L-Elf. She begs him to help them, only for him to tell her that it’s pointless. When he brings up the name Lieselotte, she suddenly remembers that that is who was in the transmission she has, so she plays her last words to him.

This finally gets him to wake up, but not in the most desirable of ways. He feels both betrayed and saddened that the one he loved was in fact a Magius, and she never told him that fact. This makes Shouko empathize with him, as the same thing is going on between her and Haruto. Both go through a moment where they share their feelings about how they feel betrayed, and what was all this for. The people they trusted and loved the most kept secrets from them, making them wonder if it was ever going to end with them together.

As they listen more to the transmission, and they hear Lieselotte’s sincere desire to help humans and such, this leads them both to decide to follow that dream. Helps that, with her optimism and her decision to share his pain, Shouko reminds L-Elf of Lieselotte. While the two may not realize it yet, they are beginning to move past their feelings for a relationship that couldn’t be, but still honor their wishes.

Back to Haruto, who is now setting his rescue operation in motion. Using the Valvrave to launch himself after securing it in a hidden location on the moon, he grabs a hold of one of the Dorssian Waffe that is returning to the command ship after patrolling for any stragglers, and when it docks, sneaks onboard to begin his search.

He doesn’t really have a plan, as he himself noted that he’s not L-Elf. So, he’s making this all up on the spot. But should push comes to shove, he’s willing to even give up his life in exchange for Saki’s rescue, if that must happen. He himself is fully expecting that to be what he has to do, but has prepared to face the consequences of it.

To make it easier for him, he knocks out one of the patrolling Dorssian soldiers with his helmet and steals his uniform. He considers simply body-jacking the unconscious fellow, but after what happened to Saki on Earth, he is reluctant to leave his body behind. So, he instead stows the body and his pilot suit in a locker.

While sneaking across the ship, to try and find where they’re keeping her, he comes across several important files in one of the meeting rooms. One of which shows the Phantoms being built by the Dorssians, along with a recording of Barlet agreeing with the higher ups to frame Jior for them. He decides to steal said incriminating information to hopefully clear Jior’s name.

Soon after, he happens across a surveillance station, which he can use to finally find out where Saki is being kept. It’s also where he comes across the research videos showing Saki’s torture. Horrified by the sight, and remembering everything that she told him, he hurries to her location.

Before long, Haruto finally makes it to where Saki is being held, and witnesses how she’s being kept in that body bag. Without wasting any moment further, he releases her from that device.

As Saki’s eyes open, she’s shocked to see Haruto in front of her, wondering if it’s all a dream. The latter embracing her tightly, while apologizing for everything with tears flowing down his eyes, convinces her that this isn’t the case. She hugs him back, reassuring him that he doesn’t have to apologize.

As the two prepare to make their escape, A-Drei shows up, having discovered where Haruto had stashed the Dorssian soldier. Pointing a gun at Haruto, he then asks the question he posed to Saki. Despite Saki’s protests, Haruto gives him the truth. L-Elf was hijacked when he shot his eye, and he’s the one that did it.

This enrages A-Drei, who grips his gun tighter, and asks why he should let him go, given he put a divide between him and his friend that he hoped to spark a revolution with, saying he ruined the plan he had for them both. Saki is also shocked that Haruto admitted this, not wanting him to go through what she went through.

But Haruto remains firm, telling A-Drei that he is right to hate him, and that, as long as Saki can be let go, then he will allow himself to be subject to whatever torture is in store for him. A horrified Saki begs him not to do this, as he was the reason, she stayed silent through her ordeal. Haruto tells her that he knows she and the others will come for him, especially since L-Elf should have the data about Lieselotte right about now.

Seeing this, A-Drei is hit with confusion, realization, and despair. The one who shot his eye out is here, not as some inhuman monster, but a man willing to give his life for his friend. Saki refused to answer him and endured all that torture because she was trying to protect him. And Lieselotte, one of the princesses of Dorssia, is dead, and he realizes that, had he not captured Saki, she could’ve been there for the rescue, and she could still be alive, not to mention having the truth stay hidden about the Kamitsuki, preventing the death of innocents. Innocents that he never wanted to see dead.

Overcome with grief and remorse for everything, he puts his gun up to his own head with a sad smile, wondering what kind of prince he is given everything that happened because of him, even questioning how he can start reforming Dorssia given how much worse he made everything. Before he can fire though, Haruto stops him. He tells him that the best way to make it up is to join them, as he can at the very least help L-Elf once more.

With renewed resolve for now, A-Drei agrees. Together, the three of them head to the Hanger where Carmilla is being stored, with the Karlstein graduate stealing one of the Kirschbaums.

X-Eins sees A-Drei, questioning him as to why he’s betraying them. After the latter answers, he lets him go, saying that he’ll catch up with them shortly. He wants justice for H-Neun’s death but needs to get more evidence before hand.

With that, Saki and Haruto fly out in the Carmilla, with A-Drei right behind them in the Kirschbaum. The two make it to the moon where Haruto hid the Valvrave, and he prepares to embark. Just before that though, Saki asks him something. She knows that time is of the essence, but something Haruto said during the confrontation with A-Drei concerns her.

She asks him why he was willing to give up his own life in exchange for her freedom, as having him go through what she went through was not at all what she wanted to happen. He responds by stating that he needs to be punished for all that he's caused her and the others, as he feels responsible for her capture and execution. He mentions how he could’ve handled the torture as well, given that he’s familiar with being experimented on (referencing the tests he did on himself to try and curb his urges as a Kamitsuki).

Remembering that time, Saki asks if that’s why he rejected her offer to ease his burden by doing the same thing again to her, but instead, going to L-Elf. He nods, explaining why he only decided to feed on L-Elf, because he promised that he'd prevent him from becoming a monster and would kill him if he turned, also pointing out how he wishes Saki didn't try to offer her saying it felt like a betrayal of trust as she wouldn’t stop him from becoming a monster, and that it reminded him too much of his greatest failure. He must bear this burden himself.

Insulted by this admission, Saki in return pretty much chews Haruto out for thinking such things, saying she feels hurt that he can only see her as a reminder of his failures, asking how is offering to share his pain a betrayal of trust in her? She tells him that L-Elf’s “solution” isn’t a solution at all, as the others would not react well to him dying for some misplaced "retribution”, as they all still need him. Furthermore, she tearfully asks him why he prefers punishment and death over simply working through his new urges with others, ending with her sobbing that he shouldn’t think so lowly of himself.

Haruto is left speechless by this outburst from Saki. He didn’t realize how much shouldering the burden alone would affect someone like her, and even starts to wonder if he was in fact just trying to run away from his newfound status to keep from getting hurt. Thinking back to what happened with Shouko, he wonders if it could’ve been avoided had he in fact been more accepting of the help of people like Saki, along with not trying to keep the secret away from others.

A-Drei, who had been waiting for them to finish, chimes in, saying to finish this lover’s quarrel after they rendezvous with the survivors. Saki quickly puts and a cheerful mask, asking how good her performance was, and that from now on, she’ll accept Haruto’s request to stop him before he goes bestial again. However, the hollow look in her eyes makes him doubt that she’s being truthful to him. No time to dwell on it though. The three engage with mass driver and join up with the others.

Just in time too, as the other three pilots are engaged in a battle with Dorssian forces. However, at least this time, they have L-Elf and Shouko giving them directions, the latter two having renewed spirits after their heart-to-heart. The arrival of Haruto and Saki on the scene quickly turns the tides in the heroes favor as well, and they can drive off the invaders.

During the fight to repel the Dorssian forces, Haruto and Saki are pretty much perfectly in sync, to the point that it almost looks like a dance. This notably catches A-Drei’s eye.

Anyways, now Haruto and Saki, along with a defecting A-Drei, are back onboard. Haruto is given both praise and a few head slaps from Inuzuka and Raizo for the stunt he pulled that was, nonetheless, successful. Saki, meanwhile, is given a relieved welcome from Akira. However, several of the students are still wary of her, given how she was executed on live TV and all that.

As for A-Drei, the reception for him is extremely cold. Many of the students, and even the other three Valvrave pilots, are extremely untrusting and harsh to him, as they blame him for the current situation. Not even L-Elf wants anything to do with him, as he blames him for Lieselotte not making it out alive (believing that if he had Saki and Carmilla with him, the odds would’ve been substantially better). A-Drei for his part, gives a few half-hearted attempts to defend himself, but agrees, and is filled with self-loathing. Him being treated as a pariah by basically all the survivors certainly doesn’t help.

The only reason in fact that he hasn’t been kicked out is because Haruto stands up for him, saying that they need his help for the upcoming battle. Saki could care less about A-Drei, as she’s still bitter about what she went through thanks to him, but still agrees with Haruto. So very reluctantly, the students let him stay.

It’s now downtime before the final battle to retake the module. I plan to expand on said downtime, as this was something I felt was lacking in the series (which barely gave enough time to breath), while also setting in stone the relationships it will end with (shipping goggles ago! XD).

Anyways, Saki hopes to catch up with Haruto, only to become crestfallen when she sees him decide to talk to Shouko. What doesn’t help either, is that as she looks on the extranet, she sees that her reputation as an idol is practically destroyed thanks to the execution broadcast, with her former fans denouncing her as a monster, former agents and the like wanting nothing to do with her, and even many of her fellow students see her as inhuman. She tries to take it all in stride, but it visibly affects her, and must choke back her tears.

Again, A-Drei notices this, and feels extremely guilty about it. That, and seeing the state of the Jior survivors and how they practically spit on him wherever he goes, combined with L-Elf denouncing him means he is pretty much at rock bottom. To him, he has no right to be a prince who rules over his subjects, if this is what the result is.

That said, a surprising light comes to A-Drei from the most unlikely of sources. While he is leaving a locker room, he happens to run into Akira, who is obviously scared of him due to her Hikki Komori personality and his reputation. Right as she’s about to leave however, A-Drei thinking her frightened state is less about the former and all the latter, says that she has every right to fear and be mad at him.

Unknowingly, as he is at the height of his despair at this point, he begins unloading all the grief and remorse he has bottled up inside him to Akira, who finds herself as his unexpected shoulder to cry on, herself unable to tear away. By the time it’s all over, A-Drei is pretty much collapsed in her arms crying tears of remorse. Given how she too tried to help someone (her brother) in the past, only for it to turn out horrible for the both of them, even ending up ostracized just like him. As a result, she ends up feeling sympathetic to him, to the point that she hugs him back.

Realizing that someone does actually care for him, A-Drei apologizes for his outburst, while also thanking her. He asks her what to do next, and still a bit uncomfortable, she can only say that he can try to make amends.

Meanwhile, Haruto is now talking with Shouko, at the behest of Inuzuka. He apologizes to her for not trusting her enough to disclose the truth about his inhuman nature as a Valvrave pilot, saying that he didn’t want her to reject him and that she would be afraid of him.

Shouko also apologizes, saying that she too is sorry for her reaction to finding out, and that she understands why he did it. She then asks if he still remembers the promise they made as kids, and he nods (I’m taking out that stupid memory loss subplot). Upon seeing his answer, she then asks if they still intend to follow through on it.

However, Haruto hesitates. He realizes internally that he didn’t trust Shouko enough to tell her the truth the first time, and she to him as well. If that’s the case, then combined with how far away they are now in terms of responsibilities and such, that childhood promise can’t be fulfilled if they are to move forward.

So, with a sad smile, he tells her that, while they may have been able to be together before, the new circumstances they find themselves in means he truly can’t be her soulmate anymore. Shouko, her eyes watering but with an understanding look, accepts this answer.

Now with that weight lifted, the two, still melancholy, head back to the others. Shouko goes to L-Elf, as she is still planning with him on what their next move is. He notices that she as a forlorn, but content look on her face, and asks her what happened. She tells him that she worked things out with Haruto, but that they can’t be together as a couple, given everything revealed about themselves.
L-Elf pats her back, asking if she’s still well enough to continue with the plan. She quickly reassures him yes. After all, they are to make a new nation that will fulfill Lieselotte’s wish and make it so no more secrets need to be kept. Even if she can’t be with Haruto, she’ll still fight for a world accepting of people like him.

L-Elf gives a small smile. He can’t help but see Lieselotte’s cheerfulness and caring nature reincarnated in Shouko. And yet here, he finds it much easier to speak and be honest with her, as she’s not a secret Magius. Course, he doesn’t tell Shouko this, as he wants to see her as different, but he can’t help but give a small smile at her, and her to him, now that things are moving forward once again.

Back with Haruto. Inuzuka asks if he sorted things out with Shouko, with Saki unknowingly listening in. He tells him that they are back on good terms, causing the latter to walk away, a sad smile on her face, bumping into A-Drei on the way, who notices her melancholy look.

However, she didn’t catch what Haruto said next, which is that, while he’s still friends with Shouko, he has made the decision to only stay that way with her, nothing more. Inuzuka is shocked at first but comes to an understanding once Haruto explains why. He jokingly admits that he lost a bet with Raizo over them getting together but is proud of him nonetheless for coming clean.

With that, Haruto heads on out, only to bump into A-Drei, who had been listening in on the conversation. He tells him that he too is proud of him. Before the former can walk away though, he mentions Saki, saying that she has a strong resolve, and that he’s ask for her hand in marriage if she wasn’t so dedicated to Haruto.

This surprises the latter, who didn’t realize how far her feelings for him ran. This surprises A-Drei, who thought that the two of them being in perfect sync during the recent fight was enough evidence. Wanting to atone to Saki by, at the very least, seeing her have a chance with the one she loves, A-Drei points Haruto in her direction, telling him to not let her go.

Before leaving, he throws Haruto an item; a pink-gold locket. When questioned, he simply says that he’ll need it, and to not tell her that he gave it to him. With an encouraging shove, A-Drei wishes him good luck.

Haruto eventually finds Saki inside the hallway where they talked in the show’s penultimate episode. It’s here where another change happens.

Saki pretends to act all aloof as always, asking him how things are going, especially with Shouko. He gives her a smile, saying that things are looking up now, and he has hope for the future, now that they are all back together.

Saki gives a sad smile, thinking that this means he’s going to be with Shouko after it’s all over. She then asks him to give the same proposal she believes he gave to Shouko, before teasingly saying that he’s just kidding. After which, Saki, forcing herself to smile, tells Haruto to let whoever his special someone is know how he feels soon, given that the last battle could be next. She then makes to leave the room, silently wishing that she could tell him her true feelings.

But to her surprise, Haruto grabs her wrist before she can reach the door. For him, having seen her forced smile, it reminded him far too much of her expression after the incident, the theater date, and after healing from her impalement. Realizing that she’s not being honest, Haruto asks, firmly, what she is thinking, especially after all the torture he had seen her endure. Despite Saki trying again to tell him she’s fine, Haruto is insistent. No more need for secrets after all.

Not able to hide it anymore, Saki reveals that, no, she hasn’t fully gotten over everything that happened to her after her capture. She had to endure suffocating confinement, impalement on live television, causing her to lose her idol status, and suffered some of the most horrific torture imaginable.

To her though, the worst part of it was that she was all alone during the whole of it. She had tried her hardest to gain support and companionship, only to be left by herself to suffer with no one to comfort her. It certainly didn’t help that she was essentially right back to where she was during her childhood. Merely a plaything being exploited by adults at her expense, and it all brought back the painful memories she tried so hard to forget.

Haruto is stunned and devastated at hearing this. Her words, combined with the grief on Saki’s face, makes him think that she hates him, and is about ready to leave so she doesn’t have to see him again. But before he can make a move, Saki continues.

She tells him that, despite all that, she never did the one thing that was expected of her. She never sold him or her friend out during that entirety. Sure, she was relieving her worst experiences, but to her, the only thing worse than that would be for her to betray him to save herself the pain.

Haruto is confused by this. He notes that A-Drei would’ve let her go had she confessed what really happened, and he was, as demonstrated earlier, willing to bear all the consequences he had in mind. So why didn’t she? Why did she continue to endure everything?

Saki then finally reveals the truth. Because Haruto is the light in her life that allowed her to go on. It was him that gave her the strength to never give up, and it was his selflessness and caring nature that made her so loyal to him. She pretty much all but admits that she loves him.

Haruto is taken aback by this, but not in a bad way. He thinks back to all the times she was by his side, how she was always there and never lashed out at him, even after the incident, and now, sees that she doesn’t even hold her torture against him. To her he is someone that she is willing to die for.

Saki tries to then excuse herself, even asking if he thought her acting there was peak performance material. But Haruto at this point can see she isn’t pretending. Embracing her, he tells her that he remembers what she said in the theater. And that he will be the one to share her loneliness.

Realizing that this is why A-Drei gave him the locket, he once again proposes to her, not out of guilt this time, but because he truly wants to be with her. She’s able to be for him what Shouko can’t be, and he will make sure to never let her be alone again.
Saki is stunned by this, asking him about Shouko. He responds by telling her why he can’t be with the latter given everything that happened. With locket in hand, he asks for her hand in marriage.

With tears of joy streaming down her face, Saki accepts this time. Both now emotional, Haruto than places the locket around Saki’s neck, saying that it looks good on her, to which she says she’ll cherish it always.

Just then, Haruto has another attack. Not wanting to harm his now-girlfriend, he begs her to leave before it happens again. However, she smiles and places a hand on his shoulder before exposing her neck.

After all, they are to share the same feelings and trails together from now on, so she’s willing to let him do what he is about to do for her. Seeing this, Haruto nods before the curse takes him over. Only this time, it is consensual on both sides.

At this point, the survivors end up being hailed again. Turns out, it’s X-Eins, who is also here to defect with his own Kirshbaum unit. The survivors are hesitant, especially when he asks to see A-Drei so he can get him up to speed on everything. However, L-Elf and Shouko do agree to let him onboard, especially when he says he has important information needed to fight Dorssia.

X-Eins meets up with A-Drei, who also requests L-Elf and Shouko join in this conversation, with Akira also asking to come. L-Elf and Shouko ask why he didn’t also go get Haruto, given that he is their head pilot. To which all he can do is give a rather uncharacteristically sly grin. He had in fact heard what was going on in there between the two pilots, and left to give them privacy, even dragging away a much-confused Raizo who was looking for Haruto.

Getting back to the plot, X-Eins has revealed that, to further enhance their grip on the populace, the Dorssian-ARUS alliance has begun to gather up the former heads of the royalist faction, one of whom is Kriemhild. They plan to execute her and the others on galactic TV to further dissuade any uprisings, as it turns out, she was one of the few who was highly suspicious of the whole situation. And given how they themselves were planning to overthrow the current Dorssian government, the Council cannot allow that to happen.

Shocked at this news, what with him being one of the royalists as a former prince, A-Drei immediately requests that they do something, as the royalists would greatly bolster their current force. Realizing that this is the perfect opportunity to place their plan into motion, Shouko and L-Elf agree, finally revealing the plan that they have been working on with Akira’s help.

Using the data that Haruto had scavenged while he was on the command ship, alongside the transmission containing Lieselotte’s last words, they plan to hack into the broadcast and upload all the incriminating footage. If they want the truth, then they’ll give it to them once and for all.

Afterwards, they plan to retake Module 77. L-Elf wishes to fulfill Lieselotte’s wish for a nation where humans and Magius can peacefully coexist, and Shouko too wants to govern a nation that doesn’t hold back such big secrets anymore, given how it is such that led to her (amicable) end of possibility of romance with Haruto. Akira, representing the Kamitsuki here, thinks a world like that is something worth fighting for, glancing quickly at A-Drei.

X-Eins then asks how exactly they are going to do this. Initially, the plan was to launch a full-scale assault on the Module, with the pilots clearing a way for Akira to hack directly into the broadcast satellite using Valvrave VI. The former Karlstein graduate is incredulous at this suggestion. Not only would this exhaust all Valvrave units of needed time, but several of the enemy units could be persuaded once shown the truth. That, and the ones who aren’t are some of the most elite units that Dorssia and ARUS have in their army.

Thankfully, both L-Elf and Shouko prepared for this, and have a back-up plan. But for this, they are waiting for Haruto to join them, which surprises both X-Eins and A-Drei, as L-Elf usually has everything down to the last point. But he responds that, while he was unable to save Lieselotte, Haruto managed to rescue Saki, and he wants to hear how he did it. He says that maybe Haruto’s sweetness in his approach is what is needed more now compared to his bitterness, which Shouko agrees with, which bemuses the other two Karlstein graduates.

Giving Haruto another call to join them, he finally agrees, arriving soon after with Saki by his side. Albeit both have their pilot suits partially unzipped, their hair disheveled, and Saki is currently wearing the pink-gold locket on her neck. When questioned, the two blush, sheepishly and announce their plans to marry. The reactions range from a smile in the case of A-Drei, content that he was at least able to make it up to Saki in a small way, to a sad but still congratulatory exclamation of joy from Shouko, who is still at least glad to see Haruto find someone he can still be with.

After the excitement comes back down to earth (after all, time is of the essence as X-Eins reminds them, exasperated), L-Elf states why he wanted him here. He tells him of the plan to expose the lies to the world, and since a frontal assault isn’t the most preferable action, this is where the second option comes in. The plan is to instead go for a more covert approach, via sneaking in and using Akira’s hacker hideout, which is still connected to the satellite, to hack into the broadcast. Since Haruto had managed a successful infiltration, they want to get his input into how to proceed.

A sheepish Haruto can only really shrug at first, saying that he didn’t really have a plan when he made his attempt, which baffles L-Elf. Given how he tried coming up with every single plan he could think of to try and find a way Lieselotte could’ve been saved, only for them all to end in failure, for Haruto to go in winging it, and yet turn out successful in his rescue of Saki is hard for him to wrap his head around. Saki for her part suggests that maybe he could’ve found a plan that would’ve worked if she was still with them at that time, making A-Drei cringe out of shame.

However, Haruto brings up that, because he was flying by the seat of his pants, that left him more flexible when it came to any potential spanners being thrown in. To that end, what he suggests is rather simple. Since they still don’t know that neither X-Eins or A-Drei have defected to Jior, they’ll go in alongside Akira in their Kirshbaums, and they’ll let them in, in which they’ll be able to sneak on in and reach the shack, thus hacking into the broadcast. After it is uploaded, the remaining pilots will head on to Module 77 to deal with any remaining Council forces.

Still, it requires something more, and this is when Shouko makes a rather controversial suggestion. Having talked it over with L-Elf, the two have also decided that, as part of the plan, they’ll sneak onboard the module as well. That way, they’ll be able to be on stage when the broadcast is shown, and since Amadeus is scheduled to be there, L-Elf plans to slit his throat after it is over, exposing his true nature as a Magius to the rest of the world as the clincher, with Shouko even having a speech planned to announce the return of the survivors and the founding of the new nation.

Haruto and Saki are shocked that they are willing to put their own life on the line, with Akira also nervous at the thought of potentially losing someone close, but Shouko says that this is her way of atoning for her mistrust of Haruto and the others. Besides, she adds that the least she can do is help establish where the newly engaged couple of the former two will hold their wedding. L-Elf also responds that he also wants to do this, as a favor to Lieselotte.

A-Drei tells them that he won’t let them down either, as he still must atone to his friend for what happened, alongside the rest of the Jior survivors. Akira also states that she’ll have the broadcast up before the execution can start. X-Eins even agrees to go down as well to help them, as he also has a personal stake in this. Bringing out the audio file of H-Neun’s discovery of the Magius, he reveals he took so long to get to them because he was looking for video evidence to go alongside the audio recording, and he has it now.
Turns out, it was given to him by Kriemheld, who herself was looking into his disappearance as a Royalist.

While she did get the recording, she was soon caught by Cain, hence why she and the other royalists are going to be executed. He asks if there’s a way for them to splice it in with the rest of the video, as he wants to avenge the death of his ally in arms. For someone like Akira, that’s a piece of cake, and L-Elf approves, also wanting to see a former friend receive justice.

A-Drei points out how this sort of plan is not like how L-Elf normally goes about, as it is very open, and not down to the last detail. He notes that a lot of it runs on faith. But in turn, L-Elf says that he has faith in it, especially since it came in part from Haruto, who he calls one of his friends. Haruto says the same.

The resolves now strengthened, and with the hope that the outcome will lead to a better tomorrow, it is settled. They will gather up all the remaining survivors and pilots, brief them on the plan, and then immediately set it into action. Time is of the essence after all, given how soon the execution is scheduled to take place.