This is one area where things took a much different path in the manga. Eagle did die with both Lantis and Hikaru's names on his lips, at least. That's one way to deal with a love triangle! Not really my favorite way. That'll be part of the finale, next time! so Hikaru gets out to confront her on foot, alone. If she waits a little more, things might still work out in her favor without her having to risk anything.ДЄt this point, Nova is bereft of support, betrayed by the one she looked to as her closest family. Unlike Eagle, however, Nova can teleport, so she gets out at the last second instead of dying!Дebonair retreats to her secret lair, even now reluctant to fight a direct battle. At any rate, the Magic Knights react fast enough to counter with a Spiral Flash, but Regalia gets caught in the middle and blown the fuck up, just like Eagle's FTO. Debonair decides to sacrifice her last now-useless pawn in an attempted strike at the Magic Knights, firing a beam of energy right through her Poor Nova! Sorry, you had a fantastic run, but you've been left behind in power now.ДЄnd as Nova looks for help from her 'Mother'. She tries to grapple, hand to hand, but Hikaru just squeezes and Regalia's hands melt. but her attacks are utterly ineffective against the combined Rune-Gods. Hikaru's rage triggers their combination transform, as they last did vs Emeraude! The Magic Knights fly right at Debonair, Hikaru intent upon vengeance! It's been a while since anyone died, so the anime had to remind people that this is the darker version of the story. but it turns out that that was overly optimistic. Well, that answers the question of who the next Pillar will be! Clef had said that they'd know when the Proof of the Pillar finished changing. The FTO had sustained too much damage to be able to dodge or shield anything else. and Eagle can reach in and pull him out! They've saved him, and taken away Nova's tactical advantage! And the whole thing required both Hikaru and Eagle fighting and switching off with each other, so, you know, more poly shipping fuel.ДЇreeing Lantis is enough of a shock to Nova that it disrupts her dimensional shenanigans, allowing outside forces to join the battle! Unfortunately, the new person who promptly joins the battle is none other than Debonair herself. Even though Hikaru was the one who woke him up, Eagle is still the one he knows best.ДЄ sudden forceful assault on Nova from the damaged FTO, with Lantis calling the lightning down on himself at a key moment. but he's able to telepathically communicate with Eagle now, coordinating a plan to get him out. Hikaru's attempt was a success: Lantis is awake! He can't do much. He's trusting in the others to fix things before that happens. even if it means he risks getting torn apart with it. He's going to hang on to this world for as long as he can. Well, there goes like a third of the castle.ДЄs the pace of the world's destruction rapidly accelerates, Clef uses the very last of his strength to reinforce the castle itself. the best of which is Aska and Sang Yung handing out tea and sweets amidst the chaos. Everyone has their own methods of dealing with the crowd. Meanwhile, most of the minor characters are trying to protect the civilians and keep them from despair even while the castle crumbles around them. But ultimately, everything Debonair taught her was for Debonair's benefit only it's only taken her further away from herself and Hikaru being able to understand each other. Like Alcyone, she started out kinda bad and was twisted into something much worse. Eagle is the only one willing to attack ruthlessly - but his illness is making him falter badly enough that he's kind of more of a liability than anything else! That FTO is getting torn up pretty badly.ДЄnyway, here's the other reason that Nova is so fucked up: after she was created from Hikaru and left behind in Cephiro, Debonair 'raised' her. because of that, Hikaru's hesitating when she strikes, leaving herself open to counterattacks. it's a lot for them to handle!ДЄnd then there's the whole thing where she's using Lantis as a human shield. And she's pulling out all the stops here: pulling them into her dimension, tossing out energy blasts that somehow curve around and strike from behind, bombarding them with Lantis's stolen lightning and actual bombs that she summons from somewhere. Nova is no longer the incomprehensible, unstoppable force that she once was, but she's still far from a pushover. Fight! Fight! Fight! It's the Magic Knights and Eagle vs the fearsome Nova, kicking off the penultimate battle of the series!

Magic knight rayearth manga ending