What do you think?
Rate this book
Our Last Crusade or the Rise of a New World Light Novel #7
너와 나의 최후의 전장, 혹은 세계가 시작되는 성전 07
나는 제국을 멸망시켜야만 해.
그것이 설령 너라도.
적대하는 소년과 소녀의 성전(聖戰)
압도적 왕도 히로익 판타지
제국군의 습격으로 불바다로 변한 마녀들의 낙원──네뷸리스 황청. 황궁 곳곳에서 사도성과 순혈종이라는 최강들끼리의 전투가 발발하는 가운데, 이스카 일행도 루 가문의 별장에서 제국군으로 위장한 히드라 가문을 상대로 제3왕녀 시스벨을 지키기 위해 전투를 계속하고 있었다.
그리고 새로운『마녀』가 첫울음을 울고, 제국과 황청이 역사상 최악의 관계가 되어버린 날 밤. 이스카와 앨리스는 전장에서 다시 만난다. “나는 제국을 멸망시켜야만 해. 그것이 설령 너라도.” ──더는 라이벌 관계를 지킬 수 없게 된 너와 나의, 원치 않는 결투가 시작된다.
그것이 설령 너라도.
적대하는 소년과 소녀의 성전(聖戰)
압도적 왕도 히로익 판타지
제국군의 습격으로 불바다로 변한 마녀들의 낙원──네뷸리스 황청. 황궁 곳곳에서 사도성과 순혈종이라는 최강들끼리의 전투가 발발하는 가운데, 이스카 일행도 루 가문의 별장에서 제국군으로 위장한 히드라 가문을 상대로 제3왕녀 시스벨을 지키기 위해 전투를 계속하고 있었다.
그리고 새로운『마녀』가 첫울음을 울고, 제국과 황청이 역사상 최악의 관계가 되어버린 날 밤. 이스카와 앨리스는 전장에서 다시 만난다. “나는 제국을 멸망시켜야만 해. 그것이 설령 너라도.” ──더는 라이벌 관계를 지킬 수 없게 된 너와 나의, 원치 않는 결투가 시작된다.
- GenresLight Novel
248 pages, ebook
First published September 20, 2019
8 people are currently reading
42 people want to read
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews
November 10, 2021
This will have spoilers for this volume but also may spoil parts of FUTURE volumes that I skim read some summaries of, so you have been warned. You can leave the review now if you don't want to read any future volume spoilers too.
First on this volume: I did not like it. In fact, I HATED a lot of it, and it represents some of the (sadly) worst parts of this series for me.
Let me backtrack a bit. I first learned of this series years ago. I recall reading a fan translation of volume 1 while and loved it so much, I even reread parts of that same volume while walking to work in the morning, and I still recall my joy and excitement at the thought of reading more in this series. I really liked the premise and execution that much - a fantasy tale of star-crossed enemy lovers who fought each other while also ironically sharing so many beliefs, habits, and tastes together. I thought it was really sweet while also being romantic with a tinge of sadness, similar in some sense to Romeo And Juliet a tiny bit (though that work has some other issues that made me dislike it, but I won't get into that here).
Anyway, fast forward to now, and I've read volumes 1 through 7 with this volume 7 being the latest I just finished today.
Overall, this series has NOT met my expectations. I really enjoyed V1's scenes in the neutral city and moments of the two main leads together. And there HAVE been some very enjoyable moments with the two interacting, such as volume 3, when she took him as his prisoner. I really enjoyed that.
But...this series has a lot of issues. For one thing, the official translation is not good, and the writing is not good. As an example, in this V7, during the fight scene of the Saint Disciple Mei (a beast girl with superhuman strength, kinda), it constantly hammers home how her gun is super heavy and she is super strong. For example ish, it'll mention how the gun is super heavy while dropping. Then it'll repeat it with the author/writing outright saying something like "it was XX pounds, and Mei carried it easily, which shows her superhuman strength". Uhh, yeah, obviously?
The writing constantly does this, and the action scenes and fights are not interesting to read and REALLY drag the story down. Battles involve the sides explaining their abilities unnecessarily (not all of them admittedly, but they spend more time explaining their abilities to their enemy than needed), and then the writing itself just repeats itself so much with so much "tell, don't show", and the writing is honestly just awful in a lot of these fight scenes.
Now, admittedly, previous volumes had this too. But I could always stomach it to some extent because I enjoyed the main cast well enough (I don't love Iska, the male protagonist, or his team...but they were tolerable). In this one, I don't really care that much for all these Saint Disciples and the Nebulis witches/mage leaders, etc. The author's never been great with his side characters and interactions beyond the core main cast of Iska's 4 member squad and Alice with her attendant Rin. Some characters like Alice's sisters, Sisbell and Elletear are okay too, but this volume just overdid it.
There's too many characters I don't care for, and the writing/battles are not enjoyable to read, and it made getting through this volume very difficult. For reference, I've often finished this series' other volumes in a day or two, as light novels aren't particularly difficult reading usually. This isn't hard to read in terms of language or grammar - it's hard to read because it's very bad. Again, it's hard to explain, but I have to iterate just how bad the writing is in these action scenes. There's a LOT of italics used, and it's often overdone, and its often moments that could be shown more clearly/faster to the reader and more smoothly, but it isn't and comes across as stilted, with other issues.
As for the core plot...it was fine. I do like that the 1st ranked Saint Disciple Joheim is so skilled and an ex mage/traitor, alongside the way Alice was tricked to be enraged, alongside Iska still unwilling to fight her when she's angry. I like her crying so much at what she believes to be the Imperial's attack that her tears block her vision against Iska, and there's some other developments, like Elletear seeming to be the test monster that frightened Sisbell years ago, etc.
But I really wish the volume didn't waste SO much time on Kissing vs Mei, Growley vs Nameless, Lord Mask vs Risya (though her having some spirit mage powers interested me), Queen vs 1st rank Joheim - I wish all these fights were faster and that the descriptions were smoother and better, with better-flowing writing. It was difficult to read, and I had to keep taking breaks because the writing was so cringey.
This series would be so much better IMO if it just focused on Iska and Alice and really chucked a bunch of these side characters away. The best moments that are the most fun (for me anyway) are the moments with the two either fighting or working together, but the writer seems to be leaning more and more toward the fantasy/action battle aspects and the politics/war/conspiracy shenanigans going on.
Which would be fine...if it was told and executed well, but it really isn't.
Oh and another thing I REALLY hated was the flashback of the sorcerer who steals magic powers. I really didn't care that he and the Queen had a relationship paralleling Iska and Alice. It feels a bit sudden, but moreso, it didn't add anything in my opinion. The author/writing says "Iska and Alice" wouldn't follow the same fate as him and the Queen, becoming estranged enemies...but that would've been easily avoided if he just told the Queen he came to protect her, which he didn't due to pride. Fine, whatever (though it's dumb IMO since he came to protect her which meant his pride allowed that but I digress). Anyway, we don't need this parallel to show Iska and Alice being different from the norm. We ALREADY get that parallel with seeing the rest of Nebulis vs Imperials yet the duo work together. So it didn't add anything, and it felt shoehorned in, plus the reader hasn't exactly built an attachment to the sorcerer or Queen, so there's no connection there given how it's suddenly told.
Anyway, since I've been so disappointed with this volume (tremendously as a previous fan), I googled spoilers for the future released volumes, learning things like how they're targeting the Grand 8 Apostles, Rin with the Emperor as his hostage (and her using experimental tested 1 week spirit powers), and even Volume 11 being a full flashback to the 100 years ago story of the Black/White Swordmaster Crosswell, and that really doesn't interest me. I do like the idea of Joheim and Elletear teaming up, but I'm uncertain I'll read it all.
I think my plan is to continue with this series, but I'll be more willing to just skim bad parts, like the action fights and such. I should be able to parse the story's key parts and reach the scenes I enjoy more without needing to read so many of these badly written fight scenes and such. Alternatively, I may just drop this series, since I dislike the direction the author's gone with the series and its increasing focus on war/politics/conspiracy/bad fantasy action fights, etc. (Also, side note, but I'm actually not a fan of fantasy - I liked it when I was younger, but I prefer more realistic stories grounded in the modern day more, so I may just go for those.) I suppose we'll see with future releases, but for now, I may take this off my To-Reads or Favorites or other lists. I'm not sure, and I'll see how I feel eventually, but anyway, this volume has overall been terrible with only a scant few enjoyable scenes.
First on this volume: I did not like it. In fact, I HATED a lot of it, and it represents some of the (sadly) worst parts of this series for me.
Let me backtrack a bit. I first learned of this series years ago. I recall reading a fan translation of volume 1 while and loved it so much, I even reread parts of that same volume while walking to work in the morning, and I still recall my joy and excitement at the thought of reading more in this series. I really liked the premise and execution that much - a fantasy tale of star-crossed enemy lovers who fought each other while also ironically sharing so many beliefs, habits, and tastes together. I thought it was really sweet while also being romantic with a tinge of sadness, similar in some sense to Romeo And Juliet a tiny bit (though that work has some other issues that made me dislike it, but I won't get into that here).
Anyway, fast forward to now, and I've read volumes 1 through 7 with this volume 7 being the latest I just finished today.
Overall, this series has NOT met my expectations. I really enjoyed V1's scenes in the neutral city and moments of the two main leads together. And there HAVE been some very enjoyable moments with the two interacting, such as volume 3, when she took him as his prisoner. I really enjoyed that.
But...this series has a lot of issues. For one thing, the official translation is not good, and the writing is not good. As an example, in this V7, during the fight scene of the Saint Disciple Mei (a beast girl with superhuman strength, kinda), it constantly hammers home how her gun is super heavy and she is super strong. For example ish, it'll mention how the gun is super heavy while dropping. Then it'll repeat it with the author/writing outright saying something like "it was XX pounds, and Mei carried it easily, which shows her superhuman strength". Uhh, yeah, obviously?
The writing constantly does this, and the action scenes and fights are not interesting to read and REALLY drag the story down. Battles involve the sides explaining their abilities unnecessarily (not all of them admittedly, but they spend more time explaining their abilities to their enemy than needed), and then the writing itself just repeats itself so much with so much "tell, don't show", and the writing is honestly just awful in a lot of these fight scenes.
Now, admittedly, previous volumes had this too. But I could always stomach it to some extent because I enjoyed the main cast well enough (I don't love Iska, the male protagonist, or his team...but they were tolerable). In this one, I don't really care that much for all these Saint Disciples and the Nebulis witches/mage leaders, etc. The author's never been great with his side characters and interactions beyond the core main cast of Iska's 4 member squad and Alice with her attendant Rin. Some characters like Alice's sisters, Sisbell and Elletear are okay too, but this volume just overdid it.
There's too many characters I don't care for, and the writing/battles are not enjoyable to read, and it made getting through this volume very difficult. For reference, I've often finished this series' other volumes in a day or two, as light novels aren't particularly difficult reading usually. This isn't hard to read in terms of language or grammar - it's hard to read because it's very bad. Again, it's hard to explain, but I have to iterate just how bad the writing is in these action scenes. There's a LOT of italics used, and it's often overdone, and its often moments that could be shown more clearly/faster to the reader and more smoothly, but it isn't and comes across as stilted, with other issues.
As for the core plot...it was fine. I do like that the 1st ranked Saint Disciple Joheim is so skilled and an ex mage/traitor, alongside the way Alice was tricked to be enraged, alongside Iska still unwilling to fight her when she's angry. I like her crying so much at what she believes to be the Imperial's attack that her tears block her vision against Iska, and there's some other developments, like Elletear seeming to be the test monster that frightened Sisbell years ago, etc.
But I really wish the volume didn't waste SO much time on Kissing vs Mei, Growley vs Nameless, Lord Mask vs Risya (though her having some spirit mage powers interested me), Queen vs 1st rank Joheim - I wish all these fights were faster and that the descriptions were smoother and better, with better-flowing writing. It was difficult to read, and I had to keep taking breaks because the writing was so cringey.
This series would be so much better IMO if it just focused on Iska and Alice and really chucked a bunch of these side characters away. The best moments that are the most fun (for me anyway) are the moments with the two either fighting or working together, but the writer seems to be leaning more and more toward the fantasy/action battle aspects and the politics/war/conspiracy shenanigans going on.
Which would be fine...if it was told and executed well, but it really isn't.
Oh and another thing I REALLY hated was the flashback of the sorcerer who steals magic powers. I really didn't care that he and the Queen had a relationship paralleling Iska and Alice. It feels a bit sudden, but moreso, it didn't add anything in my opinion. The author/writing says "Iska and Alice" wouldn't follow the same fate as him and the Queen, becoming estranged enemies...but that would've been easily avoided if he just told the Queen he came to protect her, which he didn't due to pride. Fine, whatever (though it's dumb IMO since he came to protect her which meant his pride allowed that but I digress). Anyway, we don't need this parallel to show Iska and Alice being different from the norm. We ALREADY get that parallel with seeing the rest of Nebulis vs Imperials yet the duo work together. So it didn't add anything, and it felt shoehorned in, plus the reader hasn't exactly built an attachment to the sorcerer or Queen, so there's no connection there given how it's suddenly told.
Anyway, since I've been so disappointed with this volume (tremendously as a previous fan), I googled spoilers for the future released volumes, learning things like how they're targeting the Grand 8 Apostles, Rin with the Emperor as his hostage (and her using experimental tested 1 week spirit powers), and even Volume 11 being a full flashback to the 100 years ago story of the Black/White Swordmaster Crosswell, and that really doesn't interest me. I do like the idea of Joheim and Elletear teaming up, but I'm uncertain I'll read it all.
I think my plan is to continue with this series, but I'll be more willing to just skim bad parts, like the action fights and such. I should be able to parse the story's key parts and reach the scenes I enjoy more without needing to read so many of these badly written fight scenes and such. Alternatively, I may just drop this series, since I dislike the direction the author's gone with the series and its increasing focus on war/politics/conspiracy/bad fantasy action fights, etc. (Also, side note, but I'm actually not a fan of fantasy - I liked it when I was younger, but I prefer more realistic stories grounded in the modern day more, so I may just go for those.) I suppose we'll see with future releases, but for now, I may take this off my To-Reads or Favorites or other lists. I'm not sure, and I'll see how I feel eventually, but anyway, this volume has overall been terrible with only a scant few enjoyable scenes.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
December 11, 2024
Another solid entry in the series with the standard battles and interaction between Iska and Alice. This book focuses mostly on the invasion on the Sovereignty and the battles happening throughout the area. Battles were sometimes a little hard to keep straight, but overall were decently written and showcased several of the Saint Disciples' and Founder Descendants' powers and abilities. The interaction between Iska and Alice was more emotional this book. Misdirection caused much commotion. In the acknowledgements, the author also stated they tried to showcase generational differences which the book also does in several ways. The dual story between Salinger/Mira and Iska/Alice was a nice touch.
Still enjoying the series and look forward to seeing how this progresses.
Still enjoying the series and look forward to seeing how this progresses.
March 26, 2022
Short, quick and full of a lot of battles. Our MCs keep getting conflicting information and aren't quite sure until the end just what's going on. Some pretty important things happen in this short book, so definitely take a look.
Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews