(L) Kimi to Boku no Saigo no Senjou, Aruiwa Sekai ga Hajimaru Seisen

[Endscape]

Originally Posted by R3D-GA1NS

I am genuinely interested in where the story is going post Volume 1. From what I can gather. Iska and Alice are still (enemies?) but are still meeting in the neutral cities or something?

Well, yeah. Some other stuff started happening since then though, like

Spoiler for spoiler:

Alice sending Iska to jail, and Iska becoming Alice's sister's bodyguard for reasons.

And the war between the two nations was put on pause for the time being because reasons.

Spoiler for spoiler:

It's more like the war started heating up since the last volume.

Not really a complaint, but can anyone confirm whether the relationship between Alice & Iska ever develops? As from the illustrations it looks like they went on a date once and were even laying in bed together. What's up with that as while I wasn't expecting them to actually fight yet.

Spoiler for spoiler:

Rather than developing, it's more like they've avoided pitafalls that would ruin their relationship thus far.

There respective nations would have surely had them fight by now or is there a cease fire going on now or something?

Spoiler for spoiler:

Like I said above, there's no cease-fire, rather things are heating up more. Iska was ordered to capture Alice, but he's not really willing to do it, plus he has other concerns at the moment.

Also is the girl Iska saved at the start Alice's sister as the interactions seen between them implies Sisbel was either that girl or is she also interested in Iska like Alice.

Spoiler for spoiler:

Yes and yes.

[R3D-GA1NS]

Thanks for the answers in regards to my questions. I'm kind of disappointed the war is now heating up as it appeared to no longer be the focus for the past couple of volumes. I'm guessing simply by looking at the illustrations provided in Volume 7. The Empire is respsonsible huh?

I'm guessing Risya is directly respsonsible for the war heating up as she always looked like someone who can't be trusted. The recent manga chapter practically was screaming she already knew about the girls mark and the sinister appearance in her illustration screamed enemy for Iska.

Looking forward to the return of the ongoing war but is it ever explained why the two sides have been in a stalemate? I'd figure the sheer technological might of the Empire would overwhelm the magic nation as outside of a handful of exceptionally gifted star magic users on the field.

The Empire was seen fielding that massive cannon at the start of the series and if the Empire was confident in its power. They'd surely have built more and since Alice can't be everywhere. It feels like someone is controlling both sides as it really feels like the Empire is winning the war.

Multiple fighters on a similar skill level as Iska. Advanced technology that can make fake star spirits for infiltration. I'd probably wager there is some tech that can also nullify star spirits in magic users making them regular humans. I really can't see how peace is possible but I am hopeful for the author's story.

[Endscape]

Originally Posted by R3D-GA1NS

I'm guessing simply by looking at the illustrations provided in Volume 7. The Empire is respsonsible huh?

Spoiler for spoiler:

Yeah

I'm guessing Risya is directly respsonsible for the war heating up as she always looked like someone who can't be trusted. The recent manga chapter practically was screaming she already knew about the girls mark and the sinister appearance in her illustration screamed enemy for Iska.

Spoiler for spoiler:

Not at all. She was a part of it but she was just following orders, she isn't directly responsible. Alice's elder sister is the one responsible.

[l Chaos I]

Volume 8 Illustrations on Twitter:

https://mobile.twitter.com/kiyoe_san...55421761810433

Its ridiculous how many charactere are carrying the Nebulis Family name and it makes me wonder whether they are all related. And while I may not know anything about Salinger. His character design my fav amongst the cast of males and Sisbel certainly doesn't look happy, has she lost Iska?

[Toullaty]

Some illustrations are missing, here are the others.

https://imgur.com/a/FlW6NF6

[Nymene]

1. Does MC have a male friend ?

2. If yes, he's paired with his own girl or not ?

[haseo0408]

What new developments the volume 8 brings us, as of volume 7 the war was starting to escalate if I´m not mistaken.

[mugenno shindo]

ok,just some spoiler from vol 8 since im only reading chinese translation...

Spoiler for end of vol 8 spoiler:

The first Witch finally awakened. So we can expect great war again in vol 9

[Kazandu]

By the way, did mismos got discovered by the empire?

[Endscape]

Originally Posted by Kazandu

By the way, did mismos got discovered by the empire?

Spoiler for vol. 8:

Not yet.They're going back next volume.

[Kazandu]

So all the story between the volume 3 to 8 is inside nebulis?

[Endscape]

Most of Volume 3 takes place in the Sovereignity, Volumes 4 and 5 take place in a neutral city, and Volumes 6-8 take place mostly in the Sovereignity as well.

[Kazandu]

Originally Posted by Endscape

Most of Volume 3 takes place in the Sovereignity, Volumes 4 and 5 take place in a neutral city, and Volumes 6-8 take place mostly in the Sovereignity as well.

canyou give us some spoilers about what happens in those volumes?

[Toullaty]

Illustrations of volume 9 :
https://imgur.com/a/bOiBzzA

[nikita22]

I have a question for Light Novel readers. since anime was announced I started reading manga, but it's far behind of LN, so has it turned into harem in Light novels?

[manifla]

I will try to explain some spoilers and details about the series from volumes 3 to 9
First off, the girl that Iska saved in the very beginning

Spoiler for Identity:

Is Alice's younger sister, Sisbell. She is a Pureblood member of the royal family, and she has zero combat strength, as does their eldest sister's natural power, Elletear who is seen on the cover of volume 6.
The reason why Sisbell was caught by the Empire, within the Empire, is in part because of a giant conspiracy going on within the Nebulis Royal Palace that threatens to destroy the royal family and system of governance.
Also in part because Sisbell wanted to hunt the truth about what happened 100 years ago.
And also because Sisbell didn't know who to trust anymore in her nation minus her butler, and still doesn't by the time she meets Iska again. Yes, she is in love with Iska but absolutely wants him to be her subordinate and is much much more determined than Alice is about this.

The royal family of Nebulis

Spoiler for Royalty:

Consists of three related families who are all descendants of the Great Witch Nebulis through her twin sister. Their relationships are on the surface very close on the surface, and absolutely horrible in every single way in reality. This is how things get so absolutely bad in volumes 6 and 7, and are still very bad in 8 and 9. It's a hellish mixture of conflicting ideology, greed, power, and hatred for both the Empire and the structure of the royal palace of Nebulis (yes, both of them)
Alice and Sisbell and Elletear are members of the Lou family, Mask Om and Kissing are members of the Zoa family, and the third family (not seen in the manga yet) are the Hydra. Lou represents the stars, Zoa represents the Moon, and Hydra is the Sun. Nebulis has many very powerful people who can make a huge difference on the battlefield - although the Saint Apostles we have seen are also extremely powerful and are capable of standing up to them through a mixture of insane body conditioning, tactics, technology and being combat madmen.

The Empire

Spoiler for Oh boy:

Is another source of conspiracy in this series. The Emperor is the supreme power in the country, but rarely (if ever) exercises it. In theory the Imperial Parliament is what runs the country but Iska and Jhin's master is right - be careful of the 8 Grand Apostles (not the Saint Apostles)!
They are the ones effectively running the country, and they are constantly at odds with the Emperor. There is a secret conflict going on behind the scenes between the Grand Apostles and the Emperor over where the country, and the war, and the world is heading. However, the 11 Saint Apostles are the direct subordinates of the Emperor. The Grand Apostles can make requests, and can ask the Saint Apostles for their assistance (and find ways to pressure vulnerable people close to the Saints), but they can NOT order any of the Saints. Even in Iska's case, they could only make a deal with him and not put him under any kind of time restraint (directly)
TL;DR the Grand Apostles want total war, but also are after the kind of absolute power that the Great Witch Nebulis AND the Emperor have, and have their own links to the conspiracy within the Royal Palace of Nebulis.
The Emperor does not want the war but has his own big problems. He is not human in much the same way that Nebulis is not.
Great Witch Nebulis will kill her own descendants in order to kill one more Imperial soldier. Things are pretty screwed and are only about to get worse.

Iska and Alice's relationship

Spoiler for Oh boy:

Is still a source of confusion for them both and since they are both dummies that understand nothing about love are constantly doing all kinds of irrational things about each other. Alice accidentally gets a image of naked Iska during 8 (which she keeps under her pillow) which is found by her mother in 9 and scolded for shamefully looking at "a strong muscular but innocent teenager in his nakedness!" which Alice tries to explain away as "I look at it every night to figure out everything about an enemy!" which is in the backdrop of her mother telling her that she should know the feel of a older (yes older) man instead of preying on the young with metaphors about flowers and all kinds of boomer talk

Spoilers for volumes

Spoiler for Volume 3:

The poisoning and kidnapping of Iska, but with much more detail on how Unit 907 infiltrates the enemy country, and is nearly at ground zero of Sallinga's escape instead of being near the hotel. There is a hair raising escape for the Unit from the prison, and Iska ends up fighting Sallinga on the condition that there will be no (zero) pursuit of the Imperial forces that have gotten into the country, while Alice is being attacked by one of the Saint Apostles and being kept from intervening against Sallinga, putting out the fire once and for all, or stopping the prison riot. The prison riot is serious business here, there are a lot of powerful criminals being kept beside Sallinga.
Sallinga is defeated and put back into prison, Rin and Alice get the credit, Iska and 907 and the Apostle all leave the country. Except that Sallinga has actually escaped and only a clone is in prison. And in the wilderness, the Emperor comes to him

[manifla]

Throughout every volume are intermissions and intervals focusing on people like Risya, the Nameless ("Anonymous"), Sallinga, the Emperor, some of the other Saint Apostles, and background events leading up to the violence in 6 and 7, as well as the aftermath in 8 and 9.

Spoiler for Volume 4:

Unit 907 is sent on 60 day vacation because of too much accrued combat time, and go to a Independent (not neutral) country to relax and find a way to solve Mismis's dilemma. Sisbell is sent to that same nation (coincidentally) to see if the country is going to ally with the Empire.
Iska and Sisbell meet again and Sisbell's mission changes to wanting to make Iska her subordinate
Someone in Nebulis leaked Sisbell's location to the 8 Grand Apostles who ask the Saints to send out a black ops machine to capture her and that person also claimed to the Zoa family and Mask that Sisbell and Alice are collaborating with the Imperial Army
Alice chases after Sisbell to try and make it "clear" that she is in no way an affiliate with the Imperial Army and Iska is just her good enemy. Giant showdown at night between soldiers, the Zoa family and the Black Ops machine. Also Mismis has the ultimate spirit power when it comes to defeating other Star Spirit users.
On a side note, Sisbell has a good heart and is not interested in defeating the Empire and makes it clear that she will never ask Iska to fight against the Empire or give up secrets - she wants his help to fight the "monster" within the Nebulis Royal Palace and she sincerely wishes to thank him for saving her one year ago, knowing the price he paid.
That is not talking about the Great Witch Nebulis - and "monster" is not an exaggeration.

Spoiler for Volume 5:

Alice returned home and has to try and damage control what the Zoa family can say. They have no proof (Jhin destroyed all the recording equipment on Mask) but they are claiming that Sisbell is working with the Imperial Army. She has learned now that Sisbell is the one who was saved by Iska one year ago - but Sisbell still keeps her mouth closed about what happened or why she was caught in the first place. She can't see far enough into the past to be certain who is not a traitor or a unknowing accomplice.
Sisbell stays in the independent country and makes a different deal with unit 907. In exchange for safely and secretly escorting her to the Nebulis Royal Palace (avoiding the Zoa and Lou family), she will give Mismis the Star Iron patches that will suppress her spirit energy and disguise her skin, allowing her to not have to worry about being caught by the Imperial Army. Negotiations are terse (especially after what happened with that Maid and Alice!) and aren't helped by Sisbell's constant efforts to try and convince Iska to be her subordinate (Mismis and Nene are NOT happy) but the deal is made.
The Queen and Alice try to find Sisbell within the 8th State of the Nebulis Sovereignty before the public forces (or Zoa family) find her (gotta spin and preserve the public standing of the Lou family) but Alice ends up watching Sisbell hug Iska's arm, walk with him in public (disguised) and take some smoothie foam off his cheek and eat it. The jealousy meltdown is absolutely incredible, and someone should TL it for great justice, along with the scene later on that night where Alice calls upon Iska to explain himself. In the mean time, plans are being put in place in order for Sisbell to secretly get back to the palace.
But someone with the voice of Mask uses spirit power to try and blow up the Queen and her cabinet plus Elletear, Zoa royals get arrested and restrained left and right, and a true "witch" smashes up downtown in order to try and kill or capture Sisbell. Iska has a murderous fight on his hands from someone who can use eternal fire and blackholes, and Alice and Rin get the credit again. The epilogue is also the formal introduction of the Hydra family head, Talisman as well as the head of the Zoa family, Gouda.

Spoiler for Volume 6:

Sisbell's butler is missing. He went to the palace during 5 in order to make the plans to get Sisbell back (and she is desperately needed right now to actually find out who tried to kill the Queen), but he never arrived, though Sisbell received a message from him that he did arrive.
In the end, a different plan is followed and it seems like this is the end of the road - 907 gets the patches and are going to leave the country with knowledge of where to get more from outside the Empire. But Elletear intercepts everyone, and cheerfully persuades / threatens everyone into waiting ten days at the private Lou villa 2 hours from the Nebulis Palace. According to her, she was a double agent for Nebulis when she infiltrated the Empire, but still has ways to send messages to Imperial Command. In order to not make problems (no leaks about 907 to the Empire or reports to her mother about Sisbell's "foreign mercenaries) everyone goes along with it although not happily. Alice is sent to the villa to bring back Elletear, which is also a test to show that she will be the next queen instead of Kissing from the Zoa family or Mizerhyby from Hydra. Elletear and Sisbell cannot be queen because their spirit power is far too weak for combat. Elletear can only reproduce voices and sounds (like Mask's voice) and Sisbell sees the past - she cannot fight either.
Alice shows up right when both Iska and Sisbell who were searching for bugs or surveillance devices are in Alice's room and Sisbell is going through all the adult (naaaaaaughty ) underwear in her secret closet. Maximum spaghetti dropping. This is also where Alice's ability to lie (or rather her inability to lie convincingly at all) comes into play.
Elletear agrees to go to the palace tomorrow (no problem! but late at night, no?) but Sisbell stays because of the agreement. Elletear calls Iska to her room and goes maximum predator on him, which leads to a three way argument (my guest / belonging, my subordinate, enemy who cannot be trusted with my precious sisters) and is ultimately ended by forcing Iska into the same bed as the rest of the family. Alice gets touchy / jealous while her sisters are asleep and tries to pull off Iska's pants to see his underwear (you saw mine!)
Alice stays with Sisbell while Elletear goes back to the palace for questioning, which is interrupted by a massive Imperial Army bombardment. The entire palace is going up in flames (the rest of the city is taking only minor damage) and it is invaded by elite members of the Imperial Army and the Saint Apostles. Alice is called to immediately return, and she doesn't say what's going on but tells Iska not to leave or fight otherwise she will show no mercy. Sisbell has to replay the call and is utterly confused by why Elletear would betray the nation like this, when the villa is attacked as well by Imperial soldiers!
Except they are only disguised soldiers, all of them are spirit users. And Talisman is here to collect Sisbell. The betrayal is only known to Sisbell and 907, anyone nearby is only going to see the evidence of an Imperial attack, gunpowder residue and Imperial equipment. And Talisman is a combat madman much like Iska, someone who cannot be outsped due to his physical focus on strengthening the body and enhancing his hand to hand ability with his Waves spirit power.

Spoiler for Volume 7 part 1:

Kissing, Mask and Gouda of the Zoas are fighting Apostles "Mad Dog", Risya and the Nameless, while Apostle #1 fights the Queen. The Hydra family is not in the palace and their section of the palace is not being attacked. A well planned arson campaign is being carried out, while snipers and anti armor soldiers hinder Alice's return, and force her to take command of the Nebulis army on the outskirts of the city to fight the fire and the enemy although she cannot simply freeze the entire area without hurting her people, nor can the artillery shelling the palace be found in all the chaos.
We get Elletear's motivation here - she has done absolutely everything she could, become the perfect princess in all regards, ignored all the scorn and mockery, become beloved by the masses, and it will never be enough to become queen. She is weak. The Nebulis sovereignty only cares about power in the end, and will never accept the weak, and actively scorns them for being born without the power, regardless if they have Spirit power or not. Alice in her sister's eyes is not fit to become a queen because she genuinely believes that her overwhelming power will make everything OK and save everyone, although she has no idea of what's going to happen if it wasn't enough.
This is not "paradise" and never will be when so tainted by hatred and misplaced pride, and it is time to take a stand to change things.
Talisman and Iska are getting nowhere against each other, and the other members of the 907th unit escaping with Sisbell have defeated multiple Hydra family members through improvisation and cunning. Talisman cuts his losses and has the villa destroyed with a gravity bomb, which doesn't kill Iska but is enough of a surprise attack to momentarily incapacitate 907. Sisbell is captured (and cannot be taken back because of the bad decisions of Lou maids), and Iska leaves the villa in pursuit.
The Queen's wrist is almost cut off by Apostle 1 and is about to be decapitated, when Elletear jumps in the way and takes the shot for her. Her head stays on, but the Queen faints with her daughter's blood all over her.
Alice arrives just in time to see this (also because she got the message that Elletear was running to the Queen's room and was trying to get in time to stop her elder sister).
She goes nuclear (why couldn't I save them! Why did I doubt my sister! How did this happen!) and is about to throw everything she's got at the Apostle when he picks up her sister, and Rin has to stop Alice from doing any more damage to Elletear. He escapes via a secret passage, and Alice ends up following a car out of the city in pursuit. Which turns out to be a high tech decoy bomb, and another subordinate is badly hurt protecting her from the blast.
And that, is how she meets Iska in that color spread, who is chasing after Sisbell.

[nikita22]

so Iska in love with Sisbell?

[Endscape]

Originally Posted by nikita22

so Iska in love with Sisbell?

Not at all.

[manifla]

And now we get into some serious stuff

Spoiler for Volume 7 part 2:

The fighting is still going on, and Alice is just losing it. She wanted to defeat the Empire before, but she didn't wish to kill everyone to the last, like the Zoa family advocated no matter the cost. And she has understood that there are people like Iska and Mismis that have no sin attached to them, that have done nothing to her. She wanted to unite the world and rid it of discrimination and aggression.
But all of that is now "lost to the Imperial Army's atrocity!"
She has a duty as a descendant of Nebulis and as a member of a family whose daughter was cut down and taken hostage, whose mother was cut down and whose palace is in flames.
She is mad, yet heartbroken that Iska didn't follow her warning. She throws herself away, and starts trying to kill Iska for real.
Sallinga is watching all of this in the distance. To him, history is repeating in a strange way.

Spoiler for HUUUUGE Sallinga spoilers:

The Queen and Sallinga have a history together, mentioned in 5 and 6. He was still a criminal back then, stealing Star Spirits but she enjoyed the fights. She felt free, alive, challenged instead of a unemotional automaton ordered to fight the Empire for a onerous duty, and weighty issues surrounding the royalty. And Sallinga was attracted to her, although he always lost.
But the conspiracy within Nebulis was alive even back then. 30 years ago, the attack on the royal palace wasn't Sallinga.
It was Subject F (yes, Subject F) that killed the previous Queen (VII, current one is VIII), an experiment from the Hydra family. The Hydra family has been working for a long time to artificially recreate the Great Witch Nebulis, forcing the merger between Star Spirit and humanity into something...else. A "monster" if you will. Subject V was who tried to capture Sisbell in 5 and who bombed the Lou villa earlier on.
Sallinga didn't care about the problems of the royal family, and definitely doesn't care now - but he couldn't stand the thought of his good opponent being targeted like this (only rumors came to his ears). So he went to the palace, but too late to save Queen VII, could only tie with Subject F who escaped, and was too late to not be accused by Queen VIII as the killer. She had a duty that could not be escaped any longer, their relationship ended in a tearful and painful fight, he took the blame without caring (in his arrogant tsundere way) and was sent to prison while the conspiracy went on. But it gave him a new idea.
When he escaped, the Emperor came to him, and gave him the research files surrounding Subject F, confirming his guess that Nebulis and the Emperor merged with multiple Star Spirits and became something beyond human and that the Hydra family was trying to do the same. And that is something he wishes for himself, in arrogance and in making something of himself.
But not out for hatred of the Empire, or the Sovereignty, or that he has any wish to join with the Hydra, or to rekindle his relationship with the Queen.
There's no future for mankind like what he's seeing between Alice and Iska. Even if one of them dies, the other has lost. They've thrown away their principles and gained nothing out of it except pointless heartbreak. The world will continue to tear itself apart over, and decline as people lose their reason and become monsters within. They'll fight wars and forget why they fought them when they can't bear the pain. It's all so pointless, he shrugs and leaves not willing to watch the end of the fight.

Spoiler for Volume 7 part 3:

In the end, Iska almost does kill Alice. He has to save Sisbell, and she's not listening and is trying to kill him.
But he doesn't go through. It's a long painful emotional moment including Iska getting mad and telling her to shut up and listen. There's a highly convenient star spirit power from one of the Lou maids that ultimately ends up convincing Alice that the Hydra family did betray the country, although it won't serve as evidence at trial. Talisman extracted all of his guys from the villa.
It's all a farce. Everyone got played.
Alice is sobbing on the ground, and Iska tells her to stand up. Is she going to just sit there and let them take Sisbell away? She manages to, smiling and saying that the Empire is really brutal, a soldier who won't even so much as offer a beautiful maiden a handkerchief to wipe her tears. Then she surprise hugs him and then comes the major misunderstanding and blushes. Plus the yelling about the next fight will be the last, brace yourself!
In the mean time, the entire Imperial attack force has safely withdrawn. Subject V on the other hand, carrying unconscious Sisbell, has been intercepted into an isolated area by the head of the Zoa family, Gouda. He is a cunning old man, and hates the Empire but hates traitors even worse. His power is such that the Nameless was forced to retreat from him minus arms.
But the strategist of the plan has already taken into account this interference. Gouda cannot pursue V - because something truly terrifying is in the area. He's scared out of his mind, when Subject E comes face to face with him, calling her a witch.
It's a transformed Elletear, a true monster and witch now.
The next morning, three purebloods are recorded as missing - Sisbell, Elletear and Gouda (no clues surrounding Gouda's disappearance as he was known to have been in the palace when the attack stopped)

Spoiler for Volume 8:

The Sovereignty is in chaos. Purebloods were captured, the Queen was defeated, and the idea of invincibility of the royal family is no more.
But the Lou know that Hydra are betrayers, yet are trying to focus on rebuilding. As Gouda is missing, Mask is the acting head and suspects both Hydra and the Lou (not without good reason), but wishes to awaken the Great Witch Nebulis in order to destroy the Empire to save the captives. Talisman says that it's a good time to select the next queen, as the current one is just getting all kinds of criticism and anger from virtually everyone (the Lou family's prestige is in the sewers at this point even without the revelations about Elletear or who Sisbell and Alice have been romping around with). No one is getting along with anyone else in heated meetings.
Elletear has one final convo with Talisman while waiting for the plane that will take her to the Empire as a "captive," and it's becoming quite clear that her human body is becoming something...else.
Alice and the Queen have kept the same idea - bring Sisbell back, reveal everything that happened during the past month and root out all the traitors (which will save the Lou family too, and it could prevent all out total war). The Queen does not know that Iska and 907 are in the country, only Rin, Alice and the Lou maids who have been convinced by their sincerity. 907 would looooove to get the hell out of this mess, but they made their deal with Sisbell, and they're not leaving until they get what they came for (isn't Mismis and Sisbell so lucky?). So the Lou family identifies the most probable location where Sisbell will be held in the capital, and Alice secretly takes over Sisbell's contract and guarantees that the four soldiers will be safely allowed to leave and get back to the Empire (All 13 states of the Sovereignty are having house searches and patrols to root out any Imperial infiltrators). The Queen and Alice are not willing to take the chance of sending out any of their own private soldiers or affiliate to find Sisbell - if they are caught by Hydra or Zoa, things will only get way worse for them. This cloak and dagger stuff is also how Alice gets the image of naked Iska - Rin sees him full frontal while barging into his room after his shower.
Sisbell isn't there at the research facility, only her butler and a giant trap. But Sallinga also shows up unexpectedly in order to grab the research of the Hydra family and beats up a lot of people including Subject V
No Sisbell, but 907 does get a location for where she might be held - a remote location in the farthest eastern reaches of the Empire. Not the capital, and not a area that is known to Iska.
If that was a sanctioned Empire op, there's no two ways about it - it's treason to break in there. But on the other hand, if Unit 907 was "unknowingly" followed by a spy to the area on their vacation, well.
Only one person is up for the job - Rin.
Mask goes down into the area where Witch Nebulis is sleeping and takes off the locks.

Spoiler for Volume 9:

Getting out of the enemy country and into the Empire is actually not such a hard thing. But Rin is excessively nervous - she doesn't like the Empire. Embarrasses herself repeatedly (which is also how we know that she glows - literally glows - with spirit energy underneath her underwear), and is full of worry on how Alice is going to deal without her maid. Alice and her mom are holding up against a lot of pressure, hanging on despite not having much in the way of help (a lot of Lou fighters and servants got trashed badly in 7), fighting against requests to awaken Nebulis. Alice and mom don't know about what happened at the end of volume 8.
Alice's insistence on having mom sleep with her in her room (I will protect my family!) leads to some highly embarrassing moments. And the proof of life (tourist photo with Iska and Rin) leads to another jealousy outbreak, and imagination going wild.
Sisbell is indeed in the Empire. She's with a ex-scientist from the Imperial Star Spirit research institute, Keurina who used to work under the 10th Saint Apostle but she was arrested and sent to prison for severe violation of ethics. She's in the same location where Subject F, V and E volunteered and became monsters, where bleeding edge research about Star Spirits and energy is being carried out, where every last command and order from Imperial Military Command is violated, including human experimentation. Sisbell's fate is to become just like her sister.
Incidentally, this scientist was in the same prison as Sisbell, but her "absence" from the prison is not public, and the Saints know that this is bullshit. Something is screwing with them, and they are not happy about this or with the Grand Apostles. And Keurina admits that she is being funded by the Grand Apostles, without the knowledge of the army or the Apostles.
In the interim, the Emperor meets with a severely overworked Risya, and asks her to bring the 907th unit and Iska to him. He's not happy that Iska has been going all over the place with the precious Star Swords, and figures its time to teach him properly about them as opposed to what Kurogane told him. But he changes his mind, and decides to go on a trip with Risya to meet them in person.
Long story short, 907 finds an abandoned factory without signs of it being a Imperial base, breaks in with Rin and discovers all kinds of startling stuff. Sisbell is rescued, the lab is destroyed, Keurina transforms into a true witch, nearly kills Rin, and ends up dying to Iska. She had serious feelings about Elletear, and says that she will become an unstoppable being, before turning into dust.
The Grand Apostles are not happy about her signal, or the signal of the lab "Elsa's Coffin" disappearing. Originally, had Iska captured Alice, she would've been sent to the lab. But now, Iska is marked for death.
While everyone's escaping from the area, Risya catches Rin. And there's no longer any kind of hiding what's going on - 907 has been seen aiding two members of the Nebulis Royal family.
Iska's question to Risya is whether or not everyone is going to be liquidated. Risya cheerfully says that power of life and death is not in her hands - that's for the Emperor.
And he shows up. It's a shocking meeting, to see who the Emperor actually is.
He and Risya leave with restrained Rin, inviting Sisbell to come to the Capital to do what she wanted to do originally, and inviting Iska to come to talk about his master, the swords and the future.
While 907 is trying to process wtf just happened and wtf is going on, Sisbell has made up her mind. She will heed the invitation of the Emperor, recover Rin, and find out the truth about what happened 100 years ago!

Spoiler for Final words:

Rin has proof positive now that Elletear is a traitor, although Sisbell was convinced by 5 and Iska understood that she was a "monster" that wouldn't die by 8.
The Empire has pureblood hostages but Nebulis will not negotiate, not even the Queen even if she weeps over what happened to her kids.
Talisman's public proclamation in a press conference is that the country will not seek retaliation, nor total war, and calls upon the world to condemn the attack.
Neither Lou nor Hydra want the Great Witch Nebulis to wake up. Worse case scenario for Hydra is that Nebulis can call upon the same kind of Star Spirit as Sisbell and find out that her descendants are traitors - she'll kill them all. Lou knows that Nebulis waking up is a sure fire way for the world to unite against them after what happened to Eayn, and Alice knows that Nebulis won't hesitate to kill her and anyone around her.
While Hydra and Elletear collaborated, this was for convenience - their goals are not the same. And given the events of 8 and 9, Talisman is wondering about whether Elletear will really keep their agreement.
Risya has a artificial star spirit and 100% knows about Mismis's condition.
Uniting the world and getting rid of aggression and intolerance is a pretty distant idea.

Let's just leave it at that Iska had no intention of leaving Sisbell in prison before, and even after knowing her pureblood status won't throw her to the wolves, much like how he is going through a ridiculous amount of nonsense for not throwing Mismis to the wolves.
And that he and Alice understand virtually nothing about love. Her special chapter about being forced to go on blind dates with high class figures (followed by her negotiations with mother to not have to do the blind dates) is 25% horror story, 50% absolute hilarity, and 25% Rin suffering