Is Gyokuen really dead?”, Kouen wonders, as she definitely looked like the most fearsome foe in the world… she even was involved in them going into the dungeon, it seems - and why would she give them Metal Vessels if they were a threat to her? Furthermore, she never said how she got the ability to manipulate the black rukh. She was the absolute magician.
Hakuryuu seems to hesitate, but still replies that Judar and him sealed her magic in the barrier, so they won.
Kouen: “Yes… but, didn’t you think that she also knew about Isolation Barriers?”. Kouen goes on to state that Gyokuen was (is?) the most knowledgeable being in the world - and Aladdin’s story confirmed what he had already suspected, meaning their enemy had the wisdom of thousands of years. This is why he studied and learnt so much… in order to one day… .
Kouen goes on to say that for someone like Gyokuen - no, Arba, who was a being of thoughts, physical death is meaningless. Hakuryuu tries to pushback, and Kouen finally tells him that he must have killed her… so he finally avenged his older brothers, something he thought impossible for Hakuryuu.
Kouen: “No, it’s just that I thought that the one to avenge them… would be me… . Hakuryuu… I envy you… it’s very frustrating that I lost to you…”
Hakuryuu is stunned there, so Kouen (once again!) goes on to tell him that he will entrust his younger brothers to him, as he will take responsibility for his actions (I think he also asks for their lives to be spared?). He also asks him to support the Kou Empire… while Hakuryuu, in his thoughts, asks him to stop, as he doesn’t want to see him like this.
Just then, Aladdin appears and asks Hakuryuu to not kill Kouen, because he doesn’t want Hakuryuu to die. The later is as confused as me, so Aladdin explains that he is the emperor, and if he kills all his siblings, how will he live all alone? Judar is also gone, as he (Aladdin) killed him… but Alibaba is also gone. So he thought on his own about what he wanted to do, and even though it’s not an utopia, he wants to live as a Magi… by Hakuryuu’s side.
Aladdin tells Hakuryuu that he is a special king vessel, as he changed his views on what being “fallen” means. But, he does not imagine how Hakuryuu will live now that his revenge is complete, so he asks him to show him… after all, he was the one who told him that people had to choose on their own how to live.
Hakuryuu remembers his words, but snaps and tell him to shut up. He is the one who won, so he is the one who says who dies and who doesn’t.
And so… we learn of the fate of the Ren brothers…
- Second Prince, Ren Koumei, exile
- Third Prince, Ren Kouha, exile
- First Prince, Ren Kouen, death penalty (beheading)
