Iska

Iska is the lead character of Our Last Crusade or the Rise of a New World and a soldier of the Heavenly Empire. He once held the Empire's highest military honor, Saint Disciple, becoming the youngest person ever to earn that rank. He lost it almost as fast: after he chose to free a captured enemy mage rather than follow his orders, he was stripped of his title and thrown in prison for treason. He is eventually released under strict conditions and sent back into the long war against the neighboring Nebulis Sovereignty, but his beliefs have not changed at all.

Iska carries a matched pair of Astral Swords and fights with real skill, yet he treats fighting as a last resort rather than a goal. He tries to avoid killing opponents whenever he can see another way out, often just knocking them unconscious instead, which has earned him the half-joking nickname of a peace-loving war nut. His decency extends even to declared enemies, and that mercy is what first draws him into repeated clashes with Aliceliese Lou Nebulis IX, the Sovereignty's second princess, whom the Empire considers one of its most dangerous foes.

He serves in the Empire's 907th Unit alongside captain Mismis Klass and engineer Nene Alkastone, and his growing, complicated connection to Alice slowly pulls him toward questioning the war both sides keep fighting.