Parallel World Light Novelist

Chapter 307: Chapter 306: The Broadcast

A few days passed in a blur.

Code Geass had reached twenty-one episodes, yet its ratings had failed to replicate the historic feat of breaking the 6% barrier achieved by Madoka Magica and Edgerunners.

The industry had largely stopped obsessing over this specific milestone. After all, even at 5.9%, Code Geass remained the undisputed king of the current season, outperforming films, dramas, and variety shows alike.

However, Tokyo TV1 knew exactly how to play the market. While tens of millions of anime fans in Japan had no idea what awaited them in episode twenty-two, the station had received the master tapes from Haruto’s company long ago and had spent a considerable amount of time reviewing them.

To maximize the impact, the station went all-in on promotion. On the Saturday night variety show preceding the broadcast, they featured the head of their animation department in a carefully scripted segment. While Haruto himself didn’t participate in these stunts, the message was successfully delivered.

Code Geass Episode Twenty-Two would be nothing short of explosive.

Fans were used to this kind of marketing hyperbole from both the station and Haruto, but the intensity of the promotion this time piqued a lot of curiosity.

By Sunday morning, hours before the broadcast, the internet was already a battlefield of speculation.

”How explosive can it be? Episode twenty-two is just the fallout from last week.”

”Do you think the show is going to end with them working together? Like, Lelouch lets go of his hatred, the Black Knights disband, and everyone lives happily ever after? Based on the remaining episode count, that could actually happen.”

”No way. That would be a total trainwreck of an ending. This show is called Lelouch of the Rebellion, not Lelouch of the Peaceful Compromise. If he just gives up, the whole show collapses.”

”If Haruto has any sense at all, he won’t let it end like that.”

”I’m genuinely curious now. That interview last night was intense. Even the station executives were acting like this was the best thing they’d ever seen. I’m starting to get hyped.”

”It could just be a smokescreen. The ratings have been stuck at 5.9% for weeks. They’re probably just doing one last marketing push to try and break 6% before the season ends. The episode might not actually be that special.”

”Maybe. Honestly, I don’t care about the ratings. Haruto said he wanted to beat Madoka, and I hope he does, but in my heart, this show has already surpassed it. I’ve fallen completely in love with C.C. Madoka was great, but C.C. is on another level.”

”C.C. better than Madoka?”

”I just like C.C.”

”I’m enjoying Code Geass, but it isn’t Madoka. Let’s not get ahead of ourselves.”

”Can we stop the C.C. vs Madoka war for five minutes? Why is this suddenly the only thing people talk about? If we’re talking about Haruto’s most memorable female lead, isn’t it Menma?”

Himari spent her entire afternoon from 4:00 PM until 7:00 PM bouncing between forums and fan groups. This was her daily routine.

By 7:50 PM, she had drawn the curtains, turned off the lights, and fixed her eyes on the TV.

The station began its weekly pre-show routine: a television shopping segment for Code Geass merchandise. By this point in the series, Lelouch had upgraded his command units, Suzaku’s Lancelot had seen several iterations, and Kallen’s Guren had revealed new forms. Naturally, the best time to sell model kits was right before the broadcast.

Himari looked at the prices and winced.

Everything was getting more expensive.

As a girl who wasn’t particularly obsessed with figure collecting, she found it hard to believe these things sold out every week. In her fan groups, people were constantly offering two or three times the retail price to buy kits from those lucky enough to snag them on the official site. Still, she watched the segment with a sense of fascination.

The ten-minute shopping window ended.

The screen flickered, and the familiar opening theme began. Once the song ended, the episode started in earnest. Himari sat up straight, her focus sharpening.

The story picked up exactly where it had left off. Because of Princess Euphemia’s proposal, the resistance fighters were faced with a choice: continue a bloody war with no end in sight, or accept the invitation of the Princess to join a coalition government and rebuild Japan.

The answer seemed obvious. Who would choose war over peace?

Lelouch had built his power by tapping into the righteous fury of the colonized people and using his tactical brilliance to lead them.

But Euphemia’s proposal threatened to dissolve the Black Knights from within. If the Empire was willing to grant them their identity and their rights, the reason for the rebellion vanished. In the first half of the episode, Lelouch seemed powerless. His army was beginning to fracture as the various resistance leaders contemplated their own interests.

The episode dropped a subtle hint during this segment, a shot of Ohgi, one of the Black Knights’ core members. In previous episodes, he had found an amnesiac Britannian officer and hidden her, forming a close bond with her. The anime treated this as a minor detail for now, but it was a seed planted for the future.

Himari watched closely, but five minutes in, she didn’t feel the promised explosiveness. She wondered if Tokyo TV1 was just using a cheap marketing gimmick. She kept eating her snacks, watching as the story wove in more details about Lelouch and Shirley.

Even without her memories, Shirley was starting to find clues that linked her to Lelouch, finding herself drawn to him once again. This was another tragic setup, laying the groundwork for the second season. If she had stayed away from him, she might have been safe, but Lelouch was the fire and she was the moth. No matter how many times her memory was wiped, she would always fly toward the flame.

The tension built toward Lelouch’s decision.

Euphemia had made a public appeal through the media, setting a time and place for Zero to meet her and sign the treaty for the new Special Zone. It was a perfect trap. If he didn’t show, he lost the moral high ground. If he did, his revolution was over.

By the middle of the episode, Lelouch’s sleek command mech descended from the sky into the massive, circular plaza where the ceremony was being held. The plaza was filled with Britannian soldiers and hundreds of thousands of Japanese citizens who had come because they believed in the promise of peace.

”Wait, he actually showed up?” Himari sat up.

The real drama was starting. Did Lelouch have any choice left besides surrender?

In the story, Lelouch requested a private audience with Euphemia. Himari felt a chill.

’He’s going to do it, isn’t he? He’s going to use his Geass.’

The scene shifted to a secure, private room. Euphemia, trusting him completely, entered with Lelouch. Once they were alone, Lelouch removed his mask, revealing his face.

Lelouch immediately made his move, pulling out a specialized ceramic pistol that had bypassed the metal detectors.

”Lelouch, you won’t shoot me,” Euphemia said, her voice devoid of fear.

”Of course I won’t. You’re the one who is going to do the shooting,” Lelouch replied, his eyes cold.

Himari immediately understood his plan. He was going to use his Geass to force Euphemia to shoot him. He would stage it to look like the peace talk was a lie, a trap to lure the resistance leader into an assassination. If that happened, the Special Zone would be dead on arrival.

In a real-world political drama, this would be a calculated, if ruthless, move. But this was a story, and the audience had a moral compass. No one believed Euphemia was lying; she was genuinely kind and would have done everything in her power to ensure the Special Zone succeeded. If Lelouch went through with this, his standing with the viewers would plummet. He had started this fight to protect his sister, Nunnally, and to create a better world for her. If he destroyed a genuine chance at peace for his own pride, he would become the villain.

As the scene progressed, Lelouch wavered. He wanted the peace he won himself, not a peace handed to him by the mercy of the Empire. But Euphemia revealed the truth: she had formally renounced her right to the throne just to convince the Emperor to allow this Special Zone to exist.

When Lelouch realized the magnitude of her sacrifice, his anger and pride began to melt into a somber realization. His ego wouldn’t let him accept her protection, but his heart wouldn’t let him destroy her. He couldn’t bring himself to use his Geass on her. He had always been careful not to override the will of those he cared about unless it was a matter of life and death.

He slumped, defeated, and offered her a genuine, weary smile.

”Even though I never beat you once at games or studies when we were kids,” Euphemia laughed.

”And yet, you’ve ended up winning everything,” Lelouch said, looking at her. ”Before you were a Sub-Viceroy or a Princess, you were always just Euphy, weren’t you?”

The music softened, and Lelouch lowered the specialized weapon.

”Wait, is it actually ending like this?” Himari felt a pang of disappointment.

While it fit the characters, having the protagonist simply lose to a supporting character felt like a bit of a letdown for an action anime.

”So, did you think a little threat would actually make me shoot you, Lelouch?” Euphemia asked, letting out a massive sigh of relief now that he had agreed to cooperate.

”Not quite,” Lelouch said, a playful smirk returning to his face.

Suddenly, the music took a sharp, discordant turn. Himari felt her stomach drop.

”If I were to give you a serious command,” Lelouch said, looking into her eyes. ”No one could resist. I could tell you to attack me, or fire Suzaku, and you’d have to do it.”

”Stop it, Lelouch. You and your weird jokes,” Euphemia laughed.

”I’m serious. For example, if I said...” Lelouch’s expression was relaxed, but the music had reached a fever pitch.

”Kill the Japanese.” On the screen, Lelouch’s eye suddenly glowed a brilliant crimson. His Geass had activated, unbidden and out of his control. Euphemia’s pupils contracted, her body stiffening.

”No... I... I don’t want to kill them...” She stumbled back, her face a mask of agonizing struggle.

Lelouch stared at her, the realization of what was happening. Himari gasped, accidentally spraying her drink across the table.

It’s a Geass runaway!

Just like Mao, Lelouch’s power had evolved to the point where it was stuck on, and he couldn’t turn it off. And the command he had just accidentally given...

”Kill the Japanese.”

Lelouch, what have you done?

Euphemia’s struggle lasted only a few seconds before her will snapped.

She picked up a submachine gun and sprinted out of the private room. Lelouch, realizing the horror of his mistake, tried to use his Geass again to stop her, but it was useless. His power only worked on a person once. Euphemia would not stop until every Japanese person in her reach was dead.

The scene cut to the massive plaza. Euphemia ran out onto the stage, looking at the hopeful crowds who had gathered to celebrate their new future. Without a moment’s hesitation, she leveled her weapon and fired.

An elderly, unarmed woman in the front row collapsed, dead.

Then, Euphemia raised her voice, speaking with the authority of the Imperial Princess to every soldier in the plaza.

”Soldiers! Kill them all! Exterminate every last one of them!”

Himari’s eyes were wide, her mind a total blank.

’What... What kind of nightmare is this?’

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