86—Eighty-Six Volume 13 [Digital Light Novel]

"Love, or a Curse? The Federacy’s Final Mask Falls."

If you thought the Federacy was the "good guy," Volume 13 is here to shatter that illusion in the most masakit (painful) way possible. As the Legion War enters its final, most desperate phase, we watch the Federal Republic of Giad slowly transform into exactly what they claimed to hate: a mirror of the Republic of San Magnolia.

This volume is centered on the Actaeon, young Eighty-Six girls turned into living nitroglycerin bombs by the Republic. But the real tragedy isn't what the Republic did; it's what the Federacy does next. Instead of trying to save them, the Federacy military treats these girls like "scrap-metal monsters" and "wiretaps," waiting for them to "fizzle out" and blow up in secret so the public doesn't panic.

Here is how the Federacy essentially becomes the "new" Republic in Volume 13: Dear Hunter:

The "Actaeon Hunt" and Mass Hysteria

• Dehumanization: Just as the Republic used the Legion War to label the Eighty-Six as "pigs," Federacy civilians begin hunting "Actaeon". They expand this label to include anyone they want to exclude: refugees from the territories, wounded soldiers, and the Eighty-Six; claiming they might be "infected" with the suicide-bomb virus.

• Scapegoating: The Federacy citizens start viewing the Eighty-Six and Republic refugees as "useless parasites" and "ticking time bombs" who are stealing their peace and food.

• Internal Fractures: The military begins to break apart because soldiers can no longer trust their own comrades. Units start firing on each other, specifically targeting those from different races or social classes, mirroring the Republic’s old prejudices.

The Military’s Cold Calculation

• Expendable Soldiers: The Federacy eventually considers a draft to use "useless" refugees as cannon fodder for the front lines.

• Betrayal of the Eighty-Six: The military police treat the Eighty-Six as simple "hunting dogs". When the "wiretap" children are captured, the Federacy shows little concern for the children's trauma, focusing only on how they can use them as ammunition against the Republic's remaining government.

• The Weight of the Name: High-ranking noble families, like the Nouzens and Maikas, only view Shin as a tool to put an end to the war so they can maintain their own prestige.

The Tragedy of the Actaeon

The ultimate proof of this cycle of cruelty is the Actaeon themselves. These were young Eighty-Six girls whom the Republic turned into living bombs to use as weapons against their own kind. The Federacy’s response isn't to save them, but to wait for them to "fizzle out" and blow up in secret so the public doesn't panic.

As Ernst Zimmerman himself realizes in a moment of fury, the "love" people use to protect their own families is often just an excuse to justify the slaughter and exclusion of everyone else. It proves that the "five-hued flag" and the Federacy’s ideals were indeed just a thin veneer over a very human capacity for evil.

Reena’s Rating: 11/10 ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐+ This is the most masakit volume yet because it proves that even the "land of justice" is built on systemic calculation. It really is painful to watch the Federacy’s masks slip as the war turns against them. While they initially presented themselves as a land of justice and equality, Volume 13 reveals that the Federacy is just as capable of the same coldhearted exclusion and systemic cruelty as the Republic when they are pushed into a corner.