Our Last Crusade or the Rise of a New World is coming back for a third season. The official anime account confirmed yesterday that Season III is in production, and it shared a new teaser visual drawn by character designer Kaori Yoshikawa to go with the news. The announcement came during Kadokawa's Fantasia Bunko Grand Thanksgiving Festival 2026 online event, where the light novel label also had updates for Date A Live and King's Proposal.
The teaser also hints at where the story is headed next. According to the official post, Iska and Rin are set to infiltrate the Empire to take back Sisbell, while Alice stays behind in the Nebulis Sovereignty and faces trouble of her own. Check out the announcement and the new visual down below:
The Main Cast Is Returning For Season III
The core voice cast from the first two seasons is coming back. Yusuke Kobayashi returns as Iska, the Empire swordsman and former Saint Disciple, and Sora Amamiya is back as Aliceliese Lou Nebulis IX, the Ice Calamity Witch who keeps crossing paths with him on the battlefield.
They are joined by Nao Shiraki as Mismis Klass, Kaori Ishihara as Nene Alkastone, Shunichi Toki as Jhin Syulargun, Yumiri Hanamori as Rin Vispose, and Azumi Waki as Sisbell Lou Nebulis IX. Kobayashi and Hanamori also appeared on a special announcement program that is now streaming online, which fits the season's setup, since Iska and Rin are the pair heading into enemy territory this time.
On the staff side, Yuki Inaba is directing and handling series composition, with animation production from Studio Palette and SILVER LINK. Yoshikawa returns as character designer. No premiere window, streaming partner, or English dub plans have been announced yet.
A Rocky Road Through Season 2
A third season is a nice surprise for fans who stuck with the series through a difficult second run. The first season premiered in October 2020 and streamed with an English dub on Funimation. Season 2 was originally planned for 2023 before it was pushed to July 2024.
That second season only made it four episodes before the production committee delayed the rest of the broadcast in August 2024, saying it needed more time to maintain the quality of the show. The season eventually restarted from episode 1 in April 2025 and ran to the end, with Crunchyroll streaming it in Japanese and with an English dub.
Given that history, a lot of fans assumed the anime had reached the end of the line. The fact that Kadokawa is moving ahead with Season III shows there is still plenty of faith in the franchise, and the new teaser visual suggests the team wants to start the new chapter on a stronger footing.
The Story So Far And The Source Material
Our Last Crusade or the Rise of a New World is based on the light novel series written by Kei Sazane and illustrated by Ao Nekonabe. Kadokawa has published the novels under its Fantasia Bunko label since May 2017, and the series is now up to 16 volumes in Japan.
The story is set in a world split by a century-long war between the Empire, a nation of machines and science, and the Nebulis Sovereignty, a paradise for witches who wield powerful astral magic. Iska, a swordsman of the Empire, and Alice, a princess of the Sovereignty, meet as sworn enemies on the battlefield. They are soon drawn to each other, even though each is the other's greatest threat, and both start to wonder whether the war can be ended some other way.
The franchise has also branched out well beyond the novels. Okama launched a manga adaptation in Hakusensha's Young Animal magazine in May 2018, and it has seven volumes so far. There is also a Secret File spinoff collection of short stories that runs three volumes. Yen Press publishes both the light novels and the manga in English, so readers who want to get ahead of the anime have an easy way to catch up.
Season III looks set to dig deeper into the Sovereignty's royal family politics and the conflict between the three Nebulis houses, which is where a lot of the series' best twists come from. With Sisbell in danger and Iska and Rin forced into an uneasy partnership, there is plenty of material for the new season to work with.
Are you excited to see Iska and Alice return in Season III, or are you still holding your breath after the delays that hit Season 2?
Let us know your thoughts in the comments below.