There was so much noise around her that Harumi was convinced she was going to be deaf for days after this.
The sounds of the helicopter's blades spinning, thunder crashing and the rain pouring down only added to the feeling of foreboding and concern that filled both her and her mother the moment they were raised into the helicopter proper. Akira was strapped in, laying on his back on a makeshift bed, groaning all the while. The man in the suit sat next to him, checking him over a few times.
"Is he going to be okay?!" Harumi asked in utmost worry. The man turned to her and smiled.
"Yes, he will. I thought it would be much worse but I guess she couldn't stop herself from holding back, even unconsciously." He answered.
"Then please tell me, what is going on?! Why did Hibiki act like this?!" She pressed on, her bewilderment obvious on her face.
Shinji's expression evened as he responded. "It's a very long story, and one I'll answer fully and truthfully once we arrive at the hospital. For now, I'll tell you this: My name is Ogawa Shinji, and I work for the a division within the government known as the Special Disaster Response Team, or S.O.N.G, for short. Your daughter has been a member of our division for over a year now."
Harumi's and Kiyoko's eyes widened in shock, having been completely oblivious to what Hibiki has been doing. "I understand that you are confused, and that is to be expected. I assume you have heard of the existence of what is known as the Symphogears, correct?" He asked. The two of them nodded; they heard something about this on the news a few months ago, but never knew about the specifics. "Long story short, your daughter is a member of those Symphogears, and has been assisting us in eliminating supernatural threats to humankind."
Harumi's eyes shook at his answer. "W-wha-"
"I know it all sounds very confusing and complicated, but you can rest assured I will explain everything that has happened once we settle down and get your husband the medical care he needs," Shinji explained. "Once we have that done, we can start talking about-"
"But at least, at least! Please tell me what happened to my daughter!" Harumi begged, cutting into Shinji's words.
"Something that shouldn't have happened," Was his straightforward and blunt answer, interrupting all attempts by Harumi to keep pleading. "This entire situation should have been over by now without anyone being none the wiser, but an unknown element has changed the outcome to something we could not have foreseen. As much as I want to tell you everything right now, before that there are certain procedures I have to follow in order to make sure you do not spread this information without authorization. Everything you will hear is top secret and classified, so you will have to sign a non-disclosure agreement like your husband did."
Harumi blinked a few times, and looked towards Akira's unconscious form. "Like Akira did?"
"Yes. Due to various circumstances your husband was involved in an incident a few months ago when he assisted Hibiki-san against an enemy, and from then on was aware of what has occured. He couldn't talk about it because he signed the papers, so do not be alarmed," Shinji explained. "I promise you will get the full story, but for now let's get your husband the help he needs."
It wasn't the first time he had to act as a calm mediator, and he understood why they were bewildered. Harumi took a deep breath and sighed. "Okay...okay, I understand."
Shinji gave her a bright smile. "Don't worry, we will get your daughter back. You can count on that."
For some reason his comforting words reassured her, despite the storm in her mind. She had absolutely no idea just how complicated the situation was, but his word was all she had going for her. To have some measure of calm and comfort.
She looked to the outside, and realized that if she focused just enough, she could hear the sound of clashing steel echoing in the background. She did not know what it meant, but she hoped that by the time the storm passes...that the worry will too.
-!-
They were a swarm. Countless amounts of Noise of all shapes and sizes made their way to the harbor, their programming alerting them to the fact that a large amount of humans were gathered somewhere in its vicinity. They cared for little else, and simply marched towards their destination with that single goal in mind.
They came by the thousands, accompanied by shadowy beasts that they cared not about. They were a swarm, united by a common cause, and nothing would stand in their way.
Or at least, that's what they would have believed if they had the ability to do so. They were mindless, simply automatons that sought out their targets and eliminated them without regard to themselves. Recently they could not accomplish their objective because the gate to the world of humans was sealed away, trapping them in their dimension forever. Their numbers had been cut down by the millions, yet there were millions more to be had within it.
They were a swarm, and they were nearly infinite.
Now was their chance to return and complete their objective: the destruction of all that is human in the world. That was their only cause and their only purpose, and is something that nothing could ever change about them. The only way to stop their advance is to eliminate them before they had a chance to do anything about it.
And very unluckily for them, something of that sort existed in this world.
When they arrived in the heart of the harbor, they stopped suddenly, their entire force standing in place as they looked forward. Right there, placing themselves in between the Noise and their target was a single girl clad in red, staring ahead.
Chris was, for a lack of a better word, unusually calm. Having let off steam earlier through the comm, she now had to focus on her own objective: defending headquarters from any and all attempts by the Noise to breach it. She could see, intermingled between the ranks of the automatons she had unleashed many years ago were several of the black beasts that blindsided them in the school. They too remained in place, as if waiting for the opportune moment to strike.
But even something as mindless as them could not ignore the fact that the Ichaival user had absolutely zero holes in her guard, her strange serenity betraying absolutely nothing about her.
It seemed to be a strange symptom of post-Super Ignite Module, Elfnein had noticed. That for some reason the girls were...eerily focused and calm. Like their very mindset had changed between then and now.
She would not be wrong in her assessment. To witness your own hell in the depths of your mind was eye opening to say the least, and Chris figured that the others at least had seen something that made them have to change the very way they think to overcome it.
But not Chris. No, Chris, to their surprise, was the one who conquered that hell the fastest out of all of them. Merely a minute after the darkness covered her it was tamed, something that shocked them to no end. They asked her what she saw, and she gave them a vague answer, not really willing to divulge that information just yet.
She couldn't tell them that life was hellish enough for her that nothing inside her own mind could possibly compare. What she saw was a mere recreation of stuff she had already experienced before: the death of her parents by the hands of the ones they had tried to save, the moment she was kidnapped by human traffickers and abused to no end, the lecherous stares of some of the more insidious crime lords as they laid their eyes upon her, her eventual rescue by Section Two and her subsequent kidnapping by Fine, her torture at her hands, and more.
What could possibly compare to that? She wasn't proud of being able to overcome that hell so quickly. In fact, it depressed her even more, the fact that everything in real life was worse than that. She had heard the screams and the cursing from the shadows, yet they didn't matter to her in the least. Her biggest fears had already been realized in the past, and her current ones were paltry by comparison.
But still, she came to a very important conclusion from all of that, from seeing her own life replaying before her eyes: that she will never, never, allow such suffering to occur again. Nobody deserved to have that happen to them no matter who they were, and she vowed to make that a reality.
And most of all, she will never forgive herself if she let the idiot, no...Hibiki go through with what she wanted to do. Hibiki was her savior, the one who held out her hand to her and trusted her even when they were enemies, doing her best to get along with her.
So she would repay the kindness and the opportunities she showed her no matter what.
For that was the least she could do the person she considered a dear friend.
Chris stared ahead, taking a good look at the herd that embodied her sins:
The Noise, the sin of believing in a person who had used her for her own ends.
The black beasts, the sin of failing the person who had saved her.
So to answer for those sins, she had no problem casting her life away.
Her stare turned into a fierce glare, and she grasped the pendant of Ichaival tightly with her hand and waited.
The seconds ticked, and no one moved.
And then she finally got the go ahead as Genjuro spoke. "Everyone...give them hell."
That was all she needed to hear.
And along with her own, three other voices rose above the city that had become a battlefield.
"IGNITE MODULE, UNSHEATHE!"
The usual ritual was once again bypassed, and four black flames erupted in several locations around the city. Blazing towards the sky, the usual red and white Ichaival was now cloaked in complete blackness, the god-slaying power taking center stage.
And Chris' serene expression was replaced by one that gave even the Noise pause: a deeply contained fury that was about to be unleashed upon them.
"BRING IT ON, MOTHERFUCKERS!"
(Play: Dynasty Warriors 7 OST - Male Roar)
The swarm charged. The insanely huge amount of Noise made their way towards Chris as a symbol of unstoppable force, and the black beasts followed suit. In any other situation, they would have been able to overwhelm her with sheer force and numbers.
But this time was very, very different.
Chris counted in her head three seconds to total mayhem.
She materialized her miniguns in her hands, but did not open fire. No, she instead did something completely unexpected: she threw them in the air.
And as the Noise charged, she continued to materialize more weapons in her hands at blinding speeds. Rocket launchers, miniguns, bows, crossbows, bazookas, pistols, shotguns. Every single projectile weapon she could think of, be they modern or ancient, were thrown into the air by her side. At first, one would think she had gone nuts, discarding such a vast amount of weaponry for absolutely no reason.
They would be very wrong.
Rather than be tossed aside like trash, the weapons instead hung in the air, their muzzles and barrels aimed at the veritable tidal wave that was the Noise and black beasts.
One.
The weapons spread out, covering as much space as possible. And right there, hanging in the air by nothing more than her will, was a wall. A wall made of nothing but pitch black weapons that she had brought forth.
Two.
But of course, she could not leave her own hands completely empty. Willing a weapon to materialize, it appeared in her hand. It was something unlike anything she had ever used before.
And she gave it an appropriate name: The Devastator.
A double barreled launcher that fired miniature rockets at the rate of an automatic machine gun, it is a weapon that promises to deliver absolute hell upon anything that dared to be caught in its line of fire.
And Chris stood in place, her new weapon in hand and flanked by her many others.
Three.
'MEGADETH ORCHESTRA'
And then: obliteration.
All weapons opened fire simultaneously. The Noise didn't even have time to try and think about dodging as total hellfire descended upon them. Rockets, bullets, arrows, cannonballs, and whatever else came down in numbers almost rivaling their own, bringing destruction to the harbor in less than a second. Pillars of flame erupted in countless locations throughout the wide open area, the ground beneath might as well be made of glass as it shattered to pieces.
The Noise continued charging blindly into the hail of death and were cut down almost immediately, their mindless programming forcing them forward regardless of their own fate. Even the flying Noise attempting to bypass her hundreds of feet in the air were unable to make it a single inch past the wall she had created, the weapons at the very top automatically aiming for them and shooting them down like they were mere flies. Hell, even the gigantic Noise that endlessly spawned their own brethren were unable to make it past.
Nothing could make it past her. Her bellow echoed throughout the harbor.
"IS THAT ALL YOU'VE GOT?!"
The ground itself shook from her roar, causing even the black beasts that weaved their way between the Noise to falter in their step.
For the person before them was no longer Chris Yukine. No, at this moment, she was Zhang Fei, defending the bridge at Changban!
But a veritable few brave fools forged ahead regardless, and a black beast managed to close the distance despite its injuries and make its way all the way to the mistress who commanded the weapons. It lunged at her with claws outstretched, intending on finishing her off with one strike.
Only to miss completely as she sidestepped it easily. She briefly let go of the Devastator and smashed her fist into the back of the beast's head. It stumbled forward from the blow, but she did not stop there. She followed it up with a punch to its chin, throwing it into the air and back into the ranks of its comrades.
And it was summarily blown to bits by a volley launched by the Devastator that she grabbed just as it was falling.
The god-slaying power was really showing its worth here. If before just one black beast gave all of them a run for their money, now even dozens of them couldn't stop themselves from being mowed down by her barrage. And ones that managed to get through it? Easily dodged and blasted to pieces in seconds.
"YOU WILL NEVER GET PAST ME!"
Baited by her yell, the beasts roared and charged towards her in blinding speeds. Only two managed to make it to her alive, and she readied herself to counter their attacks again.
Only for them to leap above her at the last second and strike at the weapons hanging in the air, smashing to pieces a rocket launcher that was just about to fire.
Her eyes widened in surprise, and then a smirk lit up her face. "Ho, so you do know what you're doing!"
How surprising, to think the mindless beasts would aim for her support.
Well, too bad that ain't going to work for them.
Immediately several other weapons aimed at the offending beast and blew it apart, scattering black dust all over her. However, the remaining one landed on the pier, and bypassing Chris, it began its charge towards the submarine.
Only to be struck down by an arrow fired from the bow that was now in her hand, the Devastator taking the place of the destroyed launcher above her head. The arrow pierced through the beast's core, striking the bundle of divine power that made up its fake heart. The cluster was immediately destroyed by the projectile enhanced by god-slaying power, and the beast burst into dust instantly.
"I told you, you ain't getting past me."
She then spun on her heel and aimed her bow at the incoming wave, her shout drowning out even the sound of the explosions her barrage was creating. She notched a grotesquely oversized arrow in her bow and planted her legs, the ground beneath her feet shattering from the force.
"LET THIS DRAGON CONSUME YOU!"
And fired.
'ARTHEMIS EIDOLON'
The arrow was released, and a moment later exploded in a flash to reveal a dragon of light. It roared, tearing through the Noise ranks. However, this one was a bit more special; she gave it a very interesting property she was definitely going to enjoy seeing put to good use.
The dragon continued its path of destruction, weaving through explosions and Noise and chase its real targets: the beasts. The dozens of beasts in the back of the Noise's clustered formation did not even have time to notice it coming upon them before its gaping maw swallowed them whole, devouring their cores in an instant and blowing them apart. It continued its charge, its form held together by Chris' will. She smirked and threw the bow above her to join the rest of the weapons, and the Devastator returned to her awaiting hands.
None could get past her. Noise, beasts, nothing could match up to her in her current state.
A gigantic fireball engulfed the harbor as something detonated. Gales of wind and fire blew in all directions, and the earth shook from the shockwaves. The Noise and the beasts were blown away, the dragon still tearing through their backlines.
Yet Chris stood strong, for now she was the hunter, and they were the hunted. They were beasts, and she was a warrior who cut them down where they stand.
For she was the embodiment of the hunt, the successor of the God of the Bow, Ullr!
Her eyes shone with a purple light, her frame surrounded by the blazing black flame.
The world trembled in awe of her might.
And in a certain location on the submarine behind her, dark blue eyes shot open.
-!-
The submarine shook violently as the shockwaves from the explosions Chris was causing rocked it to no end.
The doctor, making his way back to the medical room, leaned against the wall as he tried to find his balance again for the third time. "This...is ridiculous." He murmured to himself. He was aware, just like the rest of the crew members of exactly what was happening and what the wielders were doing.
He did not like it one bit, but it was not his place to object. He knew the reason why they were doing it too, and he could not argue with that, he realized. He's just going to have to do his best to support them whatever way he can.
Finally, after what felt like an eternal journey, he arrived at the medical room.
And froze in the doorway when he noticed something out of place.
For the glass tube in which the injured wielder was resting…
Was empty.
-!-
(Play: Dynasty Warriors 7 OST - Large Feather)
Lightning crashed, illuminating the sky as two figures clashed with reckless abandon in the streets of Chiba's residential district. Concrete walls crumbled from the very force of their swings, Gungnir and Airgetlam smashing against each other with unbelievable strength. Countless upon countless of strikes were exchanged between the two opponents, both wielding dark versions of their original Symphogears and blazing auras surrounding their frames.
"Mommy, what is happening outside?" One child asked his mother.
The woman had no answers to give him as she huddled him close, desperate to protect him. She had no idea what was happening, but it was sounding like the world was ending. She had peeked outside the window for just a moment, and then it promptly shattered into pieces when a powerful gale of wind sliced through it like paper. Luckily enough for her, the curtain over it took the brunt of the force so she was uninjured, but it was still incredibly scary to experience. The only thing she could see was two figures apparently fighting in the streets, but she had no idea what they were.
And at this point, she was too afraid to know.
Maria roared as another one of her swings was blocked by the spear Hibiki was holding. The rogue wielder groaned at the full force strike, skidding across the ground. But Maria was relentless, charging into the fray and closing the distance in an instant. Letting out all her power she struck and struck, and Hibiki actually found herself on the defensive.
"Don't you think…" She snarled, stopping another lightning fast blow. "THAT THIS WILL STOP ME!"
She responded with her own wild swing, the spear screaming through the air. Maria brought up her sword and hurriedly blocked it, her feet digging into the ground as she poured all her energy into defense. She grit her teeth and pushed the spear away, her eyes briefly wandering to the house they were fighting next to. 'I can't keep duelling her here. I have to lead her away from a populated area.'
Hibiki responded with a space-tearing lunge, but Maria took the opportunity to jump into the air, reaching heights she never she have been able to under normal circumstances. The god-slaying power was boosting her strength to unparalleled levels, ones she'd never be able to reach on her own.
And despite all of the advantages it gives, it was still not enough to match Hibiki head on.
Her power was just completely on a whole other plane, figuratively and literally. Maria knew from the get go that an exchange of force would end in the rogue Adaptor's favor, which is why at this point they needed something that won't give them additional strength, but rather a concept that can counter her immense power.
But as Adam said, the only one who possessed that concept was Hibiki herself. She was, essentially, her own counter.
And that was why it was going far better for the idol than before. Now using that very power against her, the results were much, much more equal. Every time their weapons clashed the Airgetlam user could feel Hibiki's spear groan as the divine power that lined it gave way, forcing her back.
But even this was fleeting, for eventually the divine power will be entirely consumed, leaving nothing but evil and demonic power flowing through her.
That will be the moment they'll truly be tested.
Hibiki took off into the air as well, her tunnel-vision on Maria blinding her to anything else. She struck wildly, and Maria parried the blow with all her might. The flat of the spear passed by her, and she took the opportunity to plant her feet against it and took off in the direction of Tokyo.
She can't allow herself to forget what Genjuro instructed her to do for even a second.
A perfect straight aerial line between Chiba and Tokyo passed over the Tokyo Bay, a place that Maria immediately found herself in. She soared through rain and lightning, but she couldn't say she was actually flying. She was more akin to gliding at high speeds, surpassing Mach 2, letting her keep herself in roughly the same height all the time as the thrusters on her back roared to life.
But Hibiki was hot on her heels, completely forgetting to use her own teleportation. Unlike Maria, Hibiki had true flight, allowing her to catch up to the Airgetlam user in absolutely no time. Maria looked back and grit her teeth, quickly turning in the air to block another blow from Hibiki's raised spear.
Only to be blinded when lightning struck the corrupted wielder. Spots filled her vision as the light dissipated, and for a moment she thought that maybe she lucked out and Hibiki was knocked out by the billion joules contained in the bolt.
And then Maria raised her sword in surprise when she saw Hibiki charge on regardless, completely disregarding the fact she was struck at all and slamming her spear against the blade.
Instantly Maria felt her arms shake as the leftover charge travelled from Hibiki to herself, and she bit down the searing heat that threatened to tear her apart from the inside. The rogue wielder did not stop there, and with her full force struck the sword Maria was holding. The sheer power behind the blow threw Maria further in Tokyo's direction, this time her flight out of her control.
She streaked through the air, and it was at this point that Hibiki apparently remembered how to use her teleportation, appearing right in the middle of her path, giving Maria barely a second to respond.
But that proved to be more than enough.
She twisted herself mid flight and raised her arm up to block the incoming overhead blow. The spear tore through the rain, intent on slicing her in half.
Only to be once again be violently repulsed by a triangular shield that appeared over Maria's arm. With nothing impeding her path, she slammed her free fist into Hibiki's stomach with all of her strength.
The rogue wielder's stomach heaved under the blow, and she clenched her teeth from the pain. She tried to move away, but a stinging pain from her stomach arrested her movements completely, paralyzing her in place. She looked down to see Maria's arm still planted in her stomach, but even more than that, several pitch black daggers were impaled into her in a circle around Maria's fist.
Hibiki's gaze drifted to Maria's face, and her eyes widened when she noticed that her cyan eyes were shining, her expression a mask of resolve and unbridled power. With Hibiki unable to move even an inch with the blade piercing through her, Maria began the next phase.
She brought back her sword into her free hand and smashed its flat side against her forearm. A clicking noise was heard as the blade was locked in place, and then it began to rotate around her arm. It picked up speed in an instant, creating a circle of light outshining everything around them, blinding the rogue wielder.
Maria clenched her fist.
In that instant, the blackness that was the Airgetlam's arm flaked away to reveal a brilliant silver limb, shining in all its ancient glory.
"THIS IS THE POWER OF AIRGETLAM!"
And the might of Nuada, the first king of Tuatha de Danann, was unleashed upon the girl claimed by darkness.
'KING'S†JUDGMENT'
Hibiki was blown away. She was launched across the sky at breakneck speeds, surpassing anything that she could achieve on her own. Silver light filled the world as the beam carried the corrupted wielder onwards, the blades in her stomach not allowing her to move even an inch.
Maria stared ahead at her, and she groaned as the god-slaying power once again took hold, its blackness flowing over the silver arm once again. It was a painful process, but one she could not deny. The explosion she unleashed was mighty, but it was probably not going to be enough to take Hibiki down, she knew that much.
There was no time to waste.
The thrusters on her lower back roared to life, and she took off in the direction of Tokyo, hot on Hibiki's heels.
-!-
(Play: Dynasty Warriors 7 OST - Hide Emotion)
Buildings shattered and exploded as the Noise closed in on Kirika and Shirabe by the thousands. They came in from all directions; the air, the ground, and even tearing through structures just to make their way towards the two wielders in order to strike them down and carbonize them.
And they were wholly unsuccessful.
It was pretty much impossible to catch either of the two by surprise. They covered for each other's blind spots and weaknesses, while at the same time enhancing each other's strengths.
And now, fueled by the power of the Super Ignite Module, they were completely unmatched.
Rains of saws and crescent projectiles sliced through the ranks of the Noise, cutting them down by the hundreds with each swipe. One lucky humanoid Noise that managed to make it through unscathed lunged at Kirika, who could not swing in time to block it.
She had no need to.
It struck her straight on, intending on fulfilling its objective.
Only for her to tank the hit, none the worse for wear. She did not even need to move to try and intercept it or do anything about it. The mindless Noise was caught completely off guard by the fact that its full force blow did not even dent the Symphogear wielder.
The girl stared at the offending Noise with a deadly glare, and in a vicious move smashed her head against it with all her might. The crude act proved to be highly effective as the Noise stumbled back and disintegrated into dust.
More Noise closed in on her, but she remained calm. Re-equipping her scythe, she held it low behind her and forced her will into it, causing it to double in size.
And then it tripled.
And then quadrupled.
The absolutely massive scythe was six times her own size in length, yet in her hands it was as light as a feather. She jumped into the air, the ground beneath breaking apart, and in a single powerful swing threw the scythe in a spin so quick it became a roaring black disc that tore apart the Noise for five city blocks. Rubble and debris were flung in all directions as the scythe tore through concrete like it was made of paper, stopping with no regard to what was in its way.
And she repeated the action, again and again in all directions, filling the city streets with gigantic spinning scythes that destroyed thousands upon thousands of Noise with each pass. And yet they still trudged forward, trying to kill the ones that were tearing them down.
But it was impossible for the Noise. No matter how much times passes and how numerous they are, one thing will always remain certain: the Symphogear wielders will never be defeated by them.
As Kirika worked on cutting apart the Noise, Shirabe was busy taking care of a few unwanted guests that decided to join in. The black beasts chased her, but their attack missed every time as she slid past them faster than they could register, and with each pass she sliced more and more of them apart through the chest, terminating them instantly.
Another beast tried to lunge at her, but she moved out of the way easily and appeared behind it. She raised her leg in the air, and razor sharp saws roared to life on her calf, spinning wildly. Then, in a single downward motion sliced through the beast vertically through the middle, cutting the divine core in half. Her foot smashed against the concrete, and she watched with half-interest as the now two halves of the beast turned into dust.
Then she spun and decapitated another beast that tried to sneak up behind her. Its head flew off in the distance, but that was still not enough to finish it off, so she made another pass, cutting through the core. More and more beasts came upon her in endless numbers, but she weaved through their attacks with the elegance of a ballerina, all the while using her razor sharp yo-yos to cut them to pieces. Black dust was carried on the wind from the sheer number of beasts she was slaying in such short order, her power surpassing theirs by a very significant margin.
All those who looked upon the two would see auras of black flame rising from their frame towards the sky, dwarfing even the tallest skyscrapers of the city. They closed the distance between each other just as a beast lunged at Shirabe and a battalion of Noise closed in on Kirika. Their backs touched, and catching their opponents by surprise, they wordlessly exchanged targets. The black beast was swiftly cut down by Kirika's scythe while the Noise were torn to shreds by the giant saws that Shirabe materialized.
Unmatched teamwork. Like two parts of the same whole, Kirika and Shirabe represented true duality; the furthest twins yet the closest strangers, their mismatched Gears filling in for what the other lacked: Kirika's insurmountable and overwhelming strength backed by Shirabe's lightning fast mobility and tactics, they were truly a match made by the heavens themselves.
For that was the truth, for they were the duo that the Goddess Zababa chose to serve as her blades in the world of man!
Their eyes met as they turned, shining green and pink.
"Shirabe."
"Kiri-chan."
They nodded.
"Let's blow them away!"
Their auras flared even higher, and any and all opponents that tried to close the distance on them stepped back in fear of their power. The two glared at the approaching enemies and charged deep into their formation.
Immediately after, Noise were flung by the thousands into the air, holding together for barely a second before they disintegrated, the very shockwaves of the two's advance wrecking the Noise formation. And the automatons attempted to retaliate, bearing down everything they have on the two wielders.
But nothing they could do even managed to get past the sphere of absolute death that they created around them. Any enemy that even attempted to get within striking range of the two was simply blown to bits, and even the beasts were not exempt. They put up a much better fight, diving in on them from all sides, but their reckless charge made them easy targets for the two.
Double scythes were swung in all directions as Kirika made her first pass through the block. A multitude of flying Noise tried to divebomb her, but they were mercilessly cut apart. She eyed a Giant Noise at the end of the street and threw one of her scythes in a spin, tearing it in half; but the rotating polearm was not done yet. It spun in the air only to automatically curve in its path like a boomerang. A black beast tried to capitalize on the miniscule opening that she left in her throw, but was instantly cut down by the returning disk.
Another beast tried to jump her from behind, but without even looking back Kirika smashed her fist into its face, causing it to tumble backwards and right into the awaiting hands of Shirabe's saws, eviscerating it as soon as they touched it. The Shul Shagana user moved like the wind between the Noise, slicing and dicing in all directions, her spinning saws serving two purposes at once: cutting down the targets in close range and serving as launchers for smaller saws that were flung to the distance, downing even the biggest of flying Noise in the sky.
Their sphere of influence only increased as they made their passes through the streets, never for a moment forgetting their objective of defending the Skytree. Some opportunistic beasts and Noise attempted to approach the entrance of the shelter, hearing the cries of the humans within.
Only to be blown apart by the traps Shirabe had installed as enormous sawblades erupted from the ground up to bisect the advancing line. Realizing that her traps were triggered, the two partners looked to each other simultaneously and nodded, swiftly making their way to the base of the tower.
"Shall we go, Kiri-chan?" Shirabe said, earning a grin from the blonde wielder.
"Yeah, let's show them what we got!" Kirika responded, combining her two scythes into one.
They arrived back in less than ten seconds to meet the forward line of the Noise head on, but this time they did something different. Kirika raised her scythe towards the sky with her right hand, and a moment later Shirabe grabbed the weapon's shaft with her left. Soon enough, power flowed from both as the scythe morphed, and the bladed end transformed into a giant pink and green saw that manifested a razor sharp wind, blowing any enemy that attempted to approach their position.
"RETURN TO THE BEGINNING AND BE WASHED AWAY!"
The combined weapon glowed like a second sun in the night, casting shadows all over the battlefield.
A million columns of light erupted from it towards the sky, illuminating the area like the morning sunrise. The columns climbed higher and higher, passing over even the veil of clouds that began to arrive from the southeast.
A second ticked.
And then the lights came down on the Noise like a tidal wave, consuming them in their entirety in the bombardment.
'FLOOD OF UTNAPISHTIM'
It was a massacre.
Of the countless Noise that had made their attack on the Skytree, none survived, the lights piercing through them like the wrath of god himself.
And the beasts? Only served to become clouds of black dust, mixing into the night as they were blown away by the hurricane winds left over the destructive force.
The two wielders kept on holding the weapon aloft like a banner of victory, the lights still pouring out from it in all directions. Any person who would look upon the two would gape in awe, for even the curses that had blackened their gears could not fully mask their divine radiance.
Finally, after what seemed like eons, the shining saw stopped its frenzied spin, the light dying down and allowing the darkness of the night to reclaim its territory.
Shirabe released her hold on the scythe and Kirika brought it down to wield it like normal. A momentary silence descended on the area as it seemed that the two wielders grasped a perfect victory.
Only to hear the rumbling charge of thousands more, a new wave of Noise and beasts making their way towards them at lightning speeds.
"No breaks huh? Fine by me," Kirika declared boldly. "BRING IT ON!"
And the blades of Zababa charged back into the fray, their work still not done.
-!-
"This...is incredible!" Elfnein exclaimed, her mouth gaping open at the sight of the Symphogear wielders' staunch defense of the city. Her eyes darted to the numbers flying in. "This amount of phonic gain is amazing!"
"This is really something else." Genjuro noted. Such power was being thrown around almost casually, and it was wrecking total havok upon the city. But at this point, even the city itself was an acceptable loss, as failure would mark the end of humanity as they know it, rendering any future use of the land moot. 'But will it be enough?' He wondered, gritting his teeth at the sight before him.
Something in the way they were fighting rubbed him the wrong way. No, it was as if there was something more than just god-slaying power there, enhancing their abilities. It couldn't be the curses themselves, no those he figured was the reason the wielders seemed to have an uncharacteristic focus on their objective, and a ferocity that they usually did not exhibit. Chris punching beasts in the face or Kirika smashing her head against a Noise target were just some of the strange changes in their demeanor.
As if he was reading his mind, Adam spoke up. "Ho, that's an interesting development. I did not think the god-slaying power would stir open a connection to the primal origin."
Genjuro narrowed his eyes, the words Adam was using sounds downright alien. "What are you talking about?"
"Ho, you don't know what that is? How sad," Adam said derisively. "It's simple, the god-slaying power has awoken a certain part of the Symphogears that was closed off even from you."
At this incredulous statement even Elfnein stared at him in shock, and he continued. "No, awoken is a big word to use here. It's more like it nudged open a tiny speck of the true nature of the relics the Symphogears find their origin in. After all, you must know that the Gears are derived from weapons that were wielded by gods, do you not? But those abilities were sealed away when they made their conversion into Symphogears. Well, not like any human in existence could possibly use the relics to their full potential, at least ones of divine origin."
Genjuro was taken aback. Of course he knew what the origin of the relics was, there was no question about that. However, accessing their divine abilities? What? "That's impossible. Are you saying that they have divine power now?"
"Of course not, are you daft? All I'm saying is that they might start exhibiting abilities derived from the gods that wielded the relics as weapons, nothing more. While it's an interesting development, even such a thing will be meaningless when used by ones who are not fully compatible with them. I wouldn't put my faith in such thing if I were you, although that depends on how cleverly your subordinates can use these abilities," Adam explained. "Poor, poor Saint-Germain. She doesn't get a nice little bonus from all these curses she chose to take into herself. How tragic." He continued with mock sadness, earning a cringe from the bridge crew.
Genjuro looked back to the screen. Well, regardless of how...ridiculous, Adam's explanation sounded, it was still something. 'Powers derived from gods, huh?' He wondered. It made sense to him, in a way. Considering the god-slaying power was not derived from divinity, it was only logical it would not be sealed away.
However, that did not make things anymore simple. They are starting to delve into something that might be way out of their league. Noise were easy to deal with. Ancient relics? Piece of cake. Delusional reincarnating priestesses? A walk in the park.
But gods? And divine power? And primal origin? And awoken abilities? At this point Genjuro was finding himself overwhelmed by all these new developments, and it frustrated him to no end. He needed to be on top of the situation so he can direct the course of events as seamlessly as possible, but as they continued more and more unknown elements made themselves known, throwing him for a loop.
He can't allow this to go on. If he lost control of the situation, they might end up with in an inescapable situation that will render all of their efforts worthless. He cannot allow Hibiki to drift further and further from their realm of understanding, for the minute she did they will no longer be able to reach her.
Behind him, Miku looked on with her eyes narrowed. Her teeth grinding against each other in frustration, she clenched the hem of her skirt with all her strength, attempting to calm down.
Everyone was fighting so hard while she just stood here and did nothing. She merely stood and looked as Hibiki targeted her own family in her quest for vengeance, and she could do nothing but scream and look horrified.
Her whole frame shook as anger filled her to the brim, yet she could not allow herself to rage here. The only thing she had...the only thing that held her together...was the hope that the others with their new powers will be able to do something.
She thought nobody noticed her, but Genjuro did. He peeked at her from the corner of his eye, realizing she was keeping her fury in check.
'Just a little bit more.'
At that moment, the door to the bridge flew open, and both Miku and Genjuro turned around to stare at the newcomer.
And promptly froze in place. Their eyes widened at the blue haired figure, still wearing her medical robes and standing tall in the doorway.
"Tell me everything."
-!-
(Play: Dynasty Warriors 7 OST - Ambition to Take Over)
The army of Alca-Noise spread into the city, seeking out the targets their mistress had decreed that must be destroyed. From the plaza in which they appeared they began to cover every inch of the city that was not guarded by the duo or by Chris.
Almost instantly Elfnein's theory proved true when the first casualty in the Babylonian Noise ranks occurred when one of the humanoid Alca-Noise thrust its glowing stinger forward, piercing through the enemy Noise's head and causing it to explode into dust a moment later.
"There was no reason such an outcome would not come to pass," Saint-Germain said. "Both the Noise and Alca-Noise exhibit the Phase Contrast Barrier. Even if they do not nullify it like the Symphogears do, their dimensional phasing changes billions of times every millisecond; in the moment the two match for even a fraction of a second, the damage done will already be enough to destroy the target."
This proof showed itself in the results. The Babylonian Noise did not even know what hit them as the Alca-Noise tore through their ranks.
"Saint-Germain! The Shinjuku shelter is being targeted!" Fujitaka yelled over the comm to her. She was curious for a moment as to why he of all people was informing her of developments, but she put that thought aside.
With her will alone, the alchemist directed a section of her army to the designated location. Thankfully they were already fairly close, so the only thing she had to do was call their attention to it.
In order to make them easier to pinpoint and locate, Saint-Germain divided the Alca-Noise army into seven different regiments, each of them going in a different direction in the city. She also linked up a Giant Noise to each division, each one color-coded to serve as the pseudo-bannerman of its own regiment.
There were red, green, orange, yellow, pink, blue, and black, and each one had an equal amount of Alca-Noise of all types. This way she could control them much more easily and direct them as necessary according to which regiment was closer to its designated target.
In this particular scenario, the red regiment was the closest. The huge group of Alca-Noise smashed through buildings in a straight line towards their destination, eradicating any clueless Babylonian Noise that dared to stand in their way.
It was almost too easy. Due to the fact that the ancient Noise were essentially leaderless, they had no direction and no strategy, only acting upon the instincts and programming installed in them in ages past.
Apparently, those in the past did not account for the fact that the Noise will ever target each other, so when the Alca-Noise tore through their ranks, they were met with absolutely zero resistance as the Babylonian Noise did not even try and think of retaliating. They simply stood in place and allowed themselves to be destroyed.
"What a total waste." Saint-Germain commented as she witnessed the destruction. Behind her, a group of six black beasts jumped onto the building she was standing on and attempted to ambush her.
She did not ever bother to glance back at them. The alchemist aimed her gun behind her back and fired, and the bullet pierced through the first easily. Then through the second, and then the third. Back and forth the bullet curved wildly as it obliterated each of the beasts' core, leaving nothing but black dust in their wake. "This power is far too surprising," She continued as she glanced at her own form, studying the pitch black form of her Faust Robe. "To think even these spawned abominations stand no chance when previously they had given us so much trouble."
The red regiment reached the entrance of the Shinjuku shelter in due time and worked their way through the enemy Noise prowling in its area. Again, absolutely zero resistance. They took point in less than a minute, striking out against their Babylonian counterparts that attempted to bypass them and reach the shelter. However, due to the fact that they ignored the Alca-Noise, it was all too easy to destroy them.
"Itabashi shelter is under attack!"
That's all the mindless Noise knew how to do; attack attack attack. No strategy, no will, no anything that would make them even worth her time. Whoever created these things were total fools. Damn lucky fools, but fools nonetheless. "Yellow regiment, turn back and head towards the designated location! Do not allow the shelter to fall!"
Her voice telepathically echoed to the appropriate Alca-Noise, and they immediately went to follow her directions.
The alchemist huffed to herself; it was almost as if she was acting as a general on a battlefield, directing massive amounts of troops to capture certain targets. But this was not a siege, nor was it an invasion. This was a defense, an attempt at repelling enemy forces from taking over the entire area.
If this battle would ever receive a name in history, it would probably be called the Defense of Tokyo, or something along those lines. In the past she had indeed stood among many officials and generals and witnessed the naming of cities, of declarations of war, of instruments of surrender, or even corrupt dealings that fell beneath the radar.
She picked up on some of those skills along the way, giving her some measure of confidence in acting as a warlord.
"Saint-Germain! It's a disaster! Part of the black division sent to Ota has been destroyed by beasts! They're located at Shinagawa!"
The alchemist raised an eyebrow. The black beasts are targeting the Alca-Noise? How surprising, she thought they too did not have the capacity for strategy, but it seems she was proven wrong. Well, if they were smart enough to try an ambush her from behind, then something as simple as targeting the unfriendly Noise was also easy enough. Their ambush failed, but it said more about their ability than they had initially believed.
It was her turn to move, it seems.
She had originally placed herself in Nakano ward, while the Zababa duo and Chris were located on the more eastern side of the city. She turned south and leaped, covering huge distances between far away buildings with each jump. At her current speed, she should reach her designated location within a minute or so.
Along the way she spotted several groups of giant flying Noise, the ones the were shaped like airplanes, all deploying massive amounts of their own brethren down onto the city.
Well that just won't do, will it? Pushing more power into her legs, Saint-Germain jumped, soaring above the altitude the flying Noise were gliding at. She aimed her gun, lining up all five of the airplane Noise in her sights, then fired. The bullet tore through the air with destructive sonic booms, and pierced through them all with incredible ease. The Noise detonated into gigantic fireballs that rained down on the city, engulfing and consuming anything that was unlucky enough to be where they landed.
She landed back on a building on the other side of the block and surveyed her handiwork momentarily before making her way back to her destination: Shinagawa. She looked up at the sky briefly, noticing the thick black clouds flowing in from the southeast. 'A storm is coming.'
There, far into the distance, she could see a line of silver light streak through the sky, descending towards the city proper. Following it was a black flame, making her realize that Maria was successful in her own objective, being bringing Hibiki back to Tokyo in any way possible.
A tremendous explosion occurred as the beam struck a building in the Chiyoda ward, and the black flame landed just a small distance before it.
'Chaos is about to descend upon us. Perhaps the time for Kohinata Miku to make her entrance is approaching.'
-!-
Maria breathed heavily as she landed, a little bit tired from the long journey she made from Chiba while hot on Hibiki's heels. Her new attack was incredibly powerful, even if she did not know where exactly she got the idea to use it from. But it proved its effectiveness by cannonballing Hibiki all the way to Tokyo, which was her goal all along.
So...now what? What are they supposed to do about this now? As she looked, the rogue wielder was already removing herself from the wreckage of the building she crashed into, and that made everything all the more complicated. Is he going to order them to gang up on her now? Would that work? There was no way to know until they tried, but such a thing was impossible at the moment. Everyone else was just too busy fighting off the Noise and the beasts to help her; she was not going to get any reinforcements any time soon.
Well, she did hear that Saint-Germain had apparently summoned a huge army of Alca-Noise into the city as reinforcements, a fact that she confirmed with her own eyes as she saw several huge battalions of them move past without even acknowledging her existence.
But that did not change her circumstances.
There was an explosion of rubble as Hibiki freed herself, and a moment later she landed in front of Maria at the other end of the street, and the army of Alca-Noise marched past, blocking her vision of the rogue wielder.
'She's going to-'
Just as she thought that, Hibiki sliced her way through the Noise to charge at her, and she quickly brought up her sword to block the crushing blow. But Hibiki poured more power into her swing, far more than ever before, launching Maria backwards through several skyscrapers. She groaned in pain as she smashed through solid concrete, her modified Gear protecting her from the brunt of the damage.
But it was still painful as hell, crashing through solid structures. Recomposing herself, Maria twisted in the air and slid across the ground, eyes up to to re-engage Hibiki the moment she showed herself.
"Maria, hold on! Reinforcements are on their way!" She heard Aoi declare over the comm, but she did not have time to dwell on the thought.
Hibiki showed herself right there and then as she chased Maria through the holes she left behind, widening them further and weakening the structural integrity of the buildings in her wake. The elder's eyes widened and she once again blocked the insanely powerful swing, the ground beneath her exploding into pieces of concrete and rubble. Maria grit her teeth and slammed the spear away, and the two began a wild exchange of blows that tore apart the street they found themselves in.
Through it all, Maria could not help but notice she was pushed back more and more with each blow she blocked. Blows that caused her bones to shake and her muscles ache; she immediately realized their fears were becoming true, just through this battle: Hibiki was growing more powerful by the minute.
She could not allow herself to be the cause of their defeat.
A lunge by Hibiki was parried to the side by Airgetlam's blade, and she responded by sliding it across the spear until she was nearly face to face with the rogue wielder. Cyan eyes met green, and Maria clenched her teeth as she released one hand from the blade's handle and launched a full force punch to Hibiki's face. Sonic booms were left in the wake of her strike, which she hoped would strike true.
It didn't, for in that moment Hibiki raised her free hand to catch Maria's fist. The corrupted Adaptor bared her teeth at the elder, and then released her hold on her spear completely, catching Maria off guard.
And the idol was blown away in retaliation as Hibiki's own fist struck her in the chest, sending her flying again through several buildings, this time the pain being even more unbearable than before. Her vision blanked out for a moment, but the moment she regained it she found herself not above solid concrete, but rather water.
Her back slammed into the sail of S.O.N.G HQ's sail, denting the metal beneath it. Using what remained of her strength, Maria dislodged herself, falling onto the hull and breathing heavily, Hibiki's punch having knocked the wind out of her in an instant.
A moment later Hibiki appeared in front of her on the other side, her spear at her side. "Is that all you've got, Maria?" She asked her, not taking a single step forward. "All that talk and you still failed to do anything. How not surprising."
The new development did not go unnoticed by Chris, who turned around in the middle of her barrage, eyeing the two combatants on top of the submarine. "Maria! I'll be right ther-"
"There's no need, Chris-kun," Genjuro suddenly said to her. "Just focus on the Noise in front of you. Someone else is on their way to help her."
"Someone else? But everyone else is busy! Who the heck is left to-"
And then it hit her.
She smiled. "It's about damn time."
Meanwhile on top of HQ, Maria grit her teeth, forcing herself to her feet, only managing to rise to one knee. "This much...is nothing!"
"Give me a break, you know you can't do anything," Hibiki said. "After all, you're nothing but a living breathing failure. Everything you tried to do was meaningless; you couldn't even be a bad guy properly. It's time you faced the truth, Maria: you are worthless!"
"I will not be swayed by your twisted words!"
"Then maybe you'll be swayed by my actions," Hibiki declared. So focused was she on Maria that she completely disregarded the loud thumping sound that rose up behind her, followed up by the violent folding of metal. The green core in her spear shone brightly, and she raised the polearm up in the direction of the elder. "This is where it ends, Maria."
She stared into the Airgetlam user's eyes, hoping to catch some sort of despair in her gaze, only to find her...looking at something else entirely? Maria's eyes instead widened in shock as she looked behind and above Hibiki, catching sight of something she definitely did not expect to see now.
In response, Hibiki turned around, lowering her spear, only to come face to face with…
"A wall?"
"How rude," A deep yet feminine voice declared from above. Hibiki raised her gaze, and in that moments spotlights shone, blinding her momentarily. "This is not a wall. This is a sword! I thought you knew better than that, Tachibana!"
The figure was illuminated by the light, hiding her features behind a silhouette of darkness. Then, she leaped over the rogue wielder to land between her and Maria, brandishing a blue and white sword in her hand.
It was at that moment that both Hibiki and Maria finally realized who that was.
After all, only one person ever called Hibiki purely by her last name.
"You!"
"Tsubasa!"
The Ame-no-Habakiri wielder turned to Maria, who had called her name and smiled. "It looks like I've made you worry, Maria."
The Airgetlam user gazed up at her, awed by her sudden entrance from nowhere. Tears welled up in her eyes, and she forced her head downwards as a few droplets fell down on the steel hull. "Of course you did, idiot. You kept us waiting for far too long."
Tsubasa let out a chuckle, then her face became serious, her head turning back to Hibiki. "The commander told me everything that has occurred until now," She said. "You've done well to hold on until now, Maria. Let me take things from here; you should go and help the others."
Maria raised her head up again, taken aback by Tsubasa's bold declaration. "No! That's too dangerous!"
"You should listen to her, Tsubasa," Hibiki said, interrupting them. "If you really know everything then you know you can't beat me."
"Hoh, what happened to Tsubasa-san, Tachibana? I thought even in your maddened state you'd behave with some sense of decorum," The blue haired wielder said. "But that matters very little to me. I will not allow this to continue any longer; I hereby declare that I will defeat you here and now, Tachibana."
Hibiki huffed. "Looks like nearly dying also made you insane."
"Fool, the only insane one here is you. However, I do not blame you in the least for your quest for vengeance, for I also found myself in dark depths in the past. The only thing I will blame are our own failures, which I will proceed to correct." Tsubasa said defiantly, raising her blade. She held it parallel to the ground at shoulder level, both hands gripping its handle and its sharp edge facing the sky.
In response to her new opponent taking a stance, Hibiki brandished her spear. "I won't let you get in the way of what I have to do. I don't care how many times I have to cut you down; eventually, you will pay for what you did to me."
"What I did to you, huh? That sure takes me back," Tsubasa said with a tinge of melancholy. "That is true. Back then I have certainly not been in my right mind, and I bared my hatred against you for no justifiable reason. While I had believed we let the matter rest, I see that you did not...and that is fine with me. After all, it seems I owe you a duel, do I not? Even though I no longer bear any ill will towards the real you, I do have several problems with the current you...and one of them is far more frustrating than the rest."
It was at that moment that her eyes filled with a fiery will and resolve, her element shining through just her stance. The air around her twisted, and an aura of brilliant orange flame covered her being. "Then let us have our duel here and now, Tachibana, just like we should have back then! And let me make something very clear to you..."
And then her voice echoed throughout the harbor. "I will not allow Kanade's legacy be tainted by such a contemptible thing! For the sake of what she left behind, I will liberate you from the grasp of mankind's curses!"
"Hmph, fine then. You probably won't believe me if I told you she's the one who gave them to me." Hibiki said plainly.
"I will not heed your ridiculousness! Let us do away with words now, Tachibana, and let us settle this by the edge of our blades!" Tsubasa declared. "Kazanari Tsubasa, advancing! HERE I COME, TACHIBANA!"
"BRING IT ON, TSUBASA!"
And the sound of steel clashing against steel once against resonated throughout.
Marking the start of the battle, the thunderstorm that had began its journey in Chiba made landfall in Tokyo.
