Song of the Heart Redux (G Arc)

by zeroblackdragon15

(Story adopted from Ada1229) "Believe in the song of your heart." Finé's words on that day continue to drive Hibiki forwards. This is my view on how Symphogear G would have changed if Hibiki had been warned of the FIS' attack on the Queens of Music concert, as well as their plans for world domination. Pairings in Chapter 3; Interlude 2 uploaded 3/9/2018.

14. G Chapter 13: The Final Frontier(Part 2)

Song of the Heart: Redux

Author's Notes: Welcome back to "Song of the Heart: Redux". Sorry once again for the massive delay in getting this to you; as stated in the last pair of author's notes, there has been a lot of things going on in reality, but I"m back and ready to roll! Today we see the continuation of events on Frontier, with a trio of fights going on at the same time. Shirabe and Kirika fight for the paths they believe in, while Tsubasa and Chris' fight grows in intensity. And let's not forget the ambush that Hibiki herself has found herself in; now having to deal with injured ribs, things are only going to be more dangerous. Today is going to be a wild ride, and the climax is approaching in a hurry.

I'd like to once more thank the author of the original "Song of the Heart", Ada1229, for allowing me to adopt her story and idea and make it into my own from there. Enough waiting; let's get to the action!

Disclaimer: I do not own Senki Zesshou Symphogear or Senki Zesshou Symphogear G. It is owned by those who own it. I also do not own any music used as insert songs here; they are owned by the respective songwriters and artists.

Please note; the record label used in this, Galactic Music Japan, is NOT a real music label as far as I know, but is a parody made solely for the purposes of this story. The same goes for JAM TV; as far as I know, it's not a real music channel on TV, again a parody made up for the purposes of this story.

Also, no music quoted within the story belongs to me. The rights to any and all pieces used belong to their artists and record labels. I did buy a copy of the single CDs that the songs are from though, so thank iTunes for most of that.

Acknowledgements: Once more, I would like to thank the author of the original "Song of the Heart", Ada1229, for her support in adopting this idea and making it my own. I would also like to thank a couple of friends of mine outside of (they know who they are) for acting as sounding boards when I have ideas for this that may seem a bit on the wild side.

'Insert thought here'=character thoughts

Flashback Is in Italics

-Song lyrics are shown in italics between dashes-

Chapter 13: To the Final Frontier (Part 2)

(Last Time…)

The room was quiet as the nurse on duty left the room, her check on the patient within having been completed. As the door shut behind her and the nurse walked away, a small groan was heard from within the securely sealed room as the patient held within began to stir, the heart rate monitor beside her bed becoming more active as she became ever so slowly more aware of her surroundings along with the steady pain she felt throughout her body. Biting her tongue to prevent herself from screaming from the pain that she felt from the back of her head, Miku slowly pushed herself up until she sitting up, her mind trying to piece together how she had gotten there. Drawing a blank, her last memory being that of having been rescued from the Sky Tower, she tried to speak, only to be able to whisper one word before the pain in the back of her head made her voice falter as nurses rushed in, one of them speaking softly into a microphone attached to their jacket.

"Hibiki…"

2nd Division Temporary Headquarters, Bridge, 3 hours and 50 minutes after Frontier Rising

"Please hurry. As much as she says she can handle it, I still get the feeling that she's going to need some serious backup," Aoi finished, the worry in her voice evident as she looked at the monitor displaying Hibiki's fight on screen before flicking another holographic display towards the analyst station next to her. The Gungnir wielder was holding her own against her opponents, but her injury was clearly slowing her down. While Hibiki had asked that Aoi not tell the others how bad her odds were with this fight, that didn't help to ease any of her concerns, even as the girl on screen ducked under the outstretched arm of one of the opponents she faced. As such, she had made the decision to give a brief summation of the Gungnir wielder's situation to Tsubasa, her concern for Hibiki's safety overriding the younger girl's request. Observing Hibiki's fists striking her opponent three times in rapid succession and causing it to stumble backwards, she heard Tsubasa speak up, her frustration and alarm evident in her voice as she did so.

"Ryoukai," Tsubasa spoke, the sound of her katana deflecting bullets away from her echoing through the microphone alongside the worry in her voice. "I'll get there as quickly as I can."

At that, the conversation ended, as Tsubasa cut her end of the connection to focus on her own fight, leaving Aoi to her thoughts and the quiet, focused intensity that the bridge had fallen into as she observed the battles taking place on screen. 'Tsubasa…with Shirabe busy fighting her opponent and Maria being inside the main structure you're the only one who can reach her in time…' Watching as Hibiki delivered a spinning kick to the side of the head of one of the Nephilim only to find herself having to block the fist of another as it came in from her right, Aoi was shaken from her thoughts by the alert of an incoming call. Taking her eyes away from the monitor and seeing that the call was from Medical, she answered, not even getting a word out before the Doctor on the other end began to speak.

"Aoi-san," the doctor spoke up, his voice filled with urgency. "Kazanari-taichou asked us to keep him updated on what was going on with Kohinata-san's condition."

"Miku-san? Has something happened to her?"

"No. Kohinata-san woke up within the last few minutes. What do you want us to do with her? She's awake and is asking where her friends are. What do you want us to tell her?"

"Tell her I'll be down shortly to talk to her. I'll see if it's wise for her to know myself. How's her condition?" Aoi replied, relief entering her voice even just slightly.

"There are no signs of the drugs that she had been on still affecting her. However, she's still weak physically and there's still a strong danger of her head injury re-opening. It would be unwise to let her out of bed until we've had the chance to give her a full examination. She is requesting that someone tell her how she got here though. Kohinata-san says that the last thing she remembers clearly was being rescued off the Sky Tower."

"I'll set up a video feed to her shortly. Keep an eye on her status, and if she starts showing any negative feedback from what happened, put her to sleep so that she can get more rest."

"Understood, Aoi-san." With that, the audio call ended, the doctor cutting off the call from his location. Returning her eyes to the monitor as it displayed all three fights simultaneously, Aoi took a deep breath before attempting to open a video feed line to the room Miku was resting in, her mind pondering the conversation that she was about to begin.

-SotHR-

Miku was lost as to how she had gotten to the Medbay. While she had been informed that she was on the 2nd Division's submarine and was safe here, she still felt anxious at how neither Hibiki or Chris had come to see her once they had found out she was awake. 'Are the two of you fighting? Where is everyone?' Miku thought, her head slowly cleansing itself of the fog that had consumed her mind when she had initially woken up. Frowning slightly at the small feeling of jealousy bubbling up slightly within her, she shook her head only to be forced to stop as the pounding feeling in the back of her head flared up once again, causing her to fall back onto the pillows on her bed once more. 'I won't be jealous of them…I should be happy for them, and I am. But at the same time, I can't help but feel left out…'

As she continued to ponder her thoughts, a beeping noise from the monitor to her left drew Miku's attention. Turning her head slightly to look towards the screen, ignoring the pain she felt in the back of her head as much as she could, Miku prepared to speak up as the monitor revealed Aoi on the bridge, a slightly stressed look on her face disappearing as she saw the younger girl awake before speaking up.

"I'm glad to see you're awake, Miku-san. How are you feeling?" Aoi asked, a concerned tone in her voice as she spoke. Taking a second to gather her thoughts, Miku began to reply, a small smile coming onto her face as she tried to hide the throbbing pain in the back of her head.

"I'm fine. I'll be fine, Aoi-san," Miku replied, glancing towards where her wrist was wrapped in a soft cast as she spoke before returning to the monitor. "Where is everyone?" At this, Aoi sighed, a frown emerging onto her face as she looked away towards a nearby monitor.

"I'm sorry, Miku-san," the bridge bunny began, her eyes returning to the screen displaying the younger girl as she rested in her Medbay bed. "They're out fighting to bring things with FIS to an end once and for all. I'm sure that they'll be glad to hear that you're safe and that you're awake, however." At this, Miku paused, a slight frown coming onto her face. Taking a moment to reflect on what she had been told, she began speaking once again, the fog inside of her mind clearing out further.

"Aoi-san, you're dodging the question. What do you mean that they're trying to put an end to things with FIS? How long have I been out for? How did I get here?"

"You were unconscious for the better part of four hours, Miku-san, after Maria-san and Hibiki-san rescued you," Aoi replied, her eyes turning away from the video feed of the younger girl's room and towards the off-screen monitor she had been watching. "Everyone was worried about when you'd wake up." Looking over to the side from where Miku could see, Aoi continued to speak, voice becoming serious. "Right now, they're fighting outside on the enemy's last stronghold, trying to bring FIS' plans to an end, and I'm sure that they'll be back as soon as they can."

"Maria? The idol?" Miku asked, her eyes widening slightly after having heard the idol's name amongst the ones concerned about her. "Isn't she one of our enemies?"

"She turned her back on FIS after saving you from the Sky Tower," Aoi replied, her voice even as she started to explain. "But she tried to get you away from FIS headquarters along with herself, and wasn't able to do so. We weren't able to locate their headquarters again until recently. It was a battle, but with Maria-san's help, we were able to get you out of there. I just wish we'd have been able to find them sooner; maybe we could have prevented you from being injured if we did."

"What do you mean? What happened in the battle?"

"An enemy with the ability to damage relics entered the area, and at FIS' orders opened fire on the U.S. ships in the area. It destroyed two of them before attacking Chris-san, Tsubasa-san, and Maria-san." At this point Aoi paused, her eyes turning away from the monitor once again. "It was a tough battle, and no one appeared to be making any headway, but everyone managed to avoid injury."

At Aoi's words, Miku felt shivers run down her spine. But before she could respond, Aoi looked away from her, a small smile appearing on her face despite how she felt inside at what she was saying. 'I don't like the idea of lying to Miku-san…but, she's too good a person to have to remember what she did under the influence of those drugs and Ver's programmed Symphogear…She shouldn't have to remember that. If anyone told her about that, she'd be heartbroken over her own actions…' she thought, the next words coming to mind.

"As they were facing that opponent, Maria-san tried to deal with the Noise that FIS had summoned forth on the other ships. While she was there, she ran into one of their Symphogear wielders, who had decided to follow Maria-san's own lead, turning her back on FIS' plans as well. And Shirabe-san came with a surprise; she had brought you along with her."

This news caught Miku by surprise. She had seen Shirabe at the Lydian festival, but at the time she had seemed as though she had been almost looking for a fight. 'What could have changed…' she thought, her hands gripping the sheets of her Medbay bed tightly. Looking back up at the monitor, she spoke up, her voice quiet.

"What about the others?"

"After Maria-san had gone to fight the Noise elsewhere, Tsubasa-san ended up fighting FIS' other Symphogear wielder, while Chris-san was left to face their enemy one on one. And while she held her own, she wasn't able to do enough to stop the enemy. But as the enemy prepared to swing the fight in its favor, Hibiki-san entered the battle herself, taking over things for Chris-san and allowing her to help with the remaining Noise."

"Hibiki…" Miku whispered, a sad smile coming onto her face. "You always said you never wanted to be the hero, and yet you are one…" Her voice trailing off, Miku's thoughts wandered back to the last time the two of them had talked and how poorly it had gone. 'I need to apologize to her...' she thought, as Aoi's words shook her from her thoughts.

"It was a difficult fight, but she was able to defeat that enemy by pushing them into the path of their own attack that had been redirected to unseal FIS' main objective. We were given orders to board the ancient structure Frontier, which FIS had been aiming to revive, and so the others all headed out to hopefully put a stop to what FIS has been planning. But I'm sure that once they get back, they'll be there to see you as soon as they can."

Miku smiled slightly, her thoughts reaching out to the others on the battlefield. 'Please, Hibiki, Chris, Tsubasa-san…everyone, please come back safely...' Looking up at the monitor, she spoke up once more, her voice strengthening slightly.

"Aoi-san, is there any way that I can see what's going on? Even though I can't help them directly, I can at least cheer them on, right?"

"We'll try to set something up, Miku-san," Aoi replied, a sad smile on her face as she spoke. "Please just try to get some rest. You're still recovering." At this, she disconnected the call, before her face fell into a frown as her thoughts reflected on how the recovering girl would react to seeing her friends fighting one another. 'Miku…I hope that you'll be able to handle what's going on. I know that you want to support them as much as possible, but at the same time…if she sees Chris-san and Tsubasa-san fighting…there's no telling what it could do to her…'

Frontier, Exterior, Ruined Village Plateau, 3 Hours and 52 Minutes after Frontier Rising

The sound of metal clashing against metal filled the air around the plateau as saw met scythe once more, the weapons deflecting away as their wielders leapt apart from one another. While the fight had been going on for over a half hour, it didn't seem to be coming any closer to an end, something that caused Shirabe to frown slightly as she planned her next move while slowing the rotation of her saw blade enough to reset it. Standing straighter and looking at where her best friend turned opponent stood across the square from her, Shirabe began to speak, her voice echoing across the plateau and amplified by the structures surrounding the pair.

"Kiri-chan, please get out of the way!" she cried out, desperation in her voice. "I just can't understand why you'd willingly help someone who murdered so many people, for seemingly no reason. Can't you see that he may not have any intention of saving anyone?" she asked, her buzz saws from her ponytail armor retracting back into storage.

"The path that we're taking will save everyone Shirabe," Kirika replied, her voice echoing back across the valley with a biter edge to it. Spinning her scythe blade around and springing forwards towards the shorter girl, she continued, the green blade of her scythe glinting wickedly in the daylight. "Even if there would be sacrifices that would need to be made, at the end the result would be worth it. Wasn't that what we had agreed on?" Bringing her scythe swinging horizontally across her body she swung it outwards, the blade slicing across the air at Shirabe's midsection and causing the shorter girl to dance backwards, the saws she was using as wheels grinding through the stone beneath her feet and kicking stone upwards as she scrambled to create distance between herself and Igalima's wielder.

"Kiri-chan, wake up! All Ver's plan is going to do is create additional weak people and cause more sadness throughout the world!" Shirabe replied, the armor covering her ponytails opening up and releasing a barrage of pink discs which rained down on Kirika, causing her to spin her scythe defensively to deflect the discs. "We swore that we'd protect the weak…we swore that we'd do everything we could to stop the moon from falling. And now you're telling me that whatever the doctor's planning isn't going against doing that? After watching him destroy an entire fleet of soldiers who had no way of defending themselves?"

"We are protecting them!" Kirika cried back, the rockets in her shoulder armor firing and pushing her forwards. Swinging her scythe downwards in a vertical slice at Shirabe's head which the shorter girl dodged to one side, she spun around, her scythe blade swinging with her in a rising diagonal slash that Shirabe leapt backwards to avoid once again. "There's no way we'll be able to survive the moon falling and you know it. Shirabe, this plan is our best option to save as many as we can! It's the only way I can see for me to leave a legacy, to leave something for you and mom to remember me by!" Her scythe blade splitting into a trio of blades, Kirika swung the weapon from left to right, the additional blades flying directly at the shorter girl, missing her by mere inches as she leapt away once again.

"Kiri-chan…what do you mean by that? You make it sound like you're going to die!" Shirabe called out, re-summoning her saw blades from her armor. Darting forwards with blades spinning at maximum speed she brought them downwards, only to be caught by Kirika as she brought her scythe upwards while catching the blades on the weapon itself. Straining against her friend's attack, Kirika replied, her body being pushed backwards by the force from the saws.

"I think…no, I know that Finé's soul is close to awakening within me," Kirika responded, releasing the handle of her weapon and flipping away, allowing her weapon to be sliced through by the other girl's saws. Landing several feet away and bringing forth another scythe handle, she continued, the handle expanding into a full scythe at her mental command. "I am one of the receptor children that were brought together by the FIS facility, along with you, Maria, and Serena. All of us at the facility knew that there was a possibility that we could have her soul within us, Shirabe. And we all also know that her soul overwrites that of her vessel. I don't want to lose myself without doing something that will make everyone remember me!"

At this, Shirabe could feel something inside of her stir, something deep within her body. Shaking her head and dismissing whatever the feeling was, she began to reply, her saw blades spinning faster than they had previously.

"Kirika, I'm sorry," she began, the saw blades shining with an ethereal glow as she spoke. "But if that's the case, then I'll do everything in my power to stop you from losing yourself." As Kirika let out a gasp at her words, Shirabe's saws spun faster, the glow surrounding them growing brighter. Shirabe then leapt into the air, one saw spinning under her as another spun itself into place over her head, a look of pure determination on her face as she hovered across from her friend.

"Shirabe…" Kirika trailed off, her voice saddened. Narrowing her eyes in frustration and anger at the situation, she growled as her shoulder armor summoned a number of additional scythe blades, each one glowing with an ethereal light that matched the glow around Shirabe's saws. Leaping forwards to match her friend once more in combat, Kirika lashed out with her scythe, the blade crashing against the saw acting as a sort of propeller above Shirabe before being forced to the side. Refusing to give up on the attack, Kirika willed the scythe blades on her shoulder armor to move, the blades crashing inwards from both above and Shirabe's right simultaneously, forcing the shorter girl to back away and retreat to the ground, her saws returning to a more neutral formation in time to parry another strike from Kirika's shoulder-mounted scythe blades.

Not wasting a second, Shirabe moved, the strange feeling she had previously returning in full force as she willed her saws in a downwards slashing motion towards Kirika. Leaping to the side, Kirika began to spin, her scythe's blade whirling around and forcing Shirabe to react. Bringing her saw blade downwards to catch her friend's blade and deflecting it away, Shirabe's eyes widened as another pair of blades came in from her unguarded left. 'No time to move…but what can I do…' she thought, her eyes squeezing shut as she braced herself for the impact she knew would come, only for a loud crashing sound to catch her by surprise as a ruby colored glow began to shine through her eyelids.

Opening her eyes, Shirabe couldn't help but let out a gasp in surprise at what she could see. Interposed in the space between Kirika's scythe blades and her left side, a shining pink barrier had appeared, the interlocked hexagons having brought the oncoming blade to a halt. Eyes wide in shock at the barrier that had appeared in her path, Kirika leapt away, landing back in front of a nearby structure as the barrier faded away while allowing Shirabe a chance to regroup.

'Asgard? But…how?' Shirabe thought, her mind racing at the possibilities. Shaking her head slightly, she raced forwards once more, the saws acting as wheels under her feet cutting through the ancient stone beneath her as she closed in. Bringing the saw blade from her right ponytail armor around in a horizontal slice, Shirabe began her attack, the blade slicing through the air only to meet Kirika's scythe in a shower of sparks, the sound of their impact echoing throughout the area. Spinning and breaking the deadlock, Kirika attacked once more, her shoulder armor's scythe blades slashing at the shorter girl and causing her to bring down her left saw blade to act as a shield as the weapons collided once more. Breaking away once again, her saw wheels carving a path through the ancient rock beneath her, Shirabe found herself on the defensive once more as Kirika tried to gain momentum, her scythe growing a pair of extra blades before she slashed from left to right, the extra blades flying forth as her shoulder-mounted blades began to glow brightly.

Weaving left and right while avoiding the extra scythe blades as they sliced through the rock around her, Shirabe changed her approach, returning the bigger saw blades to her ponytail armor before a flash of green forced her to swerve drastically to avoid the shower of rock raining down from the explosion that took place along her previous path. Narrowing her eyes and glancing to see where the flash of light had come from, Shirabe found herself once more on the defensive as another pair of scythe blades came flying at her from Kirika's general direction. Dancing around the first blade and watching the second pass by harmlessly only to explode against a structure behind her, Shirabe moved to close the gap between her and her opponent, the saws beneath her feet revving into overdrive and pushing her forwards faster still while cutting deeper into the plateau beneath her feet.

'I can feel it already...' Shirabe thought, her smaller saws deflecting away another scythe blade that came in from her left. Trying to create an advantage she pushed forwards, spinning around and bringing her opposite saw in a downwards slash towards Kirika's left side only to be caught by her opponent's scythe in a shower of sparks, the impact between them causing both girls' weapons to shudder from the force involved. Leaping away, the saws acting as wheels and grinding through the ancient stone until she came to a stop, Shirabe took a moment to gather her thoughts.

'I have to make this fast…I can already feel the sync with my Symphogear fading away, so I can't afford to waste any more time…' Staring across the area at her opponent, she frowned as the saw wheels began to spin once more. Bringing her saws back upwards in an attacking position, she raced forwards, both saws coming at her friend in a cross-shaped cut, the rotating blades meeting Kirika's scythe in a violent shower of sparks once more, the sound of their clash ringing throughout the plateau around them as they struggled for dominance once again.

Breaking the clash as she used her Scythe to create leverage, Kirika flipped away, the last of the scythe blades that had been summoned by her shoulder armor immediately flying forth at her opponent, approaching her from both sides. Thinking quickly, the shorter girl darted backwards, the saw blades she was using as wheels carving chunks of the plateau out of the ground as the scythe blades impacted the ground where she had been standing, exploding upon impact and throwing chunks of rock into the air. Using the explosion as cover, she rushed forwards, scythe lashing out at Shirabe as it approached from the younger girl's left, only to be caught by Shirabe's weapon once again, the teeth of the shorter girl's saws struggling for dominance against the blade of Kirika's scythe. Breaking free once again, Kirika lashed out, her foot connecting with Shirabe's unguarded stomach and sending her skidding backwards clutching at where Kirika had made contact.

Recovering quickly, Shirabe returned her saw blades to her armor before darting to her left, chunks of stone kicking up as she went. Reopening her ponytail armor she let loose, a fresh barrage of magenta disks flying forth towards her opponent and forcing her to back away, scythe spinning and deflecting as many disks as she could. Those disks that weren't deflected away impacted the ground around Kirika directly before detonating, the explosions kicking chunks of rock into the air and throwing the taller girl backwards. Pressing the advantage Shirabe raced forwards, her saws re-deploying as she brought them down in a vertical slash, only to meet Kirika's scythe, the sound of their clashing weapons filling the area once more.

Frontier, Exterior, Just Outside of Main Structure, 3 Hours and 55 minutes after Frontier Rising

Genjurou let out a breath in frustration as he looked over the charred remnants of the grove in front of him, the only sign that Hibiki had been present being the Motorcycle sitting abandoned just outside of the forest. Nodding as Ogawa stood up from beside the vehicle, he spoke up as his eyes locked onto the structure situated across the newly created clearing from him.

"What the hell is she thinking," he said, his voice clearly showing his frustration. Walking over to the charred husk of a tree nearby, he watched as it began to crumble effortlessly while taking note of the similar state of the other trees in the area. Turning away from the newly-collapsed tree, he continued, frustration written on his face. "We told Hibiki to not do anything reckless, and then she goes and tells Aoi to not send her any backup? We all told her to not throw her life away, hell I even ordered her not to do so. So what the hell is she thinking?"

"I'm pretty sure that she's doing what she can to give everyone else the opportunity to complete the mission," Shinji spoke up, having walked over to join Genjurou as he stared out at the structure looming in the distance. "She'll be fine. She was your student, and you've said it yourself that she's become much stronger than she was two years ago. So trust her to handle things on her end. We need to hurry to meet up with Maria-san."

"Right," Genjurou said, beginning to move towards the main structure in front of them through the smoldering remains of the jungle in front of them. "I want to trust her judgment, and so far, Maria's done nothing to prove that wrong and is earning some of my trust here. But at the same time, someone who turned on their allies once can do so once again." Taking a look at his tablet once again after pulling it out of the satchel slung over his shoulder, Genjurou's eyes narrowed as the screen displayed the three battles going on at once. "Not to mention that the others are bogged down in combat; the only one who we don't have a reliable signal on right now is Maria."

"Sir, we have to trust that she knows what she's doing. I don't think she would have left FIS with the intent of going back to them later on," Ogawa said as he climbed over the burnt stump of a tree in front of him. "Taichou, trust in them. Trust that they can find a way to wrap things up and put an end to things. We're here to help them accomplish that, right?" Earning a nod from Genjurou as they picked up the pace, leaping over fallen trees as they went, Ogawa continued to speak, his voice ringing out into the afternoon air. "Right now, they're all fighting hard to put an end to FIS' plan. Trust that they'll do that, and trust that Hibiki will be able to hold on long enough to allow the others to assist her."

As they continued forwards through the burnt jungle towards the main structure, the sound of an explosion rang out, gaining the attention of both men. Turning to their left towards the source of the explosion as smoke began to rise along with new flames further away in the jungle, Genjurou and Ogawa nodded at one another before returning their focus towards the structure in front of them. Hurrying forwards, Genjurou found his mind drifting towards where his niece was fighting as he sent a silent request.

'Tsubasa…hurry and get past Chris. Because if you don't find a way to defeat her and bring her back, then who knows how long Hibiki can keep holding out for…or if she can…'

Frontier, Exterior, Riverside, 3 hours and 55 minutes after Frontier Rising

'I can't afford to be held up here any longer…' Tsubasa thought, her katana blade deflecting another round of bullets away from herself as she raced forwards. Bringing her katana downwards in a slash from her opponent's left only to have the blade be caught by Chris' crossed semi-automatic guns, she pressed her advantage, using the additional reach to force the younger girl backwards before disengaging the clash, leaping away and summoning forth a barrage of energy swords. Sending the energy swords shooting downwards at Chris directly only for them to be intercepted by a quickly fired off screen of missiles, the images of her nightmares from nights prior sprang back to her mind against her will. 'The longer it takes for me to get by Chris, the worse her odds get…I have to think of something…' she thought, her eyes locking onto those of the younger girl as she drew a second sword handle from her armor, the weapon swiftly unfolding into a second katana which she then held in her left hand, her original weapon in her right hand alone.

"Chris, none of what's happened is your fault and you know it. You know that you can trust all of us to help you, so why are you being so stubborn and trying to handle this on your own?" Tsubasa cried out, spinning in place before slashing out with her twin katana, a pair of azure waves of energy lashing out towards the younger girl before slamming together and exploding, sending riverbed stone flying and concealing Chris' position. Eyes darting around, trying to find the Ichaival wielder, the sound of gunshots from above caused Tsubasa to bring her twin blades up in defense as she spun in place once more, the blades flashing through the air and deflecting bullet after bullet elsewhere, the reflected bullets causing the stone around her to kick up slightly as they hit the ground. Looking towards her opponent once again, Tsubasa spoke once more, her twin katana relaxed and pointed somewhat towards the ground as the younger girl landed across the river from where she stood.

"You have plenty of people who care about you and that are willing to help you, Chris. You know how Hibiki feels about you, and we all know that you feel the same way towards her. We all want to help, so let us do so! You don't have to deal with this alone!"

At this, Chris spoke up once more, her voice quiet as she shook her head, eyes looking at the older girl with barely concealed sadness. Raising her weapons towards the older girl once more, she took aim, fingers hovering over the triggers.

"Tsubasa, you're right. However, I'm still the one who has to bear the cross of all those deaths at the hands of the Noise controlled by the Staff of Solomon. I won't let any of you have to bear that!" she cried out, voice laden with anguish. "I want to be able to live in peace with her…I want to be able to have that happiness. But how can I ever do so when I have the blood of all of those who were killed by the Noise after I activated the Staff of Solomon on my hands? I won't let her have to carry that burden; she deserves better than that!"

"She doesn't care about that, Chris," Tsubasa replied, her voice level as she brought both katana up into a stance. "Hibiki doesn't care about any of that! She wants to see you happy. Hibiki is at her happiest when you're there, and after the last battle she hasn't been herself without you around. Chris, just let us help you!" Eyes reading the younger girl in front of her, she found her eyes widening in surprise as she noticed something off about Chris, a metallic choker around her neck that hadn't been there previously.

'So that's how they're doing this…' she thought, a determined gleam entering her eyes as she prepared to move. 'If that's the only thing that's holding her back…then I'll just have to find a way.' Swinging the blade in her right hand downwards, she unleashed a blade of azure energy that crossed the river between both wielders, slicing through the water effortlessly and sending a spray of stone into the air as it cut into the stone on Chris' side of the river. Leaping away, Chris responded as her weapons barked out, bullets racing forth and forcing the older girl back onto the defensive, the sound of bullets deflecting off of steel filling the air. Landing in a position to keep her distance from the older girl, she heard the voice of Doctor Ver come into her headset, causing a scowl to emerge on her face.

"Remember our bargain, brat. Who knows; if you don't take her down soon, then the Staff of Solomon might just disappear," Ver said, his tone malicious as the collar around her neck pulsed with a dim red light. "And if you try to betray us, then you won't live to see that world you so desperately claim to want…"

'Damn him…' Chris thought as she opened fire once again, forcing Tsubasa to bring her katana's up once more in defense. Even as the bullets she fired scattered around the area while the older girl deflected them, Chris found the older girl's words from earlier that week playing in her head alongside those Tsubasa had just spoken. 'Tsubasa…you say to not let go of what I have…but can I really say that I deserve it with these hands that are so stained in the blood of so many innocent people? And now because of my own doubts, I'm forced into a fight that I don't want to be part of…' she thought as she brought her submachine guns up in a cross guard, catching her opponent's blade in between them. Feeling herself struggling against Tsubasa's superior strength she dropped down low, rolling away from the older girl before climbing back to a kneeling posture and opening fire once again, forcing Tsubasa to leap away while deflecting additional bullets.

Bringing herself to her feet once again and transforming her weapons into their Gatling state, Chris continued to open fire, the rapid-fire spray of bullets forcing Tsubasa into a dizzying dance, her twin katana deflecting bullet after bullet as she was slowly but surely pushed back. Putting a stop to her constant onslaught of gunfire, Chris switched things up, missile racks opening up from the armor on her waist and releasing their payload into the sky towards her opponent. 'I'm sorry Tsubasa…I have to give it everything I have for now…' she thought, her expression grim. As the missiles approached however, Tsubasa took action as a group of energy swords appeared in the air before racing towards the approaching missiles, engulfing the sky above both combatants in a massive explosion. Before either girl could make a move any further however, a beep inside of Chris' headset got her attention, as Nastassja began to speak.

"Yukine-san, you only have to keep going for a little longer. I've almost gotten through the choker's security layers. Just a little bit longer…" Nastassja trailed off, her signal cutting itself off quickly as Chris opened fire once more with her guns, forcing Tsubasa into a spinning sequence of guards. Taking the momentum provided from her rotation, Tsubasa slashed outwards, energy waves from her twin katana racing forth and forcing the younger girl into a roll to evade the waves of energy as they flew overhead. Climbing back to her feet out of her roll, Chris found herself on the defensive once again as a quick slash from Tsubasa came in from her right.

Catching the blade with the gun in her right hand only to find their weapons caught together, Chris' eyes widened as the katana in Tsubasa's other hand came slashing down from above, forcing her to sidestep the blade as it fell, cutting through the ground where she had just been standing. Chris then spun back towards Tsubasa, her gun aiming towards the older girl's temple. Bending backwards and dodging the shorter girl's weapon, Tsubasa countered, stabbing the sword in her right hand into the ground and grabbing the shorter girl's arm before flinging her over her head and onto the riverbed, knocking the air out of Chris' lungs upon impact.

"I'm going to make you listen, Chris! One way or another!" Tsubasa called out, retrieving her sword with her now-free right hand and bringing it out of the ground in an upwards slash, an azure wave of energy racing forth. Eyes widening as the attack approached, Chris rolled to her left, the blast passing by her and causing her to be showered by the riverbed stone it kicked up. Climbing to her feet, she opened fire once more, the bark of her semi-automatic guns filling the sky as Tsubasa deflected the bullets skywards, some bullets grazing her armor lightly. Taking advantage of a gap in the younger girl's gunfire, Tsubasa rushed forwards before bringing both swords down in a vertical slash. Deflecting one of the blades with the gun in her right hand, Chris stepped forwards, the gun in her left hand pointing at Tsubasa's shoulder. But as she pulled the trigger Tsubasa moved, leaping to her left and out of the line of fire as the bullet zoomed past her, leaving Chris off balance in the process.

Regaining her balance, Chris turned around, only to find Tsubasa closing ground once more, the katana in her left hand flashing downwards from Chris' right. Stepping backwards while dodging the downwards slash, Chris fired once again, Tsubasa bringing the katana in her right hand up and batting the bullet aside with the flat of the blade, sending the shot into the nearby rock face as Tsubasa then immediately slashed downwards, the blade in her right hand releasing an azure flash of light which raced towards Chris. Leaping to her right, Chris evaded the wave of energy as it raced by her, the shockwave slicing through the riverside stone and through the larger rock behind where she had been standing.

'Too close…' she thought as she responded to the attack, laying down a barrage of suppressing fire from her guns which forced Tsubasa to deflect as many bullets as she could, with the ones she couldn't deflect missing the older girl by mere centimeters. Taking a second to reload her weapons, Chris was forced back on the defensive immediately as Tsubasa closed the gap once more, her blades slashing downwards diagonally from each side and forcing the younger girl to leap backwards once more.

Landing with guns pointed towards the older girl, Chris opened fire once again, moving to her right as she went and forcing Tsubasa to have to evade her shots instead of just deflecting them. As the older girl cartwheeled out of the way with a trail of bullets following her as she went, Chris' waist armor opened up once more, the missile racks appearing once again and sending another group of missiles skyward. Taking note of this, Tsubasa summoned another group of energy blades, sending them skywards towards the incoming missiles and meeting them halfway, engulfing the sky once more in flames.

Using the smoke from the explosion as cover, Tsubasa darted forwards, her twin katana flashing towards the younger girl's shoulders as Chris stepped backwards, dodging the incoming sword strikes only to take a spinning kick to the stomach from Tsubasa, sending her tumbling backwards, the air in her lungs having been knocked out by the force of the blow. Gasping for air and clutching at where the kick had impacted her, Chris slowly tried to climb to her feet, before falling back to her knees, gasping for air and clutching at her stomach.

"I can't get hit again…" she finally managed to gasp out, slowly pushing herself off the ground. Staggering closer towards her feet and picking up her weapons off the ground, a noise from within her headset caused her to pause, as Nastassja's voice came through her headset once again. 'Please tell me that she's finished…' she thought, looking over at where Tsubasa stood as the older woman began to speak.

"I've gotten through the choker's security, Yukine-san," Nastassja's voice spoke, bringing a small smile to Chris' face. "I'm deactivating it now. And from what I heard from Maria, it may be just in time as well." At her words, the choker itself dimmed, the lights on it going completely dark as a feeling of relief flooded through Chris' veins. "Yukine-san, good luck." At that the line went dark, leaving Chris to her thoughts as she finished climbing to her feet, before she turned to where Tsubasa stood, both katana pointing towards the ground as she seemed to be listening to something coming in over her own headset. Reaching up to her neck and grasping the now-deactivated device, she squeezed, feeling the cool metal give way under her Symphogear-enhanced strength before tearing it off and throwing the choker away, the useless device hitting the riverside stone and shattering further. Walking over to where her friend stood in silence, Chris couldn't help but notice the anguish on her face at what she seemed to be listening to, before hearing the last bit of the conversation at hand.

"That idiot…I'll be there as quickly as possible," Tsubasa said, urgency in her voice that had not been as prevalent earlier on. Turning her eyes to Chris as she approached, she continued to speak, before raising her right katana towards the Ichaival wielder, tip of the blade pointing towards the younger girl as she approached. "Just tell her to hold on as long as she can. I'm going to wrap things up here." Going silent as the audio call disconnected, Tsubasa spoke up once again, her voice serious. "I don't have time for this anymore, Chris."

"Yeah…neither do I," Chris responded, returning her weapons to her armor and stepping closer. "If Ver had his way, then I'd be dead if I didn't fight you and stop you here." Turning her head towards where the remains of the choker she had been wearing rested on the riverside terrain, she continued to speak. "Bastard gave me a choker that if I wouldn't have fought you would have exploded, taking me out as well as anyone within ten feet of me along with me."

"I figured as much…" Tsubasa spoke up, her voice barely above a whisper, earning a nod from the younger girl in the process. Not letting the older girl continue, Chris spoke up once more, her voice shaking slightly as the stress of the situation seemed to catch up to her slightly.

"I have to stop him…Tsubasa, it's because I activated the Staff of Solomon that he has the ability to use the noise like he does. That's why I left…it's my fault that he's been using it like he has, killing so many people. I don't know if I can look Hibiki in the eye if I don't stop him and get the Staff back. I just want a peaceful world with her, is that too much to ask?" At this, Tsubasa nodded before returning the katana in her left hand back to its folded state and returning it to her symphogear's storage. Choosing her words carefully, she began to speak once more, a small smile emerging onto her face.

"Hibiki doesn't care about what's happened in the past," the older girl spoke, her words causing Chris to smile softly, an image of her girlfriend's smiling face entering her mind. "You make her happy, and she loves everything about you. She'd move the whole world if that's what it took to be with you." At this, Tsubasa's eyes narrowed slightly as she turned to look towards the main structure, her tone of voice becoming serious once again. "We need to get moving though."

"Tsubasa? What's going on?"

"It's Hibiki," Tsubasa whispered out, her words making Chris' blood turn cold. "She's in danger, Chris. And if we don't hurry, she might not be able to survive."

Frontier, Near Main Structure, 4 hours and 12 minutes after Frontier Rising

Panting as she landed with her back to the tree behind her, Hibiki's eyes widened as she brought her right arm upwards to guard, her forearm deflecting the monstrous fist of the Nephilim attacking her away from her head. Stepping in close and delivering a quick trio of punches to the creature's chest before delivering a quick uppercut to the creature's jaw, the Gungnir wielder let out a yell, the force of the consecutive blows causing the creature to stumble backwards as she leapt backwards to create even the slightest bit of breathing room. 'How much longer is this gonna take?' she found herself asking mentally, her breath coming out in ragged gasps as she felt her lungs burning, the pain in her ribs intensifying with each breath she took.

'There's no way that I can back down…not when I need to give the others more time…' she thought, eyes glancing at the opponents across the smaller clearing within the jungle as another duo prepared to race towards her, their roars echoing throughout the mid-afternoon sky as they raced forwards, the few trees in their way proving to be nothing more than an inconvenience as they smashed through them. As Hibiki began to react they were upon her, their fists swinging downwards and forcing her to side step the nearer of the two. Launching an attack in reply, she spun into a counter kick, the blow landing on the face of the Nephilim closer to her and sending its head snapping backwards as the other Nephilim's fist came in, it's fist forcing Hibiki to bring her arms up into a cross guard before being sent skidding backwards, the force of the blow causing her Symphogear's armored shoes to dig into the jungle floor beneath her feet as she skidded back to a stop.

Glancing upwards, her eyes narrowed in focus as a pair of crimson spheres of flame raced towards her. The engines on her gauntlets firing desperately, Hibiki leapt to the side, the heat from the blasts causing slight singe marks on her armor as they flew past her before impacting the jungle behind her and engulfing it once more in flames. Not even getting the chance to come to a stop, the fourth of her opponents was waiting for her as its fist swung downwards, impacting Hibiki where she guarded and knocking her to the terrain below, her back impacting the jungle floor and knocking the wind out of her. Seconds later as her ribs and lungs screamed in protest, Hibiki threw herself into a roll, dodging the creature's fist as it impacted the ground where her head had rested not even a second before. Climbing back to her feet and ducking underneath another attempted punch towards her face, Hibiki then span and launched herself upwards, her fist catching the creature she currently faced under its jaw and snapping its head backwards before she followed up with a downwards axe kick, slamming the creature she was fighting into the ground face-first, its jaw leaving an imprint in the jungle floor beneath it.

Turning and noticing the three other Nephilim regenerating and preparing to attack her as a team, Hibiki darted to the side, her gauntlets' engines firing desperately to create as much extra distance as possible. Escaping back into the dense jungle underbrush that hadn't been affected by the spreading fires as of yet, Hibiki took off, hoping to find a chance to get some more room to maneuver. As she did so, the angry roars of her opponents echoed through her ears, bringing a nervous look to her face as she raced towards where she thought the edge of the jungle would be. Skidding to a stop in another small clearing minutes later and quickly taking note of where the main structure stood in the distance, Hibiki took a moment to catch her breath, her arms subconsciously rising up to cradle her injured ribs as she did so.

'It's getting harder and harder to keep this up…' she thought, eyes searching for any sign of her multiple opponents as she continued breathing deeply, almost forcing desperately-needed air to her lungs. 'The longer this goes on, the stronger they seem to get…and with this injury, I don't know how much longer I can keep going. It hurts to even breathe, and the smoke from the fires that they're causing isn't helping me at all…'

Cradling her injured ribs gently, Hibiki turned in the direction she had come from, the roars of her opponents growing steadily louder. Settling into a defensive stance, her eyes scanning the entire clearing as she did so, a rustle from her right drew Hibiki's attention just in time for one of her opponents to spring out from the underbrush, its arm already swinging from right to left with claws exposed. Bringing her gauntlet up and catching the Nephilim's claws with her right gauntlet and bringing them to a halt, she counterattacked, stepping in and backhanding the opponent in the side before following it with another backhand to the face, stunning the creature slightly. She then followed by kicking the creature in the face, her armored boot connecting first with the left side of the Nephilim's face, then once more to the right side and sending it crashing to the ground whimpering in pain. Not even getting a chance to take a break another pair of Nephilim emerged into the clearing, spheres of crimson light held within their mouths as they spat the orbs out, sending them shooting towards Hibiki from each side.

Letting out a silent curse, Hibiki threw herself forwards into a roll, the fiery spheres passing over where she had been and leaving singe marks on her back armor before they collided, engulfing the clearing in an explosion and sending Hibiki tumbling further across it. Letting out a groan of pain and climbing slowly back to her feet Hibiki took note of the condition of the clearing around her as the short grasses in the center of the area smoldered with slowly burning cinders. 'They have so much power...but power isn't the only thing that matters in a fight like this. They're also recovering from everything I throw at them so quickly. It's like they're able to regenerate, and if that's the case…' she thought, noting the condition of her opponents while sliding back into a stance as the duo of her opponents charged in once more before the rightmost Nephilim punched forwards, its fist racing towards Hibiki's face only to miss my millimeters as she stepped to the side.

Barely avoiding the attack she retaliated, her right gauntlet crackling with energy as she slammed a punch into the side of the creature she faced, sending it sliding to the side with a pained roar. This only served to create an opening for its teammate however as the other Nephilim raced in, its left arm already coming forwards for a punch. Stepping backwards and allowing the creature's fist to impact the ground where she had been standing, she responded once more, stepping forwards and impacting her opponent with a scissor kick to the chest and sending it stumbling backwards. 'That's three of them accounted for…but where's the fourth?' Hibiki thought, her eyes searching the clearing as the two Nephilim she had just knocked away recovered, springing back towards where she stood. Ducking under the pair of outstretched fists aimed at her head she countered, her gauntlets both shining with an orange glow and impacting the creatures in their sternums, sending them sliding backwards away from her towards the first Nephilim to enter the clearing before coming to rest.

Before she could move to try to get any more momentum though, the ground beneath Hibiki began to crack and shake. Sensing danger, she leapt back, as a pillar of crimson fire erupted from beneath where she had been standing, slowly petering out as the fourth Nephilim leapt from the ground and went on the attack once more, appearing right in front of her and slamming its fist into her stomach. Doubling over as the air escaped her lungs, Hibiki let out a scream as the Nephilim's elbow caught her in her back, sending her sprawling to the turf, gasping for air. Catching a glimpse of the creature opening its jaws, she forced herself to move, the rocket engines on her gauntlets firing once again and pushing her away as the Nephilim's jaws snapped shut where she had been just a second or two prior. Climbing back to her feet once again she counterattacked, launching a flurry of spinning kicks that the monster she was facing blocked.

Coming to a stop but not wanting to give up the momentum, she stepped closer before flipping backwards and into the air, catching the Nephilim in the bottom of its jaw as she flipped away. Immediately the engines in her gauntlets fired, pushing her back towards the creature before she slammed a quick trio of punches home into the creature's torso, her gauntlets crackling with orange energy and forcing it back to where the other three Nephilim were recovering. Turning to look at where her opponents were recovering, the damage from her attacks fading away from the creatures as they let out angered growls, Hibiki tried once more to catch her breath, her thoughts more concerned over her opponents' condition compared to her own.

'They aren't slowing down at all…' she thought, her breathing slowly leveling off as she watched the two Nephilim who had been caught in the fires of their own attack re-grow their damaged skin. 'And while everything I'm doing is just a setback to them, they seem to recover so easily…it just feels like they're hitting harder and harder as the fight goes on…or maybe I'm just wearing down…' she thought, her mind racing.

A vicious roar shook her from her thoughts, drawing her attention back to the enemies in front of her as the outermost duo of enemies sprang forwards, spheres of energy contained within the other two opponents' mouths. Ducking under the punch of the enemy coming from her left, Hibiki countered, her knee smashing into the creature's jaw and sending it stumbling backwards. At this, the other Nephilim attacked, its fist slamming into her back and sending her tumbling forwards before following with a roar. At the sound of the creature's roar Hibiki reacted, springing back to her feet and spinning away, the creature's monstrous fist grazing her face and opening a small cut. Counterattacking, she continued her spin, using the momentum to add additional force to her spin kick and sending the creature stumbling forward, its right arm hanging uselessly at its side. But before she could press the advantage and gain momentum a crimson glow entered the corner of her eye and forced her to leap away, the engines in her gauntlets flaring in desperation and allowing her to evade the crimson sphere that had been fired by mere inches.

Spinning around in mid-air and dodging a second sphere as it flew past before landing back on the jungle floor, Hibiki slid away from her opponents, the damp jungle terrain caving in beneath her feet as she skidded to a stop as her momentum carried her to the edge of the clearing. 'I can't win like this…I've gotta get more space…' she thought, eyes narrowing at the opponents across from her as the injured opponents regenerated from the damage she had dealt once again. Darting back into the jungle and leaving the clearing behind, hoping to create further space between herself and her four opponents, Hibiki raced on, a single thought entering her mind as she raced to find a new location to continue her battle where she wouldn't be at as much of a disadvantage.

'Hurry…'

Frontier, Inside Main Structure, 4 hours and 22 minutes after Frontier Rising

"You're almost there, Maria. Just a left here and head straight," Nastassja's voice spoke, her directions having guided Maria to where she was at. Turning around the corner and coming to a stop to gather herself, Maria spoke up, her eyes staring towards the end of the passageway in front of her. 'So that's where the bridge is…' she thought, eyes narrowing in focus on what she had come to accomplish. Stepping forwards slowly she slowed her pace, mind preparing itself for what she had come to accomplish as she whispered into her headset to where Nastassja was on the other end.

"Once I get there, how am I supposed to be the key to stopping the moon?" Maria asked, her words causing the older woman on the other side of the audio feed to go quiet. "I know you said my voice is key, but what's the plan?" Continuing to walk forwards, eyes locked onto the steadily growing light at the end of the hallway, Maria's headset sprang to life once more, the woman she considered to be her mother's voice coming through clearly.

"We'll be using your voice to create a channel to redirect Frontier's phonic gain and hopefully re-activate the lunar ruins, hopefully restoring the moon to its normal orbit," Nastassja spoke, her voice seeming distracted. "It'll be close, but hopefully there should be enough energy there to do it. I'm going to be setting up the process from here, Maria. You'll be on your own from here on in. Be careful."

"Understood," Maria replied, before cutting off the audio feed. Stepping forwards onto the bridge proper, her eyes narrowed at the sight of the individual in front of her, body turned slightly to look at the approaching Airgetlam wielder as she entered the room. Flinching back for a moment and wanting to flee at her approach, Ver regathered his composure before turning his head away from the crystal displaying data on what appeared to be Frontier itself, a vicious smile on his face as he looked at Maria directly, his glasses glinting in the glow of the crystals around him as well as the sunlight filtering in through the gaps in the room itself.

"I was wondering when you'd show up, you false Finé," he began, a taunting tone in his voice. "Or did you think I wouldn't know that you were coming here by yourself? I must say, it's awfully brave of you to do so. Who knows what I could have waiting here just as a surprise for you?" Reaching into his lab coat and revealing the Staff of Solomon, he let out a laugh before Maria replied, her words filled with venom for the Doctor.

"It doesn't matter if you knew or not, Ver. Your plan…whatever it is, I'm going to put an end to it here." Drawing her armed gear in its dagger form from its place on her left gauntlet, she flipped it around into a reverse grip before sliding into a comfortable stance and continuing to speak. "We won't let you cause the moon to fall, Doctor. All you'll do is cause more pain and suffering for so many people…this is completely against what Serena wanted. All you're doing is twisting her desires to serve your own sick goals. I won't allow you to do that any longer."

"Who's to say that I'm not fulfilling her ideals, Maria?" Ver replied, a serious look on his face. "After all, there's no way to stop the moon from falling. The only way to save as many as we can is through using Frontier and its power. With that said, not everyone will be saved, but that's the price that needs to be paid to save who we can, isn't it?"

"That's not what she wanted, Ver," Maria replied, shoulders shaking as the image of Serena appeared in her mind. "Serena would have done everything she could to protect everyone. None of what you've done…none of it was something that she would have approved of."

"And you think that you're doing what she wanted to do?" Ver shot back, his remarks causing the anger within Maria to boil up as he continued, the Staff of Solomon expanding into its active mode. Pointing it towards the Airgetlam wielder, he continued to speak. "After all, the day she died, you did nothing to stop her. It has to have been a painful seventeen months, hasn't it? And now you think that you'll live up to her legacy?"

"You're wrong, Ver. Seventeen months? It's been over eighteen," Maria spoke, her voice coming out in a low whisper. "Over eighteen months of missing my sister every day. I pushed so many people away who wanted to help, and even turned my back entirely on one of my best friends. And while I didn't stop Serena from sacrificing herself that day, I'm proud of her for making the decision she chose to make." Taking a moment to gather herself, she continued, voice becoming stronger as she spoke. "I made this decision of my own free will. I want to be the protector that Serena said that I could be. I will live up to the legacy that she entrusted me with and to the path that Hibi-san encouraged me to follow." Looking up and staring the doctor in the eye, she continued to speak, her voice filled with a steel resolve that sent chills down the doctor's spine. "Doctor Ver, I meant it when I said it. We're going to find a way to save everyone. I'm going to put an end to your plan right here, and then we'll stop the moon from falling."

"We'll see about that, now won't we?" With that, Ver's transformed arm pressed against the control sphere once again, bright red lines shining across its surface as he did so. "After all, I'm the one who is in control of Frontier, which means that all of its powers are at my command…including the ability to control gravity anywhere on Frontier. And if I manipulate it enough…" he trailed off, the crystals within the room glowing a bright orange as Maria felt herself be forcefully lifted into the air, her Symphogear providing no resistance to the force being projected as Ver continued. "I can even focus it in on any specific individual, so long as they're within this structure."

"Bastard…" Maria spoke, her voice shaking as she flipped her armed gear into a standard grip. Focusing her mind onto the form she wanted the weapon to take as it shifted into a shape similar to a whip-sword once again, she started to swing the weapon, only for Ver's voice to cut her off once more, bringing her attack to a halt.

"Now, now, are you so sure that that's what you want to do?" Ver asked, his palm pressed once more against the command sphere as it glowed once again. "If you try anything, who's to guarantee that you'll be able to stop the moon from falling?" Turning back towards the control orb and grinning wickedly, Ver prepared to continue his monologue, only to be stopped as Nastassja's voice came into the room through an audio channel.

"Doctor Ver, Frontier has reached its full charge. Hurry and use Frontier to project the collected amount towards the moon. With it, we can restart the lunar ruins that sustain the curse of Balal and return the moon to its spot in orbit!" At this Ver stood silent, a devious smirk coming onto his face as he began his reply.

"Nastassja-san, I'm afraid that we'll have to agree to disagree," Ver said, turning around and looking right at Maria as his transformed arm pressed against the surface of the control sphere once more, red lines spreading across its surface. "I don't want the moon to go back to its normal orbit. In fact, it's currently doing exactly what I want it to do." Smirk widening into a devious smile, he spoke up once again, his voice almost challenging Maria to respond even though he was not speaking to her directly. "But, if you're so dead set on returning the moon to its orbit and reactivating the lunar ruins, I'll be more than happy to send you there so that you can do so yourself!" At this, the Sphere glowed brightly as the roar of rocket engines entered the chamber. Turning her head to look outside the bridge's window-like openings, Maria let out a scream of agony as an ancient stone pod lifted into the air, taking her mother with it as the control room for Frontier soared skyward.

"Hahahahaha! That's it…that's exactly what I wanted to hear out of you!" Ver laughed, his voice mocking Maria as she floated against her will. Before he could return his attention to the controls of Frontier however, Maria spoke up, her voice quiet.

"Ver…I'll kill you…" She spoke, her voice shaking with anger. "You killed mom…I swear…for what you did to mom, for what you've done to everyone, I'll KILL YOU!" Swinging her arm downwards with her armed gear still in its whip-sword state, the blade began to extend towards the doctor. But before it could reach him the sphere in the center glowed once again, Ver's transformed arm pressed against it as he stared into Maria's eyes.

"No you won't," Ver began, the smirk on his face exuding confidence. "Because you're not going to be getting the chance. Good bye, Maria Cadenzavna Eve. You failed as a fake Finé, and you've even failed to protect your own mother. And now you'll fail to stop the so-called madman you swore to stop. But don't worry; you'll be seeing your mother sooner than you think." At this the crystals throughout the room glowed brighter still, before an invisible force impacted Maria's body, flinging her out of the nearest window of the structure and away from the main structure itself…

Frontier, Exterior, Ruined Village Plateau, 4 Hours and 30 Minutes after Frontier Rising

'This isn't good…' Shirabe thought, ducking underneath another swing of Kirika's scythe while simultaneously bringing around the large saw to her left to counterattack, forcing her friend to leap away and providing her some extra room to think. 'The de-sync is just getting worse…my Linker Is running out, and the longer this goes, the worse it's going to get…' Taking note as her saws shuddered a greater amount than at any other time throughout the fight, her eyes narrowed, even as Kirika stood, her scythe growing a pair of extra blades at a slower rate than before. 'Still…I can't lose here, even if I lose my sync completely!' Leaping into the air she made her move, flinging both giant saw blades forwards as they wobbled, the blades flying true towards the Igalima wielder.

"That's not going to work, Shirabe!" Kirika called out, spinning around and launching the extra blades her scythe had developed forwards towards the onrushing saw blades, meeting them halfway and causing a massive explosion, the smoke cloud blocking her friend from view. Before she could react any further a barrage of magenta discs lanced through the smoke cloud, forcing the blonde onto the defensive. 'Shit…good plan, Shirabe-chan…' she thought, twirling her scythe around and batting discs away, some of them deflecting into the older structures around her, damaging them and causing more dust to rise into the air. 'She's gotta be feeling the de-sync too...' Continuing to dance, the scythe blade becoming progressively heavier as she spun, Kirika continued to deflect disc after disc, forcing them to the side and away from her and into the surrounding structures, the barrage eventually slowing down as the smoke from the earlier explosion finished dispersing, revealing Shirabe standing atop a nearby structure, her ponytail armor closing as the shorter girl stared at her opponent directly.

"You can feel it, can't you Shirabe," Kirika called out, wiping a bead of seat off of her forehead as she spoke. A few moments later, with the shorter girl's silence as an answer, Kirika continued, her voice echoing across the area to her friend. "Both of our doses of Linker are wearing off. Hell, I bet that you can't keep this up for too much longer, can you?"

As if to answer her response, Shirabe's ponytail armor opened up once more, a pair of larger saw blades emerging once more and starting to spin, grinding loudly as they picked up speed. Narrowing her eyes and leaping forwards, Shirabe pressed the attack, her right-most saw swinging in from Kirika's left and drawing her attention as she brought her scythe in to meet the blade, weapons clashing together in a rain of sparks and causing Shirabe's saw to shake violently. Bringing her remaining saw blade in from Kirika's right towards her feet, she continued to press the attack, even as the shorter girl leapt backwards, breaking their blade lock and allowing Shirabe's saw blade to pass by harmlessly through where she had been standing. Not letting her friend's movement deter her, Shirabe kept pressing forwards, flinging the saws as they still span towards her friend.

Eyes widening as the blades raced towards her, Kirika span her scythe, the blade impacting the spinning saw blade closest to her and knocking it away, only to slice into a nearby structure, causing it to collapse on top of itself as the damaged blade exploded. But as she finished knocking the first blade away, a flash of reflected light caught Kirika's eye. Eyes widening at the second approaching blade, she brought her arms around, willing her scythe towards the oncoming saw blade. 'It's too fast…I'm not going to get my scythe in position in time…' she thought, twisting her body to try to get out of the way. Turning her head towards Shirabe and bracing herself for the inevitable feeling of pain to come, the sound of metal shattering filled Kirika's ears along with a bright ruby glow blinding her briefly. Turning towards the source of the gleam, a surprised gasp emerged on Kirika's face.

'Asgard? Am I really that close?' she thought, panic setting into her mind and the ruby barrier disappearing as she landed on the ground, Shirabe standing across what appeared to be the town square. Turning and staring her friend in the eye, Kirika began to speak, voice shaking as she slowly withdrew a pair of syringes with a familiar green liquid within them.

"Shirabe, I think I'm running out of time…" Kirika trailed off, her voice shaking with fear. "You saw it too, didn't you? I just used Asgard…there's no way I have much time left."

"Kirika…" Shirabe trailed off, staring at her friend's now slightly golden-tinted eyes. Before she could continue, Kirika glanced back to Shirabe with a small smile on her face before tossing one of the syringes to the shorter girl. Snatching the vial out of midair and looking at Kirika, Shirabe spoke up once again, her eyes narrowed in anticipation. "Linker? Why are you just giving me this?" As if to answer her question, Kirika placed the other syringe up to where she would inject herself, the green liquid within the syringe causing Shirabe to feel anxiety as her friend began to speak.

"You said that you'll stop me from losing myself, didn't you?" Kirika asked, her voice taking on a serious tone as Shirabe nodded in response. Her finger resting against the trigger of the syringe directly, Kirika continued, her eyes staring into Shirabe's own and noticing a slight golden tinge along with her normal shade of indigo. "Then here's your chance. We've been fighting for a long time now, Shirabe, and it's clear that neither of us have an advantage over the other. The only way that we're ever going to be able to end this fight is if we both give it everything we have for this one last attack. Shirabe…if you really think that you can stop me from losing myself, then do it!" At that she pulled the trigger on the syringe, the green liquid itself entering her system and causing her to shiver at the chilling sensation. Throwing the empty syringe aside, Kirika took a stance, her scythe feeling lighter instantly.

"Kirika…" Shirabe whispered, her voice low as she stared at the syringe in her hands. "I meant what I said earlier. I won't let you lose yourself, no matter what it takes." Raising the syringe Kirika had given her to her shoulder and holding her finger over the trigger, she stared back, her eyes locked onto those of her friend as she pulled the trigger on the syringe, injecting the linker dosage into her system. "You're everything to me, and I'll do whatever it takes to save you. So let's end this, right now!" Feeling her body becoming lighter and her synchronization with Shul Shagana rising, Shirabe's eyes narrowed in focus as she stared across the square. Moments later, the sound of both girls' voices filled the air, as the sound of their respective zesshous echoed across the plateau.

-Gatrandis Babel ziggurat Edenal.

Emustolronzen Finé el Balal zizzl.

Gatrandis Babel ziggurat Edenal.

Emustolronzen Finé el zizzl.-

"You already know what Igalima's zesshou does, Shirabe," Kirika called out, slamming her scythe's blade into the ground as it expanded, the engines on the back end of the scythe blade firing as she hopped aboard, its handle expanding to finish the transformation. "I don't want to kill you with this; instead, I just want to get rid of some of the fighting spirit. You're everything to me too, and I don't want the image of me losing myself to be the last thing you remember of me. You deserve so much better than that…that's why I'll end this here!" At this the booster on the back of Kirika's scythe fired higher still, carrying the visibly tired girl higher into the air, before preparing to swoop downwards towards the shorter girl.

"Kirika, you won't lose yourself. I won't let you! Shul Shagana's zesshou isn't anything you don't already know either, but I won't use it to kill you!" Shirabe responded, her symphogear's leg armor unfolding and expanding, granting Shirabe a greater height. Swinging her right arm out as a large hand-held circular saw emerged from her armor and grasping it, Shirabe continued to speak, her eyes narrowed in determination. "I'm going to use this power to save you. I won't lose you." Grasping an identical saw to the one that she held with right hand only in her left hand, she spoke one last time, her eyes locked onto the blonde's own. "Kirika, this world…if you're not in it, it won't be worth living in." Her headgear snapping outwards and into zesshou formation and a soft pick aura appearing around her form, the twin saws held by Shirabe began to spin as she charged forwards, the left saw coming up to meet Kirika's scythe blade and causing shockwaves to lance out, slicing through the other buildings in the square and causing them to collapse, clouds of dust rising from the rubble.

Not wanting to lose momentum Shirabe attacked once more, spinning and bringing the right arm-saw around in a high attack towards the back part of the handle of Kirika's scythe. 'Not good enough, Shirabe…' Kirika thought, applying more pressure to her friend's saw blade and knocking it away, before spinning her scythe blade around, slicing through Shirabe's right saw blade, sending it to the floor before it exploded, enshrouding both girls in a cloud of dust. Pressing her newfound advantage Kirika darted forwards, her scythe spinning rapidly and enshrouding itself in a neon green aura, becoming a miniature cyclone of destruction which raced forwards. Bringing her remaining saw up to strike at the spinning Zesshou, Shirabe struck back, the power of her attack meeting Kirika's own before a cutting wind erupted from the scythe, forcing her to leap aside. 'Too close…' Shirabe thought, eyes glancing at the stone where she had been standing just a second ago. Springing forward once again, the ground beneath her caving as she leapt upwards, she moved to attack once more, her lone remaining saw spinning in from Kirika's left in a rising cut. Spinning her scythe around and deflecting the blow, Kirika countered, the meeting of their weapons resulting in a shockwave once again, weakening the earth beneath Shirabe's feet, forcing her to stumble and leaving her vulnerable to attack.

Sensing an opportunity, Kirika raced forwards, her scythe's blade exiting its cyclone state as she moved to attack, the scythe blade slamming downwards towards Shirabe in a vertical slice from her left. Sensing the attack, Shirabe brought her left arm up before a shining wall of ruby energy appeared, intercepting the attack and forcing Kirika to back off, the explosion caused by the meeting of Asgard and zesshou knocking both girls backwards and into the rubble of the village around them. Exploding out of the rubble, her scythe having resumed its spinning motion and enshrouding her in a green cyclone of light, Kirika charged forth, her scythe clashing one more with Shirabe's remaining saw, with Shirabe's weapon groaning in protest as sparks rained out from the impact before Kirika darted back out, her Scythe rising up at an oblong angle and slicing through Shirabe's remaining saw just below the blade, forcing the shorter girl to detach and throw the now useless weapon to the side as it landed in the remains of a collapsed building before exploding and engulfing the structure in flames.

'I need a way to defend myself…' Shirabe thought, beads of sweat dripping down her face as she ducked under another slice of Kirika's scythe. Leaping backwards and creating even just a little bit of space, Shirabe's ponytail armor opened up once more, a barrage of magenta discs flying worth towards Kirika directly only to be deflected and destroyed by Kirika's scythe as it continued its advance, the emerald cyclone deflecting the discs and shredding them to bits as it advanced. 'Damn…is there really nothing left that I can do?' Shirabe thought, an idea slowly forming in her mind as to what she could try. 'This is risky…can I even do it? Will it even work?' she thought, eyes locked onto where Kirika was approaching. Eyes narrowing in determination, Shirabe brought both arms up, her mind focusing on a familiar sensation she had felt just earlier in the fight. 'Please work…' she thought, stretching her arms towards her opponent with both palms out.

"Shirabe, move! I don't want to hurt you!" Kirika cried out over the howl of her scythe's rotation as she approached her friend. At this, Shirabe shook her head as a ruby-colored glow began to appear, a sudden barrier appearing in front of the shorter girl. Not even a second later the zesshou-powered scythe met Shirabe's Asgard barrier head on, the winds surrounding the bladed weapon struggling against the ruby colored barrier as a shockwave echoed throughout the plateau, causing additional damage to the already damaged village.

Shirabe's eyes narrowed as she regathered her focus, a ruby aura surrounding her hands once more. Pushing the aura forward she channeled it out, establishing an extra level of power to her barrier, causing it to shine brightly, dispelling the cyclone around Kirika's scythe and slamming into the blade itself, the power released from their clash carving a trench in the rock beneath the duo. Seconds later they continued to clash, Kirika's scythe cracking under the pressure placed on it by the Asgard barrier before finally giving way, engulfing both girls in an explosion that shattered Kirika's scythe blade and tore the ground beneath them completely asunder. Falling downwards into the rapidly expanding chasm and passing through the smoke, Kirika saw her friend's unconscious body ahead of her, zesshou having broken apart.

Firing her shoulder armor's boosters and saying a silent prayer, Kirika darted forwards, grabbing the shorter girl's body and holding it close to her own, shielding Shirabe as the ground below approached. Seconds later her world would be consumed by pain as she impacted the ground, a snapping sound emanating from her left arm as she struggled to keep herself from screaming in agony. Feeling that she still had Shirabe held closely as the pain finally began to overwhelm her, Kirika smiled in relief before allowing herself to fall into the gentle embrace of darkness, even as portions of the opened crevasse continued to rain down around them.

-SotHR-

'Where….am I?' Shirabe thought, feeling herself floating. Opening her eyes and glancing around, she found herself to be floating in a starry abyss, no one around. 'What's going on? Where's Kirika?' Checking herself over quickly, she found herself thinking over the end of the fight, the image of the enhanced Asgard and Kirika's scythe exploding from the pressure placed on each other standing out in her mind alongside the rest of the fight. But before she could reflect on it further, the voice of an older woman rang out, causing her to spin around, eyes widening slightly in shock.

"I have to say, I'm disappointed in you," Finé spoke out, a transparent projection of herself floating directly across from Shirabe with a frown on her face. "I wouldn't have thought that my vessels would be so weak as to require my powers, even against one another. But then again, with how evenly matched you two were, I suppose it shouldn't be such a surprise."

"Finé? But…how?" Shirabe managed to gasp out, the ancient priestess' eyes narrowing as she shook her head. A smug look emerging onto her face at the younger girl's surprised expression, the ancient priestess spoke up once more, disappointment mixing with arrogance in her voice as she spoke, the ethereal glow surrounding her mixing with the stars around the duo to create an aura of intimidation around the older woman.

"Sit down and listen, child. I'm only going to go over this one time, and you will pay attention."

-SotHR-

"So wait…you're not going to overwrite my soul?" Kirika asked, her eyes wide as she stared at the specter of Finé floating in front of her. She had found herself floating in space, seemingly by herself, when what appeared to be the ancient priestess appeared in front of her. At this, Finé shook her head, an annoyed look in her eyes as she began her reply.

"No I'm not," she began, her voice sounding annoyed from answering the same questions. "I can't do so, not as I am now. But even though I have the ability to, I don't want to. This age belongs to the Soulwalker, no matter how much I despise admitting that."

"What do you mean, despise it?" Kirika replied, her eyes narrowing. Shaking her head in response, Finé began her reply, her voice harsh towards the younger girl in front of her.

"Just that. How weak you and your friend are, how everyone here seems so content to be separated from god. All of it disgusts me," she spoke, her disgust emanating in her words. "But what angers me more than anything as of right now is how you and your friend required my powers. While you may have been evenly matched, that's no excuse for you to be that pathetic."

"You just said it yourself, Shirabe and I were even," Kirika shot back, frustration leaking out into her words. "We both fought as hard as we could, and even though we may not see eye to eye on how to save as many people as we can, we both have the same goal." At this Finé laughed, a condescending laugh that gave Kirika a sense of dread. "What's so funny?"

"Do you honestly think that what you're doing will save people? You're a fool," Finé replied, causing Kirika's eyes to widen. "Doctor Ver is simply executing a crude and inefficient version of MY plan. Save the world from the fall? Don't make me laugh. All you're doing is accelerating the process."

"Shut up," Kirika replied, her shoulders shaking. "Are you trying to tell me that everything that we're doing is all for nothing?"

"Yes, that's exactly what I'm telling you," the priestess replied, her words stinging. "Every single action that you have taken has been exactly what Doctor Ver wants you to do."

"Then what am I supposed to do?"

"Don't ask me such a stupid question that you already know the answer to," Finé replied, her eyes narrowed in anger at the young girl in front of her. "But don't expect my help. I already said that I won't interfere and that I would watch to see how well she can get people to understand one another. That's the most that I'll do."

"She? Who are you talking about?" At the lack of response, Kirika continued, her frustration with the attitude of the ancient priestess starting to boil over. "You sound like you don't have any belief that whoever it was can succeed, or that humanity will ever be able to understand one another."

"Humanity has done nothing over the millennia to prove me wrong," Finé countered, her words echoing throughout the area. "I see no reason to believe that things will change." Before the blonde could reply, a familiar voice echoed throughout the area, bringing a smile to the Igalima wielder's face.

"Kirika…Kirika, come on, you've gotta wake up!"

"Shirabe…" Kirika trailed off, nodding before turning to stare the priestess in the eye. "I'll be right there." With that, Kirika closed her eyes, reaching out towards the stars around the duo as she spoke. At this, Finé spoke up one last time, her words echoing throughout the dreamscape as she faded from view.

"I will be watching, through your joys and your failures," Fine said as she narrowed her eyes, the small action pulling on the world, her presence now suffocating and forcing Kirika to tremble instinctively. "And when you fail, should you fail...This world will burn."

-SotHR-

"Kirika, wake up already!" Shirabe spoke, a sense of urgency in her voice as she shook her friend's shoulder, the crevasse having finally stopped crumbling around them. Before she could continue however, the sound of the Igalima wielder's voice caused her eyes to widen before she looked at her friend's face, eyes slowly opening and a small smile coming onto her face.

"Shirabe…you're okay…" Kirika whispered, slowly trying to push herself off the ground with both arms before an agonizing throbbing from her left forearm caused her to gasp out, her forearm feeling like it wanted to split in half as a silent scream exited her mouth before Shirabe grabbed her, helping her to her feet without putting too much pressure on her left arm. "I'm glad that you're okay. But still, how are we alive? I remember that fall, and then trying to grab you before we hit the ground. But then it just kept collapsing around us…so how are we still okay?"

"I don't know. All I remember is passing out after the explosion, and then I met Finé…" Shirabe replied, her voice trailing off silently as she looked down, her jacket and scarf rustling as she looked away. "I think she's the reason I was able to use Asgard like I did before…but after I spoke with her, I woke up, my Symphogear having powered down, and saw you unconscious."

"So she spoke with you too, huh?" Kirika replied, wrapping the younger girl in a hug with her right arm. "Shirabe…I'm sorry. I shouldn't have doubted what you were trying to say…" she said, looking away slightly and holding her left arm closer to her body. "You were right, as always. It wouldn't be worth living if you aren't there."

"Everything I said, I meant," Shirabe replied, wrapping both arms around her friend. "It always seems as though people are having to save me. Thanks," she whispered out, before leaning in and kissing her friend on the cheek, before turning away, her eyes looking in the direction of the central structure looming over Frontier as a worried look emerged onto her face. "But now I need to ask for your help once again."

"Okay," Kirika replied, a small smile coming onto her face as the duo stood, looking upwards towards the top of the crevasse above them. "Maria's always been the one saving us in the past. This time, let's save her." Nodding in agreement, Shirabe raised her relic pendant to the air along with Kirika, their activation songs filling the air before pink and green spheres of light glowed within the crevasse. Moments later the duo emerged from the crevasse, their armor still slightly damaged and Kirika's arm splinted by her Symphogear, before nodding to one another and racing towards the main structure, a clear goal on their minds.

Frontier, Near Main Structure, 4 Hours and 50 Minutes after Frontier Rising

'They just don't let up…' Hibiki thought, ducking under a punch from the nearest Nephilim before slamming her fist into its stomach, sending it sliding back. Before she could try to follow up she found herself on the defensive as another Nephilim came in from the left, fist rising upwards in an uppercut which forced her to leap to her right, evading the blow but pushing her right into the path of another opponent's energy sphere. Eyes widening at the sight of the onrushing attack, she reacted, her gauntlets' boosters firing and pushing her further out of the way, the attack just missing the tail ends of her scarf before smashing into the jungle surrounding the small clearing and engulfing the area in flames. Skidding to a stop, her boots leaving another pair of trenches into the moist jungle floor, Hibiki stood once more, the newly-ignited flames rapidly spreading behind her and shrouding her in their shadows. Even there she couldn't get too comfortable however, as another Nephilim appeared from behind her, punching the redhead in the back and sending her rolling forwards to a stop in the center of the clearing.

'There's too many of them for this small an area…' Hibiki thought, pushing herself off of the ground just in time to avoid another Nephilim's jaws clamping shut where she had been. Delivering a kick to the face of the creature and sending it stumbling backwards, she pressed forwards, delivering an axe kick to the head of the same creature she had sent stumbling back and knocking it to the jungle floor, implanting it into the turf as she leapt over its fallen form before using the opening to escape the clearing, rushing back into the jungle with her arms wrapped around her chest as she ran, cradling her ribs as much as possible as the roars of her angered opponents echoed throughout the jungle behind her. Minutes later, she emerged from the jungle to find herself standing on a rocky plateau, a small set of cliffs overlooking her new position from the east as she attempted to catch her breath, the cries of the approaching Nephilim growing steadily louder.

"I can't take this for much longer…" Hibiki whispered, her broken ribs racking her with pain throughout her body as she tried to catch her breath. Her rest would be short lived however, as the roars of her opponents drew ever closer, leading her to look towards the jungle before sliding into a defensive stance as the first of the four Nephilim emerged, the creature letting out a deafening roar as it raced forwards, arm outstretched before it launched the first punch towards her head. Ducking underneath the creature's outstretched arm, she responded, throwing punch after punch into the creature's chest, causing it to roar out in agony. Attempting to capitalize on the opening provided she crouched down and spun around, gathering momentum before springing upwards, her right gauntlet crackling with energy as she impacted the Nephilim underneath its head, snapping it backwards and sending the creature flying into the air only to land on its back a few feet away. 'I've gotta take advantage…' Hibiki thought, landing on the ground for a brief moment before flinging herself forwards and rotating in the air, her feet impacting the creature's chest and stunning it further as she landed on her back before springing back to her feet.

"And stay down…" Hibiki panted out, the pain from her injury catching up with her as she caught her breath to the best of her ability. She wouldn't have much of a breather however as another Nephilim burst from the ground in front of her, its fist already swinging forwards towards her head. 'So fast…' Hibiki thought, ducking under the blow only for the creature's other arm to dart in, impacting her in the stomach and sending her tumbling backwards before rolling to a stop near the edge of the plateau. Pushing herself up off the ground, her ribs screaming in protest as she did so, Hibiki threw herself into a somersault, rolling to the Nephilim's right and barely avoiding the creature's jaws as they clamped downwards, chewing up solid rock where the Gungnir wielder had rolled to a stop just a moment earlier. Coming out of her roll, Hibiki found herself once again on the defensive, the Nephilim having resumed its assault. Blocking one of the creature's punches away from her with her left gauntlet, Hibiki stepped forwards, ducking under an elbow from the Nephilim before rising inside of its reach and slamming her knee into its sternum. Continuing her momentum, she then grabbed the creature's arm before spinning past it and flipping the creature as she spun, flipping the Nephilim onto its back and forcing a pained roar out of the beast.

'This is getting old…How can I get them to stop healing? I can't keep this up much longer…' Hibiki thought, wiping a bead of sweat from her brow as she panted for air, her lungs feeling like they are on fire. Noticing the first opponent climbing back to its feet, the injuries it had suffered previously having healed completely, a plan slowly came into Hibiki's mind, even as she slid into a stance. 'This is going to be risky…I only really have one shot, but if I waste it, and the other two of them show up…' Narrowing her eyes in focus, her right gauntlet glowing with a bright orange energy, Hibiki slid into a defensive stance as the creature charged forwards, its fist drawn back. Ducking under the blow and spinning around, Hibiki slammed her elbow into the creature's stomach, knocking it backwards before spinning around once more, her right gauntlet glowing brightly as she brought it upwards in an uppercut towards the creature's jaw, her opponent letting out a roar as a blinding flash of light filled the area. Within seconds a sickening crunch filled the air as Hibiki's newly summoned spear pierced through the creature's skull from the bottom all the way through the back, exiting out of the top of the monster's skull.

Withdrawing the spear from the creature's skull, Hibiki turned away from the beast as its blood erupted from the wound, the monster itself collapsing to the ground behind the Gungnir wielder as the second Nephilim roared out in anger before charging forwards, its fist racing towards Hibiki's head faster than it had been earlier in the fight. Sidestepping the blow quickly, Hibiki spun around before landing a spinning kick to the creature's back, sending it stumbling forwards towards its companion's corpse as she leapt away to create some additional distance, panting as she did so. But before she could try to press the momentum, her opponent turned around, its feet digging into the plateau before it raced forwards once again, its left arm's claws swinging forth only to be blocked by Hibiki's spear, causing sparks to fly out as the Gungnir wielder strained against the creature.

'I can't…I won't lose here…' she thought, straining to push the Nephilim's claws away from her with her arm-mounted spear, before finally beginning to make headway. Finally flinging the creature's arm away from her with her weapon, Hibiki leapt away as the ground underneath her buckled as the roars of the remaining duo of Nephilim echoed out onto the plateau, a blast of hellfire erupting from underneath where she had been standing and sending stone flying everywhere as the other pair of Nephilim emerged from underground, one of them blurring in front of the Gungnir wielder, its fist racing in before she could react and impacting her in the stomach, sending her tumbling backwards and forcing her to dismiss her weapon as she came to a stop.

"Damnit…" she gasped out, pushing herself back off the ground, her arms cradling her broken ribs as she attempted to climb back to her feet. Steadying herself, her lungs feeling on fire as she struggled to breathe, Hibiki found herself on the defensive once again as two of her opponents raced forwards, fists swinging downwards. Sidestepping the first attack as it impacted the stone beneath where she had been standing before bringing both arms upwards, blocking the second Nephilim's fist as it raced in from above her head, Hibiki span, releasing the blocked opponent and letting it go by her before striking back, throwing a spinning kick to the creature's back and sending it stumbling forwards before having to dodge as the first Nephilim attacked once again, its fist passing by her head by a matter of inches. Stepping closer, Hibiki responded, driving her fist into the creature's stomach and forcing it to double over before spinning to her left and delivering a vicious backhand, her gauntlet smashing into the creature's head and sending it spinning to the ground, impacting the plateau with a cry. Before she could press her advantage however, a monstrous fist slammed into the Gungnir wielder's back, knocking the wind out of her while sending her tumbling forwards, kicking up stone in the process as the Nephilim pursued.

'Gotta move…' Hibiki thought, pushing herself off the ground and springing away as the Nephilim's jaws crashing into where she had been just a second before, kicking up stone into the air. Noticing that it missed its target the Nephilim followed, blurring in front of Hibiki before throwing a punch at her head. Tilting her head to the side, the creature's fist passing by harmlessly, Hibiki responded, throwing a punch towards the creature's head with her left arm, her gauntlet crackling softly with an orange energy. As if to mock her, her monstrous opponent batted her fist aside with its right arm before striking back, its left arm swinging in and impacting her in her left shoulder, a sickening crack echoing out as the Gungnir wielder tumbled along the ground. Picking herself up off the ground as her left shoulder sent pain racking through her body, she then collapsed back to her knees, her arm falling back to her side and hanging there uselessly as she grabbed at her shoulder, eyes shut in pain as her screams filled the air only to be cut off by the Nephilim's fist backhanding her in the face, sending her tumbling towards the edge of the plateau.

"I won't give up…I can't give up…" Hibiki muttered out, slowly picking herself up off the ground while avoiding placing as much pressure on her left arm as possible. Looking up to see one of her remaining trio of opponents rushing towards her, arm already swinging downwards towards her head, she sidestepped the blow, avoiding it as the Nephilim's fist impacted the ground beneath where she had been standing, rock kicking up into the air and blinding the Gungnir wielder. 'I've gotta move…gotta get away…just long enough to fix my arm…' she thought, ducking under another punch from the creature before responding, sweeping the creature's legs out from under it and landing an axe kick to the creature's back as it hit the ground, implanting it deeper into the ground as one of the first two remaining Nephilim seemed to almost appear directly in front of her. Before the redhead could react, she was knocked backwards, the Nephilim's fist impacting her in the stomach before its other arm backhanded her away. Landing on her dislocated shoulder and biting her lip to avoid letting out another scream as fresh spasms of pain raced through her body, Hibiki rolled to a stop, her body coming to rest against an upturned rock, the stone pressing against her injured shoulder and causing a pained groan to escape her mouth.

"I won't lose like this…" she whispered out, breaths coming out in ragged pants as she tried to push herself off the rocky ground, only to fall back onto it, her left arm and ribs radiating pain throughout her body. 'Damnit…Can't…Can't move …' she thought, her thoughts turning to her girlfriend and the promise she had made along with her closest childhood friend as her three opponents approached her, their roars filling the air as they came closer and closer. 'Chris…sorry. Can't…keep…promise…' she thought, eyes narrowing in defiance at the monsters as they came steadily closer, before finally coming to a stop, enshrouding the Gungnir wielder in their shadows. Rearing their heads backwards and preparing to finish off their prey, the left-most Nephilim reached down, grabbing Hibiki by her neck and lifting her off of the ground, before a familiar yet angry voice brought a smile to the Gungnir wielder's face.

"GET THE HELL AWAY FROM HER!" Chris cried out, her voice filled with fury as she stood on the cliff overlooking the plateau, her missiles already deploying from her waist armor, ready to fire. Behind her Tsubasa stood, a furious look on her face as she leapt into the air, her lone katana transforming into its larger form as she descended upon the plateau, drawing the creatures' attention to herself. Rage radiating in her eyes she slashed upwards, a brilliant blue wave of energy racing towards the enemy and slicing through the creature's arm holding Hibiki, forcing it to let go of the Gungnir wielder as it let out a howl of agony while it leapt away with its brethren, its blood spurting from the stump that used to be an arm.

Pressing the advantage created by her partner, Chris opened fire, her missiles racing forwards towards the trio of creatures. Seconds later the rockets impacted, consuming the plateau in hellfire as chunks of rock scattered into the air, the Nephilim roaring in pain as several missiles contacted them directly. Body trembling with anger, she searched the area with her eyes before spotting where Hibiki was laying injured, her eyes taking in the sight of her injured girlfriend and etching that image into her memory. Leaping from the cliff to join Tsubasa on the plateau, where she kneeled by the injured Hibiki with an enraged look on her face, Chris spoke up once more, her voice cracking from the stress as she looked at the creatures slowly climbing back to their feet, their injuries slowly healing themselves.

"These assholes can regenerate now," She noted, anger simmering within her voice. "They'll pay for hurting her…" Her voice trailing off, she transformed her crossbows into their Gatling gun mode before opening fire, the bullets impacting the Nephilim and causing them to scatter as other bullets impacts the superheated rock around them, kicking stone into the air, some of which dug into the creature's skin as they leapt away. Turning to follow them, she opened fire, her Gatlings filling the air with bullets as she took aim towards the pair of Nephilim that had leapt towards the cliffs, her bullets trailing the creatures while kicking up stone from the rock face, clouds of dust rising into the sky. Beside her, Tsubasa leapt after the remaining Nephilim, closing the ground between them before unleashing a vertical slash, forcing the Nephilim to leap away to the right before it countered, its fist swinging in from the bluenette's back as she spun around, bringing the blade up to defend, the impact pushing her back slightly as her boots dug into the stone beneath her. Coming to a stop and pushing the creature's fist away from her, she stepped in closer, a second katana's handle popping from her Symphogear into her hand before unfolding as she slashed out horizontally, the creature stepping sideways just in time to avoid losing a limb.

Hoping to press her sudden advantage Tsubasa continued to attack, her initial sword returning to its standard katana state as she brought it slashing in from above with a vicious vertical slash aimed at the creature's right arm, only for the blade to be caught by the creature. Using her momentum to spin around she followed up with a diagonal slice at the wrist of her opponent, her strike forcing it to let go of her other sword and leap backwards just in time for the slash to pass through thin air before responding, a crimson blast of energy racing forth from the Nephilim's mouth towards the katana wielder. Eyes narrowing, Tsubasa responded, slashing outwards with both katana and releasing a double wave of azure energy that raced forwards, intersecting the crimson sphere in the center before exploding and kicking chunks of rock into the air, the smoke cloud hiding both sides from one another before the Nephilim let out a roar, charging forwards through the smoke and unleashing a punch towards Tsubasa's head. Sidestepping the blow, the bluenette countered, the katana in her right hand flashing downwards with an azure sheen of light surrounding it, cutting through her opponent's wrist with ease, severing its hand from its body and forcing its blood to gush out of the wound. Letting out an angered roar it continued to try to press its attack, lashing out with its left arm towards Tsubasa's head, only for the former idol to duck under the attack and lash out once more, the sword she held in a reverse grip flashing upwards and through the creature's left arm at the elbow.

Letting out a roar of pain the Nephilim attempted to respond, its jaws snapping towards Tsubasa. Spinning out of the way and allowing the creature's jaws to impact the ground she had been on just seconds earlier, the former idol pressed her attack, her twin katana igniting with azure blue flames as she dashed forwards once more before bringing her right katana in with a horizontal slash, the flames heating the air as the creature ducked under the attack before snapping its jaws forwards once more. Stepping to the side and out of the way, the creature's jaws snapping shut on nothing but air, Tsubasa continued her attack, her blades flashing out once again and slicing through the creature's shoulders, her superheated swords instantly closing the wounds after slicing through.

At this a furious roar echoed into the air from the creature's jaws as it leapt backwards, a sphere of crimson fire forming once more in its mouth. But before it could fire, Tsubasa attacked once again, the blade in her right hand flashing out and slashing through the creature's neck, decapitating it. Not stopping there, she spun around once more, the katana in her left hand slashing downwards and unleashing a wave of azure flames which consumed the creature's corpse in sapphire death. 'One down, two more to go…' Tsubasa thought, turning away from her fallen opponent and looking at where her partner had engaged the remaining pair of Nephilim before moving to assist as Chris moved in pursuit of the remaining creatures.

'They're faster than they were last time….' Chris thought, her Gatlings continuing to spew round after round at the pair of Nephilim she had pursued. Another fresh group of missiles appearing from her waist armor, she opened fire once more, the projectiles streaking towards their targets without much delay, even as her thoughts turned towards her injured girlfriend. 'It's my fault…if I wouldn't have been so wrapped up in my own misery, she wouldn't have had to fight alone…' she thought, the angered cries of the pair of Nephilim returning her attention to the fight at hand as they leapt free of the smoke caused by the latest group of missiles. Quickly shifting her Gatlings back into their crossbow state, she opened fire once again while leaping away towards where her girlfriend was resting, the energy bolts striking the creatures but not slowing them down as their fists impacted the ground where she had been standing. Shifting the crossbow in her left hand into a larger state, a crystalline bolt ready to fire, she opened fire once again with the crossbow in her right hand, its energy bolts racing towards the creatures she was facing only to be batted aside. She found herself quickly on the defensive once again as both Nephilim's fists swung in, forcing Chris to leap away once again.

Raising her left crossbow into the air, Chris pulled the trigger, the crystalline bolt soaring into the air over her opponents before it released a torrent of scarlet energy bolts towards her opponents and engulfing them in a field of miniature explosions as they roared out in pain. Not allowing them to gain any further momentum, Chris' waist armor opened up again, revealing another rack of missiles before she opened fire, the rockets streaking in and impacting her opponents, consuming them in flames as she converted both crossbows into a pair of shotguns. Seconds later the roar of her opponents echoed out as they leapt through the flames surrounding them, an orb of crimson flame held within each monster's mouth. Bringing her weapons up to bear as an idea formed in her mind, Chris darted forwards, before bringing the gun in her right hand up towards the creature's mouth and pulling the trigger, her shotgun barking out as the gunshot slammed into the creature's chest, sending it stumbling backwards with the crimson orb extinguished as it clutched at its chest in pain. A crimson gleam drawing her attention out of the corner of her eye, she spun around, the shotgun held in her left hand rising up and pointing directly at the sphere as it hovered inside of the Nephilim's mouth as she pulled the trigger, her weapon's gunfire impacting the sphere causing it to explode while still within the creature's mouth.

Surveying the results of her attack approvingly as the creature's dead body crumpled to the floor of the plateau, only the roar of the last remaining Nephilim alerted Chris to its counterattack as its fist swung downwards. Bringing both guns up and catching the approaching fist in between them in a cross, Chris felt herself being pushed backwards from the force of the opposing Nephilim's attack. 'Damn…this asshole's strong…' she thought, anger written on her face before she ducked down, rolling beneath the creature's arm and around its legs while converting her weapons into their crossbow state once again. Quickly climbing back to her feet, she opened fire once more, her energy bolts impacting the creature in the back, the creature stumbling forwards slightly as a result before it span around, its fist racing in faster than the Ichaival wielder could react, only to be stopped by a familiar looking boot impacting the beast in the arm, knocking it away as Tsubasa landed next to her before spinning around, the older girl's leg lashing out and impacting the Nephilim in its stomach and sending it tumbling away.

"Let's finish this, partner," Tsubasa muttered, her eyes locked onto the slowly recovering form of their remaining opponent as she enlarged the blade of both katana into their extended forms. Looking over her shoulder to where her girlfriend was attempting to stand once again, Chris nodded, her crossbows returning to their Gatling forms once more. 'I'll be right there, Hibiki…' she thought, before opening fire, her rounds impacting the creature and knocking it backwards. Taking advantage of the opening provided by the Ichaival wielder, Tsubasa rushed forwards, leaping into the air before swinging the blade in her left hand downwards, releasing an azure wave of energy that raced towards the creature. Sidestepping the attack and letting it slice into the plateau, the Nephilim counterattacked, its fist racing upwards and meeting the flat of the former idol's katana, knocking her off balance slightly before its other fist raced in. Bringing her left katana back around to meet the creature's fist, the edge of the blade igniting with an azure flame, Tsubasa responded, the ignited blade slicing into the creature's wrist, forcing it to let out a pained cry as it swung its arm in response, backhanding her away. Flipping in mid-air and returning her katana back to their normal sizes, she unleashed another pair of azure energy waves towards the last creature, the waves slicing through stone and throwing shards of rock into the sky.

Not letting the creature try to reverse momentum as it leapt to the side, Chris opened fire once more, her Gatlings raining firepower at the Nephilim and forcing it to shield itself once more. Refusing to let up, her waist armor opened up, another set of missile racks unfolding before the rockets launched, soaring towards her opponent and engulfing it in explosions and smoke as Chris continued to fire, her attack piercing through the smoke with only the Nephilim's cries of pain to confirm any effect on the creature before it burst free, the wound on its arm from Tsubasa's earlier attack looking as though it was filled with lava.

Racing forward the creature counterattacked, its fist slamming downwards towards Chris and forcing her to move out of the creature's reach just before its fist embedded itself into the stone where she had been standing. Her waist armor opening up, another set of missiles revealing themselves to the afternoon sky, Chris' eyes narrowed in concentration as she prepared for what she hoped would finish off the beast before she opened fire, her missiles streaking forth before impacting the Nephilim, explosions engulfing it in flame as the missiles continued their assault. Moments later the barrage finally ended, Chris' eyes cold as she stared at the cloud of smoke surrounding where the creature had been standing mere moments before.

Turning to look towards where her girlfriend had pushed herself off the ground, Chris began to walk away before a roar echoed out. Spinning around once more, her eyes narrowed in anger as the Nephilim burst forwards once again, wounded severely but still alive. 'Damnit, this asshole just won't die!' She thought, before an azure flash of light intervened, the creature coming to a halt as a blue line split it right down the middle, aqua-colored flames bursting free from the wound and spreading over the creature's body. Landing next to Chris, twin katana blazing softly with cerulean flames, Tsubasa attacked one last time, a brilliant blue wave of light racing forth before slamming into the creature in the same exact spot as her previous attack, cutting through the rest of the way before the creature exploded, pushing both Symphogear wielders backwards, their boots digging into the stone plateau slightly before coming to a stop in front of their injured teammate, the smoke from the explosion clearing slightly even as it rose higher into the sky. Scanning the area for any sign that their opponents would resume the battle and finding none, the duo let out a breath in relief. Turning towards Chris and nodding as she returned her katana to her Symphogear's storage, Tsubasa spoke up, her voice showing some relief as she looked between the younger couple.

"I'm sure that you two have things that you need to say," she whispered, pushing the younger girl forwards gently, a vast contrast to the attitude she had held earlier. Turning to give the couple some space, she walked off, leaving the dating couple to their thoughts and each other as Chris slowly made her way over to her girlfriend's side, an uncomfortable silence falling over the pair.

-SotHR-

"Idiot…" Chris trailed off, her voice soft as she spoke up, breaking the silence between the two of them and drawing Hibiki's attention to her girlfriend before she continued to speak, voice rising in intensity. "You're such an idiot, Hibiki! What the hell were you thinking? I told you, multiple times, to not do anything reckless! Damnit…if we wouldn't have shown up, what the hell would you have done?" At Hibiki's lack of a reply, she continued, her shoulders shaking. "Damnit Hibiki, don't just sit there and be quiet! What the hell were you thinking? Because you were reckless, now you're hurt, and you're lucky it wasn't worse than this. Why, Hibiki? Why?" Moments later, Hibiki spoke up, her voice quiet as a pained but small smile came onto her face as she took Chris' hand into her own.

"Sorry…" Hibiki whispered out, as she pushed herself off the ground into a sitting position, her right arm holding her body off the ground. Turning her head slightly to look her girlfriend in the eye, she attempted to continue to speak up, only to be cut off by her girlfriend speaking once again, her shoulders shaking.

"Sorry? Hibiki, you could have died!" Chris cried, her shoulders shaking as she spoke. Moving to Hibiki's side, she sat down, the redhead leaning over to rest her head on the shorter girl's shoulder as she spoke up once more. "You could have died, and then what would have happened? What would have happened to the promise you made me to come back safely? Don't you know what you dying would have done to everyone? What it would have done to Miku? What it would have done to ME? Damnit…you said that you wouldn't do anything to hurt me, that you wouldn't turn your back on me. What do you think that dying would have done, Hibiki? God damnit..." she trailed off, voice cracking slightly from the emotions she felt as tears started to fall down her face. "Don't you think that we all get worried?"

"I know you do," Hibiki replied, her voice low as she leaned further into her girlfriend.. Before she could continue, Chris cut her off once again as she looked up, tears streaming down her face.

"I was scared, idiot. You said that you wouldn't hurt me, but if you died, it'd hurt more than anything I could imagine. Even just the thought of it scares me, Hibiki," she said, body trembling, her hands resting on her legs as she spoke. "The thought of not having you around, of not being able to be with you anymore…it scares me. It felt like I couldn't breathe when I heard that you were in danger! And when I got here, seeing you injured…I was scared that I was about to lose you, you know that?"

"Sorry," Hibiki whispered, sitting up from her spot against Chris' side before turning to face her girlfriend. "I didn't mean for any of you to be worried. I just…I thought that I could keep them away from everyone, that I could buy enough time for everyone to stop Ver."

"So you were going to sacrifice yourself doing so? Damnit…stop being so stupid!" Chris responded, hand flashing forwards to slap her girlfriend but stopping before she could connect. Lowering her arm back to and resting it at her side, she looked her girlfriend's body over, noting the injuries she had suffered before the tears started to fall once again. Noticing the stunned look on her girlfriend's face, Chris began to speak once more, even as the tears slowly fell down her face. "Hibiki, please, stop thinking that you have to do everything alone. You went away for two years and everyone was affected. If you would have sacrificed yourself here..." Voice trailing off, Chris sat in silence, her voice failing her but her eyes expressing everything that she wanted to say. Moments later, the Gungnir wielder finally spoke up, a small smile on her face as she moved closer, before wrapping her good arm around her girlfriend and pulling her in closely, holding her close to her injured body and resting her head on Chris' shoulder before she began to speak up once again, her voice quiet.

"Gomen, Chris." Hibiki whispered out. Turning her head from its spot on Chris' shoulder to look out over the cliff's edge at the glittering ocean on the horizon beyond the edge of the floating continent, she continued, her voice expressing the emotions she wanted to show. "I didn't mean to worry you so much…"

"I know that you had good intentions," Chris spoke up, cutting her girlfriend off before she could continue speaking. "That's why I can forgive you for being so reckless. Still…you have to be more careful. I've lost so much, suffered so much…I don't want to lose you too, Hibiki. You may be an idiot sometimes, but you're MY idiot, and I love you for it. I love everything about you." Turning the taller girl's head towards her own, Chris's lips met Hibiki's own, a wave of pleasure spreading throughout her body on contact. Wrapping her arms around her girlfriend's neck, Chris let out a surprised gasp as Hibiki's tongue danced against her lips, almost as if asking for entrance as a warm wave arose within her body. 'That feeling again…' Chris thought, the feeling fading away as she opened her mouth, allowing Hibiki's tongue to dance with her own before letting out a muffled groan, shockwaves of pleasure slowly building within her body before Hibiki broke away, a small trace of their shared saliva on her lips as a smile appeared on her face.

"I love you too, Chris. I love everything about you too." Shutting her eyes as a gentle smile emerged onto her face, Hibiki returned her head to its place on the short girl's shoulder, smiling gently into her neck as she closed her eyes peacefully, her warm breathing sending shivers down Chris' spine and forcing her to blush before the shorter girl spoke up, her voice breathy as an unfamiliar warmth rose in her stomach.

"I know…and I'm so grateful for that…" Holding her girlfriend closely, she tensed up as the Gungnir wielder froze, her body tensing up against Chris' own as she brought her right arm to her left shoulder before pressing against it. Seconds later, a popping sound echoed into the air, as Hibiki buried her face into Chris' neck to muffle a scream as her shoulder reset into place.

"Hibiki? Are you okay? What's wrong?" Chris asked, her voice filled with concern for her girlfriend. Taking a moment to gather herself, the taller girl nodded, her nose brushing lightly against Chris' neck and sending a shiver down her spine before she rested her head completely still.

"Something happened to my shoulder earlier…got forced out of place…" she mumbled out, not moving her head from where it rest, face buried into the crook of her girlfriend's neck. "Had to reset…"

"Hibiki…" Chris whispered, looking up to see Tsubasa approaching, a slightly worried look on her face. "Get some rest, will you? You don't have to keep pushing yourself…" Her voice trailing off, Chris smiled softly, a feeling of relief swelling up within her body as she felt the Gungnir wielder's steady breathing against her neck. Coming to a stop next to the younger couple, Tsubasa smiled, before turning her head back towards the central structure. 'We've still got so much more to do to bring this whole crisis to an end…but with how bad her injuries looked, we need more time for Hibiki to be ready to go…'

Frontier, Main Structure, Bridge, 4 hours and 55 minutes after Frontier Rising

"So much for that little nuisance," Doctor Ver stated, the sunlight gleaming off of his glasses as he turned his focus back to the data in front of him. "Maria wasn't even good as a false Finé, so her failure to stop me was bound to occur. Oh well; the both of them have served their use to me already. It's only natural that I remove useless pieces from the board." Nodding to himself while reading through the data, his mutated left arm not leaving the control sphere in the center, a devilish grin emerged onto his face as he took in the data presented. "It's only a matter of time now…just a matter of time until Frontier is charged enough for me to bring the moon even closer…" Laughing slightly at the implications in his words, Ver proceeded to look towards the side, a monitor displaying the status of the fights taking place elsewhere on the island, his arms crossing at what he was seeing.

'So it looks as though both the Igalima brat and Yukine-san were both unable to accomplish their objectives…' he thought, a frown emerging onto his face. Reaching into his jacket and withdrawing a remote trigger from within it, his smirk returned as he stared at the monitor displaying the Ichaival and Ame no Habakiri wielders racing across Frontier's terrain. 'If you think that I'm just going to let you intervene in the little show I'm enjoying that involves your girlfriend, you have another thing coming, brat…' Pressing the switch on the trigger at the top, he looked on, fully expecting Chris' head to explode in a shower of plasma. 'Wait…why is she not dead?' Ver thought, his eyes narrowing in dismay as both Symphogear wielders continued to race across the rugged terrain. 'Why didn't her choker go off…unless…' he thought, realization hitting him and causing him to throw the trigger to the floor, the device bouncing off the stone pathway and into the black abyss below.

"Damn that bitch…Nastassja…you continue to interfere, even after I've killed you…" he growled out, venom in his words as he spoke. Taking a moment to look out the nearest archway, the trail of smoke from the control room's structure as it soared towards the stars still fresh, he smirked, before returning his attention to the monitor. "Oh well…just a minor inconvenience. Even if they arrive, it's not like the two of them will be able to make much of a difference. Tachibana's fate in these matters is already decided." Before he could gloat any further on his accomplishments, the sound of footsteps approaching from behind him caused him to turn as Genjurou and Ogawa entered the bridge area, their eyes locking onto the doctor as he turned to face them, his arm never leaving the control orb as he spoke. "So it seems that I have guests…"

"Doctor Ver!" Genjurou spoke, his eyes narrowed in anger. Stepping forwards, his arms by his side and his red office shirt rustling, he continued, Ogawa strolling forwards just behind him as he spoke, their footsteps echoing throughout the room despite the hum of the crystals around the chamber. "End of the line. We'll be taking Frontier, and you'll be coming with us."

"Is that so, Kazanari-san?" Ver replied, a devilish grin on his face. "That's funny; you're not the first person to tell me that they'll put a stop to my plans today…and they didn't live to tell about it. What makes you think that you'll be any different?" Raising his non-transformed arm as his left hand pressed against the control sphere, he spoke once again, his index finger pointed towards the duo. "None of you have the guts to do what I'm doing. I'm doing what has to be done to save this world!"

"You're crazy, Ver. Do you honestly think that what you're doing is going to save the world? If you do, then you're a fool," Genjurou replied, stepping closer to the doctor as he flinched at his approach. "Every simulation of what would happen if the moon impacted the planet shows that there wouldn't be anyone left to save. How is that saving the world?" At this, Ver allowed himself to laugh maniacally, his laughter echoing throughout the room. Reaching into his jacket and retrieving the Staff of Solomon, Ver pointed it towards the 2nd division's commander, the staff extending into its active mode as he began his reply.

"This world of ours is full of contradictions, Kazanari-san. Governments hide the truth from their citizens in order to protect the peace, when all that they're doing is hoarding information from the people. The governments of the world knew that the moon is going to fall, but what did they do about it? Nothing! All in the name of keeping the power they hold," Ver stated, the arm holding the Staff keeping it pointed at Genjurou directly. "However, once the moon falls, those governments won't have any power anymore. The people of this world, those who survive that is, will have to turn their belief to someone who has the power. And right now, that person is ME. You're not the first person today to try to stop me; the failed false Finé attempted to stop me, and she had a relic."

'That at least explains where Maria went, and why we haven't been able to reach her…' Genjurou thought, a frown emerging on his face as he slid into a ready stance. 'If he summons noise, we don't have the greatest chance. But still…we have to stop him…' Watching Ver's movements closely, Genjurou spoke up, his voice low enough that it wouldn't reach Ver.

"We can't let him use the Staff. If you have any ideas as to how to get that thing out of his hands before he uses it…" Genjurou trailed off, his voice lowered so that only Ogawa could hear him. Nodding in agreement, the intelligence master prepared to respond as he reached for the gun he was carrying, only for Ver to speak up once again, his voice dripping with venom as he continued to point the Staff of Solomon towards the duo, finger wrapped around the area that would allow the relic to serve its purpose.

"I hold the cards here. But since you have no intention of bowing to my demands, then I have no use for you, either. Goodbye, Kazanari-san, Ogawa-san. Maybe in your next life you'll understand the sacrifices that need to be made to truly protect this world you hold so dearly." At this, he moved to activate the Staff once more, the relic glowing a bright green before it was knocked from the doctor's hands and across the chamber, clattering to the floor before tumbling down the stairs by the controls as Ver let out a scream, blood dripping from the fresh bullet wound in his hand. Taking advantage of the opening created by the smoking gun in Ogawa's hands next to him, Genjurou's fist swung down to the pathway, impacting it and splintering it, a chunk of the pathway being flung into the air on impact. Rising from where his fist impacted the pathway, he lashed out once again, his right fist impacting the chunk of stone as it fell back towards the ground and sending it towards the madman with a martial artist's cry. Eyes wide, Ver barely ducked out of the way, his left hand being forced to break contact with the control sphere in the center in the process.

"Damn you…even though you've reclaimed the staff, you won't stop my plans…" Ver growled out, pressing his left hand firmly against the controls one last time as a small circular hole opened in the platform he stood upon. Turning towards the 2nd division's commander, an angered scowl on his face, he staggered into the hole, disappearing into it and causing it to vanish behind him as Maria entered the chamber, face flushed from exertion as she caught her breath. Walking over to the Staff as it rested on the ground before picking it up, Genjurou nodded in her direction before she spoke up, voice course with emotion.

"Damnit…he got away…" she spoke, eyes narrowed on the spot where Ver had disappeared into. "And I can't afford to chase after him either, not when I have the role I need to play…But can I even play it anymore?" Nodding as he walked over to the Airgetlam wielder and taking note of the distressed look on her face, Genjurou spoke up, the Staff of Solomon having collapsed into its most compact form in his hands.

"Headquarters hasn't been able to reach you for a little while, Maria. However, I'm glad to see that you're doing okay," Genjurou said, his voice composed. "What happened? And what do you mean your role to play?" At this, Maria's voice went quiet as she replied, a quiet fury in her voice.

"He killed her…that asshole killed my mom. She wanted him to use Frontier's power to restart the lunar ruins, but he said that he was happy with what the moon's doing and killed her," Maria replied, voice shaking with a fury that she could barely constrain. "And then he laughed about it. Taichou, I…I tried to stop him, but he did something with Frontier that prevented me from moving before throwing me out of the archway over there. If it wasn't for my Armed Gear catching onto a ledge a couple levels down, he would have killed me…"

"So they were going against one another? Interesting…" Genjurou said, drawing a nod from Maria, who prepared to continue, her fists clenched against her sides and the breeze flowing throughout the room. Before she could however, Genjurou continued himself, a solemn tone in his voice. "I'm sorry, Maria."

"Thanks, taichou," Maria replied, her eyes not leaving the spot where Ver had disappeared into as her frustration leaked through into her voice. "I…no, we had a chance to stop him, and he got away. We have to go after him. That bastard can't get away with what he's done." Nodding in agreement, Genjurou spoke up quietly, his voice turning serious, even as they headed towards the central platform where Ogawa awaited.

"And we will. We just don't know where he's going, nor do we know how to get there. We were barely able to find our way up here." Before he could continue, a crackle in his earpiece drew his attention, along with that of Maria and Ogawa. Seconds later, before any of them could say anything, an older voice came through the headsets, causing Maria's eyes to widen in shock and relief.

"Maybe I can be of help with that," Nastassja spoke, her voice coming through the headsets. Before she could continue though, Maria's voice cracked, her body shaking from the sudden rush of emotions, a quiet sob escaping into the microphone. "Maria…why are you crying?"

"I thought you were dead, mom…The pod that he launched, you're there, aren't you?" She replied, her response sounding almost strangled from the emotions she was feeling. At this a small laugh came through the speakers, before Nastassja replied once again, her voice clearly strained from exertion.

"No, Maria. I had finished with what I needed to do there, and managed to get out just before it was launched. However, now isn't the time to discuss those particulars," Nastassja replied, her words causing the Airgetlam wielder to smile softly. But before she could reply, Genjurou prepared to speak up as he walked over to where Ver had made his escape. Stopping just before the central platform, Ogawa right behind him, he looked over the platform before speaking, his words serious.

"Am I speaking with Doctor Nastassja?" he asked, as he drew his fist back.

"Yes. And I am speaking with Commander Kazanari Genjurou, correct?"

"You're correct. However, now isn't the time for idle talk, now is it? I hear that you and Doctor Ver aren't seeing eye-to-eye," Genjurou said, his eyes narrowing in concentration. "We need to go after him and bring him down, in addition to finding some way of stopping his plan from succeeding. If there's any information that you can provide to assist with this, it will be greatly appreciated."

"Understandable, and I'm willing to assist, Kazanari-san," Nastassja replied, her voice composed as she spoke. "I already know that what I've done up until now is something that cannot be easily forgiven or forgotten. And the path that I chose to tread has my hands covered in blood, and is one that I know my younger daughter wouldn't have ever approved of. I willingly participated, even organized, some of the things that FIS took part in, and I will willingly pay my penance for that. However, right now, we all have a much bigger concern on our hands in what Doctor Ver is trying to accomplish."

"Right," Genjurou replied, nodding in agreement. "We're going to go after him, but we don't entirely know where he could be heading. Who knows where he could be right now...but, that won't stop us, now will it?" A second later his fist impacted the pathway in front of him, stone dust flying into the air as the force from his punch opened a path into the floor in front of him. Turning to nod at Ogawa and Maria directly, he continued, a confident tone in his voice. "We have to put an end to things. Our mission is to stop Doctor Ver's plans and capture him, preferably alive if we can. If you can assist with that, Nastassja-san, then we can work out a sort of deal later on." At this, a beeping sound was heard from his tablet, drawing Genjurou's attention to it as he spoke up once more. "This is Kazanari. What do you have for me, Headquarters?"

"Sir, we have a bit of a situation. Frontier seems to be rising in altitude, and there appears to be a slow buildup of energy emanating from somewhere inside. We're working to try to isolate it, but it's difficult to get much of a signal."

"That's got to be Ver," Ogawa chimed in, commenting on what had just been revealed. "But if the energy buildup isn't being isolated, it's not going to be easy to find him." Turning to look at Genjurou directly, he continued, a sense of urgency in his voice. "Kazanari-taichou, if we're going to stop him, we need to get moving."

"Agreed," Genjurou replied, nodding before turning to Maria and handing her the collapsed form of the Staff. "Maria, when we have the source of the energy isolated, I want you and the others to head towards it as soon as possible. I'll be having Headquarters relay that info to the others as well. Understood?"

"Hai, taichou," Maria replied, stepping forwards. Before she could continue Nastassja spoke up, her voice composed despite the situation as Genjurou prepared to enter the hole he had created.

"If I'm right, Ver will head towards where the main power generator is. It's where the Nephilim's heart is connected to the rest of Frontier, and he can attempt to control the output of energy from there," the older woman spoke, as Genjurou and Ogawa leapt through the hole they had created. "I will guide you towards his location to the best of my ability. However, there is something that I also need to have Maria do that could possibly counteract what Ver could intend to accomplish with the phonic gain the Nephilim's heart is creating." At this, Genjurou and Ogawa nodded, their feet hitting the stone floor beneath them as they entered a roll before returning to their feet, having landed after a brief free fall.

"Alright. You're willing to turn yourself in and cooperate fully when all of this is over?"

"I am," Nastassja replied, her voice crackling through the three 2nd Division members' headsets. "As I said before, my hands have already been stained with blood, and the actions that I took may not be forgivable. I'll pay my penance for that. But right now, I need to do everything that I can to prevent Ver from reaching his goals." At this, Genjurou spoke again as the duo began to run down the ancient hallway, the only light around them being the orange glow created by the Nephilim's Heart.

"Alright. Just give us the directions and we'll go from there."

-SotHR-

"So what if I've lost the Staff," Ver grumbled out, his injured hand held close to his chest as he made his way steadily through the ancient hallway. "While they have that back, they still won't be able to stop the moon. At this point, I've already won. It's just a matter of using the Nephilim's power to finish them all off." Turning to head down another hallway towards Frontier's core, a wicked grin emerged on his face as he brought his left arm up, brushing the transformed limb against the wall and causing it to glow a bright orange, before the light flowing along the edges of the hallway began to pulse in a rhythm similar to that of a heartbeat.

"Yes…so long as I have the Nephilim's power, it doesn't matter who's against me. They'll all be destroyed in the end anyways…" he trailed off, before his laughter filled the hallway as he continued his journey towards the source of Frontier's power, the Nephilim's heart pulsating in the same rhythm as the orange light lining the halls…

-SotHR-

'Who'd have ever thought that I'd be performing to the world again like this…' Maria thought as she took a number of deep breaths, trying to calm herself while she stood in front of the control sphere. 'But this time, unlike last time, I'm truly doing this to try to save the world, and of my own free will.' Looking towards the largest crystal of the group surrounding her, she gathered herself, one last thought coming across her mind as Nastassja spoke to her through her earpiece. 'Serena…please, watch over me. I hope that I make you proud…'

"Maria, we'll be going live here momentarily. Are you ready?" the older woman asked, drawing Maria's attention. Letting out a deep breath that she hadn't even known she had taken, Maria replied, her eyes taking on a confident focus as the words she was about to say came into mind.

"Yeah," she said, her voice determined. Taking her place in front of the control sphere, her Airgetlam's armor active, she gave a brief nod, eyes locking onto the large crystal that would be used to broadcast her song to the world. "Whenever you're ready then, mom."

"Then we go live in three…two…one…" Nastassja spoke, her words causing Maria to tense up slightly, as a soft glow came from the crystal in front of the Symphogear wielder, and she began to speak, her speech somewhat reluctantly flowing forth.

"Hello," Maria began, her words coming forth steadily as her heart pounded. "I'm sure that by now, those of you who saw the Queens of Music concert know who I am. But right now, I'm not here to make threats. Right now, I need your help. We all need your help." Taking a deep breath to steady her nerves, she prepared to sing, the crystal pillars surrounding her pulsing faintly as if in response to her will. Moments later, she began to sing, her words echoing throughout the bridge around her as her thoughts drifted, images from her childhood and of her sister entering her thoughts and bringing a small smile to her face as she sang.

(Insert Song: "Ringo")

-The apple floated in the big broad sky,

The apple crashed down on the ground.

The stars were born and then the songs,

And the lulu amel could smile forever.

Then the stars kissed and the songs fell asleep.

Where is my home?

Where is my home?

The apple crashed down on the ground,

The apple floated in the big broad sky…-

(End Insert song: "Ringo")

As the last words of her song echoed around her, Maria smiled softly as the mental image of her sister's approving smile came into her mind. 'Serena…I know that you're watching over me…just like I know that you approve of what I'm doing…' Gathering herself, she prepared to speak once again, the crystals surrounding her glowing softly and giving her Symphogear's silver armor an azure hue. But before she could speak any further, the voice of Nastassja came through her headset, snapping her back to attention.

"Maria," Nastassja began, her voice coming through clearly as Maria gathered her thoughts for the next part of her speech. "You're doing well. The rate that we're gathering Phonic gain is higher than expected, and I'll be able to complete things on my end here shortly," the older woman began, her voice beaming and causing Maria's smile to grow. "I'm proud of you, Maria. You've come such a long way, even from how you were a couple weeks ago. I'm proud of you, and I know that your sister would be as well. Now go. I'll finish things up here and then wait for Kazanari-san to arrive."

"Mom…." Maria replied, her voice quiet as the crystals around her slowed their pulsing, the azure glow coming from them dimming as her broadcast came to an end. "Thank you for encouraging me to follow what I believe is right. I'm going to do everything in my power to keep making you proud." Raising her head and noticing the darkening skies around her, Maria's eyes narrowed, a beeping from her headset drawing her attention once more as the voice of Aoi filled her ears.

"Maria, we finally got through to you," Aoi said, her voice filled with relief. "We've been able to locate the source of what's powering Frontier. I've already contacted Hibiki-san, Tsubasa-san, Chris-san, and Shirabe-san, and they're heading towards its location now. Can you head over there to give them some back up?"

"Hai, Aoi-san," Maria replied, determination filling her eyes as she spoke. Leaping towards the outer edge of the window-like arch behind her and landing on its archway, Maria turned, looking over the room once more. 'I just hope that that song will be enough…' she thought, feeling the added weight of the Staff of Solomon on her back before leaping away, her mind already refocusing itself on her next objective as she made her way through the darkening sky around her, hopping from floating rock to floating rock as she raced towards what she hoped would bring Ver's plans to an end.

-SotHR-

"As long as I still have the Nephilim's heart, I can still accomplish my plan," Ver muttered as he entered the chamber. Before him the Nephilim's heart remained attached to the main crystal powering Frontier, pulsating in a rhythm similar to a heartbeat. Slowly coming to a stop in front of the main crystal as a stone pedestal arose from the platform, Ver continued to speak, his voice echoing around the chamber itself. "With the Nephilim, I can burn them all to ashes…those intruders who dare stand in my way will ALL DIE!" Placing his transformed arm against the stone pedestal and causing it to glow a crimson red, Ver let out a laugh, despite the pain he felt from the gunshot wound he had suffered previously.

"If they think that something like this will stop me, they're sadly mistaken…" Ver trailed off, pain evident in his voice. "However, I won't take any more chances. It's time to take out these pests. Now, my Nephilim…arise, and burn them to ashes with your wrath!" At this, the crimson glow grew brighter, the glow filling the room as the Nephilim's heartbeat echoed louder and louder…

Frontier, Near Main Structure, 5 hours and 30 minutes after Frontier Rising

"Are you sure that you'll be okay for this? Hibiki, you're hurt. You need to rest and try to recover!" Chris asked, her voice full of concern while her right arm wrapped around her girlfriend's waist to provide support. Beside her, Hibiki nodded, grimacing as she prepared to reply.

"Chris, I'm fine," Hibiki replied, her right arm cradling her injured ribs gently as they raced towards the main structure of Frontier. "It's fine. I'm not going to leave everything up to the rest of you at this point. Even if I'm not at my best, I can still help." Besides her, Chris' eyes narrowed, even as a small smile came onto her face.

"I just don't want you to get yourself hurt any worse," Chris began, the duo coming to a brief stop at the edge of a cliff overlooking the main structure, Tsubasa standing in front of them. "You promised you wouldn't be too reckless and that you'd come back safely. I don't want to see you get hurt any worse than you already are. I don't know if I could handle that…so please, if you're going to come with us, be careful, Hibiki." Looking away from her girlfriend as she trailed off, Chris felt Hibiki's arms wrap around her from behind as she spoke up, her voice quiet as she held the shorter girl closely, her movement having gone unnoticed by the Ichaival wielder.

"I will, but you do so too," Hibiki whispered, her voice quiet as she stared towards the main structure in the distance and drawing a small hum in agreement from her girlfriend. Before she could continue however, Tsubasa approached the couple, a concerned look on her face as she spoke, the sky slowly darkening around them as Frontier's main structure glowed, a prismatic aura surrounding the structure as it glowed brighter and brighter against the steadily deepening sky.

"Are you sure that you'll be alright for the rest of this mission?" the older girl asked, her voice showing concern for her protégé's wellbeing and drawing a nod. "Okay…still, don't be reckless. You don't have to do everything alone, Hibiki. We can protect you just as much as you can protect us, so let us. After all," she spoke, a small smile coming onto her face. "I'm sure that there's plenty that the two of you want to do after everything is over, so don't get yourself killed out there." Before she could say anything further however, a tremor passed underneath the trio, shaking the cliff beneath them before coming to a rest seconds later, causing the trio to look around warily.

"Something's not right…" Tsubasa muttered, her eyes narrowing in alertness while she drew a katana from storage as the younger couple scanned the area. Moments later, the ground in front of them began to shake again as a monstrous roar began to fill the air, causing Hibiki's eyes to widen in alarm as Chris spoke up, anger in her voice as the ground continued to shake and the rock behind them slowly climbed upwards, taking a semi-familiar shape behind them and slowly coalescing itself.

"Damnit…where is it…where is that bastard?" she asked, as the creature's shadow overcame the trio. Spinning around as they became shrouded in the giant Nephilim's shadow, they looked upwards, the beast's eyes glowing the color of lava as it let out a monstrous roar, shaking the ground beneath the trio and causing small fissures to form. Not even a second later it began its attack, its monstrous fist racing downwards towards the Symphogear wielders as they leapt away, scattering in separate directions as the ground they stood upon crumbled on impact before falling towards the central valley below.

Skidding to a stop after having rushed between the creature's feet, Hibiki looked up, eyes narrowed as the creature turned around, its eyes searching the area for its prey as it let out a monstrous roar, the force of which pushing the Gungnir wielder towards the ground, arms crossed in front of her face and her boots digging into the surface of the plateau beneath her and creating a small pair of trenches as she slid backwards. Looking back up as the creature's roar came to an end, Hibiki found herself having to move once again as the creature's fist raced towards her, forcing her to leap away before it impacted the ground where she had been standing, shattering it and sending ancient stone flying into the sky as she landed further away from the creature's reach.

"Damnit…it's targeting her!" Tsubasa cried out, before enlarging her newly drawn katana into a larger state and leaping into the sky. Flipping in midair to build added momentum she slashed downwards with the blade, releasing a wave of azure energy at the creature and forcing it to release an annoyed growl on contact, the explosion from impact shrouding the older girl's vision as she fell back towards the ground. Before she could get there however, a titanic fist emerged from the smoke, forcing her to bring her blade up in defense as the fist slammed into her headlong, sending her flying backwards and into the ground with a painful yell as she skidded backwards and into a boulder that had been unearthed by the creature's earlier roar, the stone cracking from the force of impact as she finally came to a rest.

"Tsubasa! Damn you…you bastard!" Chris cried out, as she drew her crossbows and converted both into their Gatling forms before opening fire, the bullets impacting the skin of the giant and drawing its attention away from her fallen teammate. She wouldn't have much chance to draw its attention away from her friend however, as the creature's mouth opened before a torrent of hellfire raced forth, causing the Ichaival wielder to leap away towards where her girlfriend was standing before the flames impacted the ground on which she had been standing, turning the stone into molten glass. Landing safely away from the blaze, Chris fired back, missiles unfolding from her waist armor and racing towards the giant Nephilim as she opened fire with her Gatlings as well, the missiles impacting the creature in its face and shrouding it in smoke. 'That couldn't have gotten it…that thing's just too big to be beaten that easily…' she thought, before the creature's fist impacted the ground in front of her, shattering it and sending her tumbling backwards.

"Chris!" Hibiki cried out, struggling to climb back to her feet. Coming back to a standing position, her injured ribs protesting and causing her to cradle them with her right arm as she looked up at the giant they found themselves facing, her vision blurring. 'Ugh…gotta…focus…' she thought, trying to draw her attention back to the battle at hand. Shaking her head to try to get her vision to refocus, the Gungnir wielder found herself back on the defensive, barely managing to leap away as the giant creature's fist came swinging down towards her and impacting the ground where she had been just a second prior, the shockwave from the impact sending her tumbling away before coming to a stop near where Tsubasa had just finished climbing back to her feet. But before Hibiki could push herself off of the ground, Tsubasa spoke up, her voice somewhat steady as she fought her way back to her feet, katana held in a defensive position in front of her body.

"Hibiki, stay back," Tsubasa said, her eyes firmly locked onto the enemy in front of them. "You're not in any condition to be fighting this thing, and you can't react to it in time to defend yourself. Leave this thing to Chris and I, okay?" Not waiting for the younger girl's response, she sprang forwards, enlarged sword flashing from left to right in a rising slash and unleashing a large wave of energy at the creature's face, slamming into it and causing it to let out a roar. Trying to capitalize on the momentum obtained, she continued her attack, as a barrage of azure energy swords appeared around her before racing towards the enemy, impacting near the spot her initial attack impacted and causing an explosion to emerge, the creature's pained roar echoing throughout the area.

'Looks like it didn't like that…it's a tough one though; I had to put more into that slash there than I would have liked…' she thought, panting slightly at the exertion. Not wasting any more time, she leapt to her left before slashing upwards, her blade releasing another wave of energy towards the monstrosity which impacted it cleanly, earning another annoyed growl from the Nephilim before it responded, swinging its fist downwards towards the former idol, impacting the ground in front of her as she leapt backwards, the force from the impact sending her tumbling away like a ragdoll.

"Damnit…you bastard, just die!" Chris cried out, a quartet of larger missiles unfolding from her Symphogear as additional racks of missiles unfolded from her waist armor. Raising her Gatlings towards the giant Nephilim, Chris opened fire, the smaller missiles streaking forwards alongside the rounds form her Gatlings and impacting the giant in its head, enshrouding it in small explosions on impact. Not letting up on the assault the larger missiles streaked forth, impacting near the smaller explosions and exploding violently as the creature let out an angered roar as Chris stood, eyes narrowed at the cloud of smoke surrounding her opponent's head. 'There's no way that could have been enough…could it?' she thought, the smoke slowly clearing to reveal the Nephilim still standing before it went on the attack, its arm lashing out towards the Ichaival wielder as she moved to evade, the creature's open palm impacting her and sending her spinning across the plateau.

"Chris! Tsubasa!" Hibiki cried out, eyes wide as she finished climbing back to her feet. Turning to look at the Giant Nephilim looming over the plateau, she narrowed her eyes in focus, the image of the monstrosity in front of her blurring as she stood, her injuries from earlier on throbbing in pain as the creature let out a triumphant roar despite the clear damage to its face. Noticing both Tsubasa and her girlfriend returning to their feet from the corners of her vision, she smiled softly, even as the creature let out another roar, the force from its cry pushing her back to the ground again, her boots digging deeper into the plateau's surface as the area around her continued to crumble away, pieces of plateau breaking apart under the pressure. Pushing herself back into a standing position, Hibiki found herself immediately forced on the defensive as the monstrous fist of the Nephilim raced towards her, her arms rising up in a cross guard in an attempt to minimize any eventual damage, only for a brilliant ruby barrier to appear in front of her eyes in a brilliant flash of light, the creature's fist smashing into and straining against it before sliding away from the Gungnir wielder and impacting the plateau away from her, pieces of shattered terrain rising into the sky as the impact shockwave pushed her off her feet. Before Hibiki could climb back off the ground, a familiar voice rang out from behind her, drawing her attention away from the giant Nephilim in front of her as she pushed herself back into a sitting position.

"Consider us even, Hibiki-san," Kirika said, her voice full of confidence as she lowered her arms, her Igalima's scythe buried into the plateau by its blade. Pulling the weapon from the Cliffside and spinning it into a ready position, she continued to speak, her voice becoming more focused. "But as much as I'd like to talk more, looks like we arrived just in time to keep you from becoming a pancake. Leave this to us, will you?"

"Kirika, focus, will you?" Shirabe spoke up as she offered the older girl a hand to help her climb back to her feet. As Hibiki slowly climbed back to her feet, Shul Shagana's wielder continued to speak, a small smile on her face. "Hibi-san, are you okay?" Drawing a nod from the older girl, even as Chris and Tsubasa arrived, she returned her focus to the Nephilim itself, the giant towering high above the group as it let out another earthshattering roar before it went on the attack, its left arm darting downwards and forcing the Symphogear wielders to scatter, its fist causing the rest of the plateau edge they had been standing on to collapse in a cloud of dust and rubble.

'That thing's got a ton of power…it took both Shirabe and I to deflect its attack once…' Kirika thought, her eyes narrowed in focus. Expanding her Scythe blade out, Kirika willed the points on her shoulder armor to dart forward, tying the Nephilim's arm in place as the blade finished expanding, rockets firing on its end as the Igalima wielder landed atop of it as it raced towards the creature. Before the attack could connect, the creature let out a roar, its bound arm breaking free and lashing upwards, deflecting Kirika upwards and into the air above as its other arm bent at an unnatural angle, its palm impacting her and sending her plummeting back towards the plateau below. But before it could follow up, a barrage of Magenta discs crashed into the creature, drawing its attention long enough to prevent it from smashing Kirika even further into the rock formation as the Igalima wielder landed on the plateau with a cry, her body bouncing off the stone surface before coming to a rest.

"Hibiki-san, take care of Kirika!" Shirabe called out, before leaping into the air, a large pair of buzzsaw blades emerging from her ponytail armor before flying towards the giant, an additional barrage of smaller discs launching forth once her saw arms retracted, the smaller discs crashing into the Nephilim's eye and causing it to roar out in a mixture of annoyance and pain as the larger blades approached, the buzz saws impacting the creature's rocky armor but shattering on contact after cutting small gouges into its armor. Responding quickly, the Nephilim opened fire, a stream of flames bursting forth from its mouth towards Shirabe, forcing her to bring a fresh pair of sawblades up in defense, the flames meeting the blades and superheating them as they spun, the flames scattering around the blades but past Shirabe herself. 'These flames…they're so much hotter than normal flames…' she thought, the flames pushing her slowly backwards and causing the saw blades underneath her armored feet to carve a steadily deeper trench into the plateau beneath her, before a sudden explosion on the side of the Nephilim's head forced the river of flame to come to an end. Eyes widening in surprise but refusing to allow the opportunity to go to waste, Shirabe counterattacked, tossing the overheated saw blades towards the Nephilim while moving away and back to where Hibiki and the others stood, only for her superheated weapons to explode on contact, small clouds of dust the only hint that the giant had suffered any damage.

"The firepower we have right now isn't going to be enough," Tsubasa called out, her enlarged blade crackling with azure energy from her previous attack. Summoning another group of energy swords, she pointed the larger blade at the beast, the barrage of azure blades streaking forward and impacting the creature. Following up quickly, she willed forth a pair of giant swords, the enormous blades appearing above the Nephilim before stabbing downwards and through the feet of the beast, eliciting a pained roar from the Nephilim as it responded, its arm lashing out wildly at Tsubasa where she stood.

"Tsubasa! Move!" Chris cried, only for a ruby barrier to appear in the path of the creature's fist, deflecting it away from the older girl. Eyes narrowing in rage at the sight of a technique she had never thought she would see again, Chris opened fire, her Gatlings opening fire as multiple racks of missiles unfolded from her waist armor, her anger rising within her as her missiles raced forward towards the creature, exploding on impact as the creature let out a roar. Not letting up, she moved to another position, her Gatlings converting into their crossbow states before expanding once again, a pair of crystalline arrows appearing on each weapon as she took aim. Landing next to Hibiki while nodding at Tsubasa, she pulled the trigger, the crystalline bolts streaking forwards before unleashing a rain of energy bolts onto the Nephilim, her attack impacting the creature and enshrouding it in smoke, its roar of annoyance echoing into the slowly darkening sky as Tsubasa took advantage of Chris' assault. Unleashing another barrage of azure energy blades, the older girl's attack impacted alongside Chris' energy bolts and added to the assault, the cloud of smoke growing larger around the impact zone as chucks of stone armor fell away while the creature let out an angered roar. 'Where…how did it appear? Where did Asgard come from?' Chris thought, eyes narrowed in anger and focus as the smoke cloud dispersed to reveal the Nephilim, a small amount of damage done to its face and right shoulder and a ball of flame steadily growing within its mouth.

"Shirabe!" Kirika cried out, the shorter girl nodding as they darted towards the creature, Shirabe opening fire with a barrage of magenta discs at the wound on the Nephilim's shoulder as Kirika began her attack, Igalima's scythe growing an extra duo of blades before she slashed upwards, the blades glowing a brilliant green as they sliced towards the Nephilim itself, before impacting alongside Shirabe's attack near the previously impacted area, exploding against it and drawing the creature's attention to them as it let out a roar, its fist slamming towards them as it continued to build the sphere of flames within its mouth and forcing both girls to leap to the side, the fist impacting the ground where they had been standing, pieces of cliff flying in all directions with some impacting the younger duo as they came to a stop. The creature tried to press its advantage, its arm sweeping to follow the younger duo and forcing them to leap away once again.

"…It's not enough…" Hibiki whispered to herself, her injured ribs aching in pain as she watched the other Symphogear wielders continue to engage the Nephilim in combat. Narrowing her eyes as Chris and Tsubasa let loose with another combined attack before leaping away to dodge the creature's retaliatory swipe, she took note of the other pressing issue. "The longer we're held up by this thing, the less the chance that we can stop Frontier. But we just aren't doing enough to it…" she continued, eyes taking in the main structure of Frontier as it glowed with a prismatic energy before the sound of a violent roar returned her attention to the fight, the Nephilim releasing the sphere of flames it had been building towards Chris and Tsubasa and forcing both wielders to leap away before the flames engulfed the portion of the plateau they stood upon, transforming the ancient stone into glass as the duo landed away from the Gungnir wielder.

The creature didn't let up however, turning its attention towards her, its fist streaking towards the Gungnir wielder and forcing her to leap upwards to get away from the creature, the attack impacting where she had been standing and shattering the cliffside, chunks of stone scattering in all directions as she landed on a small island floating nearby. Tracking her movement as it turned towards her, the Nephilim let out a mighty roar, forcing the Gungnir wielder to cross her arms in defense as she was pushed back slightly. Returning her arms to a defensive posture, Hibiki's eyes narrowed as she prepared herself for the attack as the creature swung its arm once again, its fist rushing towards her…

-SotHR-

"Taichou, at the rate this is going, that…THING is going to kill them!" Aoi spoke through Genjurou's earpiece, drawing a nod from the commander of the 2nd division as he continued racing through the hallways of Frontier's main structure with Ogawa at his side. Taking a second to look at his tablet once more as Hibiki leapt away, the creature's fist shattering the floating island she had been standing on before Chris and Tsubasa recovered and resumed their attempts to attack the giant opponent they were up against, Genjurou's eyes narrowed before he spoke, the urgency of the situation having been magnified.

"Aoi-san, do you have the status of the container? What's its current storage amount at?" He asked, before rounding the corner and heading down another hallway besides Ogawa. After a moment of hesitation, the lead bridge bunny replied, her voice certain as the battle outside continued, the sound of the giant's roars echoing through the structure they were in.

"Taichou, it's currently at max capacity…" Aoi's voice trailed off, her mind quickly figuring out what the commander of the 2nd division was thinking of. Before she could state any objections to the order, Genjurou spoke, his voice serious.

"Right now, Aoi, we're working along with Nastassja to counter the fall of the moon. And while Maria's performance earlier is allowing the phonic gain of the world to filter into Frontier, all of that is needed for what Nastassja-san has in mind. The Symphogear wielders aren't doing enough damage to that thing quickly enough to get here to stop Ver directly and put a stop to whatever it is that he's using to power Frontier. The only way that they're going to be able to get there is if we use that protocol. Launch it, Aoi-san." Looking at the tablet once more as the creature seemed to brush off Tsubasa and Chris' combined assault, the rain of energy swords and missiles seemingly doing nothing to the creature to slow it down. "I haven't seen Maria-san on here; Aoi, what's her status?"

"She's on her way there, Taichou; ETA should be within the next couple of minutes. Container launch sequence initiated as well."

At this, Genjurou nodded, his eyes narrowing further as his footsteps echoed through the hallway alongside Ogawa's as he reflected on the battle going on outside, his thoughts running in overdrive. 'Ver…there's no doubt in my mind that you're behind that creature outside. Hopefully once Nastassja's plan comes into full effect, we can finish things with regard to the moon and bring an end to this madness...and allow these girls to have the peace that they're fighting so hard for…'

Lydian Music Academy, Student Center, Tokyo, 5 hours and 45 minutes after Frontier Rising

"Those exams last week came out of nowhere," the sophomore student said, sitting in the booth next to her friend as she set her water bottle down on the table. "At least it's the weekend though, right? What do you have going on this weekend, Hikari-san?"

"I don't know," her friend replied, looking out the window at the afternoon sky and the cityscape beneath it. After a long moment of silence, she bit her lip before replying hesitantly, a faint scar under her lip. "I know that we have the long weekend and are being encouraged to go home for it, but I was thinking that I'd go and get some work done on the paper I have to write for Song Theory, but otherwise I don't really have any plans. How about you?" Looking over to her friend after not getting a reply for a few moments, she spoke up once again, her voice getting the girl's attention. "Ayaka?"

"Huh? Oh, sorry about that," her friend replied, blushing slightly out of embarrassment. "I was going to head home for the weekend, see my younger sister, maybe catch up on some other stuff," she continued, a finger twirling through her dyed violet locks as she stared towards the main part of the room. Other students had entered the lounge, the din of the rest of the room growing steadily louder. Taking note of an unused billiards table, she started to speak up, before the screeching of the school's noise alarm rung out, silencing every student in the lounge as a louder, more rumbling noise joined it as well. "What? The Noise alarm?" She said, her eyes widening as both girls leapt to their feet, eyes searching for a nearby exit that would lead to one of the school's shelters. But before they could leave the room, the alarms went silent, catching all the students by surprise as the voice of the Academy's headmistress came over the speakers in the room.

"Attention all students," she began, the group of students in the lounge looking at each other with startled looks on their faces. "The Noise Alarm just now was a test of the system to ensure that there were no malfunctions. Government regulations require us to ensure that the noise alarms at the academy are in full functioning order once every three months. Please be advised that there are no Noise currently on campus, and that the campus grounds are safe. Thank you for your time and enjoy your weekend."

At this, the pair of girls looked at each other, a confused look on both of their faces. While they knew that there were mandatory tests of the school's alarms that had to take place every few months, they had never happened at that particular time of day before. 'Plus there was that other noise that wasn't there before in tests either…' the older of the two girls thought, looking out of the window at the city once again before shaking her head slightly. 'Was that noise my imagination? Could be…' she thought, before resuming her conversation with her friend, unaware of the true reason behind the alarms going off…

Frontier, Near Main Structure, 5 hours and 45 minutes after Frontier Rising

'…I can't keep going…' Hibiki thought as she struggled back to her feet, her body aching from having been thrown to the ground by the monstrosity's fist destroying the island she had been standing on. Cradling her aching ribs with her right arm as she managed to steady herself, Hibiki looked back up towards the giant she found herself facing, her vision blurring in the process as the creature began its next attack, fist stretching around other stones nearby and impacting the rock floating beneath her feet, shattering it and sending the Gungnir wielder flying.

"Hibiki!" Chris cried out, eyes wide at the sight of her girlfriend's body spinning through the air, only to land on another floating island nearby. Turning towards the giant that they found themselves fighting against as anger boiled inside of her, she let out an angered growl as rack after rack of missiles unfolded from her skirt armor. "Damn you…WHY DON'T YOU DIE YOU SON OF A BITCH!?" Chris screamed, rack after rack of missiles streaking forwards and impacting against the monstrosity's face, explosions erupting forth and shrouding the Nephilim in smoke as a roar of pain emerged into the sky. 'Did that get it?' she thought, eyes narrowed as she glared at the smoke obscuring the monstrosity's visage, before a giant fist pierced through the smoke, slamming into Chris and knocking the air out of her while sending her flying backwards, bouncing off the ground before tumbling to a stop near her injured girlfriend as the Ichaival wielder gasped for air.

"Damnit…it's too strong...and nothing we do seems to hurt it…" Tsubasa growled out, before summoning another barrage of energy blades. Acting quickly she attacked, mentally directing them to attack the Nephilim as it let out a roar, the energy blades raining where Chris' previous assault had impacted before slicing into the stone armor of the Nephilim, forcing the creature to step backwards. Continuing her attack, Tsubasa called forth another pair of giant blades, the enormous swords hovering above the Nephilim and threatening to slice into the beast. But before she could unleash them the creature attacked, its claws racing towards the former idol from her left, forcing her to leap away as the creature's attack passed by mere inches from her and causing her summoned weapons to disperse. Sliding to a stop in front of the recovering couple, Tsubasa counterattacked, her katana enlarging into a larger blade before she slashed upwards, an azure wave of light racing forwards and impacting the creature's arm, a loud growl of annoyance bursting from the creature's mouth before its arm seemed to twist and stretch out, reaching towards Tsubasa and forcing her to bring her sword up to defend herself, the blade sinking into the creature's rocky skin as she was pushed backwards before a roar of pain caused her to look up as the stress against her blade came to an end, a barrage of dagger-shaped weapons having impacted the creature's armor before exploding as a familiar voice filled the air.

"That was too close," Maria called out, her voice echoing throughout the darkening sky. Leaping up to join the party, she joined the trio, taking a position by the bluenette's side as she turned her head to look at the creature, eyes narrowing as any damage she may have done regenerated. Staring past the opponent in front of her at the steadily brightening aura around the central spire of Frontier, she spoke up once again, a sense of calm in her voice as her armed gear shifted into its whip sword state. "Another one of them…another Nephilim? And we're this close to stopping him, too…Hurry up..." Before Tsubasa could ask what she meant, another pair of voices joined the conversation as Shirabe and Kirika arrived, the younger duo rushing over to hug Maria and almost forcing her to drop her weapon as Hibiki and Chris finally climbed back to their feet, the Gungnir wielder cradling her ribs with one arm while being supported by her girlfriend, a roar from the monstrosity across from them returning their attention back to the enemy at hand. Stepping forwards as the creature began forming a massive orb of flames in its mouth, Maria spoke up once again, her voice filled with resolve.

"We've got to hurry. Mom's got it set up to where we can use Frontier's power to stop the moon, and Kazanari-taichou and Ogawa-san are going after Ver." As if to respond to her words, a beeping sound echoed through her headset, before Genjurou's voice came through, drawing her attention away from the central pillar.

"We're going to move after Ver. Nastassja-san says that everything is ready on her end, and that she's beginning soon. Girls, we need you to get past that thing and go after the main core of the Frontier once Nastassja is finished," he said, his voice coming through, but with static filling the signal. Nodding briefly, Tsubasa replied, her voice serious as she looked at the other wielders, determined looks on their faces as she turned to look back at the giant on the plateau, the orb of flame in its mouth growing steadily.

"Hai, Taichou. We'll get past this…thing as quickly as possible," the bluenette said, voice cold. After a moment of silence, Genjurou replied, the sound of his and Ogawa's footsteps echoing through the audio feed.

"We've launched the container," the commander stated, causing Tsubasa and Chris' eyes to widen slightly. "It should be arriving momentarily, but until it does, do what you can to that monster. We're going on radio silence now. Good luck." At this, the radio feed went silent, before the creature let out a roar, the orb of flame it had been building finally having finished forming, before it leaned its head forwards and sent the sphere rocketing towards the group, the blaze smashing through the floating rocks in between itself and its targets. But before it could reach the group, a ruby barrier appeared in its path once again, straining against the flames and struggling to hold the sphere back as it seemed to degenerate into a widening blaze.

'Again…Asgard…where is it coming from?' Chris thought, eyes narrowing and her body tensing up, even as the barrier started to show cracks. Beside her, having noticed Chris' tense expression, Hibiki frowned, her eyes staring towards the clearly cracking Asgard barrier and towards the structure behind it, the structure glowing brighter and brighter with each passing second before the sound of the barrier in front of them cracking caused her to return her attention to the situation at hand as it finally gave out, taking the onrushing firestorm along with it in an explosion that filled the sky and concealed the Nephilim from view. Lowering her arms from where she had raised them to shield herself from the explosion, Hibiki stared at the smoke cloud, the shadow of the Nephilim appearing within as it began to disperse, revealing the creature preparing another attack, flames building rapidly in front of its maw and forming a second sphere of fire larger than the first, before it roared once more, the blaze rushing forwards at a faster rate than its predecessor with a lengthy stream of flames behind it linking it to the creature's mouth.

'They're too tired right now…we all are…' Hibiki thought, looking around the group. Noticing the two younger wielders panting from exertion and having fallen to their knees nearby, she returned her focus to the onrushing attack, mind racing to come up with an answer. 'Shirabe and Kirika…you two were the source of that barrier, weren't you? It has to take a lot out of you…not to mention what the rest of us have done in this fight…' Looking at her girlfriend's tense face before looking back at the Nephilim once again, she made a decision, combining her gauntlets together before stepping forwards.

"Hibiki? What are you doing?" Chris cried out, drawing everyone's attention to the Gungnir wielder as she stepped forwards, the claws on her combined gauntlet folded backwards. Before her girlfriend could reply however, the sound of a rocket engine filled the sky, steadily growing louder as a large metal object entered the airspace, streaking into the path of the flames before erupting into a small explosion, a fine mist filling the air between the Symphogear wielders and the attacking Nephilim and causing a familiar song to fill the group's headsets. Eyes locked onto the approaching fireball, Hibiki began to reply, her voice clearly pained due to the injuries suffered previously.

"Gomen, Chris…but, I don't think we have any other choice except for me to use that right now." At this, she leapt into the air before Chris could protest, the boosters on the back of her skirt armor coming to life as she raced towards the onrushing fireball, her arm cocked back and ready to unleash her attack. 'There's no other option. Shirabe and Kirika have to have been the ones using Asgard, but they're too tired to do so this quickly again…I have to do it again…despite what it did last time I used it alone. S2CA…' she thought, closing in quickly on the approaching blaze and coming to a rest on a small island in the path of the attack, the heat from the approaching attack causing fresh beads of sweat to run down her face. 'I'll have to use whatever that container had in it…or at least a part of it…' she thought, the stress she knew was to come causing her injured body to cry out in pain. Taking a moment to gather herself, she moved, springing back towards the fireball as her armor opened, an orange aura appearing around her as she approached.

"S2CA! Unleash the phonic gain!" Hibiki called, her fist darting forwards and meeting the sphere of flames head on as a wave of prismatic energy burst from her gauntlet and struggled to push the Nephilim's assault backwards, the energy unleashed trying to wrap around the blazing sphere and make its way towards the Nephilim, the stream of fire straining against it and trying to force its way through, its power causing Hibiki to be pushed backwards, her boots digging into the floating island as she struggled against the power of the creature's attack.

"She's getting pushed back…" Chris whispered, her voice quiet but drawing Tsubasa's attention. "That idiot! She's using S2CA on her own again, and we're just letting her?" Turning to the older girl, she continued, a worried, yet determined look in her eyes. "She's not using a zesshou to power it! We've told her so many times to not do anything stupid or to not put it all on herself, and we're just standing here as she does just that?" Looking back at where her girlfriend continued her counterattack, the prismatic wave of energy that was a characteristic of the S2CA attack struggling to contain the onrushing flames, Chris continued, her voice tense. "Screw that…I'm not going to let her do this alone!"

"Chris…" Tsubasa whispered out, a small smile coming onto her face as she spoke. Nodding before stepping forwards to join the Ichaival wielder, she spoke once again, drawing an additional katana from her Symphogear armor as she did so. "Let's go then. That girlfriend of yours needs help, and even if we just provide a little bit of it, it's better than nothing." At this, Chris smiled slightly, nodding before the duo leapt forwards, Maria, Shirabe, and Kirika following close behind as they raced towards the stream of flames as it continued to struggle against the prismatic energy of the S2CA.

'Gotta find a way…' Hibiki thought, her eyes narrowed in focus as she continued to struggle against the onrushing flames. Glancing towards the main structure of Frontier as the light around it grew brighter, a sphere of light forming at the very top of the structure, she quickly returned her focus to the matter at hand, the S2CA pushing harder against the flames and bringing them to a standstill, despite her knees threatening to buckle from the strain of the day's events. Vision blurring once again, she felt herself get pushed back further, before the sound of explosions from nearby and a pained howl from the Nephilim gave her a window. 'What was that…?' she thought, eyes widening slightly, before she shook her head, the S2CA's vortex starting to creep forwards towards the giant, wrapping around the stream of flames and gaining momentum as another set of explosions rang out, numerous flashes of azure light slamming into the creature's face, leaving a visible cut in the side of its face that seemed to bleed lava.

'Almost there…' she thought, the S2CA creeping further forwards and gaining speed, the vortex expanding as it came closer to the Nephilim before another group of explosions filled the thinning air, slamming into the creature's face once again and chipping away at its armor even further, drawing an angry roar in the process. Taking advantage of the opening created, the S2CA attack surged further forwards, closing the distance before it overwhelmed the creature's attack, the rainbow vortex of light slamming into the Nephilim, slicing through its side and causing it to roar out in pain as the sound of multiple people landing nearby drew Hibiki's attention before a familiar voice spoke up, her voice causing the Gungnir wielder to smile softly despite the exhaustion she was feeling as the creature prepared to attack again, crimson energy pooling around its fists and eyes.

"Hibiki," Chris spoke, voice equal parts worried and relieved. Wrapping one arm around her girlfriend's tired shoulders and helping to hold her upright along with the silent Tsubasa, she continued to speak, her eyes locked straight onto the Nephilim as it charged its attack. "Stop pushing yourself so hard. Let us handle some of the burden too, will you?" At her girlfriend's silence, she prepared to continue, before Maria spoke up, beating her to it as she joined the duo, Kirika and Shirabe behind her.

"All we have out here are each other. Hibiki, we all can protect you in the same way that you want to protect us." At this, Airgetlam's wielder smiled, looking directly at Tsubasa as she spoke. "We all have people we want to protect. But none of it will matter if we don't put this thing down here and now." Turning to look at the younger duo, she nodded, hoping to draw them both into the conversation. "None of our regular attacks are working, and that attack Hibi-san used wasn't enough…Looks like we have to try Zesshou. It might be the only option left."

"Maybe," Tsubasa began, her eyes locked onto the Nephilim as she spoke. "But while we don't know if it would do anything positive, we at least have to try." Turning to where Hibiki was standing, she continued, her voice serious. "Let's do it. Hibiki, do you think you can handle using Zesshou?"

"Yeah," the Gungnir wielder replied, her answer drawing a concerned look from her girlfriend. Turning to look at her, a small smile on her face, she continued to speak, her voice quiet. "It's like you said: I shouldn't handle all of the burden on my own, right? But I can't…no, I won't let you all handle it all either. I'll be fine, Chris…" Her voice trailing off, she hugged her girlfriend lightly before turning to the older girl and nodding as the hum of the energy gathered by the Nephilim grew steadily louder. Moving quickly to gather around the Gungnir wielder in a circle, all six Symphogear wielders began to sing, the mist from the container surrounding the island they stood on.

-Gatrandis Babel ziggurat Edenal.

Emustolronzen Finé el Balal zizzl.

Gatrandis Babel ziggurat Edenal.

Emustolronzen Finé el zizzl…-

As the last words of their song echoed throughout the area, a brilliant sphere of light erupted forth, surrounding the Symphogear wielders and shrouding them from view, the Nephilim's angered roar filling the air. As the shining light continued to expand, surrounding not just the Symphogear wielders but also the island they stood upon while stretching towards the stars, the creature attacked, the crimson energy it had gathered lancing forwards and impacting the pillar of light, forcing lightning to crackle all throughout the pillar as the wall of light seemed to shrink, before the light expanded once again, exploding out and cancelling out the crimson energy released by the Nephilim as it faded, revealing the group floating in the air, their Symphogear having all taken on new forms. Opening her eyes, the orange aura flowing around her from her X-Drive, Hibiki prepared to speak, a quartet of orange energy wings spread behind her as she slid into a stance, her eyes locked onto the form of the creature in front of her as the other Symphogear wielders floated around her, their own X-Drives fully active.

"Let's go. And this time, we'll bring this guy down."

-SotHR-

"The phonic gain has reached the needed levels," Nastassja whispered, her voice barely audible over the sound of the room around her. Coughing into her hand before pulling it away from her mouth, a small glob of blood showing in the palm of her hand, she turned her focus to the display in front of her, the display showing the charge of Frontier's spire alongside video of the events occurring outside. Smiling softly at the sight of Maria, Shirabe, and Kirika alongside Hibiki, Chris, and Tsubasa, Nastassja spoke up once again as her hands raced over the digital keys projected in front of her from her chair.

"Maria, Shirabe, Kirika…the three of you have grown so much. I just hope that with the action I'm about to take, the three of you can have that world that you've been fighting for along with Yukine-san and Hibiki." Inputting the last few keystrokes she would need, Nastassja finalized the sequence, before backing away from the console and letting out another cough, additional blood spilling out onto the stone tile in front of the console as the room glowed a brilliant gold. "My hope is that with the phonic gain gathered from around the world, you'll be able to have the type of world that we had been hoping for, the one in which you can become who you want to be." Turning away from the console as the countdown hit zero, she proceeded to direct her motorized chair out of the room and towards the exit of the main structure, her mind set on what she knew was to come. 'It's time for these blood-soaked hands to try to pay the penalty for what they've helped cause…'

-SotHR-

"What's the plan?" Tsubasa asked, drawing Hibiki's attention to her as she floated downwards, the azure wings of her X-Drive glowing brightly as a pair of massive curved sword blades unfolded from her ankle armor. Drawing an additional katana from her powered up Symphogear's storage as well, she waited for a response, her eyes remained locked onto the creature standing between them and the brightly glowing tower. Besides Hibiki yet opposite of Tsubasa, Chris floated downwards, the glowing red energy wings of her own X-Drive standing in sharp contrast to the almost pitch black skies surrounding them as she looked towards the creature opposing them. Taking a moment to consider her response while fighting to ignore the ache of her injuries, Hibiki replied, her voice serious even as the creature prepared another attack, more crimson energy pooling around its fists as it let out a roar.

"We break through it. We don't have time to try to wear it down, so we have to be more direct about it. With the power of the X-Drive, it should be relatively easy," she replied, eyes never leaving the giant opponent they had been up against. Turning to look at the former idol, she smiled slightly, before speaking once again. "The X-Drive isn't something we would have been able to reach on our own, at least I don't think. We can't waste this opportunity." Turning back towards the monster they were facing off against, she threw herself sideways as the creature let out another roar, the crimson energy it had been building racing towards the Symphogear wielders and forcing them to evade the attack as the energy sped by them, exploding in the sky behind them and shrouding them in the shadows from the explosion. Rising back up in the sky, she nodded, her eyes locked towards where Maria, Shirabe, and Kirika regrouped as the creature let out another assault, a jet of flame streaking out and forcing them to dodge its attack, the heat scorching their X-Drive armor slightly as they attempted to regroup with the others.

"We said that we aren't going to let you handle it all yourself, Hibi-san," Maria said, a pair of pure white energy wings floating behind her as she was able to join the Gungnir wielder, Shirabe and Kirika coming behind her as they slowly got used to their upgraded Symphogear armor as the creature stopped its attack. Drawing her armed gear from its storage in the gauntlet on her left arm, she continued to speak, eyes locking onto the creature as it prepared another fireball in its mouth. "Let's do it then…for Serena's memory, for mom, for Miku-san, and for everyone else on this planet." Drawing a nod from the other Symphogear wielders, she raced forwards alongside Hibiki and Tsubasa, the individual colors of their auras streaking towards the creature side by side at it let out a roar, a fresh blast of flame coming from its mouth and heading directly towards them forcing them to scatter apart. Taking advantage of the opportunity Chris moved to follow in, Kirika and Shirabe following at a slower pace as they fought to adapt to the use of the X-Drive. Quickly meeting up with the others, they dove towards the creature as a group while the Nephilim prepared another attack, an additional burst of flame racing towards the Symphogear wielders and forcing them to evade, the trails of their auras scattering in different directions as they dodged, allowing the flames to pass between them only for an explosion to erupt from below, the heat from the creature's flames having ignited any water vapor that remained in the air, the ground below crumbling under the force of the explosion.

'We have to hurry and get by…that thing needs to get out of our way…' Hibiki thought, eyes narrowed in determination as the Symphogear wielders regrouped. Looking over at Frontier's main structure briefly and noticing the orb of light crackling, she nodded at the others before diving back towards the monster in front of them and summoning her X-Drive's spear, the other Symphogear wielders joining her before picking up speed. At this, the auras of light surrounding them glowed brighter and brighter before they seemed to blend together, a prismatic whirlwind of light surrounding them as they approached the Nephilim, the auras of the other wielders surging into Hibiki's spear as the whirlwind grew stronger. Bringing an arm up to defend itself, the creature let out a roar as the whirlwind slammed into and through it, piercing through the beast and engulfing it in an enormous cyclone of light as the energy gathered atop of Frontier's main structure burst upwards towards the stars above, the cyclone expanding rapidly and intersecting with the burst of phonic gain from Frontier as they streaked upwards, the terrain around the Nephilim crumbling and evaporating from the power unleashed on impact. Soon the Nephilim's roars faded, the creature's body being torn asunder by the power contained within the cyclone before it dissolved, brutal gusts of heated wind rushing towards the Symphogear wielders in its wake as they hovered above the battered terrain, the light of Frontier's main structure having faded away, the phonic gain it had held having been directed towards its purpose.

Frontier, Inside Main Structure, Central Power Chamber

"Damn you…DAMN YOU TO HELL!" Ver screamed out, collapsing to his knees in front of the main power core of Frontier. Behind him, the Nephilim's Heart pulsated, the crimson light within pulsing slowly, as if to rest itself as the scientist let out his frustration. "Damn you, Nastassja. You used MY Frontier to try to return the moon to its rightful place, and to do so from under my nose…you bitch…" Taking a moment to look back at the appearance of the six Symphogear wielders outside, he continued, his anger only growing in intensity. "And you…Tachibana, you bitch…you and your friends…DAMN YOU FOR DESTROYING MY NEPHILIM!" He yelled out, his anger boiling over cleanly. Responding to his rage, the relic mounted on the power core behind him began to react, glowing a darker red while flashing faster and faster. But before Ver could rant any further another voice cut in, the sound of multiple footsteps echoing throughout the room alerting him to Genjurou's presence as he spoke up, Ogawa right behind.

"Too bad, Doctor Ver. It looks as though this world just doesn't want to be controlled by one person." Strolling closer to where the doctor kneeled, Ogawa just behind him, he continued to speak, his voice turning completely serious. "It's over, Ver. You're coming with us. We're putting you under arrest for attempted genocide. I'd suggest that you come with us quietly." At this, Ver's eyes narrowed in anger. Staring back at the commander of the second division, a defiant look on his face, Ver attempted to stand up, his mutated arm reaching out towards the stone pedestal beside him. Reacting quickly, Ogawa drew his sidearm and twisted his wrist, opening fire as he did so and causing his gunshot to bend in midair before impacting in Ver's shadow, causing the doctor to freeze in place. Letting out a small sigh of relief as the technique seemed to hold, Ogawa spoke up, his eyes narrowed at Ver and the pulsating relic mounted on the crystal behind him.

"Your ambitions and goal ends here, Ver. You won't be destroying the world or reaching your goals. Not anymore," He said, closing in towards where Ver stood, frozen in place yet struggling as he attempted to free himself. Growling in frustration, Ver spoke up once again, anger and rage within his voice.

"No…it's not over," he growled out, his body shaking with exertion. "I won't be denied…my goals are this close…I won't be denied here, not by you or anyone else!" Letting out a scream as his mutated arm seemed to burst open, mutated blood squirting out like a small geyser, he tried to will himself forwards with little success, the mutated limb tearing itself open even further and allowing his blood to come pouring free onto the ground, staining the stone where his shadow rested. Raising his weapon in response, Ogawa opened fire, his bullet tearing into the right side of Ver's chest and forcing him to gasp out in agony as he fell forwards, the mangled mess of alien flesh that used to be his arm reaching the pedestal in front of him and pressing against it, causing it to glow a bright orange that quickly turned the color of blood. Behind him, the Nephilim's heart mounted on the crystal glowed brightly and forced both Genjurou and Ogawa to cover their eyes from its glow as Ver let out a victorious laugh, blood beginning to stream down his face from his eyes and through his skin. "I won't be denied…if I can't have the world at my fingertips and force it to dance at my feet, then this world can go burn to ashes!" As if to respond to his words, Genjurou and Ogawa aimed their handguns at the doctor, before he continued speaking, the temperature rising within the chamber as he spoke. "I'd be careful if I were you, but it doesn't matter. No one will survive the Nephilim's wrath, not at this point."

"You won't survive either if that happens, Ver," Genjurou replied, stepping forwards slightly, a neutral look on his face. Besides him, Ogawa nodded warily, his handgun never wavering as he aimed it towards the scientist. Taking note of the looks on the duo's faces, Ver replied, light glimmering dangerously off of his glasses as the pain from the gunshot wound and from what remained of his mutated arm seemed to catch up to him.

"At this point it's simple," he gasped out, voice weak while ignoring Genjurou's words as he slowly turned his bleeding body back towards the main crystal, the Nephilim's Heart leaking crimson energy that slowly corrupted the golden glow from the crystal in the center of the room. "Just now, I released the restraints on the Nephilim's Heart. With those out of the way, the Nephilim will rage unchecked throughout Frontier, consuming it and using it to fuel its own rampage. There's no turning back now. The apocalyptic fury of the Nephilim will be unleashed, as over one trillion joules of energy burn the planet to ashes! It doesn't matter if you take me in anymore! The Nephilim will destroy this planet and everyone on it!" At this, Ver broke out into pained laughter despite his gunshot wound, his eyes wide and sole remaining healthy arm outstretched towards the darkening light emanating from the giant crystal in the center of the room. Suddenly, the sound of stone shattering caused Ver to pause in his laughter. Turning around slowly, he noticed Genjurou standing up, slightly shaking his fist so as to clear off the dust from it as the control pedestal lay in ruins on the stone floor, chunks of stone scattered in the immediate vicinity as he turned to address Ver directly.

"You're coming with us, Ver. And while you do so, you're going to tell us how to stop that thing from going nuclear," Genjurou said, eyes narrowed in disgust at the Doctor. Reaching out and grabbing the doctor by the collar of his jacket and hauling him off the ground as Ogawa approached with a pair of handcuffs in hand, he continued to speak, his eyes cold towards the doctor. "You're not going to get your way. One way or another, we WILL stop this thing. It's just a question of if you cooperate and tell us what we need to know or if you don't and we stop it anyways." Nodding at Ogawa as he grabbed Ver, pinning the doctor's one remaining good arm into an unusable position, he raised his hand to his earpiece and pressed the button to send transmission outbound, mere seconds passing as Aoi's voice came on the line. "Aoi, I need you to have as many people moved to central area of the ship as possible, and I also need you to get me in touch with the girls. I need this done ASAP, and I'll give a briefing when Ogawa and I get back to the ship."

"Hai, taichou," the bridge bunny replied, the sounds of her fingers running over the keys the only sound heard over her end of the line. "Is there anything you want me to say before I patch you through?"

"No, but the situation's changed, and not for the better. We're out of time…we have to put everything in their hands now."

-SotHR-

"Hai, taichou. We'll move to neutralize the target before it reaches its critical point," Tsubasa said, eyes narrowed on the sight of the structure in front of them as small violet bolts of lightning crackled around it, seemingly growing in intensity with each passing second before Genjurou spoke once again, his voice coming through to the other Symphogear wielders as well.

"All of you be careful. The Nephilim's Heart is dangerous as it is now, and I'm not sure that we can trust a word to come out of Ver's mouth." A moment later, as some background chatter occurred, Genjurou continued to speak, the sound of three sets of footsteps echoing through the headsets of the Symphogear wielders. "Neutralize it and come back alive, all of you. Good luck," he said, before the feed went dead. Turning to look at the other Symphogear wielders, she prepared to speak up, the brilliant white coloring of their X-Drives clashing against the darkening skies around Frontier as it rose higher and higher into the sky, the bolts of lightning crackling with greater ferocity and frequency. Besides her, Hibiki was silent, her posture giving away how tired she was as she kept her eyes locked onto the structure in front of the group, her girlfriend right next to her as they floated in the skies over Frontier as small islands began falling towards the floating continent beneath them.

"Hibiki, how are you feeling? Are you sure that you can keep going?" Tsubasa asked, taking note of the younger girl's slumped posture, causing Chris to look at her girlfriend with worry from beside her. Taking a moment to consider her answer, Hibiki replied, her eyes still not leaving the structure in front of them as the lightning crackling around it grew steadily more violent across its surface.

"Yeah…I'm fine, Tsubasa. Just a bit tired, that's all," she said, subconsciously cradling her injured ribs with her right arm. Noticing her girlfriend's expression, she smiled in an attempt to reassure her before Chris spoke up, concern written all over her face.

"Hibiki, don't push yourself any harder, will you?" she said, eyes staring at the Gungnir wielder's own, floating closer before she continued. "I don't want you to get hurt any worse than you already are, so please, PLEASE be careful, will you? I just…it hurts to see you injured like this…" Voice trailing off, she took a moment to gather herself, looking away and towards the structure, violet lightning racing up and down its surface. "I know you already promised, but please, don't do anything risky, okay?" At this, the Gungnir wielder nodded, pulling her girlfriend close to her in a loose hug as Maria, Shirabe, and Kirika floated over to them with concerned looks on their faces before Airgetlam's wielder spoke up, drawing attention to herself and back to the moment at hand.

"What's our plan, Tsubasa? The commander said it…our mission is to contain the Nephilim's Heart. How do you want to go about it?" Maria asked, a frown written on her face as she looked over at the structure at the center of Frontier, the air around it crackling more and more violently, lightning becoming more and more frequent by the second as an ominous feeling began to fill the air. As Tsubasa pondered the question, Shirabe spoke up, drawing the others' attention to her.

"I'm worried about mom…Maria said that she had a plan to use Frontier against Ver and to stop Frontier from falling and that Maria's song was a key part of it, but I would think she would have tried to contact us…" she trailed off, staring towards the main structure of Frontier. Besides her, Kirika frowned slightly, before grabbing the Shul Shagana wielder's hand and giving it a reassuring squeeze before speaking.

"I'm sure she's fine, Shirabe. Mom's gotta be okay, right? And even if she is in trouble, we can save her, right? So don't worry about her, okay?" Kirika said, smiling softly to try to reassure the shorter girl slightly, and having a positive effect. As this went on however, something that Shirabe had said found itself on Hibiki's mind, her thoughts running wild as she hugged Chris closely. 'Nastassja had a plan…was that what that light from Frontier was earlier?' she thought, the smile on her face growing slightly. At this, Tsubasa finally spoke, her eyes locked onto the structure as the biggest lightning bolts yet struck the main structure of Frontier, the islands floating closest to it dropping towards the surface of Frontier as small fires began to burn around the structure.

"Get ready for battle, and get a few minutes of rest while we can…this isn't going to be easy."

-SotHR-

"Do we have any updates on the progress of the Phonic Gain towards the lunar ruins?" Genjurou asked, his voice barely audible over the sound of the truck he sat in as it raced back towards the temporary headquarters of the 2nd Division. "Your plan IS working, right?" Besides him, Nastassja nodded, pulling up a small display on her motorized chair which displayed the status screen. Taking a moment to look at the numbers displayed despite the shaking of the truck she sat in, Nastassja replied, a glare focused on the Doctor seated across form her as she spoke.

"It looks like it should be…the phonic gain that was sent should be enough, but it just hasn't reached it yet," she said, eyes locked onto the display in front of her. Turning her head to look at Genjurou directly, she continued, a small bit of relief entering her voice. "It should reach it soon enough, it's just a matter of time." At this, Genjurou nodded before Ver spoke up, his voice hoarse as he sat in his seat, ropes pinning his good arm and the mangled remains of his mutated arm to his side, the rocky terrain of Frontier beneath them bouncing the vehicle up and down with greater intensity while a floating mini-island crashed into the ground behind them, crumbling apart on impact.

"I don't know why you're so happy about the world being potentially saved, or even why the hell you've taken me into custody when you could have just killed me and ended it," Ver said, indignation clear in his voice. Turning to stare at the commander of the 2nd division, he continued, voice rising in pitch as he spoke. "It would have been so much easier for you to just leave me back there and let the flames of the Nephilim consume me. Once it's unleashed, it doesn't matter what happens. The world WILL burn to ashes at the hands of the Nephilim. Are you really that confident in those little brats of yours?" At this, Genjurou didn't reply, his eyes focused instead on the skies around them, scanning for any falling debris before he stood from his seat, eyes locked onto a falling chunk of rock that was descending from above. Seconds later, he moved, his fists meeting the descending stone and shattering it into tiny fragments, multiple punches obliterating chunks of rock in a matter of moments. Finishing his task, the commander of the 2nd Division turned, eyes locked onto the doctor before he gave his reply.

"Yes, I believe in them," Genjurou began, his voice calm despite the danger they had just been in. "I believe that they'll put a stop to your plan. And as a result, you WILL face justice, just like every other human on the planet. You're not going to get off so easily as to be allowed to die. You're not going to be the villain who destroyed the world or the hero who sacrificed himself, no matter how much you wish otherwise." At that, he returned his focus to the rocky landscape in front of the truck, the 2nd Division's submarine growing larger and larger as they approached the ship, the ruins behind them slowly erupting in miniature explosions…

-SotHR-

Lightning crackled around the central structure of Frontier, the electricity striking the ground around it as explosions erupted from the structure, consuming the tower in flames as a haunting roar began to fill the air, drawing the Symphogear wielders' attention towards the central structure. Drawing an additional katana blade from her X Drive armor, Tsubasa took guard, the other wielders joining her before the central structure was consumed in a massive fireball, the force of the explosion pushing them further away from the center of the floating continent as the dome of flames expanded outwards, coming to a halt at the edge of the central valley as another, more angered, roar filled the skies, a crimson glow in the center of the sphere of destruction as it continued to chew up Frontier's terrain, expanding rapidly before stopping as it reached the edge of the central valley while tossing chunks of stone and terrain into the air, pelting the Symphogear wielders and knocking them backwards further. Before they could recover, another monstrous roar echoed throughout the area as a crimson heart-like object appeared from the flames, new tendrils of flame attaching it to the ground beneath it as an additional monstrous roar was let loose. Turning to look towards the crimson object at the center of the newly-formed crater, Maria spoke, her voice quiet as she stared at the object as it began to grow and change shape, the terrain beneath it evaporating in the process as it was absorbed into the sphere at the center.

"Is that thing…regenerating?" she whispered, her voice quiet as she shielded herself from additional stone fragments, the creature's roar loosening additional stone from the plateaus around where the structure used to be, sending it at the Symphogear wielders while also continuing to absorb more and more of the terrain, the stone it absorbed burning to ash as it came close to the crimson oddity as it began to take shape, growing and twisting itself as it slowly but surely changed into a more humanoid form. 'Damnit…it's so hot, I can feel the heat radiating off of it from here…' Maria thought, eyes not leaving the sight of the monstrosity growing in front of her as she continued to shield herself from debris as the beast let out another roar, the force from its roar pushing the wielders further away as the island continued to evaporate into its being. 'We have to hurry…mom, I hope you're safe…' she thought, as the creature continued to grow, its roars growing in volume and strength as the floating continent continued to evaporate…

-SotHR-

"Give me a status report. I want to know what's going on out there!" Genjurou yelled as he entered the packed bridge with Nastassja and Ogawa following closely behind him, having made his way through the crowded hallways of the sub as quickly as they could upon arrival. Walking closer to the command chair, he continued to speak, voice barely audible over the sound of his shoes impacting the metal deck as the sound of the older woman's motorized chair was drowned out by the blaring siren of the alarms throughout the bridge as well as the nervous chatter of the tired and stressed crew who had manned the submarine. "Tomosato, what's our status?" Nodding as she entered in a series of commands into the keyboard at her station, Aoi replied, not even bothering to look up from her station as an alert popped up in front of her.

"I'm a bit busy. Brace yourself," she began, her fingers entering the final keystrokes to perform the task at hand. Hitting enter once again, the sound of missiles launching from the outside of the ship echoed through the hallway before they pierced the ground surrounding the ship and detonated, the sound of their explosions muffled by the cliffside before the entire ship began to shake, the plateau that they sat upon giving way and causing the ship to plummet downwards and away from Frontier as the remains of the area they had sat upon began to be consumed by the Nephilim's flames, the burning landscape being drawn inwards towards the rapidly growing sphere at the center of what used to be Frontier. Moments later the sound of booster engines firing was heard as the central part of the ship detached itself from the rest of the submarine, the smaller portion slowing its own descent while the rest of the vessel smashed into the sea below, shattering into scrap metal on impact as a geyser of water erupted upwards around it. 'Too close…' Genjurou thought, his eyes locked onto the main monitor as the crimson sphere that was the Nephilim's Heart continued to expand, with Aoi's voice shaking him from his thoughts.

"Water surface impact in forty-five seconds, taichou," she said, eyes not leaving the monitor in front of her. Quickly entering another sequence of commands into the console, a sudden jolt was felt as the sound of something deploying was heard. "Safety parachutes deployed successfully. Water impact in Ninety seconds."

"Good," Genjurou replied, one arm bracing against the command chair as he turned to look at Nastassja, eyes focused on the older woman as she continued to look at a monitor that was on display from her motorized chair. "What's the status of your idea to return the moon to orbit, Nastassja-san? Is everything ready on your end?"

"Yes, but the pod to perform the phonic projection isn't quite in range as of yet," Nastassja replied, eyes never leaving the screen being projected by her chair. Typing in a few quick commands into her keypad, she continued, eyes looking up towards the main monitor in the control room, the burning landmass that was what's left of Frontier displayed prominently on screen. "It shouldn't be too much longer. Once it does, I have it set to be able to use the Phonic projection at a moment's notice, even from here."

"Good to hear," Genjurou replied, nodding his head before turning back towards Aoi, his voice still in full command mode. "Tomosato, is everyone aboard, including those in medical? Do we have any casualties?" At this, she went silent, her fingers typing rapidly as she worked to pull up any casualty reports. Taking a moment to look over the reports on screen, she replied, voice having taken a solemn turn.

"Hai, taichou," the blue-haired bridge bunny replied, turning away from the command console to reply. "All personnel are aboard who have volunteered to do so. Miku-san and the others in medical have been moved to a secure and stable location as of a few minutes ago."

"Who volunteered to do so? What aren't you telling me, Tomosato?"

"Sir, there was additional damage to the ship that we didn't notice on initial checks," Aoi explained, pulling a diagram of the ship up on her monitor. "We knew that the rudder itself was torn clean off of the sub, but while you were out we found out that the missile launchers were damaged as well. The engineers went to repair them, and when I gave the initial order to gather in the section of the ship which would be ejected, they said that they would stay behind to ensure that the missiles would be able to launch."

"Damnit," Genjurou replied, eyes shutting briefly as he processed the news. Taking a moment to gather his thoughts, he looked back at the monitor before continuing. "Were there any other casualties?"

"No, sir," Aoi replied, her focus returning to the monitor. Nodding at the news, Genjurou prepared to speak, before she continued, her eyes locked onto the display in front of her as the floating continent continued dissolving away. "Do you want me to put you in contact with Hibiki, Tsubasa, and the others?"

"Do it," Genjurou replied, his eyes shifting their attention from her station and towards the main monitor, the crimson sphere on display continuing to absorb the floating continent into its being and preparing to expand. 'The Nephilim's Heart, if it's able to absorb energy and regenerate itself at this rate… It must have an enormous amount already gathered.' Looking around the room at the weary and tense faces of the crew before settling his eyes on the display in front of him, his thoughts turned to the Symphogear wielders as they floated a safe distance away from where the Nephilim continued to consume the continent, having almost completely devoured the island. 'They need to be able to fight without hesitation. In this fight, they can't afford to hold anything back. We've lost good people to give us this chance. I refuse to lose any more people on this mission.' Looking over towards Aoi and nodding as she indicated that he was patched through to the girls, he began to speak once again.

"Girls, I want you to bring that thing down. If the Nephilim's Heart reaches critical mass, it will wipe out all life on the planet. Use any and all means necessary to stop it, but come back alive. This is one of the most dangerous situations you've had to deal with and I know that it's been a long day, but we all have faith in you. Good luck, and come back safely, all of you."

-SotHR-

"Damnit…what's it doing? Is it really just regenerating?" Tsubasa asked, her eyes narrowed in focus as she stared at what was left of Frontier as it began to pulsate all at once, the beating of what remained continuing as it burned in hellfire. Besides her, Hibiki nodded, eyes narrowed as she stared towards the sphere as it convulsed, a monstrous roar coming from it as it transformed, expanding to an absolutely enormous size before continuing to shift, another monstrous and angered roar erupting from the shell of flames surrounding the last remains of Frontier.

"What the hell do we have to do to get rid of that thing?" Chris asked, voice tense as she shielded her eyes from the heat emanating from the sphere. Before anyone could answer, a ring of flames lanced out towards the group, forcing them to scatter to dodge it, the heat of the flames singeing their X-Drives as they avoided them by a matter of inches. Returning her attention to the crowing orb, Chris couldn't help but stare as it changed shape, limbs appearing from within as it unfurled itself, finally letting out a mighty roar as the Nephilim floated once more in front of them, its body a living embodiment of fire and burning wings hovering behind it towards the planet below.

"That thing's huge, but we can't let that stop us. If we do, then all of this would be for nothing," Kirika said, her eyes narrowed as she floated nearby, Shirabe next to her. Looking at the shorter girl and nodding, they dove towards where the creature waited, its enormous arms outstretched as it let out a ghastly roar, crimson lasers firing out as they approached and forcing them to evade, the younger duo rolling away from the beams, albeit clumsily as they did so, the singe marks on their armor being the only evidence of any damage. Continuing their dive towards the blazing creature, Shirabe acted, the larger parts of her X-Drive's armor emitting a whirring sound as they opened to reveal a number of pink discs. Narrowing her eyes in focus as the creature let out a roar, Shirabe opened fire, a massive number of the bladed discs contained in her armor soaring towards the creature as it let out another roar, tendrils of flame lashing out towards the onrushing attack and slicing through it, causing a majority of the discs to explode harmlessly while the remaining discs crashed into the creature without much of an effect, the discs exploding against the living lava that comprised the monstrosity as it let out an otherworldly scream. Responding to the attack, the creature moved, its arm shrouded in flames as it reached out towards Shirabe, claws made of living lava and flames extending out towards the girl faster than should be possible for a being of its size. Eyes widening at this, Shirabe moved, throwing herself into a vertical ascent while her X-Drive reloaded, another barrage of discs lancing out from her armor and exploding harmlessly against the lava skin of the Nephilim in front of her, the claws passing close enough to singe even the X-Drive's armor.

Taking advantage of the opportunity presented, Kirika rushed forwards before swinging her scythe, an emerald wave of light streaking forwards towards the creature only to explode against its lava-like skin harmlessly. 'Damn… What is that thing made of?' she thought as she ducked under the creature's counterattack, a whip of hellfire passing over her as she rolled out of the way and scorching the back of her X-drive's armor, causing her to wince slightly from the heat. Spinning away to dodge another burse of flame, she regrouped next to Shirabe, eyes locked onto the creature in front of them as it moved to attack, lashes of flame streaking towards the duo in an arc and forcing them to evade, the trails of light showing their locations and trailing behind them as they dodged the creature's flames.

"Now's our chance! I'm going in," Maria said, eyes locked onto the creature in front of them. Drawing her armed gear from where it was stored and flipping it around before reinserting the dagger-like weapon into the gauntlet on her left arm before repeating the process with the gauntlet on her right arm, she dived downwards, the silver trail of light from her X-drive shining against the stars of space. Behind her, Hibiki nodded, tapping her arm lightly before a lance appeared around her right arm in a flash of light, a determined look on her face as she prepared to follow. Before she could however, Chris' voice got her attention, a worried look on her face.

"Hibiki, don't think you're going to do this on your own," she said, a sad smile on her face. Summoning her X-Drive's weaponry as it formed around her, she continued, grabbing the controls of her weapons array as she did so. "If you're going in, then I'm going to be right there with you." At this, Hibiki smiled and nodded, before the duo dived towards the creature, orange and red trails of light shining from their X-Drives as they proceeded towards the monstrosity, Chris' armaments opening up to reveal an array of cannons before she opened fire, scores of crimson blasts streaking towards the Nephilim before making impact against it, the blasts doing what seemed to be little damage against the lava-like skin of the beast itself. Wasting little time, Chris moved, her weapons returning to a closed state to recharge as Hibiki raced forwards and met up with Maria, spear and paired light blades extended before they headed towards the creature, weaving their way through the creature's flames as they lashed out towards them.

"This thing…it's crazy how strong it is. It's easily stronger than the last one we fought," Tsubasa growled out, as she floated over to join Chris, a pair of large blades extended from her boots beneath her. Taking note as the Nephilim let out an ethereal roar, she attacked, flipping forwards as her large blades released a massive pillar of azure light towards the creature, slicing through the lashes of flame that the Nephilim sent at Hibiki and Maria and giving them a window to attack. Taking advantage of the opening Airgetlam's wielder attacked, Maria's paired blades slicing against the creature's arm in a silvery flash of light and forcing it to emit an annoyed growl, chunks of its lava armor having been sliced apart. Quickly the Nephilim countered, a ball of flame forming in its mouth before it fired in response, the fireball forcing Maria to roll away to evade, allowing it to detonate harmlessly behind her as it passed by. "None of us can afford to attack on our own, but none of what we're doing seems to be effecting it. There has to be an option that we're not thinking of," the blue-haired wielder continued, eyes narrowed at the monstrosity in front of them as Hibiki made her move, darting towards the creature and striking it with her spear across its midsection, lava armor being blown away along her path before she pulled away, fresh lashes of flame following her and forcing her into a dizzying array of spins and flips to evade the assault as she tried to rejoin the duo.

"Yeah, but for now we have to keep hitting it with everything we've got," Chris replied, eyes narrowed in anger as she re-deployed her weaponry, the weapons glowing with a scarlet light as she took aim at the creature. Sliding to the side to avoid a lash of flame, she opened fire once again, the scarlet blasts streaking forth towards the creature and slamming into it once again, allowing her girlfriend and Maria to both make their way back up to join them, singe marks across their armor from having barely evaded the creature's assault.

"We have to keep trying," Maria whispered, her eyes locked onto the creature as it let out another roar, Shirabe and Kirika floating up to join the group once more. "This thing is too dangerous to leave alive out here." Before anyone could reply the Nephilim attacked, a ball of flames appearing in its maw before shooting forwards towards the group, the sphere itself growing in size as it approached and forcing the group to scatter to evade, Maria wincing in pain from the heat radiating through her armor before passing by, just to explode as it impacted a satellite, turning it into a floating field of molten scrap metal as it floated behind the gear wielders.

"Let's see how it likes this," Shirabe cried out before diving forwards alongside Kirika. Stopping briefly, the armor covering her twintails flew forwards, separating itself from her as the armor covering her forearms and lower legs continued the process, combining together and growing in size while slowly taking on a new shape, humanoid features forming as it took shape to reveal a humanoid robot, Shirabe landing on top of its head. Grabbing the controls, she pressed them forwards, a series of buzz saws emerging from the arms of the robot as she moved to attack the creature once again. "Beat this," she called out, pulling the triggers on the yolks she used to control the robot, its engines pushing her towards the beast as compartments opened up on the bot's arms and legs, a barrage of larger magenta discs flying forwards towards the creature, impacting against its armor and exploding, the lava-like armor flying out from the creature as it roared in annoyance.

"Sounds like ugly over there doesn't like that, Shirabe. Let's go for it," Kirika said, joining her friend as her shoulder armor seemed to spread out, forming a pair emerald bat wings made of light between the spikes of her armor. Spinning her scythe as she caught up, a pair of additional blades joining the original, the younger duo proceeded to close in as the Nephilim let out a roar, lava-colored lasers emerging from its claws and streaking towards them. Separating from each other to avoid the creature's assault and letting the lasers pass just between them, the heat from the lasers distorting the space around them as they went, Shirabe's mech's saws came to life, buzzing with an ethereal glow as they made their final approach, Shirabe's saws sweeping in from right to left and slicing through the beast's hide with ease and drawing an annoyed roar. At the same time, Kirika struck, her scythe cutting gashes through the monster's midsection vertically as she passed by, an emerald glow surrounding the attack. "Heh…looks like we can get this thing after all," Kirika called out, passing by the monstrosity as it let out a pained cry from their attacks.

"Don't get too cocky, Kirika," Shirabe warned, turning back towards the beast to make another pass, saws at the ready after having finished her initial assault. Before she could continue the Nephilim responded, an ethereal roar echoing into the sky as it attacked, fresh lashes of flame streaking towards the duo and catching them, the flames smashing into Kirika's X-Drive and sending her spinning forwards, the armor of her X-Drive threatening to crumble as she let out a cry of agony while tendrils of emerald light seeped away from her and towards the Nephilim itself. "Kirika!" Shirabe screamed out, turning her mech to try to catch up to her friend as she tumbled away, the emerald trail of light from Kirika's X-Drive having been consumed by the Nephilim as it let loose an angered roar. Moving faster than Shirabe could keep up with the creature attacked once again, its wings unleashing a number of fireballs at the younger girl and forcing her on the defensive.

"Get out of the way!" Shirabe called out, weaving her machine around and through the hail of smaller fireballs streaking towards her with some success. Spinning her machine around the last of them, Shirabe counterattacked, another barrage of magenta discs darting towards the creature and impacting its midsection, chunks of lava armor flying free as explosions erupted on impact. The Nephilim responded quickly however, another set of fireballs coming forth from its wings and streaking at the younger girl, pushing her back on the defensive as she threw her machine into an intricate series of rolls, the heat of the flames scorching her armor further as the heat caused her to grit her teeth in pain. This proved to be enough of a distraction however, as the Nephilim continued its assault, a fresh set of lashes of flame catching Shirabe's machine in its side, the mech's armor crumbling under the heat of the flames as the pink aura around her machine seemed to dim, a stream of light flowing back towards the Nephilim from Shirabe's body as the lash died out, causing her to scream out in pain.

"Shirabe! Kirika!" Maria cried out, eyes widened in horror as the Nephilim let out a fresh roar, the streams of light from the younger duo fading away into the beast. "What the hell just happened to them? Did that thing just try to consume the energy produced by their relics?" Besides her Tsubasa nodded, her eyes narrowed in focus as Hibiki and Chris floated down to join them. "So that thing doesn't just consume the relics themselves, but even the energy produced?" Besides her, Tsubasa spoke up, voice low as she pondered her next move.

"We can't keep wasting time against this thing. Remember, if it goes critical, it will literally wipe out the entire planet. We have to find a way to contain it and to get it away from here, if not outright destroy it," she said, eyes locked onto the creature in front of her. Eyes widening as an idea came to mind, Maria grabbed the Staff of Solomon from where it hung over her shoulder, the handheld relic's appearance causing Chris' eyes to widen in surprise. Before she could say anything however, Maria spoke up, conviction in her voice as Shirabe and Kirika floated up to rejoin them, their movements visibly slower than before.

"If we can seal this thing away on the other side of the Gate of Babylon, it'll stop it from destroying everything," she began, voice full of determination as she looked over at the creature, a fresh ball of flame building in its mouth. Before she could continue it fired, the sphere of flame racing towards the group and forcing them to scatter once again, Maria rolling vertically to avoid the attack before it exploded harmlessly behind them once again, shrouding them in a cloud of smoke. The Nephilim didn't let them try to press forwards however, as it reached out, strands of plasma-like flames streaking from its claws and entering the smoke cloud, grabbing Maria around the waist as she cried out in pain as additional whips of energy snared her by her left arm and legs. Spotting what she thought was Chris out of the corner of her eye, she threw the Staff, the relic streaking through the clearing smoke as her right arm was finally wrapped by the Nephilim. 'Please, someone catch it…it's the best shot we've got…' she thought, even as her remaining free arm was finally caught by the Nephilim's plasma ropes, the heat from the creature's attack making her cry out in agony and drawing the attention of the other Symphogear wielders.

'Was that Maria? Damnit, we can't see through the smoke cloud, so what the hell just happened?' Hibiki asked herself mentally, urgency entering her thoughts as her friend's cry of agony reached her ears, Chris floating beside her after they had avoided the Nephilim's attack by a matter of inches. Before she could continue, a flash of light gleaming out of the corner got her attention as the Staff of Solomon soared upwards towards them from the smoke cloud between them and the Nephilim, sunlight glinting off of it. Eyes widening in surprise, Chris reached out and caught the relic as it soared towards her, the weight of the Staff familiar to her as she floated in place with a suddenly anxious look on her face as Hibiki spoke, a reassuring smile on her face as she wrapped Chris in a hug.

"If you don't want to use it, you don't have to, Chris. But what Maria said is probably the best option we have. We have to at least give it a try." At this, Chris smiled, leaning into the hug slightly before responding, her voice gaining confidence as the smoke cloud dispersed, revealing the bound Maria as she struggled to escape from the Nephilim's plasma ropes, the ropes starting to leave burn marks on her exposed upper arms despite the X-Drive's protection.

"I'll be fine, Hibiki, but thanks," Chris said, eyes locking onto the Nephilim as it tried to reel Maria in closer to itself. At this Hibiki nodded in agreement, a smile coming to her face before she grabbed her girlfriend's left hand with her own as the duo stared downwards at the creature they found themselves against. Taking a deep breath and smiling at her girlfriend once again, Chris proceeded to dive towards the Nephilim as it let out a roar as crimson lasers streaked forwards, Hibiki following close behind her as she went. Weaving through the fire from their colossal opponent as she rolled around a blast of flame, Chris came to a stop, the Staff in its active mode. "Please let this work. Gate of Babylon, open!" she called out as she activated the Staff, a neon green blast of light springing forth towards the creature, even as it let out a roar. Streaking past the Nephilim despite its cries, the neon light came to a halt before spreading out, the light steadily widening as a space full of golden objects appeared beyond, shrouded by an ethereal gate.

"She's using the X-Drive to amplify its power, but we have to work faster," Tsubasa said, eyes narrowed as she raced towards the Nephilim's tendrils, ankle blades extended to the max. Performing a front flip and attempting to cut Maria loose as her ankle blades clashed against the strands of plasma with no success, she returned her focus to where Ichaival's wielder continued to power the relic, the gateway beneath them growing steadily as Chris continued to aim the Staff of Solomon, lime green energy pouring towards the portal and widening it further as the Nephilim continued to descend towards it. Spinning around and preparing for another strike as her blades bounced off of the plasma, a blur of movement caught her attention while Shirabe and Kirika came in to attack the ropes themselves. Turning her head slightly, her eyes widened in alarm as the Nephilim's claws reached out, an open-handed claw swipe swinging towards the Ichaival wielder as she continued to pour her focus into using the Staff of Solomon. "Chris! Look out!"

Tsubasa's warning came just in time. Eyes widening at Tsubasa's warning, Hibiki moved, interposing herself in between the Nephilim's claws with her X-Drive's spear raised in a guarding position as the Nephilim's claws approached, the spear meeting the attack and pushing her backwards. 'Hurry up, you guys…' Hibiki thought, eyes darting towards where the others continued to work to cut through the plasma ropes burning Maria, their attacks proving to be near-ineffective against the plasma ropes, even as she continued to cry out in agony. Bracing her left arm against her X-Drive's spear as she continued to strain against the Nephilim's claws, Hibiki pushed upwards, the progress of the Nephilim's claws slowing slightly as her girlfriend floated upwards and out of the Nephilim's reach, the energy pouring from the Staff of Solomon faster as the gate grew wider still. Finally taking note that Chris had cleared the reach of the Nephilim, Hibiki rolled backwards, her X-Drive spear allowing her to push the Nephilim's claws past herself, the heat of the creature's armor scorching her X-drive and leaving small burn marks on her arms. Glancing upwards towards where the claws had been heading as they passed, she let out a brief sigh of relief before floating back upwards to join Chris, her X-Drive's orange wings pulsing with energy.

"Why won't these things just break already?" Kirika cried out, her frustration and worry becoming more and more evident as she lashed out, triple-bladed scythe impacting the plasma ropes and straining against them, emerald light surrounding her blades. Nearby, Shirabe nodded in agreement, multiple ports on her robot opening up and revealing a fresh barrage of discs. Pulling the trigger as the barrage of discs lanced out, impacting the Nephilim all along its left arm and causing it to roar in annoyance, Shirabe spoke up, her voice strained after the attack she had previously endured as she took note of the gate as it continued to form.

"Kirika, we have to keep at it and break Maria out of these things," she said, even as she weaved her machine out of the way of return fire from the Nephilim, a fresh set of lasers lancing out from the beast. "We have to give Chris-san enough time to finish opening the gate."

"Well, she'd better hurry," Kirika shot back as she spun around, bringing her scythe up to attack from a different angle, only to encounter the same results. "The longer this goes on, the more Maria gets hurt!"

"Trust Chris," Tsubasa cut in, unleashing a massive wave of azure energy towards the creature as she spoke, the Nephilim letting out a roar of pain as it sliced into its shoulder through its armor. "She'll come through." Flipping forwards again and bringing the blades attached to her leg armor around to slash at the plasma ropes once again, she glanced up towards where Maria remained bound, her eyes shut in pain as the plasma ropes continued to burn through Maria's X-Drive. 'Chris, what's taking so long?' she thought, as her blades crashed again into the Plasma ropes, showing little effect.

"Come on," Chris muttered out, a fresh surge of neon green light emerging from the Staff of Solomon and racing past the Nephilim, only to reach where the gate remained, pushing it further open still. "Just a little more!" Focusing even more and willing the staff to go even further, a final wave of light emerged from the relic, racing forwards and smashing into the gate, widening it to the point where it could swallow the Nephilim whole before the light stopped coming forth, Chris panting from the exertion as the red light surrounding her X-Drive dimmed briefly. Floating down to join her girlfriend, Hibiki smiled softly as she hugged her closely. But before she could say anything, the Nephilim roared before floating downwards towards the gate, Maria being drawn in along with it as she spoke up, voice quiet from the pain of the ropes burning her.

"Once it gets inside, close the gate," she said, voice hoarse from her agonized screams. "Close the gate behind it and if it takes me with it, then so be it. At least it'll protect everyone in this world, just like Serena…" Before she could continue, Hibiki spoke up, her voice quiet as she floated down along with Chris to join the others, her X-Drive's spear having been blackened by the heat from the Nephilim's claws.

"Not going to happen," she said, drawing nods of agreement from the other wielders as they floated down next to Maria, the wielders not leaving her side as the Nephilim descended towards the gateway opened by the Staff of Solomon. "We're not leaving you behind. I may not be a hero, and I don't want to be one either, but we all are coming back together. I'm not losing one of my best friends so soon after getting her back." Taking a look towards Chris and smiling before floating over to where she was, she continued, her voice determined as they hovered just over the entry into the treasury of Babylon, the creature having already entered. "Let's finish this." At this, the others nodded, before the group descended through the portal after Maria and into the abyss, the gateway into the library of Babylon sealing up behind them.

-SotHR-

"Get me a status report, now!" Genjurou roared out, his voice echoing out over the alarms on the bridge as they rang out, the crew having witnessed the Symphogear wielders entering the portal created by the Staff of Solomon in pursuit of the Nephilim. Almost immediately the crew's priorities shifted from damage checks to attempts to reach the Symphogear wielders, the sounds of work being done rapidly returning to the room despite the anxious looks on the faces of the workers in the room. "Following the Nephilim in there is just too damn risky." he said, arms crossing in front of his chest as he sat in his chair, a frustrated look on his face. 'Damnit…the Nephilim's Heart could reach its critical point at any time. What they're trying to do here is a sound idea, but at the same time, if none of them survive in the process, it wouldn't even be worth it.' Pounding his fist into the side of his commander seat, a massive dent forming in response, a beeping noise from his right snapped him out of his thoughts, before Nastassja spoke up.

"It seems that all we can do from here is believe in them," the older doctor began, her voice seemingly calm, but with a level of tension underlying it. Typing away quickly on the keyboard shown on her desk as a screen displaying a foggy image of the lunar ruins appeared, she continued to speak, her voice showing relief. "While we can only believe in them to handle things with the Nephilim, there is another thing that I can provide an update on." Entering in the final series of commands on her keyboard, Nastassja smiled, even as she coughed loudly, blood splashing onto her hand and onto the front of her dress. "The Phonic Projection is successful. The Lunar Ruins and the Curse of Balal have both been restarted and are fully operational, and the moon's orbit is adjusting and returning to normal." Smiling softly at the sight on her display, the lunar ruins glowing a brilliant gold as the phonic gain previously projected by Frontier continued to spread, she continued, her voice going quiet. "The world isn't going to end, Kazanari-san. All that's left is the Nephilim and for the girls to come back."

"Taichou, we can't get a signal from any of the wielders right now," Aoi said, her voice reaching Genjurou as he processed what Nastassja had said. Waiting a moment for his response, Aoi continued, her voice calm as she looked towards the display on Nastassja's monitor. "They'll come back, all of them, right? What we can do is be there when they get back." Taking a moment to consider her words, Genjurou spoke, his words both a reply as well as additional orders.

"Find us the nearest island, but keep an eye on the radar for any openings to the treasury of Babylon. I want to be able to head to wherever they land when they get back. And have medical get Nastassja to the Medbay for treatment as soon as possible. Understood?" At this, Aoi nodded as the rest of the bridge crew sprang into action, the sound of typing filling the air as the alarms shut down. 'Get back here safely, all of you…'

-SotHR-

Miku stared at the display screen in front of her in shock as the portal created by the Staff of Solomon came to a close, her still-sluggish mind trying to come to terms with what she had just seen. 'What are they doing? Are they crazy?' she thought, her hands grasping the sheets of the mobile bed she was in as nurses tended to those who needed care around her, her fear at the idea of losing those closest to her gripping her and causing her to shiver. 'They might not come back. I might not even get to see them again so that I can apologize...' Resting her head back onto her pillow, the headache she felt dimming in its intensity as she did so, she closed her eyes, attempting to get additional rest as she began to speak, voice quiet despite the sound of the machines around her.

"Please be okay," she muttered, the images of her friends running through her mind before coming to a halt on the image of Hibiki and Chris on the school steps. Frowning slightly as she remembered what she had said and done afterwards as her headache intensified, she continued, her voice straining slightly as she struggled to gather her thoughts. "I really screwed up, and because of it, I hurt them. And now they're out there…" Voice trailing off as the pain from her headache grew to near unbearable levels, she took in a deep breath, expelling the breath slowly as the throbbing underneath the bandages wrapped around her head slowly dimmed. "Please…come back safely. I need to tell both of you…" Voice dying once again, she went silent as she attempted to go back to sleep with her head against the lukewarm pillow, quickly falling back into the dreamless void as the dull sound of an oddly familiar song made itself known…

-SotHR-

"Get out of the way!" Hibiki shouted, spear glowing brightly as she charged forwards, a cone of orange energy projected around her as she flew through the horde of noise. Piercing through a group of noise with her spear and coming to a stop in a less crowded area, she turned, the booster engines on her X-drive's skirt armor flaring up again and propelling her forwards towards another group of opponents. 'We've got to buy as much time as we can…' she thought, weaving around the attacks of the noise in a cobra roll before coming to a stop in the middle of another crowd, X-Drive spear reverting back to its gauntlet form as the first of the group of noise attacked, forcing her on the defensive as she cut her waist armor's boosters briefly, dropping under the attack as her X-drive's wings held her up in the sky. Quickly firing the engines back up and rising in altitude once the attack had passed, she countered, right leg lashing out and striking the offending creature in the back and forcing it to dissolve on contact. Eyes glancing to her right as another pair of noise attempted to close in, she looked towards where the Blazing Nephilim floated, its plasma ropes still constraining Maria. 'Shirabe, Kirika, hurry up…we're on a time limit…' she thought, bringing her left arm up and smashing a noise in the face with her fist as she lashed out with a side kick, catching another noise and causing it to crumble as her skirt armor's boosters fired to balance her out. Recalling the X-Drive's spear and igniting her gauntlet boosters once again to have them join her X-drive's wings in propelling her, she raced forwards, cutting through the last of the group of noise with ease and racing towards another group, an orange trail of light following behind her as explosions filled the space she had been, noise after noise being torn apart in her wake.

"There's just so many," Kirika called out, scythe slicing through another trio of Noise as she raced towards where the Blazing Nephilim sat, Shirabe following close behind her. Rolling slightly to her left and allowing a noise to pass by harmlessly before swinging her scythe from right to left, the trio of blades cutting through another pair of noise as she went, she continued to speak, even as she slashed through another noise that tried to sneak up from her left. "Why don't they let us through already?" Beside her, Shirabe nodded, pulling the trigger on her mech's joysticks and releasing another barrage of saw blades forth, slicing through a horde of noise before they could close in and forcing them to erupt in explosions.

"Chris said it directly. There's too many of them for the Staff alone to control," she replied, spinning her robot to its left and slicing through another pair of noise with her robot's attached saws. Moving to her right and ducking under a different pair of Noise before slicing through another trio, Shirabe continued, her eyes locked onto their current objective. "We have to reach Maria though. No matter the odds, we have to." Pulling the trigger and unleashing another group of miniature discs towards a large group of noise, the discs cutting through the creatures and forcing the group to erupt in explosions like fireworks, Shirabe continued to press forwards, eyes finally spotting a gap that they could get to Maria through. "Kirika, follow me!" she called out, pushing forwards as she unleashed another barrage of the smaller saw discs, another widespread group of explosions filling the air moments later as she closed ground towards where Maria remained bound. Nodding briefly in response to Shirabe's call, Kirika followed, her scythe blade at her side before lashing out and slicing through a noise that tried to attack Shirabe from behind, the blade slicing through with little effort as the duo sped towards where the Nephilim floated.

"We don't have time for this," Tsubasa said, eyes narrowed in annoyance as she found herself surrounded by multiple noise. Enlarging the pair of katana she held in her hands into their larger state, she lashed out, azure waves of light flashing towards the noise surrounding her and slicing them through their waists, cutting the creatures in half as the light continued through, impacting the floating objects behind them and exploding, smoke filling the area as chunks of the golden objects filled the air. 'So many of them…and the longer it takes us to get to Maria, the closer that the Nephilim gets to going critical…' she thought, eyes narrowed in focus as another group of Noise surrounded her. Deploying the giant blades attached to her ankle armor she let out a cry, her X-drive's azure wings flaring brightly along with the boosters on the sides of the blades before she flipped towards the nearest one of the large Noise she found herself facing and brought her blades flashing downwards, cutting through the creature's outer limbs as it let out a cry before dissolving. Spinning back towards the dragon-like noise approaching from her back she lashed out, the sword in her left hand unleashing a wave of Azure light as she slashed from right to left, the creature rolling above the wave of light. It wouldn't be enough, as it would be faced with a second, larger wave from the blade in Tsubasa's right hand which rose vertically as she slashed upwards, the additional wave of light slicing through the noise without resistance as it crumbled to ashes. Looking towards where Kirika and Shirabe had finally reached the plasma ropes holding Maria, she frowned before speaking, this time bringing the blade attached to her left ankle slashing through a pair of noise that tried to approach her from below. "We keep killing them, they keep coming."

"Their numbers won't matter," Chris replied, voice tense as her weapons glowed with a brilliant glow. Taking aim at the horde of Noise in her sights, she pulled the trigger, her X-Drive's weaponry opening up as dozens and dozens of crimson lasers lanced forth, impacting mass numbers of Noise and filling the surrounding area with explosions. Glancing towards her left as she tried to gauge where her girlfriend was in the fray and spotting her as she dealt with another small crowd of noise, Chris smiled softly before she looked for additional targets to aim for. 'It's our job to keep these guys off of Shirabe and Kirika,' she thought, pulling the triggers on her weaponry, additional blasts of energy racing forwards and incinerating another large group of Noise in the process. Before she could move to find another group of enemies to wipe out, another noise went to attack from her left, its roar drawing Chris' attention as it closed in only to be shot down as she opened fire, blast after blast impacting it from her X-drive's left cannons as the creature dissolved just before it could reach her directly. "Too close…" she whispered before resuming her search for additional targets, eyes glancing towards where the younger duo were attempting to free Maria from the plasma ropes constraining her.

"Shirabe, hurry up," Kirika cried out, her scythe blade flashing through the air as it met the strings of plasma reaching out from the Nephilim, knocking the ropes away. Spinning away to create more distance as another group of ropes surged towards her with the light from her X-Drive's skeletal wings trailing behind her, she continued, even as she prepared to strike at the ropes, scythe blazing with emerald energy. "How much longer is it going to be?" she asked, before slashing at the plasma ropes as they came closer once again, deflecting them upwards before bringing her scythe blade around from right to left, knocking them further away. Glancing back over her shoulder towards where Kirika was acting as a guard, Shirabe began to reply before returning her attention to the task at hand.

"Not too much longer," she began, the saws of her robot working to slice through the plasma ropes binding Maria. "Just another couple seconds!" Returning her focus to the task in front of her, she pressed the controls forwards, revving the saws on her robot even higher as its engines fired brighter despite the strain it was under, the ropes holding Maria beginning to give way against the force of her robot's saws. Letting out a cry of determination Shirabe pushed further, the saws revving at an even higher rate, her blades cutting through the plasma and forcing it to implode with a mechanical whir as the ropes binding Maria crumbled apart, her robot joining them and collapsing from under Shirabe seconds later, forcing her to float with her pink energy wings alone. Taking a moment to gather herself despite the pain she felt her arms were in, Maria began to speak, her X-drive's chest armor badly scorched from her exposure to the Nephilim's blazing temperatures, warped and pitted from the sheer heat she had been under.

"Thanks, both of you," she began, smiling softly at the younger girl in front of her, Kirika floating over to join them. Before she could continue however the Nephilim roared, its cry sending shockwaves through the space and pushing the trio backwards before it prepared to open fire, a colossal sphere of flame building within its jaws. Eyes widening at the size of the attack Maria reacted, grabbing Shirabe and leaping upwards, the silver wings of her X-drive propelling her faster as Kirika followed, emerald light flaring from her X-Drive as they pushed their boosters to the limit. Not even a second after they began to move the Nephilim fired, the ball of flame it had created shooting forwards and eviscerating everything in its path while obliterating constructs and noise alike before detonating, the sky being consumed by an explosion that shrouded the creature from view. 'That was too close…' Maria thought, drawing a dagger-like weapon from her left gauntlet and taking a defensive pose. The reprieve would be brief however as the Nephilim let out another roar, its cry dispelling the smoke surrounding the trio and revealing a horde of Noise approaching their position as an idea sprang to Maria's mind. Raising her armed gear above her head, she closed her eyes in focus, a number of copies of her dagger-like armed gear appearing above her pointed towards the enemy. Opening her eyes with a determined gaze at the approaching noise she swung her arm downwards, the copies of her armed gear darting towards the swarm of noise and slicing into it, daggers shredding dozens of the creatures with ease and filling the air around them with the ashes of the shredded monstrosities. Glancing back at the Nephilim itself as it let out another unearthly wail, Maria braced herself only to be pushed backwards, her back impacting the side of a nearby meteoroid and forcing her to cry out in pain. Pushing herself away from the space rock she had impacted against, she settled back into a stance, her dagger held in a reverse grip in her right hand her X-drive's wings holding her in the air as Kirika and Shirabe rushed over to join her, Kirika's scythe in a guarding position in front of herself and Shirabe. "We have to hurry and get out of here!"

"How though?" Kirika asked, eyes narrowed as she darted upwards before swinging her scythe from right to left and cutting through a pair of Noise. Spinning back away from the pair of noise she had cut down, her scythe cleaving through another duo of opponents, she continued to speak, drawing a nod from Shirabe in the process. "We used the Staff of Solomon to get in here. Can it let us back out?"

"Since we were able to use it to open the treasury from the outside, then it should be," Tsubasa replied, racing to join them as she brought up the katana in her left hand to block against an attack by another Noise before slashing the creature in half down the middle. Spinning around and noticing a group of Noise as it moved towards where Maria, Shirabe, and Kirika were, she slashed downwards, her ankle blades unleashing a titanic wave of azure light towards the creatures, tearing them to shreds before the wave crashed into a tower-like structure floating nearby, obliterating it on impact. Turning towards where Chris was fighting nearby before another group of Noise approached, she continued, even as she ducked underneath the attacks of her opponents. "It's out best chance."

"It's definitely possible," Chris said in response as she blasted another group of noise, the laser blasts from her X-Drive's cannons causing the creatures to evaporate instantly. "This thing's a key, so there's no reason why it can't…" Voice trailing off as she spoke, she brought the Staff up before pulling the trigger, a beam of neon green light streaming forth at her command. 'Come on…work…' she thought, as the light began to spread, a gateway appearing to what appeared to be a beach. Before it could completely open however, another group of Noise attacked, only to be interrupted by an orange blur as Hibiki intercepted the creatures on their approach, batting their attacks aside with her X-drive's spear before countering with a spin kick that knocked the nearest one away and into its brethren, destroying both before pressing the advantage, the engines on her skirt armor firing along with her X-drive's wings. Lashing into a spin kick and destroying another noise in the process before catching the last Noise of the group with a backhand, she spoke up, voice showing the exhaustion she felt.

"We have to hurry to get out of here," she said, voice strained from exhaustion as she looked at the finally-formed gateway. "We can't let the Nephilim escape!" Nodding in agreement with her words Maria, Shirabe, and Kirika darted forwards, their X-Drives' wings leaving trails of silver, pink, and green light behind them as they dived towards the gate. Backhanding away another noise that tried to sneak up on her as she headed towards where Chris floated, she continued, her voice steady as she tried to disguise the strain she was starting to feel. "Let's go home. To our future."

Nodding in agreement, Tsubasa sliced apart another noise that tried to approach her with the blade in her left hand before descending towards the gate, her X-drive's wings leaving an azure trail of energy behind her. Rolling around another Noise as she cut it in two with the katana in her right hand, she continued forwards, bringing up both katana and carving her way through another pair of Noise that got in her way, the blades slicing them in half diagonally before they could react. Accelerating while releasing the larger blades from her ankles, the giant katana blades falling free to impact on a distorted ball of rock nearby, she rushed towards the gateway, another group of Noise rising in front of her.

"Get out of our way!" Tsubasa called out, her katana blades enlarging into a larger state before she attacked, blades slashing outwards and unleashing a pair of waves of light that slammed into the group in her path, eliminating half of them on impact. Taking advantage of this she continued to attack, azure wings from her X-Drive propelling her forwards as she went into a roll, evading the initial surge of the remaining Noise. Coming out of her roll and slashing downwards with the katana in her left hand, cutting a noise underneath her in half as she did so, Tsubasa's eyes narrowed as she slashed upwards with the blade in her right hand, another wave of energy streaking forth and slamming into another quintet of Noise, obliterating them instantly. Looking to her left and seeing Maria and Kirika dealing with another group of enemies, Maria's armed gear slicing through Noise by the dozens as the used its whip-like state while Kirika's scythe cut through any enemies that got past her, she spoke once again, even as she brought eh blade in her left hand around to cut through another Noise at its midsection. "The longer we're held up, the more likely the Nephilim gets away!"

"There's still too many for the Staff to control," Chris said, her voice showing the pressure she felt as she followed suit. Rolling away and taking aim at a larger group of Noise as they approached, she opened fire, her X-Drive opening fire once again and filling the sky with the dying cries and explosions of the creatures. Besides her, Hibiki nodded, taking note of a smaller group of opponents as they tried to approach before she attacked, her X-drive's wings propelling her closer before she lashed out in a left jab, catching the first in the face and causing it to crumble. Continuing her momentum, she spun in mid-air, her X-drive's wings working in harmony with the boosters on her skirt's armor as she snapped out into a spin kick with her right leg, catching another Noise and splitting it in half. 'We have to hurry…if we don't…' Hibiki thought, her mind focusing on how to escape even as she ducked under a counterattack from one of the remaining noise in the group she was facing before she rose upwards, her fist catching the noise in its stomach and tearing it apart on impact. Spinning towards where her girlfriend had opened fire once again, Chris' attack destroying another large group of noise before they could get close, she spoke up again as the she finished her group of Noise with a side kick to the head of the final opponent.

"Chris, we have to go! Before the Nephilim can escape," she called out, her voice causing her girlfriend to nod in agreement before she reacted, closing her eyes in focus and ejecting her X-Drive's weapons towards the group of Noise nearby before the weaponry unleashed itself, a massive torrent of crimson energy racing forth and covering the sky with the explosions of hundreds of dying Noise before her weaponry itself detonated as well. Floating downwards to meet Hibiki, she spoke softly, a small smile on her face.

"Let's go…to our future," she said, her words drawing a smile from Hibiki's face as well before they raced towards the gateway, meeting the remaining gear wielders along the way. Before they could reach the gate however, a loud roar filled the air as a shadow spread over the group, the Nephilim rising in front of them before they could reach the gate, a fireball in its mouth and ready to fire. Unleashing the attack with a cry, it began its assault, the sphere of flame rushing upwards towards the Symphogear wielders and forcing them to scatter apart, the trails of light from their X-Drives' wings spreading out as they moved to evade. Rolling upwards away from the flames, the sphere of fire passing beneath her alongside Hibiki, Chris continued to speak, her eyes narrowed in anger as the creature let out another roar, Hibiki right beside her. "Great…damnit, how are we going to get by that thing? It's not just going to stand aside and let us go," she asked, the sphere of flames detonating behind them and filling the world with smoke. Besides her, Hibiki nodded, her eyes looking to make sure that the others had evaded as Tsubasa spoke, her voice shaking with tension as she stared at the creature while it built up its next attack, flames growing within its mouth at a rapid pace.

"The only way that we can go is through it," Tsubasa said, her voice showing the frustration she felt. Looking towards where Shirabe and Kirika floated nearby, she continued as the Nephilim continued to prepare for its next attack. "Any ideas?" Floating down to join Tsubasa as her X-Drive's silver wings propelled her, Maria replied, her voice full of determination as she prepared herself to continue in combat, the blade of her armed gear holding steady in her hands.

"No, but we can't give up. We've come too far. We can't let that thing get back out there," Maria replied, her voice calm as she prepared to re-engage the creature. Before anything further could be said the Nephilim opened fire once again, the sphere of flame it had been building surging forth from its mouth towards the gear wielders as they rolled away from it again, the trails of light from their X-Drives' wings shifting as they dived to regroup, the fireball exploding on impact with one of the structures behind them and engulfing dozens more Noise in the process. Joining up with the others, Hibiki spoke up once again, her eyes narrowed in determination.

"Then we have one real option, don't we," she began, her eyes closing as she spoke. Looking at the other wielders with a small smile, she continued, eyes locking onto each of the others one by one. "Zesshou. All six of us. That's our only shot." Reading what her girlfriend was thinking from the look on her face, Chris prepared to object, before Tsubasa spoke up, her voice uncertain.

"Are you sure that you can handle it?" she asked, earning a nod in reply before she continued. "We have one shot at this. As long as we're in close proximity, that will be enough, correct?" At this, Hibiki spoke up, her determination evident in her voice even as she stared towards the Nephilim beneath them, its jaws wide open as it let out another unearthly roar.

"Yeah, that should work," she began, voice level as she stared towards the Nephilim beneath them and the gateway waiting beyond it. Before she could say anything further, Chris spoke up, her voice tense as she took her girlfriend's hand in her own, a determined look on her face.

"I'm not going to let you do this on your own Hibiki. I love you," she began. Taking her place next to her girlfriend as the other wielders floated around them, she continued, her voice showing her determination as the Nephilim began to build up another attack beneath them, a fresh sphere of flames building up within its jaws. "We have a future to get to together, and this thing isn't going to stop us from getting there." Besides her, Hibiki nodded, a small smile coming onto her face as Maria spoke from to her right, a flash of silver light coming from her X-Drive as a larger sword appeared in front of her and floated above the group.

"We've come so far. This thing won't get in our way," she began, the blade floating above the group turning downwards, its blade pointing towards the Nephilim. "We'll create our own path!" Nodding in agreement, Shirabe and Kirika smiled before taking their positions next to Maria, their hands intertwined in a similar fashion to Hibiki and Chris' own, before Tsubasa spoke once more, taking her place on the other side of Hibiki and grabbing her other hand.

"Then let's do it. No matter what, we won't lose here." Looking at the others and nodding, they began to sing, the sound of their song filling the air around them as the sword above them glowed brightly, dissolving in a brilliant silver glow which surrounded the wielders, hiding them briefly form the view of the Nephilim.

-Gatrandis Babel ziggurat Edenal.

Emustolronzen Finé el Balal zizzl.

Gatrandis Babel ziggurat Edenal.

Emustolronzen Finé el zizzl…-

"What's going on?" Kirika asked, voice strained as the power of six zesshou at once began to flow through the group, an aura of gold and silver light appearing above the group. Besides her, Shirabe nodded as she struggled to hold in a scream, the flood of energy being channeled partially through her as well as the heavier portions of Maria's X-Drive armor began to detach itself, floating upwards above the group in a brilliant silver glow. "This power…wait…is this like what happened at the Stadium that day?" Before anyone could respond, the power flow amplified as Hibiki let out a scream of pain, drawing her attention towards the older girl as Shirabe spoke up, voice quiet yet reflecting the strain she was feeling.

"This pressure…it's so much…" she spoke, her voice straining under the power they were trying to control. Glancing towards where Hibiki, Tsubasa, and Chris floated in a group, the energy of the group channeling together even further, she floated closer to them before grabbing onto Chris' free hand with her own, the energy channeling faster still as she did so. 'How is she handling this power…it's so much…' she thought, eyes shutting in pain as a fresh wave of power coursed through her and outwards, back towards the Gungnir wielder in the center of the group and causing her to visibly quiver in pain.

"Hibiki! We're almost there, you have to hold on!" Chris cried out, the power flowing through her body as well as she spoke. Nodding in silence next to her, Hibiki continued, her eyes shut as the heavier parts of her X-Drive's armor began to crack and detach as well, floating above the group and joining Maria's own armor sections as they began to combine together. Giving a reassuring squeeze to her girlfriend's hand as she struggled to hold in the pain she was feeling, Chris continued, her voice going quieter as the power continued to flow throughout the group. "Please, just hang on…" she whispered, voice full of concern.

"Almost there. Just a little more," Hibiki gasped out, her teeth pressed together as she tried to suppress a scream. Above the group, the armor segments grew and combined, forming a familiar shape as the group began to float upwards, taking a position just behind the slowly-forming spear as the armor began to extend to surround and protect them. Letting out another primal scream as her muscles tightened to an extreme under the pressure, she continued, the last of the spear coming together before another, more massive wave of power washed over it and the wielders within, the spear itself glowing a brilliant gold as the pain subsided. "It's ready..." she trailed off, a determined look coming onto her face as she spoke, not noticing the rivulets of blood that flowed from her mouth, nose, eyes, and ears as her body continued to protest the strain of six zesshou flowing through her at once. Looking upwards at Maria who floated above her, they all shouted out, as the spear took aim at its target, a brilliant golden glow emerging from the bottom of the spear and pushing it forwards at a rapid pace.

"Straight through!" All six cried out, the spear gaining momentum and speed at a quicker pace as it approached the Nephilim directly, spinning in a corkscrew around them as it closed the gap. Letting out a roar, the Nephilim fired, the blast of flame from its mouth meeting the spear in its path towards the creature and exploding as the spear itself burst through the flame at a slightly slower pace, the scattering flames annihilating floating objects all around the area but not slowing down the attack as it approached the creature. Letting out an additional roar the Nephilim attacked once again as giant plasma ropes emerged from its chest, the steams of white-hot plasma streaking towards the spear as it continued to spin towards the creature. Taking note of this as Maria grabbed Tsubasa's free hand, the group let out a cry, their voices rising above the sound of the Nephilim's cry.

"Out of the way!" the wielders called out, the spear spinning faster still and batting the Nephilim's plasma whips aside, as a number of noise tried to assault the newly formed weapon, their attacks having little visible effect on the spear outside of slowing it slightly as they were torn apart with ease by the giant weapon as it closed in on the Nephilim, the giant creature letting out a roar of aggravation as it attempted to bring an arm up, only to be for naught as the spear made impact, slowly boring into the Nephilim's stomach as energy released itself, gold and silver energy expanding away from where the weapon made impact. Moments later the Nephilim unleashed a pain-filled cry as the energy of the spear became too much, the weapon bursting through its chest and out the other side before dissolving, a gaping hole through the Nephilim's upper body having been left behind in its wake, crackling with golden energy while the wielders emerged from the dissolving spear in a prismatic light as they dived towards the portal. Letting out an agonized roar the Nephilim flailed wildly, its right arm streaking towards the wielders. Noticing a flash out of the corner of her eye as it attacked, Hibiki reacted, her skirt armor's engines firing to slow her slightly as she fell back into its path before it impacted Shirabe and Kirika, a painful scream tearing free from her lungs on impact as she tumbled forwards and through the portal behind the others, the group impacting the beach and kicking up an eruption of sand on impact as a shockwave raced out across the ocean, the floating sand caused by their arrival slowly falling back to the beachfront.

"The Staff…" Maria whispered, body crying out in agony as she picked her head up from the sand, eyes catching a glimpse of the Staff of Solomon as it rested on the sand nearby. Trying to push herself off the ground only for her arms to refuse to provide any lift, she collapsed back onto the sand, the sea breeze flowing over her body as she continued to speak, eyes closed in worry. "If we don't close the gate right now, then the Nephilim's explosion will still destroy everything we've fought so hard for…" Attempting to push herself off the ground once again, her body collapsed back to the island sands beneath her for a second time as Maria looked towards the staff, her body too wracked with pain and exhaustion to move any further. "We have to do something…"

"We can't give up here," Tsubasa groaned out, having pushed herself onto her knees but no further as she grabbed her previously-wounded shoulder, her body feeling the strain of having helped concentrate the energy of the multiple Zesshou at once. Looking upwards towards where Kirika and Shirabe slowly began to try to push themselves off the ground as well, she continued, her voice determined despite her exhaustion. "We've come too far to do so. There's too much on the line to fail now."

"I know," Chris whispered out, raising her head off the ground to look towards the staff directly. Trying to push herself back up off the ground, her body crying in agony and exhaustion as she did so, she turned towards the Staff, her eyes struggling to stay open. "I won't give up…not when we're this close. Not when we're this close to the future that we all have together." Pushing herself off the ground and to her hands and knees she attempted to crawl towards the relic, her progress slowed by the exhaustion she was clearly feeling as the sand crunched under her, the waves crashing against the shoreline.

'She won't make it in time,' Finé's voice called out inside Kirika's mind, voice filled with disappointment at the situation. Before Kirika could reply, she continued to project, her thoughts showing her disappointment over the situation. 'Not on her own at least. It's too bad…I told you that I'd just observe to see if you humans would prove me wrong, but it doesn't look like you will…' Narrowing her eyes at this, Kirika replied, her mind agitated at what the spirit of the ancient priestess stated.

'Can it…how do you know that we won't if you won't give us the chance,' she thought, eyes locked onto where Chris was moving towards the staff, ever so slowly. Pushing herself upwards and to a standing position, she continued to answer Finé's remark, even as her legs wobbled and threatened to give out from exhaustion underneath her. 'Finé...if you don't want to die like this…trapped in my soul along with Shirabe's...then you'll help, even if just this once…' she thought, willing herself forwards, one step at a time as the sand crunched beneath her, as the ancient priestess started laughing maniacally in her mind before fading away, leaving Kirika to her thoughts as she made her way towards the Staff, the relic partially buried in the beachfront sand. After what felt like hours, she finally reached it, the late afternoon sun glinting off of it dangerously. Turning towards where Chris attempted to get back to her feet before collapsing back to the sand beneath her, she made her way towards the older girl, the ocean waves reflecting off the metal of the relic.

"Yukine-san, hurry and seal it," Kirika whispered out, her voice filling with desperation. "We don't have much time left." Nodding her head in reply and reaching up to take the Staff of Solomon from Kirika's hands, Chris pushed herself to turn to face the open gate, relic held in one hand as Kirika's legs gave out, her body collapsing back to the sand beneath her without any warning as Chris raised the relic shakily towards the gate.

"Now it can be over, and we can move into the future," Chris began, her voice hoarse from the exhaustion she was feeling. Pulling the trigger on the Staff she continued to speak, even as a lance of neon green light streaked towards the gate. "Solomon…SEAL THE GATE!" At this, the light surged even brighter, a larger wave of emerald light emerging from the relic and pouring towards the gate, slamming into it as rays of light began to emerge from within. As she and Kirika watched on, the gateway to another dimension shrank rapidly, the light from within growing in intensity and brightness. 'Please…hurry and shut…' Chris thought, the stream of light from the Staff of Solomon shrinking the gap even further until it finally shut completely as a black shockwave echoed across the sky, the shockwaves of light scattering in the sky and darkening the sun briefly before fading away, the late afternoon sunlight returning to normal.

"We…did it…" Chris managed to pant out, relief flooding through her as she collapsed backwards onto the beach, a smile emerging on her face as her X-drive armor faded away, her Symphogear reverting back to its pendant form as she fell onto the beach, her sweater deadening the impact of her body against the sand as the waves crashed against the beach. Closing her eyes for a moment she let her thoughts drift away, the image of her girlfriend rushing into her mind and bringing a smile onto her face as she turned her head towards the ocean and listened to the waves wash ashore. But even as she continued to enjoy the sound of the waves crashing ashore, Chris couldn't help but worry, a feeling as though something was off overwhelming her mind as she thought back on the last little bit of the fight, as well as her girlfriend's actions.

'Hibiki…what were you thinking? Why'd you suddenly drop back?' she thought, a small sense of fear rising up within her as the sound of a boat coming ashore shook her from her thoughts. Pushing herself back off of the beachfront sand, she turned as what remained of the 2nd Division's submarine approached the beach inlet they found themselves on. Taking note of the approaching submarine, as well as just how much of the vessel was missing, she looked towards the others, the worry she felt rising onto her face as a cold feeling began to spread within her stomach. Before she could say anything however, Tsubasa spoke, her words only causing the cold feeling within Chris' stomach to grow in intensity.

"Headquarters is here, and so are we," she said, voice struggling to keep its composure as she pushed herself to one knee, the waves on the beach surging underneath her feet. As she looked down the beach towards where the submarine was heading, as if she was searching for something, she continued, voice growing in urgency. "…where's Hibiki?" She asked, her eyes searching the area. At this, Chris' eyes widened, fear creeping into her as she tried to push herself onto her feet despite her body's protests, barely managing to stumble to her feet.

"No…I won't lose her…She was right with us when we got through the gate," Chris muttered out, fear gripping her to the bone. "She's gotta be here." At this, she went silent as she turned towards the approaching submarine, her hands coming together loosely in worry. Pushing herself off the sand and to her knees, Maria spoke up, anxiety in her voice as she searched the area to the east of where they had impacted for any sign of the Gungnir wielder, eyes narrowed in anxiety.

"She took on most of the brunt of preparing that final attack we used. Kami, please, don't let what happened to Serena happen again," she said, eyes scanning over the area. Reaching up to where Airgetlam's pendant hung from her neck and grasping it tightly, Maria continued to speak, voice coming out in a whisper. "Not again…please, don't let it happen again." After what felt like hours, Tsubasa spoke up to break the silence, her voice full of urgency.

"Something's over there, but I can't tell what it is from here," she muttered, her eyes shielded from the descending vermillion sunset by one hand as she pointed towards the western edge of the beach, a glint of light reflecting off of something by the water's edge. Turning towards where Tsubasa was pointing at, Chris moved, a sinking feeling in her stomach as she willed herself forwards despite the exhaustion she was feeling. Slowly, step by exhausted step, she made her way in that direction, the gleam giving way to reveal a form laying still on the beach, the ocean's waves flowing around the person as they flowed onto the beach. Eyes widening at the sight, Chris increased her speed, her mind willing her body forwards until she reached the area. Moments later, Tsubasa's eyes widened as Chris fell to her knees. Nodding at where Maria had finally managed to climb her way to her feet, she prepared to follow, a sense of dread entering her stomach.

"Please wake up…" Chris whispered out, her voice cracking as she picked up her girlfriend's unconscious form in her arms, the taller girl's Symphogear having reverted back to its pendant state. Holding her girlfriend closely as blood slowly ran down her face and feeling her unsteady breathing, Chris didn't even notice as the others made their way over one by one, their bodies unsteady from exhaustion. "You promised that we'd all come back…don't you dare die on me…" she continued, tears starting to stream down her face. Before anyone could say anything to console her, she let out one final desperate cry before breaking down completely, her scream piercing the sunset sky even as the medical crew from the 2nd Division's submarine arrived on the scene…

End Chapter 13

Author's Postscript: Sorry for the lengthy delay to get this to you, but here it is. There's one more chapter left in G Arc, so stay tuned, and thanks once again for reading. See you next time!-ZBD15