What's beyond the struggle... Victory?


" That thing is out!"

Mirai exclaimed upon receiving a picture of what was happening outside. Everyone halted and looked back at her as Eva approached her.

Evangeline : " you don't mean that!"

She peeked at her CCM and her eyes were as wide as saucers upon seeing the green tank in the picture.

Ban: " is everything alright?"

Mirai: " they got that tank out... Everyone will be in danger like that."

Evangeline and Mirai bit on their lips as they looked back at Kousuke and Kirito.

Kirito: " we can't."

Evangeline : " but!"

Kousuke: " we don't have time! Unless we get to the server room everything is over!"

It was a silent debate between whether or not they should dispatch some of them to go help. Ban took a moment to consider it before he looked back at Eva and Mirai.

Ban: " let's trust them. They will be able to find a way."

Mirai and Eva begrudgingly agreed as they followed after the rest down the way. However, it was not long that a jolt halted them.

Kirito: " what!"

Mizel: " get back!"

He warned just as a shank of the ceiling fell down in front of them. Upon second look, they could discern a red large spinning top like machine hovering down and blocking their path.

Kirito: " this one too!"

The machine landed on the ground and its side shields rose up, unleashing metallic tentacles outward.

Mizel held up his shield as to protect them against one that lashed out towards them.

Yuuta: " it won't let us through!"

Genesis: " not without a fight that is!"

His sword cut another whip that aimed for them.

Kousuke : " we don't have time for this! Lucifer!"

The unit flung his bow at the machine and shot an energy dart. However, it dissipated upon hitting it without leaving the smallest scratch on its armor.

" What!"

Everyone's eyes shot wide at that. Kousuke was at a lost of words for a moment.

Kousuke : " ... the Finis Bow... didn't damage it at all..."

Jin: " it was meant to even cut Stunfeel! How!?"

Mizel's visors blinked for a moment as he scanned it.

Mizel: " I see! It's coated with D particles!"

Aya: " cardboard's...!"

Beargguy : " no wonder it withstood your blow!"

Lucifer: " damn it!"

Needless to say that no matter their effort to land a damage, it was all fruitless. Even Exceeed couldn't reach its main body through the flailing whips around it.

Muraku : " Arata!"

Arata: " got that!"

Both of their LBXs fell back and fused together within a flash of white light before the larger unit propelled towards the machine and tried cutting through its flailing whips. Still, he didn't have any better luck than the others.

Aya: " too fast!"

Kirito: " we're running out of time."

Eva's eyes were caught by the energy the weapon was charging underneath its shield.

Evangeline : " take cover!"

She shouted upon realizing what it was and all the players miraculously managed to squeeze out of the way as the huge thing unleashed wave after another of beam bullets.

Ryan: " damn it. How are we supposed to get past that thing!"

Jennifer: " it hardly has an opening! And the whips are too fast we can't get through!"

Yuuta: " we're trapped here!"

Ran: " we won't make it in time!"

Arata: " like hell I'm letting that happen!"

His eyes glistened with a pink sheen and EX-Nova's speed increased further, managing to slip though a few whips and cut them. However, he couldn't land much of a scratch on the main body.

Arata: " oh come on!"

The adults however looked at Ararat as though he had grown an extra head.

Kirito: " that's it! Your overload can open a way!"

Arata : " huh!"

He was befuddled, especially seeing they were all staring too much.

Kousuke : " with you, we can open a way through that thing!"

Muraku : " still, if we don't defeat it, it will come after us."

Hiro: " not if we held it back."

Sayaka was pulling out her USB plug as she spoke.

Sayaka: " and since we figured overload could be of help, I think it will be quite easier for us."

Ban then turned to the older blonds.

Ban: " Kirito, Kousuke, we'll take care of that thing. With Arata and Muraku's help, you both head forward. Eva, Mirai, Aya, Mizel and Yuuta you go along with them."

Mirai: " will you be alright though, against that thing?!"

Hiro: " don't worry about us!"

Elie: " you have to take that server down before it's too late."

Kirito's brow furrowed, however, his head bobbed in acknowledgement.

Kirito: " go on kid!"

Arata: " alright! Let's go EX-Nova!"

EX-Nova : " aah!"

The green visors blinked brightly before the beam blade extended as the unit scurried through the tentacles, cutting them one after another.

Jin: " hurry before it charges its beams again!"

The players scurried along after EX-Nova while their LBXs and Mizel protected their backs before they managed to get to the other end safely.

Astray: " press on it now!"

The other units attack all at once, doing their best to keep the large crimson robot from following after their friends whom sped down the corridor. However, what they didn't see coming is for the huge thing to spew out small spinning plates that flew around and slashed at them.

Sayaka: " what...!"

Elie: " what are those things!"

Hiro: " it's the same as sword bits!"

Ryan& Jennifer: " Bugs!"

They both narrowed their eyes as their partners chased after the rampaging small things.

Jin: " Bugs?"

Ryan: " just like Hiro-san said, they are projectiles acting the same as the swords bits. Their purpose is to distract us."

Jennifer: " and they're damn annoying as well! We'll have to take care of them too!"

As Astray detached his blade bits and they converged on a Bug, slumming it down on the ground, Ryan turned to the brunette.

Ryan: " Jennifer and I will deal with those things! You focus on the main body!"

Sayaka: " don't forget we still got the whips here!"

She reminded as Jeanne d'Arc hardly avoided one.

Sayaka: " tsk, even with my overload emulator, it's all I can do to defend."

Minerva: " isn't it time you use your thing, Hiro!"

Hiro: " just give me a moment!"

Yet Achilles was ensnared in the whips and restrained before the Bugs made for him, chopping down his arm.

The machine charged its laser again, prompting the players to duck down at it charged. AS they came back up, most of their LBXs were flung at the walls roughly and began sizzling from the impact. Exceed scrambled onto his leg.

Exceed: " tsk! It's tough!"...


At the same time, Kirito and the rest were tearing through one corridor after the other at high speed to get into the server room in time. Their priority was to get through, so many unfinished LBXs were chasing after them. Aya and Mirai did their best to cover for their back and to hold the Troys and Killer Droid at bay while the other focused on opening a way through.

Kousuke : " we're there!"

He announced upon approaching a shutter door at the very end of the hallway.

Kousuke : " Mizel! Blow it apart!"

Mizel: " Attack function: Jet Striker!"

His jet form tore a hole through the metal of the door before he opened it for the humans. Arata, Muraku, Mirai, Yuuta and Aya stayed outside to face off their enemies. Their eyes went wide upon realizing two new Killer Gear have joined them.

Mirai: " give me a break! Strike! Hissatsu Function!"

" Attach Function: Freedom Beam!"

The laser halted the Troys before Genesis finished most of them with his Dimension Zero. Aya used Laser Cutter to keep the Killer Droids at bay while EX-Nova engaged with the golden Killer Gears.

Inside, Mizel quickly plumped on a terminal and placed his hand on it before it glowed in red.

Evangeline : " I'm impressed how you're able to fake Leviathan's access with just those traces."

She said taking a seat and so did the other two men.

Mizel: " I can teach you that trick any other time. Right now we have to take the server down."

Kirito: " we're right on it!"

His fingers were typing away on the keys at an incredible speed while the LBXs stood guard by their sides.

The three of them focused on their screens as each knew exactly what he or she was required to do. Their time was limited and their enemy was upon them. There was no room for the slightest mistake.

Kousuke : " I'll show you all how I'll get my company back..."

He muttered to himself...


As she hit the enter key, the codes rolled once before her and then the screen showed a ' Completed' message much to her relief.

Jun'ichirou : " this is..."

He said as he peeked from behind her.

Haruka : " a freezing program. It will allow us to prevent the fire wall from changing. However, it must be brought through the fire wall once. We just need to crack it open for once to get this thing through."

" Then you can leave that to us."

Yamaneko's smirking face appeared on her screen.

Yamaneko: " I'll load that program and take care of delivering it to the main system. The Hackers Corp and Otacross will be taking care of cracking down the fire wall."

Otacross : " it won't be easy deyo~. Even with my speed I hardly can keep up with it deyo~."

Yamaneko : " it's unlike you to admit defeat so early, Ota-jii."

The boy snorted to witch a vine twitched on the old man's forehead.

Yamaneko : " don't worry, we've got someone who might be just what we need."

Another tab appeared, and the person on it had bright blue hair and brown eyes that glistened from behind a pair of glasses.

Haruka: " you're..."

Sakura: " the imposter from Artemis!"

Takuya: " Minamo Naoki! Why are you...?!"

The boy merely pushed his glasses up the bridge of his nose.

Naoki: " you require my assistance don't you."

Jun'ichirou leaned on as to look closely at the boy.

Jun'ichirou : " Minamo Naoki-kun, your intel gathering and analyzing is quite astonishing not to say the least. With your help, cracking down the security for a moment won't be a hard feat. Are you willing to lend us your help?"

Naoki: " I don't think I would be making this very call if I were not. And it's better if we get started on work."

He said cracking his fingers and embarking on typing away.

Naoki: " Yamaneko, have your lackeys ready. It will be so much work gathering the data and cleaning it."

Yamaneko : " you heard him guys, all hands ready to type."

Naoki: " also, the old man over there. Be ready too, you need to type the key just as I send it to you, a moment's delay will mean we'll have to redo everything."

Sakura: " Otacross-san would never tarry a bit!"

She defended him.

Haruka: " Yamaneko, I've send you the freezing program."

Yamaneko : " got it alright."

Another screen at the end of the R&D room showed footages from the infinity net where Bloody Ribbon was loading something in its gun. Right in front of it, they could all see a wall of flames rising and surging upwards, blocking whoever might think of advancing.

Yamaneko: " You can begin now, Naoki."

Naoki: " I'm way ahead of you... researching the pattern and analyzing them... calculating the best root... "

His eyes kept darting between all the tabs that kept popping on his screens, curves, numbers, bits and sets of data. All of which thoroughly scanned and then send to him by the Hackers Corp. All he had to do was to analyze them and predict the next key.

Naoki: " there you go! Don't miss it!"

Otacross : " I won't deyo~!"

As soon as he got it, Otacross tapped away on his terminal and they all could see the blue flame wall fading away slightly.

Haruka: " now! Yamaneko!"

Yamaneko: " gotcha!"

Bloody Ribbon shot her gun and a blue dart phased through the blazing fire. It was all in the span of a few seconds.

A moment later, they glimpsed something shining brightly from behind the wall of fire and the flames reduced slightly.

Sakura: " Now is your chance, Otacross-san! You can do it!"

Otacross : " for Sakura-tan deyo deyo deyo deyo~!"

His fast typing on the keyboard could not be followed, nor his face could be read. The flames were completely put out and they were all granted access to the main server of Dream Future.

Kirino: " you did it!"

Otacross : " it was nothing at al-"

Haruka: " it was thanks to you, Naoki-kun, we appreciate your aid."

The boy smirked proudly at that.

Otacross : " what about me deyo~..."

He said sending rivers of tears at being ignored.

Rina: " Otacross-san, we're not done. We have yet to disable the server."

Otacross : " whatever..."

He halfheartedly resumed his typing on the keyboard...


Gouda cursed under his breath when his LBX was shot for the forth time. It was a miracle Hakai-O was still standing even though pieces of his armor had fallen down.

Sendou: " for god's sake! Isn't there a way to get rid of this monster!"

The ground shook again one more time, almost making them lose balance. As they looked back, they could see the huge tank proceeding forward slowly. The whole area quaked along with it.

Pandora: " that's bad!"

Queen: " it's heading towards Touko and the rest!"

Vampire Cat: " hold it back!"

Not even their doubled efforts could slow it down.

Jessica: " hurry up and evacuate this place!"

Everyone jumped to their feet, ready to get away. Ami alone stayed where she was, her eyes focused on the huge tank.

Jessica: " what are you doing, Ami."

Ami: " hold on, there is something I want to check first!"

She said ordering her LBX to dart forward, Pandora trusted her player and sprung towards the huge tank. Upon being targeted with the huge cannons, she quickly changed her course to the side, the smaller cannons on the side of the tank aimed at her, but she was quick to avoid them and get out of range.

Ami : " as I thought!"

Lillia: " what's it?"

Ami: " that huge thing can't turn around!"

Touko: " eh!"

Ruri however widened her eyes at that piece of information and promptly searched for her laptop in her bag.

Ami: " I just remembered something Ryuu mentioned before about Bulds. The more armor and weapons you add to them the harder it's for them to turn around. That's why he always kept his Buld equipped with the minimum. I thought it may be the same for the tank and I was right."

Jessica looked back at the huge mass of green metal advancing towards them at a slow pace.

Jessica: " true for that, the weight makes it hard to move quickly or even turn."

Ruri: " we can use that to our advantage!"

Everyone looked back at her as she sat on the ground, typing hastily on the computer.

Ruri : " because it can't change its course, it's relaying on side pivoting cannons. However, even those ought to have a limitation to how much they could turn. If we could find the blind spot in its defense."

Asuka: " we can get closer and defeat it! I liked the idea!"

Ruri: " however, we need to keep attacking again and again for me to find it!"

Ken: " don't worry, we'll press upon it with all our might! You heard that, Ranger!"

His purple eyes shone with light as he held up his bow and started raining his arrows at the big tank.

Ranger: " Roger that, master!"

KeQing: " remember! We don't have to attack, save your hissatsus for later!"

" Roger!"

Ruri's eyes didn't part with the screen as while using Valkyrie to gather the needed data.

Ruri: " I'm not letting that thing get past us."...


To say they were holding just fine would be a lie. Even though Astray and Zeon somehow managed to rid them of the first wave of Bugs, still they didn't escape harm. As a matter of fact, none of them did. Minerva, Achilles and Jean D'arc laid down motionlessly on the ground. All they could do at the end was glare furiously at the machine brandishing its whips in the air, defiantly daring them to approach it.

Elie: " if we just could find out a weakness..."

Beargguy: " damn it!"

He shot randomly at the huge thing only for a tentacle to flung upon him and send him flying back with a crack on his face. The unit then never came back up.

Elie: " Beargguy !"

Ban: " tsk!"

Ran: " how can we get past it."

Jennifer's eyes however shot wide open before she touched the side of her goggles. A moment later she span to her father.

Jennifer: " Papa! It's sparking!"

Jin: " eh?"

His eyes darted back to the crimson metallic body, and true for her words, he could see a faint spark of electricity beneath one of the shield.

Jin: " that's..."

Jennifer: " the muzzle for its beam cannons."

She informed.

Ryan: " so, they're not coated in D particles from the inside, right."

He presumed.

Jennifer: " definitely. If use them, we can defeat it from the inside."

Exceed: " I hate to dash your hopes down but we can't get any closer to shoot them. Beargguy's shot just now was just a fluke. "

Jin " and with our current situation..."

He looked back at the fallen units and the cracked ones still standing.

Hiro and Sayaka clicked their tongues as they retrieved their damaged LBXs.

Ban bit his lip as he took in their condition. Unless they do something they will be beaten up and that thing will go after Mizel and the rest.

Ban: ' I can't let that happen. In this case... it's all or nothing...'

Ban: " Jin, I will be taking full control of Exceed."

Jin: " what are you thinking of, Ban-"

His eyes became wide open as he caught the flash of red glow arounds his iris.

Jin: " you..."

Ban: " unless we finish this off, everything will be for nothing! I'm not letting that happen!"

As a response to him, Exceed's visors brightened.

Ban: " go! Exceed!"

The unit sped through the rampaging batches of tentacles, barely any of them brushing against him. Ban's input on his CCM wasn't to be missed either, it was too fast not to be noticed.

Ryan: " dad..."

Jin: " Ban-kun, that's..."

Ban: " explanations is for later! I will open a way for you, focus your attacks on the muzzels!"

" Alright!"

Exceed grasped his swords tightly and swiftly cut through the tentacles he passed by, reducing their numbers significantly.

Ryan: " I can see it now! The path through!"

Jennifer: " finish it off!"

Zeon shot at the beam cannon while Astray used his bits to slash at them. Smoke rose from underneath the shields and the main body swayed slightly.

Ban: " Hissatsu Function!"

" Attack Function: Lightning Blade!"

Exceed used the sword wrapped in lightning to slash at the main body, the rest followed him using their hissatsus and not before long, the machine fell to the ground with a huge crack revealing its interior.

Ban breathed out before he staggered backward for a moment, almost losing balance.

Ryan: " dad!"

Hiro: " Ban-san!"

They hurried to support him and he turned back with a thankful smile.

Elie: " are you alright?!"

Ban: " don't worry, just a spell of dizziness. I will be fine eventually."

Jin: " still..."

Ban: " right now we better catch up with Kirito and the rest. They may be in need of help."

Begrudgingly, they agreed and jumped over the remains of the crimson robot on their way to rejoin their friends...


Meanwhile, Ruri's eyes shot wide open as the data analyzing was over.

Ruri: " Found it!"

Momona : " show us!"

They hurriedly mobbed around her laptop as she showed them a picture of the big tank.

Ruri: " down there, underneat its tentacles thingies! The cannons could never reach there! Plus, if we could destroy those things, this whole weapon won't be able to move anymore. It had been dragging itself using them for the whole time!"

Gouda: " so we could seal it if we cut those legs down. I'm on in it!"

Jessica: " yet, it'll still be able to shoot won't it!"

Ruri: " not if we destroy it from the inside."

" Eh?"

Ruri showed them another picture she got from Valkyrie. It was of the small wheels underneath the huge machine's main body.

Ruri: " there is an opening there, you see it. An LBX can get through. We would be able to stop it totally if we destroy its interior. However, I don't know how long that would take. Preventing it from reaching the city is our top priority right now."

Touko: " true. Then, Jessica, Lillia, Gouda, Gendou, Ken and Ruri will take care of those legs. Meanwhile, Asuka, Momona, Wataru and I will get inside and wreck havoc within that thing. The rest keep it distracted as long as possible."

" Understood!"

The LBXs made a dash for the tank. Touko and Jessica's teams made it underneath the gigantic tentacles with much difficulties. Queen and the rest slipped easily through the small opening while the others picked each one ginormous leg.

Gouda: " how to destroy those huge things now?"

Ami: " remember, no matter how huge it's. If you damage its joints it's over."

Jeanne D: " joints... there its!"

She said showed Jessica the picture of the metallic part with wires surrounding it.

Touko: " everyone! Let's go!"

" Ah! Hissatsu Function!"

" Attack Function: Sho Gao Cannon!"

" Attack Function: Thundering Rex!"

" Attack Function: Starward Sword!"

" Attack Function: Flame Vortex!"

" Attack Function: Side Winder 8!"

" Attack Function: Holy Lance!"

Their finishing blows took down the joints almost immediately. There was a loud crunching as the tank could no more move and its legs gave to their weight.

Gouda: " yosha!"

Sendou: " it's not done yet!"

He reminded him as Nightmare cloned himself and lunged at the main sensor.

Sendou: " keep it distracted, remember!"

At the same time, the other team was venturing deep withing the great armored vehicle.

Asuka: " it's like a whole facility in the inside."

Dot Phasor tried slashing at its walls but not the smallest dent was left behind.

Dot Phasor: " tsk, as tough as its outside."

Ami: " you have to get to its motor!"

She tipped them off, using Pandora's thermical vision to scan the tank and sending them the results.

Momona: " it's that part in red, right."

Wataru: " I see. We take its motor down, it will be no longer functional."

Vampire Cat: " then what are you waiting for! Follow me!"

However, as soon as he jumped to the next path, he was intercepted and send flying down again by a Gafran.

Asuka: " tsk! That guy again!"

He jumped down, followed by two Troys.

Odin M: " they don't intend to let us through!"

Momona: " be it as they want! Go! Dot Phasor!"

" Attack Function: Assault Strike!"

Wataru: " Odin!"

" Attack Function: Gungunir!"

Asuka: " don't forget me!"

" Attack Function: Devil Soul!"

Their hissatsus converged on the larger unit and it was destroyed in a moment. Queen on the other hand was dodging and shooting the Troys to keep them at bay.

Queen: " let's use it, Touko!"

Touko's smirk broadened.

Touko: " you don't have to tell me! Hissatsu Function!"

" Attack Function: The Tower!"

It seemed as though Queen was raised up on a great tower, that made the two LBXs halt on their tracks. Queen shot at the sky and called forth three forks of lighting which befalled on her enemies, scorching them.

Touko: " easy!"

Momona: " awesome!"

Asuka: " where did you get that hissatsu?"

Touko: " oh, Mizel made it for me."

" Eh?"

Touko: " that's actually my soccer special move. I told Mizel to replicate it into a hissatsu."

Momona: " cool!"

Jessica: " guys! Hello! Monstrous tank trying to blow us off!"

Touko: " oh, my apologies! Let's wrap things here!"

They proceeded through the small vents, cutting their way through batches of Troys and finally reaching the huge motor running the whole thing.

Wataru: " we need to destroy it right!"

Asuka: " yosh! Let's go wild!"

The four LBXs lunged at the cote, delivering one attack after another, breaking the gears and scattering the screws all around. One the outside, they could all notice the movement of the cannons jamming and fume was rising from the weapon's creavies.

Queen: " let's finish it off. Everyone! Get back!"

Touko: " Hissatsu Function!"

" Attack Function: Grace Missile!"

The finally attack was enough to ignite a series of explosion all through the whole tank. The four LBXs managed to get out in time as the whole gigantic weapon crumbled and collapsed in multiple explosion in front lf the players. Jessica and Touko breathed out in relief while the rest exchanged high fives and smiles of excitement...


" Big Tank. Rafflesia. Destruction confirmed."

Jinn rubbed his goat beard with a bemused smirk.

Jinn: " even though it wasn't out of our expectations. I have to admit they impressed me."

Knight: " it's fun to see them struggling not to say the least. However, seeing them in dispair would be much more interesting don't you think."

Jinn: " my exact same thoughts."

He clicked his fingers and a hologram screen appeared in front of them. One with an huge red egg bearing Leviathan's significant mark.

Jinn: " it's about time, master."

The egg began to crack...


Evangeline : " all back up servers, cut off!"

Kirito: " protection is down. Access authorized."

They both then turned to Kousuke who was staring at his screen with an indifferent face.

Kirito: " Kousuke. It's yours. You shut it all down."

Kousuke: " I don't need you to tell me."

His finger hovered for a moment over the okay button before hitting it.

" Entering emergency mode. Deleting all data. Shutting down main server."

The screens before them blinked in red with the words ' system shutdown.'

Kousuke: " with this, Kamiya Craft's finished for."

Eva and Kirito refrained from saying anything. No matter how much they wanted to comfort him, they knew he wouldn't want to hear any of it.

Kirito took out his CCM to report.

Kirito: " we've shut down Goliath."

Takuya: " well done. Here too, Otacross managed to take down Dream Future's server."

A weak whatever could be heard from the other side.

Evangeline : " all is left now is for William to wake Minerva-"

She was cut off as a Killer Droid was thrown into the room, all cracked and wrecked.

Ban: " are you guys alright?"

He said stepping inside followed by all the rest.

Kousuke: " maybe if you take care not to throw your enemy at us the next time."

Ban gave an apologetic smile.

Sayaka: " so?"

Kousuke: " as you can see, all the systems are down."

He pointed at the red screens behind him.

Evangeline : " Otacross-san took care of Dream Future too."

Hiro: " then let's tell William-san."

Just as he proceeded to contact the older male, his eyes widened. A moment later, all colors were drained of his face.

Mirai : " Hiro...?"

Ran: " is something wrong, did you see something?"

Hiro slowly turned to face Ban with a dreading look.

Hiro: " Lilyan-san and William-san..."...