Part 4:
Through Many Tears, The Reality of Your Fate is Shown.
Chapter 3:
The Gears of Foresight


Kana's and Chris' POVs:
Chris and Kana's Apartment


After the events of Val Verde, the Wielders that still had to deal with School life returned to Japan, with the rest scheduled to arrive in Japan soon after.

Of course, seeing they all put life and limb on the line in their fights against the Alchemists, the Wielders were ready for some much-deserved sleep in their homes: Hibiki with her best friend Miku, the Zababa duo who remained in the Astral Plane's residence under the care of Nastassja and Lilith, and Kana, who has promoted from the less-than-ideal bed that was the couch to officially sharing the bedroom with her girlfriend, Chris. It was awkward for them at first, but over the summer, they've come to understand how Miku and Hibiki can manage it. However, tonight specifically, the Dragon Princess seemed uneasy within her slumber...


Kana's Dream


For how many times she's woken up in the Château de Tiffauges, she's become accustomed to the events that followed. However, upon closer inspection of her surroundings following her transformation into the Yato Gear, there was something very different from before...

"That's... Odd..." Kana thought to herself. "The Autoscorers aren't here... But, why?"

Despite the change, Kana kept her guard up. And when nothing happened, she lowered it only slightly. "Did... Did my dream change because we defeated Carol?" Kana thought again, but that only led to more questions. "Actually, is this really just a dream, anymore? Every time I show up here, something from this 'dream' happens later on in real life. I dreamt about the Autoscorers, they came alongside Carol and they came after us. I dreamt about an evil 'me', and she nearly slaughtered us. But after they were defeated, they stopped appearing..."

Kana thought about this as she began to walk through the now silent halls. As she walked, she began to notice what looked like debris forming ahead. Naturally, she assumed that meant the part of the dream with the destroyed city was coming, but the scene never changed. Confused by this, she investigated the increasing amounts of debris present in the Château until she found a massive opening in the side of the hallway.

Reaching the opening, she saw a sight that both confused her and surprised her: She saw the destroyed city, but instead of the five silhouettes, she saw what appeared to be herself and the other Wielders fighting the Alchemists from Val Verde. "This... This isn't how it's happened before..." Kana told herself. "I was alone before. And there was a giant figure... What is going on?!"

"Show me... What is it about you that the Director finds so fascinating!" A familiar voice called out to Kana from within the Château, but when she looked for its source, no one was to be found.

"The Director?"

"Quit wasting everyone's time and just spill it!" Another, more masculine voice demanded, with no clue as to where it came from either. "Show me your true power!"

"Hello-" Kana began to speak before suddenly and unexpectedly letting out a massive cough she didn't know she had which sent her straight to the ground. When the coughing stopped, she looked in her hand to see that she had vomited blood. "Wh-What the hell?"

Seeing the blood, Kana's body started to fail her and her breathing became sharp and rapid. However, as her mind began to race with the sudden serious injuries, she heard a new noise: A ringing noise. Unlike the voices, she was able to spot the source of the ringing, which was none other than an old-fashioned phone near the edge of the opening in the Château.

Despite the pain she was in, she did her best to crawl towards the phone, successfully managing to force it off the housing and laying herself close enough to hear it. At first, all she could make out was static, but she couldn't tell if that was because of her mysterious injuries causing her hearing to fail, or if it was the phone itself. Thankfully, she wouldn't have to wait long to find out as a voice started to cut in and out of the phone. "K...ui...eas...p...me..." The voice said, sounding almost like that of a child.

While she didn't want to try and cause another painful cough by speaking, Kana tried her best to speak into the receiver. "H-Hello...? Wh-who is this...?" She whispers.

The voice on the other end couldn't be heard through the static, but Kana was able to make out the last words they said. "...Help me!" They pleaded before the receiver went completely silent. No static, no audio, nothing.

Kana thought about what she was able to hear. "'Help me'?"

Suddenly, as if on cue, the floor beneath Kana started to crack before finally giving way and forcing her into a freefall to the ground below. However, on her descent, she noticed a giant ball of light with a small silhouette inside of it, which caused her to try and squint her eyes to see if she could make out exactly who it was. But as her vision started to focus on the silhouette, the person inside the ball started to stand up, before eventually letting out a massive scream that was unlike anything she had ever heard.

The scream was so loud and powerful, it forced Kana away from the ball, leaving her already broken body to deal with the shockwaves and break even more. Of course, this new pain made Kana let out a massive scream as well. "GAAH! MAKE IT STOP!" She screams.

As if something was listening to her request, the screaming stopped. And, as an added bonus, Kana was no longer falling to an inevitable face full of concrete. Once she was able to gather her thoughts, she moved to the best of her current lack of ability to get her face out of whatever it was currently stuck in. After some struggle, she managed to see light again, but something was off...

When she looked at the "ground" she was on, she realized it wasn't ground at all, but rather, a hand. This, of course, caused the badly damaged Dragon Princes to try and flip herself over to see who or what she was in the hand of, and once she caught a glimpse of who/what it was, she was filled with fear: It was the giant silhouette from her first dream. "You?" She whispered. "What... Are you...?"

The giant did not answer, at least, not with a response Kana would've liked. Instead, the giant started to close their hand, with the other hand coming over as well. Needless to say, it didn't take Kana long to realize what was about to happen. "No... Stop." Kana tried to say, only for her words to fail to reach the giant. "Please... STOP-" Kana tried to scream, but she was silenced as the giant's hands began to crush her broken form.

"STOP!"


"STOP!" Kana screams as she flails out of bed and onto the floor of the apartment, screaming and flailing so loudly, it finally woke up Chris, who was horrified by what she was seeing.

"Kana!" Chris yells as she gets out of bed and runs over to her girlfriend's side. "Hey, snap out of it!" As if second nature, Chris slapped Kana hard enough to where she finally stopped screaming.

With that slap, Kana's screaming turned into quick breaths as she finally woke up from her nightmare of a dream in a cold sweat. "Hah... Hah... Hah... C-Chris?" Kana asks, receiving a concerned nod from her partner. "Wh-What happened?"

"What do you mean 'What happened'? You were screaming as if you were being murdered!" Chris exclaims. "If anything, I should be the one asking you what happened."

Kana recomposed herself before letting out a chuckle. "Oh, sorry... I was just having that dream again." Kana says. "It's nothing, really."

Chris stared at her girlfriend with a deadpan expression. "...I'm not buying it, Kana. I've seen your reactions to having that dream, and you've never had a reaction like you just did." She says. "So, what actually happened?"

Kana's calm façade dropped immediately, being replaced by one that was a lot more solemn. "Fine... You win..." Kana proceeded to tell Chris what happened in her dream, sparing no details, much to the shock of Chris.

"Holy shit..." Chris murmurs. "I mean, yeah, your normal recurring dream is still very screwed up, but still..."

"Yeah..." Kana agrees. "And of course this only happens after we get back home after finding more Alchemists in Val Verde..."


Flashback:
Val Verde


After having dealt with Yohualtepuztli and regrouping with the other Wielders, Kana and the others were standing face-to-face with Saint-Germain and the other Alchemists. "The remnants of Finé's legacy, the Symphogears." Saint-Germain said. "However, that power cannot release humanity into the future."

"You know Finé?" Maria asked, surprised to hear that name again. "And what do you mean by 'releasing humanity'?"

"She sounds just like Ryoko-san." Hibiki said. "Are they planning to release humanity from the Curse of Balal?"

"Is that your end goal in all of this?" Tsubasa asked Saint-Germain.

Saint-Germain didn't answer Tsubasa's question. "Cagliostro. Prelati. We're leaving."

"We've lost Yohualtepuztli, after all." Cagliostro agreed.

"Basically, we need to regroup." Prelati added.

"We've spent our time, and our lives, to return the future to human hands..." Saint-Germain stated as she pulled out a crystal that the Wielders were all too familiar with how it worked. "None can stop our advance... Not even you, Kana Kamui." Saint-Germain glared directly at Kana when saying that last part.

Kana was surprised that Saint-Germain specifically called her out by name. "What's that supposed to mean?" Kana asks. However, the Alchemists vanished from sight before they could be questioned further. "Wait!"


"...Why did she specifically call me out before they disappeared?" Kana thought aloud. "I mean, sure, I'm a jack of all trades on the battlefield and can support everyone with ease thanks to it, but that didn't feel like it was a tactical threat, but a personal one... But, why?"

Chris sighs. "I... I don't know..." She said. "But here's what I do know: It'll be a cold day in hell when I sit idly by and watch someone kill you over what could very well be some petty grudge. I'm sure the same could be said of nearly everyone else at S.O.N.G. easily, especially the idiot and the geezer."

Kana chuckles at Chris. "You're right... And, Chris, thank you..."

"Hey, I may not show my softer side often, but I'll always be there if you need someone to talk to." Chris says.

"Likewise." Kana replies, before she begins to turn red with embarrassment. "But, I was mainly thanking you for waking me up from that nightmare... Hehe..." This, in turn, made Chris' face go red as well.


Saint-Germain's POV:
Alchemist Hideout


Following the events of Val Verde, the Alchemists left the country and returned to their hideout in a resort hotel in Japan. Cagliostro and Prelati were away, dealing with other matters, which meant Saint-Germain was left to deal with the more important task amongst them: Awakening Tiki.


"Tiki is an Autoscorer, created for the purpose of charting the movements of the planets on a star map."


Saint-Germain lifted her hand over the unmoving Autoscorer, removing the chest-plating while simultaneously levitating a relic the Alchemists had gathered previously, breaking it loose from the stone it was encased in.


"Even though she was put into stasis to preserve her secrets, this Antikythera Gear will reboot her, and she will awaken once more."


Saint-Germain then proceeded to place the Gear into Tiki's chest cavity, before closing the plating over it. Once she did, the Autoscorer's visor lit up, levitating off of the helmet it was placed on and creating several maps of the stars and the various constellations within them before returning to the helmet they resided on.

Moments later, Tiki's body began to twitch, before she eventually sat upright and took off the mysterious eye-shaped visor. She let out a sigh as she did. "It's been a long time, Tiki." Saint-Germain says to the Autoscorer.

The Autoscorer glanced over at the Alchemist, before her face lit up with child-like wonder. "Saint-Germain!" Tiki said. "Even after 400 years have passed, you haven't changed a bit!"

"Yes." Saint-Germain says. "While the times have changed, I myself have not."

"So you're still going about that gloomy 'releasing humanity from the bonds that control it' stuff?" Tiki asked as she got out of bed. "That's good. I'm glad to see you're doing well."

"It seems you haven't changed at all either, Tiki." Saint-Germain replies.

With their reunion out of the way, Tiki started to look around the room, looking for someone important. "By the way, where's Adam?" She asked. "Without my beloved Adam, I can't remain myself!"

As if her whining plea was some sort of cue, the balcony's blinds flew open, revealing an old-fashioned telephone on the railing. Despite the fact that it wasn't plugged into any outlets, the phone was ringing, which confused the Autoscorer. Saint-Germain, unfazed by the phone's random appearance, walks over to it, taking the phone off of the housing. "Director?"

"What's that? Is it connected to Adam?" Tiki asked as she took the phone from Saint-Germain's hand and held it in the opposite way that she just held it. "Adam? Are you there?"

"It's been so long since I've heard that voice!" Adam exclaimed through the phone.

"It is Adam!" Tiki cheered, before holding the phone the correct way. "It's me! Tiki, the girl who can do anything for you!"

"You're as boisterous as ever, huh?" Adam said. "But why don't we talk more later?"

"Aww, Adam, you're so cold!" Tiki exclaimed. "I love that about you, too, though." Tiki then proceeded to hand the phone back to Saint-Germain, pouting as she did.

"I'm sorry, Director." Saint-Germain says. "Our experiment to attain divine power succeeded, but we were unable to maintain it, and it disappeared."

"Those things Finé left, the Symphogears, are truly accursed." Adam scoffed.

"Our creation was by all means invincible, and yet they tore through it with a single coordinated strike that was parallel to that of pseudo-godhood." Saint-Germain reports. "We need to devote time into the inner workings of this mechanism."

"How they managed something like that is not important." Adam stated. "All we need to focus our efforts into is destroying the Symphogears."

"...Understood." Saint-Germain hesitantly replies. "Cagliostro and Prelati have gone ahead and are working on a plan to destroy them. I shall join them immediately."

"One last thing, Germain." Adam said. "Deal with the other Symphogears as you see fit, but leave her alive."

"When you say her, Director..."

"I believe it should be obvious who I'm referring to." Adam said, before the phone went silent.


Tsubasa and Serena's POVs:
Japan Airspace


With their business in Val Verde with the U.N. concluded, Kanade, Tsubasa, Maria, and Serena took a plane back to Japan with the intel that they've gathered to give to S.O.N.G. HQ. Tsubasa and Serena took in the view of Japan's skies while Maria kept herself preoccupied with a book... And Kanade took a nap...

"The plane will be landing shortly." The plane's pilot announced over the intercom. "Please fasten your seatbelts-" Suddenly, the plane shook violently, cutting off the pilot's speech and startling the Wielders.

"Eh? What was that?" Kanade groggily asked as she began to wake up. Once she fully woke up, she looked outside the window on her and Maria's side of the plane to see red smoke pluming from the wing, as well as the cause of said smoke. "...Shit..."

"Alca-Noise?" Tsubasa and Serena gasp.


"Hehehe. A clean hit!" Cagliostro cheered, watching the Alca-Noise swarm the Wielders' plane from atop one of the airport's towers. "Now for the second and third attacks!"

"Basically, the bigger the fireworks, the warmer the welcome." Prelati added.


"They attacked just as we're landing, when we're the most vulnerable." Maria stated.

"Does that mean they followed us to Japan?" Tsubasa thought aloud.

Suddenly, an explosion erupted from the side of the plane, creating a hole large enough to force air out of the cabin they were in, as well as suck out any loose articles in said cabin. "The case!" Quickly, Maria rushed over to the briefcase they were supposed to bring back to S.O.N.G. HQ, grabbing it just before it flew outside... Unfortunately taking her with it...

"Crap!" Kanade shouted. "Tsubasa! Serena!"

"Way ahead of you!" Serena answers for the both of them as they pull out their Gear pendants. "Just get out of the plane before it explodes!" Kanade nodded before jumping through the same opening that Maria flew out of.


"Imyuteus Ame no Habakiri tron"


(Gekka Bijin begins to play)

As Serena and Tsubasa transformed, the plane was bombarded with Alca-Noise and completely exploded. "Tsubasa!/Serena!" Kanade and Maria shouted, concerned for their allies.

However, there was no need to worry as Serena and Tsubasa emerged from the smoke of the destroyed plane and began to immediately lay waste to the flying Alca-Noise.


"Special Flight 206 has stopped responding!" Sakuya reported.

"The Wielders managed to escape, But..."

"They're about to crash into the sea!" Ogawa said, finishing Aoi's report.

"Tsubasa! Serena-kun! Catch Maria-kun and Kanade and brace for impact on the water!" Genjuro ordered to the active Wielders.


"We're not about to let that happen!" Prelati said, seeing the inactive Wielders escaping the horde of Alca-Noise.

"Time for another attack!" Cagliostro cheered.


On their orders, the Alca-Noise dashed towards the descending Kanade and Maria, only for most of them to get hacked and slashed apart by Tsubasa and Serena. Despite this, some stragglers were able to get past them, forcing the Wielders to fire off several daggers and various beams of energy. Even with their barrages, they were unable to halt the Alca-Noise's advance.


"Maria-san! Kanade-san!" Elfnein gasped.

"Accelerate your descent to avoid them!" Genjuro ordered, which Kanade and Maria didn't hesitate to do, allowing them to barely avoid being disintegrated by the Alca-Noise. With that, Genjuro then turned to Lilith. "Lilith-kun!"

"Way ahead of you, Commander!" Lilith replied as she vanished with a flash of light.


"Grab Maria and keep going!" Tsubasa says to Serena, who nods before doing so.

Quickly, the Wielders grabbed Maria and Kanade, but while Serena kept falling, Tsubasa stops her rapid descent and aims her sword skyward, calling down One Thousand Tears to annihilate the remaining Alca-Noise.

As this happened, Lilith warped next to Serena. "Grab on, Serena!" She said, holding out her hand. Serena quickly grabs Lilith's hand as the three women vanish from the skies as quickly as Lilith arrived.

Meanwhile, with the Alca-Noise taken care of, Tsubasa braces herself for impact with the water, successfully managing to land on its surface as she bridal carried Kanade to the closest piece of land for Lilith to pick them up. "Heh... To think I'd be the one being carried like this between the two of us first..." Kanade teased, which made the Swordswoman blush.


"They're pretty resilient, basically..." Prelati stated, watching Tsubasa and Kanade escape the scene.

"As much as I hate to say it, I think we have no choice but to wait for Saint-Germain to get here before we can continue this..." Cagliostro sighed.


S.O.N.G. HQ


Once the Wielders of Zwei Wing reached land, they quickly met up with Lilith before regrouping with the agents, Serena, Maria, and Genjuro in HQ. "Well, talk about a warm welcome, huh?" Kanade joked, to which no one so much as let out a chuckle. "...Um... You can put me down now, Tsubasa..."

"Oh! Right." Tsubasa replies, quickly placing Kanade on her feet before reverting her Gear's transformation. "Sorry, I was lost in thought."

"About that attack, right?" Serena asks, getting a nod from Tsubasa.

"Who were they after just then?" Tsubasa thought aloud. "Were they after us? Or were they after our cargo?"


Hibiki's POV:
S.O.N.G. HQ


Following the attack earlier, the other Wielders were alerted and called to meet up at HQ. Of course, with how concerned they were for the four older Wielders, the others ran into the command center as fast as they could. "Dess! Dess! Deeessss!" Kirika cheered as she jumped at Maria and gave her a big hug.

"You don't have to make such a big deal out of it." Maria chuckled, touched by the Igalima Wielder's welcoming embrace. "We got all the intel the Val Verde government had right here."

"That's not what we were worried about!" Kana interjected.

"Yeah! You were attacked by the enemy, right?" Hibiki adds. "I'm just glad you're all safe!"

"Sorry for making you all worry just after our return." Tsubasa apologized.

"I appreciate that you were concerned about us, though!" Kanade said, ruffling Hibiki's hair playfully. "But rest assured, it'll take a bit more than some petty sneak attack to knock us out."

"Unfortunately, we can't relax just yet." Genjuro interjected. "Take a look at this."

Genjuro pointed to the monitor in the back of the command center. Seconds later, a screen showed up with several different pictures of a masked figure within a chunk of amber. "What is that?" Kana asked.

"This is a doll we photographed during our raid of a Val Verde government facility." Aoi answered.

"Really? An Autoscorer?" Hibiki asks.

"But, why did Val Verde's government have one of those things just lying around?" Kana thought aloud.

"During the last Great War, Germany gathered many relics to use as a replacement for fossil fuels." Genjuro stated. "Several of them were brought to its ally, Japan, for research purposes."

"Like mine and Kanade-san's Gungnir?" Hibiki asks.

"As well as the Nehushtan Armor and Yukine's Ichaival." Tsubasa said.

"It's said that many of the relics in Germany's possession were moved to South America when several high-ranking German officials fled the country after the war." Nastassja stated.

"We can assume that's how this doll found its way to Val Verde, too." Elfnein added.

"Our only chance at finding answers is to look at the classified documents found in Val Verde." Ogawa said, taking the briefcase Maria handed him.

"And, given the recent attack, it's clear that the Bavarian Illuminati has made their way to Japan." Genjuro added. "Be sure to exercise the utmost caution."

Everyone nodded, but Hibiki noticed that Chris was twirling her hair, which in turn concerned the young Gungnir Wielder for her friend. However, as much as she wanted to talk about it, she remembered that she promised to meet up with Miku once the meeting was over, and so she did just that.


In the city...


Hibiki ran as fast as she could to the place she promised to meet her best friend, and sure enough, she was right there, waiting for her. "Miku!" Hibiki shouts, getting her friend's attention. "Sorry I'm late!"

"Were the others okay?" Miku asked.

"Yeah!" Hibiki says. "I was so happy to see that they were safe!"


With that, the girls went to the nearby restaurant. Miku ordered a bowl of shaved ice while Hibiki just got a glass of tea. "So, tell me more about what you said this morning." Miku said.

"Yeah. I told you about what happened in Val Verde, right?" Hibiki asks, which Miku nodded to. "Chris-chan's been down ever since then, and Kana's seemed a bit out of it the past few days, too. I want to cheer them up somehow, but-"

"Don't even bother!" Chris interjected, surprising Hibiki greatly.

"Don't be rude, Yukine." Tsubasa said.

"Yeah, they're just worried about you two." Kanade added.

"Eh?! Tsubasa-san and Kanade-san are here, too?!" Hibiki gasps, before she turns bright red in the face upon realizing that a certain someone else was also there. "Y-You too, Kana?!"

Kana chuckled nervously. "Well, I was gonna tell you the four of us were gonna go get some drinks and see if you wanted to tag along, but you were already long gone by the time we were getting ready to head out." She said.

"B-But how did you get here before us?" Hibiki asks, to which the Dragon Princess waved her pendant and lightly swung it back and forth on its string. "...Right, I forgot about that... hehe..."

"Regardless, I'm grateful for your concern, Hibiki." Kana said. "But, if I'm being honest, most of my worries are for Chris at the moment." Chris glared at Kana as she said this.

"It's not just them, Yukine." Tsubasa added. "Everybody's worried about you."

"I'm well aware of that. But just leave me be and I'll be fine." Chris said. "I did what was necessary to save Stephan's life. If I found myself in the same situation, I'd do the same thing every time."

"...So that is your choice of justice?" Tsubasa asked.

"Yep." Chris said, reaffirming her previous statement.

"Choice of justice?" Hibiki asked, which only served as an opening Chris was looking for to change the subject.

"By the way, rumor has it that you still haven't submitted your summer homework yet!" Chris said.

Hibiki audibly gasped, having pushed the thought of it aside because of the Alchemists. "That's right! What am I gonna do, Miku?" Hibiki asks her friend.

"You'll just have to do the work, I'm afraid." Miku stated. "Just be sure to finish it before your birthday."

"Is Tachibana's birthday soon?" Tsubasa asked.

"Yes. It's on the 13th." Miku answered.

"That's less than two weeks." Chris taunted. "At this rate, you'll be spending your birthday doing homewo-"

Chris was cut off by the ringtone of Hibiki's communicator, a noise which shocked everyone. "Yes? This is Hibiki."

"Alca-Noise have been detected!" Genjuro said. "They're in Sector 19, Northwest Point A! That's close to your current location. Hurry!"

"Roger!" Hibiki says, hanging up the communicator. "Kana!"

"I overheard." Kana said. "Let's get going!"

Quickly, Hibiki, Tsubasa, and Chris held onto Kana and the four warped out of sight, leaving just Miku and Kanade in the diner. "Kanade-san? Why didn't you go with them?" Miku asked.

"I can't fight effectively with Gungnir until Elfnein-chan's able to crack that Doctor's code and mass produce more LiNKER for me and the others." Kanade stated. "But I'm sure those four can handle it. Say, you want me to walk you home? It's been a hot minute since we've been able to just hang an' all, especially since the last time we really hung out was when you helped Serena and I pack up Tsubasa's room."

Miku chuckled, remembering that day fondly despite the mess that was Tsubasa's room. "Sure. And, thank you."

"No sweat, Miku-chan!" Kanade said as the two girls left the restaurant.


Kana and Hibiki's POVs:
Sector 19


Warping to the location given to them by Genjuro, the Wielders were met with a horde of Alca-Noise awaiting them within a construction site. Seeing this, they all grabbed their pendants and transformed.


"Balwisyall nescell Gungnir tron"


(Gekishō Infinity begins to play)


The Wielders charged into battle, taking out Alca-Noise left and right. However, unbeknownst to them, they were being watched by Cagliostro and Prelati from a nearby building and were overlooking the battle.

Suddenly, a magic circle manifested behind the two. "About time you showed up." Prelati said, greeting Saint-Germain.

"Status report?" Saint-Germain asked.

"We only just lured them out." Cagliostro answered.

As Cagliostro said this, Saint-Germain pulled out a special capsule from her pocket. "It's time to test out the specialized-function prototype." She said, using her Alchemy to open the capsule to reveal a special Alca-Noise crystal. "Let's see what you're capable of." Saint-Germain threw the crystal into the construction site, the crystal bursting open and catching the attention of all of the Wielders.

"More Alca-Noise?" Tsubasa thought aloud.

"Looks like the big one's finally showing itself." Chris said, preparing her weapons to fire everything on it.

Suddenly, as the Alca-Noise stopped materializing, the world around them began to change.


"A large Alca-Noise has been sighted!" Sakuya reported as the screen became a blinding white.

However, once they finally got visual back on the battlefield, something strange happened. "They disappeared?!" Genjuro shouted.

"We can't get a visual on any of the Wielders!" Sakuya continued.

"Thankfully, we can barely get audio from their microphones!" Aoi added.

Meanwhile, Elfnein was in shock by what just happened. This Alca-Noise was unlike anything Carol had at her disposal. "An Alca-Noise that can close off space?"


As for the Wielders, they were equally as shocked when they were finally able to see where they were. "W-We were just in the middle of town!" Hibiki says.

The construction site they were in mere seconds ago was replaced with that of what appeared to be an alien planet in the depths of space. One thing remained the same from before though: Hordes of Alca-Noise charging right for them. Seeing this, Tsubasa was the first to charge in and slice as many as she could. However, unlike before when they'd just crumple into red dust, these Alca-Noise regenerated themselves. "Impossible!" Tsubasa gasped.

"Our attacks..."

"...Aren't doing anything to them!" Chris said, finishing Hibiki's sentence as the two struggled to even do damage to the Alca-Noise.

As for Kana, she leapt into the air and fired down a Full-Power Dragon Shot in hopes that maybe these Alca-Noise wouldn't be able to recover. Unfortunately for the Dragon Princess, she got the same result as Tsubasa did with her strikes and the Alca-Noise regenerated like it was nothing. "Gods... What is this place?" Kana ponders.


"Could it be Anti-Linker?" Sakuya thought aloud. "But how did they-"

"Negative." Aoi interjected. "The Wielders' compatibility values haven't changed."

"Which means the enemy's powered up their defenses instead of lowering our offenses." Genjuro stated before relaying the information to the Wielders.


"Do you four copy?" Genjuro asked.

"What the hell is going on here, Geezer?!" Chris asked.

"It seems that you're in a subspace cage created by an Alca-Noise!" Genjuro said.

"A subspace cage?" Tsubasa asked.

"The Alca-Noises' phase shift has been fractalized there, blocking the tuning caused by your impacts!" Elfnein stated.

"That's why it seems that your Gears are less powerful!" Ogawa added.

"Then, if we can amp up our own power..."

"We should be able to take down these Alca-Noise without any issues!" Kana says, finishing Hibiki's train of thought. "Which means..."

"It's time to draw our swords!" Chris said, herself and Tsubasa catching onto the duo's plan as the Wielders grabbed their pendants.


"Ignite Module! Drawn Blade!"
"Radiance Module! Awaken!"


(Gekishō Infinity (IGNITED arrangement) begins to play)

The subspace cage the four were trapped in became engulfed with red and white lights as the Wielders activated their Ignite and Radiance modules. As expected, this boost in power, alongside the boost Kana was giving the trio of Ignite Wielders, their attacks were able to destroy the Alca-Noise with ease.

"With the Ignite Module and Kamui's Yato, we're able to pierce through their defenses." Tsubasa stated. "But something's still not right..."

The other three started to notice the same thing that Tsubasa was realizing. "Is there no end to these things?" Chris shouted, starting to become annoyed at the seemingly endless horde before them.

While annoyance was the least of Kana's worries at the moment, she was starting to have a problem of her own. "Hah... Hah... We better be able to wrap this up soon... I'm not so sure how much longer I can hold out while also lending my aid to the others..." Kana thought.


Hearing about the alert, Maria and the other F.I.S. Wielders ran into the room. "With your swords drawn, your Gears will shut down once your time runs out!" Maria said to the Ignited Wielders. "Don't waste your time!"

"And don't overwork yourself, Kana!" Serena added, cheering on her adoptive sister. "The Ignite module should be able to help Hibiki-chan and the others by itself. Conserve your energy!"

While the Cadenzavna Eve sisters were cheering the Wielders on, the Zababa duo couldn't help but feel useless. "It's so frustrating that we can't help them." Shirabe said.

"Being unable to help Kana-sama and the others is the worst dess!" Kirika added.

"It's all because my progress with the LiNKER recipe isn't going fast enough..." Elfnein said, feeling just as bad that four of their Wielders are unable to be of use in battle because of her. "But... There must be something... Anything I can do to help them!"

Deciding to focus on supporting the Wielders in battle, Elfnein began to think of a solution to help the Wielders. "That new form of Alca-Noise expanded their phase shift to an entire pocket of subspace, amplifying their defenses. When it first appeared, the field took the form of a hemisphere..." When she thought about the field's first appearance, an idea formed in her head. "Everyone, can you see the center of the space you're in?"


"We observed the space to be that of a hemisphere!" Elfnein explained. "Which means it's likely that the control system is in the center!"

With that said, Chris took her guns and began to fire in every direction around herself, which the other Wielders were able to quickly avoid. "Chris! What do you think you're doing?!" Kana asks. "Firing randomly isn't gonna help us find that center."

"Which is exactly why I scattered speakers that are connected to our mic units!" Chris said. "We can use our Gears to pick up the echoes of our songs throughout this space!"

"I see!" Tsubasa said, realizing Chris' plan. "If we can use that like sonar, we can ascertain our location and the shape of this space!"

With their plan in motion, the Wielders continued fighting, allowing their songs to echo throughout the space until Chris finally noticed a figure hidden amongst the crowd. "There you are!" She shouted, firing a Mega Deth Party at the silhouette, revealing the source of their troubles.

"That's the Alca-Noise that created this space!" Kana shouts.

"That's it! Destroy it!" Elfnein shouted.

"Tachibana! Get on!" Tsubasa shouted, holding her sword out like a platform for Hibiki.

"Right!" Hibiki landed on the blade as Tsubasa began to expand it into a massive platform that herself and Chris could also get on, the latter of which added missiles to the back of the blade, turning the blade into a makeshift rocket.

TRINITY RESONANCE

"We'll bet everything on this next strike!" Tsubasa shouted.

"Then let's make sure it works!" Kana adds as she puts everything she had into boosting the trio's power.

Receiving the boost, the trio shot off towards the Alca-Noise. As they approached the giant, Hibiki was launched from the blade, which she immediately used the speed from the launch to kick straight through the Alca-Noise's head, before the blade followed suit, finishing it off with a massive explosion.

Once the dust settled, the four Wielders finished off the remaining Alca-Noise as they noticed the cage they were trapped in began to dematerialize. "Is it... Finally over?" Kana asks as her Gear reverts to its normal form.

"Seems like it!" Hibiki says. "We did it!"

"Thank... The Gods..." Kana sighs before her transformation reverts and she passes out on the spot.

"Looks like Kamui truly gave her all into making sure that last attack worked." Tsubasa chuckled. With the battle over, the trio of still-conscious Wielders reverted their transformations as well.


Elfnein's POV:
S.O.N.G. HQ


With the Alca-Noise defeated, everyone in the command center either cheered or let out a sigh of relief that the four Wielders made it out of their subspace prison. "Seems like it worked." Ogawa said.

"Aaand Kana's out cold..." Serena sighed, before letting out a small chuckle. "Honestly, is there anything that girl won't do to keep everyone alive?"

"That's just how she is..." Lilith said. "As selfless as she is reckless, just like her father." Lilith let out a chuckle, getting nostalgic just remembering the lengths Corrin would go to keep his allies safe. "...I better go get them."

Meanwhile, Elfnein just stared at the screen with a satisfied smile on her face, until a hand on her shoulder brought her back to reality. "Maria-san!" The elder Airgetlám Wielder gave her a proud nod for what she was able to do, which she returned with a nod of her own. "You gave me a heart that never gives up, and it's still within me! So I'm sure I'll finish the LiNKER!" Elfnein says.

Maria gave Elfnein another nod. "We'll wait for you."


Kanade's POV:
Hibiki and Miku's Dorm


As all of the other Wielders dealt with the Alca-Noise problem, Kanade had spent the evening just chatting with Miku. The girls talked about many different things: Hobbies, their best friends/partners, and overall just had a good time hanging out. "You know, Kanade-san, it still amazes me." Miku said.

"What does?" Kanade asks, curious what Miku was going to say.

"Well, a few years ago, I could hardly imagine being able to say hello to you or Tsubasa-san as a fan. But now, I'm able to talk to both of you casually as your friend." Miku chuckled. "It's just amazing is all."

Kanade chuckles as well. "Can't say I wouldn't feel the same way if I were in your shoes, Miku-chan." She says. "But I'm glad to call you my friend. You and Hibiki-chan both."

Suddenly, a flash of light engulfed the room. When it faded, Lilith and Hibiki came out of it. "Miku! I'm home!" Hibiki said.

"Talk about perfect timing." Kanade chuckles. "I take it the Alca-Noise have been dealt with?"

"Yep." Hibiki said. "They were a lot tougher than expected, though. A big one trapped us in a weird space cage that made the other Alca-Noise stronger. But we still managed to beat them!"

"Huh..." Kanade says, confused by the explanation Hibiki gave her. "By the way, where's Kana-chan? I figured she'd be the one to give you a lift home. No offense, Lilith-san."

"None taken, Kanade-san." Lilith said. "As for why I'm here and she isn't, it's because Kana exhausted herself in the battle."

"Oh my..." Miku gasped. "Is she going to be okay?"

"She should be fine." Lilith said. "She just used too much power and ended up passing out. She should be fine after a good night's rest."

"That's a relief." Kanade says. "But still, for something like Alca-Noise to give you so much trouble to the point you all had to give her all and then some... Damn..."

"I'm sure it'll be fine. Especially after Elfnein-chan finishes the LiNKER for you, Maria-san, and the others." Hibiki said. "But for now, I'm exhausted too..."

"Then I should probably get out of yours and Miku-chan's hair so you can get some sleep." Kanade says as she walks over to Lilith. "It was nice bein' able to chat with ya, Miku. Take care you two!"

"Good night, Kanade-san!" Hibiki said, waving goodbye to the elder Gungnir Wielder as Kanade left in the same light she arrived in.


Meanwhile...


After watching the Wielders leave from atop their viewing spot, the Alchemists starred in disappointment at the Alca-Noise's failure to kill the Wielders. "Well, so much for that plan, I guess." Cagliostro sighed. "And here I was hoping it'd work... But, at least we achieved our objective."

Suddenly, the sounds of turning gears and metallic footsteps drew closer to the three Alchemists. "Must be nice to be so carefree." Tiki sighed.

"Tiki, I told you to stay at the base." Saint-Germain said.

"But I thought I could see Adam if I came here!" Tiki retorted, before she began to playfully spin in circles. "But don't be mad! I found out something really cool!"

"What?"

"Get this! Where we currently are is a great place to pick a fight with God!" Tiki stated as she stopped spinning and began to stare straight into the night sky. "The best place possible, actually!"


A/N: And with that, we end this chapter!

Since the Val Verde portion of Part 4 has been covered, I figured now was a good time to bring up Kana's "Dream" again. As you saw, Kana's starting to realize there's more to this dream than it seems... Which makes her start to wonder what awaits her in the near future.

As for the other side story of the chapter, seeing that LiNKER supply is little to none at the moment, I decided to have Kanade hang out with Miku while the others fought because I wanted to focus on Kanade interacting with someone other than Hibiki and Tsubasa for a change, and I plan to do so again in the future of this part, so stay tuned for more of that!

But anyway, Thank you all for reading this chapter. I shall see you all in the next one!