Part 4:
Through Many Tears, The Reality of Your Fate is Shown.
Chapter 7:
Power-Hungry Fools
Wielder's POVs:
Château de Tiffauges Ruins
"With their power, we shall seize the Lunar Ruins!"
A silence dropped over the scene as Saint-Germain proclaimed this, but it was quickly broken by a question. "Why do you need the Lunar Ruins?" Maria asks.
"The imperfect world order, where the strong rule over the weak, is a result of disharmony created by the Curse of Balal that was carved into the souls of humanity." Saint-Germain explained.
"Fixing that imperfection is Saint-Germain's ideology." Cagliostro added. "It is the main goal of the Bavarian Illuminati as well."
"To seize the Lunar Ruins and put their control in the hands of the people, one basically needs to have power that is equal to that of the old ruler, otherwise known to humanity as 'God'." Prelati said. "To that end, we've performed rituals in various places around the world, such as in Val Verde."
"That still doesn't justify sacrificing the lives of others as you see fit!" Kana shouts.
"It's not a sacrifice." Saint-Germain retorted, pointing her gun towards the wielders as they in turn ready their weapons. "Every drop of blood shed, every life that was taken, all of them are stones in the foundation of our revolution!"
With this said, Saint-Germain fires on the Wielders, forcing them to scatter about the crater in every direction. While the majority of the Wielders stay on the ground Tsubasa goes skyward, before throwing a massive version of her sword towards the gun-wielding Alchemist.
Heaven's Wrath
The Alchemist is quick to get out of the way of the sword as it crashes into the ground. Once she gets her footing again, Saint-Germain turns around and fires three shots at Tsubasa, who instinctively uses her massive sword to shield herself from the bullets. Unfortunately for the swordswoman, however, Saint-Germain augments the bullets mid-flight to pierce through her sword, one of which grazes her side.
"Tsubasa!" Kanade shouts as she rushes over to her partner, but not before throwing a barrage of spears towards Saint-Germain as a distraction.
STARDUST∞FOTON
Saint-Germain effortlessly dodged Kanade's barrage and was about to shoot more bullets towards the elder Gungnir Wielder, but she soon found herself dealing with both Kanade and Hibiki simultaneously. Seeing this, Saint-Germain quickly retaliated by shooting bullets at the both of them, but unlike the bullets used on Tsubasa, these were augmented to cause fissures of golden crystals upon impact with the ground, quickly turning the tide in her favor.
Meanwhile, Maria and Serena found themselves in a stand off against Cagliostro as they were forced to dodge her barrage of lasers. After a few seconds, the sisters were able to find an opening in the barrage and quickly took advantage of it by attacking with their whip sword and a barrage of daggers respectively. Despite this, Cagliostro was quick to put up a shield to block the counterattack. "You're gonna have to do better than that if you want to beat me." she taunted.
"How's this for better!" Chris retorts as she slides in front of the Cadenzavna Eve siblings and unloads her crossbows into the barrier, but unfortunately having no effect on it.
"You tell me!" Cagliostro retorted back as she pushed the barrier out towards the trio of Wielders and sent them flying.
As for the Zababa duo and Kana, they were left to fend off Prelati, who was keeping them on the defensive with her kendama rather efficiently. She threw the ball out at the three, forcing them to disperse, only for the ball to return for her to hit back at them twice as hard.
They were all able to dodge for a while, but when Shirabe tried using Asgard to block the ball, it just shattered the barrier like it was a simple piece of glass and knocked her flat on the ground. "Shirabe!/Shirabe-chan!" Kirika and Kana gasp, leaving them open to another attack from Prelati's kendama, which they barely avoid.
"Even with the numbers advantage, we're outmatched!" Shirabe says as she picks herself up off the ground.
"Then we have no other choice!" Kirika shouts, as she reaches for her pendant.
"Wait! No!" Kana shouts to Kirika and Shirabe, but they ignore the dragon girl's plea.
"Ignite Module! Drawn Blade! (Dess!)"
"Stop!" Elfnein pleaded to the Zababa duo. "The Philosopher's Stone neutralizes the power of Dáinsleif!"
Ignoring even their own Alchemist's pleas, Kirika and Shirabe proceed with unleashing their Ignite Modules. "They're basically being reckless./They're being reckless!" Both Prelati and Kana say to themselves, the former in a confident tone while the latter says it in a worried one.
"I have to stop them before it's too late!" Kana says, rushing towards the Wielders while clutching her pendant.
"Radiance Module! Awaken!"
Quickly activating her Radiance Module, Kana bolts towards the Zababa duo, who in turn charge at Prelati.
"We just have to avoid being hit!" Shirabe shouts as she unloads a barrage of sawblades at Prelati.
Alpha Style: 100 Saṃsāra
"Must Die!" Kirika adds as she joins in the attack with two boomerang blades that she creates from her scythe.
Kill Juliet
After the duo launched their attacks, Kana quickly flew in between them and knocked them away from Prelati with two smaller Dragon Shots, unaware of the Alchemist's counterattack that she used with the intent of knocking Kirika and Shirabe out of their Ignite forms. While she was able to save the duo from said attack, Kana was too late to react and took the full brunt of it in their place, letting out a massive scream as she writhes in pain in the air. After a few seconds, Prelati stopped her attack and let Kana fall to the ground, unconscious.
"Kana-sama!/Kana-san!" Kirika and Shirabe gasp as they sprint towards the unmoving form of their senpai.
"You basically let your teammate pay for your naïveté." Prelati scoffed, before making an astute observation about the unconscious Kana. "Shouldn't the Philosopher's Stone have canceled her transformation?"
"Kamui!" Tsubasa shouts as she runs over to help the Zababa duo with Prelati.
"Go help them, Kanade-san." Hibiki says, getting a nod from Kanade as she runs after her partner.
Meanwhile, Saint-Germain reloaded her gun and prepared to face Hibiki one on one. "For the sake of the future, my bullets will not hesitate." She said.
"But why?" Hibiki asks. "I don't understand!"
"And you never will." Saint-Germain retorted as she aimed her gun at Hibiki. "That is the Curse of Balal. The chain that binds humanity."
"But even so, our hands are meant to bring each other together, not tear one another apart with violence!" Hibiki says.
"'Bring each other together'?" Saint-Germain scoffed. "Bold words coming from someone who's never been oppressed for an unfair reason!"
Without another word, Saint-Germain fired a shot from her gun that transformed into a flaming wolf. Hibiki, however, was unfazed by the blazing wolf, instead countering the wolf with her gauntlet. "I don't understand a single thing you're saying!" She shouts, destroying the wolf with ease and causing an explosion that kicked up dust around the combatants.
"What?!" Saint-Germain gasped as the explosion from her attack pushed her back, leaving her completely blind in the dust, but when it settled, she saw Hibiki's fist mere inches away from her face.
"But even so... I think I can understand how you feel." Hibiki says. "But you can't create a world where no one is hurt by hurting others along the way."
Meanwhile, Kirika and Shirabe reverted their Ignite transformations as they tried to wake up their senpai. "Kana-sama! Wake up!" Kirika pleads as she shakes Kana, but to no avail. "Kana-sama!"
"Leave her be for now, Kiri-chan." Shirabe says. "We can rush Kana back to HQ after we deal with the Illuminat- huh?"
Suddenly, a light begins to flicker on Kana's pendant, which confuses both Shirabe and Kirika, but while they're distracted by this light, they are left wide open to a surprise attack from Prelati that sends the both of them flying. "If you're going to leave yourself open to an enemy like that, you're basically asking to die." Prelati stated, before noticing the Zwei Wing duo approaching her. "I better finish you two off before I get overwhelmed."
Saying this, Prelati knocks her kendama's ball towards the Zababa duo. Unable to dodge in time, the duo braced themselves for the attack, but when they heard the clang from the ball, they did not feel anything. Confused, the duo opened their eyes and saw that Kana had woken up and blocked the ball with her draconic claw which she used to shoot the ball back at Prelati like it were one of her own Dragon Shots, slightly pushing the Alchemist back in the process.
"Thanks for saving us, Kana-sama!" Kirika says, getting the silent treatment from the dragon girl, which confuses her greatly. "Kana-sama?"
"Kiri-chan. We should get away from her. Now!" Shirabe shouts as she quickly backs away from Kana, which Kirika hesitantly does as well.
"So, you basically faked being unconscious to lower my guard?" Prelati asked, but she received no response from the Yato Wielder, who didn't even open her eyes after getting off the ground. "...Something's different here..."
True to Prelati and Shirabe's worries, something was different with Kana, and it wasn't something good. And after a few seconds of silence, the air was quickly filled with a ferocious roar from Kana as a pillar of blue flames erupted from where she stood, which quickly caught everyone's attention.
Meanwhile at S.O.N.G. HQ
"What's going on out there?!" Genjuro asked. "What's happening to Kana?!"
"We're not quite sure, but these readings are insane!" Sakuya reported.
"Kana-chan is generating a massive amount of phonic gain at an alarming rate!" Aoi added. "It's reaching levels her Gear cannot normally handle!"
"Could this be the effect that the Philosopher's Stone has on the Radiance Module?" Elfnein thought to herself.
Back on the battlefield, the light eventually dissipated. When everyone was able to see again, they saw Kana who, while her Gear was still in its Radiance Module state, was surrounded by a flaming blue aura, and her once gray eyes were now purely white. "What the hell?" Chris whispers in a mix of confusion and worry.
Suddenly, Kana let out another terrifying screech as she practically fazed out of reality and reappeared in front of Prelati, giving her barely enough time to react to the feral Wielder's fist with her weapon. "So, unlike the Ignite Module, the Philosopher's Stone makes your Radiance Module go into overdrive." Prelati stated as she did everything she could to hold back the rampaging dragon girl. "That just means I'll basically have to take you down before you can overwhelm us!"
Quickly, Prelati knocks Kana away with a burst of water from an alchemic circle she quickly formed beneath Kana, using the brief moment that the Berserk Yato Wielder was distracted to get a swing at her with the hammer part of her kendama.
Kana is sent flying by Prelati's hammer, but in no time flat, she transformed one of her hands into a spear, pierced the ground with it, and flung herself back at the Alchemist, using the momentum from Prelati's swing along with some added speed from wings she grew during the spin to disarm her. "What?!" Prelati gasped as she quickly regained her footing, but Kana was not about to let up any time soon.
With her opponent disarmed, Kana kept clawing, punching, and kicking Prelati as she flew around the crater, gaining enough speed with each strike that she practically became a streak of light as she wailed on the Alchemist, before finishing her high-speed assault by grabbing Prelati by her armor and slamming her into the side of the crater.
Raging Blitzkrieg
"RRRAAAAWWRRGGRR!" Kana roars as she stands over the battered Prelati, forcing everyone to brace themselves as the shockwaves from said roar start to push them back.
"What happened to Kamui?" Tsubasa asks.
"I dunno... But whatever this is, she's clearly not in control of it." Kanade says.
"Hey! Get away from Prelati, you stupid pet!" Cagliostro shouted as she fired a barrage of lasers at Kana while her back was turned. Kana, despite her previous feats of speed in this sudden transformation, made no attempt to dodge the lasers and they hit her directly. There was a mix of shock and concern amidst the two groups as the explosion rang out from the lasers, but once the smoke cleared, Kana emerged unharmed, besides some minor damage to her armor, and she looked furious. "That did nothing?!"
Seething with rage, Kana stepped away from Prelati and began to walk towards Cagliostro. She began to pick up speed, but just before she could break out into another full-on sprint, her pendant started glowing again, which partially brought her back to her senses before she was engulfed in another pillar of light. Once the light dissipated, Kana was no longer in her Gear, and she quickly fell to the ground. This time, she was truly unconscious.
"Oh good, it did work." Cagliostro sighed. "Now to finish her off before she gets a second wind!"
"No!" Chris and Serena shout as they watch Cagliostro fire another set of lasers at the downed Kana.
"I won't let you!" Maria says as she stands over Kana and deflects the lasers with a small barrier, redirecting them towards Hibiki and Saint-Germain.
"Uh oh!" Cagliostro gasped in surprise.
"Over here!" Thinking quickly, Hibiki grabs Saint-Germain's hand and dips for a nearby trench, barely managing to avoid the lasers.
Once the dust settled, Saint-Germain and Hibiki slowly got back up on their knees. Thankfully, for the most part, neither of them suffered any major damage. "I know that we both cannot inherit the kingdom of heaven." Saint-Germain said.
Hibiki slowly reaches out her hand towards Saint-Germain. "But even so..."
"Don't get ahead of yourself!" Saint-Germain quickly shouted, slapping away Hibiki's hand as she got back up on her feet. "The hand that opens the path to the future is one that is clenched in anger. That is an undeniable truth to life!"
"But-"
"There's no more sense in talking." Saint-Germain interrupted Hibiki once again, throwing down a teleportation crystal at her feet. "We'll settle this later, Symphogears."
"Abandoning the mission now?" Prelati asked as she freed herself from the wall of the crater. "What's going on, Saint-Germain?"
"It's my fault, isn't it?" Cagliostro asked in a worried tone. "If so, then I'm sorry! Very very sorry!"
With that, the other Alchemists followed Saint-Germain as they too warped away from the scene. Once they were gone, most of the Wielders ran over to the unconscious Kana to check up on her. "She's still breathing, so that's a good sign at least." Maria says to the other Wielders. "Still, that was... Strange."
"No shit it was." Kanade replies. "She made the times you and Hibiki-chan went berserk seem like a little kid's temper tantrum."
Everyone looks at Kanade with deadpan expressions. "That's your takeaway from all of this?" Serena asks.
"Well excuse me for being shocked by Kana-chan running wild out of nowhere." Kanade says with a shrug.
"Kanade does have a point there." Tsubasa adds. "Even if the result wasn't the same as when Tachibana, Yukine and I got forced out of our Ignite, none of us could've predicted Kamui going berserk as a possible result."
"And that's another thing: If Kana went crazy thanks to the Illuminati's weapons, why didn't she transform into a dragon like she did when Chris nearly died to the Kadingir?" Kanade asks.
"Do you really think any of us know the answer to that question?" Chris retorts. "How about instead of trying to figure out why Kana went wild, we get her and all of our exhausted asses back to base and find out there?"
"Chris is right. We need to regroup with HQ anyways." Serena agrees.
With that, everyone begins to leave the crater and return to S.O.N.G. HQ with the unconscious Kana in tow. Before they left, however, Chris turned to see Hibiki was still on her knees where she and Saint-Germain dodged the reflected attack, looking up at the moon. "Hey, Idiot! You coming or what?" Chris asks, which caught the younger Gungnir Wielder's attention.
"Y-Yeah. I'm coming."
S.O.N.G. personnel POVs:
S.O.N.G. HQ
Following the battle, the agents of S.O.N.G. went over what they learned from the fight between the Wielders and Alchemists. "The Bavarian Illuminati seeks to control the Lunar Ruins." Aoi states.
"To that end, they are attempting to convert the life energy of others into divine power via the process of transmutation." Sakuya adds.
"Still, it feels like there's something we're missing." Genjuro says. "Their previous attempts at this divine power were easily taken out by a single punch from Hibiki-kun, but I doubt whatever they're cooking up will go down as easily. It will probably be something well beyond what we've seen before."
"But where and how would they be able to get life energy on that scale?" Ogawa wonders.
Thinking about this closely, such a place came to mind for Aoi. "Could it be the ley lines?" She asks, which catches everyone's attention. "The ley lines were previously used by Carol when she tried to dissect the world. If the Illuminati could get their hands on them, they would be able to harness the life force of the planet itself."
"The Bavarian Illuminati was involved in the creation of the Château de Tiffauges." Sakuya says. "I doubt this is just a coincidence."
"I'll get in contact with the Shrine Association and ask for the cooperation of the ley line observatories." Ogawa says.
"Good." Genjuro replies. "That just leaves us with the Wielders."
"Elfnein's breakthrough with Dr. Ver's LiNKER was remarkable, but it was unfortunately a short-lived victory..." Nastassja sighs.
Suddenly, the door to the command center opened, and Serena and Lilith entered. "Serena-kun. Lilith-kun." Genjuro says, greeting the pair. "How is Kana-kun holding up?"
"Thankfully, Kana is in perfect health." Lilith reports. "However, whatever that was that happened to her during the battle took a lot out of her. She should be awake as soon as tomorrow, but she'll need a day or two to fully recover before she can fight again."
"Well, that's a relief, at least." Genjuro says. "And how are the others fairing?"
"About how you'd expect..." Serena sighed. "To be fair, even I'm still rather dismayed by how things ended up going, despite our strength in numbers."
"We need to find a way to counter the Philosopher's Stone's ability to cancel out the Ignite Module, and fast." Sakuya states.
"What's Elfnein-kun up to?" Genjuro asks.
"Well, when I last spoke with her, I told her to take care of herself, but she hasn't set foot outside of her lab since." Aoi says.
"I should probably check in on her..." Genjuro says. "In the meantime, Serena-kun, you and the others should go home and rest for the night. After the events of today, you all deserve it."
"Thank you, Commander." Serena says with a bow. "Good night."
Chris' POV:
S.O.N.G. HQ: Medical Wing
Later that evening, while the others returned to their homes, Chris stayed in the medical wing where Kana was. "You know, Chris-chan, if you wish to stay at HQ for the evening, you don't have to spend the night in the medical wing." Lilith said. "I can easily have one of the rooms in the Astral Plane prepared."
"I appreciate the offer, but I'll pass. After what happened today, I don't think I'd be able to get any sleep until I knew she was conscious." Chris says, before letting out a small chuckle. "It's ironic when I think about it..."
"Think about what?" Lilith asked.
"A couple months ago, when the Idiot and Kanade-Senpai were back here after their fight with that autoscorer, I pretty much shrugged it off. I mean, sure, we were all surprised when they got taken out by that bucket of bolts, but we all knew that they'd be up and at 'em in no time at all, so the only one who was really worried was Miku for the Idiot's sake. But now here I am, worried over Kana despite the fact she's gonna be back on her feet as soon as tomorrow." Chris says. "It feels weird being a worrywart over something so little..."
"That's love for you." Lilith chuckled. "Well, if you're certain that you want to spend the night here, then I'll leave you two be for now. Good night, Chris-chan."
"Night." Chris replies as Lilith left the room. Once Lilith was gone, Chris walked over to the spare bed in the room, but just before she could get settled, she heard groaning coming from Kana's bed. "Kana?"
"Ugh... Chris?" Kana asked groggily. "What... Happened?"
"You pretty much went berserk on one of the Alchemists after you took a hit for our kouhai." Chris says.
"Oh... So that's what happened after I blacked out..." Kana said. "I mean, I remember taking the hit for Kirika and Shirabe, but everything after that was so... Blurry... It was like someone or something other than myself took control and all I could do was watch helplessly."
"Geez..." Chris says, not sure how to respond.
"By the way, Chris, what are you doing in the medical wing?" Kana asked. "I didn't hurt you when I was out of control, did I?"
"Not at all. Thankfully, you snapped out of it after beating them senseless." Chris says, calming the worried Yato Wielder. "I'm just here because... Well... I..."
Kana tilted her head. "Because what?"
Chris became beat red. "Because I was worried about you, okay?" She says, turning away quickly before looking over her shoulder to see Kana giving her a smug grin.
"Aww... Look at you, you little red softie." Kana teased.
"Yeah, yeah, laugh it up." Chris sighs. "Just consider yourself lucky that I'm too tired to smack that dumb look off of your stupid face."
"Whatever you say, Chris." Kana replies, watching her girlfriend go to bed with a grumble. Once she knew Chris was asleep, Kana thought back on the blur that was her rampage. "Is that really what happens to me when I take a hit from the Alchemists' Faust Robes? Something about that doesn't feel right... Why would my Gear suddenly gain so much power when I felt so weak moments before that?" With this question in her mind, Kana decided to go back to sleep and ask someone she knew would probably have an answer to that question: Elfnein.
Elfnein's POV:
S.O.N.G. HQ: Elfnein's Lab
As for said Alchemist, following the results of the battle that day, Elfnein was hard at work trying to find any way to counteract the Illuminati's Faust Robes' ability to cancel the Ignite and Radiance Modules. Worried about her, Genjuro stopped by the lab to assist Elfnein in any way he could. Thankfully, there was something she could get his help with.
"I've brought all the resources on heretical technology that we have." Genjuro said, entering the room with a cart that was overflowing with books and files. "If there's anything else you need, and I mean anything at all, don't be afraid to ask."
"Okay." Elfnein weakly replies as she walks over to the cart from her chair. "Thank you, Comman-" Suddenly, Elfnein tripped, knocking a few of the files off of the cart as she tried to catch herself.
"Are you okay?" Genjuro asked as he quickly knelt down to help Elfnein. "You really shouldn't overwork yourself like this."
"S-Sorry, Commander." Elfnein apologizes. "But... I inherited this body from Carol. The two of us are one, so I need to do enough work for the both of us." Saying this, Elfnein goes to pick up the files she knocked down when she fell, but when she does, she notices something in one of the files that were labeled "Confidential."
"What is it?" Genjuro asked.
"This is..."
Bavarian Illuminati's POVs:
Alchemists' Hideout
Meanwhile, after leaving the battlefield abruptly, the Alchemists returned to their hotel hideout, where Adam was waiting for them in said hotel's hot tub with a bottle of champagne. Having heard the mission report, he was a little disappointed. "Strange... If I recall correctly, you were supposed to get rid of the Symphogears." He says.
"I have no excuse for my actions." Saint-Germain replies.
Cagliostro, however, scoffs. "You're one to talk. You got in our way when we had them dead to rights the first time."
"It's basically your fault they're still alive." Prelati adds.
"I can hear you, you third-rate Alchemists!" Tiki interjects. "I won't let you badmouth my Adam like that!"
Unfazed by the insults, Adam downs his glass of champagne while ignoring Cagliostro and Prelati's comments. "The aspect was made clear by the horoscope Tiki created." He says, putting down his glass and walking over to said Autoscorer.
"Then we should prepare the altar right away." Saint-Germain suggests.
As Saint-Germain said this, Adam lifted Tiki into the air and started to slowly spin her above him. "The power of the Gods will soon be mine." He says, while Tiki squealed with excitement from Adam's spinning.
"For the realization of a perfect world..." Saint-Germain quietly adds to Adam's proclamation.
Shortly after that, Adam and Tiki left the pool and went to turn in for the night. Meanwhile, the trio of Alchemists stayed next to the pool and watched the nude man and Autoscorer leave.
"I really can't stand that guy..." Cagliostro groans. "It's downright annoying that this clown is in charge of the Illuminati."
"Agreed." Prelati adds. "But thankfully we're not sworn to follow him or the Illuminati."
Saying this, the two Alchemists looked to Saint-Germain with proud smiles, which she was quick to give the two of them a proud smile of her own. "Thank you, both of you." She replies happily.
"Well, we better start getting serious if we don't want that stuck-up snob to keep looking down on us." Cagliostro says.
"I need to start the ritual to set up the altar." Saint-Germain interjects.
"Then leave the destruction of the Symphogears to us." Prelati suggests.
"Are your wounds healed up from Kana Kamui's sudden outburst?" Saint-Germain asks.
"Sure, the attack caught me off guard, but at the end of the day, she basically only left minor bruises on me." Prelati answers. "Besides that, they're still unable to get the upper hand on us without the power of Dáinsleif, not that they'll manage to find a way to use them against us anyways."
The Wielders' POVs:
S.O.N.G. HQ: Elfnein's Lab
The next day, Elfnein gathered everyone in her lab to show them what she discovered last night, showing a crystal that was in a glass case, alongside a picture of Hibiki when she first joined Section Two. "What is this?" Maria asks.
"A clump of waste matter that was formed on Hibiki back when she had merged with the Gungnir." Elfnein stated.
"You mean that scab that fell off of me months ago?" Hibiki asks.
"That was only a few months ago? Man, time sure does fly..." Kanade comments.
"But I thought we were told that it had no special properties." Tsubasa says.
"The Philosopher's Stone is formed based on the principle that the entire world is one great lifeform. But this waste on the other hand was made by one small life: Hibiki-san. In other words, the two are exact opposites of each other." Elfnein stated. "I'm proposing a Symphogear upgrade plan in which we will use the properties of this waste matter, which is a complete opposite to the Philosopher's Stone as it is, to cancel out the Stone's effects."
"So in other words, it's an annihilation-barrier coating!" Sakuya says proudly.
"Indeed." Elfnein said. "I've reached this conclusion from the fundamental alchemic principle of the contrast between the microcosm and the macrocosm."
"Could... Could someone explain this in a simpler way, please?" Shirabe asks.
"I doubt I'd understand it even with a simpler explanation dess..." Kirika sighs.
"Well, since this stuff came out of a certain idiot, it's gotta be called the Fool's Stone!" Chris proclaims.
"I-Isn't 'Fool' kinda harsh, Chris-chan?" Hibiki asks.
"I see... The one weakness to the Philosopher's Stone: The Fool's Stone." Genjuro says, agreeing to Chris' name for the Stone.
"Y-You too, Master?!" Hibiki gasps while everyone else is in agreement with the name, or in Kirika's case, trying very hard not to laugh at it.
"Seems like everyone's in agreement with that name." Serena states.
"So, where is this stone?" Maria asks, changing the subject slightly.
"After its initial evaluation, it was relegated to the Undersea Dragon's Palace archives as an unnecessary sample." Aoi stated, which shocked Chris, considering what happened the last time she visited the Palace.
Later
As the group were on their way to the damaged Undersea Dragon's Palace, and while the Alchemist was alone in her lab, Kana re-entered the lab. "Oh! Hello, Kana-san." Elfnein greeted the Yato Wielder. "Is everything alright?"
"Yeah, I'm fine." Kana answers. "I just came by because I wanted to see how you were doing."
"Oh, I'm doing alright, Kana-san." Elfnein replied.
"That's good to hear." Kana says. "I'm sure you've heard this a lot lately, but please, don't overwork yourself. Or at the very least, take a well-deserved nap after you're done implementing the Fool's Stone into the Gears. Hehehe."
"While I can't promise to not overwork myself, I can at least promise to get some sleep after the Gears are upgraded." Elfnein chuckled. "Thank you for checking up on me, Kana-san."
"No problem, Elfnein-chan." Kana says, giving the Alchemist a thumbs up and a grin. "By the way, speaking of the Symphogears, there's something I wanted to ask you about."
Elfnein tilted her head. "What's on your mind?" She asked.
"Well, it's about yesterday. When my Gear went into overdrive after I took that hit from one of the Alchemists for Kirika-chan and Shirabe-chan." Kana answers. "Everyone I've asked about it thought that berserk-like state was a result of the Radiance Module taking damage from the Philosopher's Stone the same way Ignite gets canceled out by it, but something about that seemed off to me."
"What do you mean?" Elfnein asked.
"Well, when I took the hit for Kirika and Shirabe, I felt like all of the strength in my body was being rapidly sapped from me." Kana explains. "Of course, the Radiance Module does that to me naturally the longer I use it, but in this case, it felt as though I was going to die if I didn't get out of that form."
"That does explain why the recoil from your Gear was as great as it was." Elfnein thought aloud. "As for your sudden burst of power, I'm afraid to say that even I don't have an answer for it... All I can say is, thankfully, it didn't leave any major damage on your Yato Symphogear."
"I see..." Kana sighs. "Well, I should probably go meet up with the others before we reach the Undersea Dragon's Palace. Thanks for hearing me out, Elfnein-chan."
"You're welcome, Kana-san." Elfnein replied. "Sorry I couldn't give you a proper answer for that strange power you had."
"It's all good. I'm just glad that it wasn't something to do with the Philosopher's Stone. The last thing we need right now is for them to have a way to weaponize me against S.O.N.G." Kana chuckles. "See you later, Elfnein-chan."
"See you later, Kana-san." Elfnein replied as Kana left the room.
On her way to meet up with the other Wielders in the command center, Kana reflects on her sudden power surge yesterday after her talk with Elfnein. "So I was right. The power boost had nothing to do with the Philosopher's Stone's effect on my Radiance Module." She says to herself. "But now that begs the question: Why did it happen at all? Was it some primal power from mine and Papa's blood? Or is it something to do with... that?"
"Show me... What is it about you that the Director finds so fascinating!"
"GAAH! MAKE IT STOP!"
Kana shudders after remembering that last part of her ever-changing nightmare, but quickly calms herself. "Could that Giant and my power boost be related somehow? Or... Am I the Giant from my dream?"
"You good, Kana?" Chris asks, suddenly appearing in front of Kana.
"GAH!" Kana shouts in surprise. "Don't sneak up on me like that, Chris!"
"You literally could see me walking up to you." Chris retorts. "What? Were you daydreaming or something?"
"No. I was just lost in thought." Kana says. "More importantly, why aren't you with the others? I thought Genjuro-san needed to meet with all of us."
"That's exactly why I'm here: To come and find you." Chris replies. "Now come on! Everyone's waiting!"
"Right!" Kana says with a nod as she and Chris hurry to the command center.
The Wielders' POVs:
Undersea Dragon's Palace Ruins Excavation site.
Once S.O.N.G.'s submarine reached the excavation site that was the ruins of the Undersea Dragon's Palace, the Wielders were split into two groups: Maria, Hibiki, Tsubasa, Serena, and Kana were tasked with manning a submarine to help flush the Fool's Stone out of the ruins and up towards the excavation platform.
"Finding the Fool's Stone will be like finding a needle in a haystack." Genjuro said to the Wielders over the sub's communicator. "It may take some time, but it's our only hope. I'm counting on you all."
"Roger." Maria replies.
Meanwhile, on the surface, Chris, Kanade, Kirika, and Shirabe were tasked with helping to look for the Fool's Stone once it was pushed through the pipes and onto the platform, while also being in charge of protecting the site crew should the Illuminati decide to strike. Before they got started, however, the surface team watched as the sub team dove towards the wreckage through a monitor in the site's lab. Needless to say, they were all surprised by what they saw.
"Damn..." Kanade says. "And all of this was the end result of your guys' fight with your Autoscorer.
Shirabe nods. "Yeah, but..."
"...It's a lot flatter than we expected dess..." Kirika adds.
"Well, I guess I can't be too surprised, honestly." Kanade shrugs. "After all, we can't control all of the collateral damage from our missions."
"I guess..." Chris replies in a slightly regretful tone as she reflected on the past. "Still... Both here and in Val Verde, I feel like there could've been a better way to handle those situations..."
A little later, the search for the Fool's Stone began. In the sub, Maria carefully pushed a tube attached to a blower on the front of her team's vessel into the rubble of the Undersea Dragon's Palace and pulled a lever to activate said blower, forcing the debris into the excavation site's tubes, and hopefully the Fool's Stone along with it.
"Is this really the best way for us to find the Fool's Stone?" Chris asks.
"I mean, unless you have a way to breathe underwater, see in pitch-black darkness, and fit into unbelievably tight spaces, this is our best bet at finding it." Kanade states. "But look on the bright side, at least we don't have to worry too much about fighting the Illuminati right now."
Suddenly, some of the site crewmen began to scream as Alca-Noise started to appear before them, attacking them without hesitation. Seeing this, Chris turned to face Kanade, the latter of whom looked very unpleased by the inconvenient timing of the Alca-Noise. "You were say-"
"MOTHER FU-"
"Zeios Igalima raizen tron"
(Dangerous Sunshine begins to play)
Without wasting any more time, the surface team transform into their Gears and begin to clear out the Alca-Noise while also getting as many of the site crew away from the battlefield as possible. "We have everything under control! Please evacuate quickly!" Kirika says as she helps several crewmen escape the line of fire.
"And what, pray tell, do you have under control, little miss naïve?" Cagliostro asked as she appeared on the scene.
"Who are you calling naïve dess?" Kirika retorts.
"You, of course!" Cagliostro answered while firing multiple lasers at Kirika, who dodged just before she could get hit. Unfortunately for the Igalima Wielder, however, the lasers were not intended for her. While she may have avoided them, the group of crewmen she was trying to protect each got pierced by one of the lasers, killing them on the spot. "Well now. Whose fault could that have been?" Cagliostro taunted.
Angered, Kirika charged at Cagliostro, but the Alchemist was ready for her. Without hesitation, she sent the Wielder flying with another set of lasers, knocking her perfectly into Chris in the process. Shirabe saw this and gasped. "Kiri-chan! Chri-"
Suddenly, Shirabe was struck by the ball of Prelati's kendama, which returned to the Alchemist soon after. "Without Dáinsleif, the Symphogears are basically worthless garbage." She said.
"Now how about you make this easy for yourselves and let us destroy you." Cagliostro added.
"Hold up. They're just here to destroy the Symphogears?" Kanade asked quietly.
"And not the Fool's Stone?" Kirika adds. "Why?"
"Who cares? This just means we can go all out!" Chris says, standing up and preparing a Mega Deth Party. "Take this!"
Meanwhile, the sub team got an alert about the Illuminati's attack. "The surface platform is under attack!" Maria says.
"What?!" Everyone gasps.
"We need to go help them!" Hibiki says.
"Keep working for now!" Aoi said.
"Why?" Serena asks.
"From what we can tell, it seems that the Illuminati doesn't yet know about the Fool's Stone." Genjuro stated. "If they discover our true intentions here, they may try to sabotage our plans."
"But sir, even if their intentions aren't to stop our search, what can the others do against the Philosopher's Stone without Ignite?" Kana asks. "We could barely handle them when we outnumbered them three to one."
"Unison." Ogawa answered. "If Shirabe-san and Kirika-san can combine their songs..."
"They shouldn't need the Ignite Module's power." Genjuro stated.
"Then let's make that happen!" Chris says, preparing her gatling guns. "Senpai!"
"Way ahead of you!" Kanade replies she creates a tornado with her spear, forcing Cagliostro to block it with a barrier.
LAST∞METEOR
"Eat this!" Chris shouts as she follows up Kanade's tornado with a barrage of bullets, eventually breaking the Alchemist's barrier, letting Chris approach her at point-blank range. With this advantage, Chris smirks and turns her guns into a longbow with a missile-tipped arrow nocked and ready to fire straight into Cagliostro's face.
ARTHEMIS SPIRAL
"Talk about a close-ranged kiss. But my lips aren't that easy to steal." Reacting quickly, Cagliostro dodged the arrow, but she would quickly discover that she was not the arrows intended target. That arrow was made for one purpose: Sending Kirika over to Shirabe. "You made my heart beat like crazy for that?!"
(Gizagiza Girari Full Throttle begins to play)
Thanks to the collaborative efforts of Kanade and Chris, Kirika was able to be flung over to Shirabe before Prelati could do any more harm to her, the arrow doing a good job of that by knocking the Alchemist away with the explosion.
Once the dust started to settle from said explosion, Kirika emerged and held out a hand to help Shirabe to her feet. "Alright. Let's do this, Shirabe!"
"Kiri-chan!" Shirabe cheers as she accepts the helping hand.
"D-Dammit..." Prelati groaned, wincing from the damage she took while trying to dodge the arrow, which only made her still-recovering wounds from yesterday act up.
Now together, Shirabe and Kirika charge towards Prelati, forcing her onto the defensive. While it was easy for her to keep up with the duo the day prior, she struggled to hold up her defense in the face of their onslaught, and that defense was slowly but surely failing at a rapid pace.
"Shirabe-chan and Kirika-chan's phonic gain is increasing at a remarkable rate!" Aoi reported.
"This should be more than enough to win!" Ogawa cheered.
As the fight continued, Prelati soon found herself in the same situation she put the Zababa duo in: Helplessly trying to avoid their attacks with no way to get her own in. This disadvantage angered the Alchemist greatly. "Back then... We were basically pathetic frauds... But when we met Saint-Germain, she gave us everything: Perfect bodies, true wisdom, and an ideal!" Prelati said. "That's why we fight for her! And that's why we cannot lose!"
"Prelati!" Cagliostro gasped, hearing her ally in trouble. "I'm on my way!"
"Oh no you're not!" Kanade says, slashing at the Alchemist as she tried to go help her friend.
"Your fight's with us!" Chris adds as she rains down a barrage of crossbow bolts to further hinder Cagliostro's escape.
"Fun and games won't let you achieve your ideals!" Prelati shouted at the Zababa duo in anger.
Meanwhile, Kirika and Shirabe were ready to end this fight. Jumping into the air, the duo brought their weapons together as they stood side by side, creating a massive pink and green spiked Diabolo with matching spinning blades that was attached to the end of Kirika's Scythe's snath.
Prohibited Fitting β Style: ZABABA Sun and Moon
With their Gears' thrusters, the Zababa duo drove the Diabolo down towards Prelati, but the Alchemist was not ready to give up. "FOR MY IDEALS!" She shouted as she fired her kendama's ball towards the Diabolo in an attempt to overpower it, but her attack was easily being pushed backwards, which made Prelati nervous. "What?!"
Within seconds, Kirika and Shirabe's Diabolo cut through Prelati's ball, sending her flying into the water below, followed by a massive explosion. Seeing this explosion, Cagliostro started to worry about her chances in this fight. "I-I'll let you live, this time." She said, quickly taking her leave from the scene before she too could get overwhelmed.
"Yeah, you better run!" Kanade taunts.
With the battle over, Kanade and Chris met up with Kirika and Shirabe, who were both sitting down next to where they launched Prelati into the ocean.
"We'll never let go..."
"...Of each other's hands dess." Kirika says, finishing Shirabe's sentence.
"Geez. Get a room, you two." Chris sighs.
"You say that like you wouldn't be doin' the same thing if you and Kana were in their shoes." Kanade says, teasing Chris.
"Unlike some people, I practice what I preach." Chris retorts.
"Sure you do..." Kanade says doubtfully. "Regardless of Chris and Kana's very public love life..."
"I heard that!" Chris interjects.
Kanade smirks before continuing with her sentence. "...good job you two."
"Thanks, Kanade-san!" Kirika and Shirabe reply.
Meanwhile at the Illuminati's Hideout
While Prelati and Cagliostro were retreating following their less-than-fortunate fight with the Wielders, Saint-Germain and Adam were discussing preparations for their ritual while Tiki floated in the pool and looked at the stars. "I take it things are going according to plan with the ritual?" Adam asks.
"Yes." Saint-Germain answers. "However, we still lack the necessary life energy needed to power the great central plinth."
"Well, then I guess you'll need to use a sacrifice. Probably someone like one of your two subordinates." Adam suggests, which surprises Saint-Germain. "Sacrificing one of them should be sufficient. After all, the life energy from one of their perfect bodies can easily make up the remaining energy you need, with probably a little bit more to spare afterwards."
Saint-Germain is horrified by Adam's carefree suggestion. "Director... Is there any part of you left that is still human?" She asks.
Adam smirks hearing this question. "I think the better question you should be asking is which do you care for more:"
"Your ideals, or your allies?"
A/N: And with that, we end the chapter!
It took a bit longer than I had initially hoped, but, as promised a couple chapters ago, this chapter finally showed off what happens to Kana's Radiance Module when coming into contact with the Philosopher's Stone Faust Robes.
Just to clear some things up, what was said between Kana and Elfnein is truly what happens, not the berserk-like state that followed. My idea for the Faust Robe interaction was for Kana's Radiance Module to go from taking a large portion of her power, to simply just draining all of it at a dangerously rapid pace (As mentioned by Kana, the power drain could've put her in a coma, or worse, killed her).
As for the Berserk-like state, that is something directly linked to Kana herself. While I plan to barely have this form show up throughout the remainder of this part and Part 5, I have at least taken the liberty of giving it a name that will never be stated in the fic: Chaos Kana.
Chaos Kana is basically Kana, but her Yato Gear is pushed to the absolute limit after being left in a near-death state. She cannot control when and where this form appears and, before you ask, while she does have a massive amount of phonic gain in this form, She will not exceed the form she was in when the state was activated.
But with that out of the way, thank you so much for reading this chapter. I shall see you all in the next one!
