Part 4:
Chapter 13:
Through Many Tears, The Reality of Your Fate is Shown.


S.O.N.G. and the Wielders POVs:
The Final battle against Adam Weishaupt


With the nuke dealt with at the cost of the Illuminati's Alchemist trio, as well as the permanent destruction of the divine power by Hibiki's hand, the agents of S.O.N.G. were left to sit in awe of what had happened in the last couple of minutes. "There's no sign of any fallout or EMP effects from the nuclear weapon." Sakuya reports. "It's like the nuke was never there to begin with."

"Was that the lapis philosophorum's power of purification?" Aoi asks.

"That was more than just their Faust Robes. They even used their lives as a vessel for the Philosopher's Stone, fully nullifying the nuclear weapon's damage." Elfnein states. "But the price they paid..."

"They gave their lives seeking their ideals, and in the end, they protected this country in the pursuit of that goal." Genjuro states.

"Their sacrifice will be remembered for as long as we live." Lilith says as she enters the command center.

"Lilith-kun." Genjuro replies, greeting the medic. "How is Kana-kun's condition?"

"Well, the good news is that she is stable now and she will make a full recovery." Lilith answers.

"And the bad news?" Genjuro asks.

Lilith was hesitant to answer, but after a deep sigh, she did so. "With the injuries she took from both overloading her Gear with Hibiki's energy and being crushed in her hands, Kana's just lucky to still be alive." Lilith answers, surprising everyone. "She should regain consciousness in a couple days, but she's going to have to be kept in the medical wing for now, until we can properly move her to a hospital for the next couple of months."

Genjuro sighs. "I was afraid of that..." He says, turning back to face the monitor. "I'm sure they'll be fine, but I just hope the others can handle the Controlling Director of the Illuminati without her help..."


Meanwhile on the battlefield, Hibiki got up out of the crater she made from her self-inflicted sorrow and looked up to the sky. "Thank you, Saint-Germain-san." She says. "I wish this wasn't how things ended between us. I wanted to talk with you more! I wanted us to understand each other!"

"You wanted to understand someone like her?" Adam asked with a scoff.

"I... I think we should... Embrace one another..." Tiki replied with a glitchy voice that slowly started to fade out. "I... I love you, Ada-" Before she could finish her sentence, Adam crushed Tiki's torso, destroying the Autoscorer completely as the remainder of her body fell limp.

"It's impossible for anyone to understand one another, not as long as the Curse of Balal remains active." Adam stated. "The only way to break that curse is to surpass the power of those that put it there: the Custodians!"

"Even if that's true..."

"However, if you all combined as one, that would be a different story altogether." Adam continued. "Under my reign, I could lead the disordered masses and merge them into a perfect form!"

"EVEN IF THAT'S TRUE!"

Hearing Hibiki's shout, Adam looked over at the Gungnir Wielder in a mix of confusion and surprise. "Reaching out and trying to understand one another has never been meaningless!" Hibiki retorts.

"She may be an idiot most of the time, but she's right about that!" Chris says as herself and the other Wielders run over to stand by Hibiki's side.

"It's just as you said, we're far from perfect." Maria states.

"Which is why we learn from our mistakes and get back up every time we fail!" Kirika says.

"No matter how many times it takes for us to get it right, we'll never give up!" Shirabe adds.

"Through that, we, as well as the rest of humanity, will keep moving forward, one step at a time!" Serena says.

"I'm sure even a toy that's lived on this planet for far longer than anyone else would be able to see that much." Kanade adds. "And if you can't, then you better just give up on tryin' to rule over us."

"Because we shall show you just how unfit to rule you truly are!" Tsubasa shouts, raising her blade towards Adam as everyone else readied their weapons for a fight.

"Such confidence to bite the hand that shall soon feed you!" Adam scoffed as he threw out a ton of Alca-Noise crystals.

"I didn't expect someone without an ounce of humanity to understand!" Hibiki retorts as herself and the other Wielders charge into battle against the Bavarian Illuminati's Controlling Director: Adam Weishaupt.


Kana's POV:
Kana's Mind


As the Wielders engaged in their final fight against Adam, Kana remained unconscious in S.O.N.G.'s medical wing. However, even though she couldn't do anything physically, there was a lot going on for the Yato Wielder mentally...


Within her mind, Kana walked down an empty, dimly lit corridor with concrete floors and brick walls as far as her eyes could see. "Hello?" Kana calls out on either side of the corridor. "Is anyone here?"

There was no response, no matter how many times she called out. But even though she would never receive a reply, Kana kept calling out for someone or something to answer back until, finally, she heard what sounded like footsteps heading in her direction. "Thank the gods!" Kana exclaims as she ran over to where she heard the footsteps. "I was starting to think I was gonna go crazy if I didn't find anyone soo-"

Kana stops herself when she finally is able to catch a glimpse of the source of the footsteps, and she was confused by what she saw: It was a humanoid figure that was completely covered in a dark blue light. Thanks to the light around this figure, Kana couldn't make out any details on the humanoid figure aside from their shoulder-length hair and the fact that it seemed like they were wearing very baggy clothes.

"Who are you? And where are we?" Kana asks the mysterious figure, who doesn't reply. "Can you at the very least say anything to make this less ominous?"

The figure remained silent, however, they began to walk towards Kana, which made the Wielder uneasy as she prepared to fight the figure if they tried anything. "I don't know what your deal is, but if you try anything stupid, I'll make sure you live to regret it!" Kana shouts, but the figure continued walking calmly, eventually placing one hand on Kana's shoulder. With the figure's hand on her arm, Kana could feel the hand shaking as if they were struggling to make it this far. "Is... Is everything alright?"

"Help... Me..."

"That voice!" Kana was taken aback by the figure's words, or rather, how they sounded. "It's just like the one from my dream!"


"K...ui...eas...p...me..."

"...Help me!"


Remembering that voice, Kana put her hands on the figure's shoulders. "Who are you?" Kana asks. "Why do you need my help?"

The figure was silent once again, but after a moment of silence, tears began to form on the figure's face, before they opened their eyes, revealing a pair of silver eyes with a slight shade of red in them.

"Please... Help me save them!"

Kana was now very confused. "Save who?" She asks, but before the figure could answer, they quickly vanished. "Wait! Don't go! Who do you need me to save?"

"Yourself."

Kana was taken off guard by a new voice that echoed throughout the corridor. "Who's there?!" Kana asks. "Show yourself!"

As if to answer her request, she began to hear several high-pitched squeaks followed by the sound of flapping wings. This sound continued to grow in volume as the Wielder kept looking around for the source, which she would find very quickly as she looked over where the figure once stood and saw a flood of red beady eyes approaching her, eyes that belonged to a cloud of vampire bats, and they were very hungry.

Instinctively, Kana began to run as fast as she could down the seemingly endless corridor. Eventually, as she continued running, she heard what sounded like growling and barking coming from further down the hallway, and considering she was already running from bats, she didn't like the odds of whatever awaited her being friendly either.

Fortunately, Kana's luck was about to turn for the better as she came across a set of doors on either side of the corridor. "Thank the gods!" Kana exclaims as she ran for one of the doors. However, when she went to open it, she was greeted by the sight of what could only be described as a literal warzone as gunfire and explosions practically filled the room. "The other door it is then!" Without any hesitation, Kana slams the door shut and dives for the other one, quickly slamming the door shut as she stood in front of it to make sure neither of the incoming dangers could break through it somehow.

Kana listened as the sounds of screeching bats and howling wolves bolted past the door, holding her breath until the separate hordes could no longer be heard. Once she was certain they were gone, Kana let out a sigh as she caught her breath while taking in the sights of the room she charged into. "Okay... I should be safe now..." She says.

"Incorrect."

The same voice from before appeared once again, sending a chill down Kana's spine and quickly making her put up her guard. "You again?" Kana asks, equally afraid and annoyed by the disembodied voice seemingly threatening her. "Quit messing around and show yourself already, you coward!"

"Incorrect once again. The real coward here... is you."

As the voice said this, a pair of purple eyes with a red ring inside each iris emerged from the darkness. Moments later, a blade made up of violet-colored energy appeared next to the eyes, giving Kana a very faint glimpse of the person that the eyes belonged to, but even with that glimpse, it seemed as though the figure kept changing before she could figure out who they were. "What the..."

"Perish, and join your benefactor in death!"

"My benefactor?" Kana asks, but before she could get an answer, the figure lunged towards her, leaving her with no choice but to shield herself as she braced for the blade to slice her in two... But the slice would never come.


"GAH!" Kana screams as she shot upright in her bed in S.O.N.G.'s medical wing, trying to catch her breath after the horrifying nightmare. Once she had caught her breath and made sure she wasn't dreaming, she let out a sigh of relief.

"I see you've finally decided to wake up." A familiar voice said, taking Kana by surprise, both from how sudden it was and from who the voice originated. "And here I thought I would need to wake you up myself."

"Saint-Germain-san?!"


S.O.N.G. and the Wielders POVs:
The Final battle against Adam Weishaupt


Back with the Wielders, seven of them were making quick work of the Alca-Noise Adam had summoned. As for Hibiki, once the Alca-Noise had been thinned to a decent enough level, She charged straight for Adam to fight him one on one. However, while Hibiki was more than capable of fighting Adam alone, the Controlling Director was able to simply dodge each of the Gungnir Wielder's strikes with minimal effort.

"Do you not plan on fighting me with that X-Drive of yours? Or am I right to assume that you can't access it? After all, there's nowhere near enough phonic gain here to allow you to don a miracle like that!" Adam taunted as he proceeded to put Hibiki on the defensive with energy blasts from his remaining arm. Blocking and deflecting his attacks, Hibiki proceeded to try and go back on the offensive the second he stopped firing, but that attempt was quickly met by said punch being blocked, her hand being grabbed, and her body being launched into the air behind Adam. "Don't get cocky!"

With his adversary now airborne, Adam proceeded to fire more energy blasts at her in an attempt to shoot her out of the sky, but the Gungnir Wielder was just as capable of evading attacks as he was, if not better thanks to the pistons in her Gear's boots allowing her to quickly bolt out of the way of the incoming projectiles. Despite her evasiveness, however, Adam was still certain that he held the advantage over Hibiki... That is until Kanade showed up!

"Round two, build-a-bitch!" Kanade shouts as she lunges at Adam, forcing him to quickly shield himself from the elder Gungnir Wielder. "Time to return the favor for that beating you gave me a couple days ago!"

"Don't make me laugh." Adam scoffed. "You stood no chance against me last time we fought. What makes you think you stand a chance now?"

In response to this, Kanade smirks. "Two reasons: One, unlike last time, I'm not the one who's in a weakened state. And two... Do I really need to say it?"

"RAAAAAAAAHHHH!" As if on cue, Hibiki roars as she flies towards Adam with both of her gauntlets outstretched and their boosters at full throttle. Adam was left with no other choice but to try and shield himself on both sides, but seeing that he was far from his full strength as he was, the barriers stood no chance of holding the Gungnir Wielders off for long as they both pierced the Controlling Director with their Armed Gears, causing a massive explosion.

GALACTIC∞PINCER

With their combined attack, the duo expected to see Adam in a state where he was no longer able to fight. However, once the dust settled, they were met with the sight of both of their weapons being held in place by gigantic magenta-colored hands. "What the- GAH!" Before Hibiki could finish her sentence, Adam quickly threw Kanade by her spear at Hibiki, sending the duo flying back towards the other Wielders, landing on their feet as they regained their balance.

"You're right, I am weakened in my current state." Adam stated. "Which unfortunately means I can no longer maintain my beautiful, perfect body anymore!"

Suddenly, Adam is surrounded by a massive flaming ball of energy, destroying his clothes as his once human body mutated into a giant hulking monster with tons of eyes and massive horns on his head. "What the hell is that thing?!" Chris asks.

"Is that Adam's true form?" Serena asks as herself and the other Wielders grouped up with the Gungnir duo, Tsubasa, and Chris.

"It would seem so." Tsubasa answers.

"I didn't want anyone to know that I was a doll, nor did I want to ever be forced to take this form, but you have all left me with no other choice but to bear the devil's horns!" Adam said, his voice heavily distorted compared to how it was before. "Just like you, I can't afford to lose here!"

Adam roared as he let out even more power than what he had in their prior fights, causing massive shockwaves throughout the ruined city and forcing the Wielders to shield themselves as he unleashed it. Naturally, everyone was terrified by the raw power on display, which only begged one question from the group. "What exactly are you planning to do?" Kirika asks.

"Your primitive monkey minds could never hope to comprehend my plans. I will make you understand how I, a perfect being, shall reign over humanity." Adam answered. "This purpose was why I originally sought the divine power: So that I could stand as their equal."

"And you needed to have divine power to do that? Or did you just want to be a god that looked like a Michael Jackson wannabe?" Kanade asks.

Adam stood still for a moment, before suddenly appearing in front of the elder Gungnir Wielder and sending her flying with a gut punch. "I've heard enough of your pathetic excuses for wit." He said. "It's time for you all to die!"


Kana's POV:
Kana's Mind


As the fight went on between the Wielders and Adam, Kana was left speechless when she awoke to the sight of Saint-Germain standing next to her bedside. The Alchemist in question, however, was less emotive. "Let me guess: You're wondering how the two of us are meeting?" She asked.

"Well, yeah! Last I saw, you were still on the battlefield after I was nearly crushed to death by that divine weapon!" Kana exclaims. "Wait... Does that mean we failed? Are we..."

"Dead?" Saint-Germain asked, receiving a nod from Kana as a response. "Well, you are not, but I am."

"What do you mean?" Kana asks.

"After you were rescued, myself, Cagliostro and Prelati gave our lives to stop the US from nuking everyone. As for yourself, you're merely between life and death thanks to your injuries caused by the divine power." Saint-Germain explained. "Usually, that would mean you're trapped in your own mind while your body recovers, only able to hear the voices of those around you while you dream, but your case is a bit more on the abnormal side."

"What do you mean by that?" Kana asks, which results in Saint-Germain giving her a deadpan glare. "Actually, don't answer that. More importantly, if I'm not dead, then how are we meeting like this?"

"As much as I would like to explain this, I unfortunately do not have the proper answer nor the time to explain it." Saint-Germain said. "But seeing that fate has allowed us one final chance to talk, I have a request for you."

Kana was confused, but willing to hear out the Alchemist. "What's up?"

"Remember earlier when I said the Controlling Director failed to recreate your power with his experiments?" Saint-Germain asked.

"Kinda?" Kana replies. "I remember saying they were all deemed failures and cast aside, but not much else on that."

"While that was true, there was one that was kept by the Illuminati that showed promise, but even so, they did not meet the Controlling Director's desired outcome and were... well... put in a place of poor treatment, to put it lightly." Saint-Germain stated, which surprised Kana. "There is a good chance Adam will be defeated by Hibiki Tachibana today, causing the Illuminati to fall, and with it, the various slaves and captives within the Illuminati's bases will be freed. When that happens, I want you to find the experiment the Controlling Director deemed a failure and tell them that I'm... I'm sorry for what happened to them."

Kana could feel the sorrow in Saint-Germain's request. "Seems like you really cared about them..." Kana says.

"They deserved a better fate than what was given to them..." Saint-Germain stated. "So, if you can give them a better life than the Illuminati has, as well as my apologies, I would be sincerely grateful."

"If our paths end up crossing, you have my word that I'll help give them the best life that I can!" Kana promises.

"Thank you, Kana Kamui." Saint-Germain said as she began to fade away. "I hope, one day, we'll be able to meet again, under better circumstances."

Once the Alchemist disappeared from view, Kana could feel tears begin to form on her face. "You may have started out as our adversary, but I'm glad we were able to end on neutral terms... As much as I share your wish to have been allies." Kana says with a sniffle. "Farewell, Saint-Germain-san..."

Taking a moment to mourn the loss of the Alchemist, Kana wiped the tears off of her face and composed herself once more. "I shouldn't sit around and mope while my friends are out there fighting for their lives." She said, finally looking over to see her real self still unconscious in the medical bed. "Saint-Germain-san said my case of being between life and death was abnormal. I may not be able to help out physically, but surely I can at least cheer them on, right?"

Curious to test her theory, Kana tried to run over to the command center to see if she could watch the fight. She was surprised at first when she phased through the door, but she quickly shrugged it off as she cared to see her friends more than to learn the (hopefully in her case short) life of being a ghost.


Thanks to the lack of needing to use doors, Kana got to the command center in record time. Once inside, she looked around and saw everyone looking at the monitor in sheer horror, a horror of which she didn't need any time to figure out the source of as she looks and sees the very same eldritch being that was standing before the Wielders.

"WHAT THE HELL IS THAT?!" Kana screams.


"Seems he's finally revealed his true self..."


Kana jumps at the sudden new voice in the room. "Who's there?"


"If he isn't stopped, this could spell trouble for all of them, leaving them worse off than you are now."


"This isn't funny anymore!" Kana shouts. "Who are you and what do you want?!"


"Calm yourself, Kana Kamui. I'm here to help..."


Suddenly, the room disappeared, leaving Kana in a dark void, but from that void, a glowing hand emerged.


"That is, if you're willing to trust me..."


S.O.N.G. and the Wielders POVs:
The Final battle against Adam Weishaupt


Back on the battlefield, the Wielders were being effortlessly tossed around by Adam's new beastly form, unable to land even a scratch on him no matter what they did. While things looked fine for them at first, it was clear that their chances of winning were dwindling. "He's way too strong for us..." Hibiki groans as she struggles to get back on her feet. However, just when she was about to lose hope on winning, a familiar voice called out to her.

"It's not over yet, Hibiki Tachibana!"

Hearing the deceased Saint-Germain's voice, Hibiki looked over to where the voice was coming from, seeing the broken remains of the Alchemist's spellcaster. Without another word, Hibiki ran over to the spellcaster, but unfortunately, Adam was quick to pick up on what the Wielder was going for, and grabbed the broken weapon first. "What were you planning to do with Saint-Germain's spellcaster?" Adam asked. "On second thought, I don't care what you were planning, because I have a better idea for its final use: Your destruction!" Saying this, Adam crushed Saint-Germain's spellcaster, causing a massive ball of energy to form in his hands that was quickly shot out towards the Gungnir Wielder as a massive laser.


Back at HQ, everyone watched as Hibiki was trying to hold back the laser, but it was clear that she was not going to last long.

"Is he using the energy from that Faust Robe as an attack?!" Aoi asks in shock.

"They can't continue to fight him without the X-Drive!" Sakuya states.

However, as they began to worry for the success of their Wielders, a song could be heard coming from the battlefield.


"Gatrandis babel ziggurat edenal"
"Emustolronzen Finé el balal zizzl"


"S2CA Octa-Conversion!" Tsubasa shouts as herself and the other Wielders join in with Hibiki in singing their Superb Songs.

"This is gonna be risky." Chris states.

"Considering that we're running out of options, it's either this or death!" Kanade replies.

"And between you and me, I'd rather live!" Serena adds.


"Gatrandis babel ziggurat edenal"


"This is crazy!" Sakuya shouts to the Wielders. "This energy you're using isn't phonic gain!"

"The Gears might not be able to handle it!" Aoi adds. "They could explode as a result!"

"Not if I can help it!" Elfnein replies. "I'll divert some of the strain to the Dáinsleif and incinerate it as a catalyst!"

"Hold on, is that even possible?" Sakuya asks.

"If not, then we'll make it possible!" Aoi answers. "It's our job, after all!"

"Looks like we don't have the time to think of anything else..." Sakuya sighs, quickly joining Elfnein and Aoi in allowing the Wielders to use the energy from Saint-Germain's spellcaster for themselves.


"Emustolronzen Finé el zizzl"


"I've stabilized the conversion through a backup system!" Elfnein reports to the Wielders. "It's up to you now, Hibiki-san!"


"Barrier Coating, Release!"

With the backup system in place, the Wielders began to absorb the energy from Saint-Germain's spellcaster, which in turn caused their Gears to enter a berserk-like state, which was a pain for them to do, but they were willing to endure it if it meant they had a chance to win.

"What do you think you're doing?" Adam asks, feeling the energy from his laser depleting as he saw the eight Wielders in their berserker forms. However, going berserk was not the end of their plan.


"Drawn Blade! Last Ignition!"


The Wielders' berserker forms began to be surrounded by cracks matching the main color of their Symphogears armor as they began their transformation, a sight that very much so annoyed the beastly Controlling Director.

"I tire of your endless struggle!" Adam growled as he jumped into the air and summoned a massive fireball. "Fall to my perfection!" Adam threw the fireball down at the transforming Wielders, encasing the area in a massive explosion.


Kana's POV:
Kana's Mind


As the fight with Adam's monstrous form continued, Kana sat in the void with the mysterious hand and its disembodied voice, her guard at an all time high. "You want to help me?" Kana asks. "Why?"


"Well, considering you're currently on death's doorstep thanks to your injuries, you can't do much other than be a spectator as your friends are beaten senseless by the one you call Adam Weishaupt. And, if he wins, then, when she returns, no one will be able to stop her."


"'She'?" Kana wondered to herself. "But, what I mean is, why do you want to help me specifically?"


"Well, because you were willing to help me a long time ago. So, now it's my turn to give you some help."


"I did?" Kana thought aloud, before a realization hit her. "Don't tell me..."


"That seemed to jog your memory. But I'm glad you were able to remember me all the same."


The voice chuckled.


"However, while I'd love to catch up for lost time, you should really go and help your friends. I'm sure we'll be able to chat again in the future."


Finally understanding who this voice was, Kana was a bit more trusting of their intentions. "Right!" Kana says as she takes the glowing hand. "So, what happens now-" Suddenly, Kana felt her consciousness fading as the glowing hand suddenly exploded, engulfing her in its light.


"Now? You show that Director that power of yours he finds so fascinating!"


S.O.N.G. and the Wielders POVs:
The Final battle against Adam Weishaupt


Back on the battlefield, Adam watched as the explosion from his attack engulfed the Wielders, flying proudly above the flames knowing they were done for. "I augmented myself through alchemy so that one day I would reach perfection, nay, so that I could transcend it!"


"Even if that's true!"


(Testament begins to play)

The eight Wielders emerged from the explosion on the backs of Chris' rockets, unscathed by the attack that Adam threw at them. And now, it was their turn to retaliate. "Know your place, pathetic humans!"

Adam tried to swat at the Wielders, but they effortlessly parried each of his attacks, and even more so, slashed away at his appendages, but even with their increase in power, they knew something was wrong. "I can feel my Gear creaking, screaming out as if it were in pain." Maria says.

"We won't be able to keep this up for long!" Tsubasa adds.

"You increased your output?" Adam gasped as he regenerated his arms, before he was constrained by Shirabe's yo-yos. "You rebuilt your Symphogears at the last possible moment?!"

"So what you're saying is..."

"We're completely fine if we take him out here and now!" Kirika states, finishing Shirabe's sentence as she tosses a spinning bladed flail at Adam as Serena and Kanade join in with a barrage of daggers and spears.

"That works for me!" Serena says.

"We have no reason to hold back here, so let's give him everything we've got, even if it ends us up in full-body casts!" Kanade adds.

As the four Wielders kept him busy with their attacks, Chris prepared her largest rocket yet and fired it directly at Adam, sending him flying into a nearby stadium. "Who needs the X-Drive anyway?" She jokes. "Finish him off, you idiot!"

On cue, Hibiki flies down towards Adam with one of her gauntlets ready to drill through the Controlling Director and finish him off, but as she flew closer to Adam, her Gear began to falter, losing its color as her drill suddenly stops, forcing her to crash land on the hard ground below.


"Oh no! Recoil corruption!" Aoi shouts.

"Now of all times?!" Sakuya gasps. "How?!"

While the agents were clueless as to how it occurred, Elfnein quickly remembered something important. "That's right! I wasn't able to cleanse the corruption from Hibiki-san's Gear!"

Suddenly, as if to make matters worse, an alert came in from the medical wing. "Lilith-san! We have an emergency!" One of the medical wing's other doctors shouted over the communicator. "Something happened to Kana-chan!"

Lilith's eyes went wide when she heard this. "I'll be right there!"

"Of all the times for everything to be falling apart..." Genjuro sighs under his breath, fearing the worst but hoping for the best for both Kana and Hibiki.


While this was very unfortunate for the Wielders, Adam laughed. "Looks like you're out of luck, God-killer." He said as he began to charge an attack from every part of his body. "But now, we have reached the end of your struggle."

Seeing this, Hibiki tries to get up and move out of the way of the attack, but no matter how hard she tries, her body refused to move. "Everyone, quick! Reach out to Tachibana!" Tsubasa shouts to the other Wielders as they give their fallen ally as much of their phonic gain as they could.

"Perish!" Adam shouted as he fired his attack at the powerless Wielder, forcing everyone to watch as she is engulfed in a massive explosion. However, as he was about to celebrate his victory, Adam noticed a light from the dust of his attack. Hibiki was unharmed, protected by a barrier made from three silver daggers. "What?!"

"No way!" Maria gasps. "Is that what I think it is?!"

Equally as surprised by the sudden barrier, Hibiki looks at her armor and sees the various auras that were surrounding her friends combined into one around herself. "This power... is from everyone." Hibiki says in awe.

Seeing Hibiki saved by yet another miracle, Adam became absolutely furious, unleashing even more power and growing massively in size. "Enough of this nonsense! I don't care how many miracles fall on your lap, you can't escape your inevitable demise!"

"We'll see about that!" Hibiki retorts, jumping into the air and generating two green blades from her boot that she kicks at Adam's arm, slicing it into ribbons.

"That's my Juliet!" Kirika gasps.

"I'll borrow these too!" Hibiki shouts, creating a blue beam that cuts through more of Adam's regenerating arm as she quickly flips and follows up by throwing an orange javelin at the other arm as it approached.

"My Blue Flash!/My Sagittarius Arrow!" Tsubasa and Kanade simultaneously gasp.

"I won't allow anyone to get in my way!" Adam said as he manifested an alchemy circle below himself, using it to reanimate the sliced pieces of his arm into smaller versions of himself, which were swiftly dealt with as Hibiki drove by on a pink light monowheel as two white light daggers followed behind her and tore the remaining clones to pieces.

"Forbidden Full Moon!/Fairial Trick!" Shirabe and Serena gasp.

"How is she able to use our techniques like this?" Serena asks aloud.

"There's only one possible explanation for this: This power... Is Hibiki-san's Armed Gear!" Shirabe answers.

"I don't have the time to deal with you, especially in a place like this!" Adam growled, breaking through Hibiki's version of Shirabe's Forbidden Full Moon and wrapping his hand around her, crushing her in his palm.


Arriving in the medical wing, Lilith met up with the doctor that called her from the command center. "What's wrong with Kana, Doctor?"

"That's the problem, Lilith-san: When we went to check in on her, she wasn't there!" The doctor reported, leading Lilith to the empty bed where Kana once sat.

Lilith's heart sank seeing the empty bed. "Where did she go?!"


"The custodians will descend soon. I must have the power to overcome them, to resist them, before it's too late!" Adam proclaimed. "So why must you keep being a pest and getting in my wa-"


"RRRAAAAWWRRGGRR!"


"What was tha-" Before Adam or anyone else could process what made that almost demonic screech, the beastly Controlling Director's arm that was perfectly sliced in two, sending the wrapped Gungnir Wielder falling to the earth.

"Let it fly! Armor Purge!" Chris quickly shouts to Hibiki, getting the trapped Wielder to free herself by exploding her armor and reverting back to her normal clothes.

Thanks to Chris' advice Hibiki went from trapped and falling to powerless and falling... That is until Hibiki suddenly stopped feeling the effects of gravity. "Huh?" She thought aloud, wondering why she was flying without her Gear, before she made eye contact with her savior: A familiar winged Wielder that had a new suit of armor much like the others had gotten moments ago, as well as pure white eyes and blazing blue flames surrounding them. "Kana?!"

Everyone stared at Kana in complete shock, including Adam. "You waited until now to show off your power?!" He asked angrily.

Emotionlessly, Kana looked towards the frightened beast and widened her eyes further, sending him flying into the nearby wall. Once that was done, she then looked down to the equally terrified and confused Hibiki sitting in her arms as she descended to the ground and gently placed her on her feet. "Th-Thank you, Kana." Hibiki says nervously. "I... I'm glad you're better. And, sorry about what happened earlier."

Kana remained emotionless, before slowly raising her hand at Hibiki, surrounding her in a yellow aura that lifted her off the ground. Once this was done, Kana lowered her hand and unsheathed her sword, pointing it towards Adam. It took the Gungnir Wielder a moment to understand what was happening, but she understood what her friend was trying to say. "Alright Kana..."

"Let's end this, together!"

With this, the duo charged towards Adam as Hibiki pulled out her pendant once more. "I know I'm asking for a lot right now, Gungnir, but I really need you for one more hit!" Hibiki says to her pendant. "Give me enough for one last punch from everyone!"


"This is basically our chance to pay you back in kind!"
"With interest and then some!"
"Rebel against oppression and scream the howl of revolution!"


"Balwisyall... Nescell... GUNGIR TROOOOONNNN!"


Thanks to a power boost from Kana and the fallen Alchemist trio, Hibiki was able to activate her Gungnir one more time, but unlike every other time she's done it, this time was different. Once the light dissipated around Hibiki, she emerged from it in a purely golden version of her Gungnir Symphogear!

"A Golden Transmutation?!" Adam gasps. "This shouldn't be possible! You're not an Alchemist!" Adam attempted to strike at Hibiki, but the moment he moved his hand towards her, Kana appeared before it and sliced the entire arm clean off, doing the same to his opposite arm before he had a chance to consider attacking again.

With the beastly Controlling Director now completely defenseless, Hibiki charges up to Adam and begins to deliver blow after blow to his chest, the punches rapidly increasing in speed with each one she dealt. As Hibiki kept wailing into him and lifting him into the air as a result, Kana warped above the stadium and began to put all of her energy into her sword, causing it to grow massively in size, while also making Kana's gray eyes start to fade back in as the energy left her body.

Within seconds, Kana's sword was complete, towering over herself as Adam was towering over the Wielders. With it complete, Kana looked down and saw the roof of the building below her explode as Hibiki punched Adam through it as she prepared one final double handed punch that would go straight through him. Seeing this, Kana began to bring the sword down to slice the Controlling Director in two and end this battle once and for all.


"THIS ENDS NOW!"


With this combined shout, Hibiki pierced through Adam and flew through the air like a speeding bullet, barely making it out of the way as Kana followed up and bisected him down the middle and fell to the ground below.

CHAOS TESTAMENT

"Hope was destroyed today." Adam said. "In your tomorrow, in your future, only despair awaits!"

Saying this, Adam laughed as his body exploded in the air. As this happened, Kana fell unconscious, letting gravity and the shockwave from Adam's explosion take her for a ride as it knocked away Hibiki. However, before either Wielder could slam into the earth, they were caught by the other Wielders and safely shielded from the shockwaves.


Back at HQ, everyone watched as the Gungnir and Yato duo put an end to Adam with their combined strength. "They've done it... They finished Adam, and the Bavarian Illuminati along with him!" Sakuya says, partially in disbelief that what he was seeing was real.

"Yeah. Victory is ours." Genjuro replies with a smile on his face.

Suddenly, Lilith appeared back in the command center in pure panic. "Commander! We have a situa... tion?" Lilith stops herself as she saw the command center's monitor displaying three screens: Adam's explosion, Tsubasa and Maria carrying Hibiki, and Kanade and Chris carrying Kana. "What... Happened?"

"Kana-san and Hibiki-san just defeated Controlling Director Adam Weishaupt." Aoi answers.

Lilith was shocked to hear this report. "...KANA DID WHAT?!"


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


With Adam's defeat, life became a lot more peaceful for S.O.N.G. and the Wielders. Granted, much like any other day, Elfnein took the peace time to continue working, to the point that she was in her own little world... Until Sakuya put a cup of coffee on her desk, bringing her back to reality. "It's been three days since the incident was resolved. Don't you think you're pushing yourself a little too hard?" Sakuya asks.

"Sakuya's right. After all, you already managed to cleanse the recoil corruption from Hibiki-san's Gear." Aoi states. "You should really take some time to rest."

"I appreciate your concern, but I assure you I'm fine." Elfnein replies. "There has just been something about the chain of events that happened last week that has been bothering me."

Aoi and Sakuya looked at one another in confusion at what Elfnein was referring to, but the Alchemist had one event on her mind: What Saint-Germain had said when Hibiki first absorbed the divine power...


"It shouldn't be possible... Only a pure soul should be able to become a vessel for the divine power. It cannot dwell within the body of a human born shouldering the original sin."


"So how could Hibiki-san do it?" Elfnein thought to herself. "What exactly did Saint-Germain mean by 'original sin'?"

As Elfnein thought about the oddity that was Hibiki's ability to absorb the divine power, the other Agents noticed an alert on their desks. "Commander, Ogawa-san is calling us from London." Aoi reports.

"Put him through." Genjuro orders. With a nod, Aoi answers the call and puts Ogawa up on the main screen. "How are things going over there?"

"I've been working with intelligence agencies all over the world to hunt down the remaining cells of the Bavarian Illuminati." Ogawa reported. "So far, we've been very successful."

"But with the Illuminati now dismantled, there's a chance that the remaining cells go underground and become even harder for us to find." Genjuro states.

"We will continue investigating on our end." Ogawa said. "I'll report back to you if we come across anything major."

With that, Ogawa disconnected the call, leaving the agents and commander to their thoughts. "Then there's the threat of the Custodians... Was Adam telling the truth about the Anunnaki's return?"


Meanwhile


As the agents and commander wondered about the return of the gods and the remnants of the Illuminati, S.O.N.G.'s combat medic continued to examine a very annoyed patient, who looked completely bored out of their mind. "How many more tests do we need to run before you see that I'm completely fine, Lilith?" Kana asked.

"You may have suddenly gotten better over the course of an hour, young lady, but considering you were barely hanging on to life moments prior, it's vital that I make sure that you don't suddenly die from something as simple as eating or breathing." Lilith answers.

"But we've been doing this for three days straight." Kana whined. "I'm more than certain you've ran every single medical test that there even is to try on me, and I don't know about you, but I'm one special test name away from just breaking a random bone in my body just to give you something better to do."

"First of all, threatening self-harm in any manner is not something to joke about." Lilith says in a serious tone as she reads through a paper one of the other doctors handed her. "And secondly, you're free to go."

"Wait, what?" Kana asked.

"I said you're free to go." Lilith restates. "I just got the results from the last round of tests and now we are 100% sure that you have no lingering side effects from your sudden recovery. If anything, you actually came out of this better than you were in your previous medical checkup..."

"As in yesterday or a couple months ago?" Kana sarcastically asked.

Lilith gave Kana a contempt glare. "Guess I'll just tell Hibiki-chan you won't be able to make it to her birthday party after all... I'll just tell the Commander one of your tests had an... Interesting result that needs to be looked into."

"Please don't do that! I'm sorry, alright?!" Kana said in a panicked tone. "I know that you were concerned for my health and I appreciate what you've done for me the past three days! Just please don't keep me in here!"

"Well, since you thanked me for taking care of you, I'll let the Commander know you're good to go." Lilith teases as she hands Kana back her Yato Symphogear pendant. "But please don't try anything risky like you did out there again. Elfnein has a lot on her plate improving the Gears as it stands. The last thing she needs is to try and rebuild it all the way up from scratch."

"I'll be more careful from now on, Lilith. You have my word." Kana promised as she activated her Gear to warp herself over to Hibiki and Miku's apartment. "I'm gonna head over to the party now. See you later!"

"Have fun! Oh, and tell the others I said hello!" Lilith says, getting a thumbs up from Kana before she left. However, once Kana was out of sight, Lilith looked back at the test results curiously. "Still... Something about this doesn't sit right with me..."


Hibiki and Kana's POVs:
Miku and Hibiki's Apartment


Once she was let out from S.O.N.G.'s medical wing, Kana quickly rushed to her and Chris' apartment to grab a change of clothes, picked up the gift she had bought for Hibiki before everything went down with the divine power incident, and quickly rushed over to Hibiki and Miku's apartment. Once she arrived at the door, she reverted out of her Gear and went to knock on the door, but before her hand reached the doorknob, Chris opened it for her. "Way to make an entrance with the lightshow outside the door." Chris said mockingly.

"I know. I just got let out from the medical wing so I had to rush back home and get a few things before I showed up. And I forgot to transform out of my Gear on the way up..." Kana sighs. "I'm not late, am I?"

"Could've gotten here a bit sooner, but other than that, not really." Chris answered. "Now get in here already!"

"Don't have to tell me twice!" Kana chuckles. "Let's get this party started!"


With Kana's arrival, Hibiki's couple days late birthday party began. Together, the Wielders, Yumi, Shiori, and Kuriyo spent time talking casually amongst themselves, enjoying food that Shirabe had made for everyone, playing games together, and overall just having a good time with the welcome change of pace from what they had been dealing with for the past couple of weeks.

A while later, as the party was still going, Kana noticed that Hibiki was standing out on the balcony just looking up at the stars. "Gotta admit, Kirika-chan really gave it her all organizing this party for you. Makes me wonder what she's got planned for my birthday when that comes around." Kana chuckles, getting Hibiki's attention. "Regardless, I'm glad that we're able to celebrate your birthday, even if it was a little delayed."

"Honestly, I'm just glad that everyone was able to be here to celebrate it with me, especially you, Kana." Hibiki replies. "And, I know I said it before back when we were fighting Adam, but I'm sorry about what happened when I was inside the divine weapon..."

"It's all good, Hibiki." Kana says, forgiving Hibiki. "Besides, Lilith told me that I actually came out of that better than I had been months ago, so really, I should be thanking you for that. Hehehe."

Hibiki chuckles softly at Kana's joke. "Well, that's a relief, I guess..."

After that, the two Wielders stood in silence as they both looked up at the stars, but it didn't take Kana long to notice something was up with her friend. So, with a cough to clear her throat, Kana looks over at Hibiki and asks. "Something on your mind?"

Hibiki let out a sigh before she spoke. "Hypothetically speaking... If some bad guy were to be causing trouble for someone else, somewhere else... I would be able to use my fists to deal with them easily."

"Right..." Kana says with a hint of confusion.

"But, in a fight where my opponent believes what they're doing is right by their own sense of justice, with their fist clenched as mine is, then it's not as easy to resolve." Hibiki continues, which didn't do much to help Kana's confusion. "It's worked for me so far, but what if, next time, my own justice won't be enough? What if it fails me?"

Hearing this, Kana let out a small chuckle. "It's hard to say whether one's justice would be enough to get them through any battle or not. But if there's one thing I do know, it's that, even when one's justice may fail, they can always rely on others to help build them back up." Kana states. "So whenever you find yourself in a position where you can no longer believe in yourself, just remember that you're never alone."

She's right, you know." Miku said, surprising both Kana and Hibiki as she came out to the balcony and held the latter's hand in hers. "No matter what happens, I'll always be there to hold your hand."

"Miku..." Hibiki says as the smile that she was known and loved for returned to her face. "Well, when you say that, then I have nothing to fear!"

Hearing this, Miku started to head back inside with a smile on her face. "Welcome home, Hibiki."

"It's good to be home, Miku!" Hibiki replies.

"It's good to have you back." Kana chuckles.

"There you are!" Kirika exclaimed as she ran to the balcony entrance. "We're about to start playing card games! You want in?"

Looking at one another, Hibiki and Kana nod as they head for the door to join the party once again.

"Coming!"


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


Back at HQ, Elfnein continued her research to try and understand how Hibiki could absorb the divine power as she had, going through any and every record pertaining to Hibiki's life as a Wielder in S.O.N.G./Section Two. At first, she couldn't find much, until she came across a file regarding the incident with Miku wielding Shénshòujìng, specifically how it ended, which made her eyes light up in excitement. "This photo... I get it now!" Elfnein gasps. "This explains why Hibiki was able to-"

"Did you figure something out, Elfnein-kun?" Genjuro asks as he walks over to her station.

"It's just a hypothesis, but I may have figured out why Hibiki was able to become a vessel for the divine power!" Elfnein answers, which surprises Genjuro. "It's said that, since they were born with the original sin, humans are unable to acquire divine power. This 'original sin' is more likely than not the Curse of Balal itself. With that in mind, when Hibiki-san bathed in Shénshòujìng's purifying light, she may have also been purged of the curse as well."

"So she was basically cleansed of sin?" Genjuro asks.

"It may also explain how she was able to go from being a human-relic fusion to being a fully compatible wielder in her own right." Elfnein states.

"Wait a minute!" Genjuro gasps as a thought came to his mind thanks to Elfnein's hypothesis. "Hibiki-kun wasn't the only one struck by Shénshòujìng's light that day..."

Just then, Lilith suddenly ran into the command center. "Oh good, you both are here!" Lilith sighs in relief.

"Lilith-kun? Is everything alright?" Genjuro asks.

"Well..."

"It's about Kana, sir..."


A/N: And with that, we end Part 4! ...For the most part.

Before part 5 starts, there's going to be another intermission chapter to show both a taste of what is to come for the next part, as well as fulfill a promise I made back in the very beginning of the fanfic, three years ago today!

That's right, today marks the three year anniversary of when I started writing this fanfiction, as well as when I started writing fanfics in general. It's honestly wild to think that I've been doing it for this long, but hey, as long as ideas keep flowing into my brain for more fics, I hope that I can go about bringing them to life for as long as I am able!

But I digress. Thank you all so much for reading this fanfic up to this point. I shall see you all in the next intermission chapter!

Side note: Just in case there was some confusion, yes, Kana did have control over her Chaos Kana state this time around. She just wasn't able to talk as the form still leaves her in a mental state where fluent speech isn't exactly a priority. (Think something akin to Kale's berserk form in Dragon Ball Super, if that helps)