[Insert: KICKASS – TRiDENT]
The maelstrom of energy coalesced before the Gear users, a black vortex engulfing Laya as the group could only brace themselves for what was to come.
"A Superb Song!?"
While the group assumed that the new girl had the ability to use a Superb Song, they didn't expect the strength behind the lashes of wind that came from her activating it. If they were struggling dealing with just the activation of it, the backlash on Laya must have been unreal. "But if it is," Tsubasa started, peering through the openings of the cyclone in front of them, "how is it so strong?"
Laya struggled to stand upright on her feet, the damage to her body from the Superb Song making her feel like her body was being ripped apart. She didn't think it'd hurt this bad, but that was why her sister told her not to use it in the first place. She started to regret her decision, wondering if the payoff was going to be worth it if she needed to be in this position the entire time. She could barely stand, let alone try to move for attacking and defending. Nidhogg understood her pain, a single repeated phrase of two words in her mind nonstop.
"It hurts..."
"I know it does; it was to be expected. That's why..."
The converter that was held up in the air now began to show its purpose, the cacophony of energy now retreating into the converter. Once that happened, the converter transformed, the two prongs on the sides now extending and shifting horizontally before connecting to the base of the Gear where it was pulled from. As it did, the energy exploded outward, the spiraling tower of phonic gain now leaving Laya in an aura of sparkling black.
The pain was alleviated for the most part, but it wasn't gone completely. Thankfully, she gained a tolerance to pain over the years, so this much was mere child's play.
"Alright..."
She put her hand out, a bar of shadows manifesting in front of her. After taking hold of the tangible construct, she twirled the bar around in her hand, her eyes now confident as she gritted her teeth. "That's better!"
The Gear users barely had time to react as Laya seemingly teleported in front of them, her attack being blocked off by Tsubasa's golden sword. Within the fraction of a second that it took her to reach them, what originally was a lone bar now sprouted a curved blade on both sides, now taking the form of a dual-ended scythe that pushed down on Tsubasa. The ground below them cracked, Laya's eyes now filled with determination at the realization of her new power.
"H-Hey! She's stealing my style," Kirika declared, the sight of Laya finally reaching her eyes. Laya chuckled at this analysis, hopping back as she dug the ground up with one of the scythe's blades.
"Sorry, but if you're the only one that can use one of these, I guess I have to take you down from that pedestal!"
Laya dashed forward with her scythe reared back, the blade coming forward to attack Tsubasa from her side. However, this time, the Blades of Zababa intercepted the attack, Shirabe's shield taking the full force of the swing. Laya knew this would be the case, so she started to pick them off one by one. With the momentum she had from her scythe, she swooped up the twin-tailed girl and threw her in another direction.
She could identify that Shirabe was the weakest link out of all the users here, not because of her physical strength, but the weapon she held. After seeing everyone defend her after the shield transformed, it was only reasonable to believe that she wouldn't be able to hold her own if she was overwhelmed.
As if on cue, Kirika rushed to Shirabe's aid, the two scythe users now clashing blades as the aura around Laya grew. If Kirika didn't know any better, she'd think that the shadows around her would have tried to maul her there. With a tilt, Laya shifted Kirika's scythe downward, embedding it into the ground before hitting her with a knee to the jaw. One half to the Blades of Zababa went airborne, but the other half had gotten straight back into the brunette's sights.
As Kirika fell, Laya made sure to use the pole of her weapon to catch her, but it wasn't without throwing her into her partner as if the scythe was a slingshot. Shirabe caught her, but it wasn't without being pushed back a considerable amount. Within that timeframe where Zababa was sent flying, Laya's attention was directed to the next target: Maria.
While she swung the dragon of Airgetlám, her opponent deflected its strikes with just a twirl of her blade. Once she got close, the tail on her back jutted outward, ready to strike, but it was blocked by the azure girl.
With her attack deflected, the brunette's plan worked, using the deflected armament to wrap itself around Tsubasa's sword and pull her away. Worse came to worst, she'd either let go of the sword or engulf the three of them in flames, but all those choices had negligible outcomes to Laya. However, Tsubasa chose to hold onto her blade, being swung out of the way as Laya continued her attack on Maria. If she lost her weapon, there was a chance she wouldn't be able to activate Cocoon in time for a defense.
The energy making Laya's scythe began to charge as she continued to attack Maria, each attack being intercepted by Airgetlám. Despite this, there was always an opening, and once her scythe was bounced back for the umpteenth time, she managed to land a punch in Maria's chest, following it up with a dropkick courtesy of the scythe she used as leverage.
"That's weird..."
Tsubasa muttered under her breath, using her Armed Gear to light the tail connected to her sword ablaze. Alas, the efforts were in vain, the dark aura around Laya sucking up any of the fire it met. Flicking her tail, Laya tossed Tsubasa in Maria's direction, slamming her straight into the pink-haired combatant. After clicking her tongue, Tsubasa gathered herself, up on her feet as her partner also made her way up.
"Shouldn't she be feeling the backlash from the Superb Song?"
From their fight, she was moving as agile as ever, like she had no strain on her body. The Superb Song was meant to amplify strength at the cost of insane backlash to the body, so why was Laya not acting like this was affecting her? What's more was how much stronger she got over just a single Superb Song. Even if it was an amplification, the power shouldn't have eclipsed Amalgam in the way it did.
Perhaps it wasn't due to the power increase, but instead, due to how their defense wasn't bolstered. The explanation of Amalgam was replayed back in the minds of the two Gear users, the transformations of Cocoon and Imago both reminding them that they could only allocate the energy of their Armed Gears to either a golden barrier or an empowered weapon.
It was no wonder why it paled in comparison to the Ignite Module, which covered all ends at the cost of a timer, but to think it was the change was this drastic...
They never noticed since the only times they had fought with Amalgam, their enemies were defeated quickly, but here, it was not more than ever that they realized where the faults in their Gears were. When Tsubasa looked at Laya, she noticed that while her movements were faster and her attacks were stronger, her attacks were a bit stilted, though it was barely noticeable. It could have been because of the weapon she was using, but the sentinel thought differently.
"No, it's not that she isn't..."
Laya swung her scythe as Zababa tried to counterattack. Shul Shagana's shield blocked again, though just like last time, it was forced back. Kirika tried to land a hit with her own scythe, but Laya found it just as easy to intercept and block the attack with the scythe's other end. With a spin, she kicked both Kirika and Shirabe both away, but Maria sent her dragon to attack.
Laya didn't think of the attack as much, her scythe cutting through the storm the dragon fired at her. Something that was noted by Maria was the scythe absorbing the attack it cut through, the energy being converted into phonic gain as Laya launched a slash at her with much more force compared to before.
"How are we supposed to win against something like that, dess?"
"If it's just a Superb Song, we should be able to run her out of stamina, but..."
Laya closed the distance between herself and the idol duo almost instantly as her attention was drawn straight back to them. Tsubasa parried the scythe before continuing Shirabe's sentence, "One incorrect move and it'll be our heads." With a wave of fire, the duo was freed from Laya, though they only had a split second to think of a plan before their foe bounded back over to them, attacking with her tail. "In that case, we just need to use that."
Maria's eyes widened, the dragon head intercepting the tail before Laya was able to close that distance. Meanwhile, Kirika dislodged the sections of her scythe, firing them at the girl with the black wings. Laya noticed this attempt to catch her off-guard, so the wings on her back spun, rotating as the sections of Kirika's Armed Gear bounced away one at a time.
With this chance, Shirabe's shield transformed, but this time, the result was a yo-yo, multiple glowing pink blades jutting out as it raced towards Laya. Without much of a choice, Laya was forced to jump back, allowing the four to regroup, which was their plan from the start. Laya would have kept on the pressure, but the Superb Song was starting to take its toll.
"Just because the backlash is being offset by the energy you're collecting doesn't mean that it isn't there," Nidhogg explained.
Laya shook her head, her vision starting to get blurry as she realized exactly what that converter was doing. With each attack she had, she was collecting phonic gain, which was working to reduce any damage from her Superb Song. However, the more she used it, the more the pain started to return.
She was acting like it was normal, but at the end of the day, there was still an amount of stress on her body that she couldn't escape and she knew the black dragon of Yggdrasil could only do so much. If anything, she was simply prolonging it. "I know, but... I can keep going."
While Laya continued to stabilize herself, the group of Gear users needed to think of a plan and fast. Otherwise, if Laya came at them with more intensity, there was no telling if they could make it out of there in one piece. That was where their idea came in.
Shirabe was the first to notice the outcome Maria was looking for. "You mean..." It was a solid plan, even if it did just amount to, "we have to hit her harder!" But to think that she'd want to use something like the X-Drive when they could have just stalled her out...
But there was one problem; one that Kirika pointed out. "But everyone else is over there, dess!" That was something that the quartet had an issue with, since they knew that everyone needed to be together to activate that X-Drive transformation, since Hibiki was always the one to use Gungnir to collect the phonic gain. "It doesn't matter if they are, what do we always say?" Maria assured the group, prompting Shirabe to finish that thought.
"Just believe in the song in our hearts..."
The moment Laya realized that she was starting to get tired, she knew that it was time for her to try and land a finishing blow. The energy charged up in Nidhogg's scythe burst, solidifying as the edges of the scythe grew sharper. She reminded herself about her thoughts before she activated the Superb Song.
"It doesn't matter as long as we win..."
But when she started to rear her scythe back, she heard a song.
"Gatrandis babel ziggurat edenal..."
"Emustolronzen Finé el balal zizzl..."
"Gatrandis babel ziggurat edenal..."
"Emustolronzen Finé el zizzl..."
She knew what they were doing, but it wasn't something she expected. "Their own Superb Songs...?" Assuming that they did use their Superb Songs, it wasn't like it changed how Nidhogg could eat up their attacks. If anything, it seemed pointless. However, once that power output increased, Nidhogg gave off its own concerns. "Here they come."
The S.O.N.G. adapters all readied themselves, the group feeling that their power was more than enough for what they needed to do. However, Laya was unperturbed, even if a trail of blood ran down her lip. "But even if they do have their own Superb Songs..."
Tsubasa raised her sword, the flames now bursting from the blade exponentially. "It's time to rip the fangs from that dragon," she said, bringing the sword down onto Laya.
"I'd like to see you try!"
Laya dodged the strike, the remnants of flames being absorbed into the scythe as she sped into range. However, once she did, the robot from Shirabe's shield appeared, bringing its arm up with a saw in hand. Laya swung her scythe, shattering the saw the moment she realized it was coming after her, but it gave Maria the chance to wrap Airgetlám around Laya's waist, swinging her around like she was a ragdoll. While their Unison did not change their fighting styles, the fact that Laya had to work harder to block attacks finally started making her see how influential that backlash on her Gear was.
When Airgetlám finally started to retract with Laya in tow, Tsubasa's flames started to rise on her sword, charging up and ready for Laya to be within range. Before she could, the tail on her back loosened her enough to slip out of the dragon head of Airgetlám. She was ready to strike back, but there was something that set Laya off.
When she locked eyes with Maria, she noticed that all the blades from Kirika's scythe latched onto the dragon head, creating a ring with a green luminescent glow. As they did, the legs on Shirabe's robot disconnected, creating two massive buzzsaws that acted like walls aimed straight at Laya.
With the combined energy of Kirika and Maria, the dragon on Maria's arm fired a charged shot of green and silver. Meanwhile, Tsubasa's flames flowed forward between the saws put into place by Shirabe, but with the saws lining the way to Laya, it acted much more like a railgun, the flames not having anywhere to flow outward to and going in a straight line.
Laya saw these two attacks coming after her, but it wasn't enough to deter her.
"Pft, a lousy move like that... Nidhogg!"
With a call of its name, Nidhogg's head appeared from the scythe, only much stronger compared to any of the attacks before thanks to the absorption.
(ARMAGEDDON REVISER)
After Nidhogg's manifestation took in the attacks from the quartet, the group knew that everything went according to plan. "Maria," Tsubasa called out, letting her know to proceed with the next phase.
"Right!"
Maria's dragon opened its jaw, nearly the exact same way Nidhogg did as it weaved around the battlefield. "If we can't use everyone's Superb Songs..." They knew that to activate the X-Drive regularly, they'd need an exorbitant amount of energy to do that, something that was assisted with by Hibiki. However, the thing was that the power converted to activate it was always gathered by Gungnir so Maria could divert it to everyone else. However, with the way Nidhogg had been retaining energy, there was a thought.
If they couldn't use Hibiki's Superb Song to hold onto the energy...
"We can just use hers!"
Airgetlám took in the energy from Nidhogg's attack, the black void now spreading to the group and changing shades as a tempest of color spiraled out of control. Unlike the time Leia used Nidhogg to attack Airgetlám, this time, the Armed Gear wasn't broken down and devoured by the gluttonous dragon. Instead, with the help of everyone, they were able to that energy and redirect it to themselves.
With the winds of phonic gain fading, the group finally revealed themselves, only this time, in much brighter attire. Their hair flowed like flames, their figures radiating a luminance that Laya could only look onto in awe. The group now sported wings of corresponding colors, their forms now vastly different compared to their Amalgam transformations.
"What is that...?"
Laya's words left her lips, but Nidhogg could only admire their wits.
"It appears that they outsmarted us."
Tsubasa looked down at her hands, the familiar feeling of the X-Drive now in her grasp. The last time she felt that power, they were fighting against a Custodian, but now that she had it in her hands, it felt like complete overkill to use a form like this against that girl. Even if they wanted to use something stronger, the strength she felt was alien compared to their last form.
"I can't believe that worked..."
Between all the surprises, Maria put a hand on her shoulder. "It was only natural after noticing how the fight was going," she stated, a bit of smugness to her tone as she realized that she was right. Of course, it was Maria who figured all this out. After all, she had met Nidhogg head-on in nearly every encounter, so seeing how it worked the last couple of times, it wasn't a far-off guess.
"Yeah! Now, we have her on the ropes!"
Kirika pumped her fist in the air, twirling her scythe with her other hand as Laya attempted to analyze the threat at hand. "Something's telling me that this is about to go horribly wrong," she muttered, her knees buckling as the realization of her situation hit her. She could feel the phonic gain radiating off their Gears, enamored by their new power.
"Rightfully so. They're clever," Nidhogg responded, its surge of energy now receding back into the scythe. Even if Nidhogg knew the outcome of this fight and Leia's encounter, it was still impressed with exactly how these S.O.N.G. Adapters were able to create miracles like that.
While the two were impressed, Laya still had questions, some that she hoped Nidhogg would answer.
"How did they even do that?"
When prompted with that question, Nidhogg did have an answer for her.
"They released the limiters from their Gears."
While the answer was nice, she didn't know what that meant. She assumed that a Superb Song was a removal of limiters, but here, it felt like it was far beyond that. "Yeah, that's all well and cool, but how," she asked yet again, but Nidhogg couldn't give her an entire explanation before the group finally began to charge her. Nidhogg knew exactly how this went, though it wasn't a shocker to realize it.
The Gears simply took advantage of Nidhogg's energy retaining function, consolidating their attacks and amplifying it through their Superb Songs. However, once it got to Nidhogg, Laya's Superb Song amplified the energy as if it were her own, allowing them to divert that resulting increase into the X-Drive. It also didn't help that the last attack from Laya contained the energy from over the course of the entire fight rather than just one attack, which only made it easier for them.
No matter what, S.O.N.G. outsmarted them in every way.
"Maybe..."
The quartet began their counterattack, but the results were very uneventful. Every time Laya went to block an attack, the phonic gain from her opponents overwhelmed her by a drastic margin. It was like the fight wasn't even a challenge for them. Laya tried to take advantage of their low sense of security, but when she brought the scythe up to attack Maria, Maria simply brought her arm up, blocking the scythe with the gauntlet of Airgetlám.
"My attacks... they aren't even phased by them?"
She didn't even look like she had to struggle to deal with her, nor the other Gears, for that matter. From the tornados from Kirika to the energy blades of Shirabe's saws, there wasn't a single attack that Laya was able to successfully block or match in strength. The same went for the woman in front of her, who didn't even need a fancy attack of phonic gain to defend herself.
With that, Maria swung her arm downwards, the blaze on her sword striking and crashing Laya down into the ground. She hissed through her teeth in the crater, forcing her body up with the scythe on her side. She tried to think of a solution, but had nothing. That's where Nidhogg came in.
"I have an idea."
Even if she didn't like the way Nidhogg said those words, it wasn't like she had an idea to fight them at all. If this kept up, the backlash of the Superb Song was going to be the least of her concerns. There wasn't a way she was winning like this, but if the all-knowing tome could gather something that she didn't, it was worth trying out. After all, what was the worst that could happen?
"You haven't led me astray yet, Nids."
She jumped forward, going after Tsubasa first. While midair, she had the plan relayed to her telepathically, finally hearing about what Nidhogg was trying to do. That revelation was all she needed to push herself beyond her limits. Just like in the cavern of the Yggdrasil System, she felt her body become invigorated, completely ignoring the pain of the Superb Song that was eating away at every part of her body. She swung the scythe blade forward, the dragon's energy manifesting as she called out, "Nidhogg!"
The dragon's head jutted forward, but the attack was just too easy to read for the sentinel. Tsubasa dodged the telegraphed attack, the black dragon dissipating as she split the energy apart. She clashed weapons with Laya, but as Laya found an opening on her side to send Nidhogg at, Shirabe was right there to intercept it.
"We won't let you!"
Shirabe caught the scythe with a ring, taking Laya around and sending her in another direction. She regained her composure quickly, but when she did, Kirika had already caught up to her. Laya brought up her scythe to defend herself from Kirika's slash, catching the blade before it could get down to her. However, once Kirika got caught, she used the blade as leverage, kicking her back into the air and straight into Maria's range.
"Tch... I can't-"
"Wide open!"
Maria brought her arm forward, the gauntlet of Airgetlám now being fashioned into a translucent pink blade that Laya couldn't keep up with. The longer the fight went on, the more hits she took, the slashes and bruises becoming numerous as she tried to find an edge.
"Nidhogg!"
She called on its name one more time, though she could feel that she was starting to reach the end of its usage rate. However, just like the last time, it was slashed away by the overwhelming power of the X-Drive.
After another attack that sent her tumbling down, her options became incredibly limited. She was struggling to move her body, the backlash of the Superb Song without the withheld energy finally taking its toll. However, it wasn't ending here. Using the last of her strength, she came after Maria one more time, swinging her scythe forward, but as always, she knew Maria wouldn't be so clueless.
"As if!"
Maria's sword blocked the attack, but as she went to retaliate, Laya did something completely surprising.
"Hehe..."
Maria's attack landed, her blade impaling Laya's abdomen as blood erupted from the wound. Both the Blades of Zababa and the idol duo were both in shock, not knowing why the girl took that hit. They expected her to defend against it, especially while they were going easy on her. The attack was slow enough for her to deflect, but...
"She... took the hit?"
But this was all part of the plan, no matter how bad it hurt.
"Nidhogg..."
Nidhogg appeared from her sleeve one final time, the dragon cycling around the two before Laya was kicked into the ground. Despite the instinctual retaliation, Maria couldn't help but look at the sword on her gauntlet, stained with crimson. With all the fighting she's done, she's rarely been on the giving end of drawing blood, so it wasn't a familiar sight to her.
"Maria-san! Are you alright?"
Maria was silent when Zababa flew up to her, Tsubasa following suit. They felt sympathy for the woman, her sword now revealing the consequences of battle. Even if she was an enemy, they weren't trying to hit her with a fatal wound. They wanted to bring her back in, not even for questioning, but to make sure that she wasn't locked under the thoughts of getting needlessly hurt for a cause she didn't believe in.
However, Maria would show a brave face, trying not to let it affect her. All they needed to do was get her immediate medical attention. That would solve everything, right? "Y-Yeah, I'm fine..." Kirika let out a sigh, placing a hand on her chest. "Good, I thought she might have gotten you..." While they were relieved at the outcome, someone noticed something about Maria.
"Wait, Maria..."
"What is it, Tsubasa?"
She queried Tsubasa's words, wondering why she had a look of shock on her face. When she brought her hand up, the Blades of Zababa also noticed exactly what Tsubasa was pointing at. Through a gulp, Kirika spoke up.
"Your wing..."
Sure enough, what they were pointing out was her wing... or lack thereof. When Maria turned her head in both directions, she saw exactly what the others were seeing. While her right wing looked normal, the left wing had looked like it was torn off, only a fraction of what it was prior. She didn't even feel it happen, since it was the least of her concerns when faced with the situation she had just dealt with. As for what caused it, they didn't know.
That is, until they heard it.
"Gat... randis... ba... bel zig... gurat... edenal..."
The group was shocked at these words, hearing it from the direction of the girl they just kicked away. Sure enough, the voice was hers, albeit stifled after all the hits she took. It made them sick to their stomachs, watching someone on the brink of death still trying to fight. "She's still singing...?" Even after that attack, the one the most in shock was Maria, since she assumed that this would have been over after that accident.
"Emustol... ronzen... Finé... el balal... zizzl..."
Nidhogg's voice soothed Laya as she continued to sing. Between her raspy words, it continued to encourage her. "You'll be fine, the hard part is over."
"Gat... ran... dis babel... zig... gurat... e... denal..."
They wanted to stop her, but they couldn't. How could they do that when she was basically done anyways?
"Emu... stol... ronzen... Finé el... zizzl..."
The last line was forced out, the girl's eyes closing as her vision began to fade. Her reckless decisions led to this outcome, but she wondered if it was correct or not, judging from the pool of red she laid within. Once all resistance faded, Laya's pendant glittered, a pillar of light rising from the crater she laid.
With no other moves, the S.O.N.G. Adapters were forced to watch as the white light that bathed the girl was overpowered by a set of pitch-black wings.
Maria lands a fatal blow and Laya is down for the count... or is she? Guess you'll have to stick around and find out! I'm not going to have much to say over the next few chapters, so feel free to come to your own conclusions until next week!
