Chapter 21: The Lab Rats resistance
Fine studied the data on each of the demons caught in her trap.
As in previous encounters, each one had unique traits that set them apart, yet many bore traces of human signatures. The evil piece inside them generated an energy that altered them—though not entirely. However, there were others who lacked these human traces altogether.
The best example was the white-haired girl dodging the Noises in the hallway. Unlike the other two, she was different, yet she also wasn't like her leader or king, who, as far as Fine understood, was a pure-blooded demon. 'Could she be from a different species? It seems there are more humanoid species besides the three confirmed ones. Her behavior is similar to that of a feline.'
Fine would have liked to observe the white-haired girl's abilities further before eliminating her from the group, but knowing she was a physical fighter, she understood that Koneko stood no chance against an enemy capable of disintegrating its target with just physical contact—like the Noises. Nevertheless, the girl had managed to adapt and evade them up to this point, likely because she was already aware of their nature.
The fact that they knew what the Noises were capable of meant that the only person who could have informed them was Chris. This confirmed that she was either the same Chris Yukine or a different one who had faced this very same threat.
'Then it was wise not to approach her personally. But if that's the case… and she comes from the same place, does that mean… she's dead? … I suppose her time came sooner than expected. It hurts, but it's not like I wasn't expecting it. Though… I did have some hope that she'd go of old age. Focus, Fine. First, get Ichaival.'
Koneko panted, barely managing to dodge several attacks. She felt powerless, unable to counterattack, but there was nothing she could do about it. Her body tensed as she heard heavy footsteps approaching, trapping her. Alongside the smaller Noises, a massive Noise with giant forearms loomed over her. Koneko didn't know what to do—until she saw Issei running toward her in the distance.
"Issei-senpai!"
"Koneko-chan, I got this." The brunette declared, summoning his gauntlet again and covering himself in Touki before launching his attack.
'That aura again… but it doesn't seem to come from the gauntlet. It's coming from him. Could it be something spiritual? Maybe even something supernatural. Alright, let's test this again.'
The green lights shifted to red, locking onto Issei as a target. He reached the first Noise and delivered a powerful kick, sending it crashing into the group trying to lunge at him. He barely needed to touch the giant-fisted Noise with his gauntlet before it turned to dust.
Issei's fighting style changed—his kicks and punches became more forceful, cracking the floor with each impact. Koneko positioned herself behind him just as two Noises latched onto him, gripping his chest and back. His Touki seemed to shield him from their effects on his body. Issei clenched his teeth, grabbed the one behind him with a fierce grip, and shoved the other away with his gauntlet, disintegrating it instantly.
"Get off me."
He threw the Noise with such force that it flew down the hallway. Another one attempted to tackle him, but he delivered another powerful kick, sending it crashing backward into the group. Issei took a defensive stance, shielding Koneko.
The Noises suddenly stopped as the lights switched to green—like some kind of signal of hold. This frustrated Issei, as if the "boss" had paused the fight just for fun. Fine couldn't find a clear explanation for his aura, but she kept gathering data on it, granting the kids a false advantage.
"Issei-senpai. You should attack now that they've stopped."
Issei cautiously analyzed the situation. He could try charging forward, but behind the group, two more Noises identical to the one that had cornered Koneko were approaching. Fine was already prepared to switch them back to attack mode. She would wait for Issei to strike first before surrounding him with ease.
Then… Issei made his decision.
He let out a battle cry… and… grabbed Koneko, carrying her in his arms as he bolted in the opposite direction, running for their lives.
Fine blinked, momentarily baffled.
'Huh?'
She had bet to herself that the boy would be just as stubborn as the swordsboy and charge in with everything he had. She never expected him to run.
'Wow, how brave.' she commented sarcastically. 'So the kid isn't as dumb as I thought. Still, I won't let them escape.'
The hallway lights shifted again, and the Noises advanced. But just as the larger ones, the leaders, took a few steps forward, the floor beneath them gave way, sending them plummeting into a hole—dragging the smaller ones down with them.
'What?! What just happened?!'
Upon closer inspection, Fine realized that the supports had finally collapsed under the weight of the massive Noises.
'The supports… but how…? They were strong… Don't tell me… he planned this?!'
Meanwhile…
Koneko blinked ten times before fully processing the situation. Then, her face flushed as she realized her senpai was carrying her like a princess.
"I-Issei-senpai! Idiot! Why?! You could've fought!"
"No, definitely not." Issei shot back. "Only an idiot would charge in with just one form of protection against them. My 'Touki,' as Sona called it, isn't infinite, and just having the gauntlet isn't enough to protect us from a whole group. But more importantly…"
He took a deep breath before emphasizing:
"We are literally fighting what could be considered zombies… only worse. These things don't even need to bite us—just touching us is enough. That's way worse. The last thing I'd do is face a horde like that head-on. I've seen enough idiots in movies to know how that ends. Let's not waste our energy on something worthless."
Upon reaching the last room of the floor, Issei blocked the entrance with some furniture, using the last of his Touki-enhanced strength for the big ones. Koneko, with a deadpan expression, watched the boy she had just considered smart realize he had contradicted himself. Once he finished, he stood beside her.
"They can get through that, Issei-senpai. You just trapped us with them."
As she pointed out, the Noises had already started breaking through the barricade. Now, there was only one open entrance left. Issei calmly placed his gauntlet in the gap and yawned sarcastically. Any Noise that tried to squeeze through was instantly disintegrated upon contact with his Sacred Gear.
Koneko was left speechless. Meanwhile, Issei smirked, glancing at his gauntlet like a shield.
"See? Now we have a wall. No more rushing. Now, let's think before we act, Koneko-chan."
His tone turned serious.
"It's clear that whoever is controlling these Noises is able to spy on us. Every time we try to escape, they find us. But I don't think it's because the person sending them is omniscient. If they were, they'd already know exactly where we were going to run and would've cornered us there. So… what could it be? There aren't any hidden cameras." Said while looking at the place.
"Do you think they're nearby?"
"Yeah, maybe… It's just a theory, but it's something."
"Hmmm…"
The small robot that was following Issei, was the first of her "cameras" to reach the room where its targets were hiding. It passed over the door, the only entryway into the room, clinging to the ceiling as it observed the two students.
As Fine now speculated, Issei seemed more aware of his limitations and had learned to use his Sacred Gear more effectively against a group of Noises—cornering them into a single entrance, unknowingly letting his gauntlet act as a final barrier.
'Quiet smart. You're not just a simple minded pervert. Ha, I should at least ackn—'
She stopped by a sudden shift in Koneko's movements. The girl seemed to be on alert, scanning her surroundings before locking eyes directly onto the camera, surprising Fine. But that wasn't all—for both her and Issei. A pair of cat ears suddenly manifested atop Koneko's head, and without hesitation, she leaped straight at the robot's position.
The small machine was crushed in an instant—like an insect with a clap.
Fine was left blind. The nearest camera remained in place, but it would take time to replace the lost one—assuming the girl didn't destroy it again if it found them.
Meanwhile, Issei had a lot of questions as he noticed Koneko adjusting her skirt with a cat's tail while landing.
"Ah... Koneko-chan. May I ask?"
Issei's words made Koneko quickly retract her ears and tail before turning to her Senpai with a serious yet slightly nervous expression.
"I-It's something personal. I just needed to enhance my senses if we wanted to continue with your plan."
"A-Alright."
Koneko held up a small, now-crushed robot that resembled an insect. "Now I understand why I kept hearing so many bugs in the club these past few days…"
"Wait. So whoever has been watching us in this place… has also been spying on us at school?"
Koneko nodded, concerned. But Issei was focused on something else entirely.
"Spy robots. How villainous for an evil super genius. Maybe they even recorded Senpai in the bath… I should make sure—I mean, we should make sure."
Koneko shot her companion with a frustrated look. Yeah, whatever cool points he gained always disappeared the moment there was even a slight chance for perversion—especially when they weren't in immediate danger.
"Focus, Senpai. This whole place is one big trap, and we walked right into it."
Issei turned his attention back to the barricade, noticing that no more Noises were trying to get through.
"The person watching us can't see us anymore. Sending Noises at us now would just be a waste… I don't think they're infinite, considering the pauses they always take. We can't touch them, but whenever we eliminate them, they hesitate. Do you still sense anyone watching us?"
Koneko shook her head.
Issei grinned, clapping his hand with his fist together as an idea struck him.
"Then let's make a door, Koneko-chan. We're not gonna be trapped like "cats" here."
His kouhai couldn't help but acknowledge how different Issei seemed from what she had always thought of him—an extreme pervert. Ever since he started interacting with Chris Yukine, his perversion had toned down just enough to be tolerable. And while his lines sounded like something out of a movie, they made talking to him… strangely entertaining.
"Alright, Senpai." she replied with a small smile.
When Fine's camera reached their location, all it found was an empty room and a hole in the floor. She sighed in frustration, but complimented them and decided to switch to another target.
—-
The lights illuminated the desolate room, revealing Akeno as she was about to finish a summoning circle. She noticed the Noises trying to break through the walls and getting dangerously close to the circle. Forced to step back, she made sure she had a way to escape.
Fine, watching through her camera, took note of the complex markings on the floor. She recognized them from her past encounters with stray demons.
'That circle… Several test subjects have managed to escape using this method. You probably were going to escape or teleport close. I can't allow that now, dear.'
The room's lights shifted from green to red, marking the circle like a giant target. Immediately, the Noises began attacking the floor, cracking and breaking it apart. Akeno clicked her tongue in annoyance before dashing out the door and into the hallway, noticing how the red light seemed to be following her.
'That was close, but I'm starting to understand… This entire place is one giant test chamber. It can't track all of us at the same time. If it focuses on me, then it's not after the others right now. Wait… I feel like I'm being watched. And it's close.'
Akeno slowly turned her head before preparing a lightning strike in her hands, launching it at the ceiling. The blast interfered with the lights, temporarily stopping the Noises' advance. But more importantly, much to Fine's frustration, it struck one of her tiny surveillance robots, frying its circuits.
Fine was irritated but also realized something.
'Damn it. They're adapting faster than I expected. You've blinded me to you as well, but that doesn't mean I can't eliminate you with a trap.'
Akeno exhaled as the Noises halted for a moment. She stepped closer to inspect what she had hit. Picking up the small robotic insect, she frowned.
'Technology... not magic. We're dealing with a human here.'
Before she could analyze further, the red lights flickered back on, signaling the chase had resumed.
Just as she reached a hallway intersection, a large Noise blocked her path. Ita was ready for her. It lunged at her—only to be instantly vaporized by a crimson sphere.
The red-haired girl had arrived just in time to save her friend and catch a breath.
"Rias."
Rias started to fire her magic against the chasing noises, defending their position.
"Sorry for the delay, Akeno. Issei went after Koneko—he can handle the Noises in my place. What have you discovered so far?"
Akeno was about to answer when that eerie feeling of being watched returned—this time coming close to Rias. Pulling out her phone, she began typing, taking no chances for the spy robot and showing to her president that already finished the last noise on site.
'Alright. Whoever's controlling this is using technology. We're up against someone who has fortified this entire place with cameras and lights. They're probably listening to and watching us right now.'
"What are our options?"
Akeno typed again.
'The building's wiring. If I can find it, I might be able to shut everything down. We need to get there, but I can't be detected, or I'll have those things swarming me.'
"Understood. I haven't been able to contact Kiba, but I can still sense him well, just tired. We'll deal with that later… Kiba must—"
Before Rias could finish, Akeno suddenly fired a bolt of lightning at the wall behind her, destroying another one of Fine's robotic spies. She was startled by Akeno's sudden action, while her friend let out a sigh of relief. After a moment, Rias examined the robot.
"These things are so small… Now I understand what Koneko meant when she mentioned the infestation at the club."
"I thought it was just that time of the year, but…"
"We were being watched. This was a planned trap."
"Rias… This is going to be tough. If we don't act fast, we should expect the worst."
"Yes, but we still have a chance. Chris must be handling things on her end as well."
"Alright. Then let's move."
"Right."
With that, the girls ran down the stairs, heading toward the storage room.
—
On the other side of the complex, the last Noise fell at the hands of an exhausted swordsman, his blade piercing the ground. He had endured a brutal battle against the sword-wielding, stinger-arm Noise. Though he managed to dodge most of its attacks, he couldn't avoid them all.
His right rib had been hit, slowing him down more than he expected.
Looking around, the exhausted Kiba saw new Noises emerging at the end of the corridor—especially the same one that had injured him earlier, all waiting in the green light. This time, the swordsman's confidence was replaced with fear.
"These things just don't end…"
He tried to run, but the pain in his rib forced him to limp on his right side. It felt as if his right leg was starting to give out. The ceiling lights shifted, and the Noises advanced. The sword-wielding Noise charged straight at him.
Reaching a nearby room, Kiba summoned two more swords and took a defensive stance. The fight began, and the Noise was just as fast as he was. Kiba held his guard, and with a well-practiced strike now, he managed to take it down quicker this time—but not before the enemy's blade slashed his leg.
A sharp, burning pain spread through him as his leg seemed to dissolve into nothingness.
"Agh…"
Kiba collapsed to the floor, gritting his teeth to hold back a scream. He didn't want to worry his comrades, but the pain was unbearable. As he struggled, more Noises began pouring in through the walls. He dragged himself toward a wall, realizing he was being completely cornered. He shouldn't have wasted so much energy in an unwinnable fight, especially with such high risks.
Just as the Noises closed in, the sound of rock music blared through the air. The ceiling cracked, followed by the sharp echo of gunfire. The roof gave way, and several Noises fell—only to be reduced to dust before they hit the ground.
Song: Makyū Ichaival
A figure in armored gear landed in front of Kiba.
Chris Yukine.
"Yukine-san..."
"Hang in there, Kiba. I'll take care of this."
With that, Chris switched her gauntlets into a different weapon, combining them into a big crossbow.
She fired an arrow at the new Noise, and it latched onto the creature. At first, Fine watched with confidence, seeing Chris return to her old method of attack—just merging her crossbows—but the moment the arrow detonated in a massive explosion, vaporizing the Noise completely and blasting back the others, Chris smirked.
'Explosive arrows, huh? I see... You've adapted to destroying most of their bodies to prevent them from regenerating. Alright, Chris, let's see how well you can keep up.'
The lights shifted, signaling another charge toward them. Chris swapped her crossbow for her new dual shotguns and rushed into combat. She dodged the first attack and took down the first Noise with a single shot, repeating the process for the next one.
Kiba was astonished. From what he understood, Chris was supposed to be a long-range fighter, yet she had adapted to evading the Noises up close.
Though there were clear flaws in her technique, her armor compensated by preventing the Noises from affecting her as she held her ground, very different from him. One of the Noises attempted to strike Kiba, but Chris tackled it to the ground. With a burst of raw fury, she hurled the Noise into the crowd before unloading both shotguns into it.
The next one—a sword-wielding Noise—was avoided before Chris kicked it to the side and fired point-blank into what could only be described as its face.
The Noises were eliminated quickly as Chris continued to shield Kiba from any that got too close. After a while, the last Noise had fallen before it could reach them, but Chris kept her transformation active, shotguns at the ready—just in case. Though, in the long run, that was counterproductive for her.
She stepped closer, but the moment she saw the stump where Kiba's left leg should have been, she tensed. The sight of her injured comrade filled her with guilt.
"Kiba..."
"I'm fine, Yukine-san. Really, I'm better than I could be, but... is this what it feels like to get hit by a Noise? Because, I gotta say, it's really awful and how close it was to my priorities."
Chris let out a short huff. Despite everything, he still had his sense of humor. That reassured her a little.
"Kiba, this isn't the time for sarcasm. This is serious. Now I see why you'd get along with Issei."
"Hehehe. Well, I mean, we are technically lovers in the school."
Chris rolled her eyes but responded to his earlier remark.
"To answer your question, I don't know. I've seen people turn to dust in an instant—the process should be immediate. But these Noises are different. I just don't get it."
Kiba could hear the concern in her voice, in the way she spoke.
"Relax. We don't really know what's going on, but it was just a question. You have to remember, this was never something we'd fully understand. Right now, we need to get out of here."
Chris nodded and moved to help him up.
"Can you stand?"
"..." Kiba forced his remaining leg to move, but it refused to support him. "No. I don't think so. Still, you can—"
Before he could finish, two large Noises crashed down from the ceiling—ones with massive forearms—along with more reinforcements. Chris immediately turned to face them, but sparks beginning to crack across her Symphogear. Just as Fine had expected, after such an extended fight, her gear was getting tired.
Symphogears couldn't maintain prolonged battles without using a great deal of Phonic Gain, and these Noises were forcing her to burn through it by constantly reforming. As Issei had suspected, they weren't infinite, but they could regenerate over time.
Time was Chris's enemy.
And Fine had all the time in the world.
Surrounded and with her Gear on the verge of giving out, a desperate idea struck Chris's mind. The Ignite Module. A force that would grant her the strength and power not only to wipe out the Noises but also to break the barrier. Yet, there was a reason she had avoided using it in the first place.
How mentally prepared was she?
Physically, she could handle failing wielding Ichaival, but with Ignite, she wasn't sure what would happen.
If she didn't act fast, her Gear would deactivate, leaving both of them at the mercy of the Noises.
This was a gamble.
One they had no choice but to take it.
"There's no other option."
"Yukine-san…"
"Ignite Module—unsheathing."
Fine's eyes widened in confusion as Chris grabbed hold of her Gear and… split it apart. A voice echoed the name Dáinsleif just before a piece of her Gear transformed into what looked like a stake—not aimed at the Noises, but at her own chest.
Chris took a deep breath.
And then the fragment drove into her.
The swordsman and the priestess were left speechless. Meanwhile, Chris clenched her teeth, stifling a scream as she braced against the pain.
The energy levels spiked dangerously, displaying data Fine had only seen once before, but never capable in taking data. Chris's body was soon engulfed in an aura almost identical in color to Rias's power, but Kiba could immediately tell the difference—this was almost like a curse.
Chris fought against the surge, struggling to keep herself together, but as she opened her eyes, she finally reached the breaking point.
And the gamble was revealed.
At that same moment, Issei and Koneko were dodging the few Noises that still moved, but Chris's scream suddenly pierced through the air, reaching the small girl's sharp ears.
She stopped in her tracks and turned sharply in another direction.
"Koneko-chan?!"
"Issei-senpai, this way. I heard Chris-senpai."
"Ah… Chris. R-Right! We'll be safer with her. Where?!"
"Over here. Hurry. It was a scream."
Koneko's last words pushed Issei into action. The Noises couldn't harm Chris, or so she had told him in many of their conversations, but that didn't stop him from worrying about the situation. He thought about activating Boost immediately, but he knew he had to hold off for now.
By the time they arrived at the hole, the battle seemed to be over. But when they saw Kiba, his eyes were unfocused and lost.
"Kiba!" They both shouted, jumping to help him.
"Hey, Kiba. Are you okay?"
"Kiba… your leg…" Before Koneko could continue, she tensed. A wave of unease washed over her, and she instinctively turned to the direction Kiba was staring. Fear began to rise in her as she felt the same ominous sensation, a predator stalking.
Issei took longer to react, trying to see if Kiba's stump was bleeding. But to his surprise, he could feel something there—something he couldn't see, but touch. Had Kiba still had his leg this whole time? His thoughts were cut off by a low growl.
Looking at the center of the massacre of noises, a figure cloaked in black emerged.
The slender legs had sharp claws that scraped the ground as it walked. Its back had triangular protrusions that resembled the wings of a demon. Its gloves had transformed into claws that held crossbows adorned with spines. The only visible features were its red eyes and sharp teeth.
'She went berserk.' Fine muttered, frozen in place.
The gamble had failed in the worst case, and now they had to face a Symphogear completely out of control. With a roar, the beast lunged toward them. The resistance of the rats had resulted in a real problem in Fine's experiment.