Judge the Resonance, Part III - With Defying Eyes (The World of Symphogear)

"Aha…yes…"

         A series of heated moans filled the cosmic space of the Treasury of Babylon as the Demon Goddess, Tiamat, sat upon her throne fondling herself with one hand and using the other to please her womanhood.  She was watching the Son of Mercer deal with her creations as if they were nothing entranced by the young male's prowess and strength. A magnificent display of ferocity combined with subtle ruthlessness was one way that she chose to describe the youth's show as the beasts were eviscerated without any delay.

         "Amazing…simply amazing, my beautiful demanic child," she uttered in lustful pleasure bringing herself to the height of her play.

         "I want you, every last bit of you! Hyaa!" the draconic queen cried out as she reached her climax, her lewd secretions spurting out from her lower area over the base of her throne.

         "Haa…mmm…I'm getting tired of playing this waiting game.  I need the real thing.  Those six heroines would be great for an appetizer before I savor the main course," the sinister demon smirked.  She juggled the yellow stone around in her hand some more before casting her gaze into its luster as thoughts of the past entered her mind.

         The fragment of the Arcana Crystal, a jewel that was responsible for so much discord among various deities during the Age of Gods.  She never thought that the item would ever come back in her lifetime.  The horned female felt nothing but complacency towards the existence of the ancient relic when it came to her own mind, yet her king desired it for his own ends.  If Lord Ars wanted it, then she would do anything to obtain it to repay her debt.  She then wondered just how long it's been since she initially met the dark king.  Her mind then began to travel down memory lane.

         In the beginning, Tiamat was but a humble goddess who was often credited for helping give birth to the Earth.  She provided the means in which life would eventually thrive on some billions of years ago in most modern day texts.  Even if it seemed like an arduous task, the once glorious goddess took pride in her craft.  Providing the ability to house life and creating the potential for possibilities to unfold for the mortals that would eventually be allowed to grace its surface across varying timelines in all of creation gave her excitement.  However, that joyous feeling would not last long after humanity's birth.

         When sentient life began to inhabit the world, their awareness led to various civilizations recognizing the existence of gods.  Many deities and creatures descended into the realm of man to establish their legends causing multitudes of cultures to hold them in high regard for centuries to come.  Tiamat was one of numerous gods that somehow interacted with mankind.  Unfortunately as time passed and the cultures of varying societies evolved, the practices that led to faith in the divine also changed.  This resulted in gods losing their powers because of the lack of influence they held over mortals which included the goddess herself.

         Tiamat was shunned by humanity.  She went from being praised as a being that had a hand in the creation of life to being regarded as a foul beast born of the planet's hatred that would eventually bring about the fall of man.  The maiden did not understand this by any means.  Why was she being rejected for what she did for them?  What did she do wrong?  She did not think of herself as a spiteful or hateful deity nor did she demand sacrifices or sadistic rituals in her name; yet mankind began to despise her.  Every legend that had her name on it portrayed her as a wicked, demonic beast that hated all of life and would rise up to devour the world.  Either that or she was the mother of demons that hunted man's souls.  Even her fellow divinities rejected her believing more in the humans who believed in them for the sake of holding their favor as opposed to holding the innocent of their sister in higher esteem.

         The goddess felt despair over all of these facts, so much so that she often found herself in tears for days on end.  She loved life, cherished it even.  In fact, she tended to it like any mother would for her child but she was only given disdain and ridicule in turn.  The wounds settled inside her, cutting deep to the very core of her being.  Regardless of the era or the world lines she observed, the outcome was always the same.  Over time, she watched how humanity fought in countless wars over ambition, greed, and other selfish desires watching as the product of her craft is destroyed.  Evolution only worsened the state of the worlds she made across various eras.  Earth was ruined in some timelines, or destroyed by other gods in others and so on.  Eventually, the senseless defamation of her character and the insult of the planets she created ultimately led to her corruption.

         She felt hatred towards the divine and mortal alike.  Instead of the fruition of life, the former beauty craved destruction and to see the deaths of the very gods who turned on her.  Tiamat's malice grew and grew which soon led her to being cast out of Heaven and descending into Inferno.  That did not stop her from cursing the gods she once knew vowing to have her vengeance one day.  Embracing her fate within the fiery depths of Hell, the goddess simply brooded in her hatred.  It was around this time that she first met the Demon King, Ars.

         The Unholy Ruler of the Demon Gods did not look at her with disgust or hate like her brothers and sisters in heaven did.  Instead, he had reached out his hand to her and offered her the one thing she needed to carry out her retribution:  power.  Without giving it a second thought, the goddess transformed into the draconic female rippling with lust and desire.  Vowing to be by his side and craving even greater power, she assisted in every way she could which helped worsen the conflicts of the Great War.  As opposed to giving life, she began to give birth to creatures that brought death and destruction.  Archdemons, lesser demons, even low born Demon Gods were created by her hand as they fought against the holy beings in the time of conflict.  One such being of note was the infamous 'God Eater', Leviathan, which many considered to be the physical manifestation of her hatred in a nutshell.

         The Great War waged for a long time.  The Arcana Crystal was an important relic during that era since it was thought to have the capacity to cause a great shift amongst the hierarchy but Lord Ars was overly concerned with it at the time.  He let his dark forces do as they pleased for his attention was focused elsewhere.  In fact, he had his eyes on another relic that only spawned in a specific part of the multiverse.  He and Tiamat participated in the major war that was fought over a golden chalice said to be a great wish-granting device.  However, they both met defeat unexpectedly by humanity's mightiest heroes of that era.  Being forced to fall back, Lord Ars had hoped that the Arcana Crystal was around but a certain Specter of Death that served as the Will and Wrath of the Goddess-Above-All destroyed the item and all but put a stop to the conflict at that time.  It was of no consequence for the dark forces of Inferno needed to only bide their time.  They grew and evolved and when the fragments of the legendary item re-emerged once more, then the Demon Gods were on the move once more.

         The dark beauty of Inferno ran her fingers through her hair as she turned her eyes away from the piece of crystal.  The trip down memory lane only served as a means of bringing up the bitterness she felt over the eons and served as a regretful reminded of her age.  Sighing in annoyance, she stared out into the nothingness of the space she occupied seeing that one of her greatest creations yet was coming to life at last.  The foul beast let out a single roar testifying to his might causing the realm to shake.  Smiling in delight, the demoness rose up from her throat floating in space.

         "At last, my finest child is born.  Now I can make use of you to bring that Stormbringer to me.  With his defeat, I shall have all of the fragments in his possession plus my own to deliver to Lord Ars as well as a new toy to fulfill my personal desires," Tiamat declared aloud examining the terrifying monster that was born.

         "Now then, shall we begin the final act?"

*****

         Hours have passed since the early morning confrontation with the Distortion.  As the clocked ticked closer to 8:00 P.M., the blue skies became blackened by the presence of night.  An innumerable amount of dots decorated the heavens above as the stars came into the light coupled with the illumination of a yellowish-white moon.  The large celestial entity that orbited the Earth had a section of it broken off as the shattered pieces rotated around it like a ring.  The first major enemy of the Symphogear users known as Fine caused this destruction a few years ago when the team only consisted of Hibiki, Tsubasa and Chris.  The moon's appearance was considered abnormal at first but it eventually became normal for humans to see over time.

         Reports over the earlier events covered by mass media reported the entire situation as a miracle of unknown design.  There appeared to be a tsunami approaching the island one minute but it was dispelled moments later.  Theories over the occurrence soon became the topic of discussion across the nation as social media blazed with various conspiracies.  Weather satellites tried to uncover the readings of the immediate vicinity but the special force of the government had pull with the United Nations.  Most images that managed to capture a glimpse of the battle that had actually taken place had their records redacted or "mechanical failures" during that particular time slot.  Even if it was annoying to deal with at times, it paid off to have some influence over intelligence networks within S.O.N.G.

         Currently docked at a classified facility reserved exclusively for S.O.N.G.'s use, the girls stood on the deck of the vessel staring at the night sky along with Raizo.  Elfnein was still working in her lab and there have not been any abnormalities or detections of Distortion since earlier.  For now, the heroes had a break but that moment of respite would not last for much longer.

         "You know regardless of its tragic shape, I've never seen the moon appear so beautiful before," Raizo commented with a hint of awe in his voice.  In his world, he only had small instances of time to take in the sights of nature but the moon was not as graceful in appearance periodically.  He recalled in the back of his mind how the moonlight periodically had a reddish hue to it often yielding a foreboding sense of evil approaching.

         "This world…really is delightful in more ways than one."

         "Raizo-sensei, what's it like where you come from?" Hibiki asked curiously.

         "Yeah, it feels like you have a tough environment to deal with," Chris added while the other girls just listened patiently.

         "Well," Raizo began before taking a deep breath, "In my world, war has plagued it for many, many years.  There's been a civil war raging for little over a decade against the current empire that controls most of the land.  There's fighting and dying on a regular basis.  If that wasn't enough, many beings far beyond the realms of the supernatural seem enjoy it as a breeding ground for death and destruction.  Hell, my world almost ended at least 5 times now.  If it wasn't for my friends and family, I don't think my Earth would have lasted as long as it has."

         "Surely you're joking Raizo-sensei.  From what we've seen so far, you're an immensely powerful individual," Tsubasa commented but Raizo just shook his head.

         "I'm not as powerful as you think.  I've only been lucky so far.  If it wasn't for my brothers and sisters, my world would have died many times over just because of my very existence.  Heh, it's ironic really.  I bear so much strength and potential but I still make stupid decisions and costly mistakes.  Hell, one of my stupid mistakes caused me to get lost in space to begin with," the male chastised himself in a distant tone.

         "Raizo-san…" Maria called in a concerned tone reaching out and patting the male on his shoulder, "You can't blame yourself for what you've done in the past.  Making mistakes is how we learn and grow."

         The other girls nodded in agreement with the eldest maiden's words.  The youth could only peer into her eyes with a surprised expression.  Those words were something his family had said to him in some form or another awhile back.  The Stormbringer just had a nagging consciousness over it since he wanted to prove himself and do the right thing for the sake of others in his world.  However, he would have to realize that he was bearing unnecessary burdens and not giving himself enough credit.

         "You're right, heh, sorry about that.  Thank you for reminding me of that notion," he spoke with a slight smile.

         "You're welcome," Maria smiled softly.

         "Heh, look at Sensei over here getting lecture by girls," Chris teased with a smirk.

         "H…Hey, it's not like it's the first time.  I have two older sisters you know…" the assassin said with a hint of embarrassment.

         "Sensei's blushing!" Hibiki pointed out with joy.

         "It's so cute desu!" Kirika spoke aloud.

         "-jiiiiiiiii…" Shirabe stared casually.

         "Tch…wh…whatever, you girls are all just imagining things," Raizo rebuked crossing his arms and looking away.  The six females then shared a fit of laughter for the moment.

         "Everyone, I've got good news.  Get to the bridge quick!" Elfnein paged over the loudspeakers on deck.  The voice surprised the girls and even the Stormbringer himself but they all immediately headed inside to see what the big deal was.

         A few moments later, the seven of them appeared on the bridge as Elfnein stood in front of the presentation screen with Genjuro standing nearby.  On the display, the word "SOUL" was highlighted in the form of an acronym.  For the girls, the last time they saw Elfnein present something like this was with the introduction of the IGNITE module which allowed the girls to fight against the Alca-Noise.  This new project must have been the name of the measure that she came up with to counter against the Distortion.  Having the attention of everyone in the room, the small and delicate child genius began her speech.

         "After hours of analyzing data and making adjustments to the Symphogear, I have developed a way that should allow the girls to assist Raizo-san in suppressing the Distortion threat.  This method has been dubbed the name, SOUL, which stands for the Synchronized Octave Unleashing Limits," she spoke before pausing to let everyone digest the subject matter.  Seeing that they had nothing to say so far, the girl continued.

         "Through this project, the relics have been fine-tuned to match the wavelength and frequency necessary for the gears to counter against and execute the Distortion.  This power-up method is a temporary measure designed to allow the gears to assume the IGNITE form right off of the bat without the need of using a countdown and can cause the gears to assume the X-Drive state a lot faster without requiring nearly as much Phonic Gain."

         The maidens in the room going only open their eyes widely shocked by the revelation brought by Elfnein.  The IGNITE module runs on a commanded called 'Drawn Blade'.  Once activated, the users experience significant power gain due to the latent 'Berserk' mechanism that lies dormant within the relics.  It grants higher increases in energy output, enhanced durability reducing the burden of backfire, and raises the offensive power contained within.  From the moment the module is activated, there is a counter of 999 that ticks down towards 0.  This countdown starts immediately upon activating the first stage.  The following two stages increase the output even higher but the decay rate is faster.  Once zero is reached, the Symphogear will cancel out automatically regardless of the user being in battle.  This is so the user does not suffer adverse effects and loses complete control of herself, hence why it is often used as a trump card in tight situations.  However, it seems that the genius alchemist has found a way around this.

         "If the Ignite mode is only a temporary form then how can our gears sustain the transformation right from the get-go?" inquired Chris speaking up for everyone present.

         "Through Phonic Gain not only generated by your songs but also from Raizo-san," Elfnein answered.  This caused small gasps of shock to travel around as the maidens turned their eyes towards the youth who was just as surprised as they were.

         "Um, how is that possible?  I don't sing or anything like that when I fight so how could I generate Phonic Gain?" the Stormbringer questioned.

         "From what I was able to gather from the data recorded through your two skirmishes with the Distortion, your powers generate a distinct wavelength that is strikingly similar to Phonic Gain.  In theory, the way your lightning powers are attuned must vibrate sound waves that can echo the concept of said energy in itself.  In simpler words, your body generates natural Phonic Gain every time you fight.

         Using this information, I tuned the gears to utilize the energy that you generate to exponentially elevate the power of the Symphogear far above its limits at Phase 3 with the Ignite Module.  In short by fighting alongside you, the excess energy you release can power up the girls in such a way that they should be able to keep with what you can do even if it's a pale shadow of your maximum potential.  However, this measure will only work while you are here in our universe.  Therefore, this is probably going to be a one-time thing.  Without your power, the S.O.U.L. aspect of the relics will not function anymore.  Since I'm sure we have yet to see what you can do with all of your strength Raizo-san, the newly enhanced gears may reach heights that I cannot even begin to predict."

         "I understand Elfnein," Raizo nodded getting the gist of her meaning.  This would be a one-time thing where they would be able to fight together.  The battle against the Distortion was one with a fixed number on it.  Therefore, the youth had to finish this fight and get the fragment soon so that there aren't any lasting after effects on the girls.

         "Looks like we'll finally be given the chance to fight with each other at last, Raizo-sensei," Hibiki smiled with determination.

         "Hell yeah, let's kick their asses real good," Chris smirked with delight.

         Cutting off the celebration, an alarm then echoed in the room as the alert for the Distortion rang out.  Genjuro got behind his podium and changed the screen bringing up the cameras on the observation deck as well as the satellite angle and casted it to the nearest screen.  It was then that the room just went quiet when their eyes beheld something most unexpected.

         In the night sky, a giant rift cut across the moonlight above opening like a mouth of a monstrous beast.  As soon as the rift opened up, two giant limbs appeared like it was tearing the space open with its razor sharp, blackened claws.  About five sets of scarlet eyes illuminated the darkness within as a great dragon with five heads peeked out slowly, its deafening roars cascading in the heavens.  It crawled out slowly but surely ready to unleash chaos and destruction upon the world below.  Although it appeared to be just in the skies above, it was actually manifesting in the upper limits of the atmosphere just within the boundary of outer space between Earth and its moon.  That's just how massive it was relative to the size of the planet beneath.  Paired with the ominous energy oozing from it, the trace aura of the fragment that Raizo was seeking had been present along with something much darker than the beast being revealed.

         "And so the final battle begins it would seem.  This is going to be a major battle beyond the comprehension of this world.  We're going to have to take the fight to it instead of letting that monstrosity land on Earth.  That means we're going to have to head into space," Raizo explained.  The girls looked to one another then back to the male.

         "We've done it before, we'll do it again," Hibiki nodded with a determined look.

         "Right then without further ado, let's head out," the Stormbringer stated calmly as he proceeded to walk out.

         "Good luck everyone and remember Raizo-san, your power is essential to the girls' gear," Elfnein reminded as she handed the Symphogear users each of their respective relics.

         "I got it. Let's do this as a team everyone," the youth nodded with affirmation before the seven of them exited the bridge and headed to the deck.

         As the group made it outside, the beast was still dragging its body out of the rift to prepare its reign of terror over humanity's home world.  Determined to not let that happen at all, the visitor from another universe squeezed his hand covered by a glove.  Using just his feelings, the device activated fully covering the male in the full cloak and armor that the girls had seen before when he first arrived.  Lightning sparked around his body as a result which ironically caused the relics to react by emitting pale glows of the colors that represented each female.  Using the activation melodies, each maiden transformed in that next instant revealing their armor to be automatically enhanced to the Ignited state.

         The features of the armor did not change too much in glaring details.  All of their armors retained the same shape except any parts that were white now turned black and they had auras of orange, yellow and violet conforming to them.  As Raizo looked over each of them, he could not help but to let out an audible chuckle which caused the girls to tilt their heads in confusion.

         "What's the matter, Raizo-sensei?  What's so funny?" Hibiki asked curiously.

         "It's nothing serious, just rather amusing how you all match me with my armor now," he mused which allowed the other girls to take notice and smile.

         "Looks like we're united in the cause, eh?" Chris pointed out.

         "Indeed, we're truly comrades by looks alone," Tsubasa nodded.

         "Very fashionable indeed desu!" Kirika cheered with Shirabe agreeing with her.

         "We should be focused on the objective though, we can discuss looks later," Maria spoke.

         "Right, hang on a second though.  Since you're going to be needed my strength, I need to boost myself accordingly," Raizo said.  Unsure what he meant, the girls just watched.  The youth took a deep breath before a wave of electricity washed over his body.  Turning the crimson parts of his armor to purple with a similarly shaded electrical aura spiraling around him, he ascended his power level.

         "Heart of the Storm," he uttered feeling his amplified state embracing his body closely even though he had not enacted the master state of this form just yet.

         "Be sure to keep up," he said.

         In that moment, the youth took off into the sky with a purple streak of light behind him.  Following suit, the six maidens did exactly the same following mere inches behind him.  The Crimson Harbinger and the Symphogear Valkyries blasted off towards the heavens above to confront the threat that would be the first stage in their final battle.

         Just barely entering the vacuum of space, the beast that would soon terrorize the Earth had pulled about 60% of its large body from the void.  Its tremendous cries echoed through the soundless space as its deadly black and green aura rippled out from around its dark green and brown body. Unimpeded by anything, the monster would soon begin its rampage on the Earth below as its eyes became filled with the biological sphere rip for the taking.  However, it would not be able to threaten the extinction of humanity uncontested.

         Seven blips of light appeared before the beast as seven individuals sharing black armor among a myriad of other colors floated before it ready to bring it down to size.  Raizo and the Symphogear users stood ready for a fight as their eyes gazed at the creature taking in its sight.

         "Why is it that the bad guys always want to try use some giant monster for their endgame strategies?" Chris questioned drawing her crossbow pistols.

         "In my experience, it's usually a matter of overcompensation for something," Raizo spoke casually without batting an eye.

         "Eh?" Hibiki pondered with a head tilt.

         "Don't think about it too hard, you wouldn't understand," Chris sighed.

         "Regardless, let's see just how strong we are with our new power boost," Tsubasa commented while taking a battle stance with her blade.

         "Hey if getting up within the blink of an eye doesn't say something about us right now then I don't know what to think desu!" Kirika added.

         "I don't even feel any strain so far from the armor," Shirabe noted while staring at her two hands.

         "It must be the increased Phonic Gain we're receiving from Raizo-san," Maria stated turning her vision to the purple, glowing male.

         "That color is rather interesting on you.  I wonder what you look like underneath the mask," Chris inquired curiously.  To the surprise of everyone present, Raizo took off his mask without any delay and flipped back his hood showing off the appearance of his visage.

         "I'm sure I don't change that much…probably eye color or something; I can't remember sometimes," he explained.

         "Now then, I've been curious about the idea of Phonic Gain and how I could better contribute.  So after some meditating, I think it's time I try this out."

         Raizo held out his hand as the Nirvana scythe-guitar appeared from a swirl of dark, crimson flames before him.  The holy weapon levitated before him before being grabbed by the youth as he assumed the pose with it that Dante showed him not too long ago. He adjusted his hands to assume a playing position as the girls all stared at him in shock.

         "Hey, since when did you play a musical instrument?" Hibiki asked in disbelief.

         "Heh, is Raizo-sensei gonna sing with us?" Chris chuckled but the youth just deadpanned a bit.

         "No, but I did take into account what Elfnein told me about with the importance of a song so I was thinking this might assist in generating Phonic Gain," the armored assassin explained.

         "Looks like you found a way to harmonize with us.  I trust in you Raizo-sensei," Hibiki nodded in approval.

         "Right, then here we go."

         The Red-Eyed Stormbringer inhaled deeply closing his eyes for a moment to clear his mind.  He took the advice of the spirit that had spoken to him earlier recalling what she said.  The youth sought to listen to his heart and allowed his hands to follow.  In that next instant, a strong strum across the steel strings on the weapon's surface echoed out silencing the growling of the beast as the thunderous chord struck home.  His fingers began to dance across the surface as the riff flowed which touched the hearts of the girls around him.  The Phonic Gain generated by his power echoed out and metabolized within their armors causing the maidens to feel the song that was in the youth's heart.  It was then that in unison, they all advanced towards the giant dragon to attack with these words coming out from their lips with perfect harmony.

         "Outside the battle raging death upon us,

         No surrender unchained and free.

         Insanity will lead to blind destruction,

         Crush the evil, the foul disease."

         Sensing the oncoming threat by the combatants, creatures of numerous shapes that varied from reptilian beasts to mammalian beasts along with mythological creatures came flooding out from behind the dragon to fight against the group of heroines and the assassin.  The Distortion was unleashing its full fury, the oncoming flood being the sign of an all-out war not only for the sake of Earth but for the entire universe.

         The girls flew through the void of space faster than they could ever move before boasting speeds that massively surpassed the speed of light in tandem to what the Stormbringer could do just in his base state.  Emboldened by the resonance being produced by the cloaked assassin's melody upon his guitar, the girls attacked their foes head on without holding an ounce of strength back.  The ascended Symphogear armor proved to be successful when the young women attacked. 

Chris' arrow bolts penetrated the onslaught of attacks providing accurate cover fire for her companions taking into account what she learned from Raizo.  She anticipated the bumbling movements of the mutated beasts landing headshot after headshot on the monsters dispersing them into tiny particles.  Being supported by the gunsmith, Hibiki, Tsubasa and Maria advanced as a trinity through the horde of monsters. 

Tsubasa cut down foe after foe swinging her blade softly yet cutting hard.  Taking Raizo's words into account, she let her body flow like water with graceful fluidity in her movements using her blade as an extension of herself.  As the beasts she came across dropped into nothingness, she felt as if she was using her own hands to deal with her foes forgetting the fact that she was holding onto the honed edge.  The blue-haired female swept her blade endlessly through the space feeling relaxed all the while.

For Maria, she dashed through her foes with ease stabbing and striking her enemy's blind spots with her dagger and buckler.  She held faith in her movements not giving up her momentum for a single moment.  The eldest beauty kept her confidence and relied on the prowess of her fellow combatants.  She focused solely on her enemy remembering that she had to trust in not only her own actions but the actions of her comrades.  As a testament to this, she felt the enemy attempting to encroach on the position that she and the other two girls in the vanguard maintained.  Without a hint of hesitation, she flipped her grip around her blade and swung it around like a whip in a smooth circular motion.  The dagger extended into an extensively long chain blade blocking the patterned path the Distortion tried to take.  With a smooth pull on the weapon, she severed all of the monsters into pieces not having to warn the others about the imminent danger.

Hibiki unleashed the fury of her fists pounding the augmented monsters into oblivion.  Besides focusing on the enemy that advanced on her, she took note of how far she was advancing towards the enemy wanting to have Tsubasa and Maria within her visible range at all times.  She did not make haste like she did before trying her best to abide by the advice that Raizo lectured to her in the simulation room.  She always had faith in strength but by fighting this way, she found that her strength was being conserved and she would not tire nearly as fast.

Trailing off to the left side of the battlefield, Shirabe and Kirika were engaging their fair share of foes as well.  In a back to back arrangement, the two smallest girls effortlessly cleared away their targets that dared to come near them.  Kirika used two scythes as she cleaved any target she could get in her range.  A few monsters tried to cut in close and tag her but she blocked their attacks with one weapon and countered with the other.  Shirabe held fast with her fights as well letting her sawblades fly about clearing out entire mobs section by section.  The girl did not tense up or grew nervous but reflected much of what Tsubasa was doing on her front; she breathed calmly and assessed her foes before executing them.

Raizo continued to play the melody on Nirvana maintaining his position.  Any enemy that somehow made it past the six girls figured they could take a bite out of the armored Stormbringer but they were in for a rude awakening.  The youth may have been 'distracted' by the strumming of chords and finger licking riffs but in reality, he was all the more dangerous.  Those monsters that got too close found themselves bathed in hellfire burning away into molecules that soon dissolved into emptiness.  Any other unfortunate beast found their bodies penetrated full of holes like Swiss cheese before being dispatched.  The monsters could hardly realize they were being torn apart by swaths of energy waves taking the form of blades that had materialized on the astral plane.  Due to their lack of enhanced sight, the creatures could not foresee this.

The girls continued their onslaught through the second chorus of this song before they regrouped in front of Raizo.  The second wave of beasts came pouring out like a flood and barreled down on their position all at once.  As they continued singing along with the melody, the girls also unified themselves and charged forward as well with their armaments in hand gathering even more Phonic Gain in their bodies.

"Fly through the storm, power of the steel,

Striking with vengeance, force them to kneel.

Soldiers unite, force of the world,

Fight till the end we will die by the sword."

In a tight formation, the six females charged in synchronizing their weapons together into a large weapon.  Shirabe's blades formed the frame of the body taking upon the lower half of a transport. Kirika's scythes formed at the back like wings.  Tsubasa's sword was on the left side while Maria's dagger increased in size and took the right.  Hibiki's right hand balled into a fist became a giant drill and served as the nose and Chris' full armament was on the top of the formation.  In one fell swoop, the second onslaught of Distortion disappeared in a flash advancing straight towards the draconic monstrosity that tried to keep pulling itself out of the portal wounding its chest with a large, crescent shaped gash.

A giant roar writhed from the creature's five heads but it continued to pull itself out of the portal more and more revealing about 80% of its body looking like it would crush the moon behind it with its weight alone.  The girls regrouped once more with the intimidating beast looming overhead.  They all held onto their determination as their song was not interrupted for a singular moment.  The world needed their protection.  Every last life on Earth was vulnerable to this wretched beast and there was nothing that humanity could use to stop it.  No bullet or missile of manmade design would best it, only the hearts of these girls and the harmonious melody relinquished by the stranger that visited their universe behind them.

"I've never seen their Phonic Gain levels so high before.  They are beyond any scale that we have," Aoi commented as she monitored the girls' status and their vitals.

"It looks like the Project S.O.U.L. is working beyond our beliefs," Elfnein commented with a relieved expression on her face.

"I understand that this attack isn't what anyone would have predicted and is beyond all reasonable scale but understand that I'm handling this.  The Symphogear team is already up there doing their best to save the planet so just give them enough time to do so!" Genjuro yelled on his phone coming onto the command bridge.

The governments across the entire globe were in panic over the sudden visage that was appearing in the sky.  The world could see the threat unfolding before their very eyes regardless of it being day or night in the various countries.  The United States was already preparing military measures as its president allegedly wanted to send a full complement of nuclear arms into space.  However, they would not do any good against this beast and would likely fail to reach the target due to its position in space.  Unfortunately, the person sitting in the building known as The White House was far from the most intelligent being in the sovereign nation.

"Military action won't save us dammit, just believe in my team and let us save mankind like we've done many times before!" the muscular male shouted before hanging up.  The eyes on the bridge were being directed towards him out of worry over what was going to happen next.  He took a small breath to calm his nerves before speaking.

"How are the girls holding up, Elfnein-chan?"

"Their doing well, the modified Symphogear devices are responding well to their augmented status.  Judging on these numbers, they will reach the capacity to activate X-Drive soon.  Raizo-san's power is fueling them like a limitless battery supply.  I never thought I'd ever get to see the Symphogear used in such a way."

"We just have to trust in them like we've done before.  They can't lose."

Back in space, the dragon breathed fiery miasma down upon the females but the poisonous heat never reached them.  An astral barrier construct appeared around them and erased the wave of mist released by the accursed monster which only infuriated it even more.  With its superb reach, the mindless creature reached out with his claws and tried to strike down upon the barrier with enough power to shatter the moon.  The blow was deflected as a result.  The girls are still altogether singing harmoniously to the tune of song embedded in Raizo's heart.

"Light the fires of freedom, on the shores of endless seas

Wings of glory guide us, on the path to victory."

Raizo flies forward as his melody slows down from the quieting of his playing.  It is then that he peers at the great beast and recalls his encounter with a similarly intimidating monster that was the final form of Rias during the Second Primordial War.  During that fight, he was helpless and was unable to do anything but it was here that he could make up for it by slaying this behemoth.  He turned his head and looked to the faces of the girls non-verbally communicating his desire to take the monster on.  They nodded without breaking their harmonization once.

The youth began a guitar solo that was slow and steady but gradually building in pace.  As he played the tune upon his instrument, he flew towards the monster without any further delay.  Waves of astral blades along with hellfire projectiles flew forth like a hailstorm of bullets barraging the monster through its core.  He pounded the target as the solo intensified with his playing.  Taking off in a beam of light, all that could be seen was explosions tracing across the body of the great beast literally tearing holes into it incinerating its very essence.  The dragon was helpless and unable to counter.  With unpredictable cuts in motion, the youth slashed off its heads one after the other with the scythe's blade.  As one lingering head remained, the six Symphogear users rushed in with Raizo as they all attacked at once to the final leg of the ballad.

"Fly through the storm, power of the steel

Striking with vengeance, force them to kneel.

Soldiers unite, force of the world

Fight till the end we will die by the sword."

The Stormbringer shredded the rest of the song upon his instrument.  In tandem with the girls, the team unleashed one final unified strike and the dark spawn met its unfortunate demise dissipating in green particles before dispersing into the abyss of space as a result.  The monster was dead; the rest of the Distortion was wiped out.  This was their victory as the closing portal seemed to be a testament of such notions.  Nothing more needed to be done by the warriors since it appeared that they could go home but the Crimson Harbinger knew better than to think this. The energy from the fragment of the Arcana Crystal still remained and the red-eyed youth still did not see it.  He sensed the dense malice that formed around it and sure enough, that anomaly soon came forth from the portal before it closed.

Before the seven individuals stood the real final boss in the form of a woman who possessed a dangerous sex appeal as well as inhuman features.  Her strange draconic horns protruding from her skull along with the platinum blue hair that danced in the void of space.  Alabaster skin was starkly revealed by her outfit with the high exposure rate accentuating her curves as her dark, pink eyes glimmered with a sinister feel that sent shivers down the spine.  With a wicked smirk of unknown intent, the Demon Goddess that was responsible for the chaos in this universe floated in the endless space holding the fragment in her hand showing it off to Raizo before tucking it between her breasts.  Unsure of what to think, the girls could not help but to stare in fearful awe of the woman before turning their gaze to the youth before them in concern.

  "At long last I get to finally behold the mighty Crimson Harbinger in the flesh, oh my how delightful.  It's a pleasure to meet you, Obsidian.  Or, would you rather I address you as Raizo?" Tiamat began with her sultry and seductive tone biting her bottom lip trying to contain herself.

"Tch…" the youth in question gripped Nirvana tightly gritting his teeth in frustration.

"Crimson Harbinger, eh? Well that's an interesting title to have.  So who the hell is this slutty looking bitch, Sensei?" Chris questioned nonchalantly aiming her guns right at the sinister presence.

"Is she the cause of the Distortion? She came out of the portal," Tsubasa commented taking observational notes of the potential threat.

"I got a really bad feeling about this," Maria murmured feeling her hand tighten over the hilt of her blade.  Shirabe and Kirika did the same as well.

"Sensei, you're…really tense," Hibiki noticed with a discerning eye causing the other girls to focus in on the youth with worry.

The youth was completely focused on the person before him.  The sight of the fragment made him forget about his surroundings since his objective caught his eye.  Then his vision was filled by the form of the devilish being that hid it away from him.  Just as he suspected, another one of the dark deities that he's been fighting throughout his journey so far was in this universe.  However, he could sense that just by her presence alone that she was different from the enemies he faced before.  By insight, the armored warrior knew that she was strong but he could not understand the extent of her power.  It was like she was hiding a wealth of power away from him hence why he was feeling so much tension.

"You're another one of those Demon Gods that's been hindering my journey so far.  But you're the first of your kind to address me by my real name," Raizo stated with a suspicious glint in his eyes.

"Dear child, who hasn't heard of the great Son of Mercer in our world?  You underestimate how far the fame of Team AKARA has spread in the multiverse among us gods.  Many are taking an interest in your heroic band of misfits, specifically you.  You have no idea how much it excites me just to be in your presence right now.  But alas, where are my manners? I've yet to introduce myself.  I am the Demon Goddess, Tiamat.  It's truly an honor my sweet," the lustful woman spoke before licking her lips seductively.

"This bitch is seriously creepy…bleh, have some decency pervert!" Chris yelled out with an annoyed tone.

"Yukine, I don't think now is the time to be lecturing the enemy on etiquette," Tsubasa sighed while shaking her head along with the other maidens.

"So these are the heroines of this universe? They are all such beautiful creatures.  Perhaps I should take them for myself as well," Tiamat chuckled hinting at her salacious appetite.

"Whoa, lady what the hell is your-.."

The horned deity disappeared from sight in that moment and reappeared behind the group.  She grabbed Chris from behind pressing her body against the girl's back reaching her hands around rubbing against the poor Ichaival user's vulnerable frame.  The evil creature ascertained the shape of the silver-haired female's curves by caressing her body slowly with her left hand and groping the girl's breast with the other.  The demoness leaned in blowing a puff of hot air across the bit of neck that was exposed to her.  Chris was rendered helpless in that instant and succumbed to the embarrassment of being held in such a way.  Everyone around her turned her way in shock from the sudden change of position but also disgust from what the enemy was trying to do to her.

"You must be the feisty one out of the bunch.  I enjoy girls like you the most.  So wild and untamed, always trying to defy the laws of others yet you reject your own nature and needs as a woman.  Breaking you will be the most exhilarating for me, especially since the face your kind makes when being dominated is always the most stimulating," Tiamat stated with a sensual tone continuing to touch the girl in a lewd manner.

"Wh…what the hell…do you think you're…d…doing to me!" Chris stammered trying to deny the sensitivity of her body.

"I'm ingratiating my touch into your mind obviously~"

"Get your hands off of her!" Maria yelled out.

"You disgusting fiend…" Tsubasa sternly added.

Both girls rushed in with their blades drawn to attack the foe from opposite sides since she seemed vulnerable.

"Wait, don't!" Raizo shouted but it was too late.

Tiamat's hair strands lashed out from her and bound the two eldest females by their hands and feet stopping them in their tracks.  Despite their significant boost in speed, the Demon Goddess was faster.

"No need to rush, I'll make all of you submit to me soon enough," she boldly declared.

"Like hell you will," Raizo responded swinging Nirvana in the empty space.  A wave of astral energy came out from the blade bypassing the girls who were being held against their will by the enemy and slammed into her knocking her back quite a bit thus setting her captives free.

"Are you girls all right?" the Stormbringer asked as he moved in front of them.

"Th-that bitch is going to pay I swear…" Chris spat in disgust.

"Thanks for the save, Raizo-san," Maria replied.

A wave of evil laughter escaped from the mouth of the draconic deity as she spread her arms out in delight.  A rose-colored aura and pale silver tainted flames burned around her.

"Wonderful, simply wonderful, you all will make such a fine appetizer for me.  Oh you wielders of the Symphogear will be the perfect opening course for me before I taste the Stormbringer!" Tiamat declared.

"We won't make it that easy for you.  You're a threat to all of mankind sending those strange beasts to our planet.  We won't let you get away with it!" Hibiki shouted out.

"Aha, yes you managed to destroy my children, the ones you called the Distortion but I did not expect them to kill you.  After all, I only modified in this strange dimensional space that apparently likes to frequently tear open to your home."

"Wait…the Distortion were just upgraded versions of the Noise?" Tsubasa questioned with astonishment.

"Well yes and no, I devoured the Noise first then recreated them with my own power to produce the creatures that terrorized your world for the past two days.  Although I wasn't really intending for them to be a lasting threat, rather to be just a nuisance that would irritate your world long enough to bring you to this point.  And here you all are, six heroines that I would love to break for my own amusement and the Son of Mercer who has the other fragments of the Arcana Crystal," the demonic seductress explained with a small chuckle at the end.

"In other words, this confrontation was just a trap," Maria deduced from the words of the female.

"Perceptive and beautiful, two quality traits that are rare among women that I enjoy seeing but yes this was a trap.  Getting you all together like this was not my original intent.  I only wanted Raizo but having you females would curb my enthusiasm and excitement just enough so I can enjoy my time with the Stormbringer."

"You're making it sound like we're easy targets for you to roll over on but we've faced threats like you before and have managed to take them down every time," Hibiki spoke with her fist clenched in determination.

"Girls, this is a Demon Goddess you're talking to.  These beings have the potential to wipe away entire universes in an instant.  I understand you're drawing Phonic Gain from me but this isn't a fight you can win," Raizo explained with a hint of regret in his voice.

"Sensei, have faith in us.  We still have one more trick to pull and thanks to your song, we'll be able to do it," Chris smiled.

It was then the six girls lined up linking arms and closed their eyes.  The Phonic Gain that Raizo generated for them greatly exceeded the expectations of the young maidens and brought them to a point where they would be able to use a significant power-up that is usually unlocked under rare circumstances.  A strong glow of the six colors that represented each respective girl radiated from their bodies before blending together into a giant sphere of light.  For a few moments, that light gleamed like a star causing Raizo to turn away for a bit.  When it faded and the maidens were revealed in their enhanced armor, the Stormbringer was shocked.  Each of the Symphogear armors had changed from black to white with angel wings springing from each girl respective to their colors.  This was the ultimate form of the Symphogear at their highest potential when enough energy was gathered from their songs; however, in this case it was Raizo's song that got them to this point.  This phenomenon was known as X-Drive.

         "You think you can intimidate us boasting about your power as some god?  Is that supposed to crush our hope?  You may be some powerful entity from another universe, but even so!  As long as our hearts never waver and our songs ring true to our determination, we will never back down!" Hibiki declared with fierce clarity as a result.  The other girls took to her side and readied themselves for the battle that was to come not once trying to show fear.

         "You girls really are something else.  Forgive me for doubting you in that small instance of time.  We'll fight together as one and save your universe from this disgusting bitch once and for all," Raizo spoke holding Nirvana in his hands.

         I'm trusting in you to take the center stage for this battle.

         "You can count on me, my Master."

         Those words flowed through the Stormbringer's mind as he communicated with the musical blade.  As the energy of his Heart of the Storm state intensified around him, he took a stance with the six girls as they stared down the Demon Goddess without wavering once.

         "Marvelous, simply marvelous, truly a beautiful sight to behold! The beauty of your strength and courage is touching my cold heart, and your power levels just intoxicate me! Aha, I'm getting so turned on right now that I might not control myself any longer.  I want all of you to come at me once.  Unleash the full load of your potential all over me!" Tiamat ranted promiscuously while touching her body inappropriately.

         "This bitch really has no shame.  Stop doing lewd things, there are children present!" Chris yelled out in annoyance.

         "Um, Chris…this story isn't for kids anyway," Raizo remarked casually.

         "S-still!"

         It was then that the entire space began to change as a rift opened around them and brought them into another dimension that appeared like an outsider's perspective of the universe.  Billions upon billions of stars, galaxies, and other celestial bodies surrounded them on all sides as the Earth and the moon vanished from their sights.  The girls all looked around distraughtly trying to understand what just occurred.

         "I want to feel all of your power so I decided to bring you into the place where I found the little Noise…" Tiamat spewed sinisterly.

         "This is…the Treasury of Babylon?" Maria asked in disbelief.

         "But it looks so different from the last time we were here desu," Kirika commentated.

         "Of course, that's because I expanded the dimensional scale for my own purposes.  In order to devour everything I found in here and birth new children, I changed the shape of this space and molded it into a cosmic entity the size of a multiverse.  You should be grateful; your home world will be safe from the imminent battle.  Otherwise, I just might have destroyed Earth in the crossfire," the demonic and whorish fiend theorized.

         The girls were caught in confusion unsure of what she meant but Raizo just shook his head and sighed heavily.

         "Don't worry about the physics right now, just know that we can go all out and no one gets hurt.  Let's do this."

         Raizo began to play on his guitar once more sharing another tune that came from his heart. In unison, the six maidens in the angelic Symphogear armor began to sing once more with pride in the strength of their song.  Together they harmonized utilizing the strength of the Phonic Gain flowing within them flying altogether with their wings spread.

         "I never had a chance like this,

         a real reason to exist.

         Power of light the earth will feel,

         Rid the world of all evil,

         Cause I'm stronger than steel."

         As the Stormbringer began to shred on Nirvana once again, the six rushed in with their weapons blazing at the Demon Goddess.  The close-quarters females rushed in first.  Hibiki unleashed a barrage of punches with her fists, Tsubasa swung her mighty katana as a follow-up, and Maria came in immediately after swinging her blade like a whip as the chain links went after the villainous individual.

         Tiamat bobbed and weaved around the Gungnir user's oncoming assault punches.  She maneuvered her frame carefully snaking out of the way, occasionally swatting Hibiki's fist to the side away from her.  The draconic succubus wormed around the short-haired female but had to deal with Tsubasa's bladed combos.  Using her long train of hair, the Unholy Mother sent her strands forth allowing the locks to whip about parrying the oncoming sword slashes as the sound of steel ringing out filled the space. As for Maria's chain blade attack, the wicked deity simply snapped her fingers instantaneously creating a Distortion meat shield to absorb the eldest maiden's attack. With one lethal spin of her body letting her hair swing about like a merry-go-round, the tendril like strands batted away the three girls with enough force to shatter a large star.

         Tiamat darted away from the trio taking the path upward in that very next instant but she was met with a hail of bullets.  As the projectiles hit their mark, the horned woman could not help but feel like this was the equivalent of being rushed by hundreds of gnats biting one after the other.  Her glare took note of Chris in the distance pounding away at her with large, Gatling guns.  Refusing to take this irritation any longer, the dark goddess stretched out her arms and waved her hands forward.  Rushing towards the girl in the next moment were two large planets approximately the size of Jupiter.  The female laughed to see what the child would do next but that bit of humor soon felt silent. 

         Chris did not waver upon seeing the giant spherical masses barreling towards her.  Instead, she deployed two ballistic missiles from her gear and sent them flying towards the celestial bodies.  In a flash, both objects were blown into thousands of pieces and large asteroid-like chunks.  Before these fragments could even obstruct the battlespace, the girl in red unleashed a volley of smaller missiles that blew apart every other fragment as well turning them all into cosmic space dust.

         "Interesting," Tiamat smirked in delight enjoying what the girl had just managed to pull.

         "Let's increase the stakes then shall we?"

         Tiamat's powers were illusive to identify or understand.  Many of those who knew her did not know how to best describe her abilities.  She could create creatures on a whim that possessed a myriad of abilities that could be elemental based or just beasts of raw power.  However, she could also create cosmic bodies on a whim; such was her role when she birthed the Earth.  If one was to best sum up her abilities, she manipulated reality itself and changed the laws of physics to suit her own needs.  Even though she was not considered one of those on the Celestial level, she still possessed immense potential with her feats.  Altering the Treasury of Babylon and increasing its size to that of a multiverse as well as throwing around celestial bodies like she currently did was hardly anything to her.

         The Demon Goddess spread her arms once again.  In that moment, the colorful void of space had glowing, disc-like objects flying faster than light through space.  The oncoming projectiles were actually entire galaxies that surpassed counts in the thousands in which the woman compressed to highly concentrated energy to use at her disposal.  She sent these discs flying towards the girls all at once without any further delay but Shirabe and Kirika weren't about to allow the beast to have her day.

         "What is this gift that found me?

         A curse book to set Earth free,

         I'll take control of my destiny.

         I can change the world, I'll just believe."

         The melody continued as the two girls stepped forward from the group and began swinging their weapons wildly in a blur of motion.  As they did so, every single circular object was shattered like glass without a single one of them breaking their ranks.  It all happened so fast that the girls could not even keep up with what was happening to them.  They were only moving on their instincts not even worrying about the 'ifs' or 'buts' about what they were dealing with.  They only focused on the simple fact that they had to fight no matter the cost.

         It was then that the sound of something roaring in the distance came rushing into the ears of the females.  It sounded like the wind was tearing through the space like a giant tornado but in reality; it was a massive beam of energy coming down upon them.  Tiamat generated this blast by pulling universes from all around the multiversal dimensional space and squeezed them like oranges into this attack.  The oncoming attack composed of potential energy that would blow away the universe and space-time continuum holding the reality that the Symphogear girls belonged to.  Thankfully the Treasury protected them from that bad ending.

         "In the dead of night,

         I close my eyes,

         Picture your face, prepare to write

         Down your name,

         I'm the God of the new world."

         The six maidens rallied together once more with their song facing the oncoming wave of devastation bearing down on them.  As the imminent pillar of death sought to wipe their existence away, the auras around their bodies intensified.  They linked arms and stared at the blast fiercely.  In that next instant, it collided with them head-on.  A blinding flash occurred as sound seemingly faded away within that one particular moment.  The energies collided before zeroing out into a dark, colorful cloud of dust.  However, the light of the six Valkyries still burned brilliantly as their song continued virtuously.

         "Oh my, how beautiful can you maidens be?  You are such magnificent specimens that my desire for you has only served to increase!" Tiamat shouted in delight not even hesitating to rub herself in front of the girls who are before her moaning joyfully.

         "I need you all so much.  Ahaa you're the perfect foreplay for me!"

         "Would you just shut the fuck up already?" Raizo interjected coming from behind the draconic demon with his scythe in hand still cranking out the song on his weapon.  In the explosive display of strength and courage that the girls had displayed within that clustered period of time that could hardly eclipse a timeframe of a minute, the Stormbringer merely played, observed and waited for an opening.

         "You are seriously one of the most disgusting individuals I've ever had to face, do us all a favor and die."

         With a swift horizontal swing, the male let Nirvana follow through as the hellfire made contact with the woman's mid-region…or so he thought.  In a split-second decision based upon her wisdom of the male's speed, she moved out of range just barely but her hair became a victim to the swing as a result.  Bushels of her hair fell out and listened endlessly in the space between the two deified beings.  As she caught sight of those strands, her eyes widened in shock.

         "H…How dare you?  My beautiful hair!  Don't you know that it's sinful to touch a woman's hair in such a brutish manner?" the crazed being shouted.

         "Oho…I have every intention of making you mine but it would seem that I have to discipline you first.  And I suppose I should do so with your friends as well since they refused to be cleansed of that ostentatious armor as well.  I believe it's time I took this seriously now," Tiamat said with a wicked smile.

         "The hell are you on about right now?  You must be seriously out of your-…" Raizo was about to lecture before finding his stomach being caved in by his opponent's fist.

         "Just because you have speed doesn't mean that I'll be easy to defeat like the fools you faced before," the witch spoke before leaning in and whispering into the male's ear, "This is my world, allow me to give you the same treatment you gave to Lucifer."

         The woman pushed her foe away before rushing in with a series of brutal punches and kicks followed by lashings from her other strands of hair.  She beat the youth mercilessly before grabbing him and throwing him at full force out of the universal space the battle had currently taken place in and through another universe.  The boy's body flew continuously destroying at least 10 other separate universes before stopping in the dimensional rift in parts unknown of the Treasury's space.

         Tiamat then turned her gaze towards the six Symphogear users whose faces churned in shock and disarray from seeing their sensei being torn apart.  Their focus had been broken for the small moment and consequently, the demon would capitalize on it.  She charged into the group dropping a wave of hits on them.  She separated the six girls thus breaking their guards and taking advantage on the relinquished ground.  A series of crackling noises echoed in the space as Tiamat's remaining hair strands tore through the girls hitting all of their vulnerable areas causing scratches and splits to appear in their armor.

         When they had the time to recover, each girl tried to counter.  Hibiki, Tsubasa, Maria, Kirika, and Shirabe began to exchange a series of melee blows with their armaments while Chris backed away and fired off a few crossbow bolts in between the chained movements. However, Tiamat was moving much faster than she was before.  She deflected any oncoming strikes intended to land on her body and began to disrupt their rhythm.

         A punch from Hibiki came in from the right side but Tiamat merely sidestepped, grabbed the girl's arm, and forced it to bend to the point where the child cried out helplessly in pain.  Using her as a bat, she clubbed Tsubasa with the girl's body forcing both women to fly away from the area through a nearby solar system.  The blades of Kirika and Shirabe came in during the window of time that the Demon Goddess was distracted but her hair just blocked their oncoming attacks.  The strands that were severed grew back and bounded the two younger females up.  She squeezed them tightly causing their ribs to fracture through the protective shell that just allowed the girls to absorb so much punishment before.

         "I can crush a whole entire universe with my hair alone, how long will your armor protect you from my grip I wonder?" the evil goddess taunted.

         "Stop it!" Maria yelled out coming in with her blade.  She channeled her energy and swung it down with enough force to split a thousand galaxies apart. 

         "Oho, the power boost is really showing from you but it's not enough."

         The sinister witch grabbed the oncoming blade and yanked it forcing the eldest girl to fly towards her. She then used the bodies of the smaller females like cymbals and crushed Maria between Shirabe and Kirika before bashing them in the same direction as the other two.

         "You fucking whore! Die!" Chris yelled out.

         The girl turned her weapons into a fearsome longbow with a pink arrow knocked.  She channeled everything into that one arrow for one prime shot.

         "I'll blast away space and time itself and everything encompassing it to save my friends!"

         If the goddess was willing to destroy the universe to try and kill her targets then Chris Yukine would do the same.  That Phonic Gain that empowered their armor greatly enhanced their strength to this point.  She would unleash her will channeled in this one attack no matter the cost. Testifying to that, the arrow was released and barreled towards its target without any signs of missing.  The arrow flew true taking off massively faster than light hitting Tiamat square on.  The bolt penetrated her like she wanted but not in the way that would bring pleasure as a gaping hole went through her center mass before traversing through the multiversal space.

         A massive detonation had occurred in that very next moment as multiple universes were destroyed as a result.  Gazing at the dark deity, Chris had her guard up waiting to see what would happen next.  Tiamat just twitched stunned and bleeding.  The hole in her chest was trying to heal itself up but suddenly, she was assailed from a barrage of attacks.

         A gleaming wave of silver energy came from underneath her like a crescent moon as Maria discharged her spatial splitting attack.  Then a massive blade that threatened to cut the fabrics of the false reality in half came following after.  Along with that, multiple pink sawblades buzzed by.  Then it was boomerang scythe blades that trailed behind.  All of these attacks combined in a massive wind-tunnel drill before being unleashed upon the corrupted goddess.  The figure of the woman of lust was assailed in that moment as her form was hacked away piece by piece before being reduced to a limbless body with a head.  The previously blown away Symphogear girls recovered and rejoined their comrade with focused looks upon their faces.

         "Y…You…all….so magnificent…" Tiamat uttered coughing up blood.

         "This bitch…is annoyingly resilient," Chris cursed.

         "Wait…what the hell is that desu?!" Kirika shouted out pointing towards the evil deity's body.

         "Impossible, she's regenerating!" Shirabe responded taking note of the form before her.

         "You managed to wound me…but I was only caught off guard," the pillar of lust and fornication declared as her body began to take shape once more.

         "Looks like we're just gonna have to give her one giant attack to end this fight once and for all," the voice of Raizo echoed as he re-emerged on the battlefield wiping away blood from his lips while holding onto Nirvana who still radiated that purple energy.

         "Sensei, you're okay!" Hibiki shouted in joy.

         "Took ya long enough, idiot Sensei," Chris chastised with a grin.

         "Are you okay, Raizo-san?" Maria inquired with worry.

         "Yeah, I just dropped my guard for a bit; however, it's nice to see that you ladies did some damage to her.  But it looks like this isn't enough.  Before she gets the chance to use that fragment, we need to finish this in one final attack," the male explained.

         "Then we're going to have to use that…" Tsubasa said with a foreboding tone.  The other girls looked to one another and nodded in affirmation agreeing with the proposal leaving the assassin confused.

         "Um…what are you guys talking about?"  Raizo asked with some dismay.

         "Raizo-sensei, do you trust us?" Chris stated with a serious look in her eye.

         "Rather than trust, do you believe in us?" Hibiki reworded.

         "Yeah…I do," the Son of Mercer answered carefully.

         "Then please let us do this, we can't let this monster have her way," Maria pleaded.  As the youth nodded gently, the girls continued.

         The six of them grabbed each other's hands and closed their eyes.  They took a unified deep breath as that glow covered their angelic forms once more.  In unison, they proceeded to utter a certain melody that is often considered a last ditch effort move to use—the Superb Song.

         "Gatrandis babel ziggurat edenal

         Emustolronzen fine el balal zizzl

         Gatrandis babel ziggurat edenal

         Emustolronzen fine el zizzl…"

         The solemn oratorio was brief but carried with it a certain degree of eloquence and sadness to it at the same time.  For some reason, the Red-Eyed Stormbringer felt like his heart was in a tightened chokehold.  He felt a unique sense of pain from hearing the girls' tune.  It hit him harder than that blow he took from Tiamat before to a certain magnitude he was not expecting.  As testament to this, he actually had tears welling up in his eyes unknowingly.

         The Superb Song was the last resort for the Symphogear system.  It was the single most powerful attack that a user could use in a moment when stuck in a critical situation.  Even though the user can gain an explosive power, it was a double-edged sword that would deliver severe backlash thus potentially crippling the user.  At the very least, the user could suffer heavy bodily damage; however, death was the worst possibility. 

         Raizo tucked away Nirvana in that moment and rushed towards the females stretching his hands and touching Hibiki's shoulders.  As the young maidens opened their eyes seeing the male, they were just about to receive the power up and pondered what the assassin was doing.  Reading the mood, the Stormbringer shook his head side to side.

         "I may not understand the intricacies of your armor, but that melody filled me with an air of sorrow that makes me feel like you girls could die.  I have faith that you all won't die but I won't let you shoulder the burden of defeating someone who shouldn't even be here in the first place.  I won't let you take on the pain from using this move; not without us sharing it together.  We're a team right?"

         Suddenly, the strength of all six maidens flowed into Hibiki's body as a burning rainbow aura circulated around her.  Raizo's aura intensified as the youth reached for Vajra and drew it from his side.  He took hold of Hibiki's hand and looked at her in her eyes.

         "We'll finish her off in one shot together.  Can you trust me one more time?" Razo asked.

         "Yes Sensei, let's finish this."

         Tiamat had just about finished her full regeneration process during the time that the entire event had happened in front of her.  From her vision, Hibiki and Raizo took off in a purple streak of light soaring through her dimensional space to the other side of it.  She had no idea what was happening but her instincts told her to run.  Just when she thought she could do just that, she found herself bound by indigo, electric chains and her regeneration was heavily slowed down.

         "W…what is this? Bondage play now? Oh my Raizo, you really know how to have a good time," the demonic creature uttered.

         Meanwhile, Raizo channeled his energy into his blade with his right hand still holding Hibiki's hand with his left.

         "The chains won't last long so we are going for one final attack.  Your fist and my blade, we can do this."

         "Right!"

         Using his speed, the two barreled down towards the evil demoness with full fury.  The Stormbringer was going to unleash his Kamui while Hibiki was going to unleash the full might of the Superb Song channeled by the other gear users.  As the target came into place, the two swung their arms forward to strike their foe simultaneously and yelled out in unison:

         "RESONANCE STRIKE!"

         A vertical line appeared down the middle of Tiamat's body as her face was sunken in from a strong blow.  In that moment, she burst apart into pieces with a miasmic green explosion.  The Treasury of Babylon began to destabilize.  A small portal opened as the remains of the beast along with the fragment fell through it.  The seven warriors followed close behind.  Once passing through it, the portal disappeared and the heroes listed endlessly in space.  Raizo let go of Hibiki's hand and tucked his blade.  The other girls floated over to him as it seemed like the battle was finally over.

         "We won desu!" Kirika cheered happily.

         "Yes, victory is truly ours now," Shirabe nodded.

         "Way to go everyone," Tsubasa spoke in agreement.

         "Indeed," Maria said.

         "Heh, we kick ass, what else is there to say?" Chris chuckled.

         "You're right but we did this as a team.  And we were able to do so in such a way thanks to Raizo-sensei.  Nice team attack too," Hibiki smiled.

         "Yeah, you all did great.  I'm proud of you all too.  I'm glad to see my advice helped you out," the Stormbringer concurred.

         "Of course, but you know…you held onto Hibiki's hand pretty tightly," Chris teased.

         "O…Only so that the speed and momentum of the attack could be shared between us, j…jeez," the armored male argued with a blush.

         "What's the big deal? Are you just jealous, Chris-chan?" Hibiki giggled.

         "W..What the hell are you talking about, idiot!" the girl in red armor yelled blushing as a result.

         "I'm sure Maria-san would have enjoyed it too," Tsubasa spoke out randomly.

         "W…What? I have no idea what you're talking about!" the eldest woman responded turning her face away.

         "So much blushing going on here desu…" Kirika noticed with a raised eyebrow.

         "W…Well anyways, the battle is over so we should head…" Raizo tried to change the topic when he felt a sudden surge in energy occur.