Phantasmal Sonata Part 3

The skies cast dark shades of gray from the overcast whether as the clouds rolled along in a silent dance. The coolness of the winter breeze blew across the landscape as the Winter season lumbered on fully underway in the latter days of December. In the quiet midst of a graveyard where various stone tablets were erected towards various deceased individuals hailing from a multitude of families, two figures stood alone before a precarious grave marker. Etched into the stone surface was a singular phrase:

Here Lies The Kazanari Clan

Clasping her hands in prayer, one female with long, blue hair with a small handful of strands tied off to the side in a ponytail with sapphire blue eyes loomed whilst wearing a black suit and matching trench coat to keep her warm. Her name was Tsubasa Kazanari. The once famous pop star offered a prayer of rest towards the man who sacrificed himself to save her, her father, Yatsuhiro Kazanari. Though he was not biologically her father she still honored and mourned him as such, remembering him as one of the few solitary sources of light in her life.

His stern yet gentle visage flashed through her mind from a brief second causing a sudden pain to shoot through her chest. On reflex, the girl reached for a crystal object that would normally hang around her neck yet it was no longer there. The combination of loss mixed with the shame of the actions she took whilst under the manipulation of her 'grandfather' - Fudoh Kazanari - culminated into a burning desire; a fire that hoped she would be able to find some semblance of real forgiveness. The trauma of being forced to attack her friends by the command of the old man who was actually her real father alongside Yatsuhiro's loss was too many scars that could not heal in such a short time frame.

"Tsubasa," a second female called out from the side.

The taller woman wore a similar black outfit that mimicked Tsubasa's in almost every way except it adhered more to her curvier, mature figure. She had long, rose-colored hair and aqua blue eyes. In addition, she too was a former idol star that went by the name of Maria Cadenzavna Eve.

"Don't dwell on the past. We're here today because we showed the world that Fudoh was wrong and that humanity could prevail over Shem-ha," Maria encouraged whilst patting the girl gently on her shoulder.

Those events replayed through her mind; the final battle vividly reverberated through her bones. That last bout against the Godlike entity allowed the Symphogears to prove that mankind was ready to leave the Custodian's shadow once and for all.

"We wouldn't have made it past her without the training and experiences we went through when we fought Goetia," Tsubasa reckoned as she turned to face Maria. Her best friend nodded in agreement.

"I bet you are only saying that because you miss your time spent with Akaro," the Mom-like figure of the Symphogears teased.

The Sword of the Kazanari family immediately blushed, "Y-you have some nerve to talk...especially given your relationship with Raizo-sensei."

"Ahem…" coughed the mature beauty with equally flushed cheeks.

After a flustered moment passed, the two looked up at the sky to see the dark clouds rolling away to expose the quietness of the night.

"Let's head back, shall we?" Maria suggested.

"Indeed, the party should be starting soon," Tsubasa concurred.

The S.O.N.G. headquarters featured aboard a top-of-the-line military submarine was docked at a port owned and guarded by the United Nations on the outskirts of one of the port cities in Japan. As the New Year was upon the horizon, all of the staff members gathered together including all of the gear users. In the mess hall, all of the tables and counters were set with colorful table skirts with a wide variety of cuisine spread as far as the eye could see. From local delicacies to French and Italian cuisine, there seemed to be a never-ending quantity of food for the global heroes to enjoy.

Tsubasa and Maria boarded the ship and went to their quarters to quickly change out of the black clothing they used to visit the Kazanari Memorial. They each donned a nice evening dress which was in a baby blue and white color combination and a pink and white dress combination respectively. After getting themselves together, they rejoined the others in the mess hall for the celebration.

"We can finally cut a little loose for once, it feels good," a strong, husky man said with pride.

Genjuro Kazanari, the fearless leader of S.O.N.G., stood near one of the tables with a mug of beer in his hand. Wearing his usual red collar shirt, tan pants, and brown slacks with his tie tucked in his pocket, the muscular leader was sharing a hearty chuckle with another member of the organization -- Shinji Ogawa.

"Indeed, but we still have to be on the clock for just a little longer," he said.

Shinji was an upright fellow with a go-with-the-flow attitude. The young man in his mid 20s had short, chestnut colored hair and brown eyes. Oftentimes in public he was charged with being Tsubasa's manager of her idol career. When it came necessary for field assignments though, he was a trained agent capable of somewhat superhuman feats moving around like a real ninja. He also trained with the Symphogears from time to time to make sure they were keeping up with their combative prowess. Like the commander, he too stuck with his usual attire of wearing a charcoal gray suit and black tie.

"Hard to believe it's really over...man that last fight was crazy," sighed another brunette male holding a plate of steak and shrimp kabobs in his hand. He was another one of the S.O.N.G. staff members known as Sakuya Fujitaka. Wearing a navy blue suit that mimicked his uniform attire, he had his hair slicked back and combed down trying to be a little bit more decked out for the festivities.

"Indeed it was, I'm proud of you for not panicking and wetting your pants during the whole ordeal," teased a female wearing a shimmering black evening gown whilst carrying a glass of champagne in her hand. The girl with dark blue hair and brown eyes was one of the few female bridge officers of the staff known as Aoi Tomosato.

"Mou...Aoi-san, just because I get a little startled doesn't mean I'd go and do all that! I swear, it's like the champagne is doing all the talking for you," he whined.

"Oh please, a refined lady knows how to hold her alcohol with dignity," she dismissed.

Meanwhile amidst the table seating area were some of the Symphogears. Chris Yukine, the violet eyed firecracker with silvery-white hair, wore a red and black blouse and skirt with knee-high black-heeled boots. She was busy grabbing small samples of all the different dishes that caught her eye while ignoring the noise behind her.

"Hmm this looks good too," she said grabbing a small scoop of fettuccine noodles and alfredo sauce. As she was finishing up the last touches for her plate, two other girls came up from the side.

"Chris-senpai, aren't you going a little overboard with the sampling? You'll wind up gaining a lot of weight for New Years-desu!" spoke one of the girls with blonde hair and green eyes. She wore a punk rocker's outfit with a green tank top underneath a black denim jacket with a matching denim skirt. Long, green and black striped knee-socks accompanied by black boots completed the outfit to match.

"Jiiii...all the weight will likely go to her boobs anyway…" spoke another girl with black hair tied into two long, pigtails on either side of her head while the rest flowed freely behind her back. She wore a simple pink blouse with a matching hoodie over top complete with black shorts and long, black stockings. underneath.

"Kirika-chan...Shirabe-chan...would you both like to be stabbed by a for before New Years?" tensed Chris calling the names of the duo out respectively.

Yes, the inseparable duo of Kirika Akatsuki and Shirabe Tsukuyomi; they were a troublesome duo with quite the interesting track record of humorous dialogue that somehow managed to just naturally flow between them. As the banter continued to fill the room, the doors opened allowing Tsubasa and Maria to join the festivities.

"Tsubasa-san! Maria-san! Save us! Chris is trying to kill us-desu!" Kirika pleaded mercy towards her two seniors.

"Yukine, must you have a last bout of violence on such a day?" Tsubasa sighed whilst shaking her head walking up to the group.

"Chris-chan, you have to learn how to control that temper of yours," Maria added on.

"EH?! Don't listen to these little pipsqueaks! They're the ones not letting me enjoy a good meal. I mean what the hell? And then saying the weight will go to my boobs is just insulting!" Chris ranted before taking a bite of her pasta.

As the quintet had their little moment, two more individuals took entry into the room. The first was a girl with amber colored eyes and short, frilly light brown hair wearing a white and yellow striped sweater with blue jeans. While the other was a girl that had short, midnight colored, curly hair with violet eyes wearing a purple polka-dotted dress with long sleeves. Both were the last members of the Symphogears, the former oftentimes referred to as the God-Slaying Fist.

"Well look who finally decides to join in the festivities?" Chris called out with a little playful scoff.

"Hibiki-san, Miku-san!" Kirika exclaimed happily.

"Welcome to the party, Tachibana, Kohinata," Tsubasa smiled warmly.

"Jiiii...looks like something happened," Shirabe observed whilst taking note of the duo holding hands.

"Well it's about time. It only took how many years?" Maria pondered.

"I sense illicit relations...keep that at home!" Chris chuckled.

"Ehhh?!!! Wait a second...hold on, it's not like that!" Hibiki called out in a flustered tone of voice.

"Goodness, you are not good at damage control, Bikky…" Miku shook her head with a hefty sigh.

"In all seriousness though, I am sure that I can speak for everyone else that we are happy for the both of you," Maria nodded in approval.

"Indeed, though a pity that most of the time you two are together, it seems you two have a knack for reminiscing about Akaro-sama," Tsubasa tried to sneak in. Hibiki and Miku raised an eyebrow at the same time before chuckling about something.

"What is so funny?" Tsubasa asked with a dense expression on her face to which the other girls in the circle shared a soft chuckle.

"Where is Elfnein-chan?" Hibiki asked, breaking up the humorous moment with a perceptive question.

"She said she was gonna be a little late to the party, something about a last minute project in the lab. That girl is always working her behind off," Chris signed in a worried tone.

"She really doesn't know how to take a break at all," Maria concurred.

Just then, the sound of a utensil tapping a glass echoed out in the room which caused all of the extra conversation to cease.

"Listen up everyone, it's been a long two years and we have overcome many obstacles--Finé, the Alchemists, the Bavarian Illuminati, the Demon Gods and the Custodians. You all have seen through many battles and experienced countless hardships, yet everyone has managed to overcome them. We lost friends along the way and made new ones, but here we stand together for one last time," Genjuro pronounced. That last line caused an air of confusion among the Symphogears for a brief second, but the other staffers held a grim expression knowing what was going to come next.

"With the Noise quelled, the Custodians gone and Shem-Ha defeated, the United Nations have deemed it fit to formally disband S.O.N.G. with the coming year. They sent a formal declaration last night and offered their sincerest gratitude for all our hard work. Of course, that's just the usual formal nonsense. Nevertheless, I want to express my heartfelt thanks to all of you for your sacrifice and dedication to the fight over these past two years. You all fought well and I wish each and every one of you nothing but the best in life, especially to our young heroines."

Initiating a round of applause, the commander of the group and the other staffers raised their glasses to the young girls in the room who all smiled warmly with small blushes across their cheeks. The floor was then turned over to the group of girls to speak their peace.

"I want to express my gratitude to everyone in this room. You all helped me find my place in the world even when I struggled trying to ascertain my own identity. Even if my life was defined as being a sword, you all became my reason for living. In fact, if it weren't for this team, I don't even know where I would be right now. So thank you, all of you, for never giving up on me. And to you, Uncle Genjuro, thank you for helping me embrace my own path as a Kazanari," Tsubasa stated firmly as another respite of applause was relinquished.

"I too wish to offer my thanks. I did not think I was capable of protecting anyone, that people would always suffer with me around. I was unsure of my potential and I tried to distance myself from others as a result. Yet you all were there and I think of each of you as my family...my fellow Gear users have become like my little sisters; pesky and troublesome at times, but I couldn't imagine life without each of you. S.O.N.G. will always be a part of me, no matter where I go in life," Maria followed as felt tears welling up in her eyes.

"Tch...I hate getting all mushy acting but...in this particular situation, I suppose I'll make an exception. You all know my ordeal, I struggled with trying to be good and finding a place to belong for so long. Yet...here, I was offered a chance to become something more. You guys gave me a home when I didn't think I would ever find one. You showed me kindness when I didn't think I deserved it. Like Maria, you became my family when I never thought I'd ever experience something like that again. So...yeah...thank you," Chris fumbled with a humbly embarrassed expression.

"Kirika's not very good at making speeches but...thank you everyone for bringing us together and for helping me and Shirabe-chan grow-desu!" the ever-cheerful blonde rocker smiled.

"Thank you very much," the silent Shirabe humbly bowed.

"Guess I'm up next eh...heh...heh… Well, to be honest, if you asked me two years ago that I would be a part of some organization that would be involved in so many crazy battles to save the world then I probably would have just let it go in one ear and out the other. So much has happened that it really is hard to think that we made it through all of it.

I want to first express a heartfelt thanks to S.O.N.G. for helping me grow so much all this time. I feel like I've become stronger each and every day of my life since all of this started. Thank you for giving my fists the ability to fight and to protect those that I care about. And to all my fellow gear users, thank you for being my friends...my sisters; like it was said before, no matter where the future takes us...our bonds will always keep us together forever. And...to the one who isn't here, the catalyst that set all of this in motion…" Hibiki said before pausing to take a breath to hold back the emotions.

"Kanade-san...I pray that I have made you proud as the successor to Gungnir. Though we may not have had a chance to know each other, I feel like a part of you was always there fighting alongside me and watching over not only myself, but Tsubasa-san, Maria-san, Chris-chan, Kirika-chan, and Shirabe-chan with each and every fight we dealt with.

Last, but not least...to Sensei, wherever you are, thank you for showing us the path forward."

"Jeez Bikky, now you've spread your crybaby energy to everyone in the room," Miku sighed, wiping away tears from her eyes.

"Thank you all for saving my life so many times...and for bringing all of us home safe and sound," the girl concluded.

The heartfelt, emotional atmosphere of the room was consumed with the realization that this may be the last time they see one another like this. Nevertheless, they all shared in it together. Around this time, a new presence entered the doorway holding a briefcase in her delicate arms.

Blonde curly hair, green eyes, a short stature dressed in a white lab coat and matching shoes comprised her composition as she seemingly rushed over here as fast as she could. The beads of sweat on her forehead and her exacerbated breathing showed just how long she was working and how much effort she was putting into its completion.

"Everyone...haa...Sorry I'm...haa...haa...late," she panted heavily trying to get out those words.

"Elfnein-kun, catch your breath, we're not going anywhere," Genjuro urged in concern.

Acknowledging that notion, the girl took pause to gather herself together before resuming what would potentially be her last presentation to the group. She took the briefcase and unlocked it to reveal a series of glowing lights on the inside. The group gathered together to see what was inside to witness six glowing crystals: silver, cerulean blue, rose pink, emerald green, ruby red, and dandelion yellow. Each of these presented the individual gears that matched up to Maria, Tsubasa, Shirabe, Kirika, Chris and Hibiki respectively.

"I managed to restore all the relics after the final battle against Shem-Ha and went even further to make the crystals represent the colors of the gears that match each of you all individually. Sadly, with the disbandment of the organization, the Japanese government will be taking these and the Shenshojing Faust Robe to retroactively develop new weapons. Still, I hoped that you all would be able to see them one last time."

"Of course the government is going to use new and powerful technology in order to get one arm up over the rest of the world. At the end of the day, we are all subject to the constant power grabs of the global government forces at play. Unfortunately, there is nothing we can do about it," Genjuro gritted his teeth in slight agitation.

The gear users and the other staff members were not pleased about this either, yet they all knew that it was out of their control now. Regardless, this was not time to dismay over what the future was going to hold. S.O.N.G. still had the rest of the night to enjoy and bask in the joy of one another's company for one more night. The world was free and that paved the way to the future where everyone could forge their own destiny. The celebratory atmosphere was then seized as the lights went out in the ship and the energy faded from the reactors. Not only that, but the power went out all across the city. The backup generators kicked on which allotted everyone to rush to the bridge of the ship. Taking positions to check equipment, a transmission came over the radio.

"The--...Tacet…--too many to contain. Custodian civilization is no more--- prepare…."

The message ended abruptly as the power kicked back on. A series of alerts sounded off at once as video footage from throughout the city showed up on the screens. Strange, shapeshifting shadowy creatures that crumpled and bent reality around themselves rushed at people walking through the streets erasing them on the spot without a sound being emitted. Elfnein took to her station instantly as she sat the briefcase down beside her.

"Analyzing the integrity of these beasts," she said whilst clacking on the keyboard.

"These appear to be extra-dimensional entities similar to the original Noise, but unlike them, each of these things appear to be suppressing all sound around them."

"Then it seems like we have one last mission to carry out," Genjuro declared whilst folding his arms.

Elfnein spun in her seat and took the briefcase over to the gear users and handed it over whilst pressing a switch to reveal a seventh amethyst compact from a hidden compartment. Each of the girls took their respective crystals with Miku taking the compact.

"One last time everyone," Hibiki declared.

"Right!" the girls collectively responded. From there, they rushed out of the bridge and proceeded to race down the halls to head out on deck.

Along the way, Hibiki happened to catch a glance of a mysterious janitor mopping the floors of HQ. She was unable to get a good look at his face, but he was obviously new. Unfortunately, there was no time to worry about such matters because there was a battle to fight.

*****

"Balwisyall nescell Gungnir tron," uttered the lips of Hibiki as she activated the amber colored relic around her neck. She was enveloped in light in that instant as the Gungnir armor enveloped her body. Her body was adorned in an orange, black, white, and yellow leotard battlesuit that exposed her navel and partial midriff area. The cut down the middle of the suit from her breasts downward was divided in a zig-zag cut with frills like a skirt flowing behind her. Matching spats were fixed to her pelvis underneath as it came down to about the upper quarter of her thigh. Then the entirety of her legs were exposed down to just below the knee level where she wore heavily plated copper and white boots with amber crystals on the shins. Her arms were covered in black and white sleeves from the middle portion of her upper arm down towards her elbows. Here, the funnel-like armor of her orange, yellow and white gauntlets formed before finishing to the black-tipped, golden knuckled gloves she wore on her hands. With the spiked, orange crystal of her relic at the center of her collar, a long white flowing scarf wrapped around her neck, and the white and orange spiked ear phones over her light brown hair, the god-slaying fist was ready for battle.

"Imyuteus Ame no Habakiri tron," Tsubasa chanted whilst activating her relic, the Ame-no-Habakiri, in response. A gleaming blue light overtook her position as her body was wrapped in the cloth of the armor in turn. Her black and two-toned blue, V-cut cuirass comprised the bulk of her torso wear as the cloth almost took the shape of a school swimsuit uniform. This exposed her obliques on either side of her body before leading to a white miniskirt that covered just the entirety of her pelvic region. Her upper thighs were completely exposed as the lower half of her quadriceps down to her feet were adorned in this two-toned blue and white armored greaves. Light blue diamonds appeared at the knees and among the protrusions of the spiked armor plates just below her greater trochanters and along the sides of her boots. Her arms were covered in white and blue sleeves with dark blue plates at the shoulders. With sky blue and white headphones around her ears, the armor piece immortalizing the symbol of Zwei Wing was firmly fixed to her bangs of hair that was tied up into a front facing ponytail. With a deep breath, the mature heroine was ready to take her place in the coming battle.

"Killter Ichaival tron," echoed the voice of Chris as she became engulfed in a crimson beam of light. From here she was embraced by around her torso by a red, black and white blouse that pushed together her breasts thus making them seemingly pop where her cleavage was exposed. This hybrid of a brassiere and blouse had a pink, silken cloth that seemingly adhered to her midriff before cutting into a white miniskirt. Her upper thighs were exposed at this point as her skin from the midpoint down to her ankles was wrapped in white kneesocks with red plated armor at the mid-thigh, the knees and at her heels connected to the red and black shoes she donned. Her waist also featured a red and white set of armor that was connected to her like a battle skirt. Her arms were decorated in red plating with white sleeves. A ruby crystal was embroidered at the collar of her clothing. Lastly, she wore a red headset with four exaggerated tubes, two on either side of her head, that appeared like pistons of an engine.

"Seilien coffin Airgetlam tron," rang out Maria's vocals as she summoned her gear. A silver-white light consumed her position before revealing her battle form. She wore a white, black and silver leotard suit that featured a similar brassiere style accentuating her ample breasts like Chris. No part of midriff was exposed in spite of the cloth greatly adhering to her abdominal region. She had silver plating compile the mini skirt in which the hem came down to the upper third of her thigh. From the midpoint going down to her feet was silver, black and white kneesocks that gave way to the exaggerated silver combat boots. One of her arms was decorated in a white, black finger-tipped sleeve while the other on her left side had silver, pink, black and white armor on the shoulder and her forearm. As the silver-white of the diamond nestled at the pit of her collarbone, she wore a diamond tiara with angel wings that appeared on both sides of her head above the ears.

"Various Shul Shagana tron," resounded the delicate voice of Shirabe as she uttered the melody to invoke the activation of her relic. A pink light engulfed her small, petite body. She became cloaked in a pink and black dress akin to a young school girl's outfit, reminiscent of what she wore at the academy. With the frills in the skirt covering her lower extremities about midway down her upper thighs, she wore love white stockings that then led into these strange, pointed combat boots. They were rose and white metallic gear that almost mimicked stiletto shoes, however, it was almost as if she did not have any feet at all. Though, her aesthetic with her gear did make her appear like a ballet dancer. She also wore long sleeved, pink conical vambraces over top of pink and white gloves. Her headgear was like the shape of floppy bunny ears in which large, zig-zagging pink, black and white plates obscured her trails of hair tied on the sides of her head while the rest of the pink metal wrapped around her head and face like a maskless helmet.

"Zeios Igalima raizen tron," chanted the ever enthusiastic Kirika. The stout, blonde female was devoured in the embrace of an emerald green light. She then appeared wearing a school uniform dress similar to Shirabe except painted in a mix of light and dark green with a splash of black and white. She wore long green and white kneesocks that led into green, pointed heeled shoes. Dark green and white sleeved gloves decorated her arms as she featured exaggerated, emerald green bladed shoulder pauldrons. With a triangular pyramid, green hat on top of her blonde hair, the soul-cutting warrior flashed a stance prepared for combat.

"Rei Shenshoujing rei zizzl," said the last of the heroines preparing for combat. The purple light coalesced around the body of Miku Kohinata as she donned the Faust Robe used by Shem-Ha not too long ago. Her body was then revealed to be enraptured by the robes of a white and lavender dress that greatly adhered to her subtle curvature of her body with a drifting piece of white fabric over her pelvic region. Her legs were completely obscured by these strange violet plated boots. Layered over them was a thick, lavender and white dress. Wearing loose silver, white and lavender sleeves along her arms, her outfit was completed by a white and purple veil with a diamond tiara on her head. No longer the helpless friend, Miku stood ready to fight alongside her comrades and her love.

Taking off from the submarine base, the seven melodies soared together with their colorful auras creating a harmonious rainbow in the skies as they rushed onto the heart of the scene. The city was already torn asunder as shattered glass littered the sheets. Trails of dust were left in the wake as the clamorous screams of innocent victims were being erased one after the other. Sirens wailed in the distance, explosions of fire randomly occurred on every block, and car horns blared from various vehicular collisions. It was just a small taste of the chaos that was gradually consuming the city and spreading like wildfire. Death covered the atmosphere.

Towards the central area of the city, large clusters of civilians were running en masse away from the sporadic shadowy monsters in pursuit. People were climbing over one another desperate to get away from the odd beasts; however, the unpredictable lifeforms never seemed to miss their targets as they pounced on the scurrying humans. People were maimed, impaled and thoroughly eviscerated as clouds of dust were left in the wake of the monsters. Just as the shrieks of terror were all but snuffed out, the seven heroines made their debut on the battlefield.

One monster was just about to behead a small child that got separated from her parents as the beast was suddenly crushed under the weight of a solemn fist. The little girl seized up as the beast fell lifeless onto the ground before seemingly dissolving into a pool of mud. Standing over her was the legendary God-Slayer with a fearless smile on her face.

"Don't worry, it's okay now that we're here," Hibiki assured as her comrades landed alongside her.

As the maidens stood in the middle of the square, the creatures all stopped their advance almost instantly as they focused their attention on them. The Phonic Gain resonating between them poured out as their earnest hearts demonstrated their fighting spirits. The citizens had no idea what was going on, but seeing the girls standing by ready to fight gave them hope even as they continued to flee.

"Tch...what the hell are these freakish looking things?" Chris gritted her teeth as she drew her two crossbow pistols for battle.

"Don't know, but whatever they are...they really aren't of this world," Maria spoke as she reached for the dagger in her gauntlet.

"We're just gonna have to cut them down where they stand just like Sensei taught us-desu!" Kirika smirked bringing a giant green scythe to bear.

"Then let our songs harmonize together so that we may fight," Tsubasa stepped forward with her katana in hand.

"RIGHT!" the girls said in unison.

It was here that a song started as the gears glowed in unison. The voices of the seven females rose up in pitch.

"Live…! Live your life, now! Can live freely!!"

The anthem of the heroines rose up, so too did their fighting spirit as they rushed at their targets. The sporadic monsters instinctively reacted by rushing at them head on without any delay. From there, the battle to save mankind from an unknown supernatural threat began once again.

"What do you believe in and what is your choice? People will always have that freedom," Tsubasa led ahead by swinging her elegant blade and cleaving the first monstrous shadow in two.

She zig-zagged through a large crowd of creatures hacking them down one after the other as if knocking down a neat row of dominoes. She leapt over the beasts and slid underneath their legs to keep a pattern of unpredictable movement going. As her momentum built with her growing speed, she launched herself forward by performing a cartwheel. The plates on her legs then transformed into a pair of extended blades with a trail of burning flames infused within them. Spinning at a high velocity, the female flew through the air like a saw blade and parted a path for her comrades to follow through the pack of foes.

"But by wishing for it, they freeze; without being able to comprehend the truth," Maria followed suit by bringing out her dagger and cutting down any stunned stragglers. She darted between her targets by cutting low with the short sword.

Hacking away limbs ranging from the lower legs to the upper arms, the creatures were left dangling helpless on the ground as she trampled on them under heels effortlessly. She showed them no mercy just as they had shown the civilians they slain so far. The eldest of the Symphogears led by example of how to be ruthless towards enemies as irredeemable as these mindless killing machines. She flipped over the creatures and gutted them with the edge of her blade. In fact, she pierced through one so hard that the beast burst into pieces as it disappeared which allowed her to quickly cleave another tight knight cluster in rapid succession. A small cluster then elected to jump on her position simultaneously. Maria responded by sheathing her dagger for a split second before drawing it once again in a crescent arc motion. Following that, the length of her blade unfolded and stretched out ten-fold as a streak of strident silver lashed out and snaked through the enemies before wrapping them up and smashing them into giblets.

"Wandering…" Kirika sang whilst taking hold of her scythe in hand and began mopping up enemies on the left side.

"While being gently…" Shirabe said as her armored plates along her strands of hair turned into saw blades that lashed out in front of her whilst moving in tandem to Kirika's movements.

"Pull back…" Kirika swept aside her foes by cleaving them straight across twirling on her heels as the hooked blade generated two additional edges and flung forward like boomerangs.

"Embraced by these hands," Shirabe began twirling on heel like a ballerina as her skirt morphed into a spinning saw blade that diced up any foe that drew too close.

[Kirika]: "Shine."

[Shirabe]: "And searching for the fragments of love."

[Kirika]: "Selfishly."

[Shirabe]: "Instead of turning.."

[Kirika]: "Chase it."

[Shirabe]: "This fleeing moment into a regret."

[Both]: Try...Connect it...Try...to tomorrow!"

The duet of pirouetting girls positioned themselves around a giant cluster of shadowy figures that was inadvertently lined up between them. A massive, flaming pink disc appeared around Shirabe's body spinning vertically while Kirika pulled out two scythes and merged them into a pair of elongated scissors. The pair's gears linked together via metallic rods as jets propelled them forward towards one another. The foes caught between them were wholly eviscerated upon impact thus cutting down the numbers of the enemy force significantly.

"Is this where the song in my heart resides? These beats born into the world build up," Chris sang as she leapt high into the air with her pistols in hand. She fired off a few rounds that sniped a few of the shadows ride where they stood. The pink bullets blasted apart their craniums leaving their bodies to fall over where they stood. As she racked up her kills to add to the body count, she then transformed her weapons.

The configuration shifted into a pair of double tri-barrel gatlings that fit over each of her arms. The homing accuracy of the crossbow pistols was forsaken for the raw firepower of the Billion Maiden transformation. She proceeded to rain down a hailstorm of bullets that wholly eviscerated the beings caught in her firing range. The clusters of foes were rendered with holes like slices of Swiss cheese. The high velocity pellets of energy pounded into their phantasmal flesh as they were ground into dust by her oppressive onslaught.

"For whose sake do they resound…? I forge my own path forward," Miku pressed forward as she wrapped up a massive group in a particular formation. Candles appeared around the targets thus encapsulating them inside a confinement area that took the shape of a heart. The girl then snapped her fingers causing the candles to ignite one after the other in rapid succession. After the entire shape lit up around the enemies, the inside exploded in a giant chasm of purple light thus erasing all of the creatures in place.

A second wave appeared almost immediately before Miku's eyes. As they attempted to rush her location, she simply leapt forward in a gliding stride towards them. As the melody resonated within her strongly, she stretched her arms forward as the plates on her armor generated reflective mirrors. In that next instant, beams of light were discharged and fused together in a giant chasm thus blasting away all of her foes upon impact and incinerating them where they stood.

"If you have the resolve to roar it out...Then unleash the melody that is second to none!" Hibiki finished out the chorus as she rushed forward with her fists flying through the air.

The might of the God-Slaying Fist never dulled ever after Shem-Ha's defeat. She mercilessly pounded the faces of the mysterious beasts with one solid blow after the other. Each hit was an instant-kill against the creatures. She threw one jab after the other in a vicious cycle of motion whilst periodically alternating her movements into swift kicks that were just as deadly. Finding herself amidst a rush of enemies towards her location, the girl raised up her right arm above her head. The gauntlet seemingly grew in size as the turbine spun around. Her arm became engulfed in the metallic construction of a massive steel drill that mimicked the scale of Chris' twin gatlings. The newly generated armament rotated rapidly as she thrust her fist forward thus piercing through the formation thus impaling the shadows and erasing them where they stood.

The enemies appeared to have been repelled. Their great numbers dwindled within minutes as the girls' song shattered their ranks thus causing their numbers to all but fully diminish. The retreating citizens all but vacated the area. Those that took shelter and witnessed the mighty clash cried and applauded in relief seeing the monsters destroyed by the girls. However, the battle was not over yet. Just as the seven heroines appeared confident and satisfied with the conclusion of the brief skirmish, a haunting, feminie chuckle leaked into the air as a rift in space then opened up.

A new presence seeped out from the unknown void revealing a female figure. She was a petite female with long silver hair and pale blue skin. Her body was covered in nothing but a white piece of cloth that could at any given moment dance away in the wind revealing her curvy legs, voluptuous hips and perky chest. Despite her somewhat hypnotizing allure, her expression carried a mixture of smugness and apathy.

Alongside her, more of the twisted apparitions spawned except this time they appeared different. Though unrecognizable to be given a definitive identity, these shadows appeared much more bulkier in size. It was as if they had greater musculature to their structure indicating that these were different than the ones from before. They were much more predatory in essence as their full maliciousness and threatening glory was relinquished.

"It seems you were all foolish enough to come to the wolf hunting you. Deal with them...my Tacet," the sultry woman commanded.

The Symphogears readied themselves to fight once again. By the time they took their respective stances to fight, something happened that rendered their focus null; the creatures moved faster than before. The 'Tacet', as they were referred to, instantly closed the gap between their respective positions and had the girls surrounded. Each of them raised their weapons to swing at their foes, but the bulky beasts were moving so fast around them that it was as if they were fighting against the air itself.

"Focus and sing it out everyone!" Tsubasa commanded everyone to generate phonic gain all over again. Just as they went to sing, their melodies would not come out as the essence of words seemed to escape from their lips. This led to a fatal mistake resulting in a noticeable distance to separate them as a group.

"Eh?" Chris dropped her guard whilst holding her guns in hand thus feeling their weight much more than normal. It was then that one of the giant black phantoms appeared before her with a looming air over it.

"Yukine!" Tsubasa shouted from afar, but it was too late.

"Guh…?!" grunted the gunsmith of the gear users as she felt all sense of motion robbed from her body. Shaking, she hesitantly looked down towards the source of a mind-numbing blow overtaking her body. The Tacet that appeared in front of her hit the girl in the stomach with a sharp, blade-like limb of darkness that penetrated through her gut thus going straight through her back. As the entity pulled its talon back, the girl fell to the ground motionless.

"NO!" the normally level-headed, voice of reason known as Miku screamed out in a rage. Channeling energy within the Shenshoujing robe, she unleashed wave of cleansing light towards the creator of these creatures - the mysterious girl. However, the attack seemingly vanished as it closed in only to reappear behind the person initially firing it.

"GAH!" Miku screamed out. The devastating technique shattered a portion of the Faust robe which burned her skin underneath causing the affected areas of her body to blister and bleed. The pain was so great that it robbed the poor girl of consciousness as she collapsed as well.

"Chris-chan...Mi...ku...AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!" screamed Hibiki as her blind fury forcefully evolved her armor into its Amalgam mode. The extraneous armor plating dissipated from her suit as it evolved into a much more streamlined attire that appeared almost suitable for racing. She wore an orange, white and black, long-sleeved jumpsuit in which the only area of skin exposed were her thighs. The crystal on her chest opened up like a four-leaf clover signifying its greater enhancement.

Similarly, Tsubasa, Maria, Kirika and Shirabe also donned their Amalgam attire which mimicked Hibiki's only shifting in their respective colors. The squad was just about to launch a counter strike in response to the abrupt loss of their sisters-in-arms; however, their positions were halted by the advancement of more Tacet.

"Before you all die, I shall bless you with the opportunity of knowing the name of your killer as you wade into nothingness. I am Acedia, member of the Abyss Order and leader of Los Lobos de la Perdicion," the girl spoke once more with a meek smile.

"Abyss Order?" Hibiki muttered as she managed to at least get close enough to Miku's position thus holding her injured love in her arms.

"It would be a waste to explain to those destined for the grave, finish them off," Acedia ordered as the threatening beasts raised their razor-sharp talons at the positions of the surviving gear-users.

Before the final blow was struck, a titanic shadow burst through the skies of above over the city. A sky fortress of unknown construction and origin waded onto the battlefield clearly displaced by space-time and technology defined by the current era. The Last Word made its debut onto the battlefield instantly dispersing the blackened, smoke-filled skies as the glistening light of the moon beamed like the sun over its magnificent hull.

*****

The unknown lingering vessel floated idle in the atmosphere over the ruined city. Its lingering silence betrayed its tremendous size. As all present - the Symphogears, the Tacet, Acedia and survivors alike - gazed upward at the astonishing sight. During the lengthy pause in which all present seemingly held their breaths, two flashes of twinkling light appeared at the base of the ship.

Bolts of crimson lightning fell down onto the warzone right where the Symphogear users were clustered. The threatening shadows that were less than a second away from executing their targets were annihilated on sight, reduced to spectral dust. As the shimmering light faded away, two figures with tremendous waves of energy stood in front of the girls filling their gears with phonic gain.

The first was a black haired male in black and white clothing with samurai armor strapped around his waist and a unique gauntlet, and a sheathed katana on his hip. The second was a male figure clad in white robes with silver armor over top whose identity was concealed by a matching mask. Though their visages were different, their powerful auras carried the familiarity necessary to give the girls hope.

"I didn't give any of you permission to lose," spoke the armored male whose distorted voice through the mask held a recognizable tone. His glistening armor basked in the glory of Eternity made the heroic visage of the Obsidian warrior climb to greater heights.

"So don't you dare give up on living," Akaro tagged in whilst adjusting the gauntlet on his wrist staring down the enemy. The battered girls' expressions lightened up thus relinquishing some of the tension in their bodies.

"Raizo-sensei! Akaro-senpai!" the girls rejoiced, but the surprise did not end there.

The buzzing noises of engines consumed the air in that next instant as helicopters made their way onto the scene. Jumping down from two repelling lines, the muscular figure of Genjuro Kazanari and the lean shape of Shinji Ogawa debuted on the scene. The Commander of S.O.N.G. landed amidst the group tucking his tie into his breast pocket as he cracked his fists, the right one was immersed within a white fingerless glove with golden armor strapped to it. This item was a pseudo-Symphogear made from shards extracted out of Hibiki's body when she almost fused with the original Gungnir. As for the Shinobi guard, he wore a pseudo gear that was an elaborate set of dark blue, silver and black armor taking the shape of the traditional shinobi garb that was called the RN Ame-no-Habikiri.

Swiftly, he leapt out front with the barrier up while Genjuro helped the girls to their feet. Getting Miku and Chris near one another, Akaro took a moment to check on them and cast a portion of his aura over their injuries. Using his dominating essence, he healed their injuries thus stabilizing their condition. Genjuro nodded in relief feeling that the girls he watched over the years would make it through this. Then he took a stand next to Raizo's position.

"Hmph, it matters not," Acedia smiled as she spread her arms which allowed for more of the Tacet to spawn.

The sight of the enemy before them gave Raizo and Genjuro a moment to look at each other. Nodding in affirmation, the duo rushed forward into the fray. The Tacet met the charge of the two men as they stampeded across the narrow space. Though unspoken between the pair, they were determined to not let a single one of the shadowy entities so much as graze the surface of the barrier generated by Shinji.

As they made first contact, Genjuro's determination burned within his fists as he unabashedly delivered a brutal right hook straight into the face of one of the monsters essentially turning its head into mush on impact. Without skipping a beat, he proceeded to follow up with a strong left hook to the next approaching creature which was slain in the same way. Then, one of the creatures elected to leap up and try to pounce on the man's location. Genjuro merely tucked himself back and delivered a roundhouse kick that sent the beast spinning towards one of its allies in which the momentum from the collision killed them both.

Raizo kept it much more simplistic in his approach. He did not even bother pulling out one of his swords for the fight against the creatures. Instead, he let his energy do all of the fighting. As he stepped towards the beasts, he snapped his fingers causing a small field of electrical blades to spawn around him then unleashed them like a wave of arrows that shot through each of the intended targets. Another set of beasts attempted to flank him from both sides to which he stretched out his hands and lassoed them around their necks using long ropes of electrical energy. He pulled them in towards him causing the monsters to slam into one another then whipped them around and dropped them on a small cluster of targets.

"Breath of Wind, First Form - Dance of Wolves," the male uttered, capturing a small group of the Tacet within an electrical field. In that instant, he blinked around the targets and slashed at them with blades of lightning cutting them down where they stood.

The body count of the Tacet dropped almost instantly. When the Stormbringer happened to look, he saw that Genjuro brought down more of the mysterious creatures faster than he had previously anticipated.

"He's surpassing me even while I'm in my Eternity state...just what is that gauntlet he's using? If he had that back when we fought against Tiamat then she would have died in a single blow," Raizo observed from afar. As Genjuro brought down the last of the creatures, the Stormbringer rejoined the man's side.

"Genjuro-san...how did you get so damn strong?" the youth pondered.

"That's simple Raizo-kun...a balanced diet filled with protein and watching a lot of Bruce Lee movies."

"Heh, sounds a little crazy to believe. Then again, who am I to talk? Now then...since the little opening act is dealt with…"

The Red-Eyed Crusader generated a steel katana into his hand and pointed it at Acedia.

"It's over…"

"How typical of one of Akasha's lackies to choose violence," the female entity sighed and shook her head.

"You dare speak of the Goddess-Above-All in such a fashion?" questioned Raizo showcasing a shorter fuse.

"As always you understand nothing. Gods and men alike fail to grasp how the World really works," she mused.

"What...do you mean?" the Stormbringer expressed in a puzzled tone.

"Well you see, there is the concept of life, the idea of existing, being something, being sentient; those and all notions similar are encompassed by the idea of size. Said idea is the notion of being smaller or bigger than something, or transcending, being above, anything of that nature. Even the idealization of a classical theological God that stands at a transcendental viewpoint where worshippers can only define God as beyond infinite; or that God is beyond infinite transcendentalism and can't be contained by anything - an absolute, boundless entity. All of that is still defined under the abstract idea of size.

Behold the truth, Raizo. The greatest mystery the universe offers is not life but size. Size encompasses life, and the Black Tower of Lord Perdition encompasses size.

The child, who is most at home with wonder, says: Daddy, what is above the sky?

The father says: the darkness of space.

The child: What is beyond space?

The father: The galaxy.

The child: Beyond the galaxy?

The father: Another galaxy.

The child: Beyond the other galaxies?

The father: No one knows.

Do you see? Size defeats us. For the fish, the lake in which he lives is the universe. What does the fish think when he is jerked up by the mouth through the silver limits of existence and into a new universe where the air drowns him and the light is blue madness? Where huge bipeds with no gills stuff it into a suffocating box and cover it with wet weeds to die?

Our Lord of Horrors, Perdition, is one far removed from that. His domain, The Black Tower and Outer Darkness, encompasses the idea of size which defeats both human and godly comprehension alike. Yet he is less than nothing to the Supreme Ones, a drop in an ocean he cannot hope to fathom. So you see, to call Akasha the 'Goddess-Above-All- as you humans so carelessly do from time to time is but an insult that she has allowed her children to so disrespectfully use because our minds cannot hope to understand the reality of such an entity," rambled the awe-inspiring nature of Acedia.

"...Perdition," muttered the Crusader as the name rang in Raizo's mind which caused the visions of the dark future to resurface in his memories. Seeing that horrendous blight of the time to come caused him to lower his guard. The mask of his armor disappeared for a brief second which inadvertently led to his staring at the mystery girl directly in her eyes. That was his last mistake. The mind that took Cthulhu a great amount of effort to break was immediately flooded by Acedia's influence.

"Won't you protect me, Raizo?" Acedia, now sporting the visage of Akasha, spoke.

From Raizo's perspective, he was currently aiming his blade at the woman whom he adored most in the Omniverse. Immediately, he lowered his weapon. Exasperated by her words, he turned on heel towards what should have been a cluster of his allies. Instead, all he saw were the Aspects of Rakshasa. Consumed by a sense of anger and desperation, the youth's body was dyed in the golden radiance of his ultimate form -- Oversoul. Furthermore, he cast aside the projected blade in his hand and reached over his shoulder to pull out his greatest weapon - Soteria.

"Raizo-kun?" Genjuro raised an eyebrow sensing something just went wrong. The recovering gear users also looked on out of bewilderment and concern. The only one to take a hint to what was happening was the Envoy himself.

"Stay back, he's not himself at the moment," Akaro spoke in a foreboding tone as he instantly marched forward ahead of the group sensing what was going to come next.

"Come on little brother, don't force me to do this."

Raizo, unaware of Akaro's heartfelt wish with his words, charged forward surpassing a level of speed that no one present except for the Crimson Envoy and Acedia could perceive. His blade was fixed as he rushed towards his nearest foe. Not the tyrant prince born from the Shatterpoint World Line who was later resurrected as Conquest, nor the mighty God Killer from the sixth cycle whose devotion to Akasha dwarfed his imaginings; this visage was unlike either one of them.

A simple index finger stopped the blade before it could make an impact. That move alone showcased the difference in strength between the Envoy of the Crimson Luster and the Crimson Advocate of Change. The sheer magnitude of the power gap between two forces colliding was made abundantly clear. Yet for the Crusader, all he could see was that twisted version of himself who gave up on everything - The Chaos King.

"I will...not yield to you," Raizo uttered whilst compelled by Acedia's illusion.

"Forgive me brother, but this is for your own good," Akaro responded as he suddenly turned his wrist. He gripped the edge of Raizo's sword with his fingers and yanked him close. Within the next fraction of a second using the same hand, the Envoy then flicked Raizo in the forehead which sent the youth flying backwards near Acedia. The impact, albeit an audibly painful one, was not enough to break the compulsion. The Son of Mercer still viewed Acedia as his beloved Onee-sama.

"You did well...surrender now. Leave this crisis to me, rest my dear, sweet Raizo," her voice echoed out.

Those words tracked along the male's auditory receptors. His brain processed that message and returned with an error. In his eyes, it was like the picture he saw before him just cracked.

"She would...never say that. Kimiko, who always trusted me to be the best possible version of myself, would never tell me to surrender!"

A golden electrical spiral of energy emanated out from his person as the male pushed through his hesitation to rise up and swing his weapon at the visage of 'Akasha'. In that next instant, the blade disappeared from Raizo's grip. Then he felt the air out of his lungs disappear and his body nosedive into a sea of coldness. Glancing down, Soteria somehow pierced through his chest. Acedia rematerialized over Raizo as she placed her foot over his face whilst holding an expression of delight mixed with boredom.

"It's all too easy to control a dog," she teased. The deadly lady made her ascent into the air as reality itself warped around her. The previously slain monsters' remains rose up into the sky and converged into a singular mass that grew into a massive titan-like creature with long arms and sharp claws like some beast from a fairy tale.

As its ominous aura blotted out the skies, it dropped down on the ground. The forceful impact shook the foundation of the city to its core causing the ground to split. It let out a violent howl that shattered the glass on various buildings scattered about in the vicinity. Then as the area where its eyes glowed, a sudden flash of light followed suit as thousands of explosions went off in the distance.

"Commander!" Aoi paged from aboard the submarine.

"What is it?" Genjuro responded immediately with his ear communicator.

"There are multiple energy sources indicating creatures of that size are appearing all over the world!

"What? How can that be?"

Akaro overheard the transmission from a short distance away due to his heightened draconian senses. He gritted his teeth knowing that an unfortunate truth was going to come to pass. He closed his eyes and reached out with his concentrated aura.

"Reina, I managed to stabilize the condition of some of the girls down here. Come collect the injured and grab the other members of S.O.N.G. and bring them aboard the ship. We'll finish things up here," the Crimson Knight stated telepathically as he pushed further ahead of the group.

There was too much going on at once. So much happened in such a short length of time that the gear users could hardly keep up. Monsters were eradicating their world, people were dying at an insurmountable rate, one of their greatest influences in their own strength was impaled and rendered helpless by his own blade, and so on. The combined phenomena was escalating by the second and they collectively felt uncertain about what was going to come next.

The bridge of The Last Word was filled with command structures and numerical sequences being thrown around on the holographic displays as Alexis and Semiramis passed information back and forth to one another whilst maintaining operation of the ship.

"I am going out to retrieve our allies, be prepared. We have wounded to attend to," Reina passed along.

"I am currently diverting a portion of our power to the med bay in preparation for our guests," Alexis said.

"Got it, I'll use some of my strength to create mana tanks so that the girls can rest inside of.

"Oi, oi, hold on...I wanna go out there too. Seems like things are heating up. Don't deny me a chance to look stylish and beat down some bad guys, Rei-chan," Musashi whined.

"And something just happened to my darling, I can feel it. I'm going with you," Arcueid pursued.

"No, I do not require aid from either of you. Alexis-san and Semiramis-san are busy with the ship. Their concentration cannot be diverted whatsoever otherwise we have no logical means of transportation through the corrupted cosmos. What if the enemy breaks through and launches an attack aboard the ship? You two must stay here and protect them and this vessel at all costs," the Primordial Goddess of Fate delivered.

"As much as I would love for us to save this world in one fell swoop as a team...we are dealing with an enemy that is unlike any other we have faced. They are cold and calculating. Pouring out our resources to save one world may jeopardize the condition of the others. Sometimes hard choices have to be made which results in sacrifice. This is one of those times."

"You're a Fate Goddess now, aren't you? Why not alter the fate of this world?" Arcueid swiftly inquired.

"I can sense the conceptual threads binding this world's path. However, there is a certain malevolence that is blocking me from influencing it. Perhaps there is something that is set in stone going beyond my authority, or it is due to my lack of proficiency. Regardless, there is nothing I can do except save our allies below."

Musashi reached over and patted Arcueid on the shoulder to reassure the woman's feelings then peered over at her long-time sister-in-arms, "Go ahead Rei-chan, we can hold down the fort up here."

In a dark crimson flash, the Sovereign of Cocytus disappeared from view. She dropped down instantaneously to the battlefield wading onto the scene so fast that no one realized she was present except for Akaro. She examined the group to see who all needed to leave. She reached out and placed a small mark on the shoulders of Miku and Chris, sensing their vitals; then reached towards Kirika and Shirabe and marked them. It was not because the two held any significant injuries, but she sensed that their youthfulness and lack of solidarity in their focus right now would be a hindrance on the battlefield.

The marks glowed a bright crimson shade which inadvertently tethered the girls to Reina's aura like chain links. She left behind Genjuro, Shinji, Tsubasa, Maria, and Hibiki to stand alongside Akaro on the battlefield. A quick glance was shot over towards her master who was currently wounded. The compulsion within her wanted to grab the Stormbringer as well; however, she sensed Akaro in that moment.

"Don't take him, he'll be fine. I'm here," the Envoy reassured.

"I leave him in your care then," Reina responded telepathically.

The woman zipped over to the submarine and tapped the shoulders of the two associates at the computers along with Elfnein. Grabbing up everyone she needed to, she rushed back aboard The Last Word with the young group in tow.