Appear, Circuit That Connects Us!

(Just to clarify in advance, I originally planned to print Wendy's card in this part, but some readers told me she had been treated terribly in fanworks—to the point that I couldn't even find any of her books... Anyway, I've decided to improve her treatment a little more. So as a replacement, I'll use the trump card early here. There are stronger ones later anyway. This completely pays off the synopsis.)

"Magical Armor POWER ON!" The special effects of a magic circle emerged beneath his feet, and armor tailored specifically for this body was finally brought into reality. The Abyssal Bow of Hel appeared in his hands as Xing fought shoulder to shoulder with Eiji, fearlessly facing the Bird Greed, consumed by rage.

(PS: Kouyou's Holy Attire's restriction system is based on the user's physical qualities. Once they meet the requirements, the restrictions will be lifted. This armor can also adjust itself according to the user's body size.)

With Durandal and Rita absent, only he and Eiji could face this Greed, who was just one Core Medal away from complete resurrection. The White Knight: Moonlight Otto had given him earlier had been destroyed by King OOO. Xing could only hope this armor was up to the task.

He pulled the triggers, and beams burst from the twin guns, striking the airborne Greed with precision and knocking it to the ground. Yet they seemed to have done little damage. Brilliant wings unfurled from its back, and several feathers shot toward the two of them like bullets.

Xing summoned Erludnil in gatling cannon mode. The Floating Cannons at both ends activated automatically, pouring out overwhelming firepower alongside the main cannon. They intercepted the enemy's entire assault while bombarding it relentlessly.

The dazzling wings folded together, protecting its body like a shield. The Bird Greed slowly advanced toward them through the intense barrage.

"Mr. Eiji!"

"Got it!"

Under Xing's covering fire, Eiji successfully closed in on the Bird Greed. The instant Xing stopped shooting and the Greed relaxed its guard, spreading its wings, Eiji swung the tiger claws on his arms.

The sharp claws scraped against its body in a shower of sparks, but it seemed not to feel a thing, completely ignoring Eiji's attack. Flames gathered in its right hand, and with just a light blow, it sent Eiji flying far away.

We were completely outmatched. If we could use a same-type Combo, we might still have a chance. Wait, now that I think about it, Mr. Eiji was especially good at that...

Xing caught the flying Eiji. "Are you alright, Mr. Eiji?"

"I'm fine." He was clearly putting on a brave front, but he should not have been seriously hurt.

Xing quickly laid out his plan in a low voice. "Mr. Eiji, our chances of winning in a direct fight are extremely low. Let's do this..."

As expected, he refused. "How could we do that? I absolutely won't agree to using Miss K as bait!"

"My life is much tougher than yours. Don't worry."

Just as the two were preparing to begin the second round, a bullet struck the Bird Greed in the head. Xing stiffly turned his gaze and saw that the three from Fire Moth, along with Wendy, had somehow arrived at this battlefield.

Xing was so angry he wanted to beat them up on the spot. "Why are you still here?!" I can barely protect myself here—can you stop coming over to see me off?!

The white-haired girl delivered her signature line. "Because I am Kiana Kaslana."

The Bird Greed raised its hand, flames gathering in its palm. "Stop!" Knowing they could not withstand that attack, Xing threw Erludnil at the Greed like it was Judah. The poor multifunctional cross was reduced to scrap metal in a burst of flames.

Great. Before the plan had even begun, we'd already lost a weapon. I wonder whether Jizo-Mitama would work on this thing. Hiyokomaru is fire-elemental, so calling her out wouldn't do much damage. Sakura isn't here, so I can't transform into Nightshade Heavy Mist. What should I do? And in this situation, I'd feel too embarrassed to run over and use Bonded Weaponry with them.

After weighing it over, Xing still released Hiyokomaru in fox form to buy time, then ran over to the four of them. "The two of us will hold things here. Get out of here now and go to this city's stadium for help. There's a barrier I left there, as well as an Immortal Blades squad stationed there. Go!"

Kiana looked at him and suddenly smiled. "You're Xing, right?"

The girl immediately denied it. "You've got the wrong person. I'm Yae Kaslana."

Kiana was speechless. "Do you really take me for a stupid bug?"

Xing fell silent, unsure how to answer.

Kiana muttered to herself, "The last time you went alone into ME Company, Bronya hacked their surveillance system. We happened to see this form of yours. Later, when Mr. Welt carried you back, he made a conjecture about your transformation. He believed it was caused by the power of the Gem of Stillness."

She paused before continuing, "Ah, you probably don't know. Mr. Welt used some method to erase our memories. If Bronya hadn't restored Heavy-Duty Rabbit 19C's data, we probably wouldn't even have known that something like this had happened."

Mei looked at him with complicated emotions. "So... could you stop putting everything on yourself? You never took the initiative to tell us about becoming a Herrscher. We're your friends—your strongest support. Try relying on us a little, alright? Our strength might not compare to yours right now, but we can still offer you some help."

Bronya said nothing, but she probably felt the same way.

Wendy, who was watching from the side with the expression of someone watching drama unfold, asked, "What are they talking about? Why can't I understand a single word?"

Big bro, I can't hold on much longer! Hurry up! After receiving Hiyokomaru's message in his mind, Xing irritably scratched his head and shouted at Eiji, who was waiting for an opportunity over there, "Mr. Eiji, please turn around. Thank you."

The obliging man did as requested.

The girl's body dissolved into white light, collapsing into a small figure. The white-haired, red-eyed boy helplessly covered his forehead. "Honestly, how am I supposed to refuse after you put it like that?"

Wendy dropped onto the ground in fright. What had she just seen?!

Kiana bent down and vigorously poked him in the head. "You're clearly just a little brother, so why are you trying so hard to act tough?" Her tone held not only dissatisfaction, but also the concern an older sister might show for a younger brother—the kind from a biological older sister.

Mei pulled Kiana away as she tried to mess up Xing's hair. "Alright, Kiana, stop bullying him. We still have a troublesome enemy waiting for us to deal with. Xing, use that."

Kiana immediately stopped her. "No, Mei! Let me do it!"

Bronya took Xing's hand. "Don't listen to idiot Kiana. Let's become Otherworld Hacker and run it over with a motorcycle."

"No." Xing rejected all three of their suggestions at once. "We'll do it together."

???

Xing explained, "This enemy is extremely powerful. Even if we use Bonded Weaponry and combine two people's strength, we might not gain any advantage. Rather than that, we should merge everything into one and let me use all three of your powers at once."

Kiana's eyes widened. "Use the armaments of all three of us at the same time?! Is that even possible?" As far as she remembered, Xing had only ever used single-person armaments.

Mei was somewhat worried. "Wouldn't that cause problems? Xing, you've never tried this kind of armament before."

Bronya analyzed the situation rationally. "The probability of success is under 10%. Different powers will conflict with one another, and no one can guarantee whether an armament formed by merging multiple powers will be stronger or weaker than the original state."

Hiyokomaru was clamoring in his mind that he had to treat her to lots and lots of fried tofu afterward. Xing said with a headache, "I've considered everything you said too. The problem is, do we have a choice? I told you to stay put, but you wouldn't listen. Now Sakura has run off somewhere too. Other than giving it everything we have and fighting that monster, do we have any other path left?"

The four from Fire Moth fell silent together. In the distance, the Bird Greed finally tore Hiyokomaru to pieces. "Big bro, avenge me!" After leaving behind those grief-stricken words, she ran back into Stigmata Space to slack off.

Xing raised his right hand and gripped his left arm tightly. "Everyone, get ready. It's time for that!"

"That? ×3"

"That thing, you know—the fusion!"

Wendy, watching from the sidelines, asked, "Can someone explain what's going on here?"

Xing said to the tense-looking Kiana, "You'll take the lead armament role."

She looked a little confused. "Why me?"

"Because you're the captain. And because I believe in you."

"Appear, circuit that connects us!" A beam shot from Xing's right hand, forming a massive blue square frame in midair, embedded with eight dim arrow-shaped indicators.

"Arrows, confirmed! Summoning condition: two or more Valkyrie Effect Monsters!"

"I set Kiana Kaslana, Raiden Mei, Bronya Zaychik, and myself into the Link Markers!"

The four of them turned into streams of light in different colors and surged into the top, bottom, middle-left, and middle-right arrows, lighting them up.

The bird-type Greeed spat out a massive fireball at the Link Markers, but it could not shake them in the slightest.

"Courage, friendship, reason, and bonds! Four different convictions shall carve open a brand-new future! Link Summon! Be born—Link 4, Nascent Hero, Fire Moth!"

Built upon the Judgment Knight and infused with new elements, the armor covering his entire body granted the knight all-around protection and enhancement. Purple electricity coursed through the gaps in the armor, lightning formed his cape, and the enormous Heavy-Duty Rabbit 19C floated behind him like the hero's contracted beast.

Knight's Judgment in greatsword mode became this form's exclusive weapon. The red compound eyes on his visor lit up. "Now then—"

The bird-type Greeed launched another attack, firing countless colorful feathers at Xing like homing missiles.

Heavy-Duty Rabbit extended its mechanical giant hand, forming a blue barrier from its palm to block the enemy's attack.

A dangerous warning flashed through Xing's eyes beneath the visor. "Seriously, can't you let me finish my line? Now then, it's our turn to take the offensive!"

The three Herrscher Cores provided this form with an endless stream of power. Xing had never felt better!

Kiana: "This feeling... I don't even know how to describe it!"

Mei: "Mm, is it just an illusion? I feel a lot lighter."

Bronya: "Unit data is stable. Recommend an all-out assault strategy."

The three girls' words scrolled across the display in his visor, and Xing's lips curved into a sharp smile.

"Fire Moth, move out!"

Inside Xing's Stigmata Space—

Kallen, dressed as Fantasy of the Sixth Night and formed from a collection of personality fragments, held chains in her hands as she added several more layers of restraints to Herrscher Mei, who had been tied up like a rice dumpling.

Herrscher Mei, whose mouth had been bound shut and who could not speak: "Mmph! Mmph! Mmph! (I didn't do anything, so why are you tying me up?!)"

Kallen looked deeply apologetic. "Sorry, but I have to make sure you won't cause trouble for that child. Come to think of it, why is she so quiet? I thought she'd come out. What a pity—otherwise, we could have added another Core to the power source." Kallen sighed regretfully.

Herrscher Mei: "Mmph! Mmph mmph! (Why the hell didn't you just say so? I would've given it to you! Who said I wouldn't?!)"

The Queen in the next cell curled up in the corner, hugging her knees and trembling. Could someone tell her where this woman who kept spouting shameless nonsense had come from?

Author's Note—

Current Character Favorability
(70 is the minimum requirement for using Bonded Weaponry)

Kiana: 75 (Her friend's lifesaver, a little brother who loves to act tough)

Mei: 80 (Her lifesaver, a friend who loves to act tough)

Bronya: 80 (She had felt this way before, but she could no longer remember it)

Himeko: 75 (Older Sister likes young boys; a student who loves to act tough)

Theresa: 85 (A child who likes to shoulder all responsibility himself)

Yae Sakura: 88 (Kallen's continuation)

Kallen (Collection of Personality Fragments): 100 (Successor)

Kallen (Kaslana Family Stigmata Consciousness · Mimetic Form Possessed by Kallen's Personality Fragment): ??? (???)

Wendy: 75 (Admiration for a genius, an unfathomable friend, a friend who treats her very well)

Hiyokomaru: 80 (Submission after being defeated)

Otto: 75 (A girl similar to Kallen, very interesting)

Durandal: 70 (Feels like he could be her adjutant, ease Rita's burden a little, and add a punching bag—no, a sparring partner—to her training)

Rita: 75 (A girl very similar to Lady Theresa. Feels like she could be properly trained—no, teased—that's not right either. In any case, she is very attracted to him)

Raven: 80 (Ill-fated bond)