Sky Striker Ace, but Symphogear

"It hurts. So this is what real combat feels like."

"Kohinata, be careful. Your Divine Beast Mirror is far too good at drawing aggro."

Kohinata Miku, forced down from the air, and Tsubasa Kazanari, who had covered her evasive maneuvers, also arrived here.

"Hey, wait, why have we all gathered together?!"

At that moment, Chris noticed something was wrong. At some point, as they exchanged attacks with Nephilim, the distance between them had somehow narrowed slightly.

"Not good! Watch out, spread out!"

Alerted by the warning, everyone realized something was amiss. Then, the intense heat coming from nearby made Tsubasa Kazanari immediately realize what the enemy intended.

A blazing fireball—a high-temperature fireball that had been charging for an unknown length of time, growing ever larger and hotter—had condensed in Nephilim's mouth, aimed at the group gathered there.

At the same time, attacks from all around made it difficult for the Singers to escape the strike's trajectory, and there was no time for them to deploy defensive barriers.

And so, a pillar of searing flame swiftly swallowed the Singers' figures.

But when the smoke and dust from the flames cleared, what appeared within was a ball of white energy. Protected by it, not a single person had been injured.

"Maria!"

Hibiki Tachibana happily called out the name of the person who had shielded them from the attack.

Several minutes earlier, Maria had remained where she was, watching Hibiki Tachibana and the others move farther away, sinking into helpless silence.

"What am I supposed to do? What should I do? Leave... and keep handing everything over to others?"

Confusion and unease grew in Maria's heart. Now that Gungnir had been taken by Hibiki Tachibana, logically speaking, there was nothing left for her to do here.

"Then why can't I move my feet?"