Sky Striker Ace, But Symphogear

[Woohoo, Bond Benevolent Inch Eight flies onto Gambling L Left Flash D Sword]

Just as the thrusters on Raye gradually began to activate, a greatsword descended out of nowhere upon her position, accompanied by song.

"How could I possibly let you get away just like that?!"

Tsubasa Kazanari, who had just thrown the greatsword, spoke with her emotions somewhat out of control.

Even though she understood that she should remain calm, faced with a hard-won chance—perhaps her last chance—to wipe away her humiliation, she still lost control of herself slightly.

"Hey, hey, miss, those portals are expensive."

Suspended in midair from another direction, with mechanical wings mounted on her back, Raye complained.

"I know you're in a hurry, but don't be so hasty. Life is long. There's no need to fight me to the death here. Facts you can't accept now might become acceptable in a few years."

Raye tried to dispel Tsubasa Kazanari's hatred with words.

"That will never happen!"

But her only reply was dozens of blades falling from the sky.

"Ah, forget it. You're too much trouble. I'm leaving."

After deftly dodging the flying swords with her thrusters, Raye spoke in a helpless tone, then adjusted the thrusters' output and turned toward the outskirts of the city.

"Don't you dare leave!"

If what the other side said was true, this might be Tsubasa Kazanari's only chance to catch her by the tail. Once she missed it, there was no telling how long she would have to wait before finding her again.

But what could she do? She could never catch Raye flying through the air with only her legs. The armor she wore granted her combat power beyond human reach, but it did not give her any exceptional mobility.

If her short burst failed to intercept Raye, she would end up in the awkward position of being unable to catch up.

"Even so, I have to seize this chance. At the very least, I need to learn more about her."

Tsubasa Kazanari gritted her teeth and decided to push her body a little further. Even if it affected her condition, she could not lose the trail of the person she had searched for so long.

P.S. Good night.

Successful Deception and the Second Division's Realization

"Miss Tsubasa!"

Just as Tsubasa Kazanari was about to force herself onward and pursue the fleeing Raye, a woman's voice came from afar alongside the thunderous roar of a motorcycle engine.

The voice rapidly drew closer. Soon, Tsubasa Kazanari spotted its source: a female Second Division employee in uniform, awkwardly riding a modified motorcycle straight toward her.

"You are... Wait, is that my motorcycle?"

As the other woman quickly approached, Tsubasa Kazanari recognized the modified bike she was riding as her own usual motorcycle.

With a loud, piercing screech of brakes, the modified motorcycle and the girl in the Second Division uniform stopped before Tsubasa Kazanari.

"Phew. Mr. Ogawa said Miss Tsubasa might need this, so he had me bring your motorcycle over."

Without even taking a moment to catch her breath, the girl—who looked vaguely familiar to Tsubasa Kazanari, as though she had seen her somewhere in the Second Division—immediately began explaining why she had come.

"You said Ogawa?"

Hearing that, Tsubasa Kazanari roughly understood. This was likely a Second Division employee sent by Shinji Ogawa, who had always been responsible for supporting her.

"Yes, Mr. Ogawa. Pant, pant... I don't know the details either. Anyway, Mr. Ogawa told me to come support you, Miss Tsubasa. Oh, and he also told me to bring you these."

The uniformed girl got off the motorcycle, explaining between heavy breaths as she handed Tsubasa Kazanari a briefcase from the bike.

"What is this?"

Tsubasa Kazanari accepted the briefcase reflexively.

"It contains a communicator, Miss Tsubasa's spare uniform, and some other tools. There's also a spare fuel 6 QI instrument eight department temple chest box on the motorcycle's rear seat. Phew... Hah... Anyway, Mr. Ogawa had us prepare all of this and rush it over."

The girl explained what was in the briefcase as she panted.

[Is that so? Come to think of it, this place is indeed quite close to the Second Division. Did she come straight here after receiving Ogawa's request?]

"Mm, I understand everything now. Thank you for your help. I need these right now."

Seeing how exhausted the girl before her was, Tsubasa Kazanari immediately took the briefcase from her, then straddled the motorcycle the girl had just brought without hesitation.

"There's no need to thank me. Anyway, I'm going to rest for a bit. Ah, after all, I'm not a combatant to begin with, and my stamina isn't particularly good..."

Seeing Tsubasa Kazanari fully understand and take her things, the girl let out a relieved breath and casually leaned against a nearby tree.

"Is that so? Then get some proper rest. Leave the rest to me."

Seeing that the girl had begun resting, Tsubasa Kazanari Er Ming Er &er` Yin garment three ⊙ father! Er no longer disturbed the companion who had gone through so much trouble to bring her support and instead turned her gaze skyward.

Thanks to the supporter's efficient assistance, with almost no wasted motion, Tsubasa Kazanari could still track Raye's figure fleeing through the air.

"I will never let you escape!"

Tsubasa Kazanari locked onto the other woman with sharp eyes, and the armor on her body merged with the motorcycle.

Soon, amid a deafening roar, Tsubasa Kazanari became a blue-and-white blade speeding in the direction Raye had left.

However, Tsubasa Kazanari, whose eyes remained fixed on Raye, failed to notice that the "supporter" girl who had delivered supplies and the crucial motorcycle had eyes that did not seem nearly as expressive as her face.

Time returned to the moment Tsubasa Kazanari had just rushed out.

"As expected, I still can't bring myself to point my fists at humans."

In the hot spring ruins ravaged by artillery fire, Hibiki Tachibana, standing exposed and open, looked up at the sky and sighed helplessly.

Although witnessing Tsubasa Kazanari charge without hesitation toward the device in the sky had made her want to equip her Symphogear and help Tsubasa Kazanari as well—

When she thought of how the enemies she would face were no longer monsters like Noise, but humans just like herself, her fighting spirit weakened unconsciously.

As a result, she had failed to equip herself in time and keep up with Tsubasa Kazanari, falling behind.

"Hibiki, what happened? I heard an explosion."

As Hibiki Tachibana sank into conflicted emotions, Ryouko Sakurai poked her head out from the already somewhat unsteady doorway, perhaps because she had heard the explosion.

"Ah, Miss Ryouko, it's like this. Miss Tsubasa seemed to find traces of Miss Raye just now, so she rushed out to fight her. I couldn't keep up with her."

Though she was still at a loss inside, Hibiki Tachibana understood that clearly explaining what had just happened to others was also important.

"Raye? Hibiki, are you saying Raye appeared?"

Having extracted the key information from Hibiki Tachibana's words, Ryouko Sakurai appropriately showed a surprised expression.

"...Anyway, Hibiki, come in and change clothes first Er zero Japanese? Er suspected shirt 〣 dark? Binding you, then tell me exactly what you saw."

Then, after a brief pause, Ryouko Sakurai came to Hibiki Tachibana's side. As she spoke, she grabbed Hibiki Tachibana's arm and pulled her into the hot spring changing room, seemingly intending to get Hibiki Tachibana changed before gathering information.

"Ahaha, right. I'll explain everything properly."

Reminded by Ryouko Sakurai of her current state, Hibiki Tachibana followed her into the changing room without suspicion.

"Miss Ryouko, Miss Ryouko, what happened? I heard what sounded like an explosion coming from the hot spring over there."

As Hibiki Tachibana entered the changing room, she heard Commander Kazanari pounding on the door and his hearty voice.

"...Wait a moment. Don't come in yet. Hibiki is changing clothes. Let Hibiki explain it to you in a moment."

Hearing the voice outside, Ryouko Sakurai paused, then called out loudly.

"Miss Ryouko, I'm already changed."

No sooner had Ryouko Sakurai finished speaking than Hibiki Tachibana's voice followed.

Clearly, Hibiki Tachibana also knew the situation was urgent, so she had pulled on a full set of clothes with the speed of someone getting out of bed in winter.

"Mm... Hibiki, you really do change quickly. Then let's go out and explain the situation together."

Looking at the flaxen-haired girl now fully dressed, Ryouko Sakurai's brow furrowed slightly. Then, wearing the same expression as usual, she turned and opened the changing room door leading to the lobby before walking out.

"Yes, Miss Ryouko. I'll do my best."

Hibiki Tachibana replied, then followed her out.

"Tachibana, what exactly happened in there? Why was there such a massive explosion? Did Noise appear at the hot spring?"

As soon as Hibiki Tachibana emerged, Commander Kazanari immediately began questioning her. Beside him stood Second Division employees who had also come to the hot spring for vacation, dressed in casual clothes with solemn expressions.

"Yes, Mr. Kazanari. It happened like this..."

Hibiki Tachibana did not hesitate and immediately began explaining the situation to the people gathered in the lobby.

P.S. Good night.

The Second Division's Arrangements

Very soon, Hibiki Tachibana thoroughly explained the scene she had witnessed to everyone from the Second Division, from discovering the device in the sky, to being bombarded at the hot spring, to Miss Tsubasa's final charge into the sky.

"So that troublemaker who causes problems every time she appears has shown up for the third time."

Rubbing his temples, Commander Kazanari spoke with an ugly expression, his words carrying thirty percent exhaustion, thirty percent helplessness, and forty percent forced composure.

"Um, are you all right, Mr. Kazanari? Your complexion doesn't look very good."

Seeing Commander Kazanari's reaction, Hibiki Tachibana asked worriedly. It was the first time she had seen him wear such an expression.

"Well, because of Durandal, Genjuro hasn't had a proper rest for more than two weeks. He had intended to rest properly these past couple of days, but then this happened again. Poor thing."

Ryouko Sakurai explained to Hibiki Tachibana.

"It's fine, Ryouko. Don't worry about me right now. I'm not at the point of collapsing yet... First, let's contact Tsubasa and find out what's happening on her end."

After Ryouko Sakurai finished, Commander Kazanari waved a hand to indicate he was fine. Then he took up command and began thinking of ways to deal with the current situation.

"I've already tried, Commander. There's no way to contact her."

After Commander Kazanari proposed that, Ogawa stepped forward from the crowd and said so.

"We can't contact her? Didn't Tsubasa bring any communication equipment?"

Hearing Ogawa's statement, Commander Kazanari instinctively guessed as much. Based on Hibiki Tachibana's account, after all, Tsubasa Kazanari's equipment had seemed rather sparse when she rushed into battle.

"No. Although according to Miss Tachibana, Miss Tsubasa left with nothing besides her armor, if that were all, I could still contact the personnel remaining at headquarters and establish contact with Miss Tsubasa to provide support."

Shinji Ogawa merely shook his head, denying Commander Kazanari's guess.

"The reason we cannot contact Miss Tsubasa is that there is intense signal interference here."

Ogawa added.

Once he learned of Tsubasa Kazanari's actions, he had started trying to contact her. He then discovered that full-spectrum blocking interference had somehow been deployed around them, making it impossible for him to send information through electronic means (one) chess owl Yi??〔? delete 2 sore 〦 Er message.

"Signal interference... It really is so."

After hearing Ogawa's explanation, Commander Kazanari checked the communication equipment on his body and quickly confirmed that Ogawa was telling the truth.

"In other words, they do not want us to establish contact with Tsubasa. Perhaps they intend to use this isolation to do something."

Commander Kazanari inferred.

"If that is the case, then we must rendezvous with Tsubasa even faster."

After understanding the situation, Commander Kazanari immediately made a decision. They could not let the enemy have their way; they had to act before the enemy did.

"Then everyone who can hear me now, return to headquarters as quickly as possible. Use headquarters' equipment to restore communications with Tsubasa, bring equipment, and provide support. Ogawa, you and I will search for Tsubasa's trail. We cannot let her fight alone."

Having reached that conclusion, Commander Kazanari addressed everyone around him before speaking directly to Ogawa.

"All right, understood, Commander."

Ogawa also understood that the only thing they could do now was have the two of them, who possessed combat ability, reach Tsubasa first and buy time for the Second Division's other personnel to get things moving and provide support.

"Good. If no one has any objections, that's the decision."

After making his decision, Commander Kazanari straightened his tie and turned to search for signs of Tsubasa Kazanari's battle with the enemy. The others likewise followed his orders and departed in an orderly manner as quickly as possible.

"...Um, Mr. Kazanari, what about me? What is my job?"

As everyone around her moved in an orderly fashion, Hibiki Tachibana, who had been ignored all along, finally found a chance to speak and asked what had been bothering her.

Whether intentionally or not, Commander Kazanari had not assigned any task to Hibiki Tachibana, who had experienced the incident firsthand and possessed combat ability. This left Hibiki Tachibana somewhat at a loss.

"Tachibana, can you fight? Right now? Against Raye, against one of your own kind?"

Hearing Hibiki Tachibana's question, Genjuro Kazanari turned around and seriously asked her in return.

"I don't know. But I can try my best. I can give everything I have to help Miss Tsubasa fight, so if there's anything you need me to do, let me do it."