Sky Striker Ace, but Symphogear

But she had never expected that one utterly ordinary ambush would completely rob her opponent of the ability to fight, rendering her unable to contribute at all.

[What's happening? Why does my whole body feel tightly bound? What happened? Wait, is that... Raye?]

On Hibiki Tachibana's side, after the Grappling Anchor had seized and bound her entire body, she finally recovered from her dizziness. She sprang up from the ground and looked around, immediately spotting Raye standing behind her in white armor.

[Hmm, she can still move? I already set the Widow Anchor's power pretty high. Is that a trait brought about by fusing with the Relic?]

At the same time, Raye noticed that Hibiki had recovered, and she was somewhat surprised.

[Raye is here. That means she really did come to capture me. She's really doing something this awful. That means I have to become Raye's enemy now, to fight someone who's human just like me?]

After noticing Raye, Hibiki also realized this fact. As she came to understand the situation, the question that had troubled her all this time became something she urgently needed to resolve.

[Do humans really have to fight one another? No, that's wrong. It's not like that. Humans fighting humans is wrong. Our enemies should be Noise.]

Yet even now, Hibiki still could not figure out what she should do when facing an enemy who was human just like her.

That thought made Hibiki look even more conflicted.

[Hmm, what is she thinking about? Why does she look so strange? Never mind. Since I failed to completely immobilize her, I'll reinforce the restraints. I can use these extra cables.]

Raye took in Hibiki's conflicted expression, but soon ignored it and focused on dealing with the matter at hand.

[Sure enough, I still can't bring myself to fight a human. But at the very least, I have to escape. I don't quite understand why, but I'm important to everyone in the Second Division right now. I can't let Raye take me away like this.]

Hibiki also noticed Raye approaching her. Though she still had not figured everything out, she at least understood what she most needed to do right now.

ps: Good night

Chapter Fifty-Nine: A Swift Exchange of Offense and Defense

[I have to escape. I must escape.]

Although that was what she thought, Hibiki had no idea how to escape her current predicament—being bound by someone in an unlit alley in the middle of the night.

[At least I need to start moving.]

Hibiki thought this, then used every ounce of strength she currently had to stand up. Turning toward the alley's other exit, she moved her legs.

Smack—

Hibiki's face promptly made intimate contact with the ground, performing a textbook face-first fall.

"...Does fusing with a Relic fragment cause intellectual deficiencies? Why did you think the Grappling Anchor on your body was a detachable device?"

Raye complained as she looked at Hibiki, who had only just stood up before making intimate contact with the ground again. She pulled on the steel chain connected to the Grappling Anchor around Hibiki's body.

Then Raye dragged Hibiki, who had run one or two meters away, back in front of her. Using the cables together with the Widow Anchor, she bound Hibiki so tightly that she could not move even a single finger.

At the same time, Raye reached through the portal from which she had taken the Grappling Anchor and retrieved a gag designed to restrict speech. She put it on Hibiki to prevent any cries for help from attracting enemies.

"Mmmph, mmph, mmph..."

Feeling the complete restraint from her wrists to her ankles, along with the foreign object filling her mouth and completely preventing her from speaking, Hibiki realized that she probably really could not escape this time.

[Looks like she's resigned herself to it. Or is she conserving her strength?]

After spending more than ten seconds tying Hibiki up, Raye noticed that she had stopped trying to resist.

[Either way, I went to all this trouble to create the opportunity. I need to take her away quickly.]

With that thought, Raye lifted the several-dozen-kilogram captive from the ground with one hand, as if picking up luggage, and prepared to leave at a brisk pace.

"Hey, Little Hibiki, don't run so far ahead. If you're going to fight Noise, at least meet up with Genjuro and the others first... Ah, you're—!"

Just as Raye was about to do so, the sound of an engine approached. A car suddenly arrived at the entrance of the alley Hibiki had entered, and Ryouko Sakurai's voice came from inside.

Obviously, as a member of the Second Division, Ryouko could not simply ignore Hibiki running off on her own. After realizing that Hibiki had jumped out of the car to pursue Noise, she had driven after her and witnessed the scene before her.

[Ah, Miss Ryouko. I'm sorry. I got captured.]

Noticing Ryouko's arrival, Hibiki thought miserably. No matter how she looked at it, being ambushed and captured after eliminating only one Noise was unbearably embarrassing.

"Uh, well, I won't interrupt you two. I'll be going now."

After seeing Hibiki in such a miserable state and meeting Raye's emotionless gaze as she held Hibiki up, Ryouko understood the situation and immediately stepped on the accelerator of her beloved car.

After all, she was only a noncombatant. There was no way she could rescue Hibiki from Raye, so running away was the correct choice, wasn't it?

[...Ryouko Sakurai. If I let her leave like this, she might bring the Second Division's pursuit. It would be bad if I had to fight them while carrying dead weight. Time... should be sufficient if nothing unexpected happens. I can also use this to test them...]

Watching Ryouko's actions, Raye pondered for an instant before making her decision.

She dropped the already-bound Hibiki, who was inconvenient to carry, then moved her feet and reached the passenger-side door before Ryouko's vehicle could leave. She used the Sky Striker in her hand to "open" the door.

"Haha, hello, Miss Raye. Nice night, isn't it? I have something to do, so I'll be going now."

After witnessing Raye's actions, Ryouko hurriedly opened her own door and tried to jump out and escape. Before she could carry out the idea, however, Raye had already entered the car, instantly covered her mouth, restrained her movements, and stepped on the brake.

"Mmph, mmph, mmph...!"

Without even having time to call for help, the frail researcher Ryouko was completely subdued by Raye and lost the ability to move.

[This should delay the time until they discover us by quite a bit.]

After using the seat belt to tie Ryouko up in the same manner as Hibiki in less than half a minute, Raye parked the car by the roadside and stepped out.

"Hm? A warning?"

The instant she exited the vehicle, an alarm signal abruptly appeared in her field of vision. It had been sent by the alarm device installed on the Grappling Anchor restraining Hibiki.

"...As expected, things won't go so smoothly."

Looking at the notification in her vision stating that the weapon had been destroyed, Raye thought this, but did not stop moving. In just a few seconds, she returned to the alley where she had set up her ambush.

There, she saw the Grappling Anchor's main central structure destroyed, a sewer manhole cover flipped aside, and Shinji Ogawa helping Hibiki break free from the steel cables around her body.

"This is bad. We've been discovered, Mr. Ogawa."

As soon as Raye saw them, Hibiki also noticed that Raye had returned.

In the brief instant after Raye left, Hibiki had seen Shinji Ogawa—whom she had assumed had already left with the Commander—silently emerge from a manhole somewhere in the alley. He had quickly used some tool she could not understand to dismantle the mechanical claw around her, restarting the armor that had stopped functioning.

"Protect yourself, Tachibana. Then find a way to notify the Commander and everyone else. Tell them Raye has appeared here."

Shinji also noticed Raye's arrival. He immediately stood up and drew his sidearm, slowly backing toward the other end of the alley as he gave Hibiki these instructions.

"...When did I miss that?"

While the two of them reacted differently, Raye turned her gaze toward part of her field of vision. It displayed a moving vehicle, and in its passenger seat sat a motionless figure in a black suit.

"Hm. It should be some kind of decoy, I suppose."

Looking at the black suit in the moving car, then at Shinji Ogawa, whose suit had somehow vanished from before her, Raye quickly understood what plan he had used.

"Fine by me. I was worried a tail might follow me here, but you jumping out on your own makes things easier, Shinji Ogawa. If I deal with you here, the Second Division's combat strength should take a considerable hit in the short term."

Finally, Raye looked toward Shinji, who was aiming his weapon at her, and made this declaration. At the same time, a large amount of smoke exploded behind her.

ps: Good afternoon

Chapter Sixty: The Situation Worsens

Drip.

Sweat fell to the ground, but Hibiki no longer had the energy to care.

Blades stabbing out of the darkness, artillery fire falling from the sky, and black Grappling Anchors that ended the game the moment they ensnared someone.

During these few minutes, Hibiki had already endured countless attacks like those.

She had never fought a battle like this. She did not know where the enemy was, where the attacks came from, or which direction she should move in.

[What am I supposed to do? How can I escape this place?]

Hibiki thought about it, but she had never been good at thinking. Under the sustained pressure of this high-intensity battle, she was even less able to come up with a solution.

"Tachibana..."

Shinji noticed Hibiki's condition and sounded worried.

"Don't worry, Mr. Ogawa. I can still keep going. As long as we hold out until Commander Kazanari and the others know that Miss Raye is here, he'll come support us immediately, right?"

Hearing her companion's voice, Hibiki replied optimistically.

"..."

Shinji did not know what to say. In reality, before rescuing Hibiki, he had already sent a distress signal into the sky. Yet several minutes had passed without Commander Kazanari arriving to support them.

The signal he had sent was a general one. As long as a single member of the Second Division saw it, they could report the situation here to the Commander.

Given that, there was only one reason the Commander had not come to support them: something had held him up, preventing him from arriving immediately.

A muffled boom rang out. Several more scorched wounds appeared on Hibiki's body.

"Huff, huff..."

After enduring that bombardment, Hibiki was visibly running out of strength.

The strain of maintaining intense concentration for so long and the wounds of various sizes covering her body were already close to crushing her will.

If this continued, Hibiki would collapse before the Commander she spoke of could arrive to support them. If Shinji was left alone, victory would be even more impossible.

"..."

Shinji already understood this fact. The question was what they should do next.

[Does one of us have to be sacrificed?]

After thinking for a moment, Shinji made up his mind. After taking this job, he had anticipated that a situation like this might occur.

"Tachibana, run. Head in that direction. Ignore every attack. I'll handle everything. Once you get out, run back to Second Division Headquarters with all your strength."

Shinji, his thoughts clear, gave Hibiki these instructions without hesitation.

"Eh? Mr. Ogawa, what did you say?"

Hibiki did not react for a moment after hearing Shinji's instructions.

"Tachibana, trust my judgment. This is the only way we won't be defeated."

Shinji spoke in a firm tone.

As long as Hibiki could return to Second Division Headquarters, its Heresy Technology defenses would greatly reduce the likelihood of Raye abducting her.

"Okay. I understand."

Although she did not know what Shinji intended to do, Hibiki trusted her companion and followed his instructions. She charged with all her might toward the exit of the alley shrouded in mist, while Shinji followed closely behind.

[Once we do this, you'll definitely attack. If we successfully escape this narrow space, you won't be able to use the dense fog to conceal yourself anymore.]

It was a straightforward stratagem. As long as the enemy did not want to abandon her advantage in the terrain, she would have to attack.

Soon, just as Shinji expected, he sensed the movement of air behind him. Raye had arrived at his back, and a scorching blade had already entered his body.

[Please, Tachibana. You have to escape.]

Thinking this, Shinji ignored his injuries. Fueled by the strength brought on by the surge of adrenaline, he reached inside his suit and pulled out something resembling a grenade.

[I didn't expect the inspiration I gained from the previous battle to actually come in handy.]

With the blade still lodged in his body, Shinji held his gun in one hand, pulled the ring from the heavy object in the other, and immediately threw it ahead of him.

The next moment, dazzling light tore through the darkness. Even the thick fog could barely obstruct it, and three shadows appeared alongside the light.

[Shadow Stitch!]

As he turned, Shinji fired his pistol backward. The high-speed bullet, carrying the power of Heresy Technology, struck the shadow of the girl illuminated by the light. The girl, who had been moving at high speed, abruptly came to a halt.

Traditional Shadow Stitch required a dagger as its casting medium. Modern Shadow Stitch could be successfully cast with even a pistol bullet, allowing for a faster casting speed.

"We made it out, Mr. Ogawa!"

Stumbling out of the fog-shrouded alley, Hibiki looked around with the joy of surviving a disaster, searching for the companion who had helped her escape that hellish battlefield.

"Ah... cough, cough. It's good that you got out... Tachibana, hurry back to Second Division Headquarters. The facilities there can protect you."

Hibiki then saw Shinji Ogawa staggering toward her. His clothes were torn in multiple places, and each tear revealed a hideous, frightening wound.

"Mr. Ogawa...?"

Hibiki cried out in disbelief.

Shinji had barely been wounded moments ago, yet in less than ten seconds, he had become this battered and miserable.

"Cough, cough. Leave quickly, Tachibana. The Shadow Stitch created by the flash grenade won't delay her for long."

Shinji spoke with difficulty.