Sky Striker Ace, but Symphogear

"How could we not? We have to take Mr. Ogawa back too. He's badly hurt!"

Seeing Shinji Ogawa in such a miserable state, Hibiki Tachibana instinctively moved to help.

"What tenacious willpower, Shinji Ogawa. As a warrior, you truly are strong."

A voice interrupted Hibiki Tachibana's movements.

Hibiki Tachibana looked toward the source of the voice and saw the culprit responsible for all this: Raye, the platinum-haired girl, emerging from the dense fog that had once again sunk into darkness.

"Why? Why would you do something like this? Aren't we all human?!"

Staring at the calm-faced Raye, Hibiki Tachibana, unable to accept reality, demanded an answer.

Yet Raye gave no response to Hibiki Tachibana's questioning. She merely raised the black-and-red blade in her hand and faced Shinji Ogawa, who was forcing himself to remain standing.

"Wait! What are you going to do to Mr. Ogawa?!"

Seeing Raye move, Hibiki Tachibana immediately stepped in front of her, angrily assuming a fighting stance, and then...

Without even sparing her a glance, Raye casually swung her aside with the flat of her blade, smashing through a wall in the process.

"...What are you trying to do?"

On the other side, Shinji Ogawa watched Raye approach and questioned her while standing.

"You're asking me? I merely intend to show respect to a warrior as strong-willed as you. Just as a stubborn disease should be eradicated as soon as possible, I'll ensure that you will never become a threat to me again. That's how I've always done things."

Raye said this, then raised the Sky Striker in her hand.

PS. Good night.

Rampage

Pain surged through the nerves all over her body.

Her shattered thoughts could not become clear.

An intense dizziness, as if she had been thrown into a washing machine, echoed in her mind.

[What... happened to me?]

A question arose in her heart.

[I was defeated because I was too weak.]

Her heart gave her the answer.

"Don't come closer! Don't come closer!" "Help! Someone, please save me!"

[I heard unfamiliar voices crying for help.]

"I'm an official! Everyone, calm down!" "There's no Noise in that direction. It's safe! Leave in an orderly manner!"

[I heard familiar voices carrying out rescues.]

Boom—rumble—

[The sound of battle cracking the earth slipped into my ears from afar.]

"Hibiki, get up and run! I'll hold her off, ngh—"

[A weak, exhausted voice of encouragement was caught nearby.]

[...]

[I completely understood now. I completely understood.]

[What had happened? What kind of things had she done?]

[The flames of fury erupted within my heart, and the desire for destruction continued to rise.]

[Why did she destroy our ordinary daily lives? Why did she do something so heartbreaking?]

[Unforgivable. Unforgivable.]

[Those who destroy everything through conflict, those who destroy these peaceful days.]

[They must be destroyed. The culprit behind all of this must be destroyed. I cannot tolerate someone like that existing in this world, not even for a moment.]

"Ah—ah—you bastard!!"

Hibiki Tachibana rose from the construction debris and screamed toward the sky. Violent energy surged upward with her cry, forming a pillar of light that nearly pierced the heavens.

Then, her utterly enraged gaze locked tightly onto Raye, who was staring at her in surprise, and Shinji Ogawa, who was kneeling on one knee while clutching an arm.

"Unforgivable!"

Without a moment of hesitation or pause.

With several red points of light glowing in her eyes, Hibiki Tachibana, after "waking up," charged between Raye and Shinji Ogawa in an instant with strength and speed far beyond before, throwing a powerful punch straight at Raye.

"Tachibana, how did you... No, that's not right. This is... a rampage?!"

Enduring his severe injuries, Shinji Ogawa was initially stunned by Hibiki Tachibana's immense strength. But after noticing her clearly abnormal condition, he understood what had happened.

Bang—

Her fist collided with the blade, producing a ringing clang like metal striking metal. Hibiki Tachibana's all-out punch was firmly blocked by the Sky Striker Raye held before her.

"A rampage? At a time like this? Things just got troublesome."

Although she had securely blocked Hibiki Tachibana's attack, Raye's expression visibly darkened as she observed the situation in her field of view.

"It's all because of you! It's all because of you!"

Realizing her attack had been blocked, Hibiki Tachibana roared furiously at Raye.

The next moment, her other fist also shot toward Raye at high speed with immense force and no technique whatsoever.

"This really is..."

With an ugly expression, Raye shifted her feet, turned the Sky Striker in her hand slightly, and redirected Hibiki Tachibana's attack to the side. Then, with a single leap, she left the combat zone and pulled more than ten meters away from Hibiki Tachibana.

"That's why I hate surprises. Sigh, it looks like I won't be able to complete the primary objective this time."

After opening the distance, Raye noticed the situation in her field of view and Hibiki Tachibana's state. She complained about the unexpected development and sighed helplessly.

Hibiki Tachibana's rampage at this moment, as well as the energy she erupted with during it, had thrown several of Raye's plans out of control in more ways than one.

"In that case, I can only consider the secondary objective first. As for the primary objective, I'll deal with it if there's an opportunity."

Raye raised a hand and rubbed her forehead, easing her foul mood somewhat as another plan formed in her mind.

"Roar!"

Keeping Raye locked in her sights, the berserk Hibiki Tachibana stomped the ground apart and charged explosively toward the platinum-haired figure reflected in her eyes, soon clashing with her in close combat.

"Tachibana..."

Shinji Ogawa watched Hibiki Tachibana's abnormal state with concern. Great power often came with a price, and he did not know what price Hibiki Tachibana had paid to obtain such strength.

"Her strength has roughly doubled. She has a powerful destructive impulse, and her thinking has also been heavily affected. Then there are her physical indicators... Relic waveform analysis..."

While enduring Hibiki Tachibana's attacks, Raye began analyzing her physical condition with the Airspace System installed on her body.

She had merely temporarily given up on the primary objective; she had no intention of abandoning her mission. If Hibiki Tachibana's rampage caused physical problems or even endangered her life, it would severely affect her mission.

"Destroying peaceful daily life. Harming everyone's lives."

As if venting, the berserk Hibiki Tachibana spoke those words, then clasped both hands together and smashed them heavily down at Raye.

"You've got to be kidding me. It's only a fragment of a Relic fragment, yet after fusing with a human body, it can unleash this much power. And as the fusion progresses, its power is still increasing."

Dodging the savage blow, Raye looked at the concrete ground shattered by the strike and gained a new understanding of the potential contained within the Relic.

"I think I understand why she wanted to study your body. This kind of power... if it could be controlled, it truly would be tempting."

Raye remarked. At the same time, before Hibiki Tachibana could organize another offensive, Raye kicked from behind and broke her balance. As Hibiki fell, Raye stepped in and pinned her to the ground in a standard restraining position.

"Urgh—"

"Alright. Although you've indeed gotten much stronger, this level still isn't enough."

Though Hibiki Tachibana's strength had increased after her rampage, to Raye, she had merely gone from a child completely incapable of resisting to an adult with some ability to resist.

And because her attacks had lost all form and become nothing more than instinctive resistance, Raye could still suppress her without much effort through an overwhelming advantage in combat skill.

"Tachibana!"

Seeing Hibiki Tachibana lose, Shinji Ogawa snapped out of it and tried to act to help her break free.

"I haven't forgotten about you, Shinji Ogawa."

Raye said as she restrained Hibiki Tachibana. At the same time, seven or eight portals opened in the air around Shinji Ogawa, and several types of Sky Striker Mecha that had appeared before emerged from them.

[Now that the target has changed, there's no need to conserve the armaments that were originally meant for the return trip.]

PS. Good afternoon.

Convergence

After using the Multi-Task Warblade Mecha to keep Shinji Ogawa too busy to interfere, Raye pressed the Sky Striker against Hibiki Tachibana's spine and began focusing on collecting data from her body.

"%￥#@..."

Naturally, Hibiki Tachibana was not about to give up. With her language functions damaged, she thrashed about like a fish on a cutting board, aided by her growing strength.

Creak, creak—

At this moment, perhaps because the energy within her body had been unable to find release for so long, Hibiki Tachibana, pinned to the ground, suddenly grew stronger.

Then, using that increased strength, she forcefully pressed her arms into the ground.

"Hm?"

Raye, who had been concentrating on analyzing Hibiki Tachibana's physical condition, noticed her movement. The next moment, she understood Hibiki Tachibana's intention.

"&&...%￥..."

Accompanied by an incomprehensible roar, Hibiki Tachibana, Brutality, savagely drove her arms into the hard concrete. Her body twisted violently, breaking free of Raye's restraint as she launched a fist upward at Raye from below.

Bang—

The black-and-red blade blocked the yellow-white armor. Raye, having noticed Hibiki Tachibana's movement, stopped the blow. The black-and-red blade trembled slightly, but Hibiki Tachibana's heavy punch ultimately failed to break through it.

"This rate of growth in strength is truly terrifying."

Raye thought as she held back the berserk Hibiki Tachibana's fist.

After all, what was inside the other girl's body was merely a fragment of a Relic fragment. Whatever the reason, for it to have developed to this point was terrifying.

"However, it's about time this game ended."

Raye said. At the same time, a progress bar-like indicator on the screen over her right eye reached its end.

"Analysis complete. Phew, now I roughly understand how to suppress a rampage during the early stages of fusion."

Raye casually knocked Hibiki Tachibana's fist aside with her blade, then leaped lightly away from their struggle. Thick smoke erupted behind her as usual, temporarily obscuring Hibiki Tachibana's vision.

"*&...￥%"

With her vision blocked by smoke, Hibiki Tachibana anxiously swung her fists, trying to locate Raye. She did not notice that a light portal had already opened behind her.

"Next, load the analyzed data into the Black Widow Grappling Anchor, design a new suppression waveform... Mm, done. Loading complete. Now, stop, Hibiki Tachibana."

Raye's voice came from in front of Hibiki Tachibana. Immediately afterward, Hibiki Tachibana, whose attention had been drawn forward, was tightly bound by a black Grappling Anchor that shot out of the light portal behind her.

"*&%%￥#..."

Hibiki Tachibana tried to break free, but as energy with a specific waveform erupted from the Grappling Anchor and concentrated on her entire body—especially her chest—the scarlet glow in her eyes melted away like spring snow, and reason returned to her mind.

Thud—

Before long, the smoke Raye had released was quickly blown away by the unsettled airflow of the spring night, leaving behind only Hibiki Tachibana, lying on the ground and tightly bound by the Grappling Anchor, and "Raye" standing beside her.

"That should settle it. That really took quite a bit of effort... Hm?"

Just as "Raye" muttered to herself, an intense cracking sound suddenly erupted. The road, already ravaged beyond recognition by Hibiki Tachibana and Raye's battle, instantly turned into construction debris that would make any road administrator's blood pressure soar.

"That was close, that was close. Good thing I dodged it."

"Raye" spoke with lingering fear. In that instant, her body had already moved more than ten meters away, avoiding the heavy strike.

"...Give up. You can no longer take Hibiki Tachibana away."

At the center of the ruin-like ground, Genjuro Kazanari assumed a fighting stance toward "Raye."

"That won't do. Since I've already accepted payment, I have to fulfill the other party's request. That's one of my principles. And although Mr. Kazanari, you are indeed superior to me in close combat, but..."