Sky Striker Ace, but Symphogear

"Ms. Tsubasa!"

Hibiki Tachibana looked worriedly toward the massive crater Tsubasa Kazanari had been smashed into.

"You have no time to worry about anyone else. Today is the day you are defeated. Ammunition loaded. Commencing multi-stage bombardment."

At Raye's command, the cannons within the teleportation devices scattered across the sky began, under the control of an advanced fire-control system, to take turns aiming and firing at the Second Division members on the ground.

"Not a chance! We will be the ones who win!"

Tsubasa said as she used her sword to push herself up from the crater, then raised one hand toward the sky and fully activated the Ame-no-Habakiri Symphogear on her body.

[Heaven's Reverse Scale]

A massive broadsword appeared from nowhere, transforming into a shield as it landed before Tsubasa, providing a safe corner for her and the other three gathered beside her.

Boom—

The instant Tsubasa completed the greatsword defense, deafening explosions like a New Year's fireworks show began to ring out without end. In response, Tsubasa's enormous sword trembled continuously.

"Cough... Hah... As long as we endure this wave of attacks... No, one sword isn't enough. I need more... Cough, cough. Damn it, did I push myself too hard while rushing here?"

Though she had temporarily blocked the artillery fire, the sword shield would not last long under such ferocious firepower.

Tsubasa wanted to add more sword shields, but perhaps because she had moved at such high speed while rushing over, her body was already beginning to give out after fighting continuously.

"In this situation, if possible, it would be best to retreat temporarily. Could we try the sewers?"

Looking at his team's poor condition, Commander Kazanari began considering ways to withdraw.

As long as they could retreat from this place, according to Raye, they would no longer have to face such concentrated firepower. The first thing Commander Kazanari thought of was the drainage tunnels spread beneath the city.

"Sorry, Commander, but I'm afraid that won't work. Bad news: I just checked the underground waterways and found that they have already been occupied by Raye's small aircraft. I'm afraid they cannot be used as an evacuation route."

However, the next moment Commander Kazanari said that, Shinji Ogawa suddenly appeared, bearing several more burn wounds, and reported some extremely bad intelligence.

Because of Shinji Ogawa's earlier decoy operation, Raye had realized that the Sky Striker Airspace she had set up had a blind spot underground.

So during the previous battle, she had conveniently used Hornet Drones to bring the underground area under the control of her airspace as well, eliminating the battle's blind spots.

"Then what about using buildings for cover? What if we use the smoke and dust to block her sight and escape in the chaos?"

Commander Kazanari still wanted to try, a faint anxiety creeping into his voice.

Under Raye's relentless pressure, he no longer knew how to deal with an enemy like this.

"I'm afraid that won't work either. She seems to be monitoring this place through an independent surveillance system. I just tried to go outside and seek reinforcements, but when I slipped to the edge of the street, a considerable portion of the artillery fire in the sky suddenly turned on me."

Of course, Shinji Ogawa had tried everything Commander Kazanari could think of. As for the result, the new burns on Shinji Ogawa's body were the answer.

"Even you couldn't find a way out, Ogawa? So unless we defeat her head-on or have someone draw her fire, we have no way to leave this place?"

After Shinji Ogawa said that, Genjuro Kazanari finally realized that unless they paid a certain price, there was no way they could emerge unscathed from beneath Raye's pressure.

"Then as the commander, it is necessary for me to take responsibility. I can still handle artillery fire alone."

After realizing this, Commander Kazanari immediately proposed a new evacuation plan. Though facing this kind of blanket bombardment would be exhausting for him—

If he tried hard enough, he could still carve out a path forward for everyone present.

"Ugh..."

This conflict happened because of me. Why can't I do anything? I'm... far too weak.

Watching Commander Kazanari voluntarily take on the burden, Hibiki once again felt deeply powerless because of her own weakness.

"Then it's decided."

Commander Kazanari spoke, then began gathering strength to open a path for everyone to break through.

"No, let me do it. Uncle, you probably can't deal with the Noise she controls, so let me."

However, just as Commander Kazanari was about to put that plan into action, Tsubasa, having recovered from her temporary weakness, stood up and said this.

"Ms. Tsubasa... wait, is your body really all right?"

Seeing Tsubasa force herself to stand, Hibiki asked anxiously. Tsubasa did not immediately answer Hibiki's question, only looking steadily at Commander Kazanari, her uncle.

"Tsubasa... have you made up your mind? Are you going to use that?"

Seeing Tsubasa like this, Commander Kazanari understood what she intended and knew her resolve.

"Yes. What Kanade failed to do before, I will do in her place this time. Only then can I wash away the humiliation she brought upon me and reclaim something that belongs to me."

Tsubasa said.

"Huh? What are you talking about?"

Hibiki did not understand the cryptic exchange between them at all.

"Hah... ha... On this moonless night, I will settle this with her."

After letting out a long breath, Tsubasa turned to look at Hibiki, her gaze complicated yet resolute.

"Hibiki Tachibana, today I will show you the way I, as a protector, live—and my resolve. Etch it deep into your heart!"

Tsubasa raised the sword in her hand and gave this distinctly Tsubasa-like blessing to the still somewhat immature new Symphogear wielder beside her, who was also the person drawn into the center of all these events.

"Huh?"

Hibiki could not understand why Tsubasa would say something like that to her now.

"Uncle, Ogawa, so that I do not repeat my past mistakes, please cover me."

After saying that, Tsubasa stopped paying attention to Hibiki. She turned toward Shinji Ogawa and Genjuro Kazanari, who had already prepared themselves, and spoke.

"Ms. Tsubasa, I understand. If this is your resolve."

Faced with Tsubasa's unwavering resolve, Shinji Ogawa, though deeply saddened inside, understood her feelings. He forced his battered body upright, picked up his pistol with only one magazine remaining, and prepared to cover her.

"Yes, Tsubasa. We will not let your sacrifice be in vain. I won't let her interfere with your final song."

As the least injured among them, Genjuro Kazanari finished warming up and spoke with equal determination.

"Then let's begin. Hibiki Tachibana, just stay here. Watch closely from here... my Swan Song."

With everything prepared, including her resolve, Tsubasa threw those words at Hibiki before leaping from the area protected by Heaven's Reverse Scale's greatsword. Shinji Ogawa and Genjuro Kazanari followed close behind.

"...I see. Tsubasa Kazanari will charge straight at me and perform a Swan Song, while the two of you restrain me and prevent me from using Widow Anchor to interrupt her Swan Song... But do you really think such a simple tactic will work against me?"

Watching the three emerge from beneath that turtle shell of a sword shield, Raye understood their strategy through the surveillance units and said this.

"Whether it works isn't for you to decide. Hah!"

Genjuro Kazanari said as he dodged Raye's artillery fire through agile footwork. At the same time, he grabbed chunks of construction debris created by the bombardment with both hands and hurled them at Raye, who stood at the edge of the building, with perfect throwing form.

Though Raye's bombardment was equipped with an extremely advanced fire-control system, when faced with the wholly irregular movements of these physical monsters, it could still miss before analyzing their movement patterns.

"Something so trivial is useless."

However, before Raye even needed to dodge, the fire-control system locked onto the speeding rubble and shattered it completely in midair, turning it into dazzling fireworks of dust.

"I told you, it's useless... what?"

Before Raye could finish speaking, she saw a red-clad burly man leap from the shattered dust cloud, stepping on the rubble as he shot forward.

"So that's how it is. But you are only an ordinary human. Before Noise, you can only become carbon dust!"

Raye remained unhurried as she spoke. Several portals opened beside her, and multiple Noise transformed into missiles and flew directly toward the airborne Genjuro Kazanari.

"I'm counting on you, Tsubasa!"

But the moment Raye did that, Tsubasa, who had been concealed behind Genjuro Kazanari, appeared by stepping off his body and used him to complete a second burst of acceleration in midair.

Not only did she close in on Raye even faster, but Genjuro Kazanari also escaped the attack range. As for the Noise Raye had launched, every one of them was destroyed by the starlight-transformed blades around Tsubasa.

"What a valiant charge. But my attack speed is faster. And Shinji Ogawa, I haven't forgotten you either. Multitasking is no difficulty for me."

Facing Tsubasa's second desperate charge, Raye used the Sky Striker in her hand to knock away the incoming flying blades while speaking without the slightest panic.

The next instant, she manipulated the portals around her, sending more than sixty Grappling Anchors shooting toward Tsubasa. At the same time, she redirected some of the firing points in the sky and launched a blanket attack at Shinji Ogawa's location, which she was tracking through surveillance units.

"With this, your offensive has been completely neutralized... hmm?"

Just as Raye believed their attack had been completely dismantled, she discovered that a patch of rubble had somehow appeared beneath Tsubasa's feet. Using it as a foothold, Tsubasa performed a third jump in midair.

Not only did she evade the Grappling Anchors' restraints, she also reached above Raye. In the same motion, she transformed the blade in her hand into a broader sword, unleashing a slash of sword energy while the blade itself came pressing down upon Raye.

"Hmm. She borrowed force from the rubble that man threw up after landing and performed a third jump?"

Raye quickly noticed where Tsubasa's foothold had come from. It could only be said that, in terms of raw physical strength alone, Genjuro Kazanari was truly absurd.

"Still, this is starting to annoy me a little. I'll finish you here."

Faced with one frustration after another, Raye raised the Sky Striker in her hand, preparing to execute Tsubasa in close combat.

However, just as she was about to do so, several bullets shot toward her shadow, forcing her to use the Sky Striker to block them.

Shinji Ogawa had broken through the blanket bombardment using the rubble and reached the rooftop, firing the tools of Shadow Stitch into Raye's shadow.

"You actually weren't shot down by the bombardment. Is this what a ninja is? You really are troublesome..."

The instant Raye realized his presence, she immediately mobilized a substantial number of firing points again and launched sustained pursuit fire at Shinji Ogawa, forcing him away from the area.

"Hah. Isolation complete. Now to finish you. Armed Request: Sky Striker Mecha - Widow Anchor, LEVEL UP."

Raye first prepared Level One Widow Anchor, ready at any time to suppress Tsubasa's Swan Song. At the same time, the Sky Striker split apart the sword energy Tsubasa had slashed at her, and Raye prepared for close combat.

"She disappeared! Where is she?!"

Raye miscalculated once again. Tsubasa, who should have been behind the sword energy, had vanished.

"I won. This is my victory."

Tsubasa's voice came from behind Raye. Along with it came the signal that Level One Widow Anchor had been destroyed, as well as the sound of a blade piercing the ground.

"My body won't move. Shadow Stitch? So you learned this technique too. But I'll soon be able to—"

Raye tried to struggle free from the restraints.

"There is no soon. Now, here and now, I will end your chance of victory and erase my humiliation."

Now that Raye's body was restrained, Tsubasa remained vigilant against new Grappling Anchors even as she destroyed the existing one. Here, as long as she attacked with sufficient force, she could seize the victory before her in one stroke.

"This is retribution from four years ago. This is the result of my training all these years. Witness it... my Swan Song."

Tsubasa's eyes widened in fury. Then she activated the ultimate skill every Symphogear possessed, the skill that brought everything to an end: Swan Song.

P.S. Good night.

An Empty Ultimate (4k)

[Gatrandis babel ziggurat edenal]

A melodious, ethereal song, a melody of sorrow and sacrifice, flowed from Tsubasa's throat and began resonating with the Ame-no-Habakiri Relic on her body.

"Don't think you'll succeed. Ngh... I can't break free."

Noticing the ever-rising String Gain around her opponent, Raye tried to break free from Tsubasa's Shadow Stitch. But if Shadow Stitch were so easy to escape, Raye would not have guarded against it so carefully all this time.

[Emustolronzen fine el baral zizzl]

As the second line began, Tsubasa, who was staring intently at Raye's movements, fixed several more small blades into Raye's shadow. Under the layered reinforcement, Raye soon could not move even a finger.

"...Then what about this?"

Raye tried to mobilize some Sky Striker Mecha to help her break the Shadow Stitch.

However, Tsubasa had made countless preparations and trained endlessly for this moment. Her Swan Song did not stop, while blades formed from starlight shot outward, blocking every Sky Striker Mecha trying to reach the area.

[Gatrandis babel ziggurat edenal]

Tsubasa raised the blade in her hand high and walked step by step toward Raye. Boundless power gathered around her, gathering...

"Too late. Don't joke with me. At the very least, I need to reduce the damage..."

With her entire body immobilized, portals appeared beside Raye, and several small aircraft positioned themselves between her and Tsubasa.

With her body unable to move, even using Widow Anchor might be evaded. The Wasp Unit was more flexible.

[Emustolronzen fine el zizzl]

As the song ended, Tsubasa smiled, fresh red blood flowing from the corner of her mouth. Boundless power reached its peak at that moment, and an enormous amount of String Gain gathered at the edge of her blade.

"So this is a Swan Song... Hmm. This power... I've finally witnessed it. As expected, it is a very powerful force."

Perhaps knowing she could no longer stop it, Raye's expression turned calm as she muttered to herself.

Tsubasa paid no attention to Raye. Or rather, at this moment, she no longer had the strength to care about anything else.