Sky Striker Princess, but the swan song of Valkyrie.

In a regular battle, you can't gain the upper hand against her. Even if you manage to put together a fatal blow, there's a very high chance it will be blocked by her almost absolute defense.

After thinking for a long time, Tachibana Hibiki came up with two methods.

One option is to use the Miracle Mode that he used in the previous battle with Finni again. That mode is powerful enough to gain the upper hand in the battle, but the problem is that it is difficult to obtain enough energy to activate that mode.

Another approach is that Tachibana Hibiki is currently trying to regain control of the power of the ultimate song, instead of unleashing it all at once and wasting it, she is using it to enhance her regular attacks.

"Quick, run! While that guy is out of control, Death!"

As Tachibana Hibiki tried, seeing the energy clusters radiating heat towards them, Akatsuki Kirika immediately spoke to Tsukuyomi beside her.

"Ah."

Even without Xiaoqiege's words, Tsukuyomi had already begun to drive Gear, preparing to leave this place of trouble as soon as possible.

However, it was clearly impossible to let them leave like that. Just as they were retreating, Tachibana Hibiki suddenly looked up, and the two figures were reflected in her golden pupils.

"A bad feeling. Dea—th?"

Seeing Tachibana Hibiki's current state, Akatsuki Kirika's alarm bells went off. Before she could react, her vision was filled with orange.

bite--

"Cut the sauce!"

When Tsukuyomi realized what was happening, she found that the person next to her, Akatsuki, had been replaced by a figure with orange hair emitting energy steam, while the original Akatsuki's armor had been destroyed.

"We cannot let you leave... This time, we must reach a mutual understanding. If not, then we will fight until we do!"

Whether it was due to the influence of the energy within her body or not, Hibiki Tachibana's rationality was somewhat shattered at this moment, and her words and actions were tinged with a hint of irritability.

After knocking Akatsuki to her knees, Hibiki Tachibana, radiating heat, turned her gaze to Tsukuyomi beside her.

"Oh no, I have to take the 'cut sauce' with me and run away!"

Sensing the danger, Tsukuyomi immediately retreated. One of the characteristics of the Grimlock is its strong ground mobility; if it focuses on escaping, it might be able to do so.

However, the moment she had this idea, it became impossible, because Tachibana Hibiki had already appeared in front of her, her armor, which resembled a pile driver, ready to unleash its power.

The enhanced Hibiki Tachibana has reached a new level in speed, defense, and power; however, the normal Gear is no longer capable of defeating her.

"ha--"

Without hesitation, Tachibana Hibiki unleashed a powerful punch.

She was always clear about what she needed to do: only by defeating the two people in front of her could she improve her relationship with that figure who, for some reason, seemed somewhat lonely.

This is why she came up with this form, a form specifically designed to counter the battle with Zero, a form that can steadily and evenly enhance her own power.

[After defeating them, if you still have the strength, go with Chris to stop Zero-chan. Master and the others can also... Huh? 1]

Just as Tachibana Hibiki was resolute in her resolve and preparing to deliver the final blow in this battle, she felt an indescribable sensation on the fist she was about to throw at her opponent.

"Wall, what is this?"

Upon closer inspection, Hibiki Tachibana noticed a metallic object emitting a blue light in front of her. Her powerful attack had struck this object without leaving a trace.

"I don't really understand how a defensive battle could escalate to such an intensity that it's almost a decisive battle. What are you all thinking?"

A familiar voice echoed in her ears. Turning her head, Tachibana Hibiki saw the figure she had been longing to see.

Standing amidst the ravaged battlefield, her platinum blonde hair fluttered in the evening breeze. In one hand she held a deep blue dagger, and in the other she embraced Tsukuyomi-style Zero, clad in pink armor. She lowered her head, seemingly asking a question to someone.

"Sister Lingyi, we're sorry, we've already tried our best."

As Lingyi put him down from her arms, Tsukuyomi apologized to her with a guilty expression.

Although they had given it their all this time, if Lingyi hadn't come, they would have faced a humiliating and devastating defeat.

"You don't need to feel sorry for this. You've done enough. At least the initial strategy was fine. The problem lies with the person who used the 'Final Song' at the beginning and someone who risked their life to annoy me." Zero didn't blame them, but instead looked at Tachibana Hibiki, whose armor was radiating heat, and Yukine Chris, who was aiming her magic bow at her from a distance.

To be honest, the reason things have turned out this way is ultimately because she didn't consider things thoroughly to some extent.

She hadn't expected that, in the face of a battle with an intensity within the normal range, someone would be so decisive as to unleash their ultimate move, "Swan Song," on the battlefield.

They never expected that someone would be able to absorb the power of everyone's final song and strengthen their Symphogear to such an extent, disregarding their own lives.

"Zero-chan...can't we communicate properly? Why won't you have a proper talk?"

Looking at the girl in front of her, Tachibana Hibiki asked her sincerely and earnestly.

"I'm the one who doesn't understand. And if we're going to communicate, Will should have already told you, right? Our goal is to stop the moon from falling. We were just using your string amplification before."

"So now that you know all this, Hibiki Tachibana, do you still have any questions? If you still have doubts and want specific procedures, you can go and ask the alchemists you've contacted."

Seeing Tachibana Hibiki's question, Rei asked in return, which was also one of the things she didn't understand.

Even in her calculations, as long as this information was revealed, the enemy's fighting spirit should have dropped significantly, and there shouldn't have been this intensity of fighting.

But now, not only has it reached this level of intensity, but the other side has also used their ultimate techniques one after another. Lingyi couldn't imagine what kind of reason could have led them to do this.

"It's not that, I want to know..."

Hibiki Tachibana shook her head, denying Rei's answer.

If she were fighting for this alone, she wouldn't have fought alongside Chris against those two musicians in the first place. The reason she continued fighting was because she had the same reason to fight as Chris.

"I want to know, what exactly did Rei-chan go through in the past? What happened to make your smile disappear? And what exactly does Rei-chan want to do?!"

Faced with Rei's questioning, Tachibana Hibiki did not hesitate at all and said those words to the girl in front of her.

"ha? "

Seeing the girl's serious expression, Lingyi's expression showed a hint of doubt.

"What does this have to do with you? Why do you need to know this?"

Lingyi, puzzled, asked this question for the umpteenth time, suspecting that there was something wrong with her translation system. She couldn't understand why the other party cared about such a small problem.

"Because I saw it, and I received it from Ms. Ryoko. I don't understand why you, Rei-chan, could smile so happily before. Why are you so sad now?"

"If I knew, maybe I could help you, Rei-chan."

Hibiki Tachibana blurted out a piece of information that was hidden in her heart.

Previously, when she was still Sakurai Ryoko, Finni had given her a memory, through which Tachibana Hibiki saw those scenes.

It was precisely because of this that she realized that Lingyi was undoubtedly in a sad and very abnormal state, and if she didn't understand it, she had a premonition that something terrible would happen.

"...I see, I understand."

Lingyi was silent for a moment, then seemed to finally understand something.

"In other words, it's not surprising that you guys came here to cause me trouble at this time, because Finney did something to do that."

However, her understanding seems to differ somewhat from what Tachibana Hibiki thought.

"Wait, I just want to know about Rei-chan's past, is it really impossible to tell me?"

Hibiki Tachibana wanted to make one last effort.

"Tiao, go and take Qiege back to the airship. I'll handle this guy."

However, Zero ignored Tachibana Hibiki's question, turned to Tsukuyomi beside her and said this, then looked at Tachibana Hibiki and Chris with only the will to fight.

"Yes, Sister Lingyi."

Without saying much, Tsukuyomi said this, and immediately turned around, came to Akatsuki's side, helped the other's body up, and activated the armor.

"Let me say it one last time: I don't need your pointless concern. I know very well that there is only one solution I desire, and these are all facts."

"Knowing all this, you'd still rather fight me than give up?!"

After Mizuki had moved some distance away, Rei raised the blue dagger in her hand and made her final question.

"How could I give up? Although I've only heard about it, I can imagine how happy you'll be, Rei-chan, so I won't give up until our relationship improves!"

Naturally, Tachibana Hibiki stubbornly expressed this opinion, while Yukine Chris silently held up her crossbow, her expression somewhat conflicted.

"You're like a piece of chewing gum. As expected, Hibiki Tachibana, among all the players, you are the one who is the most difficult for me to deal with."

Looking at the other person's determined face, Lingyi covered her forehead and said this.

"Alright, I'll play along with you, since you're willing to waste your already fragile life on such a pointless thing."

After speaking, Lingyi gripped the blue dagger in her hand, then changed her posture, transforming it into the familiar black and red blade that emitted a captivating red light.

P.S. Good evening.

Chapter 33 Limited Armor

Her heart was pounding, her blood was boiling, and a burning sensation filled her entire body, ravaging Tachibana Hibiki's nerves as if she were being consumed by heat.

Despite the pain, Tachibana Hibiki felt no regret, for only by going to such lengths could she hope to win against Rei.

"We must defeat her here this time; we can't let her escape!"

Hibiki Tachibana thought to herself that this was undoubtedly the moment when she was most likely to defeat her opponent.

To allow the two musicians to escape, Zero needed to stall for time, meaning they wouldn't flee rashly. Furthermore, Tachibana Hibiki herself lacked the confidence to replicate her powerful form. With this thought, her armor throbbed, the ground cracked, and her orange figure, like a fully loaded semi-trailer truck speeding down a highway, unstoppable, thrust her fist towards the figure ahead.

[This attack, and this speed... I really don't know how much energy she absorbed... Should we dodge? No, if she takes advantage of this momentum to pursue them, it'll be disastrous.]

In other words, if we're going to engage in close combat, then we have to confront them head-on. Since that's the case, let's continue using the armor. We just happened to acquire enough energy for a limited deployment; consider this a trial run.

Seeing Tachibana Hibiki charging towards her, Zero pondered her fighting style and finally made a decision in her heart. The flash sword in her hand changed instantly.

"Limited Technique? Water"

The flash blade, which had transformed back into a blue dagger, was attached to her forearm. Rei calmly faced Tachibana Hibiki's fist without dodging, and then…

Pupi—

"You can't be kidding me, right? That kind of attack power was blocked?!"

Chris looked at the scene on the battlefield in disbelief.

Yes, Hibiki Tachibana's all-out attack was blocked, not dodged. Only Gungnir's attack, which had extremely strong charging power, was blocked head-on.

The heavy punches, wrapped in white and orange armor, stopped in front of Zero. The reason for this was simply because of the thin film of water covering them.

"What is this? It's so hard to break free..."

Hibiki Tachibana tried to pull her hand out of the water film, but to no avail. The seemingly ordinary water was like some kind of gel, rippling and tightly adhering her hand to the surface.

"Damn it, if that's the case, then I'll cover for you!"

Seeing that Tachibana Hibiki was unable to escape for the time being, Chris suppressed her emotions and made the best choice in the current situation. She opened the magazine at her waist, and the missiles were ready to be launched.

"Hey, look over here, don't ignore...me?!"

Chris aimed at Zero and was about to launch when she discovered that things weren't quite what she expected.

"Limited Technique? Wind".

With her lips slightly parted, the green crosshair was already firmly fixed on Chris. Then, Zero pulled the trigger of the Flash Blade in her hand, which had transformed into a green, cracked, blade-shaped electromagnetic cannon.

The extremely penetrating electromagnetic wind ripples, before Chris could even launch her missiles, reached her body and blew her into the sky.

"Damn it!"

Despite the tingling pain throughout her body, Chris still wanted to adjust her body and fire back in mid-air.

"Save your energy, Chris. It's common sense to target the ADC first in team fights. I won't give you a safe environment to deal damage."

As Lingyi said this, a hexagonal portal suddenly appeared above, below, left, and right of Chris, who was still in the sky. Then, a widow anchor firmly suspended her in mid-air from it and began to release electricity.

"Chris-chan!"

Just as Tachibana Hibiki broke free from the annoying film of clear water, she discovered that her companion had already been defeated and was hanging in the air.

"Limited Technique? Fire."

Before she could recover from her worries, Zero's attack was already in front of her. The Flash Blade, which was just a long cannon, had now transformed into a crimson longsword carrying flames and slashed at her.

"Hmm—"

Despite letting out a muffled groan as her arm went numb, Hibiki Tachibana managed to catch the attack as best she could, but at the cost of a deep, burning gash being slashed into her arm armor.

[A water-like defensive barrier, long-range attacks formed by storms, and now this high-temperature slashing attack like flames—how could this be?]

[Zero-chan has gotten stronger again. How much stronger does she have to become before she stops? She's already reached this level, but it's still not enough.]

Faced with the opponent's relentless and suffocating attacks, a sense of despair was spreading through Tachibana Hibiki's heart.

The most despairing thing in the world is not the gap in strength, but that despite making extraordinary efforts, the gap between you and the other person not only fails to narrow but actually widens.

Right now, Tachibana Hibiki has pushed her power to its normal limit, but she still can't gain an advantage in a direct battle.