Sky Striker Princess, but the swan song of Valkyrie.

"However, that is not the case. A player's combat ability comes from two aspects: one is the player's experience in combat, and the other is the player's mental fortitude."

"Kohinata, you are strong enough in terms of mental strength. What you lack is only combat experience, and there is a quick way to acquire this kind of experience."

"In other words, you now have the means to gain power."

Faced with Kohinata's question, Finney began to explain her thoughts to Kohinata in the future.

“Power… What should I do, Ms. Ryoko?”

Although there are some concepts she doesn't quite understand, Kohinata Mirai believes that she will do anything as long as she can gain the power to help.

"...I can input various mature combat data into Symphogear. Relying on these, even someone who knows nothing about combat can instantly become a warrior with certain combat skills."

"Of course, this comes at a price. A quick fix means that your mind and body will have to endure tremendous pain and discomfort, and on top of that, your emotions will have to be intense enough."

"Even if you achieve that level, you'll only gain combat power that might not even match that of an average player—like Xiaoyi and Xiao Chris."

"So, Hinata, let me ask you this in advance: is it really necessary for you to pay this price to obtain this power?"

After a long silence, Finney looked directly into Kohinata Mirai's eyes and further explained the help she could offer Kohinata Mirai while also asking her questions.

After all, doing this under Lingyi's nose would be a huge risk for Finni, so she had to confirm the other party's determination to avoid wasting her efforts.

"I...I don't know. Even now, I still can't accept it. I can't accept such a terrible battle as Hibiki and Rei."

Faced with Finney's questioning, Kohinata Mirai pursed her lips, lowered her head and pondered for a moment before murmuring something.

"Is that so...?"

Looking at Kohinata Mirai's appearance, Finney wasn't surprised, after all, not everyone can accept the horror of battle and throw themselves into it.

"But I don't want to regret it anymore. Lingyi once saved my life and was hurt like that while protecting me."

"She's in such a painful situation right now, if she tries to convince herself just because she can't do anything, she'll definitely... do something she'll regret."

"So, although I'm very scared, I still hope that Miss Reiko can help me obtain enough power to save Zero now."

However, immediately afterward, Kohinata Mirai raised her head again, met Finney's gaze, and firmly expressed her thoughts.

"Ha, I really don't know what happened between you and Zero, but since you've come to your senses, I have to respond to that as well."

"After all, I am a priestess of God, I can't be inferior to an ordinary little girl like you."

After Kohinata Mirai made this resolute decision, Finney also gave her response.

A jumble of thoughts emerged from the chaos, and bodily functions and thinking gradually began to operate.

In the dark room, Lingyi sat up in bed. Then, in a daze, she picked up a silenced pistol beside her, pointed it at her forehead, and pulled the trigger.

puff--

The smell of gunpowder, accompanied by faint sounds, echoed in the air as the metallic bullets were steadily deflected by the crimson hexagonal light.

"Ha...ha...this can't go on. If no one stops us and we let this wrong path continue, it will become a disaster..."

After doing this, Lingyi involuntarily covered her mouth, seemingly trying to alleviate some kind of immense pain.

If I continue to live, I'll make everything worse. I have to stop myself; I can't keep going like this.

Such thoughts urgently arose in Lingyi's mind, and soon she pointed the pistol at her head, trying to pull the trigger once again.

"Ugh... Ah, ahh, no, what am I doing? I'm trying to protect myself, protect what... Ha, protect, kill, destroy, eliminate all danger..."

But before she could take any action, a surge of intense emotions mixed with vivid memories overwhelmed her, and her thoughts instantly became fragmented.

[Ah, yes, that's how it should be done. Kill them all—anything that could potentially be a danger, whether it's a nation, a government, or an individual capable of acting independently.]

Only by achieving this level of protection, only by eliminating all possible threats, can we truly protect ourselves; otherwise... harm will still strike from who-knows-where...

An intense impulse took over her body, and black smoke and illusions began to appear around Lingyi, her expression gradually becoming frantic.

"No, that's not right. That's not correct. Statistically speaking, while the probability of this happening is not zero, it's also so small that it's not an urgent situation that necessitates doing so."

"As long as you manage your intelligence, expand your power, and make the world transparent to you, you can feel at ease."

Just as Lingyi's expression became so agitated that she seemed about to do something, it was as if a switch had been flipped, and her demeanor instantly became calm and rational, as she lost all emotion in her self-talk.

"Hmm, that's good. Strange, why am I holding a gun? What was I thinking of doing just now?"

After losing all emotion for a moment, Lingyi looked strangely at the silenced pistol in her hand, a sense of confusion rising in her heart.

"It's not important. More important than these things is to keep the plan moving forward. Only in this way can we minimize our anxiety."

By selectively managing her memories, Lingyi began to focus her thoughts entirely on the original course of events.

"Yes, only by doing this can I control the urge to destroy everything... Ah, no, I can't think about what just happened anymore, I must surrender my mind and body to reason..."

As time went by, Lingyi finally adjusted herself back to her normal state, and all her emotions, including her madness, were buried once again.

Such things occasionally happen in Lingyi's daily life.

After arriving in this world, due to some events, Lingyi was unable to control the immense unease that arose from her madness, and possessed a great destructive impulse.

To suppress this impulse, Lingyi could only surrender her mind and body to the purest rationality, using the madness of reason to avoid truly falling into an uncontrollable madness that would destroy everything.

But this doesn't mean she thinks she's right. Rational madness is still madness. Mistakes need to be corrected, and Zero believes the best way to correct them is through self-destruction.

However, Zero couldn't do that.

Since acquiring the Flash Blade, while granting her immense power, it also comes with a protective mechanism that she finds quite troublesome.

Once she is deeply gripped by intense anxiety and a sense of crisis, the Flashblade's protective mechanism will activate, defending against all attacks while destroying everything around it.

Death is the most unsettling thing to do. Even though Zero tried to commit suicide with her last bit of self-control, Flashblade would automatically activate its protection mechanism when the unease reached its maximum.

Then came this cycle of madness, where madness once again overwhelmed consciousness, forcing everyone to surrender everything to reason once more.

"I woke up earlier than expected. Hmm, I feel a bit unsettled. Ah, I think I had a nightmare."

After checking the time, Lingyi muttered to herself, assessing the current situation.

"However, my physical fatigue has been completely recovered, and I will have no problem in combat. Next, let's check if there has been any intrusion into the base."

Reaching out her hand, she grasped at the air twice to confirm that her physical condition had basically recovered, and then Lingyi shifted her attention to her daily work.

"Is everything normal...?"

A virtual screen appeared in the air, and Lingyi's gaze swept over the data on it, but there seemed to be no abnormal information.

"No, something's wrong. Am I just imagining things? Er? Ling? Wo? Er Yi 3 Lin 8? Er, these data give me a very strange feeling."

After staring quietly at the several virtual screens in front of her for a moment, Lingyi shifted her gaze to one of the virtual screens and rejected the judgment she had just made.

"Just in case, conduct a manual test."

After considering this, Lingyi manipulated the virtual screen for a moment, canceling the monitoring equipment's original automatic operation mode, intending to manually test the equipment's status.

wow——

Then, just as she did so, accompanied by a buzzing alarm, Lingyi realized that some of the surveillance equipment she had placed in the base had lost signal at the same time.

“,,

Lingyi's calm expression turned silent; silence reflected her current state of mind.

"Intruder, or something else? Never mind, we'll find out when we get there. Flash Blade activated? Flash Blade."

She stood up, gripped the black and red flashing sword in her backhand, and covered herself with armor instead of clothing. In an instant, Zero was ready for battle.

"What's going on? What happened? Is there an intruder?! Death?!"

Hearing the explosion outside, Xiaoqiege nervously gripped the pendant in her hand.

"Calm down, Kiri-chan, it's okay, Rei-nee-san is here."

Seeing the nervous Xiaoqiege, Tsukuyomi mustered immense willpower to suppress her inner turmoil and said this.

【Damn it, how could it be zero? Er Er (1 $`) Delete Lin Ba Er Qun/Flirt So fast. According to the usual estimate, shouldn't she have rested for a while longer? Damn it, the modification of the Divine Beast Mirror is only a little over halfway done.】 In Tsukuyomi's heart, Finnie's mood was very unpleasant.

After agreeing to modify the Divine Beast Mirror for Kohinata Mirai, Finney went to the room with the relevant equipment to carry out the modification.

Theoretically speaking, she was very well prepared. She not only calculated the safe time based on her usual rest time, but also prepared false data to deceive the monitoring equipment.

Barring any unforeseen circumstances, she will be able to perfectly modify the Divine Beast Mirror without being discovered by Lingyi.

However, all of this was predicated on the unexpected fact that Lingyi woke up early.

What should I do, Miss Finney?

In a panic, Tsukuyomi asked the inner Finney if she had any other plans.

[I've activated the sabotage device that was pre-installed on the surveillance equipment; Zero shouldn't know exactly what happened now.]

However, such petty tricks can only buy time. We absolutely cannot hide our problems. Get ready, we must escape immediately.

Looking at the Divine Beast Mirror in her hand, which was still not fully adjusted, Finnie had no choice but to explain to Tsukuyomi that this was their only option.

Chapter Fifty-Seven: Escape and Pursuit

"Tiao, are we going to wait here for Sister Lingyi?"

Unlike the flustered Tsukuyomi, Akatsuki Kira was still somewhat out of it at this moment.

The reason she accompanied Tsukuyomi to this place was simply because after waking up, Tsukuyomi told her that Rei had asked her to come here and do some work at the Divine Beast Mirror.

"...Kiri-chan, let's go scout ahead. We need to figure out what just happened. Besides, we have Symphogear, who is also a fighting force."

After Xiaoqiege's question, Yuedu Diao pondered for a moment, looked at Xiaoqiege, and said this after a barely perceptible hint of apology flashed in his eyes.

"But we didn't bring a linker... You brought one, Death."

As soon as Xiaoqiege mentioned the problem they were facing, she noticed that Yuedu Diao had taken out two needle-free syringes and handed one of them directly to her.

Without much doubt, after receiving the linker from Tsukuyomi, Akatsuki injected it directly into her neck, and Tsukuyomi did the same.

"Alright, let the intruders witness the power of Igalima: Death!"

Immediately after injecting the linker, Xiaoqiege intended to activate Symphogear as usual, but she was unable to do so.

"No, it's not the linker, it's the anti-linker. How could this be? Adjust it, why is it 'Death'?"

Realizing this, red sparks danced across Xiaoqiege's body, and a feeling of powerlessness spread through her limbs. Soon, she felt herself collapse weakly, only to be caught by Tsukuyomi.

"Sorry, Chess, I don't have time now. I'll explain to you when I have the chance later."

After catching it, Tsukuyomi said this apologetically, while carrying the powerless Akatsuki Kirika on her back and starting to move.

..............

"No traces of external intrusion were found, and the spatial fluctuations are normal... In other words, it was an inside job, either Kohinata or Finney."

"As for Kohinata, well, there's no problem. She's still in her room and hasn't escaped... Her location... ah, I can't find it. So, is it Finney's doing?"

After checking the external surveillance equipment and finding no clues, Lingyi quickly realized that the abnormal situation originated from within and immediately identified the suspect.

"Trouble. How did Finny break the seal? Could it be that this ancient civilization's undead has some trump card I don't know about?"

After setting her goal, Lingyi felt a little irritated. She didn't like things that were out of her control, as they made her very uneasy.

"Never mind, that's not important. We don't know how she did it. Let's bring her back first; we can't let her escape... The place where the surveillance footage disappeared was the aircraft. Was she trying to escape using the aircraft?"

Thinking of this, Lingyi shifted her gaze to the area where the surveillance footage disappeared, pondering the other party's escape methods.

Before she could figure it out, a huge engine roar suddenly rang out in the base, and then Lingyi saw the aircraft that FIS had brought from the United States begin to take off.

"...Armed request, Hawk thrusters, Black Widow anchor grabber, Hornet floating unit."

Hexagonal light appeared behind Zero, first as wing-like equipment attached to her back, ignited and sprayed, instantly giving her tremendous acceleration.

At the same time, the pitch-black grappling hook emerged from another hexagon, and the grappling cable shot out at high speed and grabbed the flight machinery. With a flash of electricity, the hatch lock was successfully hacked and opened automatically.

The moment the hatch opened, Lingyi stepped into the aircraft's cabin, accompanied by floating units used for reconnaissance that flew out from the portal.

"Where... Hmm, autopilot mode, not here. Is it a way to attract attention? No, it's not just that."

In less than a minute, the floating unit acted directly as Zero's eyes, reflecting the state of the aircraft's interior to her. However, the result made her mood plummet.

Immediately afterwards, dangerous noises came from various parts of the aircraft, and thick smoke and shock spread and compressed in all directions, causing the entire aircraft to break apart and explode in mid-air.

............

[Various Shulshagana tron]

At the same moment that Zero's attention was drawn to the aircraft, an ethereal hymn was sung in the style of Tsukuyomi, and pink gear covered her body.

She acted decisively and swiftly as always. If she hadn't had the initial advantage, she probably would already be... Hurry, this is the only chance.

Inside Tsukuyomi's body, watching Zero enter battle mode almost instantly, Finney felt a mix of emotions and urged Tsukuyomi to hurry up.