Sky Striker Princess, but the swan song of Valkyrie.

You should know that in the past, she received Lingyi's training together with Xiaoqiege and Maria. It took the three of them to barely withstand Lingyi's attacks from all sides.

[Watch out, another attack is coming, aimed at overhead!]

Before he could say much, Finney, who shared Tsukuyomi's perception, urgently reminded him. There was no other way but to once again clear his mind of distractions and focus on the battle.

"What exactly happened? Was Tiao really bewitched by Finney? Death."

Meanwhile, Xiaoqiege, who had been left aside after the battle began, found a safe place and watched the battle, which she knew nothing about, with great confusion.

"I completely don't understand! Mingming is so smart, what did Finney say to her? And who should I believe now, Death? What should I do?"

After staring for a moment, Xiaoqiege felt that her brain was not working properly.

She wanted to believe that her friend was very smart and that there must be a reason for her actions, and that she wouldn't be swayed by others.

However, the current situation, with the other party betraying Lingyi who has always taken good care of them and choosing to cooperate with Finny, seems to indicate that the facts are indeed as Lingyi said.

"Tiao, what are you thinking? Why won't you tell me about Death?"

Xiaoqiege, who couldn't understand it at all, looked at the fierce battle that had already started with gunfire and dust in just over a minute, and felt somewhat depressed.

"After this battle, we absolutely must find out... um, what was that? A missile? Death?"

Just as Xiaoqiege was idly pondering, she suddenly noticed that from the distant sky, there seemed to be a white flying object rapidly approaching them.

boom!

At the same time, the brief battle between Zero and Tsukuyomi Tsurugi also came to an end. At this time, Tsukuyomi Tsurugi's armor had completely disintegrated, and coupled with the side effects of overusing Linker, he was on the ground, painfully opening and closing his eyes.

Although Tsukuyomi managed to maintain her defense as much as possible using the power of her ultimate song and Finney, she was ultimately no match for Zero in her serious state.

In the end, as Tsukuyomi's body was gripped by the black anchor, she was hit by tiger shark cannons fired from four directions. Zero broke through her defenses and used Flash Blade to forcefully knock her from her final state to disintegration.

"It's over. What a hassle. Why did I have to go through all this trouble? The result is still the same."

Standing before the disintegrated Tsukuyomi Chō, Rei breathed a sigh of relief and prepared to continue the action that had been interrupted by Tsukuyomi Chō's final song, which was to take the other party back.

"It's different. We've already gained enough time."

However, faced with this desperate scene, Tsukuyomi Tsubasa was unexpectedly relaxed, because she also saw the scene that Akatsuki Kirika had seen.

Chapter Fifty-Nine Strategic Retreat

"Time... huh?"

Lingyi was still pondering the meaning of those words when a red alert notification appeared in front of her.

"That's... a missile?"

Looking up at the sky, Lingyi quickly identified the cause of the alarm: a small white missile flying towards her.

"Is that so? So that's how it is. Was the noise just now meant to lure those guys here?"

Soon, Lingyi realized why the other party had come.

It was the noise released by Phineas, who opened the Babylonian Treasury within Tsukuyomi's body, just now in the tunnel, and the resulting disturbance was observed by Section Two.

Things are getting complicated.

Lingyi was in a bad mood. She reached out, picked up the Tiger Shark Cannon, aimed it at the missile trajectory calculated by the fire control system, and pulled the trigger.

The artillery accurately hit the missile, but the 'weapon' inside had already detached from the vehicle before the impact, and the red, yellow and blue tricolor figures leaped into the air.

"As expected, it's you Second Division again."

There were no unexpected targets. Facing the three who were already prepared, Zero's response was the Tiger Shark Cannon, which was already loaded. Soon, the second shell was fired at the three in the air.

"Miss Tsubasa!" "Senpai!" "Ah, I understand!"

Faced with the incoming artillery fire, the three men instantly devised a countermeasure.

Immediately, the wind-blown wings in the air adjusted their posture using the mobility of the Ame no Habakiri and forcefully stepped on Tachibana Hibiki and Chris.

Using this force, the Tiger Shark Cannon's fire passed through the three of them, while also accelerating Tachibana Hibiki and Chris's descent.

Without a moment's hesitation, Tachibana Hibiki, whose descent speed had increased, activated the thrusters in her feet, adjusted her posture, and aimed at Rei, who had just fired.

"Haa!"

Immediately, from top to bottom, Tachibana Hibiki used all her strength to swing her fist like a meteorite impact.

"cut……"

Faced with this powerful punch that seemed to have gathered an unknown amount of force, Zero had no choice but to activate the thrusters on his back and leap backward, causing Tachibana Hibiki's attack to miss its mark on the ground.

"Tiao Jiang, you're on our side now, aren't you!"

Although her attack missed, Hibiki Tachibana had already achieved her goal. After forcing Rei to move, she went directly to Tsukuyomi, who had just been knocked to the ground, and questioned her while protecting her behind her.

"Yes, I'm on your side."

Without much hesitation, Tsukuyomi clearly stated her position to him.

"That's good. Although I have many questions for you, Tiao-chan, I must focus on defeating Zero now."

After confirming Tsukuyomi's stance, Tachibana Hibiki's expression relaxed slightly, and then she looked at Rei, who had already swung her blade at her.

"ha! "

Just as Tachibana Hibiki was about to counterattack, she noticed a floating unit appearing amidst Zero's offensive posture. Immediately afterwards, thick smoke temporarily obscured her vision.

"Just this much... Phew, calm down."

This wasn't the first time Tachibana Hibiki had had her vision stolen, and she had undergone special training to counter this tactic.

Immediately afterwards, Tachibana Hibiki, having released all her senses, turned around and shattered the anchor that was trying to slide in from behind with a spinning kick.

Then, after regaining her balance, she swung her fist overhead, scattering several Tiger Shark Cannons that were firing at her from above.

clang--

Then, without stopping for a moment, a rapid punch forced Zero, who was about to capture Tsukuyomi, to turn back and defend.

"Ah, you've gotten even stronger than last time."

Lingyi was slightly annoyed that she had not achieved her goal.

"Of course, during this time I underwent Master's hellish training, so I won't be fooled by you again, Zero-chan! I won't be fooled again!"

Standing guard in front of Tsukuyomi, Tachibana Hibiki loudly proclaimed.

"……trouble."

Looking at this musician whose body had few flaws, Lingyi felt a great headache.

It should be noted that her operation was very rushed, and she only had time to bring basic equipment and her environmental information was also very insufficient.

In this situation, the chances of successfully reclaiming Tsukuyomi and Finny from a powerful fusion entity are not very optimistic.

"Let's give it a try, though."

Lingyi couldn't let Finney move freely, so she decided to try it herself first.

Then, with that thought in mind, she first dodged the barrage of missiles that erupted from behind her—an attack from Chris, who had already settled down and set up her machine guns.

"Ha, I thought you'd forgotten me, Zero."

Chris said with some regret, and the next moment her dual Gatling guns began to spin at Zero.

Faced with Chris's provocation, Zero remained silent. He simply dodged the barrage of bullets to the side while raising his hand and swinging his Flash Blade upwards, deflecting the countless small knives released by Kazanari Tsubasa that were falling towards him from mid-air.

"Surrender now, your companions have already been captured."

After unleashing its attack, Kazanami landed on the ground, next to Akatsuki, who had just been trying to escape.

"Sorry, death..."

Xiaoqiege wanted to run away when she saw the missile, but the situation developed too quickly, and before she could take any action, this happened.

At this point, Hibiki Tachibana, Chris, and Tsubasa Kazanari surrounded Rei on the ground, adopting an offensive stance.

"Ah, this has become the most troublesome situation... Judging from what we just saw, their combat strength and teamwork have improved a lot compared to last time. It seems they have undergone a lot of special training."

After observing the situation on the battlefield and silently pondering it, Lingyi's mood plummeted.

Facing three greatly improved opponents while not in their best condition, and attempting to kidnap Tsukuyomi and Akatsuki Kirika while under Tachibana Hibiki's close protection, is undoubtedly a hellish challenge.

and so……

"Alright, congratulations, you won this time, Finney. It's really impossible for me to take you back now."

After a moment, Lingyi, having figured it out, relaxed and spoke in a light tone to Tsukuyomi, who was hiding behind Tachibana Hibiki.

"Hey, wait a minute, you wouldn't be thinking of..."

Seeing Zero's attitude, Chris had a bad feeling.

"Goodbye."

Without the slightest hesitation, the wings on Zero's back unfolded, and the roar of the engine began.

Yes, that's right. Since the challenge is too difficult, giving up is also an option. Blindly gambling with your own assumptions of victory and taking risks only increases the chances of failure.

Since the battle situation is unfavorable, strategic retreat and prioritizing self-preservation are the best options.

Chapter Sixty: Warming Up

"Goodbye."

As soon as she uttered those words, Lingyi leaped swiftly into the air.

"Damn it!"

Seeing Zero's actions, Chris, realizing what was happening, immediately tried to intercept him with the magic bow's barrage.

However, as Zero's steady upward trajectory amidst the machine gun fire and missiles came into view, Chris realized that she alone could not stop Zero, who was determined to escape.

"There's nothing we can do, Chris-chan, don't be angry. This is the best we could achieve."

A few seconds later, looking at Rei, who had already turned into a small dot in the sky, Hibiki Tachibana helplessly comforted Chris, who was still indignant.

Although she wanted to stop Rei from leaving, doing so would only create an opening for Rei to kidnap Tsukuyomi, so she had to stay by Tsukuyomi's side at all times.

For the same reason, Kazami Wing was unable to take any further action to obstruct them.

"I know, I'm angry because I'm not good enough. If my shooting were more accurate, at least I could... well, I still don't feel right."

Chris tried to imagine the scene where she could intercept the other party if she tried a little harder, but then realized that she couldn't imagine it at all.

"It's alright, Chris. At least this time we did weaken their fighting strength and successfully captured two of their musicians."

Holding the somewhat silent Xiaoqiege in one arm, Fengmingyi moved to their side and comforted them.

To be honest, she was prepared for a fierce battle, but for some reason, Lingyi not only didn't escalate the conflict, but instead took a step back.

"Tiao Jiang, your name is Tiao, right? Can I ask why you had a conflict with Lingyi?"

At this moment, Tachibana Hibiki, who had relaxed, couldn't wait to ask a FIS member who seemed to have a conflict with Rei about what they had gained from this trip.

"Tiao Jiang, what are you thinking about?"

Hibiki Tachibana, who was asking the question, felt something was off because she noticed that Tsukuyomi was deep in thought, seemingly pondering something.

"I'll answer that question later. Right now, I want you to return to your headquarters immediately!"

Then, before Tachibana Hibiki could ask any further questions, Tsukuyomi, or rather, Finney within her, raised her head and warned the three who had just relaxed for a moment.

Eyes...wait!

"This kind of thing... ah, it's something she could do."

"Oops! "

With the warning from Tsukuyomi, the three suddenly realized an obvious fact: with all the musicians now out in action, the Second Division's headquarters seemed to be slightly vulnerable.

So, here's a simple question: Having just been rebuffed by them, and with the defenses now weakened, will Rei take this opportunity to do something to minimize the losses of this operation? [Tachibana, Yukine, Tsubasa, temporary headquarters…as soon as possible…sizzle—whoosh—]

Before the three could think or act further, a distress call from Section Two revealed a terrible truth to them.

"That should work."

Above the temporary headquarters of Section Two, Zero released the overheated Tiger Shark Cannon from her hand, letting it fall into the portal below the device.

Below her was the massive submarine that had been ravaged and destroyed on the sea surface, serving as the temporary headquarters of Section Two.

This was not out of pointless reasons such as venting anger, but rather a necessary modification to the plan made by Lingyi after the unexpected incident.

Originally, she thought that the three musicians on her side were strong enough to ensure the safety of the territory.