Sky Striker Princess, but the swan song of Valkyrie.

"even so!"

But at the same time, facing this slash that was mixed with enormous flames and energy, Tachibana Hibiki took a step forward without the slightest intention of backing down.

"Hoo, ha, then let's indulge ourselves this once, and subdue her with Ignite's maximum output!"

[(Chris) New Era ∧ Pumpkin]

Seeing the determination in Hibiki Tachibana's eyes, Chris also dispelled her fear, came behind Hibiki, supported her back, and proposed the next battle plan.

"We won't back down here, Miss Tsubasa, Chris-chan, let's go together!"

[(Hibiki) Legend of O Future Force]

With her hand on her chest, Hibiki Tachibana was in an even more powerful state, having removed all restrictions, going from [Darkening] to [Whiteening] and then to [Redening] – a complete restriction-removal mode.

"We must gamble everything here; there is no better time than now for a desperate, life-or-death strike!"

[(Wing) Feather Strike Will One Person's Book (Eight)]

Kazanari Tsubasa also came up behind Tachibana Hibiki, her hand on her chest and her eyes showing no hesitation or wavering.

[ ] In the past, (Xiang) Chao Yuanda (Yi) Xian [Ren]

"Sword Draw - Full Insurance Mode Deactivated!"

More energy is channeled into the combat form, which puts a greater strain on the body but grants power that is almost at its limit.

"The History of the 108th Anniversary of Creation"

Almost the instant the full insurance mode was deactivated, Zero's attack arrived, a heavy and powerful blow colliding with Tachibana Hibiki's arms.

"Even if it's a demonic sword, even if it's fused, so what? This armor's output is comparable to your Miracle Mode!"

At the moment of impact, the defenses constructed by the three musicians were put to a tremendous test. Under the intense heat and the impact of the immense force, even the armored arm of Tachibana Hibiki, who was at the forefront, groaned in pain.

Barring unforeseen circumstances, the weak Symphogear, even with the added power of the Demon Sword Dainsleb, should not have been able to withstand the impact of the rekindled flames.

"Set Harmonics! S2CA bursts into action, holding someone else's hand is my AmdGear!"

However, there is another possibility, one that only Tachibana Hibiki could achieve: armed with holding someone's hand, she is able to gather the power of others into herself.

Now, she is trying to absorb the immense energy of Lingyi's rekindled flames into her own body and use Lingyi's power to fight against it.

"How is this possible?! Such a reckless approach!?"

Rei was somewhat shocked to feel the power used for attack being slowly absorbed by Hibiki Tachibana. Absorbing this power, which was not a string enhancement, could, in the worst case, cause the opponent's Gear to explode.

[Kizuna, Heart, -ClC Binding Rights]

As Tachibana Hibiki continued singing, she raised her head, and her eyes shone with a heterochromatic gaze that had appeared long ago—a gaze that was both emerald green and crimson.

A long time ago, when facing Finney, Zero briefly activated a full Flash Blade combo to help Tachibana Hibiki and the others activate XD Mode.

Meanwhile, during the confrontation, Tachibana Hibiki, acting irrationally, combined her Gear with the memory of that continuous sword strike, and actually connected her armor with Zero's Ryouri armor in reverse.

In this way, they briefly gained the ability to turn the opponent's power into their own.

[Hibiki D Watari Nozomi O) sound]

"We've connected, but they're still as good at messing around as ever. I can't lose!"

Sensing Hibiki Tachibana's actions and the power emanating from her, Chris fully activated the magic bow, using herself as Hibiki Tachibana's energy reservoir. However, as a price, she felt a burning pain surging from the inside out, piercing her nerves.

[Faith is essential for good deeds]

"The sword meant to protect against others has been transformed into wings to help a caged bird fly freely!"

Kazanari Tsubasa also took the same action, helping Tachibana Hibiki share the power drawn from the high temperature in front of her, and the armor on her body also showed signs of high-temperature cracking as the energy gathered.

[(Wing Moon Ripple 1 Lin Fin] Si Qi~^?「?）Bai Yuan (Evening) Possibility [C (Hibiki) □

"They actually turned the tables and overpowered us?"

With this shift in momentum, Lingyi realized that the offensive of her Liaoli armor had actually changed from overwhelming to a counterattack, and was gradually pushing back.

[(Wing) Fly 5(Evening) ( )]

Upon seeing the victory, Kazanari Tsubasa and Chris continued to endure the impact and offer support to Tachibana Hibiki.

"Miracle Ren, Lightning Machine!!!"

Hibiki Tachibana lived up to her companions' expectations, shouting and singing. The flames of the rekindled fire gathered in her fist, and she stepped forward. Her unparalleled and unstoppable fist crushed the blade of the Ryouri Armor without any hindrance.

Finally, burning with flames and accompanied by a mournful cry of disintegration, this punch, which gathered the power of everyone present, pierced through the chest of Zero's clone, completely destroying the core of the fire element that supplied energy to maintain the protective barrier at its center.

"Hahaha……"

Hibiki Tachibana, who had just thrown a punch, lost all her strength. She remained in the position of throwing a punch, looking at Rei, who had a large hole in her chest that revealed the mechanical structure inside, and gasped for breath.

"Did we win...?"

Seeing the armor lying motionless on the ground, disintegrating, Chris realized that they seemed to have won the battle.

"Ugh, this excruciating pain."

Meanwhile, after the outbreak ended, the aftereffects of the reckless actions began to appear, and Feng Mingyi felt a pain in his heart as if something was growing there.

[This is too reckless, everyone. The battle just now has significantly increased your fusion progress with the artifacts. If this continues... after a few more battles, your fusion progress will quickly catch up to what Tachibana-san was at.]

Elfnein provided information to the three musicians about their current physical condition.

P.S. Good evening.

Chapter Thirty-Nine: Support and Confrontation with Sa Tian

Although the group managed to defeat one of Zero's armors thanks to Hibiki Tachibana's exceptional performance, they also paid a price. The most serious price was the significant increase in the fusion progress of the sacred artifacts within her body.

Drawing the sword ultimately utilizes the power of the artifact's rampage, which naturally comes with the side effect of the artifact's rampage during the fusion period. This means that the fusion process is greatly accelerated, ultimately turning the user into a humanoid artifact and causing the user to lose their life.

"Hmm, is that so? Don't worry, Elfnein-chan, we absolutely won't die! We'll live to save Rei-chan, and then we'll definitely celebrate the happy ending together!"

Hibiki Tachibana was concerned about Elfne's physical condition, but not particularly concerned.

The fact that great power comes with risks is something that she and the other musicians were already aware of. Since they had chosen this path, they would not regret it.

[I understand... Now, let's report on the battle situation. Because the fire node has been destroyed, the cycle of the four elements has been disrupted, and the activity of the other element nodes has decreased. If we can take this opportunity to destroy the remaining nodes, we can open the gate to the interior.]

[Miss Maria, Miss Tsukuyomi, Miss Kirika, and Miss Kohinata have already begun their battle. However, they are currently engaged in a fierce struggle. Although we really don't want you, Miss Tachibana, to have to fight again, we still need your fighting abilities.]

Faced with Tachibana Hibiki's performance, Elfnein understood that in order to win the battle against Zero, she had to abandon any unnecessary thoughts and devote all her fighting strength to it.

So, after calming herself down, she began to slowly explain the current situation to Tachibana Hibiki and the others who were recuperating in the already shattered alternate dimension.

"Okay, I understand. It's okay, I feel just right now."

Hibiki Tachibana didn't feel much about it; after resting for a while, she felt her body full of energy again.

Although fusion carries the risk of costing one's life, it does indeed greatly enhance the fused individual's various qualities, including resilience.

"What should we do, Elfnein?"

Kazami Wing did not refuse and directly asked Elfnein how to get to support the others.

I will show you the way. Follow my directions, pass through the rift in the phase space, and reach the node where the other elements are located. The first node is in the sky, and I suggest Miss Chris go to provide support.

Elfnein immediately explained her plan.

"Okay, I understand completely. Now, let's smash these nodes to pieces and defeat that guy in a satisfying way."

After listening to Elfnein's words, Chris took the lead, missiles appeared on her body, and she flew into the sky following Elfnein's instructions, stepping on the missiles.

"Yukine is being a little too hasty. Tachibana, let's hurry over there too."

"Okay, see you later, Miss Tsubasa!"

Afterwards, watching Chris's departing figure, Kazanari Tsubasa and Tachibana Hibiki, following Elfnein's instructions, went to the designated locations one after another.

Before long, as if passing through a soap bubble, Chris felt the temperature around her suddenly drop, no longer as hot as before.

"According to Elfnein, there's a node in this new space that we must shatter... But where exactly is it?"

Following Elphnein's instructions, Chris wanted to find the elemental nodes in this space.

But soon she discovered that it wasn't so easy. Compared to the previous lava area where the nodes were easily identifiable, the entire space here was filled with warm clouds.

A gloomy, gray cloud blanketed the entire area, reducing visibility to a very low level.

"Elphnein, what's going on here? Not only is the space ridiculously large, but it's also filled with so much fog."

Completely bewildered, Yukine Chris tries to seek intelligence support from Elfnein, who is in charge of logistics.

[Miss Tachibana, that's not the way, oh no, don't go the wrong way... Ruan, have we arrived at Miss Chris's side yet?]

Because she had to process information from three to four battlefields simultaneously and provide corresponding support and reminders, Elfnein's voice sounded somewhat busy.

"Ah, we've arrived, but all we see here is an endless expanse of gray and white clouds."

Chris reported on the situation on her side.

[Miss Chris, I remember the situation on your end is... Anyway, be careful of your surroundings. I'm making contact... Be careful, Miss Chris!]

Seeing this, Elfnein planned to help Chris contact her companions in this space, but just then, she suddenly noticed something and loudly reminded Chris.

"Watch out...what?!"

Chris didn't understand what Elfnein was referring to, but the next moment, she memorized Elfnein's warning with her body.

A beam of emerald green light suddenly shot out from the clouds in an unknown direction. The high-speed, high-energy beam swept past Chris, whose hair stood on end, and struck the missile at her feet, causing it to explode.

"Pfft—cough cough, damn it, resorting to such a dirty trick!"

Recovering from the explosion, Chris recreated a missile and clung to it to avoid falling. She then aimed her magic bow at the location where the light cannon had appeared, transformed it into a machine gun, and unleashed a barrage of suppressive fire.

Did you hit it?

However, Chris's attack disappeared into the mist as if it had vanished into thin air, leaving no trace of whether it had achieved its intended effect.

Watch out behind you... wait, there's another direction... a delayed attack?!

The warning from Elfnein rang in Chris's mind, but Chris was now completely unable to perfectly stop the attack that was launched simultaneously from two directions, one after the other.

boom

As the smoke cleared, Chris looked at the two explosions that had been blocked in front of her, still shaken. One of them was deflected by the [Reflecting Crystal], while the other was intercepted by a purple-red beam of light sniped from another direction.

"Chris, are you alright?"

The next moment, the owner of the purplish-red beam, Kohinata Mirai, wearing a purple gear, flew to Chris's side. Clearly, the beam that had just saved her was emitted by Kohinata Mirai's Divine Beast Mirror.

"It's alright, thanks to Kohinata's help just now. By the way, you're the one fighting here, so are you the only one here, Kohinata? What's going on here?"

Having recovered, Chris maneuvered the missile to hover beside Kohinata Mirai, helping her fend off stray shots from all directions while inquiring about the situation on the other side.

"Well, of the remaining people, only my gear has the ability to fly and hover, so this aerial battlefield without any foothold was entrusted to me by Elfnein."

"During my time here, I have made some initial observations. This place seems to be a vast, boundless space filled only with clouds and water vapor, and attacks occasionally emerge from the depths of the clouds."

"I was the only one who was completely overwhelmed by attacks from all sides. I was only able to catch my breath a little before Chris arrived, for some reason she stopped attacking."

Kohinata Mirai nodded, indicating that she was the only one holding things up here, and shared the information she had gathered with Chris.

[This is the location of the air element node. According to data analysis, it is likely guarded by the dark green long-range attack armor that once destroyed Pharah.]

If we can find the other party, we might be able to destroy the node here.

Elfnein didn't know much about this environment, so she could only share the existing information as much as possible.

"Sniping from a distance is such a sneaky fighting tactic."

She then used the deflector to deflect the laser beams that were flying toward her. Chris was slightly dissatisfied with the opponent's insidious tactics, but she also knew that this fighting method was Zero's favorite way of fighting.

"Chris, is there nothing you can do either?"

Koji asks the future, while simultaneously releasing a melting attack beam from the Mirror, melting the bullets that are attacking him.

"There's still a way, Hinata. Help me clear a safe environment. When it comes to sniping skills, I'm very confident!"

Chris was quite confident about this; putting aside her other combat abilities, she was among the top players in terms of rapid aiming and sniping alone.

"I understand. I won't let you be affected, Chris."

Knowing Chris's thoughts, Kohinata Mirai immediately manipulated more mirrors to appear in a 360-degree rotation around her, constantly either blocking or neutralizing the light bullets fired from tricky angles.

“RED ) HOT BLA韭0溜思留捌疤ZE”

Under Kohinata Mirai's protection, Chris activated the electronically assisted aiming system, transforming her weapon into a sniper rifle. The detection radar on her armor gradually outlined the shape of the armored figure that was firing sniper shots at them.

"Found it!"