Volume 14, 26: The Pace Ahead

Volume 14, Chapter 26: The Pace Ahead

Bless your load

Bless your song

Bless your blessing

The battle to defend their positions for ten minutes began directly below the Leviathan.

A black force flew down toward a forest of anti-air fire coming from Shinjou and the other gunners.

The angels with the vacant minds of dolls did not fear the cannon fire.

Even if they were hit or destroyed, the concept release would be stopped as long as they managed to crush those below.

So on the Leviathan’s instructions, the black army cascaded downward.

But something happened once they arrived above Shinjuku Station.

“!?”

At only fifty meters above the earth seal, they collided with a wall.

It was an invisible wall.

“UCAT automatons! Use your full power!!”

On #8’s command, a circle of maids raised their arms in front of the station.

They were all heavily equipped with philosopher’s stone fuel tanks and radiator fins on their shoulders and backs.

They almost seemed to have several wings.

“Blow them away!!” ordered #8.

Heat shimmered behind them all, but they crouched down and…

“Testament!!”

A gravity lens created a defense barrier above them and they swung it like a tennis racket to perform a smash.

The sound of attack rang out.

With a bursting sound from the basin below, the black cascade scattered explosions and fragments through the sky.

The automatons were already preparing to form a second lens defense, but…

“————!!”

A new explosion shook the sky above.

Something was firing down on them.

The enemy attack tore through hundreds of their own on the way down.

The new black army cleared a path by splitting their own forces with gun and cannon fire.

They were fast and the gravity lens would not be up in time, but…

“Covering fire!!”

This cannon fire came from every direction.

The high-speed gunners on the vanguard of all eight armies had fired.

To #8 and the others, it looked like light was binding together the sky above.

The attacks from eight directions wore down the front of the descending black army, shrinking their numbers and slowing them. Even more fragments were created on the leading edge of that cascade.

It was working, but…

“Are we still not going to make it!?”

#8 calculated that they needed about another thirty seconds to open the defense lens.

And if the enemy pushed their way in before that…

“Protect Shinjou-sama even if nothing else!”

The others expressed their agreement with her shared thought.

“I have determined that is known as loyalty!!”

At the same time, a new figure appeared at the center of their group.

An old man in a lab coat had rushed over while they were focused on the sky.

“#-#8-kun! Are we in trouble here!? I-is poor old Kazuo here going to die!?”

“Testament. I do not mind in the slightest if you are the only one to die.”

“That’s just mean! And after I brought a secret weapon with me too!”

Ooshiro pulled ropes from his pockets and let them dangle from his hands.

Several silver squares hung from the thin ropes.

“These are a new type of localized bomb! With this many, it should be a real sight to see, don’t you think!?”

“Testament. Referring to your filthiness in a quantified manner such as ‘this many’ is certainly a revolutionary idea, Ooshiro-sama. So what are you going to do with those?”

“Oh, well, I was thinking you could throw them into the midst of the enemy with your gravity lens.”

“I see.” #8 nodded. “But if we used the lens for that, we would be left completely defenseless.”

“O-oh, um…”

Ooshiro was caught off guard by that and #8 tapped his shoulder.

“Ooshiro-sama, please turn around for a moment.”

“Hm? Why? Do I have something on my back?”

#8 used a permanent marker to write a single word on the back of his lab coat: rocket.

She then looked around with an impatient look on her face.

“Does anyone have a light!? Anyone at all!?”

“Nwaaaah!!”

Ooshiro cried out as some South African UCAT members wearing white triangular masks rushed forward and fired their flamethrowers toward his feet.

“Let your youth blast off!!”

A moment later, Ooshiro Kazuo really did blast off.

A giant explosion suddenly appeared in the center of the black army descending below the Leviathan.

The giant pink blast covered a vertical area of three kilometers and was shaped like a heart.

Thousands of angel automatons, gods of war, and mechanical dragons were swallowed up and vanished despite their attempts to escape.

“—————!!”

The trailing notes of the explosion sounded oddly FM synthesized.

But all of the UCAT members reacted to the pink pulse phenomenon lingering in the air.

“That’s UCAT Director Ooshiro!”

“Oh! Is that what you call Kleshas!?”

“是変態的爆発也!?”

After a few multilingual comments, they all joined together.

“That UCAT director just took all the world’s misdirection with him!!”

Waves of cheers ran through the armies in all eight directions.

But they stopped after the fifth cheer.

The flow of black had started toward the eight surrounding directions in addition to directly below.

The Leviathan was now sending its main force in every direction.

The first minute began of the ten they had to defend.

The light of the Concept Core filled the sky of northeastern Region 2, where 1st-Gear defended.

It looked like a cloud, like a dragon, and somewhat like…

“Fafnir?” muttered Brunhild.

She stabbed Gram into the ground and raised her own weapon.

That weapon was the Requiem Sense.

The dragon made of light was also made of writing. The pale, glowing writing were packed in tightly and gently floated through the air as if to say it was 1st-Gear itself.

The distant sounds of cannon fire were growing closer.

The front line was being pushed back and this area would soon become a battlefield.

The Leviathan’s goal was to stop the Concept Cores from being activated.

Just as UCAT’s side had stopped the positive concepts from being created, the Leviathan would win if it could stop just one point.

Can we really do this? wondered Brunhild.

She frowned and gave a tense gasp when she saw the black light of the enemy beyond the road and beyond the trees of the park.

Suddenly, something tapped on her leg.

She looked down and saw a black cat looking up at her.

“Do you think we’re going to die?”

“You certainly like to reach extreme conclusions.”

“But…what happens if we do die?”

“Oh? You want to find out?”

“…What is that cold look for?”

“Well, I was just thinking I could help you on your way if you were interested.”

“C’mon, now. Ha ha ha. You don’t have to do anything like- ahee hee hee hee! Ahhh! It’s coming out!”

“Shut up,” said Brunhild as she stood back up.

The cat lying limp on the ground had distracted her, but she was still worried.

After all, 1st-Gear had been the lowest Gear during the Concept War and their enemy was the highest of Gears.

…Can we do this?

But just as she thought that, she saw something.

It was a castle. She saw an image of a castle filled with flames.

…Eh?

People wearing familiar clothing were evacuating the castle.

Also, someone stood by the wall of the castle’s main passageway.

“Gutrune?”

This is the past, realized Brunhild as she looked inside the shaking castle.

The Requiem Sense was not releasing its souls, so…

“Baku!?”

In the sky above, Sayama felt Baku happily raise his front paws on his head.

The creature was showing off the past. Probably in a way that corresponded to the world’s fighting below.

“7th-Gear’s concepts are filling this space, too.”

Baku devoured people’s pasts in the form of dreams.

And he had a further effect in this space so filled with concepts.

“By overlapping the wills of the past or of older battles, one gains divine protection when taking similar actions.”

Sayama pulled out his cellphone and made a call.

“Sibyl-kun, I would like to order an additional concept text. There is still time, isn’t there? Make it…yes, provide divine protection from the actions of your ancestors or predecessors.”

He smiled thinly down below.

“We shall be joined and assisted by the actions of the past sixty years…no, and even those before!!”

Brunhild saw Gutrune shouting something while hiding her body below a coat.

Her face was pale, but her voice held the dignity of a princess.

“Do not panic! We have a world to go to! That world…”

Brunhild listened.

“That world will surely accept us!!”

Brunhild clenched her teeth at that.

She stood in front of Gram and looked across the others.

“It’s time to protect that world!!”

She swung her scythe and raised her voice as the black army finally came into view.

“Our princess got us to this world and it’s our duty to make it a place where we can live in peace!”

So…

“It’s time we engraved our words into this world! The fight for our honor lies here!!”

The second minute began.

2nd-Gear defended the southwestern Region 6 and Kashima had just released Totsuka’s seal.

Totsuka revealed its contents as if the string had been untied. That Cowling Sword was made from pieces of metal bearing names, but its role was complete and the rain dragon was revealed from within.

The seal’s astronomical model of names expanded in the sky and the great dragon of wind and water ascended from within.

But Kashima was more focused on Totsuka than the windy rain dragon.

He could hear everyone fighting around him.

Tsukuyomi was firing the Heavenly Moon Bow and all of those with names of military gods were on the front line.

But a sudden song filled the battlefield. It was an off-tune anime song.

“Isssss that cruel girl herrrrrre to crush your shadowwwwwwww!?”

Kashima had his back turned, but the voice approached regardless and powerfully skipped around him.

“She showwwwws no mercy to evilllll! Decapitation! Crucifixion! Throat thrust! She’ll defeat her enemy, their clan, and their retainers and put their heads on spiiiiiikes! Ohhhh, that’s right! That’s right! It’s Maaagical Girrrl Yun~!”

“It doesn’t really matter, but what part of that had the slightest thing to do with magic?”

“You idiot! Could you really not tell!? Getting that ‘~’ at the end right is really hard!”

“That isn’t what I asked.”

“Well, it’s what you should’ve asked about!! Got it!?”

Atsuta circled around in front of him and gathered his strength.

“~”

And…

“How about that!?”

“Oh, Natsu-san? Yes, I’m at work right now. Oh, well, something really pathetic just happened. Ha ha ha. Yes, I might be able to come home after a little more work. Yes, see you later. Mmmmwah.”

“Don’t get all lovey-dovey on the battlefield, you idiot!”

Kashima turned around.

“Idiot? Could you really not tell, Atsuta!? Getting that ‘mwah’ at the end right is really hard!”

Kashima held up his cellphone and pulled back his hips.

“Mwah.”

“And you call yourself a military god!?”

“It’s better than being a sword god that sings a cappella magical girl songs! Are you hearing things? Is that sword of yours picking up radio signals!? ‘Ahh, yes, this is Buddha. Someone please respond.’ ”

“Like hell that could happen, you idiot! Besides, I’m not hearing things!”

Atsuta ignored the looks of the others asking him to get back to work.

“I’m not just hearing those songs! They come from a secret place deep in my heart!”

“In other words, you’re picking up your own transmissions. That’s even worse.”

“You have to find fault with everything, don’t you!?”

Suddenly, the two of them moved back from each other.

A moment later, a pillar of light shot between them with a refreshing sound.

It was a moonlight arrow.

The one who had fired it, Tsukuyomi, kept the Heavenly Moon Bow aimed at the two men.

“Oops, my hand slipped. Sorry about that.”

“Y-you old hag! Are you picking a fight with me!?”

“Calm down, Atsuta. And Director Tsukuyomi, please wait until Atsuta moves away from me before firing on him.”

“Enough of that.”

Tsukuyomi looked around while drawing her bow.

“You can see the past around us.”

Kashima looked around them as well.

He could of course see it.

Baku was providing images of the past here in Tokyo.

The scene showed the people fleeing on the large runway below Susaou while Yamata was being sealed.

In the distance, the giant god of war wrapped its arms around the flame dragon and began absorbing the flames inside itself.

The fleeing people swept aside falling embers while they watched the seal in progress.

“Are we going to lose our world now?” asked someone in the past.

Someone else in the past answered.

It was a single engineer.

“No,” he said. “This means we managed to protect it all.”

Kashima listened to the voice as he looked down toward Totsuka in his hands.

“Director Tsukuyomi, if we win this battle…can I make a sword like this?”

“Submit a proposal. I’ll use that to decide.”

“Of course.”

Atsuta turned his back on Kashima.

“Do whatever you want, idiot. I’m on the way to the front line. I wouldn’t want to get you caught in the crossfire.”

He looked up just as black gods of war and mechanical dragons began to appear in the sky above.

The enemy’s main force was here.

They all gasped and clenched their teeth, but Atsuta raised his eyebrows in a slight smile.

“This looks like fun. I get to go on a dragon hunt!!”

He shook his body and raised his white sword.

“I can use it as many times as I want this time, so it’s time for slicing and dicing!”

The third minute began.

3rd-Gear defended the southern Region 5 and they began their fight with the enemy’s main force.

3rd-Gear had brought quite a few gods of war with them, so the southern region became a storm of shellfire and supersonic charges.

Susamikado stood at the very back, expanding the Concept Core from Keravnos, while the front line contained eight gods of war remotely piloted by Moira 2nd as well as the gods of war controlled by Gyes and Sibyl.

The in between area contained Miyako who stood with her arms crossed and Violet who was skilled at combat.

“Leave the ground battle against the angels to…u-um…us! Let’s all do our very best!”

Violet and the automatons under her command were joined by others.

“Fire both cannons!!”

Two groups created two rows of nine.

The Moirai formed gravity lens acceleration cannons to accurately fire on the flying forms.

Instead of plates, they used super-hard ceramic shells handmade by the maids. Thirty of them would work together to compress the warhead portion and the lacquer covering the entire shell gave it a refined look.

Moira 1st and Moira 3rd fired at the same time.

Wind and a great roar rose into the sky, but Miyako clicked her tongue in the center of it all.

Gods of war were growing visible between the distant buildings.

Moira 2nd, Gyes, and Sibyl were doing their best and the cannons were being fired nonstop, but the enemy was too numerous and those numbers were only growing.

…Are we in trouble here?

According to the reports, the other groups had their hands full dealing with their own enemy reinforcements.

This was only the third minute, so they still had seven more minutes to go.

Miyako clenched her teeth and ground them. But then…

“Sister!!”

Moira 2nd cried out from the remote piloting device behind them.

She had seen something making its way down the road up ahead.

They were Lords gods of war. Those two-winged models were the most powerful among the Leviathan’s forces.

There were five of them and they were using their speed to break in.

“!”

Moira 1st and 3rd fired their acceleration cannons.

In that instant, the five enemies formed a row to charge the front lines.

Moira 3rd’s shell missed and 1st’s tore through the first of the enemies.

But the second enemy behind it used its sword to slice through the destroyed god of war.

The remaining four charged in without slowing down.

A moment later, green gods of war charged in from either side, swords at the ready.

These two were controlled by Moira 2nd.

But the second black god of war moved forward and swung its two swords to either side.

They collided.

The two black swords hit the green ones, but it took a sword as well.

All three were sliced in two at the same moment.

“————!!”

The third black one sliced through the second one from behind.

The remaining three continued forward. Their speed had not dropped. If anything, it had risen.

In an instant, the colors red and silver appeared before Miyako’s eyes.

It was Gyes and Sibyl.

Their gods of war moved in front to intercept the enemy.

The three black machines moved apart in response.

One moved right, one moved left, and one stayed in the center.

Gyes’s god of war moved left, Sibyl’s moved right, and the center black one passed between them and raised its blade toward Miyako.

It was coming, but someone responded.

“Ohhhhh!!”

It was Gyes.

Even as her god of war collided with the enemy on the left, she jumped toward the central enemy.

Her left arm was instantly severed by the god of war’s blade.

It sounded like tearing fibers.

She was hit by an impact too, but Gyes continued with her duty.

One-handed, she drew ten swords from below her suit and controlled them all via gravity.

“You stand in the presence of our princess!!”

She thrust all ten swords into the neck of the god of war as it swung down its sword.

She could not cut the neck frame, but the various control conduits were all severed at once.

“…!”

After losing control, the god of war fell to its knees.

And it fell over.

Gyes also fell onto her side. She had used up her charged gravitational control, so she needed a moment to recover.

Realizing that, Miyako ran over to her.

But at that moment, she noticed another black god of war in the sky behind the collapsing one.

“Did it come from above!?”

This enemy was targeting Miyako, their commander.

It spread its wings and charged in, using the collapsing god of war as a shield.

The Moirai could not fire their cannons and the gods of war would not make it in time.

But at that moment…

“————!!”

Miyako saw something.

As the black god of war raised its sword and charged in, a light blue god of war appeared behind it.

That sky-colored god of war looked somehow like Typhon.

However, Miyako clearly saw a transparent woman standing on its chest.

Is that…? she wondered before Moira 1st gave a cry.

“Lady Artemis!?”

The blue god of war moved. It grabbed the wrist of the black god of war’s raised arm.

“————!”

Artemis swung her arm and the blue god of war pulled out the black arm.

With a sound of breaking, the black god of war finally noticed this enemy.

But it was too late.

The blue god of war grabbed the black sword and looked at it just as Artemis did.

“…”

It threw it aside. She had not taken a liking to it.

Instead, it drew a sword from its own shoulder and the sharp blade emitted the color of moonlight.

“———————”

The crescent moon sliced apart the nearly pitch black god of war.

Miyako was safe, but…

“Why?” she muttered.

Her shoulders had fallen, but someone placed their hand on them.

The hand belonged to a young man.

“Sorry about the wait, Miyako.”

The owner of the voice stepped up alongside her in white clothing and faced forward.

His yellow eyes looked to the woman standing on the light blue god of war. He looked to the blue eyed woman.

“Thank you.”

Hearing those words, the woman vanished with a smile.

“Now,” he said while extending a hand with a smile of his own. “What is the matter, Miyako?”

“Why?” she asked with her voice crumbling. “Why!?”

His smile deepened.

“Who was it that remade that god of war and placed Typhon’s pilot tank inside to stabilize it? And who was it that bothered to bring it here? Also…”

He looked to the sky. Light spread through that cloudy sky. It was the light of the Concept Core being released.

“This happened because the Tartaros Concept Core is being released. Everyone was urging me on. They were asking what kind of king lies around when his queen is working so very hard. …Yet I am the sun, so shouldn’t I be able to sleep at night?”

He laughed and held his hand even further out toward her.

“Let us go, Miyako.”

“I-I…”

She looked to the light blue god of war.

“I only know how to drive a motorcycle.”

“That is wonderful. I do not know how to drive a motorcycle.”

“U-um, and this will mean three people are piloting the thing!”

“We are all family, aren’t we?”

He looked straight at her before continuing.

“Do not cry, Miyako.”

He nodded.

“Let us go together to bring an end to those tears.”

The fourth minute began.

5th-Gear defended the western skies of Region 7 and those skies became an intense battlefield for all that flew.

American UCAT’s concept space combat F-15ARs achieved thrust from a “falling” concept and achieved high mobility by using their normal accelerators for secondary thrust and turning.

The nozzles could turn their vectors to the side and had been enlarged, but they used their ailerons and other equipment to drift through the air with a pilot inside.

Those fighters were protected by blue mechanical dragons equipped with additional accelerators.

Those Blanca models were air superiority defense craft with normal cruising frames.

Those blue fighters and blue dragons tore at the black dragons.

“Don’t rush this!” shouted a transmission. “Use groups of two to attack a single enemy! If you think you aren’t going to make it, break away!”

They all looked down where a blue and white mechanical dragon was crouched down hiding in the roundabout in front of a Chuo Line station.

White light was escaping from below the dragon.

Thunder Fellow was releasing the Vesper Cannon’s power.

Someone spoke over their communicator.

“Protect her.”

They sounded like their teeth were clenched.

“It’s our turn to protect her.”

“Were you there back then?”

Finally, another voice spoke.

“So was I. I saw her flying through the sky.

“She was so fast. I couldn’t turn around in time.”

“Before that, I never thought I’d see something faster than you getting rejected.”

The men laughed, but some of them could be heard getting shot down.

The flames of main cannons flew and the UCAT anti-air bullets were sometimes deflected even with a direct hit.

The enemy had the greater numbers.

The blue wind was being pushed back by the foul black wind.

“Bear with it!”

“That light down there is our flag! How can we call ourselves a free nation if we can’t even protect that!?”

A voice reached them all. Even as they fought, their inspiring national anthem mixed in with the blowing wind.

It began with the first verse, moved on to the second verse, and eventually they were all singing together.

“On the shore, dimly seen through the mists of the deep.”

Most of them tried for headshots fired from head-on.

“Where the foe’s haughty host in dread silence reposes.”

The flowers of explosions reached some of them as well.

“What is that which the breeze, o’er the towering steep.”

But those remaining turned around.

“As it fitfully blows, now conceals, now discloses?”

They pursued the enemy from behind.

“Now it catches the gleam of the morning’s first beam.”

They chased them.

“In full glory reflected now shines on the stream.”

They fired on them.

“Tis the star-spangled banner! O long may it wave.”

They attacked them.

“O’er the land of the free and the home of the brave!”

The sky seemed to shatter as the battle continued. They never stopped fighting, but their enemy approached in great numbers.

“Don’t give up!!”

After all…

“No one ever gave up in our land of the free!!”

A sound and a voice answered that cry.

The sound was a metallic one. A power struck the sky and tore into the black dragons filling it.

“That’s right! That’s exactly right! We never give up! Do you understand? No one in our nation will give them ‘up’ – that is, the sky!!”

The owner of the voice stood on the station building near the blue and white mechanical dragon.

Everyone looked to that person.

“Colonel Odor!”

“No need! No need to call out to me! After all, I am a colonel and I am here! Whether you call out and confirm my presence or not, I will still be here. So fight!”

Odor raised his right arm and snapped his fingers.

“We will…! We will never give up this free sky! We decided to protect it long ago!!”

Countless figures responded by standing up from the station rooftop.

They were witches wearing black and white armored uniforms.

They all had broom-shaped flight devices next to them.

A witch with gray hair stood in the lead and she looked to the two men next to her.

“Okay, honey, Roger. We’re about to go give them a nice beating.”

“Good, good.”

Odor nodded twice and Roger pushed up his glasses.

“Diana, I see you intend to take the best role for yourself as usual.”

“My student is watching from down there, so I have to show off a little.”

Diana breathed in with her broom next to her.

“German UCAT aerial spell unit! Prepare for takeoff!”

“Testament!!”

As soon as they placed the brush of their brooms on the floor, a circle of light appeared below the brush.

More and more appeared from the front of the broom and into the sky, drawing out the course they would be taking.

“Get ready!!”

Diana sat sidesaddle on the vertical handle of the broom.

“!!”

The witch army whipped up the wind as they took flight.

With a roaring noise, they scattered paper into the sky.

Those papers flew about as glowing bullets or lines of power.

And not one of them gave up, feared, or fled.

But Roger suddenly frowned as he looked up into that high altitude battlefield.

“Is that…?”

It was the past. An event from another sky long ago was being replayed in this night sky.

The mechanical dragon pilots and witches all saw it as they flew through the sky.

A giant white mechanical dragon was flying with many smaller dragons around it.

The largest one was White Creation, the bearer of 5th-Gear’s Concept Core, and the others were an army including Xolotl 3.

They all knew that those dragons had abandoned 5th-Gear and come to Low-Gear in order to pursue Black Sun.

In the past, White Creation spoke to them all.

“We must stop this enemy who could be seen as another version of myself.”

A black gate was visible in that vast sky. Black Sun had created the giant gate to escape into Low-Gear.

White Creation accelerated toward it.

“We must stop him to protect the world of men. After all…”

White Creation continued.

“He too was created to protect!”

The fifth minute began.

6th-Gear defended the eastern skies of Region 3 as an intense battle reached them.

A unit made of the naturalized 6th-Gear residents in UCAT’s standard and special divisions was charged with defense here. They were a large force, but they could only fight on the surface and some of them were fairly inexperienced.

They had been attacked by the mechanical dragons that they were least suited to handle.

Those giant hunks of metal could fly through the sky and mow down anything on the surface. Not only that, but they had angels with them.

The metal mowed them down while the wings exterminated them.

“Don’t falter! We have gods of war!”

The gods of war developed by Japanese UCAT attacked with their cannons and swords, but they lacked the ground forces needed to assist them.

Once the people were blown away, the gods of war had no support and had to fall back lest they be isolated.

“Dammit!”

Boldman looked to the sealing barrier behind them.

Izumo was handling the Concept Core release ceremony in a supermarket parking lot.

V-Sw sat next to the boy with light escaping into the sky.

“Man, it’s cold. That light isn’t warming me up much.”

“That’s because I’m cool,” replied the weapon.

Boldman considered running over and knocking the boy to the ground, but unfortunately, the method to release the Concept Core had to fit both the weapon and its user.

“I never imagined our world’s concepts would be so easygoing.”

“Isn’t that just how things are in the world of the gods?”

That comment came from some men with dark skin.

They were either born of the same Gear or at least had some 6th-Gear blood. They were all injured, but they had smiles on their faces.

“Commander, did you know that 6th-Gear is split between a region of destruction, a region of rebirth, and a region of stillness?”

“They tried to dam up the rivers flowing between the regions – especially the river of destruction – to increase our Gear’s power.”

Boldman had heard this story from his mother.

“They created Concept Dragon Vritra to dam up that river of destruction. And to maintain a balance on the rebirth side, they created Vajra, a sword made with the same amount of concepts. But the politicians with the power to control Vajra and Vritra tried to use them to control reincarnation and a coup d’etat broke out.”

“The people decided to get rid of Vajra since it had only caused conflict. The young man who had borrowed it and contained Vritra was meant to be given all of the calamity,” said one. “And that young man was Izumo’s grandfather. He was given our misfortune. But our ancestors came to this world and ended up getting homesick.”

Boldman nodded, smiled bitterly, and lifted the equipment in his hand.

“And we took back our misfortune, didn’t we? …Resupply complete! Swap out with the vanguard!”

The men stood up along with him and nodded.

Boldman looked across them and sighed.

“Raise your hand if you ever thought you might as well die.”

They all raised their hand, so Boldman gave a deep, quiet nod.

“I understand the feeling,” he began. “But never think that again. Let’s go.”

He began to run. After a short break to resupply and reconfirm their past, they moved up ahead, ahead to the battlefield.

They made their way to the black mechanical dragons and angels.

When they did, a wind blew alongside them.

It took human form and wore a black vest over a white armored uniform.

“British UCAT!?”

“Indeed,” replied a middle-aged man with slicked back hair and a sword on his back.

Similarly equipped people lined up alongside him and so did a group in white maid uniforms.

“We are British UCAT’s concept combat unit and support automatons. Our automatons aren’t on the level of German UCAT, but we are more than competent when it comes to combat and tea.”

“Why would Britain be helping us?”

“Learn some history, gentlemen.”

With those words, the men and automatons drew their swords and faced forward.

“Men, trust in your lion’s heart and spirit’s will as you aim to dance with the darkness!”

He breathed in.

“The fog is thin tonight! A lovely darkness awaits us!!”

He then matched his speed to Boldman’s.

“Now, gentlemen, I would like you to teach us one thing. Our great nation may know how to slay monsters, but we are a tad lacking when it comes to legends of dragon slaying.”

He held his blade over his shoulder as he ran.

“Please tell us how to defeat these dragons. Do that, and I will teach you some history and how to make some excellent tea.”

The sixth minute began.

Chinese UCAT representative Chao Yu acted as 7th-Gear’s leader as he worked with American UCAT’s tank unit to attack the enemy.

The four balls were already rising into the sky.

They had been released, but they required stabilizing.

…And I will not let anyone interfere!

But the enemy’s numbers were absurd. Even Chao Yu was left short of breath dealing with them all.

A few of the American UCAT tanks had already stopped moving and now functioned as barrier walls.

But the enemy was still coming, so they had to continue fighting.

“Don’t falter!”

Chao used an acceleration charm to jump and threw aside several flying angels as he did so.

“We are the world at the moment!”

“Yes, sir!”

Those in green armored uniforms ran alongside each other. They took a sideways stance as they approached the enemy gods of war and mechanical dragons and then they rotated their arms.

“Fnn!”

Their powerful stomp stopped the mechanical dragons and gods of war in their tracks.

The next group charged in, flipped forcefully through the air, and collided with the enemy feet-first.

…Let them shake!

The masses of metal were blown away and the functioning tanks fired on them.

The enemy was broken and knocked away.

“————!”

But more enemies arrived.

The men who had charged in were exterminated before they could retreat, but…

“Even so, do not falter!!”

Chao let out the white breath of his shouting voice.

“A nation of one billion stands behind us! And the entire world stands behind that!!”

“Yes, sir!!”

They caught their breath, formed rows, and took their sideways stances.

They opened their mouths to perfectly synchronize their breathing.

They sang their national anthem: the March of the Volunteers.

“Qǐlái! Búyuàn zuò núlì de rénmen!” (Arise, we who refuse to be slaves!)

They stared down their enemy with the intense light in their eyes.

“Bǎ wǒmen de xuèròu, zhùchéng wǒmen xīn de Chángchéng!” (With our very flesh and blood let us build our new Great Wall!)

They took the first step forward.

“Zhōnghuá mínzú dào liǎo zuì wēixiǎn de shíhòu.” (The peoples of China are at their most critical time.)

They used small stomps to lightly fill their bodies with strength.

“Měi ge rén bèipò zhe fāchū zuìhòu de hǒushēng.” (Everybody must roar defiance.)

They used that strength to take an even stronger step forward.

“Qǐlái! Qǐlái! Qǐlái!” (Arise! Arise! Arise!)

They stomped right before the enemy’s eyes.

“Wǒmen wànzhòng yìxīn, Màozhe dírén de pàohuǒ, qiánjìn!” (Millions of people become one, Braving the enemy's gunfire, March on!)

They pushed their fists forward.

“Màozhe dírén de pàohuǒ, qiánjìn! Qiánjìn! Qiánjìn!” (Braving the enemy's gunfire, March on! March on! March on!)

Those fists landed.

“Jìn!” (On!)

The enemy was blown away.

And as their vision grew clear, a color reached them.

Whiteness was falling from the sky.

“It’s snow.”

The roar of battle and the changes to the air had brought it.

Snow was falling on Tokyo.

Snowflakes blossomed and fell through the darkness.

When Chao saw the scattering white, he let out a breath.

…This is going to give me a chill.

But, he thought as he moved forward and loosened his suit’s collar.

“It feels nice after warming up so much. And it makes a good story for when I get back home!”

The seventh minute began.

Abram defended the southeast for 9th-Gear and he watched the dragon of flames and shadows expanding in the sky.

That was the concept dragon of the Gear made from light and darkness.

Not even the snow was enough to slow it down as it curved its long body.

It grew ever larger like Yamata, as if to show itself off to the Leviathan above.

Abram was currently fighting alongside Japanese UCAT’s special division.

From the beginning, he had not been using B-Sp. He was using a spear reinforced by a piercing concept.

The front line was pushing the enemy back.

That was mostly because the enemy forces had been worn down by 3rd to the south and 5th to the west.

Not many of the enemy forces were being sent this way.

“We can do this! Keep attacking and moving on to the next piece of cover! If you aren’t on the front line, provide covering fire!”

Just as their front line tried to push forward, Abram heard a sudden sound in the sky.

A roar filled the snowy sky. It came from deep in the Leviathan’s throat far above.

“Is this…?”

The Leviathan was assisting its troops.

However, it was not firing or striking.

“Is it a concept!? From the excess positive ones?”

Abram and the others could not hear the emitted concept text, but the angels, mechanical dragons, and gods of war could.

No one knew what it was, but its effects became immediately clear.

Movement filled the wreckage and remains scattered around.

The destroyed but still movable ones suddenly began to get up.

It was an application of 10th-Gear’s healing concept.

Almost all of the destroyed enemy forces stood back up while healing themselves.

It was almost like those messengers of heaven were immortal.

The recovery filled every region with confusion.

Any of the pure-white or black dolls, gods of war, and mechanical dragons that had not been completely destroyed were restarted and began healing their armor and motors.

This included about seventy percent of the previously defeated enemies.

The enemy was supplied with immediate reinforcements.

They were not dead.

Unless their head was completely destroyed, they could continue to think and to move.

Those who still lived as dolls recovered in an instant.

Countless black forms stood up in the snow.

In 3rd-Gear’s region, the black gods of war abandoned behind Miyako’s group stood up. In 5th-Gear’s region, the broken and crashed mechanical dragons flew heroically back into the sky.

Most of the battlefields were caught in the middle and the front line was annihilated.

The front lines had pushed in on the black attacks, so the reactivated black machines appeared between the front line and the rear guard.

They all clenched their teeth at being surrounded like this.

“Don’t tell me the enemy was planning this!”

The Leviathan gave no answer. The great white mechanical dragon simply floated calmly in the sky.

Then a new turn of events began.

UCAT had advanced while wearing down the enemy’s numbers, but now the heavenly host recovered those worn down numbers and surrounded UCAT.

Most of the recovered enemy charged in from behind UCAT. The UCAT forces were split apart and their numbers dropped rapidly.

They had three minutes left, but the color black began to fill the battlefield.

The black momentum permeated the entire battlefield instead of just the center.

“————!!”

They did not stop.

The momentum of destruction continued devouring the people with no sign of stopping.

“Fall back!!”

Abram shouted across the chaotic battlefield.

He also told himself not to panic. The rear guard remained behind them to protect the stability of the Concept Core.

That was their foundation.

…I’m worried about the center, but we have to get back there!

So…

“Focus on falling back to the rear guard!”

But black gods of war appeared behind him.

They were the pure-white ones that had been crushed when Sayama had run through.

They now stood back up after evolving into black bodies.

Everyone who saw them said the same thing.

“Is it hopeless?”

Would the enemy continue to get back up no matter what they did or how badly they crushed them?

But a sudden voice rang out.

“It is not hopeless.”

Abram turned around to find that aged voice had come from a maid standing in front of the gods of war.

The tall doll wearing a maid uniform kept its back turned as it spoke.

“I’ll help you out since this has gotten pretty bad.”

The voice belonged to the old manager.

At the same time, black armored uniforms appeared around Abram.

They stopped their high-speed movement and they were all just as old and dark-skinned as him.

However, their eyes were sharp and they kneeled in the snow.

“We are the former 9th-Gear members of the former Army,” one said. “Our king, give us your command.”

Abram let out a white breath and listened to the distant sounds of battle.

“I am no king.”

“But you saved my life during my very first battle.”

“Still, I am no king,” insisted Abram.

He ignored the kneeling men, moved forward, and passed by the maid doll.

“Don’t throw your life away. If you try to move forward to do that, then I’ll take that life from behind. It would be a shame to let the enemy have it.”

“Yes, sir.”

Abram heard a voice behind him.

“Those familiar words have filled my body more than the chill of the snow!”

He heard them all stand up.

Abram then ran toward the enemy before him and he heard running feet following behind him.

The gods of war also began to move, but Abram raised his weapon regardless.

“Focus on regrouping with the rear guard!” he said. “Once we arrive there, the situation will be no different from the beginning of this battle! And since we have already defeated them once, assume that we have the advantage!!”

The eighth minute began.

Kazami held the north for 10th-Gear and she looked up into the snowy night sky.

The northern region was primarily defended by students and French UCAT’s god of war unit.

The students made up for their weaker attack power with numbers and the excellent defenses of the god of war unit allowed them to swiftly carry out Abram’s orders.

How to retreat had been lesson #1 when the students had been trained.

Also, Kazami fought amongst them once they returned to the rear guard.

They fought on a road. It was the northern portion of Circular Route 7.

The black army awaited down that road.

The enemy had straightened out their formation while the UCAT forces retreated and caught their breath.

They had two minutes left. Holing up in one spot seemed like the best option for enduring for such a small amount of time, but the enemy came at them from the sky. And if they did not wear down the enemy’s numbers, another Leviathan-controlled army would rush their way.

Kazami looked to the back of the god of war unit and then looked up.

A giant dragon of light filled the snowy sky.

Some traces of the Concept Core must have remained in G-Sp2 because words appeared on its console.

“Are you having fun?”

“Yes.”

Unexpectedly, the dragon asked another question.

“Is this goodbye?”

“Don’t be stupid,” she said. “You’re going to be absorbed by this world, so we’ll always be together.”

“Will it be fun?”

“It will,” she replied. “Everything will still be fun.”

“Good,” said G-Sp2. “I’m glad.”

It said more.

“You are okay now.”

Kazami gasped when she saw that.

Two years before, when she had first met G-Sp in Okutama, she had escaped the battle, lost the enemy pursuers, and taken a break.

She had been very worried then and that was when G-Sp had first contacted her.

“Are you okay?”

They had been together ever since.

And now G-Sp2 had said the reverse of that.

She was okay now.

And yet the world might change in two minutes’ time.

Still…

“Yes, I am okay now,” she said. “And it’s all thanks to you. Thank you.”

The dragon curved in the sky.

“I’m glad.”

That was all.

No more new words appeared.

Light floated in the sky. It seemed to be dancing, it seemed troubled, and yet it seemed happy.

Kazami smiled a little and opened G-Sp2’s Cowling. She pulled out the metal cylinder that had contained the Concept Core, but there was no weight or light inside it anymore.

…It’s been freed into the sky.

The light was watching over them from beyond the falling snow.

She muttered her thanks once more and inserted the cylinder containing a photonic attack concept that was attached to the back of her waist.

Was it sentimentality that made her attach the empty cylinder to her waist?

When she faced forward again, the gods of war asked a question.

“Commander, give us our orders.”

“Okay then,” replied Kazami.

She began to walk forward. She passed by the legs of the gods of war, spread her wings, raised her spear, and placed that spear of light in the heavens.

“Everyone,” she shouted. “Charge!!”

“Testament!!”

With countless yells, the gods of war did just that.

The black group responded to the explosion of wind by charging in from the opposite side.

Amid the movement, Kazami heard a song. The pilots of the charging gods of war were singing.

It was France’s national anthem.

“Sing, our god of war pilots!”

They roared, charged, and produced sounds of breaking metal.

“Marianne has guided us here!!”

They sang.

“Allons, enfants de la Patrie, Le jour de gloire est arrive. (Arise, children of the Fatherland, the day of glory has arrived.)

“Contre nous, de la tyrannie, L'étendard sanglant est levé. (Against us, tyranny's bloody banner is raised.)

“L'étendard sanglant est levé. (Bloody banner is raised.)

“Entendez-vous dans les campagnes, Mugir ces féroces soldats? (Do you hear, in the countryside, the roar of those ferocious soldiers?)

“Ils viennent jusque dans nos bras, égorger nos fils, nos compagnes! (They're coming right into our arms to cut the throats of our sons, our women!)

“Aux armes, citoyens, Formez vos bataillons. (To arms, citizens, form your battalions.)

“Marchons, marchons, Qu'un sang impur Abreuve nos sillons! (Let's march, let's march! Let an impure blood water our furrows!)”

The students responded to the song by following the silver giants.

Kazami watched as everyone ran by on either side of her.

Suddenly, someone stopped alongside her.

It was a fellow third year wearing glasses. The girl held a long sword and had a bandage on her smiling cheek.

“How have you been lately?”

Kazami was briefly confused, but then she smiled bitterly.

“I’ve been having lots of fun.”

“Good,” said the girl. “I’m glad to hear it.”

Kazami nodded, too.

But those students were not the only ones who appeared from behind.

White forms slowly lined up alongside her.

Jord and the rest of them were wearing white clothing.

“We are the combat gods of 10th-Gear. We decided to show up since the weak people were asking for help.”

The elderly man in the lead gave a feigned look of shock in Kazami’s direction.

“But I certainly didn’t expect to find a Valkyrie in the lead. When did we become the heroic dead?”

They all laughed at that.

“We had heard from Jord that a strange girl with wings was wielding our Concept Core. In that case, you truly are the Valkyrie that called us here.”

The men and women, both young and old, shouted in agreement behind him.

Some of them were actual Valkyries, but they were all looking her way.

“Guide us to the battlefield. As those who have lost our home, we should be able to help in this battle of Ragnarok.”

“Yes, we will no longer fight for the world of the gods! We will fight proudly on this Valkyrie’s guidance!”

“Is that so?”

Kazami smiled, raised her glowing spear toward the sky, and spread her wings.

She heard them cheer as she took flight.

She raised her wings and flew above them all.

And she sang.

La Marseillaise was a song born during the French Revolution and it was a song of the people. It was not a song of the weak being saved from the rulers; it was a song of the weak standing up on their own.

She knew all that from her father and so she sang.

The rear guard used their acoustic weapons to provide a brass accompaniment.

“—————”

The gods of war joined in as they spread metallic sounds around.

“Amour sacré de la Patrie, Conduis, soutiens nos bras vengeurs. (Sacred love of the Fatherland, lead, support our avenging arms.)

“Liberté, Liberté chérie, Combats avec tes défenseurs. (Liberty, cherished Liberty, fight with thy defenders.)

“Combats avec tes défenseurs. (Fight with thy defenders.)

“Sous nos drapeaux que la victoire Accoure à tes males accents. (Under our flags, shall victory hurry to thy manly accents.)

“Que tes ennemis expirants Voient ton triomphe et notre gloire! (That thy expiring enemies see thy triumph and our glory!)

“Aux armes, citoyens, Formez vos bataillons. (To arms, citizens, form your battalions.)

“Marchons, marchons, Qu'un sang impur Abreuve nos sillons! (Let's march, let's march! Let an impure blood water our furrows!)”

Kazami used her voice to circle above the enemy army, swing down her spear, and give a shout.

“Shinjou! Sayama! …It’s your turn now!!”

The ninth minute began.

Directly below the Leviathan, the eastern entrance of Shinjuku Station had once more become a scene of intense fighting.

The great pressure of the enemy had pushed the defense gravity lens down to only thirty meters above the ground.

And the surrounding enemies were resurrected without end.

But no one on that battlefield had given up.

“Don’t worry!!”

Shinjou yelled as she fired from the middle of them all.

She spun Ex-St around to the back of her hips like a baton and its shots tore through the gods of war trying to slip under the defense lens. Also…

“There!”

The muzzle hopped up behind her and she fired to silence a group of automatons approaching from behind.

“Next!”

She continued to fire after flipping Ex-St back to its proper spot on her shoulder.

Everyone ducked down as her rapid-fire shots tore by in all 360 degrees.

…I have no blind spot!

But a shadow approached from above.

The Leviathan must have realized this was its last chance.

The descending black army looked like a single blob.

A glance at the clock showed they had forty-six seconds until the concepts of the ten dragons were fully released.

The aerial unit was visible dropping bombs above the Leviathan, but they could not send anyone down below the Leviathan.

Forty-five seconds remained.

Shinjou’s group had to do something on their own.

Forty-four seconds remained.

Ex-St had seventeen shots stored up.

Forty-three seconds.

Shinjou gave a shout.

“#8-san!”

Forty-two seconds.

As she shouted, she collapsed backwards.

Forty-one seconds.

After pointing Ex-St skyward, she placed the center of the enemy army in her sight.

Forty seconds.

A moment later, the barrier in the sky vanished.

Realizing what Shinjou wanted, #8 had deactivated the gravity lens.

Thirty-nine seconds.

The enemies standing on the lens lost their support and fell.

Thirty-eight seconds.

They fell.

Thirty-seven seconds.

But Shinjou did not care.

Thirty-six seconds.

“Achohhhhh!!”

Thirty-five seconds.

She fired repeatedly.

Thirty-four seconds.

She fired her seventeen bomber shots, but they stopped in midair.

Thirty-three seconds.

The force of seventeen consecutive shots stopped at fifteen meters above her and formed a massive reaction sphere.

#8 and the other automatons had performed another technique instead of the gravity lens. They were gathering up all of the bomber shots to fire them all at once.

Thirty-two seconds.

The force of seventeen shots fused into one. The seventeen seams vanished from the giant white light and it seemed to ripple like a viscous liquid.

Thirty-one seconds.

Shinjou started to get back up.

Thirty seconds.

At that moment, countless black forms charged forward from above the nearby buildings.

Twenty-nine seconds.

They were automatons.

Twenty-eight seconds.

Most likely, they were the regenerated ones from the other battlefields. The Leviathan’s excess forces had been sent here.

Twenty-seven seconds.

“Oh, no!” shouted #8. “Shinjou-sama!”

Twenty-six seconds.

As #8’s cry suggested, the enemy’s target was Shinjou who could communicate with Wanambi.

Twenty-five seconds.

The enemy rushed in, passing by the shimmering that was beginning to take form.

Twenty-four seconds.

She saw blades. Around a dozen of them. And more enemies were on their way behind them.

Twenty-three seconds.

The next thing she knew, someone was holding her in their arms. It was…

Twenty-two seconds.

“Mikoku-san!?”

Twenty-one seconds.

Even with Mikoku leaning over her, Shinjou thought it was hopeless. The blades would stab straight through Mikoku who no longer had her regeneration philosopher’s stone.

Twenty seconds.

…It’s all over!

Nineteen seconds.

But her thoughts came true in a different way.

Eighteen seconds.

Everything came to a stop.

Seventeen seconds.

Everyone saw what had happened right in front of Shinjou and Mikoku.

Sixteen seconds.

All of the blades had been stopped. They were stopped by a man’s body.

Fifteen seconds.

It was Hajji.

Fourteen seconds.

Hajji had stopped the dozen blades by letting them stab through his back and out his chest.

Thirteen seconds.

“Father!?”

Twelve seconds.

Shinjou’s body shook from Mikoku’s cry.

Eleven seconds.

But Hajji’s expression changed when he saw Mikoku. He smiled without hiding it.

Ten seconds.

“Hey,” he said.

Nine seconds.

“See, Mikoku? You can protect someone after all.”

Eight seconds.

He began to move. He turned around, instantly broke through the automatons, and charged toward those still approaching.

Seven seconds.

“Never forget! And even as you tremble, desire the world! After all, you currently bear everything we stand for! That may be painful, you may give in to anxiety or anger, and it may not be what you wished for. But…”

Six seconds.

Hajji gave a shout.

Five seconds.

“Mikoku, this is something only you can wish for!”

Unable even to breathe, Hajji charged forward.

He had to crush the enemies rushing in from outside the gravity lens.

…Yes.

I really was an awful father for Mikoku and Shino, he belatedly realized.

But, he thought as he remembered their days together. We may have done nothing but fight, we may have done nothing but hold grudges, and we may have told nothing but lies, but the dinner table and living room were so full of life.

…Yes, that’s right.

Hajji opened his left eye.

…Hey, Shahrnavaz.

He exposed to the world that destructive power and everything else he had received from her.

Their world had not contained this black sky, falling snow, or chilly wind.

He spoke with a voiceless voice.

“Isn’t this a wonderful place?”

A moment later, he charged into the advancing enemy forces and activated a certain philosopher’s stone.

The stone transformed emotions into an explosion. It was 9th-Gear’s suicide attack weapon.

But the emotion he detonated was not his anger, his resentment, or his sorrow.

It was the emotion one always felt when thinking of someone precious.

Hajji did not know what it was called.

He simply muttered someone’s name and annihilated the enemy reinforcements.

Four seconds.

Shinjou and Mikoku watched Hajji leave.

Three seconds.

Mikoku said nothing, but Shinjou could tell the girl’s hands were clenched so tightly they had grown white.

Two seconds.

So Shinjou stood up and raised her hand toward the reaction sphere overhead.

One second.

She gave a shout.

“Sayama-kun!!”

The white bullet flew upwards and punched through the black cascade of the enemy.

The white power roasted the center, causing the black cascade to implode.

The black waterfall drew a circle in the sky and scattered from below.

Not even any fragments remained.

There was only a clear sky and the white light’s ascent.

The rising light collided with the defense field below the Leviathan.

“!!”

It broke.

The impact was powerful enough to bend the Leviathan’s giant body.

The great dragon shook.

An earthquake seemed to fill the air itself and everything trembled.

The heavenly halo burst in an instant. Like glass thrown to the floor, some pieces turned to spray and others scattered as shards.

The wind was whipped up.

The disappearance of that massive field set the air in motion.

The white ring crumbled and could not maintain its form.

The Leviathan had lost its defensive power.

On the earth, the heavenly host and UCAT clashed. While in the sky…

“Sayama-kun!!”

A voice on the earth called to the sky.

It called to the boy in the sky.

That boy, Sayama, stood in the heavens.

He rested on his heels, lightly spread his arms, spun around, and looked in every direction.

His eyes saw the flames of war spreading across everything below and he saw no sign of the clash ending.

The fight continued, but he had a thought as he looked down on it all.

…Splendid.

“Am I really allowed something like this?”

After asking that, he clapped his hands and raised his voice.

“Everyone! Can you hear the sounds of your struggle against the world!?”

And…

“Everyone! Can you feel the strength of choosing the world!?”

Also…

“Everyone!! Do you understand!?”

He forcefully raised his spread arms.

“Make sure you understand that this is a splendid night!!”

His reverberating voice gave the word to begin it all.

“Listen.”

He spoke to the world itself.

“I will say it now! The surname Sayama indicates a villain!”

Brunhild listened.

She listened while receiving several injuries and being protected by the heroic dead and dreams of the past.

Sayama’s voice reached her from the sky.

“Everyone! We stand on a crossroads for the world!”

Kashima listened.

He listened as he used his Cowling Sword to slice through the enemy automatons and made his way to the front line.

“Everyone! The world exists right before your eyes!”

Hiba and Mikage listened.

They listened as they worked with a light blue god of war to destroy the enemy gods of war.

“Listen, everyone! Tonight’s foes are a spoiled bunch who wish to destroy the current world and create a new one!”

Heo and Harakawa listened.

They listened while joining their comrades’ fight in the sky.

“And listen carefully, everyone! We are lacking, we are insufficient, and we can never do anything right. But…”

Izumo listened.

He listened as he inserted a new cylinder in V-Sw and made sure to stick the old cylinder in his pocket.

“We need not see that as a bad thing! We are delinquents! You could say we are the world’s delinquents! But if we prefer to be self-deprecating and stubborn, we would instead simply call ourselves ‘bad’! Listen, everyone.”

Chao Yu listened.

He listened in the snow while pulling a woman’s photo from his pocket. It was a picture of his aunt who had never aged.

“We were enjoying our delinquent life, staring out the classroom window, and thinking about going somewhere, but now a delinquent-hating enemy has come to destroy us, school and all! Such nonsense!”

Abram listened.

He listened while working with his brethren to destroy the enemy and hearing of the former friends who had passed away.

“Listen, everyone. Delinquents do not punch people. But they are free to punch fools! And listen carefully, everyone!”

Kazami listened.

She listened while swinging her spear to cut through the enemy army with her comrades.

“Stand up, all you delinquents! We need not be good! But never come to a stop and always wish to leave your mark on this world! So stand up and pave the way forward, you delinquents! And to do that…”

Shinjou listened.

She listened while looking up at the Leviathan below the scattering snow.

“Listen, everyone. I have a single command! Ahead. Ahead. Go ahead!!”

She nodded.

“We will advance, strike, and bring together the worlds we have created. And to do that, we must move ourselves ahead with our strength in our right hand and our will in our left!!”

She heard his voice.

“Where is your answer!?”

Sayama listened.

Shouting voices carried a word to him up in the sky: testament.

It referred to a contract, to the Bible, and to a promise made by god. It was a holy word with meaning to both parties.

Tes, tes, tes.

We make our contract here.

Every power in the world was gathered in Tokyo and that word of promise rang out like it was a radio announcement broadcast every night.

And they all began to move in order to fulfill their promise with Sayama.

So Sayama responded, too. He prepared to lower his arms to give the ceremonial announcement.

But he suddenly realized something: two figures had appeared on either side of them.

…Is this…?

The one on his right wore a military uniform. The one on his left wore a white armored uniform.

These were images of when this sealing ceremony had been performed in the past. To provide the divine protection of success, Baku had summoned the past of the Sayama surname. Sayama looked to the two behind him.

…To think we would be speaking in unison now of all times!

He smiled bitterly and raised his arm toward the snowy heavens, synchronized with the two behind him.

The three of them also opened their mouths at once.

“I will say it now.”

The three Sayamas spoke in unison.

“The surname Sayama indicates a villain!”

First, his father swung down his right arm and gave a shout.

“With this act, I feel no regret toward the future!”

Next, his grandfather swung down his left arm and gave a shout.

“With this act, I feel no repentance toward the past!”

And Sayama gave a shout with his left hand raised toward heaven.

“With this act, I feel no hesitation toward the past or the future!!”

They all rotated their arm to audibly raise their forearm.

“The surname Sayama commands the world!!”

The three forcefully swung their arms forward with a loud snapping of the sleeve.

“World,” they shouted. “Do as I wish by moving!!”

A moment later, the ten released concept lights pierced through the concept space.

They came from the eight directions, the heavens, and the earth.

Writing, blowing rain, the Tartaros, watery mist, the windy sky, life and destruction, the sage’s body, shimmering heat, light and shadow, and the divine tree.

The ten world dragons instantly flew to their proper positions.

They all pierced through the Leviathan.

They tore through it.

And the fifteen kilometer Leviathan had its armor broken, burned, and frozen. Its internal frame was destroyed and it bounced through the sky.

“…!!”

It was intensely destroyed.

The dragon’s scream was as endless as the sounds of its destruction.

That destruction covered its entire surface, but it was darkness and light that left the opposite side.

Without fusing back together, the dispersed light and darkness spread through the sky like the falling snow.

Above the Leviathan, the negative concept storage pallets in the concept creation facility were destroyed.

The ten pallets instantly froze white and shattered inward.

The Leviathan’s body bent.

A tremor ran through the heavens and the careless were blown from their feet by the great wind that was pushed down to the surface.

But it did not end there.

There was movement in the sky and on the earth.

That movement came from a girl and a boy.

Pulled by the concepts under their care, the boy in the heavens descended and the girl on the earth ascended.

At the midpoint in the sky, they passed by and exchanged something in their possession.

It was a single metal chip.

The girl handed over the negative one and the boy handed over the positive one.

Concept power was passing through that space between heaven and earth.

Georgius’s power to destroy concepts could ride that current to any point.

And that included the Leviathan’s core.

They had a single target.

The negative concepts had solidified in the Leviathan’s core, so they would strike it and destroy it from both heaven and earth.

That would tear apart the negative concepts so they would be pulled away by the released positive concepts and utterly dispersed.

The negative concepts began to activate when gathered, so they would cool down once scattered so completely.

To do that, the girl used her right hand when she arrived in the snowy heavens.

And the boy used his left hand when he arrived on the snow-covered earth.

The two of them placed the opposite symbol chip in the Georgius gauntlet on their hand.

“Shinjou-kun!”

They gave a shout of confirmation.

“Sayama-kun!!”

The white and black lights released from heaven and earth pierced through the Leviathan.

They slammed into it.

A black spray spread through the sky and a white spray burst as if leading the way.

A white and black flash of light rippled outward in the snowy sky.

Shinjou flipped around in midair.

The light from Georgius was calming down and she slowly fell toward the earth below while gradually picking up speed.

She slipped below the waves of scattered concept light.

…It’s over.

She looked up at the Leviathan overhead as she fell faster than the snow.

She saw the automatons preparing to catch her down below.

Sayama was also there. As was a scorch-marked Ooshiro.

Breathing a sigh of relief, she looked up into the sky again.

“—————!!” She noticed a certain phenomenon.

And before she could even think, her cellphone rang in her waist armor pocket.

She heard Kazami’s voice.

“Shinjou! Can you see this!? Something isn’t right!”

Beyond Kazami’s panicked voice, she heard cannon fire.

“The enemy is still fighting! And…the spread of the negative concepts has stopped! Even the spray of positive concepts is struggling to expand!”

Shinjou understood because she could see the cause from closer than anyone.

“The Leviathan is…regenerating.”

The destroyed areas were returning to normal. And something was appearing from within it.

“The black angels, gods of war, and mechanical dragons are forming a new halo!!”

The Leviathan was holding back the negative concepts as they tried to scatter away.

Using the heavenly host contained inside, it had formed a defensive halo inside itself to restrain the penetrative power of the positive concepts. Then, it had restrained the scattering negative concepts.

It was currently healing itself at a rapid pace, but where did this power come from?

The Leviathan knew that power most likely came from Top-Gear.

Top-Gear had most likely developed something approaching immortality.

That power was allowing the Leviathan to heal.

And once it was fully healed, it could pull the negative concepts back in.

It would draw in the positive concepts at the same time.

The Leviathan felt joy at that fact.

The lost positive concepts would be regained in their perfect form.

It could do it. It could do it.

It would be able to do it now.

It would be able to change the world, and quite soon at that.

It could change the world.

To achieve that goal, the Leviathan gave a roar.

That roar shook everything.