Chapter 4: Man or Woman

I expected this news to be significant, but the team was genuinely surprised—except for Hibiki, who had already figured it out. The rest of the team was completely shocked, until Sakuya raised his hand.

"By the way, how does it feel to have a woman's body?"

Before I could respond, Aoi punched him on the head quite hard. Genjuro, meanwhile, crossed his arms thoughtfully, while the others seemed to doubt me. To prove myself, I invoked my holy chant to transform, only to be surprised by the transformation sequence, which had never happened to me before.

As I underwent the transformation, I felt my body shifting into that of a woman. The suit enveloped me, and the gear attached itself to various parts of my body. After what felt like a minute, I finally completed the transformation.

"Why did the transformation sequence happen now?"

I found myself on all fours, lamenting the fact that the gear had changed in such an anime-like manner rather than instantly as before. I needed to stand up, and as I did, I caught my reflection in the mirror. I noticed my gear had changed slightly; what had started as a glove now resembled a gauntlet, much like Hibiki's Gungnir.

Thinking about it, my entire theme was yellow with a few red accents, making me feel like a mix between Maria and Hibiki's Gungnir form, though my hair was now completely blonde, unlike my previous black hair.

"YOU!"

Chris dashed toward me but was held back by Tsubasa, which surprised me since I thought she would join Chris in confronting me. Genjuro then asked me a question.

"What should we call you now?"

"While I am male, I go by the name Mamoru. During the transformation, I go by Mei."

"I see. Mei, you mentioned before that you're from a parallel world. Does that world allow males to become Symphogear users?"

"No, as far as I know from all the parallel worlds I've seen, I'm the only one. That's because I am essentially Hibiki 2.0; the difference is that her shard is lodged in her chest, while mine is on my back."

I transform back and lift my shirt to reveal the scar on my back. Although I don’t know how I got it, I can use it to demonstrate that I am essentially the same as Hibiki, which causes Genjuro to nod slowly in understanding.

"But you said you're from the future. How do you exist here so far back in time?"

"I essentially made a deal with the version of me from this world. While I was sent to the past, I can still use the residual energy from the relic that brought me here to return. I negotiated with him because this world's version of me lost his parents, while mine are still alive. We agreed to swap places, and he accepted immediately."

"I see. But what about your parallel world? Doesn't it have noise too?"

"There is noise, but I was just a vigilante in my world. There was already a system in place to combat the noise, so I wasn’t needed. It was called the Mechvaranus System. It essentially functions like Symphogear, but without the need for a holy chant. Although its power is weaker than Symphogear, it has fewer restrictions for use, so there are many of them."

"I see. Can this world use the Mechvaranus System?"

"Honestly, I don't know. The ones who came to my world were Symphogear users, not scientists, so they don't even know if it can be implemented here."

"That's a pity."

After answering his questions, Genjuro falls silent as Chris slowly raises her hand.

"FIGHT ME."

"Do I have to?"

"YES, SINCE YOU ALWAYS RUN AWAY."

Letting out a sigh, I glance at Genjuro. The anime doesn’t clearly show how much room there is in the Special Disaster Response Team's training area, so I momentarily forget if they have a large space for training. He nods slowly, indicating that they do.

"Alright, since this is a rare opportunity, let's see how Mei fights."

"Thank you, Director Genjuro."

"Uh, Mamoru, why do you call Genjuro 'Director'?"

"Oh right, I kind of forgot this is the past. I call him that in the future, so it’s just a habit."

After our conversation, Genjuro slowly guided me, Hibiki, Tsubasa, and finally Chris into the training room. It was enormous, making me wonder how the underground could support such a massive structure. Then I recalled that in the future, they even have a giant ship, so I guess this is normal.

"Balwisyall nescell Gungnir tron."

"Imyuteus Ame no Habakiri tron."

"Killter Ichaival tron."

"Custodire Welt Aegis Zizl."

I just noticed that the Holy chant of Symphogear incorporates a mix of Latin and German, with a hint of Babel. Even the Superb Songs, known as Swan Song—the gateway to entering X-Drive—are essentially about Babel, demonstrating how passionate Fine is about that tower.

"Then let's start our fight."

Chris pulled out her favorite weapon: dual pistols. I wasn't too worried, as I was accustomed to her fighting style from watching the anime. I created two floating shields to block her shots, which slowly began to irritate her. She then switched to two crossbows and fired a split arrow, which I blocked with even more shields.

"Fight seriously!"

"I mean, my main weapon is a shield, so what do you expect from me?"

As I said that, I gradually formed a shuriken-like shield and enlarged it before throwing it at her. She initially dodged by jumping, but the shield split in two, and one of the pieces struck her hard, sending her crashing into the wall with a loud boom.

"Oh, sorry! I got a bit too serious."

"I really got underestimated here for you to not fighting seriously."

Suddenly, a giant arrow shot from Chris's position, splitting into thousands of smaller arrows. In which some curved to attack me from behind, so I quickly created a giant shield dome to protect myself.

"Tch... even that is useless, and she isn't even singing. Hey, blue-haired woman, help me out here!"

"I thought you wanted to face her alone?"

"I know I'm not strong enough to take her on by myself, so just help me a bit, Senpai."

"Okay then, I'm curious to see how strong she is anyway."

"I'd prefer if all three of you faced me at once so I can get this over with."

While I said that, I started to think this was troublesome. I noticed a vein appearing on Chris and Tsubasa's foreheads. I understand why Chris got angry, but Tsubasa's anger surprised me.

"Hibiki, help us."

"Idiot, help me punch her in the face."

"Eh, I don't know what happened, but I’ll try my best."

So far, things are going well, but I want to see how far I can push myself. Up to now, I've mostly relied on a simple approach, and I'm curious about how I can fare against all three of them at once.

The results are hard to describe. While I'm not losing, I can't say I'm winning either. Every time I block Hibiki's attacks, Tsubasa takes advantage of the gap in my defense to strike. When I focus on her, Chris provides cover fire, and when I throw my shield at her, Hibiki punches it away.

Essentially, I can't land a hit on them since they cover for each other. It's frustrating because, even though they haven't known each other long, they're already in sync. So, I decided to raise the stakes by singing.

As expected, the power difference is clear, and I feel less fatigued, which is perfect for round two.

This time, I attempted a sneak attack using a small shield as a shuriken. I wondered how much I could push the limits of my shields. Their attack power wasn’t very high, which wasn’t surprising. Then, I used a smaller version of my surfing shield, slimmed down to increase its power, and sent it toward them.

I essentially copied Chris's fighting style, overwhelming them with firepower, which forced Tsubasa and Hibiki onto the defensive. However, I could feel them getting stronger as their song began to harmonize, increasing their Phonic gain.

It was only a matter of time before I would lose, so I tried something I hadn't attempted before: the swan song.

"Gatrandis babel ziggurat edenal, Emustolronzen Finé el balal zizzl, Gatrandis babel ziggurat edenal, Emustolronzen Finé el zizzl."

Suddenly, an explosive surge of power coursed through my entire body, transforming my figure. Unfortunately, I didn't have a mirror, but I could see the glow of red and yellow hues surrounding me, reflected in the surprised expressions of the three, especially Tsubasa.

"X-Drive."

"What is that, Senpai?"

"Basically, it's the ultimate form of Symphogear, but it shouldn't be possible unless you have a high-level phonic gain."

"Tsubasa, you forgot one important point: I'm from a parallel world, and my situation is a bit special. So, I congratulate you all for pushing me to use this form. Let’s end this now."

I wasn't sure how I managed to achieve this, especially since, as Tsubasa mentioned, this form is typically accessible only with a high-level phonic gain. In this training room, where there was no audience to resonate with, it should have been nearly impossible. Yet, somehow, I had done it.

As for the outcome, I felt a bit sorry for the three of them. With X-Drive activated, all my shields gained a significant boost in power. I even managed to create a deflect shield that sent Hibiki flying when she used a pile bunker against it. I defeated Chris with a giant shuriken and took down Tsubasa with a surfing shield.

It was a complete victory, though I didn't feel proud at all for having to rely on X-Drive. I sensed that if I continued like this, I would eventually lose, as their teamwork was improving by the minute. After I finished and reverted to normal, I suddenly felt my body growing heavy. This was the backlash, which wasn't surprising since I had forced myself to use X-Drive without a high-level phonic gain.

But I pushed through, walking slowly toward them. I began to wonder if I could heal them since there were no rules against it. I decided to try, transferring energy to them, which simultaneously healed them. It was a success. However, after providing enough energy to heal all three of them, my transformation was canceled, and I fainted.

Genjuro watched with a stern expression, while the rest of the team looked on in shock. Shinji stepped closer to him.

"This is a surprise, isn't it?"

"Yeah, I never thought she was that powerful. I feel like if only she had appeared two years ago..."

"I don't think we can change that. Since Sakurai has been the traitor all along, Kanade would have died either way."

"I see. If that's what you think, then what did you make of her performance in the fight?"

As Genjuro asked that, Shinji turned to the screen just as Mei began to sing the swan song. Panic erupted among the team as they recalled Kanade's death linked to that very song.

However, what surprised them was that Mei's transformation was stable, showing no signs of instability. They focused their gaze on her as two shields appeared, resembling wings, with a red and yellow hue enveloping her body. Her ponytail swayed gently as if a breeze were blowing.

As expected, the trio fell against Mei without any resistance, though Hibiki put up the toughest fight. When she struck Mei's shield, the impact sent her crashing into the wall with enough force to create a shockwave that even they could feel. What was more astonishing was that Mei remained unharmed after transforming back to her normal form.

"This is a surprise."

"Yeah, the swan song is so dangerous that even Kanade couldn't handle the backlash, yet Mei was fine."

As Genjuro spoke, Mei's transformation faded after she healed the girls, which astonished him even more as some staff rushed toward the training room.

"She has healing powers. What do you think, Mr. Kazanari?"

"I want her on the team, no matter what. She can support them in the field better than we can."

"Then I'll do my best to persuade her."

"I'm counting on you, Ogawa. She's an important asset that we need right now."

"As you command, Mr. Kazanari."

As they spoke, they kept glancing at the girls and Mamoru, who was lying on the floor, awaiting the staff's arrival to take them to the medical room.