Rafflesia Guildy sounds out some nasally audible sniffs through the organ that isn't there.

"That really is one damn good smell. It's no different today. Just what is smell on you bitch...?"

She may have become able to bear being sniffed but Tail Blue is still being surrounded by No Bul Club elemarians on all sides.

"What do you think you're going on about so casually for when you only have this many of your minions surrounding me waiting to get taken out!?"

"These girls aren't no minions! They're all on the same team, students that Sensei teaches!!"

'Yeah! You tell her!' go the elemarians pumping their fists into the air.

"We're scorned even in Ultimaguil but Sensei never abandoned us! She even gave us a place to belong! All of us, each and everyone, would gladly give up our lives for Sensei!!"

The comaraderie they shared was troublesome. Individual merits, compensation and even feats in battle, none of those things mattered in their eyes but their goal now would have them all unite together as one.

"Right"

Rafflesia Guildy pulls out what looked to be a miniature saw and points it at Blue.

"What is that, is that for strings...?"

Rafflesia Guildy makes her demand known to the baffled Blue.

"I'm going to use this clean the gaps between your teeth! Give me a good whiff of that smell!!"

"YOU ARE THE WOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOORRRRRRSSSTTT!!"

Blue puts distance between her and Rafflesia Guildy and assaults the elemarians within striking range. However, they were not so easily be caught this time for the No Bul Club elemarians have their eyes on the goal and strengthened their determination to get it.

["Aika-san! If you take them down at full power without considering what comes after, you won't have any left to fight Rafflesia Guildy with! Please use the new Elemeraddition equipment to eliminate them all at once!!"]

Blue was actually thinking about how to get that done as Twoerle chimes in with her advice. But elemera orbs don't necessarily have effects that reflect their names so it would be far too difficult for Blue to predict what would happen if she were to combine them before committing to it.

"...how am I supposed to know which combo is the strong one!? Twoearle, think of something! This field of deviance is your specialty isn't it!?"

["And just whose mouth did that come out of!?"]

"...mouth..."

As soon as she heard that, it came to her in a flash.

"That's right! Lip and Slobber!! They're both related to the mouth so they might work!"

Lolory doesn't collect the elemera orbs of fallen elemarians so they received Cherryblo Guildy's Slobber affinity. The two were both linked to the mouth so they should be compatible, that's what Blue came up with.

["But we still haven't identified what effects the Slobber affinity would have!!"]

Twoearle says over the comms seemingly worried.

"Then let's find out!!"

Doing it live suited her just fine. Blue activates the new equipment without an ounce of hesitation.

"Elemera orb... Transexual!!"

She loads the Transexual elemera up for elemeration, one of the two elemera orbs used to start up the new equipment.

"...This is elemeraddition..."

New parts form on and pile onto the elemeration equipment on her left arm.

<<LIP>>

<<SLOBBER>>

Throwing a yet still unknown elemera into the mix, she activates the two elemera orbs. The elemarians probably sensed an alarming air about it as the underlings all stand in front of Rafflesia Guildy to protect her.

"Anesan! leave it to us!"

"We wanna be useful for once!!"

And so...

"Lolory has to go too..."

It took Lolory everything she had to protect herself from the world enshrouding pollen but her sense of duty simply wouldn't allow her to just stand back and watch like Souji told her to. Leaving the town, she props herself up with her stick extended to the ground and heads towards where Tail Red and the others were, step by step.

When she just barely gets within viewing distance of the first section of the battle where Blue, the sight leaps out at the weakly dazed Lolory.

"GYAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAGGGGHHH!!"

"WHAT IS SHE!? CRAP!! ANESAN! RUUUUUUUUUUUUNNNNN!!"

The sight of Tail Blue firing an eerie beam of light from her mouth.

The tragic screams were in fact coming from the alien monsters instead. Tail Blue shoots the blue beam of light from her mouth ceaselessly, unrelenting and unmercifully blasting away at the monsters as her wide open eyes shone with a slight pale blue and white glow.

This had already become a calamity, one inconceivable to the inhabitants of this world. The same as with the battle before in front of the castle, her devilish state had revealed itself once more. Should this act, that no human could possibly be capable of, not serve as evidence of the so called girl's true nature, the devil herself?

"This... Yup. It's better if Lolory were not here! Ehehe."

Eyes half lidded and white, Lolory darlingly made that conclusion herself and begins her detour away from this hell.

"Haa, haah... Appearances aside, that pack a real punch didn't it... It took out all the small fry."

["That was very cool Aika-san! When we return back to Souji-sama's world, we simply must use it once more with an audience around to watch!"]

So chimes in Twoearle over the comms.

Quickly realizing that the occasion in using it front of the crowd would basically be her last, Aika resolves herself to seal away the combination. 

"Y-you bitch...! My buddies! My friends! My family! How could you do that to them!?"

When faced with the sense of camaraderie abound in Ultimaguil, she does feel like they're the bad guys at times. However, there was yet still another matter that irked Rafflesia Guildy beyond that.

"On top of that, you got them by puking out that laser beam and it didn't even have any taste or smell to it! That's totally not okay!!"

"I'm not going to run away or hide this time. So let's settle this one on one for real!!"

Rafflesia Guildy plunges the metal pipe-esque weapon into the ground. Catching onto her intent, Blue follows suit and stabs the Wave Lance into the ground in a similar fashion. The two take big strides towards each other... the fist for fist battle begins.

"UORRAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!!"

"YOOOOOOUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUU!!"

Aika had always been one to get into fights since childhood but... this was the first time she ever got into one just beat her opponent up without thinking about what comes after. The Tailgear protected her so she wasn't taking direct hits to the cheeks or stomach but even so, Blue grinned on still. She had never just pounded away like this with Souji or her grandfather in their spars. She wanted to do it just once, she wanted to get into a mindless brawl. It was a wish she had forcibly forgotten in her maturation towards womanhood but... Today is the day that wish is granted.

"Is that all ya goooot!!"

The one who was getting in more punches was Rafflesia Guildy though. Her fighting style was deadly reckless but her excellent physical abilities made up for it in spades. As one practiced in martial arts, Blues movements had no wasted excess to them but that itself was put to waste in a straight up brawl.

Blue takes the shower of explosive punches and gets blown back by them.

"Guuhhh...!!"

Her whole body had gone numb. This was the moment Blue would come to learn of pain beyond her imagination. Her blanking gaze reflects the colossal tree. Thinking of the man who was fighting over there now, there was just no way she could just take it easy and fall asleep here. 

Standing back up once more, Rafflesia Guildy gives her her utmost regard.

"...bitch. Even when you're all ready to fall apart like that you still got that damn amazing smell on you."

Rafflesia Guildy pulls her metal pipe out of the ground. She pulls out Blue's Wave Lance out as well and lobs it at her to use.

"It's time to finish this."

This suited Blue perfectly well. One last attack. She knew it meant it marked her limit. This probably wouldn't be settled with just landing a finishing move though. She was just that formidable an opponent. There was no second shot. This one attack required finesse like never before. However, her only once a day ace in the hole Elemeraddition was used up already. The gears in her head spin desperately for the answer.

"...in that case I just have to use them one at a time don't I...!!"

The steel nerved meathead comes up with daring battle plan. But immediately after, Rafflesia Guildy comes lunging at her with a roar.

"LLEEEEEETTSSGGGGOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!"

<<SCHOOL SWIM>>

Diving into the ground with the school swimsuit elemera, Blue circles around Rafflesia Guildy over and over accelerating as she does.

"What!?"

Blue had disappeared into the ground and Rafflesia Guildy paused in confusion for an instant. Not letting that opening slip by, Blue leaps out soaring from under the surface the way a flying fish would out of the sea.

"Whoah! Bitch!?"

Blue hits Rafflesia Guildy from right under her like a cannonball and the two of them take flight into the sky.

<<RIBBON>>

Boosting her speed of ascent even further using the ribbons elemera, they continue pushing further upwards into high altitude. Once they break past the red pollen layer, Blue leaves Rafflesia Guildy up there and descends back down rapidly.

Not waiting for Rafflesia Guildy to come down to her, Blue continues flying down back towards the ground without killing her momentum in mid-air. Even as she returns the wing-transformed ribbons back to normal, she doesn't slow down and the electronic voice sounds off once again with another activation.

<<RABBIT>>

Her gamble presented itself just on the verge of a crash landing. Blue makes no attempt to deaden her forceful descent as she hits the ground. 

Her legs screamed in anguish. Muscles in agony and bones screeching, she does not pause in deliberation as she unleashes everything she has on the ground with a kick. The land falls in on itself and soil erupts into the air from under her.

Stacking the Rabbit elemera's jumping power on top of her descent, Tail Blue returns back up to the skies once more with doubled speed. Her Wave Lance goes into Break Release and light floods out from its tip.

"Haha, you fucking bitch... Ya really do have a lot of life in ya."

Having laid eyes on Tail Blue's breathtaking pursuit, Rafflesia could let nothing else out save for admiration.

"EXECUTE..."

Sparing no excess tearing power for an aura pillar, Tail Blue invests all of her remaining strength into one last attack.

"WAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAVVVVVVVVVEEEEEE!!"

This was a finishing move aimed into the air without worry of casualties or the need to restrain her opponent. The spear with everything put into it finds its way to Rafflesia Guildy and a grand explosion blooms out across the sky.

The Wave Lance crumbles to pieces from the impact that overtook its limits. The desperate battle meets its end here.

"It's my loss... Still though, you are really goddamn strong."

Even though it was time for her body to go and sparks of electricity jumped out from her, Rafflesia Guildy still let out a refreshingly carefree smile as if she just had it out with a fighting buddy.

"You aren't the only who's fighting for someone important to them you know."

Hearing that, Rafflesia Guildy's eyes widen in understanding.

"Oh. I finally got it... It kept on bothing me, that smell of yours." 

Blue gets startled with a jolt as topic she was bothered by gets raised once more. The words that followed it however were especially kind.

"Love... I get it now. This is the smell of love isn't it...? Hehe, no wonder it smells so good. It's just like Sensei's..."

The scents were not completely the same though as the natures of the love from the two were of different forms. The love shared between two people may not bear the same qualities as that of the heartborne power of elemera that gave life to her but the familial love-like bonds of friendship she had founded on that love might have been the reason why she could sense it still.

"Tail Blue. Your smell. It's love... You got the scent of love on you..."

"Don't start getting poetic when you're just a lousy pervert."

Both of them laid on the ground fallen spread eagled with their heads pointing towards the other. If we were at some river it'd probably make quite the picture... so Blue laughs out wryly.

"Hey Tail Blue. Those elemerian that you take down... You use their powers reall rough don't ya."

"That a problem?"

Rather than sounding cross, Rafflesia Guildy's tone took on more towards a sulking one. Even Blue could not predict the words that came immediately after.

"Make sure you use mine properly okay?"

"Wha..."

"See ya."

Saying it as she scratches her nose in seeming shyness, Rafflesia Guildy explodes.

"The scent of love, huh?"

Her hand catches hold of Rafflesia Guildy's elemera orb as if it were being sucked into the palm of her hand. Blue... Aika smiles to herself.

"If that's what is... Then I can't not be happy about it."

Having taken on the rear to herself, she pulverized a splendid foe. She should have be able to stay there lying on the ground and rest with faith in Red's triumph.

"Now then..."

Even so, Blue spurs her wound covered body on to stand up. She noticed that Lolory had seen her fight from a distance but there was no sight of her now.

"One more thing to take care of..."

Abusively dragging her flat-out unmoving legs with her, Blue begins making her way to the far off Yggdrasil Guildy.

Meanwhile, the reason why Yggdrasil Guildy stopped the mess of a battle in front of the castle finally came to light.  No Bul Club was basically playing the part of the trackers who were leading their assassin to Phoenix Guildy and that assassin was the executioner of darkness, Dark Grasper.

"Wh-why did you help me out, Dark Grasper!?"

Hearing my inquiry, Dark Grasper flashes me a meaningful smile.

"Don't be so cold. You are the girl who will be my bride. I wouldn't simply hand you over to a wananbe roast bird like this."

What should I do. It's Dark Grasper and she's suggesting marriage as well but I just can't help but feel super relieved. The shock from just now was overwhelming. If this keeps on happening I just might end up getting brainwashed.

"Roast bird!? Come up with something cooler for me! I'm different from you gloomy Ultimaguil bastards who send so many just to stick to me! I'm a phoenix of justice after all!!"

Phoenix Guildy immediately picks at her but Dark Grasper returns back some words with a cool face.

"Huh... Hearing some lowly traitor say that of Ultimaguil's ways makes my side hurt."

"Hoou"

...Ah. His switch got flipped. I'm steadily coming to understand how Phoenix Guildy is. I really don't want to though...

Sure enough, Phoenix Guildy hides his face behind the palm of his hand and sticks out his waist at an angle for an odd pose as he provokes Dark Grasper.

"Dark Grasper, huh? That's one hollow name you've got."

"What?"

"Darkness is just nothingness. That makes you the conquerer of that which does not exist... Hah! Can there even be a more pathetic moniker than that? What is there setting you apart from a little kid that draws lines in the sand to claim their territory...!!"

That's a pretty gratifying way to spin it... Dark Grasper answers back in kind not wanting to lose.

"And I'd say that's a very darling little comparison for someone with your looks to have come up with! Let's have that silly caricature rot away with you!"

"Rotting's just not for me. So long as this world has ponytails I'll come back to life as many times as I need to!"

The two of them are ready to go off at any moment. What do I do? We share the same goal so does that mean I'm going to have to back Dark Grasper up!?

"...What are just sitting around for Tail Red? Hurry up and go."

"But taking on this guy alone is..."

He's an uncontrollable pervert you know... So I want to say but Mega Ne give me a light slap on the back.

"She's not gonna be alone. I'm here with her. This is our job so don't let yourself get bothered by it. But if you insist on sharing any words of gratitude then just send an email to Acena-chan."

"Hey! What are you, my mom!? I would like an email though!!"

Come to think if it, she gave me her email address with that QR code from before. Is it in the Twoearlephone though... I can't be sure...

"Let me just ask one thing. Do you guys... Are you planning on invading this world after this is over?"

"Hm? According to Levia Guildy's unit's reports, this world has a small population and their crucial twintail warrior didn't show any signs of growth so there's little value in invading it. It's not like I have nothing better to do than to verify that myself either. Once this mission over I've got a packed schedule of idol activities waiting for me too."

In that arrogant sounding reply of hers I certainly felt sincerity in her words. It's clear that peace will come to this world once this battle is over. I can feel myself suddenly filled with fighting spirit. 

Dark Grasper looks up towards the sky bridged crimson red to the ground by the snowing pollen.

"On top of that, barring me losing myself and going berserk, Yggdrasil is a very likable warrior and I simply couldn't bring myself to lay a hand on her myself. I'll leave her to you...!!"

I know we're just taking advantage of each other but that doesn't change the fact that she helped me out.

"Right then... I'll leave this one to you Dark Grasper!!"

Phoenix Guildy figuring out my true identity bothers me but I doubt Ultimaguil is going to lend their ears to a traitor. While the executioner and rebel settle things between them I just have to do what I need to do. 

I set my sights on Yggdrasil Guildy and take off running once more.

"Hmm. Tail Red really is cute when she's being honest. Twoearle definitely had to have put quite the work into her."

Seeing that tiny back off, Dark Graspher turns around to face Phoenix Guildy.

"Godddddaaaaaammmmmmmiiiittt...!!"

Seeing how frustrated he was, he really looks like he's ready to give chase. Restraining him here was the right decision after all.

"If you really want someone to talk to so badly then how about I give you my email address instead."

She won't turn down an opportunity even if the one on the other end did happen to be a traitor. Dark Grasper pulls out her mobile phone and thrusts it out right in front of Phoenix Guildy as if to provoke him.

"You've got guts to hand over your email address to a traitor so casually. I guess you aren't a warrior under that leader's direct command for nothing!!"

The two of them exchange email addresses and simple greeting mails along after.

"Not bad... You can actually keep up with my texting speed."

"Don't tell me you thought that's all I could do, Dark Grasper-san? Your email took its time to get to me so I made an ascii art of you while I waited!"

Phoenix Guildy shows off his smartphone screen. On it was a magnificently recreated visage of her with a silly look on her face in ascii art. 

Dark Grasper however was not one to take things lying down though.

"Fool! I did the same! I had time to fill while the mail finished sending so by the time it did, I had already created an account for you and even sent off some casual tweets!"

"Ngh...! Damn you, when!?"

Looking through the account that was made for him without his consent, Phoenix Guildy sees that 80 such tweets had already gone out. Dark Grasper's speedy technique was one to be feared.

"Hey! You already got two people following it! There's no taking back anything after this!!"

"Well no. Ya can just delete the account ya know."

Mega Ne cuts in as the two glare at one another.

"Since we got to down to this I really should have asked for Tail Red's address too...!"

"I won't let you. I did say that Tail Red is the girl who'll become my bride didn't I?"

"Bride? What, did you not notice it yourself?"

A slight smirk forms itself instantly on Pheonix Guildy's face at confirming his superiority over hers.

"No, never mind. Fufufu, it's not fair if I just spoil it when the person in question isn't around for it! I'll just have to reveal it to your eyes when the time comes someday!!"

"Someday? Don't get cocky."

The sickle of darkness, Darkness Glaive, unleashes a black whirlwind with a single swing and blows away the red pollen obstructing their view.

"I don't know what you're going on about and I don't care enough to find out but let me make one thing clear, someday is never going to come for you."

"Come on now. Let's just start."

Mega Ne enters battle mode. She thrusts out both arms and their ends open up to gunbarrels.

"Hanh? That Robogirl is joining in too?"

"A traitor like yourself wouldn't start prattling about wanting a fair and square one on one fight, would you now?"

There was no need for taking on the knightly mentality with criminals. Dark Grasper had no problems with double teaming him for the kill.

"Hanh, if that's how it's going to be then I'll have to do something a little dirty myself!!"

Phoenix Guildy unfolds a one of his wings and a fist sized ball of fire flies out from the end.

"Release! Mirage Revive!!"

Those eerie flame reminiscent of will o' wisps grows to human size and limbs start forming out from it. What materilaized itself from that was the one that Loloryu should have defeated already, Cherryblo Guildy. She did not have an expression on and did not say a thing. Her whole body was an ashen gray and had an inorganic golem-like quality to it.

"This one of the few special abilities I have in my repertoire. However, I can't active it anywhere except for the world the elemarian died and I can't take them with me when I go to other worlds. There's all sorts of limitations but that's the biggest one."

Perhaps he did it because his nature made him honor his promises but Phoenix Guildy goes out of his way to explain things for them. Mega Ne considers their abilities.

"Other than their elemera orbs, he's can probably reuse the remnants scattered around in the world."

"I see... We were looking around for your collaborators when you deserted but you actually had a trick like that up your sleeve, huh?"

In the time this went on, Phoenix Guildy started materializing more elemarians around him one after another. This time they were all No Bul Club elemarians that Tail Blue and Tail Yellow had defeated but now they have resurrected as Phoenix Guildy's puppets.

Mega Ne's eyes light up in anger at seeing the puppets made in her colleagues' likeness.

"Acena-chan. I'll clean up these fakes so ya don't need to hold anything back."

Mega Ne fires off lasers from her fingers and blows back the revived elemarians.

"That exposition you gave on their limitations left out something very important didn't it?"

As her mantle flaps from the blasts, Dark Grasper flashes an invincible grin.

"The fact that the ressurected fakes are a long way off from how the originals were is their greatest limitation! Do you really think these sham imitations are going to be able to take down the Dark Grasper that has all elemarians under her thumb!!"

"The one who has to beat them is me though!?"

Showing off not only her peerless strength, Mega Ne demonstrates the godspeed of her retorts. That said Phoenix Guildy's secret Mirage Revive technique is still putting Dark Grasper and her partner at a disadvantage. They actually are quite hindrance. 'That's good enough if it leaves us for one on one' says Phoenix Guildy as he cuts at Dark Grasper.

"That's some armor you got there. Pretty sharp stuff! Did you make it from the Glasses elemera!?"

"Hmph! I made it based on what another great warrior I love wore! You can say it is the crystallization of our love!!"

"Right! I'll have to make a set for myself too someday!"

"I told you! Someday won't be coming for you!!"

Phoenix Guildy's slashing sword connects with the glaive. With a snap of the wrist, the sword's handguard twists inwards and the blade in the middle splits open where a gunbarrel pops out in its place.

"Mhhh!?"

Dark Grasper tilts her neck away instantly to avoid the bullet of light that shoots out. An opening had thrusted out in that fluid instant transformation.

"Since ponytails only have just the one tail I decided that I'd also have just the one weapon... However, I knew that I wanted to have both a sword and a gun on me. That why I came up with this, a weapon that can switch between both! I call it the Phoenix Slashster!!"

"Then you can't call that one weapon! I will however acknowledge the courage it took to give that thing such an awkward name! You'd say it wrong one out three times!!"

"Don't take my resolve lightly! I practiced saying it enough times that I shredded my tongue doing it but now I can say it smoobly!!"

With their light banter one would be under the impression that they were taking it easy on the fight but their true strength was never anything so ordinary to begin with. With each cut they make that hits air, the wayward force from them would smah explosively into the landscape and mark out a grand field of destruction.

Mega Ne on the other hand however was having a harder time than she thought she would have against the revived elemarians as new members would come into being one after another as she took them down.

"EIII! Y'all are such a pain!!"

Mega Ne Transforms into Megawinger mode and starts carpet bombing them away.

"It was foolish of you to leave the organization when you had this much power! You were the only elemarian with the ponytail affinity too!!"

Dark Grasper sends pays him a compliment and expresses her disappointment with him at the same time.

"Wrong! I wasn't the only one!!"

Phoenix Guildy suddenly raises his fist up high into the air towards the sun that was being blotted out by the red sky.

"Pegasus Guildy! My buddy was the elemarian with the greatest ponytail affinity in history!"

"Pegasus Guildy? I've never heard of a commander by that name!"

"You wouldn't. That punk ass bitch of a leader got rid of him! That's why I took up his heart and his justice! You need to stop and think for a bit and realize that the leader is just using you!!"

His impassioned words held strong persuasive power in them but Dark Grasper firmly rejected them.

"Enough! I can't stand to listen to your foolishness!!"

Sword and sickle clash together once more and the both of them are repelled backwards as their legs dig into the ground. What leapt out at both their eyes was the grounded crimson fire blazing out in the distance. While the two of took part in their lengthy battle, the battle on that side had probably just entered its climax.

"Tail Red's fire, huh? It is a rather pretty sight. Seeing it makes me realize that I can't let this sword fight keep on going. Let's settle this now!!"

Dark Grasper casts aside her mantle and the parts on her back extends and suspends out in the air. She swings her Darkness Glaive and her God Glasses begin resonate to it.

"Break Release!!"

The Darkness Glaive transforms into a huge bow and notches up a jet black arrow. Making sure that Mega Ne noticed the activation and got out of harm's way, Dak Grasper unleashes the torrent of destruction down below.

"DARKNESS BANISHEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEER!!"

It is a technique made to converge destructive power to its limits for the sake of completely disintegrating its target and it lands spectacularly on Phoenix Guildy as it swallows him up. All would return to dust and disappear. Only a seemingly bottomless gigantic hole carved into the ground in the shape of an infinity symbol remained as proof of that destruction.

"Mmh..."

But fire then erupts forth from the depths of the hole. That fire shapes itself into the form of a single giant fiery wing and within was Phoenix Guildy, completely unscathed.

"You! You really are...!"

"I said so didn't I! I don't die! My ponytail is immortal!!"

The rebel who could only be dealt with by sealing him away. Dark Grasper stood stock still as the rumors she thought to be fake demonstrated their truth to her very eyes.

"Tch... That line would sound so cute if Tail Red said it instead!"

"Well then, how about we go for round two Dark Grasper-san!!"

Phoenix Guildy passes Dark Grasper a look with his harsh cold eyes.

"No, we won't. Now that I've seen that revival ability I have no intentions of accompanying you anymore. There won't be a need for a final round."

Tossing that out in a dry voice, Dark Grasper pushes down on the bridge of her God Glasses. The infinity symbol light up across the lens as Phoenix Guildy starts getting swallowed in.

"CHAOSIC INFINITEEEEE! Fall into the depths of elemera you false immortal bird!!"

Phoenix Guildy yells out some final words of resentment as he gets swallowed up by the darkness with no possibility of escape.

"BIIIIIIIIITCCCHH!! Don't you have the decency to wait a while after someone revives before you start attaccWHOOOAAAAAAAAAHHHHHH!!"

"Phew... Mercy has no place in affairs of triumph and defeat."

Her bitter experience where she got taken by surprise while she waited for her opponents to set up runs through her head as she bids him those heavy words.

With Phoenix Guildy gone, the power his ability over the revived elemarians disappears along with the revied elemarians theselves. The now free Mega Ne gives a shrug of her shoulders with a 'good grief'. The sound of a hammer striking rock rings out.

"...didn't ya say before that only those of lower standings would be the ones to use sneak attacks?"

"Th-that was different! I just couldn't stand listening to his nonsense! That was definitely not a sneak attack!!"

Anticipating Phoenix Guildy's ability to revive, she was to take the opening after his revival to seal him away if he were able to come back from a full powered attack - that was the sort of measure appended to the plan from the start. Up to a point that is.

With her mission safely completed, Dark Grasper has fulfilled her honor as a warrior under the leader's direct command. The sky that she was looking up at however, was still covered in red pollen.

Tail Yellow was unparalleled in a chaotic battlefield against countless enemies. She would fire away with all the weapons she had on her and blast all the enemies around her in spectacular fashion. Her particle cannon razed the ground. The ones who rode on bikes would get caught in missile fire. Her needlegun bore holes in their hotrods and her vulcans shredded them to pieces. Not taking a single step back, the No Bul Club elemarians charge right into the middle of her bullet hell. Then there was Mandragora Guildy. She didn't protect her comrades and she didn't hide behind their shadows but she continued to press on towards her soaking in every single hit that came her way.

"""UWWOOOOOOAAAAHHHHH!!"""

The war cries of the underlings roar out together. The break through that perfectly closed hail of explosive fire through sheer tenaciousness and grab hold of her limbs.

They face towards Mandragora Guildy and scream out blood.

"Now Mandragora-anesan!!"

"Attack while we got her!!"

Mandragora hesitates for a moment but assents to it. She fires off her laser beams from both her hands.

"Guhh...!"

Yellow swiftly purges the parts that the underlings were clinging to and the elemarians who held onto those limbs for dear life go flying. She falls to the ground to avoid the beams but her timing was a little too late as her chestpiece gets scraped by it. The impact blows her back and she rolls out onto the ground.

"Ufufun, those breasts sure get in the way don't they!"

"Thank you very much for that..."

As they exchange light banter, Yellow readies herself with her Vortex Blaster and fires on the remaining elemarians.

"...but I really can't say that it feels good at all to watch my friends get attacked...!"

They're down to just a few compared to when the battle started. The immediate area had turned into a world of death covered in craters, displaced ground and strewn about remains of No Bul Club's vehicles.

"But you, you're still the best on the attack. Don't say you've run out of material now?"

"Elemera Orb - Book!!"

Yellow activates the Book elemera with the ability to scout out the opponent's abilities and goess through the whole of Mandragora Guildy's unusual fighting style. Just why was it that she was able to utilize this level of toughness she questioned. After her analysis was done, she found that Mandragora Guildy's body served as a huge storage bank of energy.

"...You... Have you been absorbing those attacks into yourself!?"

"That I did! My affinity is the Masochistic affinity! My body takes those wonderful attacks with relish and my power increases all the more from it!"

For yellow this was a deeply dangerous affinity.

"...Then there is no need for me to lead up with smaller attacks! I will strip all of it at once! Break Release!!"

Yellow had already fired off nearly everything in her Full Burst Mode so she does not hesitate to purge what little of her armor that still remained.

"Oh my, aren't you rushing this?"

Mandragora expresses her dissatisfaction at Yellow's complete stripping.

"I needn't a reason to strip! So long as I have the heart for it, I will strip! Those are the words that my master had graced me with!!"

Once again, Souji had passed on to her another maxim to complete in her own mind in some unknown occasion... So one would think but it was certainly true that Souji had carelessly said to her, "Strip when you feel like stripping".

"Here I come! Aura Pillar!!"

Mandragora Guildy is binded by the Aura Pillar and Yellow is launched down at high speed towards her by the Unite Weapon.

"VOLTIC JUUUUUUDGGGMMMEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEENNNNTTT!!"

"HOFFUMM!!"

But Mandragora Guildy stands firm and takes it with her whole body.

"Wha...!"

Many elemarians have fallen to Tail Yellow finishing kick move but the masochist stays up tenaciously. There was no need to defend herself. Rather, defending herself would make it less pleasant for her. Her steeled masochist soul had granted her plantlike body an unyielding resisting power. 

Yellow soon gets deflected away and dustclouds burst out from where her body trenches into the ground.

"Nghh. Guh..."

The grass on top of Mandragora Guildy's head closes in on itself into the shape of roundish bud and the energy from the Voltic Judgment swirls up as electricity across her body as she fires it off from it like a giant cannon.

"...n-not good. Need to defend...!"

Attempting to activate the Large Bust elemera to create a shield for herself, Yellow calls back just the left arm armor part from the Unite Weapon. However, Mandragora Guildy's cannonfire goes for an abandonment play with Yellow who'd only just rearmed herself her left arm armor parts in the nick of time and instead directs its roar skywards. 

The Unite Weapon, hanging there in midair, defenseless immediately after the technique, takes the blast straight on through its center. It crashes down to the ground in black smoke and blows up into splintered pieces as it hits the ground. Yellow could only watch on in horror as it happens.

"Did nobody ever aim for that after like all this time?"

Yellow very much regrets not thinking back on that weakness. Separating from her means to separate from the Tailgear's core light membrane defense system, the Photon Absorber, and the armor's durability will be wholly dependent on the armor itself. The drastic drop in its hardness was unavoidable.

"T-... Twoearle-san! If I were to redo my transformation once more would the armor return back to normal!?"

["With it being in so many broken pieces, it is impossible to repair the armor completely without undergoing large scale maintenance! Please retreat at once Erina-san!!"]

The Tailgear would repair some damage if the transformation were redone but even that has its limitations. Twoearle is right. Yellow only remaining option is to retreat.

With her victory almost certainly in the bag, Mandragora Guildy twists and contorts herself and lets loose her confidence.

"Now that you lost all your armor, you're pretty much bare naked here aren'tcha?"

Yellow's body shivers in light intoxication.

"Yes, it would appear so. This makes me... I..."

Her despair should have been what she spoke of next. However,

"Even if I wanted to put something on it's impossible, right!?"

Cornered into a desperate situation, Yellow is aroused instead.

"Wuuh!? I can feel this horrific throbbing vigor from her!?"

Witnessing her determined undressingness, Mandragora Guildy winces in reflex. 

With no real attack options and just elemeration on hand, Yellow was barely hanging in there. She truly was as defenseless as someone near completely naked in only socks could be. And that was making her blood rush through her.

The other elemarians were all gone so now it was just the two of them - there was no way Twoearle could put this fire out. There was nobody to stop her from running wild and neither was there anybody to rebuke her for it.

"A dog's a dog but you're a bitch with a big backbone aren'tcha! I'm starting to get a little sick of you!"

"I can say the same woof you!!"

With her inclinations reaching their peak, Yellow's speech slips a little at the end.

"Alright! Come right at me! Give me everything you got!!"

"I will! You, me and just our bodies! This is the final showdown!!"

Not giving up on her major predicament and still fighting to win, Yellow's figure was exactly like that of the heroes of justice that she looked up to. Having to look past the many things wrong with what actually is would be a fault to it though.

"No matter how big a glutton you may be, it is impossible for you to keep on eating as though you are bottomless! ...For enemies that can absorb attacks... the conventional way to defeat them is to keep on attacking until that can no longer absord the attacks properly!!"

But even if she did have her prided hero related knowledge, she still didn't have the anything in hand to put it into practice. 

Yellow thrusts out her left arm and activates the Girls Boy elemera orb.

<<GIRLS BOY>>

"Activate! Elemeraddition!!"

Just like Blue did, Yellow activates her final trump card - Elemeraddition. Gauntlet-like armor forms on top of her left arm's elemeration parts. Yellow had paired up all the elemera orbs together with one another through trial and error so she already had an idea on which ones to activate simultaneously.

<<NAPE>>

<<SIXPACK>>

These are the two elemera orbs she activated. 

It might be because hair is the bodypart that draws out the luster of the nape but the Nape elemera itself grants one the ability to manipulate their hair through their thoughts. She hadn't used it for attacking at all since she could turn her twintails into anchors on her own anyway. Once she saw how Souji's eyes sparkled at Lolory's techniques however, Erina had determined herself to manipulate her twintails in a wider variety of ways. As such, Yellow's twintails now wrapped themselves around Mandragora Guildy's body.

"I have you now!"

"Oh my, what wonderful bindings!!"

By activating the Sixpack elemera with its abilty to harden organic matter together with the Nape elemera, Yellow's twintails had become hardy chains she could use to punish her foes.

["Th-That's far too reckless Erina-san!!"]

Perhaps having seen something on her side, Twoearles yells at her over the comms. Yellow doesn't stop however. Without her weapons to act as her intermediary, Tail Yellow could not shoot her energy transformed electricity at her foe but there was still one method left for her. 

'If I cannot shoot then I just need to stick to my opponent and beat it into them point blank...!!'

Seeing Yellow's intense bursts of electricity Mandragora calls out in dismay.

"Ar-are you insane!? Those pretty twintails of yours could end up in tatters you know!?"

"The part of my body that I have the most faith in are not my fists or my legs but these twintails! I... believe in my twintails!!"

Even if divine thunder were to strike her hair, they still would not fall from it.

"Everything... I will beat every last bit of my strength right into you!!"

Mandragora Guildy feels every bit of that faith and remaining strength through those twintail as they beat her down.

"I w-won't loooooosseee!"

Intense pain strikes Yellow's entire body. It was to be expected. At this point-blank range, the Tailgear wouldn't be able to supress the backflow of power completely. Even so, Yellow raises the electric output even higher.

"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAARARRRRRGGGHHHHHHH!!"

Letting out a piercing shriek, Yellow overflows with highest level of thunder there was. Smoke finally finally rises out from Mandragora Guildy's body as she collapses. Even a complete masochist like her couldn't bear punishment that went beyond what her flesh could take in.

"I am satisfied... For punishing me to the utmost limit, thank you Tail Yellow-chan..."

"You are very welcome... You were strong as well..."

Wearing a clear and unrepentant masochistic expression, Mandragora Guildy explodes.

"...I did it. All by myself... M-Master, please prai..."

Devoid of strength, Yellow collapses onto the ground.

["Erina-san!? Are you alright Erina-san!?"]

Twoearle's voice rings out to empty air. 

There could not be any corpses to find as they all vanished but there lay a single girl sprawled across this empty ruined battlefield.

It was the center of it all. Just what sort of face should I be putting on with such a strange sight right in front of me. This wasn't a plant anymore, it was a mountain. A giant mountain that towered over all into the sky and yet it still boasted itself a plant. That's probably why it's known as the divine tree beyond human reach, this Yggdrasil.

Still, what threw me for a loop was no the size of the thing. It just never occured to me that I'd have to fight Yggdrasil Guildy. Since she turned into this ridiculously huge "firing platform" to cover the world in pollen and had her allies form two layers of defenses against us, I figured she had to be incapable of defending herself.

I thought I would be able to take Yggdrasil Guildy down quick and release all the stolen elemera. After that I'd go back and help Blue and Yellow out with the ones the they were holding back. That was why I felt like I still had the time to spare on my encounter with Phoenix Guildy. But now, I regret using up those few minutes. 

This firing platform... was wriggling. The instant I got close enough giant tree-like tentacles started whipping around one by one right before my eyes. Just that was enough to make the ground quake beneath my feet.

This holy tree was going to fight back.

Even when the tentacles hit nothing but air, it still whips gusts out from them. Those tentacles could swing out freely like nunchucks around Yggdrasil Guildy's body. The tree was protected all around.

"Please don't come any nearer! If you do you'll get hurt badly~!"

Her voice still remained unchanged even as a giant as she gives a warning in that slow voice of hers. It was exactly as she said. If I approached her carelessly I just might get sent flying to the ends of the sky.

"...dammit, this is no time to be getting cold feet!"

I slap at my Force Rivon and activate the Blazer Blade. I set my sights on the tentacles swinging around to indimidate me and strike with as much power as I could.

"Gah...!"

The blade that I gripped tight in my hands gets deflected away in its entirety and is sent sailing backwards in a spin. It stabs itself into the ground after how many spins and I end up rolling across the ground from the recoil.

Just arm strength alone wasn't enough to deal with even a single tentacle. It's like trying to press down on a really powerful fan with just a pinkie.

["Souji-sama! Yggdrasil Guildy's entire body currently stands at over 150 meters tall! She should weigh approcimately 30000 tons. That can no longer be categorized as an elemarian! Direct assaults are too dangerous!!"]

Twoearle says out over the comms. Hearing those numbers that were on a completely different scale, I can't help but take them as jokes...

"...don't get dizzy now..."

The tailgear's arm strength should be at around 100 tons if I remember right. I was astounded when I heard that from Twoearle but... with Yggdrasil Guildy as my opponent even this transcendant arm strength could hardly cut it.

This monster... this giant behemoth's greatest weapon is her colossal size itself. All she has to do swing around the ends of her tentacles and let their weight take care of the rest. That's all she needs to do to turn them into powerful unmatchable attacks. It's a calculating matter and it has me envisioning the giant robot Twoearle-Oh sitting back at base crossing over from the other side to here. 

Yggdrasil calls out to me who had taken up my blade once more and appeals to me in earnest.

"Tail Red-chan, I'm being serious here! As I am now, things won't end with just you losing your twintail affinity! You could get badly hurt... no, you could lose even your life! I won't stop my tentacles so please don't fight!!"

She speaks to me like I was one of her own students. What she said boiled down to, 'If you value your life don't come any closer'. That just made my fear fade away instead. Putting myself at risk... Putting my life on the line, that's exactly what my friends are doing right now as they fight!!

"Progress Baretta!!"

I focus and will the Barettas stored away in my Rivons into my hand. Going into a power up mode is a double edge sword that drops my defensive abilities. But if I can't attack or defend anyway, I might as well attack, attack and attack!

"Chain Custom - Riser!!"

As I put on the Barretas and redo my twintails up to high tied ones, my tailgear powers up into Riser Chain. I grip another Blazer Blade in my left hand.

"WOOOOOOOOOOOOOAAAAHHH!!"

I strike with the Blazer Blade Twins at the same time and slice off a tentacle. But another one sweeps over my head in no time at all. If I get hit even once then it's game over.

"Chain Custom - Faller!!"

I shift my twintails down to low tied ones and take off like a rocket. I zip through tiny gaps in between where the tentacles swung wildly and fly out of there.

I put some distance between try to come with a way for me to attack at long range. The tailgear flashes a hint for such a weapon in my head.

"That's it!"

I take the Progress Barrettas off from my Force Rivons and deploy them in V shapes. I speed up and lob them at Yggrasil Guildy. Flames bursts out from their tips and Yggdrasil Guildy howls as they tear through two of her tentacles. I never thought to use them this way before. Boomerangs... That's right, when I saw the gorillas throwing around their boomerang it also improved my imagination.

I catch hold of the returning boomerangs and attach back onto the Rivons once more. I can make use of these weapons...!

With hopes of ending the battle in sight, it was unavoidable that I would be stunned once more for the third time.

"...you've got to be kidding me..."

"Chipping away at me from afar, I'm not going to just stand by while you do something so underhanded!"

Yggdrasil Guildy's humongous body was moving across the ground. The land itself ruptures into avalanches and the sky is caught in the earthshaking. As living being from Earth, this crossed the line between actions that I could dismiss and the onesI couldn't. Completely overwhelmed by that spectacle, one of her tentacles takes the chance to get me from my blind spot and wraps itself tight around me.

"UWAAAAAAAAHHHH!!"

I was only keeping my eyes on the roots so it was the perfect sneak attack as that tentacle came flying out from the roof-like head portion of Yggdrasil Guildy. It was veritable hidden arm.

"...c-cra-p..."

Every bone in my body feels like they've smashed to pieces. On top of that Faller Chain is just about to go over its 22 second limit! At this rate the tailgear is going to overload...!

Over at the Star Twoearle's cockpit.

"Twoearle-chan!"

Miharu, seeing her son in grave danger, makes an outrageous request to Twoearle.

"...ram it."

"What? I do of course do intend on getting rammed at some point but..."

Twoearle tries to deflect her still unfulfilled promise to Miharu by saying she will get ot it at some point but Miharu denies that on the spot.

"Not you, I meant this."

Miharu points to the floor of the cockpit.

"Let's ram this ship into Yggdrasil Guildy!!"

"Captain Miharu!?"

"What do you think you're saying Miharu-san!?"

Twoearle and Mikoto shudder. Miharu's eyes were bloodshot. Another chance like this would never come again and she was hot and high on the situation.

"My son's in a pinch so we'll ram the ship into it and self-destruct! A mother's luck has run out!!"

"Calm down Captain Miharu! It won't go down even if we do that kind of thing!!"

"I don't want to die an unwed woman!!"

While the three of them had their attention elsewhere, a startling scene was playing out on the monitor. The Tailgear was just about to go into overload and Tail Red was unleashing an attack.

My will takes flight and the tailgear reacts to it. Faller Chain's hip accelerator parts fly out on their own and tear through the tentacles. With just a few nanoseconds to go, I manage to revert my twintails back to normal and elemera flows through my whole body.

"I thought they were just stabilizers to fine tune my acceleration at high speeds but... they were weapons too?"

I shift into Riser Chain to break through the tentacle with my blade and then shift into Faller Chain right after in a hectic bit of redoing my twintails.

Needing an attack that could pull me out of this hopeless situation, I call on that sensation from just before and ten variously sized pieces of armor, five on each side matching, shoot out. But they don't have the same force behind them as the one before as they all fly out ahead of me only to fall to the ground in shambles.

"No good. I can't control them well...!"

Yggdrasil Guildy chases after me in a rage. This leaves me unable to retrieve the armor parts so I leave them where they lie and shift back into Normal Chain but as I do a mass of silver colored particles hammers down on me from above.

"Uwahh!?"

Different from the main cannon aimed skywards, Yggdrasil Guildy also had slow moving ones shaped like chameleon eyes slowly taking their aim on me like they were side cannons. I wasn't the only one with an ace up their sleeve!

"It's a shame... I didn't want to have to use this at all but I'm sorry. It might get scary enough to make you cry but if you could, please just stay there like that until this is all over!!"

"A different kind of pollen...!? This is...!!"

"Super Agony particles... A despicable inhumane forbidden technique scorned by us elemarians!"

Suddenly, everything starts getting dark. Is it an illusion!?

'She takes after the holy tree Yggdrasil but this is more like one of those poisonous mushrooms that grow in the mountains...!!'

I meant to say that out to myself but my voice won't come out. Soon every other sound around starts fading away as I get pulled into a world of stark silence.

Eyes, mouth and ears, they were all taken away from me. I've been isolated away from my senses. Without Twoearle's guidance, I can't even dodge the roaring mess of tentacles. I was basically in the same position as a sacrifice left out to be toyed and killed. 

Even if it scares me, I can't even scream. It's so strange. Having my senses destroyed like this so one-sidedly is making me lose my sense of what's real and what isn't. It's like I'm in a dream. There was no way I could muster any fighting spirit this way. I've run out of everything.

After I gave Phoenix Guildy that spiel, having my spirit break this much is just...

No matter how hard I chase after or how much I take, there are enemies I cannot do anything to. Right now, I didn't have a single move that I pull out through sheer determination. 

Is this what despair feels like?

At the very least, I can apologize to them in my heart... To Aika and Erina... To Lolory and the others as well. I couldn't protect the twintails of this world and my world both...

...twintails?

Wait. What do I have to despair for? My eyes can't see... and my voice can't speak... and even if my ears can't hear! So what!? I can still sense twintails, can't I!?

'I see it!!'

I can feel them. The twintails out there seeking out help. The twintails rousing to help them. All the twintail affinities that have been taken captive by Yggdrasil Guildy. And finally the twintail affinities of my friends behind me, burning bright hot. Like stars in the night sky, all those countless twintails are shining down on me in the darkness I'm trapped in!!

"KYAAAAAAARGH!?"

I can hear Yggdrasil Guildy scream out in pain. I see countless tentacles lying down on the ground as they were grass cut by a sickle.

"...they're back...?"

As I mutter that aloud, I realize that my senses have returned to me. The parts that had fallen to the ground before were now hovering around me burning blazingly bright. It looks like they saved me from Yggdrasil Guildy's attack the same way Yggdrasil Guildy's tentacles had protected her body. Satelite Swords that fly around me according to my will and exterminate any external threats... Do that's what the Blazer Saber is!!

"Why won't you behave!? I told you didn't I!? Go stand in the hallway!!"

"And just who would listen to that teacher! She's the one trying to destroy the world! No matter how bad a seed they may be, they're still going to go nuts with everything they have to stop that!!"

"But that's not normal! You were afraid weren't you!? You should have wanted to give up when you saw this form!!"

Giant things are scary. That probably was something ingrained into my instincts as a living thing. However...

"When have I... When has Tail Red ever not have to look up to see you eye to eye? It's no different this time. You may be a bit bigger but in the end it's still business as usual!"

The chairwoman said so. Being able to sense twintails through the five senses puts me just at the foot of the mountain. Being able to sense them with my heart places me up on its side. If I'm challenging this huge mountain then how can I win without roaring up it's side! My twintails have now surpassed even my own five senses!!

"FLY SABEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEERRR!"

I thrust out my right arm and they shoot off towards the remaining tentacles! The fly through the air with my supernatural sixth sense-like perception acting as their reins. Be they geometric patterns, electric circuits or the lines in constellations, they flew wildly in the free from tracks defined by human knowledge and burned scarlet trails of fire across the air.

Almost nearly completely cut off from her tentacles, Yggdrasil Guildy screams out in anguish.

"I don't understand... Why would you go so far just for some mere preferences!? I don't understand you at all!? Are you really human!?"

"Are you the ones whose lives dwell in the sparkling crytallizations of those mere preferences!? Why do you deny your very existence!? Your subordinates talk you up a lot but the one who's most self-depreciative of you all is actually you!!"

"...I was told that this technique must never be used under any circumstances but... It's a devilish technique that could lead to the destruction of human hearts so it was sealed away... And yet, you didn't despair..."

The last tentacle is finally sliced off.

"I know these two girls... To protect their world, they took away the twintails they themselves loved from their people and continued to fight while holding back their tears! Compared to them... How exactly could I give up hope from only losing my five senses when I still had my beloved twintails with me!?"

"Only your five senses!?"

I initiate the Break Release. My whole body overflows with elemera particles and Faller Chain blasts off at maximum speed. I set my sights on Yggdrasil Guildy who was literally bolted upright to the ground as I shift into Riser Chain, flames erupting from the backpack mid-stride.

Loel. Ryruna. You did well all this time. But now, with this one last attack, with my twintails, I'm going to put an end to your despair!

"My twintails are hope!!"

I bring down the Blazer Blade combined together with Progress Barettas cutting from the faraway top.

"RISING BLAAAAZEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEER!!"

Her giant body becomes wreathed in flames. The pollen in the air fade away as if they were never there. That marked the end of this holy tree.

"It's just as you said.... I am their teacher but... I'm also the biggest problem child of them all... I was the one who saved by those girls."

Yggdrasil Guildy mutters aloud as she burns down in self-derision.

"...The one who defeated you wasn't me. It was the elemera that you stole away so ruthlessly... The twintail affinities among them guided me along. No matter how much you supress them you can't just throw away those feelings... The twintails that wanted to live are what saved me!"

"Tail Red-chan. You're so cool... If we had a teacher like you... I'm sure everyone would have been able to enjoy every single day without having to cry..."

She did not explode. She didn't wither away either. Like the red pollen she scattered, Yggdrasil Guildy faded into twinkling particles... And soon, she was gone.

"...There's no way an twintail idiot like me would ever become a teacher you know..."

I get it. It has nothing to do with being human or elemarian. I know just how irreplaceable the days spent with your precious friends are. No matter how hard things get, those days aren't something you'd want to lose...

I confirm with Twoearle whether or not there was anybody else in the area. It'd be tough if didn't do so and couldn't pass out. I get down close to the ground and let out a sigh of relief. 

I can't keep the transformation up for much longer...

This was a head on confrontation between all the members of one of Ultimaguil's units and the Twintails. It was veritably all out war between them. It was a hard struggle but the Twintails won and the brought peace back to this world they were invited to. The red sky that made it seem like the world was at its demise had completely gone away and left a sunny blue sky in its place. 

Back at the site where Yggdrasil Guildy had been anihilated was Souji, collapsed and all alone. He had used up every last bit of power he had and passed out. 

A figure slowly approaches the sleeping boy. Her twintails swayed with her. Lolory sat down by Souji's side and gently grabbed hold of his hand.

"I knew it."

Startled by the unexpected voice coming from behind her, Lolory turns around in an instant and stands up.

"A-Aika-oneechan..."

The battle had come to an end but the Aika that Lolory was facing still hadn't undone her transformation as Tail Blue.

"Just what were you trying to do, Lolory?"

"Umm let's see. Lolory came all this way to meet to him and Souji-oniichan's sleeping face was just so handsome that Lolory just... started wanting to kiss him."

Lolory squeals in delight and pulls her closed hands up to her chin.

"...That alone is absolutely not something I'm about to let happen."

"Hiii!?"

On the receiving end of a glare on par with what you'd expect from a demon, Lolory's voice pulls back a pitch.

"That Souji still hasn't had his first time yet...!!"

Aika voice sounded as if it bellowed from the lowest depths of hell. The little girl shivers as she makes her appeal.

"Err, Lolory's sorry Aika-oneechan. Are you mad that at Lolory because Lolory was of no use in battle?"

"Don't try to kiss Souji while you're apologizing!!"

Feeling the pressure from Blue's fist graze her, even Lolory had to stand up once more to face her.

"I'm not going to think much of you for stealing all the glory from the ones who did the fighting princess."

"No! That's not it! Lolory was just..."

She starts to say but seeing where things stood between them now, the smile disappears from Lolory's face and she gnashes her teeth in frustration.

"...did you suspect Lolory the whole time?"

"It takes time for me start trusting anyone. Souji is just a softhearted person."

No matter how charming the smile was or how much it compelled others to protect it, it would not sway Blue.

"I can tell when women have their eyes on Souji just by looking. I knew that it wasn't just child's play with you and that you were seriously after Souji from the very beginning."

"You're scary Aika-oneechan!!"

Lolory caught a glimpse into the childhood friend's dark abyss and she was terrified by what she saw.

"Well, it wasn't just that. I had other doubts about you."

"...huh?"

"I thought that a lot fell too perfectly in place when you told us about the state of this world. Souji may come charging right in if it meant good things for twintails but normally people would think that's weird."

It totally was. If Aika knew what sort of disposition Souji had awakened to when he fell Yggdrasil Guildy she would probably suffer a fainting spell.

"I was wondering why exactly you'd go so far as to seek help from humans in other worlds in the first place. Even if you couldn't win against Phoenix Guildy, he'd be satisfied you just put on ponytails for a while. The unit that came to pursue that one didn't even lay a hand on this world either. It was all a matter of time before everything would solve itself."

Blue started going over her longwinded story. So Lolory couldn't tell, she walks to calm her agitated breathing.

"The one who called Phoenix Guildy to this world... It was you wasn't it, Lolory?"

"!"

Perhaps it was because she didn't expect her to have seen through it all that far but Lolory swallows her breath.

"The truth is that it was problem for you when Levia Guildy's unit withdrew from this world, wasn't it? You couldn't appeal to your citizens as a fighting princess anymore after all."

Not paying the change in Lolory's expression any mind, Blue continues.

"That's why you called out to Ultimaguil once again. Using your ability to send out your thoughts I bet. That was when you happened upon the Ultimaguil rebel, Phoenix Guildy. You couldn't win against him but... surprisingly enough, he was someone you could talk things over with."

Even Blue had come to know of Phoenix Guildy's disposition.

"If your admired twintails were to continue spreading and new warriors came out of it, the world could end up divided. That's when you came up with the whole outlawing twintails because their presence caused your world to be targeted and instead started praising ponytails in their place. That's how Phoenix Guildy's and your agenda lined up."

She had even figured out the circumstances behind the establishment of the bizzare prohibition of twintails.

"But in the end that talkative Phoenix Guildy actually brought a strong unit that was chasing him to your doorstep. That was your miscalculation. The punchline to all this was that you lost your head over that and started looking for help from twintail warriors for real."

Lolory turns her face away and takes a step back. Blue kept going.

"It's farce of a story but this kind of thing actually does happen fairly often. Like how it'd be bad if someone came up with a medicine that could cure illnesses completely. Medicine sells because people get sick... If elemarians were around, you could become the one and only ruler as the world's protector."

'Just kidding', so Blue jokes. Her eyes didn't have laughter in them though.

"T-that's..."

"As you sent your thoughts across the worlds, you came across a twintail warrior who by some miracle also happened to be a man. That's where you came up with scenario. He was someone who wouldn't lose you your unique status, the perfect "Ally" right?"

It was probably almost entirely as Blue had predicted. Lolory fell into silence once again.

"I did say you're doing some bad stuff but it's not like I'm saying that it was all wrong going from 1 to 100. I really have no idea how hard it can be to rule over an entire world either. And you can find countries deceiving their people to control them through their sense of danger just abput anywhere too."

Blue's tone softens just a little bit here.

"Also, you weren't lying when you said you trying to protect your people."

It's true that Loel, in a fit of lighthearted thinking, called for elemarians to come to their world and rampage it once again. But it was also true that she sent her thoughts across the worlds to seek help again and again and again.

Even as Lolory remains dispirited she tries to convince Blue once more.

"...Lolory knows those weren't means that would be commended. But that's exactly why Souji-oniichan is necessary. If Souji-oniichan stayed, the people would get better without any further deception."

Blue laughs dryly at that. She may have played detective but it would have all been fine if this was all there was to it.

"...you really are stupid. I couldn't care less about how you run your country. But if you're trying to trap Souji in this world... That's the only thing I'm here to stop."

Even if it was being overprotective, she didn't care. Eventually, he'd come to learn of the black parts of humans had to them... But even so, she still wants to protect that straightforward to the point of being pure twintail loving Souji from all the malice she could. That was all Aika wished for.

"No way! Souji-oniichan is going to stay here forever with Loel and Ryruna!"

"I think you'll find that to be much harder than ruling the world, princess."

Facing that unmistakable intent to fight, Lolory readies herself for battle with a swish of her dress.

"I-If that's how it's going to be then that makes you Lolory's enemy, Oneechan!!"

"Yeah, that's the idea you know?" 

With her Wave Lance broken Tail Blue was empty handed on top of being covered in wounds. Lolory's power may have gone down but she was in perfect shape physically. It was clearer than water as to who'd be the victor here.

"TWINTAIL WHIP!"

Lolory waves her stick and her twintails starts swing around like whips the same way it did with the ultiroids before.

Blue manages to deflect them back with her hands but her face contorts in pain as she does so. Compared to how they were during the fight with Cherryblo Guildy, they were obviously much more powerful now.

"So you can do it if you try... Just drop the cutesy act you put on for the people. It's fine if you yell your guts out and go nuts."

"W-what are you trying to say?"

"If you can do this... I think your world will be just fine even after we go home."

That was not sarcasm or anything of the sort. Blue really meant it. 

Lolory yells as her twintails flail out around her.

"It won't be! I will absolutely not hand over Oniichaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaan!!"

"That's my line!!"

She gets a chill thinking about Souji having to fight Lolory. This was a warrior who wielded twintails as weapons. He wouldn't attack and he wouldn't block his opponent's attacks with his sword. She veritably Souji's natural enemy.

Using footwork that didn't suit her dress, Lolory makes fun of Blue.

"I found that armor's weakspot!!"

Unleashing Twintail Beam at point blank range, Lolory scores a direct at where Blue had tied up her twintails.

Blue already didn't have the strength to keep all of the Tailgear's functions going. Her defenses were likely one of those functions. Both her Force Rivons were destroyed at the same time. Their fragments along with the twintails they tied fall mid-air powerlessly as if they were in slow motion.

"Gguh...!!"

"It's my win, Oneechan!"

What set Lolory and the Twintails apart was that the Twintails didn't turn only their twintail elemera into power to fight. Lolory's transformation was transfiguration while the Twintails transformed by morphing. With the latter, destroying the starting equipment would render them fragile. 

However, the braces which needed protection most of all were probably made the hardest to break. There was a high risk of them being target in a sneak attack. In that case, the next target should be the core component that maintained the transformation.

...that is if undoing the twintails were an option.

The elemarians would never think to do so but things were different against a human. If things played out well, their power source would be taken away.

Assured of her victory, Lolory raises her voice in surprise when takes in the inconceivable sight before her.

"No way!?"

Tail Blue's twintails were not undone. Using her fingers to make loops, she manages to preserve the twintails in the same shape as they were before the Force Rivons got destroyed. However, it was taking Blue all she had to do so and she could only stand there without attacking back.

Wanting to make doubly sure of her victory, Lolory concentrates all her energy to her twintails and unleashes a tempest.

"TWINTAIL TORRNAAAAAAAAAAAAAADDDOOOOOOO!!"

Unable to defend herself, Blue gets swallowed up in it and is blown away like scraps of paper. Her body felt like it would be torn to pieces inside the vortex when she hears a voice.

"Blue!"

Tail Yellow was calling to her from a distance. Probably wanting to keep her promise to catch up to them, she had come in that perplexing state of hers. 

Even as she staggers about in her all purge form, she still extends out her left arm towards them.

"...Yellow!"

It wasn't that the two of them had agreed on this beforehand. When it came to it, they don't even enact any strategies. Even so, Blue immediately works out Yellow's intentions and focuses her near paused consciousness onto her left arm.

<<SMALL BUST>>

She activates her elemeration and it resonates together with Yellow's Large Bust. Blue and Yellow yell out together as if they were straining their soul in doing so.

""REFLECTION BURST!!""

A membrane of light appears behind Blue as she's being swept away by the gale winds. The tornado crashes into it and the membrane stretches and bends greatly from the impact. Elastic and sturdy at the same time, the defensive wall launches Blue and the tornado with her back at Lolory. Extending out both the legs still left to her, she entrusts her body's flight to the tornado's spin and shoots off like a bullet. And by some curious coincidence, Blue's rush on Lolory happened to be very same finishing kick move that Erina had recommended to her before.

However, Lolory's certainty in victory had already crumbled away by this point. This made her keep her guard up and she manages to swiftly put up her defense in time.

"TWINTAIL SHIELD!!"

Taking the tip of her thrusted out stick as their meeting point, her extended twintails form into a cross. She deploys it further out on all sides and turns them into a defensive iron wall.

"HAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!!"

It was all or nothing. With all her might invested in her legs, Blue's double legged kick tears through Lolory's twintails. It was ironic for her as it was her tornado that gave Blue the penetrative power of a finishing move. With the blocking twintails pushed out of the way, Lolory's defenseless torso takes a direct hit from Blue's kick. The rotating spin added to the kick turned it into a makeshift drill and Lolory gets blown back and hits the ground limp.

"...guess that nulls and voids our monopoly contract..."

Recalling that she doesn't kick anyone but Twoearle, Blue overstates the matter as she makes her landing with a wry smile.

"Haah. It's good that Souji wasn't the one fighting. If it was him, he definitely wouldn't be able to make himself kick any twintails around..."

Fallen and pressing down on her stomach, Lolory looks at Blue with awed eyes. She was likely realizing the difference in their fighting experience in full now.

"J-just what kind of person are you Oneechan...? Even when you're in a hopeless situation, you still fight back with a cool face..."

After confirming with Twoearle that there was nobody else around to see it, Blue undoes her transformation. 

Aika staggers about as if she was dizzy from standing up suddenly but she stamps her foot down and stands firm to look down at Lolory.

"...I just didn't panic. I knew that our transformations won't immediately undo themselves just because our twintails gets undone. I figured that out when I first saw Red's Chain Custom."

So long as they were tied back up in that small window of time, the transformation would stay intact. Going by that, there were still plenty of chances for victory.

"B-But for you to be able to make that decision without panicking in that instant is just..."

It was like suddenly tucking into a roll when you fell from a ladder. Danger lurks in their everyday life, she just extended her body's self defense reflexes to her twintails as well. She could only grow as much through those days because she was a girl who lived by her twintails.

"...Just how many thousands of times do you think I've tied these twintails up in my entire life...? That's the difference between me and a little girl like you who wears twintails just for fashion."

They were both twintail warriors but their feelings towards twintails were of different dimensions.

"Well, no... Normally... Twintails are for fashion, right...?"

She had already lost the energy to say anything resentful by this point.

"They look good on you all..."

Giving her blessing, Lolory falls down with a snap.

Now having reach the limits of her mental energy, Aika almost slinks down in exhaustion but when she Lolory's eyes open once again her body tenses back up.

"It's alright Aika. It's me."

Since the transformation's main personality had lost consciousnees, it was time for the other personality to awaken.

"You're... Ryruna?"

Ryruna doesn't get up but simply looks up at the blue sky.

"You kicked the princesses of this country to your heart's content. That depraved woman was right, you really are a barbarian."

"Of course I would. Loel went a little bit too far."

Ryruna shakes her slowly.

"The one in the wrong was me. Originally, Anesama was the one in twintails while I wore a ponytail..."

Even as she stays fallen, Lolory... Ryruna tells Aika the truth.

"I wanted to combine with Anesama... I wanted to help her so I became a necessary part in increasing her power through combining but... I don't have the twintail affinity. My affinity is ponytails."

So basically, this world's twintail warrior was Loel. Ryruna was simply able to combine with her using Loel's power and nothing more.

"People around the world idolized "Lolory" and that made the number of twintails grow... but at the same time ponytails were steadily disappearing from this world. Anesama learnt about how I was saddened by that so she accepted Phoenix Guildy's suggestion out of her kindness. Please don't treat her like a villain."

The fact that Loel wore a sidetail to match Ryruna in their normal state was also something she did out of consideration for Ryruna's intentions. Put the two of them together and they turn into a twintail... That was Loel's cute and admirable kindness at work.

"Like I said, I really don't care about that sort of stuff. I don't think either of you as bad guys."

'Sorry about cornering her without any evidence,' so apologizes Aika.

"To be honest, I get it too... If the number of twintails out there increase... That means even more rivals for me. Soouji would probably get sad if I said this in front of him but... I don't think I actually want to see more of them so much."

Aika gives an awkward smile as she leans over and gently scoops up Lolory's ponytail.

"Aika..."

Ryruna starts shaking as she looks up at Aika.

"Don't tell me you want to marry me too...!? Bigamy isn't good!!"

"...have you been seeing me as a boy all this time?"

The last thing Ryruna saw in her terrified state was a giant towering wall, drawing in closer upon her.

Us Twintails had fought desperately hard to get rid of No Bul Club. I didn't get to see the fight with my own eyes but Twoearle has confirmed that Phoenix Guildy's ponytail elemera signal has disappeared as well. Seems like Dark Grasper won.

Just how hard does she make it to hate her. I ended up parting ways from her at the end but it's left a bit of a bad aftertaste. But with this, there shouldn't anymore strong unit coming to invade this world now that it's been judged to have no worth in being invaded. This time the Ultimaguil menace has gone for good.

They suggested that we should go be part of a parade in the castle town but as the main guests this time. We politely refused the invitation. From start to finish, we were only called over to this world to have our training camp. The twintail hero of this world is Lolory after all.

While the town lit up in delight, we spent our last hours with Loel and Ryruna in the grasslands some ways away. For some reason it seems that Aika has is getting along better with Loel and Ryruna than before. It's they spilled out their guts to each other and are friends for it. 

That reminds me... I had a promise to keep with that one.

"Twoearle. If I sent an email to Acena she's not going to be to track down where I am from it, right?"

"No, she won't but... Souji-sama why are you bringing Acena up of all things!?"

Twoearle was obviously alarmed by it. Can't blame her.

"She did save me in this battle and I have to keep my promises. Send me an email, she said."

"Please bear in mind that if you send her anything once, she will never stop hounding you for more. After all, this would be her first time getting an email that wasn't a reply."

That's a bit scary... If she's already left from this world the email might not actually reach her. For the time being I'll just send her what I have to.

All decked out in a dress, Ryruna approaches me fidgeting as she comes.

"Souji.... Um, are you really... going?"

"Yeah. The fight in our world isn't over yet."

"I see. I understand."

Thank you. I lost track of how many times it's been said to me since the battle ended but... This was the only time that Ryruna said anything about keeping me here. I can tell that her smile is a little forced. 

Someone comes up to that Ryruna and I find myself surprised when I see who it is. It was the old man I met in town except now he was wearing a full set of armor with a luxurious mantle to go with it.

"Father!? What are you doing here!?"

"Oh well, when the sky had gone red I was actually just a little bit away from where you all were."

And Ryruna's words pushed me further into a state of shock.

"Father!? Don't tell this old man is...!?"

"That's right. This is our father. That makes him his majesty the king of this country."

The king looks at my face and smiles.

"Fofofo. After having gone around town like that, I may have to review reinforcing the law that my daughters passed..."

Loel professed her determined words to his majesty.

"...Papa. I'm sorry but we're going to repeal the prohibition on twintails."

"Yes, I thought that you might want to do that. You did your best girls."

Having to outlaw the twintails he loved so much and take a walking tour to investigate how his people were doing had to have been an extremely painful duty for him. That may all been in vain in the end but even so the king has good smile on his face.

Still though, he was so up there in years that it was inconceivable that he'd have daughters this young. Acting as if he had peered into my mind, the king bashfully addresses me.

"I really was gifted with these girls late in life..."

"Oh my my. That's quite something. You are in rather the pink of health for a man in his golden years aren't you."

Twoearle teases the king and laughs along with him before she pokes at Aika.

I see. The king's age must have also been a factor in Loel and Ryruna's rushed behaviour. They probably pushed themselves so hard so that they could let their father retire sooner.

The king fastens his lips and points his noble and gallant gaze my way.

"...are you going, young one?"

His words of love towards matured women runs through my head but give him a clear affirmative nod.

"Thank you so much. I couldn't even give you something in the form of our gratitude..."

"No need. Coming to this world has filled me up with courage. I can thank Loel and Ryruna for that."

For us who still had our battle ahead of us, it became the most irreplaceable thing we had. We didn't have any expectations for it but our little "Training Camp" had properly achieved its objectives.

"Loel-chan, here. As a reminder of all the memories we made in this world... Twoearle's prized gift!"

As Twoearle tells her that, she hands Loel a shrunken version of Masked Twintail's mask. Since her status as a princess didn't allow her to turn away gifts, Loel had trouble reacting to that.

Loel leaves the mask in the king's custody for the time being and walks over to me.

"Oniichan."

Loel pulls on the sleeve of my shirt and looks up at me with upturned eyes.

"Will we meet again?"

...what nostalgic words. It was only natural that I'd know just the answer for them.

"So long as both you and Ryruna love twintails, I know that we'll meet again."

The person who first said it to me is now one of my precious comrades. We should meet again, one day, as fellow twintail loving comrades.

"Anesama, is that really alright with you? We don't know when that will be... Can you wait for that long?"

In contrast to her sister's sensible words, I could tell that Ryruna seemed worried.

"Yup. Loel will wait. I already received something very important from him. ...oh...it kicked."

Loel presses down on her stomach as she smiles a blissfully happy smile.

"EEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEHHHHHH!? WHY DID IT HAVE TO BE THIS GIRL!? IS IT BECAUSE SHE TOOK DOWN THAT CHERRY BLOSSOM ELEMARIAN THAT SHE GETS TO TAKE SOUJI-SAMA'S CHERRY TOO!?"

Tear's of blood streamed down Twoearle's face as she clings to me. Erina also went completely red in the face.

"...well ...she did get kicked alright."

I thought Aika would shoot off a retort at all this but she did the unexpected and just added something on to it. Seriously, just what happened between Aika and these two sisters...? Still though, I'm glad we didn't have to part ways on a sad note. We'll be setting off from this world with smiles on our faces.

The Star Twoearle lifts off into the air and prepares its charge into the dimension between worlds. I look out the window and see the Gorilla's waving at us. The ban on twintails had been lifted now. Twintails should start trickling back into this world once more.

The ship goes into the Driveout phase and we're transported on our route back through the dimension without a hitch.

"Good job everybody. That was quite an amazing summer training camp you all had."

My mom the ship captain looks over back to us all collapsed in our seats and shares some gracious words.

"Yes, it was certainly an enriching journey for us."

I can't help but be amazed at how Erina's not showing a single sign of exhaustion on her face at a time like this. Sakuragawa-sensei then says something into her ear.

"...err, young mistress... About the promise with the madame..."

"I... have made some progress on that matter. I was nak... we... our bare skin made contact with one another's..."

"Eh!? Wh-wh-wh-what do you mean by that...!?"

In some odd panic, Sakuragawa-sensei makes to come near but once she saw how I had sunk down into my seat, she returns back to her own. Even then, she still looked like she had something she wanted to say to me.

Aika and Erina were also similarly slumping into their seats as well. We didn't want to worry Loel and the others so we kept up a spirited for them but in truth we were all completely spent and wanted to sleep the remaining time away. If we make it back now, we'll still have a few days to spare before the 6th of August comes. Plenty of time for rest.

I look out through the window and see the the marbling colours change. All our energy just vanished into thin air on the trip home and we'll just be snoozing the whole way back. It's really not so different from a regular trip.

When I get ready to shut my eyes the cockpit's automatic door opens up with a whoosh. 

We were all here so who could it be!? 

Everyone turns around to it and trains their eyes on the door. The person there at the door - it was a little princess in a pink dress. She was adorned in white ribbons... it was the younger sister Ryruna.

"Ryruna!?"

Ryruna gives makes harumphing noise and faces away from us at my surprised voice.

"Do-don't get me wrong. I couldn't care less about Souji but nothing changes the fact that he still touched my hair. What would the people think if either of their twin princesses were to break that law."

And as she sneaks little glances at me she starts rubbing both her hands together each other just down in front of her skirt 

"Father told me to go with you all to your world... for the marriage. Sheesh, you're causing me a lot of trouble with that."

Aika, Erina and Sakuragawa-sensei all had their mouths hanging open. Mom was just looking ever so pleased with her palm to her cheek looking like she was just taking in the sights.

"Anesama has her future as the next queen so I must see that law fulfilled even if it's just me."

Ryruna clears her throat in a purposely manner and comes right up to me.

"Without Anesama, I might be of no use in battle but... all the same, I'll be joining the Twintails. Be grateful for that."

"Are you sure about this Ryruna... You'll be leaving your dear sister's side for this..."

"You are my husband. If I ever seem lonely to you then I will the find the ability within myself to allow you to spoil me sweet to make up for it."

She really can't just be honest with herself. She gets sullen at the awkward smile I'm giving her and speaks deliberately at me.

"Sheeesh. I'm regretting coming aboard this ship now. That said, it's too late to turn back anymore."

Hearing that Twoearle puts on a grin and heads towards the console at the front of the cockpit.

"Oh no it's not. We're going to turn right around so it might get a little bumpy."

Twoearle makes some light taps on the panel and the ship shakes just as she said.

"...wait, when it comes to situations like this isn't it supposed to be that there's no going back once we sailed off!?"

Even though she was just telling us she wasn't going to like it Ryruna breaks into a panic at the sudden turnaround.

"Of course we can. It's not like we won't be able to go home if we take a few minutes to do this. I would very gladly love to bring you home to live with us but it would be inconvenient for me if Souji-sama's cherry really did get popped you see~"

"But I jumped out for you crying!! Father even did the bit where he saw me off and said, "Consider yourself disowned," with a really nice smile on his face!! I don't want to go back a divorcee with the mood as it is back there!! NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!"

Ryruna's pleas fall on deaf ears as the Star Twoearle heads back to the castle to drop off the runaway girl of just a few minutes gone...