The biting sea air whipped around the abandoned docks, a desolate expanse of rusted metal and decaying wood. Inside a hidden, damp chamber, a dim, flickering light cast long, distorted shadows. Hayate Yagami, her head throbbing, stirred from unconsciousness. Her limbs were bound by intricate magic circles, their glowing runes pulsating with malevolent energy, suppressing her own abilities. She strained against the restraints, her attempts to break free futile. The familiar surge of her magic remained stubbornly dormant, locked away by the binding spells.
"Ah, you've finally graced us with your presence, Commander," a voice dripped with false cordiality. Imposter Kai, his back turned, meticulously adjusted a dark, heavy cloak. The subtle shift in his posture, the almost imperceptible tension in his shoulders, betrayed a calculated composure.
"My, my," a cackling voice echoed through the room. "What a delightful asset you've become, a perfect hostage." Glaza Enfield stepped into the dim light, his eyes glinting with cruel amusement.
"You?! Glaza Enfield?!" Hayate's voice was a mixture of shock and disbelief. "How…?"
"Khuhuhu, welcome, Commander Hayate Yagami. How does it feel to be betrayed by one of your own?" Glaza sneered, his fingers digging into Hayate's cheek, forcing her to look up. "Such a promising young commander, brought low by the treachery of a trusted ally."
"Let me go! He's not the Izumi Kai I know!" Hayate spat, her anger boiling. "He's an imposter!"
"Temper, temper," Glaza purred. "You're far too interesting to be so easily dismissed. A prodigy, a commander at such a tender age. A truly remarkable specimen."
"What do you want from me? This is a crime!" Hayate's voice trembled with rage.
"Your masked companion, of course. The real Izumi Kai," Glaza replied with a sly grin.
Imposter Kai, with a deliberate, theatrical flourish, peeled away a thin, synthetic layer from his face, revealing a distorted, unfamiliar visage. Hayate gasped, her eyes widening in horror. The face beneath was not Kai's, but a grotesque mockery, a twisted reflection of the man she knew.
Suddenly, a warning blared from Glaza's device, its red lights flashing urgently. Signum and Arc had arrived, alone, as promised. They were outside the building, on the desolate dock, their figures silhouetted against the twilight sky.
Signum, accompanied by Agito, her unison device, stood firm, her gaze sweeping across the empty expanse of the dock. Arc, his hand clenched tightly around his device, Raging Brando, trembled. It wasn't fear, Signum realized, but a raw, simmering rage. His blood boiled at the thought of the imposter, the mockery of his identity. She placed a reassuring hand on his arm. "Calm yourself, Izumi. We will retrieve Hayate. Focus on the imposter. He is your priority."
Moments later, Glaza and Imposter Kai emerged from the building, leaving Hayate bound and hidden within.
"So, you've come as promised," Glaza announced, his voice echoing across the water. "How foolish of you to fall so easily into my trap!" He gestured, and from the depths of the sea, a swarm of flying droids and humanoid combat units rose, their metallic bodies glinting in the fading light.
"...Fools..." Arc's voice was a low growl.
Before the droids and humanoids could launch their attack, a barrage of pink energy beams erupted from the sky. Nanoha, her Axcel Shooter blazing, tore through the droids, sending them crashing into the water. Simultaneously, a streak of blue light, Fate in Sonic Drive, sliced through the humanoid units, disabling them with blinding speed. Glaza's eyes widened in disbelief.
"Just so you know, we don't play fair either," Signum said with a smug smile.
"He fell for it!" Agito's laughter echoed through Signum's mind.
"Grrr, I won't accept this!" Glaza snarled, summoning a horde of grotesque, stone Golems.
"Izumi, prepare yourself!" Signum commanded, adopting a combat stance.
"Call me Arc now, Signum. I intend to shatter the face of the one who dares to impersonate me," Arc declared, his voice laced with venom. He transformed Raging Brando into its revolver mode.
Signum engaged Glaza, Agito a whirlwind of fiery power at her side. Arc faced the imposter, their eyes locked in a silent, deadly confrontation.
"I've been waiting for this, Izumi Kai. It's time to end this!" Imposter Kai hissed, leveling his Soul Reaper at Arc.
"Raging Brando, execute," Arc whispered.
"U.O.B System, Standby. Full Drive activated." Raging Brando's voice, cold and mechanical, echoed in the air.
Arc's helmet visor glowed a menacing red, and in a blur of motion, he vanished. Imposter Kai's attack met only empty air, deflected by a swift, unseen parry. The clash of their weapons, a symphony of steel and magic, reverberated across the docks, a stark contrast to the cacophony of Nanoha's energy blasts and Fate's lightning-fast strikes.
Meanwhile, Renjou, his movements a phantom blur, activated his Full Drive. His mission: to disarm the ten hidden bombs planted throughout the docks, each capable of unleashing devastating explosions. He moved with impossible speed, his presence undetectable, a ghost in the shadows. He remembered Verossa's words, a lesson learned during a briefing in the command room.
"Renjou, if you were a professional thief, what would you do upon entering a museum at night?" Verossa had asked.
"Take the item and leave?" Renjou had replied.
"No, you've overlooked the crucial details," Verossa had corrected. "Security systems, laser grids, the unseen defenses. Saving Hayate without first securing the perimeter would be a catastrophic failure. Thanks to Arc's anonymous source, you have the advantage. Secure the bombs, then rescue Hayate."
Back on the docks, Signum, having obliterated the Golems, watched as Glaza, in a desperate move, activated a bomb trigger. Before he could detonate the explosives, a shot rang out, piercing his hand. Vice, his expression grim, had intervened, destroying the trigger. Glaza screamed in agony.
"It's over, Glaza. Surrender," Signum commanded.
"Surrender? Never!" Glaza shrieked, activating a device jumper. His body convulsed, unstable energy crackling around her. He summoned a massive Golem, its arms transformed into serpentine whips. The Golem's attacks were swift and deadly, but Signum, in unison with Agito, met them with a tempest of fire and steel. A final, devastating strike, the "Fire Dragon Slash," reduced the Golem and Glaza to ashes.
Suddenly, Arc crashed into a nearby wall, the impact sending tremors through the dock. He lay motionless, his barrier jacket shredded, his Full Drive deactivated. The imposter stood unscathed, his gaze fixed on Arc's prone figure. Nanoha and Fate, having dealt with the remaining droids and humanoids, watched with growing concern.
Arc's mind reeled, fragments of a conversation with Miata echoing in his ears.
"So, my former device, the Soul Edge, is a Lost Logia?" he had asked.
"Yes," Miata had confirmed. "Rivian's experiments involved fragments of Lost Logia. The Soul Reaper is the true form, the Beast Without Name. The artifact you encountered before was merely a fragment, a shadow of its full power. And it's not only from ancient Belka, but also from a forbidden book, like Hayate's Book of Darkness."
"And the book Rivian possessed?" Arc had pressed.
"...The Book of End Times..." Miata had whispered.
Imposter Kai raised his sword, preparing to deliver the final blow. But before he could strike, Signum and Fate intercepted, their weapons clashing against his. Signum engaged the imposter, while Fate channeled her healing magic, "Physical Heal," into Arc's battered body. Arc's mana reserves were depleted, his strength waning. Nanoha joined Signum, her energy beams adding to the assault.
"Everyone, all bombs have been disarmed! Hayate's rescue is imminent!" Renjou's voice echoed through their communication devices.
"Fate-chan, go with Renjou-kun to rescue Hayate-chan! I'll stay and heal him!" Nanoha instructed.
"Understood, Nanoha!" Fate replied, joining Renjou as he raced towards the building.
Fate and Renjou entered the building, leaving Signum and Nanoha to battle the imposter. Arc, still struggling to regain consciousness, was disoriented by the sounds of combat.
"You're strong, Belkan Knight Signum! But what if I were to target Hayate instead?" Imposter Kai threatened, aiming his Soul Reaper towards the location where Hayate was being held.
"...Raging Brando..." Arc commanded his device in a weak voice.
Raging Brando activated "Shadow Orb," a sphere of concentrated dark energy, similar to Fate's Photon Lancer and Nanoha's Axcel Shooter. The orb hurtled forward with incredible speed, forcing Imposter Kai to halt his attack. Nanoha was shocked to see Arc rise, despite his weakened state.
"...Nanoha... Signum.... save Hayate..." Arc said, his voice barely audible.
"Kai, I haven't finished healing you! You can't fight him in this condition!" Nanoha protested.
"...Go..." Arc insisted, without looking at Nanoha.
Signum, who had just arrived, signaled Nanoha to let him be. She knew Arc wouldn't back down. Nanoha, though worried, had no choice but to obey Arc's order and rushed to save Hayate. Arc pulled out a strange bullet, crafted by Miata specifically for him. A flashback surfaced in his mind, from when he was still in the abandoned building before joining the others.
"Kai, I want you to take this bullet," Miata had said, handing him the bullet.
"This bullet... looks strange," Arc had observed.
"That bullet is a modified Device Jumper with a shard of your Soul Edge. I know you can defeat him," Miata had explained.
"Wait, you're giving it to me now?! Isn't this the same as the one you made before?!" Arc had asked, surprised.
"Just listen! When I saw you face him, I didn't attack without reason! I analyzed you too! This is different, I know you can handle it, but... it has side effects like a regular Device Jumper!" Miata had warned.
"Then I'll save it for later," Arc had replied.
"Remember, don't use it if your mana is depleted. It will be extremely dangerous, and you'll surely lose control," Miata had emphasized.
Arc returned to his senses. He ignored Miata's warning. He loaded the bullet into Raging Brando and activated an even more dangerous Full Drive, "Dark Empowerment."
He cried out in agony as the bullet's side effects coursed through his body, transforming him into a pitch-black shadow with glowing red eyes. He unleashed his hidden magic system, revealing an ominous dark black Midchilda color. His aura turned a dark maroon, and he roared like a beast.
In the command room, Chrono, Verossa, Vita, Reinforce, and Shamal, who were concerned about Hayate, were shocked to see Arc in a berserk state. His body was completely black, surrounded by a dark maroon aura. Everyone was stunned to see Arc lose control, turning into a wild beast.
Imposter Kai attacked him, but Arc parried every blow, even countering them. Arc, in his berserk state, unleashed all his magic attacks wildly, transforming his gunblade into various forms. He took hits from Imposter Kai, but he ignored the pain. The clash of swords, shadow magic attacks, beam fire—nothing could stop him. He had completely lost control, feeling no pain at all.
Everyone in the command room was speechless, watching Arc rampage, as if the history of the ancient Belkan war that Yuuno had told him was repeating itself. The rise of the nameless beast, the age of darkness. Like the beast that rises on judgment day in the Bible. This was a nightmarish sight in Midchilda.
The imposter, though skilled, was overwhelmed by Arc's ferocious onslaught. Each parry, each counterattack from Arc, carried the weight of a primal fury, a storm of dark energy that threatened to consume everything in its path. The docks, once a battleground of strategic maneuvers, now trembled under the sheer force of Arc's unleashed power.
(To be continue)