Dies Irae (Part V)

[December 25th, 14:40 JST]

Tokyo Prefecture – Harajuku District, en route to Meiji Jingu Shrine

Reina and the two reached the streets of Harajuku.

What she had prepared herself to see wasn’t what greeted her.

Evacuation zones still held. Civilians moved in orderly waves under military direction, guided past barricades and into secured routes. Armored vehicles idled at intersections, soldiers standing watch as they directed traffic. The streets bore scars of earlier clashes, cracked pavement and collapsed storefronts.

“P-kun,” Reina said into her earpiece. “Harajuku looks under control. Where’s the horde you warned us about?”

Takeshi’s reply came after a brief pause. “They pulled back, concentrated toward the forest side of Meiji Jingu.”

The shrine... Yuzu-chan is waiting for us there.

She exhaled slowly. “Understood, we’ll assist with evacuation before moving to the main objective.”

“Do what you need to,” Takeshi said. “But don’t linger. We don’t know when the horde will go feral again.”

Reina acknowledged and led Emi and Mika toward the nearest JSDF command tent. After a brief exchange with the officer in charge, they split their roles — Emi staying close to the civilians, Reina and Mika spreading out to sweep the area for any stragglers.

As she moved, her gaze kept drifting toward the route leading to the shrine.

The fog was thicker there.

She knew where she was supposed to go. But for now, the civilians came first.

As Reina moved through the area, an officer approached and told her an elderly woman had asked to see her.

Surprised, Reina agreed.

The woman waited in a narrow alley set away from the evacuation zone, the noise of the street muted by distance. She stood there quietly, clutching a small purse, watching until Reina drew close — as if confirming she had the right person.

“Are you Tachibana Reina?” the woman asked.

“Yes,” she replied softly. “Do I know you?”

The woman shook her head. She opened her purse and took out a folded letter, pressing it into Reina’s hand.

“I was asked to deliver this this morning,” she said. “A young girl with long pink hair came into my shop. She ordered food, but didn’t touch it for a long time.”

Her fingers tightened around the purse strap.

“She came up to me and asked if I could give this letter to a girl named Tachibana Reina. A Diva from Aria Corps.”

Reina’s grip on the paper tightened.

“Before I could ask anything,” the woman continued, “she said... ‘Something will happen soon. She will come. Please, give this to her.’”

The woman hesitated, then lowered her voice.

“I don’t know what she meant. But her face...”

“...all I could see was suffering.”

She looked at Reina with worried eyes.

“Please,” she said softly. “If you can... go and find her.”

Reina nodded. “I will.”

She escorted the woman back to the evacuation zone, where the last trucks were already loading. The officer in charge gave a brief salute before the convoy pulled away, engines rumbling as civilians disappeared down the secured route.

Reina bowed once as the vehicles departed.

When the sound faded, Harajuku fell into an eerie quiet.

Reina stood still for a moment, looking at the letter in her hand.

It was thin, its edge patterned with pale pink sakura petals.

This is so Yuzu-chan.

She hesitated for a moment before opening it. As she took out the paper, a small memory card slipped free and landed against her palm.

It had no label or markings.

Her eyes returned to the letter.

Reina-senpai,

If you are reading this, then Yuzu is glad that you came.

Yuzu is sorry... Yuzu couldn’t say any of this to your face.

Yuzu asked Emiko to save Yuzu, and Yuzu meant every word.

But Yuzu knew she couldn’t be the one.

Reina’s fingers tightened.

By the time you find Yuzu, Yuzu will have crossed a line Yuzu can’t return from. Yuzu doesn’t deserve forgiveness anymore, after everything that happened.

That’s why Yuzu chose Senpai.

You won’t forgive Yuzu easily. Yuzu believe you’re the only one that can stop Yuzu.

Yuzu doesn’t know if Yuzu will be relieved... or afraid when Yuzu sees you.

But there is one thing Yuzu knows...

Yuzu doesn’t want the truth to disappear with Yuzu.

Her eyes fell to the card in her hand.

Yuzu entrusts this to Senpai,

All the suffering Yuzu had endured.

You will know when the time comes, when the world is ready to remember.

The letter ended there.

Reina folded the paper slowly and slipped both the letter and the card into the pocket close to her chest.

Behind her, footsteps approached.

“Reina-chan,” Emi called softly. “We should move.”

Reina nodded, and they started running toward the forest path leading to the shrine.

Harajuku’s streets fell away behind them as they crossed into the outer paths of Meiji Jingu, the ground sloping unevenly beneath their feet. Gravel gave way to soil. Stone lanterns lay half-buried among roots and fallen leaves, their shapes softened by fog that thickened with every step.

Takeshi’s voice broke in their earpieces.

“I’m detecting spiking CODA resonance around you three. Be careful.”

Reina tightened her grip on Emi’s hand. “What about the others? Are they holding?”

A brief pause.

“No confirmation from Ebisu yet,” Takeshi said. “Situation there is deteriorating fast, based on JSDF radio. Roppongi was proceeding smoothly, but comms are unstable. We’re still trying to re-establish contact with Nana-san and Misaki-san.”

Emi moved closer without speaking. Mika slowed, eyes scanning the fog ahead.

“Stop,” Mika said softly.

The fog ahead shifted, and shapes began to emerge between the trees — mist-formed bodies at first. Level 1s and Level 2s.

Then a low growl rolled through the trees.

Larger forms stepped forward. Lion-like frames. Wolves. Hyenas. Level 3s, their silhouettes moving deliberately as they spread out, cutting off the path.

Then the fog behind them darkened.

Black smoke pooled low around the forest, swelling. Now, it felt crowded, as if the space was filled beyond its capacity.

Reina felt the resonance in the air is getting worse, something worse was coming.

They reached for their D-Mics.

Takeshi’s voice returned, sharper this time. Urgent.

“Multiple Level 5 signatures have just been detected across Japan. Reina—listen to me. You need to reach Aikawa-san as soon as possible and shut her down. Roppongi is one of the confirmed locations. We’re losing windows.”

Reina’s breath caught.

So they’ve finally appeared...

They began to sing.

Reina’s Cantus Veil unfolded instantly. Light traced the musical tattoos across her body as resonance surged outward, her eyes flaring as the horde moved toward them.

Mika moved first.

She slammed her foot into the ground, resonance tearing through the soil. Stone surged upward along the forest path, a jagged wall rising just in time to blunt the first wave of CODA rushing toward them.

“Go,” she barked.

Reina didn’t hesitate. She ran, using the opening Mika created. The wall behind her cracked almost immediately, CODA slamming into it from the other side.

Emi reacted at once, water resonance snapping into place. A pressure barrier formed where the stone gave way, holding just long enough to stop the collapse from swallowing Reina’s path entirely.

Reina pushed deeper into the gap.

Level 3s stepped in to meet her.

She channeled thunder through her legs, electricity condensing into a grinding edge of light. Another blade formed in her free hand as she moved, cutting through the front line in a single burst and forcing space ahead of her.

A lion-shaped Level 3 lunged—

The ground shifted violently as a sudden rise of stone hurled it upward, breaking its momentum mid-leap. The stone collapsed down after it, crushing the Level 3.

Reina pressed forward, charging straight toward the horde still trying to block her path.

“Senpai!”

"Reina!"

Two voices cut through the clash.

“That’s enough,” Mika said, voice firm. “Go. Leave this to us.”

Emi’s voice followed immediately, strained but steady. “You need to face her at full strength. Don’t waste it here.”

Reina faltered, thunder still crackling around her. “But the Level 3—”

“Go,” Mika repeated. “We’ll manage it without your Veil.”

Emi added, quieter now. “The faster you bring Yuzu-chan back... the faster we can all go home.”

The words landed heavier than they should have.

Reina nodded.

Before she could take another step, her earpiece crackled.

It was Emiko’s voice.

“No—!” She grabbed the earpiece, shouting into it. “Emiko! Momoko—run! Get away! Don’t sing it! Don’t—!”

Silence.

Her breath hitched as she tried again, then switched channels. “Takeshi! What happened? Why is Emiko preparing Coda Cantus? Why didn’t Momoko stop her?”

Takeshi’s voice came back, strained. “I tried. They cut the transmission. I think they removed their devices.”

The world tilted.

Reina stumbled, catching herself against a wooden lantern, her grip white-knuckled. The forest around her blurred.

Then Takeshi spoke again, urgency bleeding through.

“I’m detecting two massive resonance spikes in Ebisu—confirmed Seraph and Galea. Roppongi just flared too. Helia and Atlas are over-synchronizing. I still can’t reach them.”

Her legs refused to move.

Is this... it?

“Tachibana Reina!”

Mika’s voice cut through her thought.

She was already turning back toward the horde, resonance flaring again as the ground around her shattered and lifted. Emi stood beside her, water coiling into a massive whip that tore through trees and CODA alike.

“Go!” Mika shouted. “Don’t look back!”

Reina swallowed hard.

Then she ran.

Reina’s figure climbed the slope and vanished into the fog, her Cantus Veil thinned as she went, fading until it could no longer be felt by them.

Emi watched until Reina disappeared completely from sight.

Only then did she turn back.

“Mika-san...” she said, her voice starting to crack. “Team 02... there’s only three of us left.”

Mika kept her eyes forward, fixed on the horde pressing through the trees.

“It doesn’t matter,” she replied, tapping her chest once. “They’re still here.”

She inhaled slowly.

“Now we just do what we’re supposed to do. And trust Senpai will end this.”

The fog ahead churned as CODA gathered, shapes crowding closer.

Mika laughed softly.

“Emi-san...” she said, lifting her voice. “I’m going to need your support for this.”

Her resonance surged.

Sigil circles ignited across the forest floor. Stone and soil tore free, grinding together as they rose. One by one, massive forms pulled themselves upright — rough, uneven bodies of earth given shape by her will. A dozen stone golems stood between them and the horde.

Fine lines spread across Mika’s skin. Light seeped through them, followed by blood. But she didn’t react, pushing herself even further.

Emi saw it and let out a quiet sigh.

“If you’re going to over-sync now,” she said steadily. “Then let’s do it together.”

She sang louder.

Water condensed in the air, shaping itself in response. Swords and shields formed in the hands of the golems — liquid edges hardened by resonance. At Mika’s command, they advanced, striking in formation, shields bracing as CODA crashed against them.

Emi gritted her teeth.

Maintaining that many constructs was far beyond what her resonance could sustain. Cracks began to form along her arms, light seeping through her skin as blood followed. Still, she held the shapes together.

The line held—

Until a lion-shaped Level 3 forced its way through a narrow gap.

Emi turned, channeling her song in response.

Too late.

The impact slammed into her full force, its bite tearing her off her feet. She vanished over the edge of the slope, her body crashing down the forest hill below.

“Emi!” Mika shouted.

The cry broke her concentration for a split second.

And that was all it took.

Without Emi’s support, the line collapsed.

Several Level 3s forced their way through at once. Claws tore into Mika’s right leg. Another struck her left arm, ripping it away before she could react. A final impact slammed into her body and sent her flying backward.

She hit the tree hard.

Mika screamed as pain flooded her senses. Blood soaked into the forest floor beneath her. The golems dissolved, collapsing into inert stone and soil. She couldn’t move.

She let out a small, breathless laugh, gripping the D-Mic tight.

“So... this is it,” she murmured. “Reina-senpai... thank you for being my captain.”

The Level 3s circled her, growling, waiting.

Mika forced herself to breathe.

She pushed the pain aside and began to sing.

“Neh’va serat, lo’rein thal,

Eru venai, sil’thar aniel.”

Warm light gathered around her broken body.

Her thoughts drifted — training days, laughter, the simple certainty that she had lived as a Diva.

The CODA surged, but were thrown back as the light expanded outward.

“Kaer’na torah, vi’el saen,

El’mira nox, thear’na eil.”

The earth answered.

The ground shuddered, then heaved. Soil, stone, roots, and shattered trees lifted together, folding forward in a massive, grinding wave. The forest screamed as the land itself collapsed, rolling outward in crushing surges that swallowed everything in its path.

The light faded slowly.

Mika slumped against the tree.

Her grip loosened. The D-Mic slipped from her fingers.

She didn’t move again.

Reina reached the top of the stone steps.

Meiji Jingu stood before her. The bodies of priests and shrine maidens lay scattered across the grounds. Blood stained the shrine.

At the center of the grounds, a girl with long pink hair waited.

The resonance around her was wrong. Alien and overwhelming.

Reina stepped forward anyway.