Chapter 1: Petals Born on Spring

At a momentary stop of the fighting, with the maidens recovering and readapting, the shamon is able to walk some paces away, it seemed he tried to reach the antique store, his menstruous face contorted in anger and... Something more.

Claude comes and puts her Rose Verte on his way, combat renews. Claude is fighting defensively, merely gaining time, parrying and dodging the shamon's dreadful drill, with which he attacks with great speed and precision.

Their fight quickly turns into a stalemate, neither gaining the advantage, with the shamon trying to contour his way through her.

It's at this moment that the loud bursts of Sunrise Flare's jets can be heard, getting closer and closer.

When the monster turns to check that noise, it is already too late: the powerful firebird comes like a bomb, punctures his arm and yanks it off; it goes flying far away. It's flesh soft for the melting heat.

With a roar, the creature intends to retaliate with his drill, but can't quite do it: Chimera comes just as fast, from the ground, and spins her scythe at the raised arm, slicing through it cleanly, an another member goes flying, another roar of fury strikes them all.

Once disarmed and almost cornered, the monster turns his back and starts fleeing clumsily, stumbling on stuff on the road.

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On the meanwhile, the canal was a scenario of destruction, with various sinking ships already, already with destroyed buildings on the margin.

Shizuka couldn't worry about that now though, as she tried to stop the three shamon trying to go further into her beloved city.

Jumping through the smokescreen, her rooster stabs one in the chest while it kicks another down to the water, slicing a deep cut on the third's body and then finalizing the one down.

At the opposite front, Abenanka fought the remaining shamon, securing what's left of the docks. After struggling against them, she's eventually cornered and overwhelmed, the frame suffers multiple attacks by whips from all sides.

When it finally bends the knee, one of the shamon is about to smash a small boat over it, when Shizuka comes in time and cuts through it with her knife, protecting Abenanka until she recovers and then, working together, both finish the remaining shamon on the canal.

It appeared to be over.

With the battle mostly over, Shizuka finally couldn't ignore her bruises anymore, she got quite the beating after all! Fortunately, the interior of her frame was comfortable enough to rest.

Even with both Chimera and Claude giving pursuit, both agile fighters, the shamon runs very fast among the labyrinthic city's buildings. After multiple turns and maneuvers leaving the endangered zone already, they can only catch a bright flash, the trail of purple blood suddenly ends, and there's no sign of the monster!

Everything they find are the crowds of the citizens walking around, doing their daily businesses, some already noticing the frames and retreating with caution. Those who were checking the sensors on their frames' displays would be surprised to notice how the huge signature just vanished in a second.

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"Roger that, Captain Kusakabe! We're sending the transports and medical staff, good job you guys!" Homura hears from her radio, from a feminine voice.

On the meanwhile, the maidens help the soldiers and locals, clearing debris and transporting the wounded, with the unscathed soldiers and policemen also working for that goal.

If she were to go back to the plaza to check on the fire (which was dwindling) and the people there, Homura would be unpleasantly surprised to spot some scattered papers in a place whose memory makes her annoyed. It were photos of her! Her initial landing on the place, her saving the people and her less than dignified state on the fountain. From her experience, she could tell that those were failed shots: off-centered, blurry or suffering from bad lightning because of the flames and dust, maybe discarded in a hurry to make an escape.

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After some minutes, multiple trucks reach the place, identifying as the Mimoza Division, ready to load the frames and bring anyone injured to a hospital.