As the girls fight the Silver Gospel, Ichika has a dream where he accepts power from a young girl and a warrior woman, driven from his desire to protect his comrades. Houki cuts one of the wings off the Silver Gospel as it falls into the ocean, but it reemerges with angel wings as it goes into Second Shift and takes down the girls. Houki is soon awakened by Ichika in the Byakushiki Setsura, its Second Shift, and he gives her a new hair ribbon as a birthday gift. With their combined strength, Ichika and the girls finally destroy the Silver Gospel, with Ichika giving the finishing blow. As they return to their hotel, Chifuyu lectures them for defying orders, but allows them some rest and recuperation as a reward. At a seaside cliff before Tabane vanishes, Chifuyu realizes that Tabane not only coincidentally allowed Ichika to be the only male pilot in the academy, but Tabane also hacked the Silver Gospel to go berserk in order to debut the Akatsubaki. At the beach, Houki apologizes to Ichika for his injuries and admits her feelings for him. As Ichika attempts to kiss Houki, they are interrupted by the other girls, who were jealous at the scene, forcing Ichika to carry Houki to safety.