This series unfolds in a world where rank and survival are dictated by 'counts,' points individuals carry throughout their lives. When your count reaches zero, you are banished to the wastes, becoming a mindless 'Abyssion.' A young girl embarks on a quest for a legendary hero to save her mother, guided only by her mother's last words. Her journey leads her to an unlikely companion with an impossibly low count, who appears to be the antithesis of a hero.
In the world of Alcia' where rank is determined by "counts" a young girl named Hina scours the land for the fabled Ace-the legendary hero of the Waste War. With only the last words of her missing mother to guide her search' she wanders from town to town until she meets Licht' a clownish masked vagrant with a count of --999. Girl-crazy and unpredictable' he's the exact opposite of a hero...or at least' that's how he appears...
Licht and the gang come face-to-face with the deadly demon of the abyss-a modern-day military weapon of steel unlike anything they've seen before. Trapped by giant, weighty wings of metal and indiscriminate attacks from the sky, the fate of the town rests in the hands of the Ace of Flashing Strikes himself! But just as Licht prepares to subdue the destructive enemy, he's greeted by a familiar face-a black-haired, trigger-happy soldier who's also...an Ace?!
Class is in session! As newly enrolled students of Special Military School #13, the gang must plunder stars in order to become soldiers-a title the perpetually hormonal Rihito couldn't care less about. While juggling studies and military training, Jail and the others begin to look for the meaning behind their mysterious time slip, only to come across the school's disturbing connection to the Aces...
Licht and the gang escape from the clones of A-class and Pele, the traitorous Ace of Piercing Strikes! But Lynn stays behind, swearing, "I'm bringing you back with me, no matter what...!!"