*
'First skill activate, behold even my basic magic is leagues above the common rift raft. This is what it means to be S-class, [Will of the dying sun].' (Frey) Perhaps talking to someone or no one in particular, she whispered into the wind as the heat of the flames intensified that the crackling ember is replaced by an ear ringing explosion. She launched the miniature sun, the size of a 4 storey building into the core of the labyrinth, where all the important magical research was taking place. The attack was simply too large, a blinding radiance consuming all as it befell the underground labyrinth.
'I will erase it all, mark my words Eye god. Even if you sit atop the mythical SS-tier classification, I will get stronger. The sun will burn brighter than ever, I've prepared for way too long after all. ' (Frey)
Magical combat dress, it offers passives that aid the user in using their own magic. One such example is the control of the amount of light entering Frey's eyes. Despite everyone being blinded in an instant by the crashing of the miniature sun, her eyes were wide open and scanning for prey running around like headless chicken.
"BAHH!"
The echo of meat slapping against meat resounds, it was only one hit and the tone of it betrayed its fleshy nature. Yet the impact held a deep reverb that pronounced a small portion of its true strength. All frey could see was a person's knee, it had slammed into her cheek and shattered half her jaw, an explosion of pain not unfamiliar to her had spread through her face like the roots of a tree. Like tree roots, the pain dug deeply and distributed itself equally throughout her face. A few drops of tears had escaped her tear ducts from the sheer agony, her brows knit together even tighter as she stared straight on at the source of the pain.
There was a forest green hooded girl. She had a slick black mask covering her face with the shape of a fox, being under the intense light had made the mask temporarily bleached into a grey. Tan brown leather armour hid under her hood and covered the rest of her body, various colours of metals lined her gauntlets, sleeves and trousers like precious treasures.
Under the leader armour was a fitting black suit not unlike Frey's, the only difference was that Frey's had white motifs that gave her stature an accent, along with a red-yellow painted steel plate armour akin to that of a samurai's. Her pauldron jingled under her movements, though instead of the crisp ringing of a bell, it was the heavy scratching of metal against metal. Her gauntlets reflected dazzlingly under the crimson light, while her metal plated waist cape fluttered violently under the air pressure.
"Tch! You were faster?! So there are others capable of standing up... You will not be spared, [Will of the dying sun]" (Frey)
A second sun arose above Frey, with her left hand raised up into the air as if holding it up on her bare palms. 'faster huh... Why didn't she go for a sure-kill spot? She's keeping a reasonable distance after a kick, so she can't be untrained... How foolish, to reveal her own trick' (Frey)
"Of course. You think you're the only S-class? Unlike those god magical girls, we aren't so special as you think. It's inevitable that others would catch up. [Pain is for the still], [Damnation overshock]." (Kanou)
Activating their skills, Frey flings the second miniature sun as Kanou vanishes from the spot leaving behind a mirage. This time she rematerialises-... With her metallic boots clashing against Frey's bare neck. Frey's magical girl combat dress barely reaches up to half her neck, the other half was bare and a small half-tiara with red jewels adorned the top of her head.
Receiving the kick to the neck, Frey turns to look up at Kanou who was in mid-air with a foot extended. Scrutinising both her opponent and her surroundings, a scuirming orange substance could be seen wiggling in between Kanou's foot and Frey's neck. It was the wriggling of tough pressurised magma. Kanou had a built in blade in her boots, but it had melted off to form the magma shielding Frey. 'Damn! , she's used to this... I can't let my guard down' (Kanou)
"... Action priority and action disable huh. Were those your only tricks? It's not enough you know. If I predict your attack and guard like this, it won't even be a fight... Well... Whatever. It's not necessary to waste time on you, die. " (Frey)
"... Your power is rather simple yet it holds so much offensive output. You must be reliant on your talents huh, and you even develop battle sense along the way so you caught up to your own potential without it... Now, don't underestimate me just because I'm different. "(Kanou)
" You too, don't just assume someone else didn't work hard because their skills are more simpler than yours. It leaves a bad taste in my mouth. "(Frey) Saying so, she stuck her tongue out while scrunching her face. Conjuring and spitting on the random ground far below her. The spit evaporated from the heat immediately anyway with a singeing sizzle , leaving the 2 magical girls alone in a sea of flames. The fires have mostly diminished due to Kanou's influence, allowing for the injured magical girls to recover.
Without a word, Kanou vanished once more. Instead of stopping every attack, she continued. Barrage after barrage, her matallic boots slowly inched closer into Frey's skull. It was to the point that sparks would fly everytime Kanou attacked, her skill [Pain is for the still] temporarily makes the opponent's perception impotent, causing lapses in their judgement and observation. It also grants her the ability to kick or punch an opponent from any distance, with the further the distance, the more potent her attack. Her whole body moves when she attacks, instantly closing the distance, so only the first attack would make a large enough impact to crack Frey's jaw. From everyone's perspective it would look like she teleported, but she was just moving very fast.
"Time to finish it. Our subordinates are probably having their own battles, their leaders defeat should grant swift despair and demoralise them. Final skill, [Inutile purgatory]" (Kanou)
Anything, anything that gets caught in Kanou's web. It becomes useless and unable to fight. It was the perfect way to defeat opponent's, it was a guaranteed way to disable the enemy's magic and rendering them into a normal girl. Their magical girl status augmentation would also be forcibly djsabled, making a finger flick from Kanou enough to turn them into a red mist. Just tire the enemy down with an assault and trap them within this barrier, her usual method of killing when assassination doesn't works.
"Hmpf, petty trick. I'm beyond your final skill, I'm an S-class magical girl. Are you perhaps a fake? Or did you barely scratch the surface of the S-tier classification? I'm not a bottom of the barrel individual like you, and talent itself isn't enough to survive in this world.
I use both talent and hard work, you seem to not even have enough resolve... How pathetic, you can't even think clearly. Reflect on yourself in the afterlife. [Infinite resolve] "(Frey)
As if biting on something insider her mouth, her irises rolled back and only the whites of her eyeballs were showing. The snowy pure white of the conjunctiva seemed like a tiny sliver of snow under the blazing flames. Soon, Frey's body collapsed on the ground with a thud as froth flew across the air. A spontaneous explosion of heat surrounded her corpse, fire originated from within her chest and engulfed her body in an instant. The flames raged with a fierce growl so loud it could pop one's ear drum, it was a product of magic so the noisiness was kept in Kanou's [Inutile purgatory] barrier.
Looking at it objectively, Frey had some way to overcome Kanou's final skill. Staying any longer was too dangerous. Most of the magical girl's had probably gone into a suitable shelter, she was just a high ranking guard. There should be others more suitable in a competition of strength. Strangely enough, the attacker and her subordinates vanished. Even the flames, the sea of fiery red, orange and yellow had all been extinguished at once.
Breathing a sigh of relief, Kanou took off her hood, her Eye God emblem connecting the front of her hood glimmered brightly under the sun light. A red oval pendant with a sharp purple iris like that of a cat's in the middle, that was the Eye God emblem. The colour varied based on rank, though it is mostly identified by its pattern of an eye.
Frey's attacks had destroyed the magic energy grid powering the ceiling lights and the ceiling itself. Sun light was pouring through the gaps like a liquid, illuminating what's left of the underground base from above. Triggered by sensors, magic reinforced shelters rose from the ground all over the labyrinth to shield everyone from the 2 miniature sun attacks. Looking for any injured, Kanou's dark-greyish curls swayed in the wind, a grave expression like no other adorned her cute face.
***
"Tch! Dammit! The hell? Why was there such a power magical girl residing there? Was their research at the South that important?!
... No, I was just weak. Can't believe I was forced to use a trump card, I even saved it... Gurgh!!" (?)
Cursing into her office, her black locks of hair swirled wildly as her cheeks puffed up before giving in to her urge. Her earlier meal was regurgitated, leaving a repulsive puddle of a dirty green and yellow. After a bit of staring into blank air, the urge came back as suffering assaulted her throat. Adding a dark crimson to the mix on the ground.
"... Commander, there was a magical girl stronger than you?" (Palmicia)
"Hmpf, just Frey is fine when no one else is around. Anyway I wouldn't say she was stronger than me, in fact I could easily bypass her final skill. Why I retreated was because the others couldn't do their job properly right?
I wasn't only watching out for my own battle. I could easily spot a clash a distance away and they took out some of ours, so I had used my skill to retreat everyone.
Other than a skill, the other magical girl could barely crack a few bones let alone kill me. She was much better at draining my magic than doing any damage, a support type debuffer S-class that only had her stats and nothing else... "(Frey)
"... Then again the activation condition must take a toll right... Above being drained... "(Palmicia) Her lift grey brows knit tighter as an expression of grimace adorned her otherwise expressionless face. She was the type that thought smiling was too tiring for her, but overworking herself in healing the wounded was acceptable. It was not easy to understand, but what Frey could rightly grasp of her personality, was that she cared deeply for those around her.
"... You don't have to be that frustrated. I chose this path and I'll see it to the end. I haven't even thought of what happens after, so even I know I'm a fool. But I have no choice, the Eye God is a malevolent being that the sun wants to purge. I was prepared anyway, to die and use my second skill even if I were to go insane. "(Frey)
As if looking at somewhere far away, her eyes seemed to long for something. It was gazing into the distance expectantly. Always filled with hope that her own future will exist. Never unyielding. She used a coarse tone to intimidate Jinmei, but when she's alone with Palmicia her tone softens. As if Palmicia was her only family left.
"... Well, we should have left quite some scars in that small region. The Eye god's ultimate weakness is it's arrogance. It's proof of her all-seeing invincible ability. But what good would clairvoyance do in the long run?
When the opponent is powerful enough, she can see and avoid defeat but cannot do anything about it. If the best possibility was for her to save 70% of her power and authority but lose 30%, she would take that path without hesitation. But what then? If our goal was only 30% the whole time? It'll be my win. "(Frey)
Flashing her befuddled state of mind, Palmicia looks questioningly at Frey.
" Are you sure you should be saying it our loud? "(Palmicia)
Taking in her subordinate's confusion, she organises her thoughts to better express her reasoning.
"I'm confident. After so much preparation and training, I have the ability to make the future inevitable and limit the Eye God's choices. Anyway she's all-seeing right? I'm sure she already knows anyway. The way to defeat her is through brute force or tactical means, deceit means nothing. "(Frey)
" I guess we'll only get more busy from now on. "(Palmicia)
Taking in her close friend's words, Palmicia smiles. She couldn't possibly be more proud. Frey in turn returns the sentiment.
" Mhmm! "(Frey)