*
"give it up, it's futile to use heat on my barrier. It uses my power only for maintenance, it doesn't require extra magical particles to repel stronger attacks.
Its nature is for energy to be repelled. Your attacks won't even make contact. "(Clara eria menim)
"... Checkmate. "(Friedra)
"?!?! "(Both)
Rifles has begun to materialise inside their barrier. For a battle between A-grade magical girls, their control over the ambient magical particles hold the same priority, so it was a matter of who used it first. Friedra didn't specifically plan for this scenario, but she had been in a fair share of her own battles to encounter it. Her opponent's could dodge or intercept her bullets before, but now that they are trapped in their own barrier, where could they possibly run to? They can form more barriers but their own space will slowly run out.
Normally this distance was too far for Friedra to manipulate the surrounding magical particles of. In the first place, if magical girls can rely on magical particles in the surroundings why would they have a limit to the amount of magic they can use? Specifically, it was the magical particles that they leak around the battle field that they manipulate, not the natural flowing environmental magical particles. It was similar to Oblivion Magia, forming a personal dimension of magical particles to use your skill from anywhere you want. It was just on a much smaller scale.
But for this case it was different. Clara's barrier stood in the way, it prevented the manipulation of magical particles from a distance. That was why they were caught off guard by Friedra's final attack. Friedra's final skill was what allowed her to bypass this final limitation, allowing her to be at any location she desires. So why not, inside their barrier?
"Final skill, [Lie of the shattered dawn]" (Velia)
"..... They vanished...?! " (Friedra)
Looking down, there was a large puddle of blood at her feet. It had leaked from her chest area. She slowly removed the articles of clothing around her chest until her skin was bare..... A stab wound by a sword. A deep one at that, it pierced through her heart. She was only able to be conscious now due to her robust magical girl fortitude. The Oblivion Magia vanishes too, she was back in the same place as before the fight started. In the distance, she could see 2 magical girls running up to her. They were battered and ruined from their own fights, but they seemed to be much better off than her. How relieving, at least someone else won their 2 v 1,was what she thought. Her vision darkens to a pure black as her head hit the ground.
The 2 could see her chest wound, it was visible since she took her shirt off. Maybe Friedra had done it on purpose so she could seek treatment faster. It was impressive how she could keep her composure despite noticing a lethal wound on her own body.
***(Kaorin)
"... Do you think there is hope in this place?"
"We've driven off those 3 didn't we? And Friedra is still alive. Granted she may not be conscious for a couple days.
It'll take a bit for her heart to regenerate even with my power. She entered an intangible state with her power and it's stopping the blood lose. As if time froze for her. "(Myuu)
Myuu answered my question with a tinge of confidence, her will was not so easily shaken unlike mine. She stood strongly and analysed the situation accordingly. If it's like this, then I don't think I need to worry about her. She was stronger than me after all. Back then and even now.
"I don't think her abilities could stop time itself, it's probably an imitation in some way. But it serves its purpose. Her body won't deteriorate but your life energy can still continue to repair her body. We should plan what to do next. "
It was not right to just stop worrying about a person on the verge of death, but we had other pressing matters to attend. There was no doubt to the threat that their combined forces will bring. They had enough leeway to send a few magical girls here for the sole purpose of stirring chaos and slowing our preparation efforts. I'm sure we weren't the only ones attacked. Perhaps there were others fighting their own battles right now.
" The latest they would come is tomorrow. Their scouts have done their job and sent Friedra out of commission. It's highly likely that they would arrive to attack us in a few hours. As early as 2?"(Myuu)
Only Friedra had returned out of nowhere. The 2 that attacked her may be dead, but if they were still alive they would bring the news back to their commander. It was more likely for them to have survived than not, as their bodies were nowhere to be found. They must have used some sort of magic to teleport.
"... Then we should get some rest now."
As much as we can get. There will be a heavy onslaught later. One possibly larger than we could ever imagine. Even if it was on a smaller scale, the amount of carnage could be far higher than in The Great Disaster. Speaking of which, it seems nobody has found any leads yet. The cause of it was still a mystery.
***
.... I could feel it. Anyone could feel it from 1000 km away if they were a magical girl. It was a large giant mass of magical particles, so much so that it could block out the sun if it became opague. It was writhing like a living thing and never stayed in a single form for more than a few seconds. We have about 5 minutes left, they were taking their time to conserve stamina, so it still took them a minute to cover 200 km. It was definitely below their full speed, it wouldn't be a surprise if some of them began to attack at this moment...
No, they are holding an organised march. Even if they were leaping at super high speeds through the air, they hold some semblance of a formation as they move together without leaving anyone behind. This was their full force, the collective will of 2100 magical girls. What was it all for again? Some all-destroying Stick held by a god? Even if they were to kill every last one of us, I wonder how they would manage to get the Stick from the Eye God.
She has not shown herself at all since the time I awakened as a magical girl. When I asked Kanou, even she didn't know anything about the Eye God. At this point she could be a myth for all I know. For Kanou, the Eye God's instructions have always been transmitted through messengers. So even the Arc-Maidens themselves haven't seen the Eye god much. Most of them have only seen her once, during the assignment of their position as the Arc-Maiden.
The Eye God was definitely real, she's probably sitting in another plane of dimension. Many pray that she will come help us, but I think she'll let us die. She was the Eye God, she could see all. Even the injustice and human trafficking that is conveniently overlooked. In these kinds of situations, the most likely motive is that she wants to gather sacrifices. In any case, we can't expect help from her. There is even a small faction within ours that oppose her. As our ruler she should be concern for our wellbeing and quality of life in this large territory. Rather than a country, we are her followers in her faith after all.
'MAKE SURE TO NEVER REVEAL THAT STICK!' (Kanou) We had realised that it was quite inconvenient for Kanou to teleport to us just to talk. So a method of communication has been established. It essentially worked like a phone, but it's simplicity only allowed for the transport of information and a tiny keyboard for typing on it. It was limited in its scope as well, only allowing for one person to communicate with one other.
It was odd for her to go out of her way and talk to us in the first place. Even if we had trained to become above average magical girls in terms of combat, we were far from her in terms of significance and position in our societal hierarchy. She was something like the president for this labyrinth. Well, this labyrinth only has a thousand residents, so that could be a possible factor.
It seems the implication of this Stick was larger than I thought. It's definition was a unique magic item that cannot be replicated by anyone else. I myself could reproduce it if I wanted to... Maybe not. My body acted on its own at that time, as if the gears of my body and mind happen to click into the right pace and position to instinctively built it. It was similar to how one awakens as a magical girl. The magical circles in their body connect by coincidence and create a coherent phenomena, one that the body gets used to and replicates instinctively. If I were to consciously try to recreate the Stick, I couldn't do it. But I could 'activate' and materialise the existing stick I made last time, as if a bullprint had been installed in my mind.
Was this how every other Stick was made? No wonder they couldn't be reproduced. If their creator themselves cannot understand their own mechanisms, only someone who specialises in weaponry could decode its technology. Even then these Sticks are complex enough to throw off most magic researchers. Only the insane and not of sound mind had the confidence to dive into it. So it seems I cannot fight with it, or I'll become a target.
"I have my own reason, well it's quite obvious isn't it? A simple notion of revenge for my mother. What about you? Do you have any other reason than following me?" (Myuu)
"... I think I can feel it. My path, where I want to go. It's like a blinding light blocked by your back.
Though your build is considerably small and average, it firmly blocks the light. I have found no other road under my eyes, but I don't follow it out of necessity. I follow it out of my own will, I feel that I will find something along the way. Something important to me. "
" Hahahah! And here I assume the important thing was me, looks like I can't stop you from participating. We've been in plenty of fights, I'm sure you know the risks that come with it. I ask you one last time. Are you ready to throw your life for my vengeance? "(Myuu)
" No... I'm scared to die, I'm too scared of pain. It feels awful when I see puddles of blood on the ground and rotting corpses. It's scary to see how even our commander got stabbed in the heart so cleanly. I'm afraid The Great Disaster may occur again randomly to plunge what's left of humanity into the dust. We've barely survived with our small numbers and low manpower, after that we would have too little people for a society to function.
Of course, I'm afraid! What did you think I am! Did you just expect me to say 'Oh yeah, my love for you is stronger than anything else' or something dumb like that?! "
"... I'm glad. I'm glad you were truthful with me. Well, that's enough. They're just about to arrive. "(Myuu)
It was odd in this landscape. Even more so because of what had recently happened. Her mother died because of some enemy scouts. They have enough forces to dispose of so easily, but we have to scrounge up all the force we can jsut to defend. The situation looks absolutely awful. That was why it was so rare, that Myuu could finally start smiling. Something I did must have meant something to her if it impacted her did much.
All at once, a barrage of magic had caused a complete layer of explosions. The surface, or the ceiling of the labyrinth had vaporised. Most of our side has gone into their respective positions in preparation for a defensive siege. But nevermind that, if they blow everything up what would be the point?
(?) "FIRE! /COVER!" (?)
As a second barrage of magic attacks fly through the open ceiling, a transparent layer of various colours gradually enveloped the labyrinth's buildings in a hemi-spherical manner. Eruptions and destruction spread throughout, smoke spilled forth everywhere and the vibrations of the attacks resounded like bullets on a concrete wall. When their bombardment stopped, so did the barrier. Thus began the war.
Kanou has to fight off their S-grade soldiers or commanders. That meant that we had no one to rely on but ourselves. I hate it. There was once a phrase 'One that lives by the blade, dies by the blade'. The more battles we get into, the higher chance we get killed in one. If it was displayed as a statistic, the rate of mortality is steadily increasing. It's growth is slow like a snail but it's consistency and steadiness is like a machine's. The chance to die only increases, the chance to get hurt and breakdown becomes a guarantee.
Not that there is much of a choice now. I wonder how the others are doing now. I bet they've all grown stronger than me since their job posting. For this short while, I'll stop faltering.