*
They came from all directions. Groups of them teleporting inside to flank our formations, others bombarding our home with attack magic. I form a blade out of my first skill, it was dense in magical particles and its power was potent. Air, water and magical particles were simply the easiest things to move as they were fluids that existed everywhere, however once enough energy is put into it, other materials can begin to follow the flow of the first skill. [Hollow calamity], it is the sleeping flow of disaster that will one day reach the height of The Great Disaster.
Similar to how Substances obey a similar gradient of equilibrium once they are dissolved in water, materials or anything bathed in enough of my magical particles can be manipulated by my first skill. It is not the movement itself, unlike my second skill, but an enhanced natural flow. So it bypasses anti-magic shields but not normal protection.
It could be said to be another Stick, but rather than the creation of a magic item, it is the direct application of my skill on the environment. It will dissipate back into its components once I stop the flow of magical particles powering it. It has enough magical particles that it begun to not only push out matter but also light. It is a black sword with a vague white outline that never stops to rest, keeping a mass of wriggling white on its edge. Like tiny villi or tentacles, lines of white sprout to shake about before dissipating.
Violence broke out, it was nothing like the war with the rising Knight order. There were some casualties there, but everyone ultimately knew each other and sat around staring at each other. It was like a playfight compared to this. In an instant, the magical girl next to me got sliced in half, her body sliding nearly to part partially on the ground. A pool slowly forming from her rotting corpse. Even if high-grade magical girls could survive some lethal wounds, slicing off the head would end anyone but A-grade magical girls and above. Even then, if an A-grade ran out of magical particles they were doomed.
Most people wouldn't survive it, much less the low grade next to me. Did they think staying next to me would protect them? I'm sorry but my attention is kept full just trying to survive myself. I can't protect other people here, not with such a ferocious battle field. Myuu had also ran into it somewhere. It'd be unrealistic to find her in this mess. Let's just hope we end the war soon by defeating the enemy.
This sword was made out of 10% of my well, their flimsy defense won't be able to stop it. Taking advantage of that, I leaped in at full speed and sliced through a couple of magical girls. They suffered the same fate as my comrade did earlier. I spun the sword to flick off the blood before rushing in once more. The ground gave out under the pressure of my jump, forming a small crater. I lower my body's center of gravity and raise my sword over my back to rest my wrists. Stopping myself on the ground by putting down my left leg, I swung my sword horizontally, which sliced through a person blinded by the debris I knocked up.
When stopping all of a sudden, all the force from my jump went into the ground to cause a mini earthquake, debris flew into the air and managed to blind a single magical girl this time. The rest of her platoon mates, not so much. They defended with their own weapons, despite their weapons shattering, they managed to get out of it with light scratches. The earth rose out of the ground in the shape of a spear as multiple weapons try to reach for my neck.
Ducking under, I reinforced my foot to kick off the spikes and launch them back at them. It also caused a storm of dust to fly into the air, this time I cut vertically straight through. Having used horizontal slashes repeatedly, they couldn't defend against something they didn't expect. The one I was aiming at, sent her fist out in desperation. If she had been a few degrees nearer, she could have blocked it with her reinforced punch. Inevitably, my blade barely slipped past her punch and cut down both the middle of her arm and her body.
Their friend dying in an instant froze their movements, a creeping cold feeling seized their hearts for an instant as they tried to process what happened. As a group of magical girls with relatively equal strength, they hadn't expected anyone with movements their eyes couldn't follow. That was because I was boosting the speed of my movements with my skills. My second skill, [The gap of impermanence is a cage], the more magical particles I put into it the faster I can move. Perhaps a speed enhancing skill is rare, as this trend only continued.
I leap in, I slash, I jump, I dodge, I attack, I slide in, I kick, I impale, I behead. I do these fast, consecutively, as if I was a machine built for killing. My arms ache a little from overusing them, my bones creak from exhaustion, I was moving at an unnatural pace with my skill after all. Just a single slash and another life is extinguished. I kept moving my entire body so their eyes could never keep up. A diagonal slash to end one life, a duck and a block to protect my back. A huge swing to knock away the weapon aiming at my back, and a quick pivot to slash down whoever was behind me, before turning back to my front.
The passage of time slows down, as if to make a mockery of my endeavour. As if to sneer at my sore and aching body and conscious. I've been killing those near me, what about those far away from me? I can only block so many attacks, so I have burn marks and slash wounds here and there. It hurts, the pain rings over my temple and consciousness as if never letting go of my soul. It felt like I was swimming through lead, but I couldn't stop or I would drown in it.
If they had a weapon, I'd slice through it, if they had a shield, I'd slice through it. If their weapon had a longer range, I'd cut it short before closing the distance. If they used their fist, I twist my own body to cut it off. If they used a barrier, I extend the weapon and make a big slice to cover the entire area. If they used magic attacks, my sword could repel it. It was already repelling matter and light, so it could be configured to repel magic as well. It would consume more of my magical particles to do so, but if it slid through magic attacks like butter and protected me it was a good tradeoff. This repelling force is what rips everything apart. Even the magical defense of the magical girl's magic combat dress. Everything.
Whether they were able to see me coming or not, I moved and attacked, moved and attacked, moved and attacked. I couldn't stop moving or I'd face the same fate as my victims. It was not hard to identify them, they moved in a formation I dove into. I was surrounded by them, and I cut my way to make space. They wore various costumes, some in dresses, some in robes, some in school uniforms, some in armour. I would say those with dresses that were frilly and fit in the theme of magical girls were way stronger.
Unlike other costumes, these dresses didn't exist until the magical girl awakens, they had unique designs full of eye catching colours. Vibrant and full of life, but ultimately all the same when cut down. Their magical combat dress dissipated to reveal their normal clothes and actual hair colour.
Desperation. I could hear desperation from some magical girls, fearing their inevitable end. They feared. They feared death. Just like anyone else. And I crushed the final embers of their life. It was an extremely odd thing to say. Kill or be killed. Never in my life would I have thought about it applying to me. I always indulged in the fact that it only exists in mere fantasies, hiding in the comforts of my own home as I watched atrocities play out in fiction. It is just that. A fantasy. It should never come true. Because that would be too cruel. Ah. It's been such a long while. Maybe a year? Since tears had come flowing out of my eyes.
Regardless of reality, regardless of my thoughts. Disregard everything, there was only one final path to walk. A path of no regrets was what I recognised it as, and chose it for. But identifying or classifying my path is impossible. For me who lose everything and is about to lose everything. For me who is lost himself and wishes for salvation. For me who is tired and weary of all this violence just to survive. What did I want? I feel... So tired. But I still want to move... It is what I am, I have always kept trying to find my own meaning.
In this mess, do I keep killing? Or do I just let them kill me? It would be far easier to stop moving and die. I wouldn't have to go through any more of this pain... Myuu may be my best friend, but even that has its own limits. Her existence was no longer enough to keep me anchored to this world, to give me the will to live. She was no longer a dazzling light. I had no desire for a more intimate relationship or anything of the sort after The Great Disaster took everything.
Isn't it hilarious? Before The Great Disaster, I was just some loser who yearned for this kind of romantic affection. But after that, I finally had it yet I no longer desired for it. My mind is a joke. My journey is a joke. Magical girls? Did I even like them that much before all this happened? They were just a single genre of many things I watched... Even if their feelings reached me, and that I treasured my memories of watching them, I treated it all as fiction.
I see.... I was treating everything as fiction... No wonder I was able to stay so calm.... No wonder I couldn't cry out when I wanted to... What is wrong... With me...? I know there is a lot of wrong...but surely there is something more I don't know?...
I have to face reality.
I look stupid, crying while killing many others. Rampaging and bringing down an entire formation of them. How many have I killed, a hundred? My body is aching uncontrollably, it hurts so much its screaming. My muscles, my heart, my mind, they're all crying for help from the abuse I'm putting them through. When one wants to kill a magical girl, an effective procedure is to bypass their defences first before dealing a lethal wound. For B-grade magical girls, they would need several lethal wounds if they are not beheaded.
I suppose everything has lead me to this point. I feel quite stupid. Why was I still looking for my path, when I've already walked this far on it? Why cry and scream and agonise when I've already gone this far? There is no way back. My road is absolutely clear to my eyes now. It's the very first thing I sought, even after I changed my way of thinking. Even after I shifted my focus to making as little regrets as possible, I was always facing a certain direction subconsciously.
The path of a magical girl. It didn't need to be abandon, and it wasn't wrong. I just couldn't accept it at first, and I couldn't accept myself. I couldn't make peace with the fact that a magical girl's path in this world is full of blood. I was only able to face it now, because it was too late. I've been covered in blood. Blood that I cannot wash off my hands. They are now stuck, and I have to continue moving with together with it.
I'm fine with making regrets now, it's simply par for the course. I will continue to whine and holler. I will continue to make mistakes. I cannot be perfect, but I will strive to be the best, strongest and cutest magical girl I can be. Even if it means more blood will be spilled.