*
A world of pure white again, then a world of pure black. We were in another dimension, a dimension crafted by magical particles of a newly promoted A-grade magical girl. Her speed and will grade was already A, and now her well has caught up.
"Step away." (Paridia)
While soft, her voice still held an authoritive and commanding tone that seemed to allow no room for error. She was mad, mad that we got attacked constantly, mad that our survival is being tested. I leap far away as she said, the other girl attempted to follow me to prevent whatever Paridia was doing but she was stopped by a giant beam of white.
"Oblivion Magia technique- [bountiful treasure trove] [noble vapour beam] intertwining infinity, unlimited brilliance." (Paridia)
As if a mountain was pressing her down from all directions, she couldn't move as she fearfully gazes at the rain of white light from the sky converge into one point to strike her down.
"[Ivor regia minor scale]"(?)
She walks through the beams of light as if unharmed, they aren't physical attacks after all, just formless destructive energy that would vaporised anything on earth. What seemed to be her second skill could be observed to make a tiny amount of space between her and the lasers. In other words it was a super thing barrier that seemed to make energy attacks useless.
Flexing my leg muscles, I shot myself forward determined to hit a low punch. Using my new propulsion technique, I shot to the right as both the opponent's arms smashed the ground where I was at. No... It would be more accurate to call them claws. Her arms had been covered with deep orange scales that blend and merge into her white suit. Using the propulsion once more to jump towards her, I aimed high this time. She she stops it by slamming her thickly scaled palm into my fist, pushing against her fist in mid air, I twisted around her body before launching another jab.
With her quick reaction, she spins 180 degrees around to send a kick into my left jab and my face. I was sent flying as the light converged to shoot at her again. Starting at a soft hum, it gradually grows louder at an increasing pace. The quiet car engine like sound I discretely increased in volume and lowered in tone into a bass like sound along with a mix of flesh scorching and magma nosies. It felt like my head would explode from the intensity and pitch of the noises alone, as if someone had shoved a black hole into my ear drums.
It grew so bright that I had to turn my eyes away, surely Paridia's attack was so dense that it was wearing down the opponent's defense. If her 2nd skill that makes that barrier of hers is focused on strength, she should be expending more magical particles as the attack gets more intense. If that barrier skill is more focused on technique, let's say keeping a vacuum of space empty to keep everything harmful out, then she would need to expend more magical particles to increase the efficacy of the technique.
"... Primal Dominion." (?)
Cracks formed along the light and the black sky of Paridia's Oblivion Magia. As if everything had been turned into shattering glass, useless and disappointing. As the rest of the dimension simultaneously shattered apart into magical particles, the afternoon sky permeated our surroundings along with the familiar back alleys. We had returned... No, she had completely shatter an Oblivion Magia with a seperate technique... Primal Dominion... It's not something I've heard of before.
But I could guess. To make up nothing of it would be a mistake. It was an invisible technique that completely removed all the magic around us. It's as if we were sent back to square one with all our progress gone. It was just like Kanou's final skill, but it was simply a technique that pushes away all unstable magical particles. Kanou's would push away both stable and unstable magical particles, preventing the activation of magic in Primal Dominion it is still possible to use magic, just excruciatingly hard to do so.
If magic was a candle's fire, Primal Dominion would be a hurricane that constantly blew it out. It is possible to light that candle's fire once again, but it will get snuff out immediately. But the conditions to fulfill for this technique is unknown. How she manage to acquire such a thing that usually needs a specific skill to replicate... Just what is she... Well, too bad for her. My new technique was a direct counter to it. 2nd skill [The gap of impermanence is a cage] - prototype technique, magia retainment. Unlike the usual magic, mine can control its own flow and prevent the fire from getting snuffed out.
"Paridia, can you use your light energy to power me up? Her barrier seems to be erasing energy attacks instead of enduring them, so your attacks are kind of useless."
"Tch fine, we have no choice here. [Noble vapour beam] - pink." (Paridia)
"... Do you have anything else?"
"Hoh? Getting greedy are we? Well unfortunately that's all, unless you want a debuff as well. I haven't tested purple so it's too risky." (Paridia)
She sneers as she explains her own circumstances, I suppose this was better than nothing. I could feel my fatigue fading away and a recovery of some of my magical particles.
Retainment status: 50%
As she released the blinding light death beams surrounding the enemy, I leaped forward along with the momentum produced by the propulsion. 2nd skill [The gap of impermanence is a cage] - prototype technique, super hollow propulsion.
"100% muscle exploitation" (?)
"SUPER HOLLOW PROPULSION!!!"
Raising my speed to the absolute maximum, I can only rush forward in one direction. Since its not my natural speed, I can't control it other than go forward. All she needs to do is dodge, but that is why this attack should be faster than her reaction speed. I'm not letting you off the hook, I'll kill you. My body has used up 15% of my well, I'm only left with 65%. My retainment technique can only keep 50%, so I'm slowly losing speed as well, but this should bridge the gap for a while.
I can still smash the ground with my foot to go up, but I can't go down. So I must aim care fully like a human missile, in an instant I closed the distance to her surprise. Her arms were out stretch, as if ready to receive my attack. But her eyes couldn't even follow my movements as I punched her elbow off. An audible cracking sound echoes in this back alley, her elbow bones gave way and bent 90 degrees in the wrong direction, causing me to continue flying in that direction.
I shove my foot into the ground to stop myself, dragging my entire leg through the concrete, destroying it. She stares at her broken arm in wonder. A tiny bit of shimmer appeared in the sky like sparkles, a moment later western double edged swords flew towards the ground. They surrounded the dragonoid magical girl like a cage before a larger great sword flew for her skull. She dodges it immediately by jumping out while an unfamiliar magical girl lands in the cage of swords.
She had silver pauldrons with the front part of the knight helmet hung on the right side of her hair like mask hair tie. A familiar smirk arises while her black body suit shuffled with her movements. On her black body suit was thin gauntlets on her arms and greaves on her legs, her reddish brown hair fluttered under the evening sky blending in together with its golden hue. She had a waist cape with some mental plates on its edges and something like an open coat that wrapped around her waist and sleeves but exposed her shoulders and chest openly.
"Yo. It's been a long time, Kaoru. It's Jinmei, the sword duke of the Rising Knight Order. " (Kyou)
"Kyou.....? Since whe.... Well I guess if I became a magical girl it wouldn't be weird if you turned into one too..."
"Yeah, I thought you were doing perverted stuff with that school girl uniform. It took me a while due to the law of magical girls obstructing my cognition, but once I turned into one myself it just clicked.
Anyway, their reinforcements are coming. My comrades were fighting them off while expecting you guys to finish up. But since you were too slow I needed to intervene. " (Kyou)
" Tch, the sword Duke?! The one in that crazy faction that fought the Eye God and survive?! " (Dragonoid)
Her face distorted to that of panic, it was clear that Kyou's name has some impact on her. He must have become famous while I was gone, or maybe the progenitor's cult had access to information on their enemies.
".... If you recognise my presence, then get lost. You're just a slightly stronger watch dog, don't compare myself who fights day in day out to you... " (Kyou)
As if taking his advice to heart, the dragonoid ran away. Most likely to recover her strength, since Kyou was carrying a sword he was most likely a close range fighter. She was invincible against long range fighters since they mostly use magic which the dragonoid erases, but not against melee fighters. She was absurdly strong herself, but against the 2 of us her chances had gone down the drain. Especially when she exhausted herself against the two of us.
"... How did you know I was Kaoru..."
"... That time when we were living in the dorm, there was a tiny hole in the wall..." (Kyou)
Out of reflex I wrapped my arms around my chest as my spine shuddered. My cheeks tensed as exasperation filled my heart.
"Wait no!?...it wasn't like that, I just heard some noise so I was curious.... It's not like I expected to see a girl in your room..." (Kyou)
He panics with a slight yell, his voice being so high was hard to get used to. But it must be the same for him then. Unexpectedly, I found his reaction quite amusing. Oh yeah, and right now I was merely acting out my own fantasies of an embarrassed magical girl. It was something I've practiced in the labyrinth, only someone like Myuu or Barius could figure me out and see through this act.
"... Let's get going." (Paridia)
Looking annoyed, she stomped her way out of the alleyway. We didn't have a place to reconvene since none of us has been to this part of central. We just kind of went happy go lucky and let fate decide. I had my magic device with me so I could contact with Myuu, Paridia should also have hers to contact with Gerald. Hopefully they're safe, maybe they're also fighting a boss magical girl in another area.
"Sorry to cut your reunion short, but what's the Rising Knight Order's stance on the progenitor's cult?" (Paridia)
" Enemies. You don't have to trust me for now, but to make it simple, we're the same as you. We just came a year earlier, that's our only difference. Many joined our cause gave their lives for us. So we have a bit of spilled blood, enough to fill a lake." (Kyou)
We strolled leisurely as we walked through the strangely noisy streets. The other two seemed to be used to it, so it must only be me who found it strange. It was always pin drop silent at night in the labyrinth.
" You seem strong. " (Paridia)
" Still weaker than that dragonoid magical girl. It's only because you guys cornered her that my presence could act as pressure and incentive for her to run away. " (Kyou)
" You must be strong, if you can grasp the situation like that from a mere glance. " (Paridia)
She narrows her eyes in suspicion, maintaining her stride as she spoke and observed Kyou.
" Alright let's go rest up, I was employing techniques simultaneously like an idiot. It hurts just to walk and will probably continue as so for the next few days."
" Hahah, you're still as reckless as before you became a magical girl." (Kyou)
"... Weren't you with Yuuka? I rejected her for that reason. "
"... Same reason as you. No matter what it was only recently after the disaster. The only there convinced that we could settle down and have a normal life after that was Yuuka, while the rest of us were more worried about our individual survival.
... No, in a way she was also thinking of the same thing. She was crawling and clawing to grab on to something, convinced it would return her normal life if she pretended to be a family. " (Kyou)
" Yeesh, she look like she was broken more than any of us, but I can't believe it was that bad. I knew it was shady, but roleplay? "
" It was hard, but I found what I needed to do immediately. I decided to follow my dreams, just like you did. Selfishly exploiting my magical girl powers to do so. " (Kyou)
" Aww... Come on, you figured out my dream now too? "
"It just all lined up perfectly in that time frame. It wasn't hard to guess, again after the law of magical girls stop obstructing my cognition." (Kyou)
I raise my palm facing Kyou, he grabs onto it for a firm handshake.
"Congratz. As your senpai, I'm happy for you." I spoke with vigour in my heart, flashing an expression of joy.