*
Things are not looking good, I have to protect them... If I couldn't save Barius and the others, at least let me safeguard Myuu and Paridia's lives... At present, I am at 100 000% Magia retainment, I am well above the bottom line of an S grade by a couple magnitudes. At the same time... There's this intuitive feeling like not being able to defy the progenitor... An insurmountable gap in power that stares back drooling at its prey.
I've... I've finally broken through the bounds of my mortal limit. My body that was originally only suppose to reach B grade had gone to A grade, and using a technique that was refined everytime I used it I finally arrived at the stage of S grades... Yet when the time finally came to put these boosted stats into use, they turn out useless before a sheer insurmountable wall. Frankly, the progenitor is incomprehensible. The attacks that we've devised to take her down... The conceptual attacks, while they do indeed damage her was still recovering from that damage. Slowly and gradually, she's gaining resistance to those very trump cards.
It was easy to tell. The special moves we use that use vague concepts to create nonexistent weaknesses on her... They are continuously forcing this weakness onto the progenitor and trying to kill her. So the fact that she's slowly taking less and less damage is proof that she can gain resistance. At this point, no previous attack will be able to make a dent in her body.
Very soon... She'll be resistant to even Paridia's second trump card... Myuu still has one move she has saved up, it was to use her fist to punch through the progenitor's defence and overwrite her existence with her own... Essentially what she used to have a draw with HuoLi. The problem was that it wasn't fast enough, all she could do was use her arm or legs to erase the progenitor, she'll gain resistance to Myuu's attacks all the same.
Think... Think... Find a way out or everyone will die... I have to... I need to defeat her or everyone else will die... I can't let them get killed, I can't lose again...
"Looks like you're having some trouble." (A?)
I craned my neck upwards, searching for the source of that familiar voice. A little girl, plain like no other stood before me. She couldn't be any older than 9 or 10. A smile uncharacteristic of her age, calm and calculating, it sought the odds that she could win. Yet it drew up a blank, her heart had been set from the start.
"... Amony... So you read the letter... And you actually came... "
"Mmhmmm! I just need to buy you time right? Then I'll dip after that, no harm done. Ambient Magia attunement, Artificial Oblivion. Paradise of a journey's end." (Amony)
Just as the progenitor finally broke out of Paridia's attack, she was swallowed up by another. Her body and her pristine white combat dress vanishes, leaving naught a trace behind.
***
A blinding clear blue sky stretches across her vision, the arid scent of drifting sand fills her nostrils. She was no longer in only her snow white combat dress, she now akso had her cultist robe on. It was a simple baggy dark grey robe that she wore to conceal her figure. It did its job well and was enchanted to hide the wearer's identity in a way similar to the law of magical girls.
The fluttering and bashing of her robe could be heard behind her as the afternoon breeze picked up in speed. A dessert as far as the eye could see, but a peaceful one. As far as she knew, this was the most peaceful place on earth. Only a handful of her own subordinates even knew about this place. In the event of an attack, the facilities underground would summon a legion of C and B grade magical girls, and the surface built like a porcupine or a warship was fitted to teeth with missiles and anti-air guns. Due to the nature of magic, space wasn't much of a limitation and even a tiny 1 meter square area could be fit with 10 000 missiles.
"What are you doing up here? Zedicia. " (?)
A girl with golden brunette hair shows up, one of the progenitor's acquaintances. A clean expanse of white contrasts with a hearty healthy golden brown. They sat next to each other, as if they had known each other for a long time.
"I... Just looking at the scenery. What about you, Hitomi? Aren't you suppose to be far away on a mission while I chase away the oncoming invaders?" (Progenitor/ Zedicia)
"..." (Hitomi)
The air seemed to grow slightly colder, Zedicia faced Hitomi while talking to her for a little bit but decided to face forward again. That was it, she simply wanted to sate her curiosity. Truth be told, her heart was in a maelstrom of emotions, clashing against one another and begging to be let out. But she keeps it all inside as always, otherwise the casualties will increase. Objectively, yes... She needed to face everything objectively or she will only lose more things needlessly. If she did things perfectly and still loss, she would accept it. But if she could have saved someone important but did not, that would be the worst.
"Hey, I've lived for hundreds of years... Do you think it's time for me to retire/kill you?" (Zedicia)
Her voices overlap with one another, when someone thinks about it, who's voice is she overlapping with? Was it her own? What skill is it? As a testament to her ability, Zedicia seemed to have seen through the illusion in an instant and was already wielding her skills freely as a show of dominance.
"..." (Hitomi)
She returns it with silence, her words caught up in her throat, not knowing how to deceive the target once more. Cold sweat drips down her back, her mind rushes at an answer to find the key to this predicament.
"I don't know what you have going on, but you're actually Amony right? That one little girl I gave the [Spirit constitution] skill to... It was a quick way to power you up but if enemies get used to it then it's useless.
I didn't think you would fight me with it though. " (Zedicia)
Her golden brown hair shifts back to a tone of black, the sun's rays gleam brightly in their reflection over her hair. Her body had also looked smaller than before, within a blink of an eye she had changed back.
"... I'm sorry, it seems you've seen through my illusion. "(Amony)
"... I hold nothing against you, my neck must look very attractive to cut off right? Or maybe there's some other sentiment between you and the enemies I'm facing...
In any case, I... Was just getting tired. Maybe it's because I'm old... Way too old for this magical girl bullshit. I'm not really itching to retire either, I'm fine with continuing as the holder of the progenitor's skill. What I'm sick of... Is people...
That's why I was enjoying my time out here looking at the desert, rather than breaking your illusion down like a savage... " (Zedicia)
" I see... If you're not worried about dying in this battle, shall we take a break? Perhaps do some sightseeing?" (Amony)
She was trying to salvage the situation to keep her promise to Kaori. In a way, Amony was really brave being able to talk so casually to someone who broke out of her illusion. If given the chance, Amony would try to kill her too. The progenitor was an enemy, a fearsome one like no other, yet Amony gave priority to a simple letter written by Kaori over the current life and death situation.
"You're still trying to buy time?" (Zedicia)
For a brief moment, it felt like the entire sky collapsed onto Amony's back, a pressure so high it could drown her and cause her to asphyxiate on the spot. While her [spirit constitution] did allow her to use the free magical particles in the environment, it only allowed her to use her Oblivion Magia which was the illusion. In essence, she was still a D grade or a C grade magical girl, her aura was still weak and she would suffocate if a higher ranking magical girl decides to pressure her with their aura.
"... Whatever, t'was a little joke. I understand the concept of it anyway. At your core... You seem unable to kill others. So out of all things you could do with your Oblivion Magia, you decide to read your opponent's memories to try to construct a paradise to their liking...
You could use their memories to create their biggest nightmares or fears to immobilise them, then send them to an illusion of the bottom of the sea. Many methods you could have used to break one's mind, but you chose to soothe it instead. Using an excuse like 'trapping' them, when it only works if they are tricked and their memories altered by your Oblivion Magia.
If they are as strong as me, their memories would remain untouched and they would break out of this place in an instant. " (Zedicia)
" I... I... " (Amony)
" It's fine... You're still a kid right? Even if your magical girl transformation makes you look slightly older, your mind is still the same. I guess it's normal you feel apprehensive to kill. What's abnormal is your friends out there, so you know how many they've killed? Surely it's more damage to the country than what I've done so far. " (Zedicia)
It felt like a large lump of stuck in her throat, she slowly reaches her hand to her neck in order to ease it of the anxiety and pressure welling up. Her heart finally begins to slow down, her gaze beginning to become more resolute, she turns her face towards Zedicia and inquired.
"Why do this? Why do all of this?" (Amony)
"Do you wish to solve this conflict peacefully? I doubt your comrades out there would agree. In the first place, they don't seem to be aiming for the progenitor's skill, they don't know it can be inherited and stolen from me to make them all powerful. They seemed to be aiming for my head instead. "(Zedicia)
" No... It's just to sate my own curiosity. I doubt I could stop either side of this battle, they would similarly break out of this bubble I've built, because it's just that. A bubble.
Psychological attack magic is way too common, if I used the illusion to harm someone's mind, they would instantly recognise it as an illusion and 'wake up'. That's its true weakness, people can 'wake up' on their own and escape. I have to manually simulate and compute the details of the paradise with my own mind, it's too much work. Using the target's memories is just a means to reduce this computational strain.
I guess what I'm trying to say... Is that I want to know more about you just as I want you to know more about me. I may not agree with your ideology, but it seems you have your own troubles too. I... I'm just a child. The world of adults is scary so I've always strayed away from it. But you've been working hard haven't you? " (Amony)
She looks up at Zedicia, hoping to win her over with cute points. Though the party instantly notices and pays no mind to it. In the first place her aesthetic for cuteness was different from a modern person's, so she didn't even think much about it, chalking up Amony's act as her natural behaviour and ignoring it.
" Yes... Yes I have... This position... As the wielder of [Destiny that reaches Akasha]... This heavy library that anyone would kill for, even other God magical girls... It's been tough... But...
I got used to it. As insane as it sounds, I'm used to people like your friends outside that try to kill me all the time. I have defeated countless foes who let their hubris overshadow their capabilities, this time is no different. " (Zedicia)
She spoke with a heavier tone, displaying her unshakeable resolution. She was not facing a new experience, just an old one. She survived the torture of other God magical girls before but ultimately survived and grew stronger because of it. She gained resistance to that torture and killed that God magical girl herself. She was an SS grade capable of killing other SS grades, one of the strongest in the other that could make the continental factions crumble.
"... Is there a reason why you do so much bad stuff with the cult? " (Amony)
" Not really... Only excuses. It makes me a lot of money... Despite a magical girl being able to function without the need for money or community... It also gives me a lot of subordinates to order around, make myself feel important. The feeling of rule, the feeling of power, it's addicting. Though I will never be able to comprehend how The Eye God feels due to the larger magnitude of her ruling.
In the end, things just ended up like this. You know... We actually have some sort of a relation with The Eye God. It means that these underground activities are actually regulated by the government in some way, it's not illegal. Sure it messes with the moral sensibilities of the modern people, but that's a bygone era. In exchange for her protection, I help The Eye God make money and increase her faction's military might. Since I work for her, she'll have no need to take [Destiny that reaches Akasha] from me.
In other words, anyone who attacks the cult is actually on the wrong side of the law. I do feel bad for all the innocents that get mixed into this, but to put it rationally, it benefits me and the country more for the cult to exist. " (Zedicia)
She had blatantly soften with age, and stopped seeking bloodshed. Though she wouldn't retire either.