*
"... It's impossible to come to an understanding, they... They seem desperate to have your head. How... How do we fix this..." (Amony)
"... Nevermind the conflict between us, what about you? What is it that you want?" (Zedicia)
She didn't know why she asked this, it seemed foolish to ask a child about what they thought about it. The answer wouldn't be useful to her in any way, making it quite pointless.
" I... I want you guys to make up and work together for your goals, like building the country. I also want the cult to stop doing all the bad stuff... My father... He gambled into debt with the cult. There's no coming back from that... So instead, I want to build a brighter future and bring happiness to everyone... Like a real magical girl. " (Amony)
As expected, there was nothing to be gained. For some reason she felt disappointed despite predicting the outcome. An ideal beyond even the progenitor's reach, one only a child could dream of... A rare case that showed her how powerless she could be despite possessing so much more than others. She breathes off a sigh before facing the sky once again. The nostalgic sight of the desert, she had spent the last few decades living here.
This was not the same dessert that Kaori and the others raided. It was the base she secluded herself in before The Great Disaster. Magical girls of that era simply passed by the days idly, secluding themselves in nature or even living in urban environments. Those ones sign a contract with the government to help protect the society in exchange for housing and an allowance. The ones in nature bear some danger as well, they have nowhere to run to so they hide themselves well.
"... I'm sorry to break it to you, but magical girls aren't all sunshine and rainbows. What you described as a 'real' magical girl refers to the non-subtle subliminal message set by modern magical girl anime, correct? " (Zedicia)
"... Yeah...? " (Amony)
" That's just to trick the general public into thinking all magical girls are good, makes things easier for us to do. When The Great Disaster caused society to collapse, there wasn't much resistance from the people to the magical girls rescuing them, right?
They assume all magical girls are allies of justice and move on, because it would be too much to question the reality of having so many magical girls hidden from society, to question how much they stray from their cartoon portrayal. It's the easiest way to cope, to assume that their general conception of magical girls from anime is all there is to it and move on with life.
They don't want to know that there may be more than just magic and sparkles under the facade, if not they'll be killed by their saviours for being ungrateful and knowing too much. As the saying goes, curiosity killed the cat. " (Zedicia)
Most people would simply want to get by first before thinking about the complicated stuff. Good magical girls? Bad magical girls? Who cares as long as I get to live first, securing food, water and shelter was higher on the priority list. And in most cases, the magical girls were similar to humans, they could sympathise and wish earnestly to help. That helped give the magical girls a good reception as well.
"But... I don't understand. If everyone is working for the betterment of the faction... For their homeland, then why are we fighting each other..." (Amony)
The junior magical girl didn't have a disheartened or disillusioned look, she simply found things exhausting. She was sure that the progenitor wouldn't kill her, or at least she wouldn't be able to in this space. After all she wasn't actually sitting next to her, it was a substitute made of sand that sat next to Zedicia, not Amony. It mimicked her appearance and voice, as if Amony was looking through a glass window. She sat far away in another space, continually observing and trying to buy time. Zedicia didn't mind.
"It all comes down to idealogy and circumstances. The other party seems to be radicalised to the point that they rather die than leave my neck alone, or some other circumstance is forcing their hand.
But whatever it is, I'll face it head on and obliterate it. This place is not my only base, it was simply my favourite because it reminded me of my old one. The desert holds a lot of memories for me, enough that it would burst open the brain of a person with only a single lifetime.
Now, I've gotten bored of talking with you. It's been nice, but it's time to destroy all of you. " (Zedicia)
***
A myriad of colours shot out of her body, her aura permeates and engulfs the entire paradise like illusion in an instant deluge, marking every possible space with her own magic. 'Pop!', like a bubble it is fragile as it is transient. She arrives with an overwhelming amount of power, her presence painting over whatever is left in the world. This was the power of an SS grade.
"GAGHH!!! She wasn't... Serious!?" (Paridia)
It was serious enough to make Paridia spit blood, Myuu and I barely took any damage as well, but an abominable sense of discomfort was solidly permeating through our bodies. It was akin to staring death in the face, though that doesn't accurately describe the feeling. It was like a disgusting sludge was crawling through my veins and clogging my throat and stomach. My body quivered under its repulsiveness, but I quickly regained my composure. After all, Amony gave us plenty of time.
I don't know what the other 2 have planned now, but personally I was working on a new technique. Magia Retainment: perpetual, allowed me to rapidly absorb ambient magical particles and use them however I wanted. Unlike a normal magical girl who needs to first absorb the magical particle into their well to form their control over it, I can use Magia Retainment to control the magical particles already in the environment without an preliminary steps.
Usually, it's used to enhance my body by funneling it into my first skill repeatedly to increase the magnitude of the gradients. Gradients such as my blood flow, oxygen, circulating oxygen, body reinforcing wind and magical particles. I continuously enhance myself with ambient magical particles to the point that it exceeds the capacity of my well and will stats.
So it ends up building new magical circuits on its own, outside my body in order to maintain the effect of the spell. Perhaps the magic had a mind of its own to optimise the flow of magical particles and maintains it continuously. It kept building on and on and on.
1 000 000 000 000%
The external magical circuits ended up taking root in the environment, if I rip them all off at the same time the feedback may overload my mind with stimulation and fry it, granting me a definite death. The progenitor could very easily do that, but she must first fend off my attacks. Her speed is SS grade, immeasurable. She must have gotten tired of taking the brunt force of trump cards by now. She'll definitely defeat us in an instant if I stop to breath for a moment. I, on the other hand can still be quantified by stats. The magic tool for measuring stats has nothing as pathetic as a limit, if it cannot measure it means the target has a functionally infinite stat.
But my counterattack begins now, my magical circuits have submerged the entire area we are in, with a radius of 10 km. The length does not matter as the magic's effect makes the transfer of magical particles instant. It keeps powering itself up after all, like a perpetual motion machine. That is why it is Magia Retainment: perpetual. This is now my territory, a type of land different from a normal Oblivion Magia. Void rapier surround and intersect, penetrating the progenitor from all angles.
They crush through any form of defence by moving through them with no regard for space or hardness, they simply exert their influence over atoms and particles and move them away so the rapier can get through and penetrate the progenitor's flesh. This includes magical particles as well, so there is a magic dispersing effect as well, making it harder to cast skills. I have to kill her before she uses her second skill or third skill. Right now while she only has the library of skills she's taken from others... Surely her remaining repertoire is more fearsome. So I have to finish her off...!
"Your haste undermines your efforts. Second skill [Otherworldly disassociation, decay spreads to all]." (Zedicia)
My vision blacks out... No, it would be more accurate to say that my sight is being impeded by something... This recognisable sensation... I see. She copied me... No, maybe she had the skill to do it before I did. She reversed all the damage I did to her onto me. It was the same as the conceptual attack I devised, but since it's not something as superficial as a technique, but actually an inherent effect of her skill... It's way stronger. Likely cheaper magical particle cost too, she can spam it or she can save a bunch of damage before casting it. Her body will be completely fine in the end, my health is exchanged with hers as well, so she becomes spotless while I become riddled with more holes...
I see, that was all I had left. For some reason unlike the others, I couldn't unlock my final skill. The perks of being capped at B grade I guess. Now my base stats barely reach A grade, but it's still the same. My hands... My fingers... They stretch and stretch until they are unrecognisable, reaching out constantly for something further away to grab onto. Yet there is always a wall awaiting...
No, it's not even a wall. Walls can be traversed over, what I'm being stopped by is my natural limit. The limit imposed upon my body by the world, by the circumstances around my existence, by time, by magic... The conclusion of my journey for power... Was simply stopped because I could no longer stretch further. I could no longer reach further. My body has been undergoing pressure and abuse without rest. I've been abusing my body to force it beyond its natural limits for a long while now. Even that has its limits.
No, I'm simply limited in my thinking. I don't need a new technique to get through this. I'll use what I have and defeat her with wits. A barrage of void rapier were summoned and shot at her once more, piercing through her body like a porcupine. The damage is reflected into my own body once again, but I don't stop.
Wave after wave, the blades pierced into her flesh, ripping open my own body and exposing my insides to the world. But my magic keeps growing higher and healing my body at faster speeds, meaning that I can keep this up until her well runs out while my own wouldn't.
The only problem was the time limit. The attacks have been very fast paced, so it hasn't been long since we started raiding the base. Maybe a few hours have gone by and its afternoon.
Over time, the damage began to accumulate. There was no space for the other 2 to enter the fray, as any damage they dealt would be sent to me, overwhelming my regeneration. Most of the damage sent to me was reduced and manageable by my regeneration, as it was caused by my own magic which I have a resistance to. In other words, they became blunt when turned towards my body. It still hurts like hell, but it prevented me from dying.
I've seized control of the environment and can attack with my magic from any angle, yet all of it is for naught. I'll add this to the mix.
"Oblivion Magia, World of Wandering Fate. Reorienting fate. "
My magic calculates the damage and inflicts it upon her before my body gets hit. Her attack is also cancelled. In other words, it's true essence is redirecting her own attacks onto her own body.
"[Otherworldly disassociation, decay spreads to all], Damage reversal." (Zedicia)
Her magic sends all the injuries back to me. My magic redirects it back to her, entering an infinite feedback loop. However it felt like a blazing flame was incineration my mind as the mental strain got exponentially higher and higher. I walked closer and closer to her, my legs wobbling from the pain consuming my conscious. I wouldn't last for much longer anyway.
I arrive at an arms length from the progenitor... It's time to execute the final part of the plan.