*
Getting back to headquarters, she sees a couple of her colleagues pacing frantically by the entrance. She wants to question what they were doing, and perhaps had an inkling to their dilemma, one that would feed her ego. She didn't want to think so highly of herself, so she quickly dismisses the possibility that her staying outside for so long led them into a spiral of concern. She uses her skill to brush a gentle wind and quickly passes by them, when they eventually bothered to crane their heads up and turn around, they only catch a glimpse of her glimmering silver hair.
Entering the inner section, she marvels at the furniture once again. It was beginning to look more and more like a modern office from before The Great Disaster... At least that is what she thinks she's looking at. She didn't really remember how such things look like back then since any memory before The Great Disaster was discreetly missing in her memories.
It was the moreso fact that Grail-chan pointed out how modern it looked that set off the blaze of her wonder and became the source of her intrigue. She wouldn't really have noticed or cared otherwise, the intrigue mainly stemmed from 'an object from a time before her memories started'.
Dropping off all the food at their respective customers, she asks Jiyu about the current disorder at the office. Willen wasn't around at the moment as she departed for a mission. In her place, Jiyu took over to supervise current affairs.
"Do you have any idea what's going on? Everyone seems... Restless..." (Kaede)
"... The... Demon king is here..." (Jiyu)
"?! Then... Then the Grundo Alliance has fallen?" (Kaede)
"No... Someone was spreading fake information. While the original Demon King himself is indeed evolving into an SS grade, at present they are at S grade and their clones at A.
So the Grundo Warlords who are superior in solo combat compared to the Demon King army could manage for a while. But... The army of demon king clones isn't some mindless monolithic mass of siphonophores... They can think individually, collect information with their heavy to take lives... And come back with counter measures...
It's like a virus that doesn't stop evolving... And they consume humans. " (Jiyu)
Jiyu's face seemed to be about to burst into tears at any time, her expression was dyed in horror as she slowly explained the circumstance word for word. It really looked like the second coming of The Great Disaster, it was simply in a different form this time. Another world ending disaster... No... That would be grossly misrepresentative.
The Demon King was a monster first and foremost, born as a partially organic or inorganic and partially spiritual being. That's a characteristic of every monster, whether their origin is magical mutation arising from the corpses of animals, natural evolution or artificial intervention did not matter. They are born with the ability to manipulate magic...
But magical particles are a part of the law of magical girls, a component of the world itself. So one could say the monsters are akin to fully spiritual beings, spirits. As long as they are partially made of magical particles, there is possibility of them being born naturally and spontaneously from the environment itself. In other words, they are the children of the world.
While the purging of humanity would look atrocious to us, for the world itself it is but a natural phenomenon. Something that cna be allowed to happen, a part of nature. The earth itself would survive, so this isn't a world ending disaster like The Great Disaster, but a human extinction event. Similar things have happened before in history, such as the plague. It similarly targeted only humans.
Now that such a thing has happened again... It's more like the humans were the invading species, and the monsters were the immune system of the world. A great push that would revert things back into the law of the jungle and erase humanity's influence.
"Disregarding the demon king situation, which I'll assume that they simply slip through the front lines... Who and why was someone spreading misinformation... Or spreading fear?
Their aim looks like they were trying to spread fear as much as possible and send the people into despair... Like what you guys are experiencing right now... Do you have a clue as to why is that?" (Kaede)
"... You're right. It would be pointless since we can't combat an A grade even if everyone in this branch fought. Furthermore, it's a single target. If we take actions such as evacuation... we'll be picked off one by one. It's... Not your decision to weigh people's lives with the lives of our colleagues...
So I'll discuss about the inconsistency in the information instead. The Eye God is gone. With some method, someone in The Sanctuary has verified that The Eye God and The Progenitor is no longer in this world. It's very likely that they've gone somewhere else, but it's a definite conclusion that we can no longer rely on them.
The second point, usually messengers are weak and cannot differentiate between A grades and S grades, it wouldn't be a surprise if threat evaluation is inaccurate if that was the case. But... It's still odd that they would deliberately give the wrong informations.
I mentioned that the source of the information was basically every government, as every faction has pooled together their intelligence capabilities. Does someone have all of them convinced? Did someone... Fool the higher ups and fooled the people as well? " (Jiyu)
It was odd to see Jiyu stay serious for so long. It wasn't as if she was truant and foolish all the time, she simply put up a cheery facade to keep everyone's mood afloat. I suppose she would also have thoughts of her own... Of course she would be thinking seriously about these matters. They concern our life and death.
"That brings us back to the first point then. Why? Can I also assume the 'accurate' info this time is truly 'accurate'? Is it taken from an in dependant investigation seperate from the government's efforts?" (Kaede)
"... Yeah. There is the possibility that all the information was accurate, and that the Demon King was simply weakening in real time... But as for the other question, our info is sourced from our Commander. The pinnacle of The Rising Knight Order, Zenith Lord, Celistane Frey.
She's providing assistance on the frontline, but even with her astronomical capabilities, the only effect is just a buffer on the whole situation. An SS grade... A new one... Has to awaken from humanity to defend it... I assume the older ones do not care much about humanity, that is how we got into this situation in the first place.
As for the main topic. If someone has fooled the higher ups into giving false information... The motive is indeed a mystery. From a black and white lobotomised perspective, we can say it was the doing of a spy from the monster country... While humans outnumbering monsters do bring an advantage, they also allow the monsters to blend in easier into our land.
As for another possibility, it could be a human with the aim of harming humanity. But that is a dead end, since we don't have any leads to such a person. They would be hidden from the public eye and skilled at it too. On the other hand, while an overevaluation of the threat does indeed bring fear to the people's hearts, it also causes them to overprepare for the threat in anticipation of the danger.
There's too little to work with, so it's better if we discuss how to deal with the present situation instead. "(Jiyu)
Taking her words into consideration, Kaede felt like she was seeing the pieces fall into place to reveal the culprit and their motives. But... Some pieces were missing and nothing was conclusive. In the first place, it could be someone who she didn't know at all... Or it could be no one. But it's very unlikely for the Demon King to weaken in the time between the 2 inconsistent reports on the monster threat. It just... Made no sense for it to weaken.
It meant that there was a plausible chance for someone to be behind it. From how she saw it, the easiest to conclude motive would be the spreading of fear. No one said that these backstage manipulations had no relation to magic. Magical girls exist, malicious and good.
"... Isn't it the most likely that... Someone is creating fear to fuel their magic? It doesn't sound impossible, they could be powered by the fear of others... Also, let me deal with the Demon King that slipped in. I have a bit of a plan..." (Kaede)
"... You... You were once an A grade, right? Have you perhaps found a way to fix your well? " (Jiyu)
She points a V-sign with her fingers at Jiyu as she gives a cheeky smile.
" Yeah! " (Kaede)
***
Walking out of the office building, Kaede sees 2 familiar girls. For a second she thinks that she was hallucinating, but after a few good rubs on her eyelids, she goes up to greet them.
"Yo. Glad to see you alive." (Kaede)
"Glad to be alive. The Eye God may have stopped the battles at the last second and healed everyone, but it was no mistake that I lost." (Barius)
"Same here. I got done in instantly, so I didn't even get to see Titania's skills..." (dedrinelese)
Kaede frowns and the other 2 follow suit, expecting bad news. After all, the first jarring observation they made after finding her... Was that Myuu and Paridia weren't with her. Kaede grips her fist dipped in complicated emotions. She cannot make sense of her feelings herself. She's not Kaori after all, but she isn't a lost soul either.
She's firmly her own self, her existence is verified and affirmed by Grail. She is Kaede, but the matters regarding Kaori are still submerged in a sea of ambiguity. Should she be feeling guilty for letting Kaori's friends die? Or should she be glad that she is not Kaori, and therefore not related in any way to Myuu and Paridia? Taking a deep breath, she spills the bad news that took Barius and Neli's bated breath.
"You might have noticed, but The Orogenitor is different from The Eye God. Both have vast powers befitting God magical girls...
But The Progenitor isn't anywhere as merciful. Gerald, Paridia and Myuu are dead." (Kaede)
"... Our rivalry will have to be postponed. It took a while to find you and it was by pure chance of being in the vicinity. But now you're heading to fight the Demon King, aren't you?
We don't have damaged wells, we can assist you." (Barius)
" That would be really helpful... " (Kaede)
Having strong allies assuaged her heart off her worries. At first she was wondering what she could do about the sheer speed difference, since as a C grade, she would be obliterated in an instant. Her only plan was to set up traps and find magic items that would weaken the Demon King. But this was a surface city for normal people, it wasn't like the labyrinths where magic items were plenty and easy to find.
They have no weak for monster weakening items on the surface. As a general rule, monsters which are basically wild animals on par with magical girls should be dealt with by magical girls. It doesn't take too much to imagine what would happen to a normal person. Now Neli can act as the monster debuffer, her control over gravity can push down the Demon King into the ground and keep him in place.
Realising something crucial... Kaede ran back into the office only to bring out Jiyu.
"Why did you bring me outside...?...?! Hello...! Nice to meet you, esteem guest!" (Jiyu)
"No need to be so nervous. They were my previous comrades from before the battle with The Progenitor. The A grade is Barius and the B grade is Dedrinelese or Neli. They'll be helping me subjugate the Demon King... And in turn repair my well. We need your help to locate him." (Kaede)
"Alright. If you guys can really beat him, I have no choice but to aid you. [Chime of constellation] " (Jiyu)
A thin pillar of light rises from Jiyu's head. It was as narrow as a pencil as it stretched off into the sky like a pillar of heaven that disappeared after some distance. When it was far enough, it was too small to be seen, so it seemed like the pillar had stopped at some point. But as magical girls, they had enhanced eyesight that allowed them to observe its true length.
It reached the vacuum of space before stopping. Ambient magical particles gathered around the pillar before it dissipated back into thin air. It seemed to have some sort of system where information is relayed from the surrounding magical particles to the pillar.
"Found it. He's in that direction." (Jiyu)
Her passive allowed her to instantly read and comprehend the information. Saving her the time of having to analyse it and positioned the magic map that it made according to the direction where she is facing.