*
Her exquisitely crafted outfit was meant to make as much of an impression as possible, so the tailor had taken some liberties to expose skin in certain areas, though it still covered most of her body. The only particularly exposing part was above the chest and the shoulders, looking down on her would be very dangerous as something might slip.
Now, she was deciding to face her challenges head on. If touring was too dull, she simply needed to make it not dull. That way, both the audience and her would enjoy it. To keep the serious atmosphere while making it entertaining to watch... She easily had a single inspiration.
Before The Great Disaster, there were these extravagant showcases of military might during a so called national birthday or in dependance day. It was a popular way for citizens to reconnect with national solidarity, and at the same time the military was engaging in a parade attempting to make it entertaining by looking professional.
She learned about this when Neli told her the new year coincided with the Sanctuary's founding day. Of course, the Sanctuary didn't have the leisure to hold such an event... So now, she'll hold it for them. A core component of the post disaster military force... Is magical girls! She materialised her void rapier for it to hang by her side in display, walking through with a dignified expression.
She then grabbed its handle and pointed it to the sky. First she made it snow, then hail, then ushered in warm air. She recreated the very first form of faith, that the natural elements were sentient and governed the world. Imitating them, she controlled the weather, cycling through the different temperatures at a lower magnitude. From luke warm to cooling. If she went further, the rapid changes in temperature might kill someone, so she kept it mostly to the sky.
Her footsteps weren't so stiff and rigid any longer, she stepped wherever she wanted and landed wherever looked great, almost breaking into a dance. A jolly march, she swings her blade around in a beautiful display. As long as it was fast, it would captivate her audience. In such a crude way, a performance was born. A confident smile adorned her face, capturing the hearts of many.
She painted the air in her aura, in her magic, colouring away at the dull world. There was no way that this would last the entire way, so she decided on a quick show of absolute power. The rhythm of her heart swung up and down like a pendulum, dancing away to the chaos brewing in her mind. Has she lost it? Was what her subordinates thought.
The quickest way to display one's power was to kill someone in the crowd gathering around her, but that would have adverse effects on her campaign. She needed to operate at full efficiency to stand a chance to win over everyone... No one knows how or when the human king is chosen, but once they were chosen then they would fight the Demon King.
Then would it be quicker to just kill the other candidates? No... Neli was in there. There was also the fact that if she failed or took too long, she would get noticed immediately. The first 2 candidates had abundant supporters. It looks like warring wasn't the optimal path, perhaps the opposite instead...
What if... There was a situation that would allow them to fight in the open instead? Some kind of excuse... A formality of some kind? That would appease most people, if they weren't so surprise to the fighting match, it becomes allowed to some extent. Similar to martial arts tournaments or free style wrestling, it might even make the audience more enthusiastic about supporting them...
She arrived at a single answer, a duel. It would provide the necessary conditions. Yeah... She should stick to her own strengths. She can't beat transcendant SS or S grade beings, but she isn't such a weakling as to easily lose to A grades. She continued her tour for a little, her trajectory? Aiming straight for the Karell candidate. Her magic shone like a shooting star, a beacon of battle.
To her self who had felt pathetic and weak for so long, finding something she could actually do had lit up her entire world in a shower of sparkles. Even at high speeds, she breathed in calmly, taking in the stimulation to her olfactory senses. In other words, she felt life itself, she felt alive more than ever. Was she also a battle junkie?
A few seconds of max speed later, a greyish purple comet struck the ground next to the Karell candidates event stage.
"... The second Kaitmei candidate...?" (Someone in the crowd)
It was like an idol concert with how people were swarming below the stage. Kaede had landed in an open space with smoke flying off of her clothes. She had transformed the new outfit back into her combat dress so that it withstood her velocity and landing, before switching back to the new outfit. It was as if everyone had question marks floating above their heads.
Standing up as the dust subsides, Kaede boldly pointed her rapier at the Karell candidate.
"Let's duel. A basic test of strength, the Human King is being chosen to kill the Demon King, so they can take command of the heroes while avoiding becoming a burden. I'll eliminate you through sheer strength." (Kaede)
"... I'll ignore your absurd amount of confidence, but... I refuse. " (Karell)
" WHAGH...?!! " (Kaede)
Did she not think that far? Karell's expression seemed to say. In fact, a cold sweat dripped down her neck as she took a step back. This was the typical kind of interaction one would expect between Karell and Kaitmei. The crowd's anxiety was aroused as bated breaths and whispers proliferated among the concerned masses.
On the other hand, a refreshing smile took root under Kaede's eyes which gave everyone a worser instinct that unsettled them. Kaede gripped her rapier with experienced prowess, and pointed it at Karell while positioning her other palm under its pommel. Its pommel was extremely sharp as it was more decorative and a feature scored for style on her rapier instead of function, but she was able to skillfully use her first skill to protect her palm from the pommel's edge.
She spoke with a carefree gaze that made the atmosphere lift itself up into the sky, but her dreadful actions gave the opposite impression. This contradictory display added to the confusion and unrest in everyone's hearts.
"This is not a request. The human King candidates have to prove their strength, so I'll eliminate you through the simple way. You're not a sheltered weakling, I'm sure you can take some decapitation." (Kaede)
"WAIT!! WAIT!!! I DON'T WANT TO DIE!!!" (Karell)
"Huh...? Then do you forfeit...?" (Kaede)
Everyone there could tell Kaede was more disappointed by the fact that she couldn't fight than the fact that her opponent had surrendered. From what she knew, this Karell should be the one who had sent assassins to take the lives of the other candidates. But now... She didn't mind being branded weak if it meant that she didn't need to get hurt from a duel. It wasn't as if Kaede would kill her now, it was a duel, not an execution. Her crimes will be judged by others instead.
... A moment passes by, and a head flies off its shoulders.
"Hii! Iiiyaaahhhh!!!!!!" (Stranger)
"She's gonna kill all of us!!!" (Stranger)
"..." (Kaede)
Another head flies, chaos ensues. Even magical girls had a low chance of surviving decapitation, and their heads had to stay connected to their necks after it happened. She looked over at Karell, her expression was one of horror and fear. Kaede couldn't pinpoint what exactly was killing the people in the crowd, they squirmed around like a massive pile of worms as they ran in terror. All she could deduce was that the magic came from the ground, anyone could have prepared the magic traps before hand. It was hard to pinpoint it onto Karell, after all even the assassinations on the other candidates had no solid lead. All she had to go off of was a hunch.
"Alright! Alright! I'll fight you! So... Please stop killing anymore innocent people!!!!!" (Karell)
Was this some kind of show? Was she using her own crowd as sacrifices to drag her down? Kaede felt her stomach lurch in disgust, at the same time she couldn't exactly stop the magic land mines that precisely cut off people's heads. It was as if wind magic was used due to how the mine's effects were transparent, making it even easier to pin the blame onto Kaede. If she tried to extract the mines, the people would get in the way and she might accidentally harm someone in the process. She had no surefire way to keep the citizens safe while disarming the mines.
... Just how long had the people been standing over them...? One by one, more and more heads flew, and Kaede could do nothing about it. The people climbed over the corpses of others to continue running away, some of them unfortunately encountering a mine right after. Others sat on corpses, ironically keeping their own life by desecrating others. It was as if it was a scene from hell with how much blood covered the ground.
Things were never going to be so simple, she couldn't simply challenge another candidate and get rid of them that way. There was always a nasty catch like this. It made her sick, made her frustrated that she could never get what she wanted. She knew this was normal, life was suppose to be this cruel. That she couldn't truly get what she wanted without giving something in return. But still... She at least wanted the people to be safe...
After all... She was a magical girl. She was Kaori now.
In the corner of her eye, she observes that Karell was about to vanish from her peripheral vision. If only she was a little stronger... She could bring everyone into her Oblivion Magia, thus preventing the mines from affecting anyone after the first person. But now she had an entire crowd's worth of blood on her hands. The stinging scent of iron permeated her olfactory sense, causing her throat to squirm and her face to contort.
"That's enough. Enough of making fun of me, next is your turn. This is no longer a duel, but an execution." (Kaede)
She could tell from Karell's passive aura alone that she was actually quite powerful, at least more than her appearance let on. She had brownish blond hair that stoof out from her straight white dress. The split in the middle of her dress, between her thighs, connected by black. Black lines lined her sleeves and waist. The ends of her long sleeves were puffy with frills despite how neat and ironed the rest of the dress cloth was. She wore short black heels with robbons decorating the tip of her heels and lining her back with 2 rows from top to bottom.
Her facade of innocence permeated her contours innocuously, giving her the image of a smiling mischievous angel. But Kaede no longer fixated on appearances after what just happened. There was no excuse, if Karell allowed her supporters to die just to smear Kaede's reputation, then she was not fit to be the ruler. Morbidly enough, it also meant that there was no more need for these supporters. Kaede could do away with trying to save them and focus on what she came here to do.
No... At first it was just a duel, Kaede meant to leave her alive afterwards. But now she wanted nothing but to kill her. She regrets that people had to die for her to make up her mind, she regrets that she couldn't have killed Karell before those mines were activated. It was in line with her arrival, someone was aiming for her. It was either Karell or someone else, but Kaede would stop being so naive.
Of course it was Karell. Even if it wasn't, cutting her down would prevent something similar from happening in the future. No more words were exchanged since Kaede's announcement. Without a single sound, she made full use of her body, the environment and her first skill, accelerating to her maximum speed. This was the first time entering battle felt so effortless, her mind felt cool like snow but her chest felt burning hot like a volcano.
The environment rushes past her, turning into an unrecognisable blur. No, that wouldn't be right, she recognises it, she's fully aware of her entire vicinity. All the flesh and body that litters the ground next to her, she can't simply ignore such a grotesque scene. So her heart continues to tremble, even with composure her mind trembles.
Her entire body is in sync with itself, with fluid motion she struck straight at Karell's forehead with her rapier. A quick finish by piercing through the brain would finish any magical girl, because they are such regenerative monsters, battles between magical girls had to become this gory and disgusting. If only they died normally like humans, there wouldn't be such abnormal thoughts like 'pierce through the head to do a quick job'.
*Ping*
A high screech resounds across the stage, her rapier struck squarely at the tip of a staff... A long magic wand. The impact transmits through it and into Karell's body, crushing her into the ground as if the earth was trying to swallow her.