*
Right after leaving the village, they set off towards the demonic country. At that moment, they shared the single goal of killing the Demon King.
"Hey, shouldn't we bring Neli. She's also a candidate... " (Kaede)
"... I've informed the Order of our movements. They would likely set off on their expedition soon. Being endorsed by the order, Neli would have Frey backing her which is far more than what we have already, so there's no point worrying for her." (Barius)
"... Sucks for her. Frey will take the chance from under her nose and steal the Demon King's head. " (Kaede)
It seemed like the last few incidents had caused Kaede to be a little battle hungry. Barius almost couldn't blame her, being unable to fulfill the role of a magical girl and allowing innocents to die was basically the same as losing the meaning of their existence for many magical girls.
While magical girls generally don't think much about their newfound immortality and how it challenged the value of their lives, they still subconsciously seek to live like normal human beings and attribute a 'purpose' to their transformations. Perhaps they wanted to be a hero, a good person, a saviour, a good samaritan. In a sweet way, they become the embodiment of the opposite of humanity. While humankind generally thrived on greed, these girls thrived on charity.
The magical girl license acquiring education... It ends up becoming more of a timer that gave them extra time to find the meaning in their lives. And if they couldn't find any other purpose they wanted to fulfill, they can be simple border guards for their country, The Sanctuary. It emulated school life, akin to how normal youths in society would go for mandatory education and decide their career on the way to the end of their educational journey.
Most magical girls end up meeting a barrier, whether it'd be their peers or some external force getting in the way of their magical girl duties. Usually they are killed off by another magical girl or some monster, their mortality rate is absurdly high for beings that boast being immortal. These frequent deaths simulate a lifespan for the general population of magical girls. As such, their purposes and ambitions are still incredibly significant to them, in fact they might cling even more longingly to them than normal human beings.
At the same time, Barius couldn't excuse Kaori's current weakness. There was no doubt now, Kaori was definitely different than last time, as if the amount of strength she presently had decided her personality at any point in time. Her strength is different and her general disposition adjusted accordingly.
"So the first destination should be the demon border right?" (Karell)
"Correct. The demons claimed what little territory they gained over the humans as theirs, so the naming convention for the battle front stuck as the name of their country's border, Xulphrae." (Barius)
Confirming the information before the mission was important. They had a little more idle chatter before reaching Grundo Alliance territory. With their minimum B grade speeds, travel time was over a few hours. It wasn't long before they caught a glimpse of the border, it truly looked like the very depiction of hell. There was no end to the number of corpses, they formed a literal line of piling dead bodies of the same 2 individuals. The Demon King, and the magical girl war lord, 1st warlord Jaya Siddragonour.
The war betrayed the common sense of armed conflict, with the common rabble and canon fodder being the respective leaders of each side as a war fought with clones. It seemed that both sides were creating clones that were material in nature, as they seemed to leave corpses to paint a morbid and surreal scene upon the land. Even as they simply admired the scenery, there was nonstop shedding of blood, screams and sorcery.
Even as accustomed as they are to the sight of blood, Barius and Karell were having trouble maintaining their composure. It felt like their stomachs were being stirred constantly, threatening the release of their bodily fluids. Even with as much as the amount of destruction that they have personally caused and witnessed, nothing paled in comparison to the sheer loss of life that was carried out in front of them. Kaede was the only one who was reacting any differently, staring at the sight in front of them in silence.
"..." (Kaede)
At the very least, she was frowning in front of this grotesque atrocity. Body parts flew off and blood splattered around more than how water was plenty in the ocean. Perhaps she wasn't actually taking in all of the sight in front of her, her mind had wandered someplace else. She was curious, she wanted to know the scenery beyond the eyes of the 2 most enraptured in this war. Just what did the Demon King and Jaya see? What was worth dying so many times for?
Was every single clone controlled by the same set of consciousness? Or were they shortlived instances that emulated the original? There were as many deaths as there are stars in the sky, counting them had become futile. If lives were to be thrown like how the rain liberally released water, did they have anymore value to them considering how there are plenty of replacements around? The 2 in question must think otherwise or simply saw that the war was more important to them than their lives. It was a deep and ugly atrocity that simultaneously repeated all around the demon border.
However the fact that it was necessary to send reinforcements from the human side... Meant that the Demon King had already gained an edge over the Warlord. Jaya, she inherited the title of the first warlord for the honorary achievement of single handedly holding back the Demon King's advancement and was officially recognised as the strongest magical girl in the Grundo alliance. After this war, it was impossible for anyone else to question her superiority.
Kaede felt powerless in front of this ugly machination that reigned supreme around the surrounding area, the pressure from the numerous fights between the Warlord and the Demon King had built a lethal high pressure environment that was dangerous even to magical girls. These Demon Kings were far stronger than the one that she encountered, sure they were all A grade but there was a larger difference in power between the top and bottom of each subsequent grade. She had fought a weakened foe by borrowing all the strength of her allies... In a 1 vs 1 she would stand no chance...
Barius gazed worryingly at her back. Kaori's weakness was throwing her off. If at this point...
"Oi. What are you staring at? Let's go, it's a little in the danger zone but I've booked a hotel for us to rest at. Magical girls get to stay for free." (Karell)
Her usual rough tone of voice woke her up. No matter how much the world changed, Kaede was always able to meet such brilliant shining individuals like her. In any possible situation, they would merely paint their own light over the surroundings and carry on as if what they saw was nothing significant, they saw tiny specks not worth mentioning in the grand scheme of their lives. She had mixed feelings considering she still thought of Karell as a mass murderer, at the same time she had conflicting feelings that forced the truth of it upon her, she had equal responsibility in that disaster.
Then... How should she deal with these feelings...? Karell seemed to be completely fine, she was ostensibly fickle yet she treated the incident as if it was a whimsical matter that no longer had any importance. Should Kaede do the same? What happens after she's done with this incident...? How would she... Save them? Yes, in the end she treated all of those lost lives as a debt. Every single life she was unable to save since her awakening... No, even before that when Kaori was still in control... Every life she couldn't save, it would be a debt.
That is why, she saw a glimpse of it for the first time. A tiny crack bursting with light in the deep foggy darkness. A path to take... To save Myuu and Paridia. A purpose was very valuable for a magical girl. Looking back on her memories, she realised something very important. After coming across Karell who had such horrible experiences, she realised that it was really fortunate that Kaori had so many good memories. Despite everything that went on right after The Great Disaster, Kaori had numerous happy memories, fond interactions and valuable connections.
She took these positive experiences for granted and expected it from the start. She only had the artificial memories of Kaori, since all of it was in third person she wouldn't be aware of any deeply contained anguish that Kaori had, and would observe only from a shallow and superficial positive outlook as a result. It wasn't as if she thought Kaori couldn't feel sadness and never met any setbacks, there were plenty of those, she was simply naive about it from the start.
After a brief period of walking, they arrived at their hotel rooms. Taking the chance to make use of this free lodging, each of them had rented a room of their own. Kaede landed over the soft sheets of her feather mattress, endulging in their softness. She exhaled deeply as her thoughts organised themselves. They have a long journey ahead of them, now wasn't the time to get exhausted.
She could hear her soft breaths calming down further, her chest heaving up and down with less intensity, her fingers relaxed as she gazed at the texture of the ceiling. She decided to take up on Karell's offer and relaxed for a bit, but she knew she was still a little out of it.
... What baggage! At the very least, she should stop letting her feelings of inadequacy get mixed up into a mission. She got off the bed and began stretching her muscles to free up the strain, she could feel the strength usage gradually building up heat inside her flesh.
"Fuh~ all this rest is making my head go mopey, I'll spend it training then." (Kaede)
She exited her room, only to meet Barius standing right outside. The sight of her supportive companion riled up her heart, she was strong, stronger than any other ally she could possibly have. She was the perfect yardstick right now, Kaede wanted to test how far she has gotten. A single nod from Barius was all it took to seal the deal. With that, they promptly left the hotel to find an open space that could accommodate their destructiveness.
The sky seemed oddly saturated, painting streaks of corn gold across the air, despite the metallic stench of blood filling the entire atmosphere around this region, the mood wasn't dampened. Her body was warmed up enough from the stretches, her mind sharpened to the point that most of such environmental factors would no longer affect her. Her heart beat faster as she readied her magic, flaring up her aura. The familiat feeling of magic coursing through her body truely refreshed her.
Barius responded in kind, it was as if her refined mannerisms affected the air itself as it painted the image of elegance whenever she moved. Kaede could feel the pressure of her aura from a distance away, she started off with an enhancement to her body before closing the distance. Her surroundings rush past her vision in a blur, she readies her fist, her fingers tighten and the tension in her knuckles increase.
She must get stronger. Right now, the shortest path to strength... Is to trace Kaori's path.
"Magia retainment 10%" (Kaede)
She pulls of a sudden acceleration in the middle of her rush with that technique, knocking back the air behind her in a thunderous clap. Her body felt weightless under her momentum, but she felt she could become 'even more weightless'. It wasn't good to expend more of her magic, if she used Magia retainment 10% she would lose 10% of her magic after turning off the technique. If she used Fully Retained Magia, she would lose 100%. There was always a cost to it, and expending an especially large amount would be a bad idea in this war zone.
She utilises all of her strength and throws it in a single motion, she had been relying too much on her rapier and thought she needed to diversify... At least by making more use of her fist in her fights. Her magic enhanced her entire body, she was practically a living weapon so she needed to make better use of her magic by utilising her entire body more.
She lands a punch which Barius swiftly catches, while her other arm materialises a void sword under that crossfire. She swings it, but her movement slows to a halt.