*
"Sanctuary has 3 heroes. Ruby, Wizard and Sease. They are being accommodated at this time, after all their job is to be simple executioners. Ours is to discuss further plans of our assault. " (Rei, West)
"... Let's leave that drivel alone for now and go on with the main course. The demon army's corps, do you have any information on that with more depth? They should have one right? An organised structure. " (HuoLi, NorthWest)
Rei turned her gaze to Huo Li before giving a reply. But Huo Li could already tell the answer based on her expression. She nods anyway to get the conversation moving.
" As expected, the Demon King's presence promptly shut that down. The only information we could get was the most vital anyway, the presence of the 16 Demonic heavenly kings. We can safely assume their foot soldiers are B or A grades. They're unreasonably strong, even rank and file could threaten a human city. That's the state of their forces.
We couldn't get any Intel on their infrastructure... Their most fearsome trait would have to be the amalgamation of that power they possess and the organisation that they've built. They are not mere bandits or pirates, they are a well prepared military force that could challenge the entire human race. We can not take them lightly. " (Rei, West)
That last sentence was directed towards the other S grades. S grades were mostly completely unchallenged individuals since the God magical girls so not leave their den much. That meant that during peacetime, the S grades were actually the strongest in the world. In the next moment, multiple auras flared up at the table.
"Uaaah?! What hell is going on here?!" (Karell)
She was a carefree as ever, was the thought that popped into Kaede's mind. We're they about to really fight in this official setting? Well, the stronger you get the more eccentric you are, she supposed. Her thoughts wandered for a few seconds, but nothing happened. Then she decided to lit her aura up a little as well.
"I see... You guys are insane for doing it earlier than me..." (Kaede)
"... Haha... You're only at B grade? Well, it seems you'll catch up to us very soon." (Titania, NorthEast)
"Haa...?! You've gotta be joking, seriously? A B grade is sharing the table with us..." (Sufia, East)
"... Don't be so detached with the lower class..." (Miwa, SouthEast)
"Eh...? Eh...?! What's going on?! How come Kaorrin already got it?! " (Karell)
"... The 3 we haven't seen before, we face the ArcMaidens 1v1 back then but since there were only 5 of us... " (Barius)
Dismissing the lone panicked voice in this entire room, Barius whispered into Kaede's back as if it was natural, Kaede involuntarily shivered as her breath brushed her neck.
" Ugu! " (Kaede)
A small yelp escaped her lips, everyone in the room was a monstrous level magical girl that could decimate cities with a single spell, there was no way nobody heard that. The endurance stat not only made one more physically resistant by imbuing flesh with energy... It also enhanced their senses. A blush crept over her cheeks which Kaori tried to desperately hide with a loud voice.
"They're coming!!!" (Kaede)
Everyone's auras had flared up as a beacon to signify the enemy was getting close. The S grades did not need any words to convey this to each other, the commanders were more used to this kind of protocol, their military tactics sometimes used aura as signals to communicate with each other. Another generic technique available to everyone that has to be practiced and trained, aura signalling.
Other than the Oblivion Magia and echolocating magic sonar, with a high proficiency of aura signalling, it could achieve faster effects than walk talkies. This was considering that radio waves are slower and easier to intercept than magical particles. It can also be used to disrupt the magic waves of others, impeding their signalling and radar scouting. Well the only way to disrupt an Oblivion Magia is to counter it with your own, using aura signalling would be like shooting a high pressure water jet cutter into the sea.
Grail whispered into her soul, a conversation between egoes was too miniscule even for S grades to detect, especially within the dense confines of Kaede's physical mind, camouflaged by her will stat or magic defence augmentation.
"Hey, why not cease your body to me. I've grown tired of waiting, so I'll do it. An imitation of Kaori, one that is far more accurate than what you have achieved so far." (Grail)
"... Why should I hand over this body? You may have Myuu's memories... But you are like me, an altogether different entity. It is difficult for beings like us to empathise and find meaning, what good would it do now for me to watch your demonstration?" (Kaede)
"... Tch, you're strangely stubborn when it comes to your body huh? Is it because I've abandoned my mission? Or that I attacked you by materialising in that world of memories? " (Grail)
" No... Really... There's no time, tell me, what would I gain from any of this? " (Kaede)
" You'll find strength. " (Grail)
The ceiling vaporised, not even leaving any dust behind. There wasn't a single trace of the composure present a few seconds ago, everyone had become alerted. Even Karell was able to feel the atmosphere and got tense. It was an enemy attack, an ambush. This was behind the front lines, a group of the Demon King clones or Demon army must have broke. Through the warlord.
"This will be a little taste of what's to come, Barius will be fine, but will you catch up? Kaori." (Kanou)
She was like an adult figure to Kaori when she had just entered the labyrinth. Starting out by tricking her into thinking Kanou was a mere tour guide, she tagged along with Friedra under cooperative disguise, Friedra knew about it and worked with her to bring about that misunderstanding, all so they could lower the new magical girl's guard and ask about their true intentions.
If she had bragged about doing evil deeds to Kanou, she would have been killed on the spot. There was no mercy or capacity for it in the time period right after The Great Disaster. But like a good kid, she stayed meek instead showing her a somewhat decent upbringing. If she feared the law that much that she would be meek in front of a tour guide, then there wouldn't be much to worry about. Subsequently, Kanou asks her about her aspiring dreams...
Even though she had been through a lot right after The Great Disaster, she held onto one ambition that brightened Kanou's heart. That was enough. Well after that, Kanou was more like a guardian to her since she could no longer contact her parents. This was like advice from a teacher, a small fruit of wisdom borne for her. Barius must have trained a lot under her whole Kaori was seperated from her for that 3 months.
But something like this... Grail understood what to do. A charming smile spreads across her cheeks, revealing her white teeth. It was a smirk, as if she was picking a fight.
" Of course I will." ('Kaori')
It was an assault by a pack of Demon Kings and a few random monsters. The monsters were serving as a buffer while the Demon King's combined their powers. No one wanted to use too much magic as they were saving it for the assault, so most of them opted to fight physically. 'Kaori' stepped forward to join the fray with the rest. While the human side was stronger here individually, the Demon side had numbers.
It was akin to a small scale war with multiple simultaneous skirmishes. Without wasting a moment, Kaori vanished from the spot, she arrived right in front of a demon with her rapier swung close to its neck.
'Tch, you were drowning in strength, yet you could only bring out so little? What the hell.' (Grail)
Her thoughts trailed in the darkness, reaching nobody in particular. She reflected on it a bit and she realised she was doing the same. She found it, the issue. It was there all along, right under her nose. She had assumed a myriad of other problems were plaguing Kaede's mental state, but the biggest was staring at her right in the face. The rapier sliced through flesh effortlessly as if part of a performative dance rather than a pragmatic execution.
Due to the nature of her blade, it easily isolated any foreign material from itself. A quick flick of her wrist was enough to dispose of the blood coating its edge.
She hopped away from her spot, avoiding a large cleaver that busted the ground that she was standing on. Cracks spread through the ground faster than sound, the explosive force of the attack melting the ground around it and caused the hot air to be viscous. She pointed her blade at the ogre-like demon, it was large with bulging muscles and an insane amount of physical strengthening magic.
"A grade platoon leader, Teriux." (Ogre)
He spoke in a low growl that rumbled the air, his words came out with a slight blabberish accent as if he spoke with his mouth full, but it was his simply his vocal cord being impeded by his 2 large tusks. The tusks protruded out of his jaw, growing out of his mouth on the lower end of his jaw. Essentially, a portion of his mouth skin was replaced with the tough and rough tusk. His muscular arm wielded 2 big great swords with ease, his body sported thick metal armour like that of medieval fantasy.
A greeting calls for another in return. Well, he wouldn't be leaving this place alive anyway. Their goal was to undoubtedly disrupt their planning, meaning that very soon after... The war situation would only get worse. Then they should just hold out until the start of the operation and brute force it with an elite force. Then... She should finish it quick and join back with the rest. There was no way any individual member of this party, the Sanctuary's strongest would lose.
"King candidate, Kaori Hisugawa. Let's get this started." ('Kaori')
In less than a second later, the ogre charged with all of his strength. With a wide over head swing, he was planning to accurately bisect Kaede, who had responded by swinging her rapier at the great swords in the air. With a similarly wide swing, the rapier bends in the air as if it wasn't a solid element of reality. *Ping*, a raw screech of metal clashing against metal resounded from the forceful collision of weapons. 'Kaori' was deflecting the ogre's strength as much as possible through the bending of her posture and forcing her opponent to move in a certain way.
As a result, none of the pressure from the ogre's attack was reaching her. It looked incredibly easy as her body seemed as light as a feather for a moment, but she was actually taking advantage of their weapon types. Merely knocking the great swords away would shift their trajectory and force them to hit the ground, saving most of her own strength. There was no time, if they wanted to save humanity, she needed to be quick so she could return to the meeting.
She rushed at her opponent and used her toes to swiftly curve her running trajectory around their massive swings. The Great sword aimed to slice through her back and spine misses and strikes the ground... Twice. The moment one touches the ground, the other is raised back into the air as insurance to defend itself from attacks. When she finally twists her body to put all he strength into attack the ogre, it reinforced the toughness of its body with magic to withstand the magical girl's attack while bringing down its large muscular arm that was in waiting.
She skillfully jumped back, dodging the great sword that was used to defend itself then threw her vacuum rapier like a spear that ceaselessly tore through the air... It became a void drill bunker that kept spinning and adding momentum to itself, pinning the ogre's sword to its own body. She then rushes back in from barely out of the great sword's range, stepping on the one that has been swung down to prevent the ogre from lifting it, conjuring a second rapier in her delicate fingers.
With no form of defence left, the ogre bites forward with its jaw to seize the final rapier slash toward its neck. It sliced at the edges of its lips, but 'Kaori' wasn't worried.
"I'll take a page from your book, twice." ('Kaori')
She summoned another rapier and thrust it forward, crushing a hole into its skull and sloshing the content of its brain like smoothie. Despite being a B grade... Her strength and speed stat had reached the baseline of A grade which was far from the ability of the ogre's but was enough to put it down. She turned around, having used the optimal amount of magic to kill that small fry, she had preserved most of her reserves for the main operation, rightfully so.
The S grades were around, when she turned around, it was just some of the commanders and other king candidates who were fighting their individual opponents. The entire demon raid had vanished into thin air, with the S grades casually sitting at their large table once again.