*
With composed footsteps, she returns to the table with the rest. The roof and surrounding walls are now gone because of all the destruction, but someone must have protected or reconstructed the meeting table. Triney would be adept at such a job, conjuring the table before anyone could even realise it was back.
She sat back down on her chair after bowing to the rest as a greeting, she then turn to face the remaining individuals who were fighting the stronger captain level demons. The small fry had vanished before anyone noticed, likely due to the intervention of some S grade who was sitting here.
An A grade ranges from 100 000 to 1 000 000 times human ability in stats, it has the largest range within the brackets of the grading system... Well, the gap between S and SS is immeasurable, it's questionable if that is even a range if it cannot even be perceived by A grades and lower. It is only those at the frontier of S grade who can conceptualise infinity and attempt to reach it. It's more of a starting line than anything, the final starting line.
Barius and Neli were just as quick as Kaede and finished only a few seconds later. They were using as little energy as possible, so they were actually calculating the best way to kill their opponent while dodging attacks. Karell beat hers to death with her magic staff with a spacial blade attached to it, it sort of turned into a war axe instead. They returned to the table promptly as they didn't want to keep the others waiting, it was ane asy test of strength, then the test wasn't one of brute force but of magic talent.
A skill's effect may be simple or restrictive. For example, Kaori's first skill only changes gradients, that is the best way to put the phenomena she exerts into 2 words, changed gradient. How she uses that to her advantage in battle was what they were accessing, what it can achieve and the potential of her power as well.
Some of the S grades such as HuoLi had existed for ages, her origin and birthdate was not traceable in the slightest. One can infer that she came from a society long extinct, someone could take a blood test and verify it with modern races to see if she was the ancestor of any modern race, but she wouldn't give her blood willy-nilly.
As such... One could say that HuoLi had reached the height of her own power. How she is now is the strongest that she has ever been. Myuu didn't manage to kill her, but what she did was still an impressive feat. HuoLi would know best whether one has reached their full potential. But even without that... One easy way to tell us whether one has unlocked their final skill.
The third and final skill of a magical girl, one could say it is the very peak itself, the highest height of a magical girl's existence. It is full potential itself, and Kaori hasn't unlocked it. Meaning that she hasn't utilised her skills to the fullest either, as achieving full potential of the first 2 skills is what's required to unlock the last.
Kaede thought that she had to patiently wait for the rest to finish up, but some of the commanders were struggling. After a bit of time, it was enough for someone to lose their patience, the demons that were there immediately imploded, leaving not a single trace. At the other end of the table, HuoLi's arm was outstretched. Her arm had moved before anyone even realised.
'That's clearly not her full strength.' ('Kaori')
Grail observed her surroundings, no one has found out yet. After all, she was acting out Kaori to the same proficiency that Kaede did. To think... Kaede hasn't achieved much prowess despite the clear time advantage. This is bad, Gail's sense of self is still weak. She can be likened to an undeveloped artificial intelligence, one with rudimentary functions. After all she is but an ego and not the real Myuu, she possesses memories of Myuu and bases her personality off of that, in other words, an imitation.
If a mere imitation can do a job as well as Kaede... Grail herself felt that things aren't going well. It almost seemed as if she had developed her own personality faster than Kaede did, despite being holed up inside Kaede all along. Whenever there was nothing happening, she would review Myuu's memories of the past to try to gain more information. That was all she could do to find an advantage for their joint lives.
Myuu... Was a follower. She lost her mother and relied on Kaori as an emotional crutch. It wasn't healthy, Grail recognised that... No, Myuu did as well. But she was still afraid, afraid that if Kaori vanished then her reason for living would be gone too. It was only a small portion of Myuu that believed in that, but she did believe it. The rest of it was her own ego, her pride that allowed her to live.
***
"... Hey, this sounds absurd, but... Can you save my mom? My own skill only revives plants... If I try to bring my mother back, it will be a plant imitation... But you... Maybe you can do it..." (Myuu)
".... It's been a month, isn't it a little late? We've even cremated her body, we're too far gone to look for a safe resurrection method. " (Kaori)
Bringing the dead back to life... They were many such legends of this that spread throughout human history. It has always been an inherent desire that was passed down from generation to generation, the desire to see their loved ones again... Every generation, every person will witness the arrival and parting of others. As if they were passing down a torch... A heavy torch that will bring despair and joy.
Taking account into these legends, they could have been the abilities of magical girls of old, and were thus covered up as myths that had no veracity. Thus, when magic was introduced there was some possibility of revival... Kaori hadn't met her parents once after The Great Disaster, Myuu wondered how she felt about that, but she thought Kaori could use such experiences to help her instead...
But common sense dictated that it was impossible anyway. There weren't even any rumours of someone with resurrection magic, there was completely nothing. Not even a speck of exaggeration. Then... Maybe Kaori could do it?
She was immediately turned down, the weight of reality crushed her once more. But...
"Haa~ I get it, I get it. I won't say I could do it immediately, but one day. Perhaps one day I'll do it, I'll save your mother...
Even though she's not a magical girl..." (Kaori)
Myuu ignored that last whisper and looked at her with bright eyes.
" Mhmm. I think I can do my best now." (Myuu).
Yeah, it wasn't healthy in the slightest. A relationship built on complete fantasy and dreams, she allowed Kaede to live not because of anything lofty like love, but because she believed that Kaori would revive her mother... Everything that Myuu did, it could be summed up like that... But... Grail hated it. A calculating and transactional relationship like that, she would never accept it. If so... Then... She would play her ideal version of Myuu. One that never held back no matter what, one that would blatantly bring all of Kaede's faults to the surface to show her how ugly she is.
***
"... Let's get straight to it. Our job is to claw apart a path to their king, whoever arrives at the end will do the final job. For that... Every single one of us has to be able to kill the king. Those of us who failed to kill the demon captain in the time limit that I gave... They will be the first to be left behind to distract the demon country's military forces. " (HuoLi, NorthEast)
In other words, the further they got in, the smaller their own forces would be as more will be left behind to let the others advance deeper. Optimistically, no one would be sacrificed this way. The weak are left at the entrance to fight off weak security, the strong will be left inside to fight off stronger security. The strongest will reach the heart of the castle and slay the king. Human forces if banned together could employ this strategy of minimal loss...
A crucial fact escapes all of them.
"Alright, at today midnight the operation will start." (HuoLi)
Her cold words struck into the minds of those who failed today. She employed the strategy that made the most sense, but it looks at their entire elite force as nothing but resources to spend in a dungeon crawler game. If those who were weak to the captain level demons chose to stray from the plan, they would be running deeper into demon territory, and they would be encountering stronger demons. They could chose to fulfill their part of the plan or face greater danger by following the others in the assault.
In other words, they are forced to pick between their pride or their safety. If they were rational, they would pick safety. After all, they would still be contributing to the plan by fighting off the weaker security on the outer side of the demon country. The sun gradually fades into the night. Some demons might be stronger in the night, maybe it was human hubris to pick such a disadvantageous timing, maybe their strength attests to their ability.
The soft wet grass is crushed under their body's weight as a large group of individuals traverse in the night. There were blinding embers in the distance, those were the warlord and demon king's clones who still went at it even in the night. They moved at speeds so quick that they set the air on fire around them, their bodies and aura glowed in tandem, flashing anything in their vicinity.
What a terrifying sight, it was as if they've constructed a different world of their own. It was the very embodiment of efficiency, every move they made dealt damage to the other party, every move had meaning to it. Even if it was simply positional, controlling the enemy's trajectory to set up a future attack.
"Uwah..." (Sufia, East)
She leaked out a sigh of exasperation, her eyes widened at the estranged view that painted incomprehensible ideas into reality. The existence of magic was already a step away from common sense, for an S grade to be captivated by something further out of our reach... Strangely, it seemed a little familiar to Kaede. She turned to look at Barius. This was the perfection that she may have been seeking for, one that cut down the excess in favour for inhumane efficiency.
Barius felt Kaede's gaze from that short distance away, she turned to flash a smile. An odd premonition struck her at that moment. Why did the smile of a trusted companion feel so ominous? Was it because she didn't usually smile at all? Was this the first time that Kaede gazed upon it? No... Kaori's memories of past instances should have transferred to her...
Perhaps it was only now that the reality began to set in. For humans, their world was ideally one dominated by humans. No matter what, they wanted to always be superior to every other living being. Even other humans. For people, the demons threatening their hegemony is the same as them threatening their world. She was feeling the weight of such a world and its expectations on her shoulders.
But what the hell could she do about it? A war between species like this... It would only continue to intensify and accelerate until one species crashed and burned in their own ambitions. It sure as hell wouldn't be hers, if she simply wiped out all of them... Then nasty premonition or not, they would no longer concern her. As long as she eliminated all her enemies, all of her problems would go away.
After the demonstration by Grail, her body was returned. She could still the faint sensations and adrenaline flow of the battle that Grail went through. After all, she could feel every gradient in her vicinity. Even that of her blood's speed and pressure.
They advanced further into the demonic territory. Why did they have to leave behind comrades here and rush to slay the king? She reasoned that it was because the Grundo Alliance Warlord was not going to hold on any longer. The war between the clones was reaching an imminent end. In other words, they were running on a timer this entire time. Ever since the war started.