*
Anti magic was incredibly rare unless someone like the Demon King decided to mass produce it and spread it over his castle's entrance. However there was no precedent for this much antimagic to gather in a single place, no precedent for a continent's worth of coating to converge into one concentrated point.
As a result, a familiar phenomena occurred. Akin to how the primordial soup of earth formed amino acids, then proteins and finally living thing, magical particles formed magic circuits, which then form magic systems that are connected to the biology of creatures or a pseudo creature created by magic circuits. It meant that both the corpses of the living and non organic material can become part of a monster as long as the conditions are ripe. These are monsters, they are semi-spiritual beings or semi corporeal as a large component of their being is made of magical particles, which do not occupy physical space.
There are full spirits. There are non-spirits like the 'normal' humans and animals. Then there is an inbetween similar to monsters, magical girls. As humans have evolved over a long period of time, there was no denying that their bodies adapted to the magical particle rich environment, but seem to find no use for it. It was a recessive gene that only activated in time of need. For guys, it was in their Y-gene, the transformation changes it into an X through the use magical particles. For girls, it's in either of their X-genes, making it more likely for girls to become magical girls than guys.
Now then, what about the being created by antimagic? With antimagic circuits and an antimagic system tied intrinsically to their biology, what manner of sentience has been formed?
Name: Euclidia Aevilli
Title: Your journey stops here, for the fate of demonkind. (Ancient newly ressurected anthropomorphic Demon God, collective will of demonkind and Demon castle, Aevilli)
Magical girl effectiveness level: SS
Perimeters:
- Physical: S
- endurance: SS
- speed: S
- will: SS
- well: SS
When the antimagic stopped attacking the barrier as it coalesced into a single spot with all the surrounding matter in the area and the toxin membrane, for a moment the world turned dark and when the light returned from the sun's embrace that bounced off the full moon, it revealed a lone feminine silhouette in the center of the chaos.
In front of the operation squad who was now standing on air... Or a solidified air created by one of the magical girls, the silence of their vicinity was strangling, as if their ears stopped working. There was no wind nor water running, and no more motion. Everything had gone into an abrupt silence, as if all living things in the surrounding area had died.
The ground was an enormous crater that could encapsulate an entire city, leaving the Demon King's castle and the new figure afloat. Stood between them and the castle was a single floating girl covered by a large robe with a hood. Poking through the hood were her horns, while Kaori had a horn like Stick in the past, this person was undoubtedly not human. After all, they were just born.
There was no gestation period like a normal living being that was this large. Humans couldn't go through binary fission normally. Her eyes were sharp, trained onto the group, staring at them like prey. She had a divine presence and charisma that came with the unknown that she exuded. She was just born, they didn't know her abilities. Such a being would naturally draw fear in those around them, as if nature had been violently violated, an unnatural being stood in front of them. Then that fear gave birth to charisma and an overwhelming presence.
Well, the process was a natural reaction of antimagic based physics, but this was still unnatural to them. Lastly, there was her title. Perhaps the universe chose her name, but the title... It was simply a message for whoever reads her stats. This was the time when their strategy was the most effective.
"... Kaede lead the others and go, you've found it right? The entrance." (HuoLi)
She spoke in a cold and succinct voice. At that moment, efficiency was the only thing left lingering in her mind. How best to defeat the enemy and what will happen next. She could calmly leave it to the heroes to kill the demon king, but she needs Kaede alive to lead them there so Sease can save her energy. Kaede has proven her worth, being vital this far into the game. Now, all that's left is to fight this opponent.
"... Yeah, luckily it's not on this wall, it's hidden somewhere nearby. We don't have to run into that thing... We can run together. " (Kaede)
She whispered softly, hoping the enemy wouldn't hear, but it was pointless. The Hooded figure stared straight at them and kept still, as if appraising its prey. She had taken off her robe, she must have finished building her combat dress, as if assimilating what she saw in front of her. Under her new black Hooded jacket was a white shirt and black frilly skirt with chains hanging off its edges. Thick chains that would normally weigh as much as a desk.
"... And then what? Have me carry you to move faster? Just go. I have my own cards to play, I'll come back. So stop worrying. " (HuoLi)
She turned and smiled at her. This was mostly to make her go away, even if it weren't her genuine feelings, which... Of course it wouldn't be, it did its job. Kaede began to run as fast as her legs could carry her. If she stayed close, she could get intercepted... But... The entrance was underground. A nostalgic endeavour to undertake.
HuoLi could stay calm. In face of the Demon King, the Hero's stats will increase from A to S grade, making it possible for them to slay him. Not to mention the support of the 2 king candidates would be amazing. As she defeated Kanou in the capital to gain the Eye God's recognition, she naturally gain hers as well. Good luck, she wanted to voice, but Kaede was too far away now. Just what was it about her... That made HuoLi want to support her? She leaves these trivial thoughts behind as she got ready for battle.
It wouldn't be practical to have an entrance hidden on a continent sized wall, so it was simply a distraction. A type of flashy distraction that had magic mechanics that drew the attention of clairvoyants spying magic and retaliated. When Kaede scanned the underground, the true entrance was revealed to be right below the gargantuan castle wall, it spread out in both directions of front and back for a few kilometres. So they could simply dig now and enter the castle, but the unknown being could kill them while they dig.
As such, they had to run for a bit and get out of that being's sight.
"Okay!" (Kaede)
She clapped in an attempt to raise the mood.
"It's underground, about 500 km... In the earth's outer mantle" (Kaede)
"... Leave it to me. I'm more suited for this than you. [Heaven breacher] " (Karell)
The ground that the 6 of them stood on began to spin like a drill, it spun and spun with a soft humming noise before it rapidly descended into the earth.
" I'll take care of the mantle too, think of this like a short elevator break. The castle is like laced with traps and certain death. Kaede, we'll need your powerful navigation again to find the optimal path." (Karell)
They had different roles, but they had an absurd amount of faith in each other. Despite being strangers, they thought it was better to throw away any differences or ill feelings towards each other. They were reaching the final stage, the fight with the demon king. The heroes would take care of the combat, the kind candidates would take care of the navigation and support. Also, De Lan was still here in case there was anything else hidden down here. The drill was going at an amazing 10 km per second, only 50 seconds left.
"... The strongest warlord is being pushed back. We haven't seen any sight of the other factions, we might be the only ones here." (Ruby)
With time to rest, came the natural anxiety that they were wasting time. She spoke up about what they were all thinking. While they had all sat on the rapidly descending ground, their minds couldn't truly keep still.
"... Are the other factions being held back? How successful could the demons be? The humans outnumber the demons even in the number of S grades, even if the demons are slightly stronger it doesn't take away from the ability of the S grade magical girls..." (Wizard)
The lack of allies here was rather concerning, they haven't seen anyone from the other factions yet. They were still all Sanctuarians. What happened to the others? They shouldn't have been held back by the demons due to their sheer numbers.
"... I need to tell you guys something. From an informant... From another hero... Initially the humans out number the demons in S grades 40 to 16, but the Holy Kingdom of Blumford has changed allegiance to the Demon side.
With the allocation of their 12 S grade divine knights, it has now become 28 to 28. They are likely to distribute forces to all 3 fronts, the first is with us, the Sanctuary. The second is with the Grundo Alliance and their 13 warlords, though one is busy with the Demon King clones which lowers it down to 12. The last one is the Illnoia Administration, 8 out of 12 of their great generals are S grades. " (Sease)
Some of them widened their eyes while other lowered their Jaws in disbelief. Snapping out of it, Kaede quickly spoke up to prevent a dreary atmosphere from forming.
" Completely eliminating a front and gaining allies as a result... Was it a deal? Or were they somehow able to usurp their power or mind?
But it's still 28 to 28 right? 5 of us here aren't S grades, we will defeat the Demon King on our own... De Lan, they are likely to have one more individual, likely a divine knight on standby. When it comes to a battle, you shouldn't hesitate. Let's win, for humanity. " (Kaede)
" Well said. " (Ruby)
The Ruby hero raised a thumbs up in response, and Kaede raised back a smile.
"... Wouldn't it be 29 to 28? There was that one being that was just born a minute ago.... Since we're missing HuoLi now, technically speaking we have 1 less... " (De Lan)
"... Wouldn't that fall to you to fight both of them?" (Karell)
A few chuckles leaked out as she spoke. It was time. Piercing through the magical gate, which they assume had an elevator installed somewhere on this continent, the colours of their surroundings distorted. It was as if someone had painted over reality as colours collided and combined continuously until a complete painting was formed.
Pillars of intrigrate engravings similar to the architecture of the greeks dotted the space, connecting a ceiling and floor of pure white. Beyond the ceiling was a bright blue sky which illuminated vibrant green grass that filled the land as far as their eyes could see. It was the opposite from the industrial wasteland that they saw outside the castle, with nothing but coarse dirt and cracked dry land.
The engravings on the pillars spiralled, forming double helixes over its side, causing each pillar to look ostensibly sophisticated. The ground and ceiling were a plane white continuous texture, there weren't any tiles or marks that suggested it was unnatural, as if the material itself had emerged from the ground and was born from nature. On one end of this clean looking corridor was the gate that they had arrived from. On the other, was the final room.
Naturally, they ran forward at full speed. Even if the warlord was being pushed back at this moment, the human side should have been consolidating their magical girl forces behind the frontlines to prepare for the event that a breach was formed in the frontlines. Speaking realistically, this was the fastest they could go. Her surroundings vanished into a flurry of trails of white mirages, her body was taking her to the absolute limit of her speed.
"...?! This corridor... It's as long as the castle... " (Kaede)
" What...?" (De Lan)
She craned her neck back to stare at her in disbelief, leading to a loud impact to reverberate at point blank distance. Her figure vanished with the appearance of smoke that filled their vision.
"DE LAN!!!" (Kaede)
"... It's not your fault, look carefully and continue to run...
It was the work of an enemy. We have to continue the strategy by ignoring them and advancing forward." (Wizard)
She sped up ahead, leaving Kaede behind. Kaede's speed was now slow due to her hesitation, should she fall back to support De Lan? Or should she keep going forward, so the others have a higher chance of killing the Demon King?
"... GO! I'LL TAKE CARE OF THIS DEMON!!!" (De Lan)
With her last roar, Kaede found the determination to keep running forward without ever looking back. Her adrenaline shot into her mind in a rapid spree for the end point of this corridor.
"... Tch, it's not even in front of us... From the start we might have been trapped..." (Kaede)