***(?)
... What was that emotion? Or that feeling flashing through my mind like lightning? It shouldn't be anything, at least not at that level of an ego, I had once lacked such fundamental means.
How did I gain it then? You may ask. It goes back to what I first saw. I was... Grazing near the open fields at the edge of a large forest. All manners of demonic creatures had lived in those woods, laying waste and violating the sanctity of life of its many victims... But I am no different. I eat and eat, even if I was a herbivore, plant life was life nonetheless. I fail to see the need for distinguishment.
This was when I noticed it. Attracted by the sound of a rippling lake under the protection of the trees' leaves, the rustling of the leaves crushed under my foot alerted that individual. A fair maiden, cleaning herself off at the lake. I had been awestruck, the sight convinced me that I may have been captivated by a fairy, but her cold words cut me off.
"... A... Horse...? What the hell are you looking at?" (?)
Of course, at that time I wasn't able to comprehend those words. I stuck rooted to the ground, frozen on the spot. At that single moment, a miracle occurred. Something small, pearly and reflective fell from the sky, landing into the girl's palms. I am but a mere animal, all humans looked the same to me at that time, they were but mere animals. A variation to the wild forest overgrowth, but a part of it nonetheless. They were the same, the individual in front of me didn't bother covering themselves up in front of me...
Not that I could comprehend the significance of it at that time. All the same, it should have just been a random occurrence... But this single instance, this instance of a random horse 'picking up' curiosity and following it like an ingrained response... Subsequently followed by a miracle like phenomenon... That girl wished for wealth, she needed money to pay for the expenses of her little brother's treatment... At that era, medical technology was not sufficiently advanced or accessible to the poor.
These memories play out like records everytime I begin to cease functions and regulate my components... Sleeping was what you would call it. That was one of many instances, this mystical unicorn is not something that is ever seen unless invited by special circumstances. I am an amalgamation of every instance a horse peeked into a women's bath, followed by that very individual's wishes getting granted.
As such, it was impossible to ignore it. When she used my Prava Phantasia, a reflection of my mind and will onto reality, a phenomena that superimposes its own on its surroundings... How could I ignore what is essentially the buildup of my DNA? It is my destiny, my fate. She has defiled my being to draw me out while the other has stabilised every volume of space in my vicinity, I can no longer teleport out without hurting myself.
... Nevertheless, that one coincidence of a pearl necklace falling from the heavens... It had solidified this phenomena... My existence. The next time a horse meets a bathing maiden, miracles were more likely to occur, slowly... It wracked up to 100%. Everytime it has happened and will happened from now, that is what I am. I was always there, a formless being at the height of lifeforms.
Based on my own circumstances, I ascended to divinity on my own, in fact it happened as I came into definite existence. This infinite access to magic is proof of it, an SS will and well stat, such a thing could only happen to a willpower capable of holding the entire world in one's palm. Akin to the strain of holding up weight, there is variation to anyone's ability to hold up this weight. But one who can carry everything, that is what a god is, someone who could carry the entire world and thus had the authority to use the entire world.
This was a natural occurrence due to my birth, being a legend incarnate and an entity of myth.
***
"HUBRIS!!!!! THE HIGHER IT GOES THE HARDER IT DROPS!!!" (Yiren)
I've deciphered Karell's skill. While it would be formidable among the humans to have such a power... Expansion and contraction is nothing to fear for a divine being like me.
[Epic of a distant end].
***(Kaede)
"Tch, emotion manipulation? Well, we've already become intoxicated with adrenaline, his weak emotion amplification wouldn't pose much of an issue." (Kaede)
Karell continues to pummel to still figure, over and over her strikes began to ramp up in force as a larger crater forms under their feet each time. That was until Yiren vanished. No... Even before that. A blade runs through Karell with a swift thrust through the skull before her body slid along it's edge to collapse into the ground. Her spatial power lose hold over the surroundings and her Oblivion Magia splintered apart like broken glass.
Blood began to pool up at the sides of her corpse, colour drained from her skin. As much as Kaede hated the fact that she committed mass killings... She couldn't hate Karell's drive to be the human King. Humanity needed a king with that king of vigour and shamelessness, one who could mercilessly deem sinners and excise them out of the population without hesitation. One who could put their whole being into their job.
What the hell would Kaede do after winning all this time? If she became king and gained a new job... When she finally returned her body to Kaori, it would be more of a burden than not at that point. That's right, what the hell...
What am I supposed to do? No, the answer is obvious. I'm next. I'll die if I do nothing, that is not something that should ever happened... Yes, Karell got what she deserved... So why... Do I fell this hole in my heart? A hole similar to the one that formed when I watch that commander die early on. A hole that acts much like a black hole, feeding on matter until it shrunk and evaporated... And similarly... This hole was too large to evaporate into nothing... Yet too small for me to dwell on it for long.
It neither distances itself too far nor too near in my heart, boring its hatred into my soul at all times. A state of myself that I could only call incomplete, as I have never felt any more empty and lost than this. I dodged the next slash sent by the unicorn, my body creaking under its own pressure. Karell could hold out... Or maybe she was enduring her own heavy strains for my sake...
I was relaxing in the back, because I knew she was stronger... I knew she was stronger than me so if she were to lose, there would be no point for me to fight... So why... Why, why, WHY!! Why am I still fighting! What is driving this stake through my heart and leaving it there! Could it be! Could I really be this sad over Karell's death?! It makes no damn sense! I wanted her dead! She was my enemy! She killed so many others! This was her retribution!
I am Kaede... One day I would eventually have to answer for my sins and return this body to Kaori... As such it was best to forge as little bonds as possible, once I return to my original body, we'll return back to nothing but strangers anyway. Isn't this better for me? By every metric except for battle, isn't this the best thing that has happened during this trip?
I carefully dodge his slashes, and by watching out for sudden changes in gradients, preemptively dodge his illusion veiled ambushes that Karell fell to. Slowly I was getting wormed out. My arms grew heavier and my thoughts dulled a second slower. Unrecoverable cuts formed over my skin, disgusting lacerations that would never again close up. Distortions in space that would only accelerate my blood loss.
His illusions aren't really illusions, if not he would have killed me while keeping them on. They are real, he had certainly disappeared instead of 'vanishing' into his concealment. For that single moment, all the information I detected was real. By using another analogy it would be far simpler. It's akin to when a vampire turns into mist, becomes impervious to physical attacks, then reforms when they're ready.
For that short period of time, what she saw was reality and the unicorn slipping into fantasy, a 'mythical mode'. He has to reform back in reality for a slight moment to attack, nevertheless it was too short for Karell to predict. But with her passive, she can detect his materialisation at any time. Even with the difference in speed grades, slowing the opponent down and enhancing her own speed has always been how Kaori had done things.
With Fully Retained Magia, her speed temporarily reaches the tip of S grade. The difference between S grades is still monumental, but she reaches a few steps closer to her opponent. Her pulse races as she predicts her opponent's next moves. Vanishing, reappearing to slash his sword, repeat. He has launched such an assault countless times now, with the difference in speed causing larger and larger wounds on her body. Sooner or later, she wouldn't even be able to trust her body to move properly anymore.
At the same time she reflected on her self, only a being as detached as an ego could carry out such an objective task, though this of course boils down to awareness. Some individuals may be more aware than others, being an ego just adds to this. She could tell her emotions were getting tempered with, but only to a small extent. What was the point of such a magic? Was it only to fit one of the unicorn's many legends?
This assumed that the emotional manipulation was the main effect, what if it was just a byproduct? The side effect of something greater in play... Yeah, she felt discomfort whenever the unicorn used this skill. This discomfort must have been that slight dissonance she just discovered. A greater effect was at play and she didn't know what it was... That's right... One of the unicorns many absurd passives... Other than having a perfectly chiseled magic that conducts magic at maximum efficiency...
It was that it lured those of great destiny, or grandiose journeys. It attracted them to their end, but the passive was merely an attraction. An end... The second skill induced the feeling or chemical steroids necessary to give an adrenaline high to its targets... Making them feel like they are approaching the end to their grand adventure... There was no way Karell couldn't feel the space behind her distort for the unicorn to attack...
That was the second skill. It induced so much battle high that it numbed Karell to her own caution and prudence, leading to that careless slip up. To be more specific, it evokes the end of a journey. A hopeless climax where the protagonist meets their end, using Karell's ambition against herself. He was a counter deliberately picked for the human King candidate. There was no other way around it... Kaori might have fallen for it too if she had been here...
But this was Kaede. Her primary goal was to find a way to return her body to Kaori. She felt empty and mournful, because she felt like she dragged everyone into this personal mission of hers, yet she let them die. She hated it, this feeling. She hated this journey, she resented it with the very depths of her soul. Why bring herself in the path of so much pain voluntarily? Why deliberately put oneself in as much danger as possible?! Why tirelessly waste away in battles of lofty meaning after surviving certain death! Why couldn't she just retire and enjoy her well earned peace!
This was one of the many differences between magical girls and normal people. A condition so abstract and unverifiable. Easily falsified too. A magical girl would never go on the path of peace. They yearn for blood or to protect it. Repeated as it is, this dissatisfaction with the status quo is why their mortality rates are so high. They are the ones most willing to change themselves and their surroundings to get what the want.
***(Yiren)
High synchronisity with the apostle of greed...? Of course, it's back to their roots with this one, no wonder they haven't stopped. It's a given that this one is far greedier than any other magical girl in the vicinity. The soul feels misaligned for a while now, but it looks like the body is dyeing its own colour over it.
If I kill this one, maybe the apostle will finally show itself. The God magical girls are out of the picture at the moment, all due to their own battles. The apostle will be gutsy with this one and certainly appear after she dies.
This is why my passive exists, why my skills exist, and perhaps my existence to. A collection of myths can't come to life on its own. It must be due to her wish... The wish that resonates most with me right now in the many years of my legend's existence.