*
Her breath quickened as she struggled to take in the sight before her. A large amount of magic was swelling up behind her. She only had 25 seconds of her Magia Retainment left. She failed. Perhaps he could indefinitely activate his revival skill even after death, making all of her efforts meaningless.
***(?)
The lustre of dawn occupies the sky in a tangy orange, dashes of greyish blue dot the sky like paint splotches. The scent of wild and grow greenery intertwined to form a deluge in the surrounding air. A porcelain cup of hot water in hand, I sat at the deck of my house, swinging my legs in rhythmic motion.
Grandpa was asleep. He was getting sick a lot this couple years, but recently he got slightly better. My thoughts chimed back and forth like a pendulum as it wandered about the crop filled fields sat in front of me. What will we have for breakfast later? What will we have for dinner? Where should I procure this? How much of that should I do today?
They were trivial thoughts, indicative of the serene peace of my life. I cherish this sight, it feels my gut with a sweet overflowing warmth. It let's me look forward to the day without worrying about any of my usual troubles. It clears away my morning fatigue and energises me. I knew all of that, yet I threw away this sight.
That's right... Those moments of idle leisure, stimulating flavour, exhilarating wind... It's all been replaced by this dull tiresome violence. I... Want to go back home.
A short distance away, the vicious scraping of metal on flesh rings out all the more vigorously, tearing through flesh after flesh like a ravenous wolf.
Ignoring these terrifying sounds behind me, a new scenery shifts into my field of vision, as if there was an elevator carrying an entire stage up from the ground. Ah, there they are, it was the usual sight.
Aunt Tenia who carries and sells her vegetables, uncle Moa who works a fisherman carrying his fishing rod and tackle box in each hand. Little Geni who loves to play around here, Gramps Julier who had retired into a small hut in this street. Lastly, there was Alesha, her one and only friend around her age. For the most part, she was her only friend. The village was as lively as ever that morning. It had a shoddy dirt path to the nearby lake, followed by large fields of crops. I was currently walking in the main street, it was the place closest to a 'centre' in our village.
Our huts were made of wooden planks and other organic material, the only component that was remotely modern was the hardened clay mixture made by our fellow villagers. We worked together to construct a foundation of that clay, most of the villagers come by to check out or help with the progress. She was brought here against her will, but it didn't seem all that bad at first.
She lost her parents in the city, they were done in by a drunk driver who t-boned their car so hard that it resulted in instant death. Due to the trauma of vehicles, it was decided that she would move in with her grandfather who was conveniently making a living in a rural region. She trusted the others... She had a warm reception and everyone was earnestly living their humble lives in the slow country side. It was a place far away from technology and air pollution, almost as if she was in paradise.
It all slid to a crushing halt, closely bonded neighbours turned hostile and amicability became a commodity in the village. The Great Disaster... It killed slightly more than half of the population and obliterated their food security. The food silos were toppled and ruined and the water tanks were split open. Any semblance of structure of civility had flown out of the window.
As a stopgap measure, they began rationing and things got slightly better... That was when someone wealthy introduced themselves to the village... Assuring an abundance of food and water... In return for a wife. He picked Alesha. With his provision of their livelihoods, the villagers had no choice but to turn a blind eye to his domestic violence.
It gradually escalated until Alesha could no longer leave the home without shame. Her skin was battered and bruised, it had more purple than skin ton, one day she died of an extremely high fever.
On that day, Karell awakened as a magical girl. After the deed... After she had finally killed Alesha's 'husband', her hand trembled without pause under her own fervent gaze. There was nothing that could stop the trembling, nothing that could ever quell her absurdly frustrated regrets. The more she stared at the individual nobs that were her fingers, the more her vision blurred with her tears, and her fingers trembled even more.
The ridge of her nose and her eyelids scrunched towards the center, her teeth gritted together and her cheeks stretched to their limits to express her frustrations. She slammed her convulsing fingers into the ground as her tears dropped onto the back of her palms which were facing the ground. Her eyes had gone completely blurry from the deluge of tears, yet her frustration could not leave her mind.
It was a constant flood of newly concentrated regrets, washing over her mind everytime she felt like she was finally calming down. Each and everytime, a memory of her time with Alesha would surface. She was an ex-city kid, she felt like a foreigner who didn't belong when she first arrived. Everytime she looked at the adults, she looked at them in fear, as if she was seeing the drunk driver who had killed her parents.
It was only Alesha who could truly calm her down, her slightly shorter stature, her kind and mellow expressions, her occasional cheekiness... It wouldn't be strange if they had been sisters with how close they were. Just as the villagers depended on that benefactor for the food and water as a life line... Alesha was Karell's very own lifeline.
The one who had helped her settle down into village life and integrated her with the community... The one who had introduced her to everyone here and helped her get around when she wasn't familiar with the place yet... The only one who would play with her when she was lonely, the only one who would appreciate her jokes and try to understand her...
It was difficult to say the least of what happened... Her grandfather has died a couple years prior from natural causes, Alesha was the only one Karell had left... So when Alesha was gone, it was easy for her to conclude what she should do. There was no longer any reason to stay there, Uncle Moa died during The Great Disaster's rampant destruction, Aunt Tenia was the one who recommended Alesha as a wife... Young Geni died from a sickness right after The Great Disaster when medicinal supplies were low, Gramps Julier couldn't be found.
There were easily more that she once knew among the villagers, but more than half of them couldn't be contacted, and what little remained had died from disease and injuries. From a population of 2000, only 800 survived The Great Disaster. Many split off to live in the new city constructed by The Eye God, called The Sanctuary. What was left was around 600. She established strict rule with her magical girl powers and shaved it down to 400 via execution, then she slaughtered the rest during that 'idol event'.
They let Alesha die, they're inhumane. I let Alesha die, I'm inhuman. Then~? Wouldn't it be okay to kill them? Since I'm no longer human...
I don't have to abide by human laws. Those who migrated into the Sanctuary right after The Great Disaster were spared due to Alesha not having died at that time. Those who stayed after her death were those 600 that was now 0.
***
"That's right, we can't possibly go without the transformation sequence." (Yiren)
The unicorn spoke as he was submerged in a pillar of bright yellow light. It was his own aura overflowing from his pores as he begun to use more and more magic than before. He managed to revive one more time after all, right after Kaede puller her rapier out of his corpse. Previously, she had used her own aura pillar as a smoke screen to launch an attack. Obviously, Yiren was doing the same here. Kaede would not attack preemptively this time due to this fact.
"Of course." (Kaede)
Her own aura bursts into a raging ember as if in competition.
"You're getting closer!!" (Grail)
"I know. I have to. It's necessary that I do this myself, isn't it? I'm picking up a little of it, that's why now I know how important it is.
If you had given me the answer from the start, I would form a bond of pretence. Such a thing would only get in the way, but now... I think i finally understand after defeating Yiren. " (Kaede)
"... Then I'll refrain from giving anymore hints. Bust through that damn unicorn one more time, and win! " (Grail)
" Yeah! " (Kaede)
She strolls forward with her rapier in hand. 20 seconds left. She leaves the ground behind, her body's motion accelerated so far ahead that her figure vanished in an instant. She arrived behind Yiren, channeling all of her momentum into her arms from her legs, bringing down a large swing while bending her legs down. Yiren rotates swiftly to block the swing, the rapier slams roughly into his blade and splits apart due to the Yiren's sword's effect. Regardless, the force had been channeled into Yiren's arms, crushing the ground underneath his legs and causing his muscles to tear.
His muscles had been built to perfection by his passive, but what did that mean? [Pinnacle of phenotypical condition], his muscles were toned to the maximum to bring about the most possible efficiency a physical body could give, it meant that every muscle was intricately chiseled and forged to work together at every turn. Any action he conducts uses all of his muscles at once. That includes defending.
It meant that in order for substantial damage to be done, Kaede needed to launch an attack capable of destroying his entire body of muscles, to land damage on a single area. And that was what she did, she twisted her blade to launch successive attacks, each time having to regenerate her void rapier back to its original length. Each hit got softer and softer, but they were enough to tear through his shoulder muscles and force him to form an indent in the ground, through the sheer force of the resultant shock waves.
She was losing strength, but she held on despite the fatigue. Yiren swings down multiple times in the same moment, forcing her to take drastic evasive action. 15 seconds. No good, time was quickly running out. She had finally caught up to his speed as Magia Retainment: Perpetual was an accumulation of power, but it would only last for so long. It was questionable if she could put even put it to good use considering how much fatigue she had accumulated.
She took in a sharp breath with rapier in hand, there was nothing else to do now but to attack. There's nothing else she can afford to do. She swung her rapier and release it out of her hand, he slices off her right arm as she attempted to attack, he had begun to adapt to her movements. That was the beginning of many accurate predictions. She slides past him and picks herself up at the side, at the same time she conjured and launched void spears.
The spears were sliced into ribbons. She still had her Stick, a pair of void horns created by Kaori. It was used in conjunction with her own spells during battle, because back then she had trouble using multiple attacks at once... Even now, she still could only employ 1 technique at once, other than Magia Retainment: Perpetual. It looks like she must use her everything here... 10 seconds left.
Activating her Stick, a barrage of spears flew towards Yiren as she conjured a replacement arm. The arm was similar to all her other magic, an intense vacuum the 'moves' any matter apart. She leaped in, doing her utmost to dodge his sword slashes, but large gashes form all over her body as he pinpointed her trajectory. Using the propulsion technique, Magia Retainment, void arm and void spear barrages at the same time, she constantly assaulted her enemy while navigating around his attacks.
His blade pierced the air next to her head, this was it. There was no other opportunity, his defence was as tough as a fortress, he let in little to no openings. She even had to consider if this opening was a trap set up by him. But with her time limit, there was no choice but to take it. Even if it was a trap, if she was fast enough... She slipped her neck next to his blade, forcing her into close proximity while pulling back her fist.
"REIGNING DRILL CROSS PUNCH!!!" (Kaede)
"The romance of a special movie's name! EAT IT!!!!" (Grail)
The void arm spins like a drill, her body, torso and spine acts as a prop to lock her arm forward, forcing her muscles to involuntarily push her false arm ever forward. The drill reaches his cheek and begins vibrating his skin, then it tears a little, followed by a larger tear. Finally, it escalates into a jaw shattering gyroscopic force, busting through the flesh of his neck and pushing his body back. His body smashes against the wall.
"Hehe, you should run out anytime now~" (Yiren)
2 seconds.
His body flies towards Kaede. The familiar fluttery white dress, Hazel blond hair and large unwieldy staff stood behind Yiren's stunned body.
" TIME TO FINISH IT!! JOIN THIS ATTACK!!" (Karell)
Without hesitation, she launched one final attack with her void fist. She could feel the influence of Karell's staff enhancing it.
"JOINT TECHNIQUE!!! SPIRAL SPATIAL SERRATION!!!!" (Both)