***(Rei, Titania, Kanou vs 3 demonic heavenly kings)
3 beings that exerted an absurd amount of physical pressure appeared. It was as if the surroundings were bending to their will, the air itself blurred and refracted into an unobservable mess. It was clear that they were existences that nobody was suppose to trifle with, but...
Right now the warriors here were all ArcMaidens. Rei, guardian of the western theatre of the Sanctuary. Kanou, one of the strongest among the ArcMaidens, and Titania, one who dives straight into mystery. On the other side was a giant, his skin seemed to be made of an unbelievably hard material, as if he was a being forged in the earth's core. Another was a slime. The last was a vampire, her petite stature hid her in the centre of the night, completely vanishing from the eyes of the full moon.
At once, Kanou rushed in, banking on her pseudo attack priority. The 'instant' effect of her first skill which closes the distance between her enemy and her, and uses that speed to launch attacks. As such, the more distance she covers the more damage she deals.
Vanishing as soon as she sensed the enemies, she skipped to the moon, then to uranus, and at last she returns to earth. The sensation under feet felt weird whenever she escaped the earth's grasp, she had always chalked it up to a change in gravity... But what she really standing on extraterrestrial environments? Or was she entering someone's magic domain set right outside the atmosphere to simulate what humanity thinks outerspace looks like?
Though it doesn't really matter at this moment. If it was actually a fake space, it was enough to fool her skill into enhancing her power for that much. When she landed, she struck the ogre on the head with her feet, the following shock wave that resulted from the release of energy... Split the earth into 2. That was what it looked like, but it was only the atmosphere above an altitude that matched the ogre's height that was disjointed from the land below.
Power enhanced by literally reaching the stars and crashing back down! It was the perfect match up against the ogre covered in defense specialised skin, skin that had a similar composition to Triney's cherished sword, anvil of Atlas. The ogre's skin was like an aurora borealis, a wavy mixture of teal and purple elegantly mixing and bobbing about under the moonlight. They had a crystal like structure that fit together in a manner akin to puzzle pieces, forming a fish scale like texture.
For nearly its entire life, there had never been many others who could puncture his skin. For those that could, he could count it on one hand, what's more they were all his allies in this war, strong and reliable comrades that would protect the sovereignty of demonkind with him... Such a strong magical girl exists?
All of a sudden, the threat of magical girls seemed to loom above his very being. In a single moment, the danger to his entire race seemed to have gotten much closer. From unfeasible to feasible, he hadn't been treating magical girls any seriously due to his absurd defence and his expansive history of killing magical girls... But to discover one who could harm him and potentially end demon kind.... His blood pumped like fire flushed his veins. His passion overflowed from his heart, combusting into a fiery will that engulfed his entire being.
For once in his life, he will treat this threat like it would end the world itself. For such a dangerous being to exist, she posed a danger to the world. Because he wears the world like his armour like skin, he is the world. This was an arbitrary statement that he made up in his mind. But he would still fight like the whole world was on the line.
"[Crunch]" (Gamma Radia Yutolite, Ascended Core Authority High Ogre)
Absolute power, an embodiment of strength. Such things were commonly used as the banner of war, whether it'd be an absent god or a hero of war. For the demons, it was the Demon King. But Gamma sought to chase after this lofty image, his bulging forearms, thick fingers and wide palm, they stretch ever forward to become the symbol of strength. His first skill [crunch] was really as simple as the name implied. It expelled great force that crushed its target ruthlessly.
The only thing that could possibly be misconstrued was its range... Unlike the lower demon ogre and monster orc species, its range is not limited by Gamma's physical contact. Usually it is used in conjunction with a punch or Grasping and crushing attack... But Gamma's evolved skill has no limit. He can physically exert the crushing force without using any part of his body.
Back from before his evolution, he underwent training to crush objects as fast as possible. Beyond a certain speed, his arms become so fast it was as if the target was crushed on its own, but he had actually just manually destroyed the target object and moved at a speed beyond people's perception. Taking that to the extreme, taking that to a level beyond conventional or comprehensible speed... Was the result that everyone arrived to look at today.
A instant crush attack, when he evolved it lost its limit on range and area of coverage. The attack smashed Kanou's body into a bloody pulp that flailed in the air like a dead fish. Instant attack vs instant attack, the ogre was one of the few who could break out of the deadlock that was Kanou's pseudo attack priority... Because the ogre simply has something similar in his repertoire.
In the middle of her attack, Kanou's body compacted into itself. But not a second later, she had vanished and returned, this time she activated her second skill which disabled the enemy's skill for a short moment after making contact through her kick. Her right leg collides with Gamma's back, destroying his flesh as it punctured and hammered his flesh. Gamma turned around and activated [crunch] once more. It looks like she couldn't deactivate his magic...
Did he have a similar deactivation skill which canceled it out? Their skills were too similar for Kanou's taste... Kanou launched a left fist which caused Gamma's jaw to burst with spittle and blood, Gamma returned it with a high kick that impacted Kanou's jaw like an entire mountain was thrown at it. For a moment it disoriented her which gave Gamma room to launch a second punch against the side of her head, sending her entire body flying as her skull caved in from her left side.
But her legs stood steady! Through sheer centre of gravity, mental fortitude and skillful manipulation of the forces impacting her body, her torso was sent swinging towards her back, and her neck twisted to her right as the punch struck her. Then using her core strength, she pulled her self back up and launched her right fist. Gamma couldn't keep up with her strangely fast recovery, launching his own right fist a little slower than he wanted, but that was enough.
Their fists collided, splitting the ground into a giant ravine. Kanou opened her lips, revealing a gruesome set of ruby red teeth stained by her blood. But what made it even more gruesome... Was that she couldn't control her exhilaration and it was showing up as a malicious smile towards Gamma. Gamma who felt like he was chosen by the heavens to defend demon kind against Kanou who has a similar power as he does... Mustered his entire life's worth of experience and training towards reaching this very point.
He felt like he had finally climbed towards the summit of an impossibly high mountain, and now he faces against this abbhorent horror to demon kind. His flesh cries out as they manage to exchange a few more punches, slamming their knuckles and fingers squarely on one another. He couldn't defend passively, Kanou only got faster and faster as if acclimating to the battle, it made absolutely no sense, how could she be even faster than the instantaneous attacks that she was already launching?
No! This can't be it! It won't be the end! He could feel his blood rising in temperature as it circulated all over his body beyond the speed of an S grade, it was approaching the speed of light, lighting his insides on fire. His magic was forcefully accelerating his blood flow and more importantly... His magic flow towards the physical limit. His body glowed with a vibrant blue aura that was as azure as the deep sea. His crystalline skin shone under the light of his own aura.
His fist blazes past the air faster than he had ever thrown a punch before. It looks like he entered a new dimension, the dimension of the 'instant'. Compared to the people outside of this dimension, he was infinitely closer to infinity thought not there yet. Here, individual differences such as even a single point higher in stat augmentations become amplified to the point of turning over battles.
He had entered the same field as Kanou. The edge of the universe, when one reaches an infinite speed, time and space bends until the boundaries of the physical universe are brought closer into something visible. This space was just a land and sky full of grey. The ground was slightly dark grey while the sky was light grey. He could now respond far better, usually he always used his crunch from a distance or without using his entire body, but he had surpassed his previous self.
This time not only was his fist enveloped in crushing force , his entire being was in its vast deluge which was utilised to encapsulate the entire universe. He reached closer, his centre of gravity lowers and back bent, his elbow was pulled back and fist ready. Fist flying past his vision like an unobservable storm, Kanou reacts to it by launching her own punch at a similar speed...
He had packed all of his strength at once, he felt like this was the strongest he had ever been in his life, but... Kanou countered it with an equally devastating strength without batting an eye. It was like a nightmare, but it was simply a bad match up. Kanou spun, slicing through the air with a kick, Gamma threw his left fist diagonally upwards like a sword slash, clashing with the kick.
Utilising her other leg, she swung it while the first leg that collided parried his wrist with its momentum. She used it to pivot and threw her entire body weight into her other kick. Unable to defend properly in time, Gamma brought up his arm to block it, this wasn't preferable as it would now damage his arm while a parry would have diverted the force away. Instead, all of the force channeled into his arm and broke his bone.
After repeatedly punching each other's knuckles off, his arm was damaged enough for her attack to get through his skin and fracture his bones. It wasn't ont he level of shattering, but he felt that if he didn't kept up his prudence it would only be a matter of time. He began to throw feint, her attacks grew less intense but she was also becoming more careful, they analysed each other's movements like studying their prey before striking.
His right hand opens into a palm, intercepting and pushing her thrown arm down before swinging it upwards whole closing the distance. He entered less than arm shot range, blocking her other arm with his right while throwing his left. He was too close for her to throw a counterattack with her fist, so she brought both her arms up, bent backwards while swinging for a high kick. Her leg struck his chest, but not with enough force to stop his punch, which landed squarely on both of her blocking arms.
She flew backwards without the balance of both legs, the momentum dragged and grated her back against the ground. Her arms felt like glass was piercing through them at the point of impact, yet the areas around such as the wrist and elbow felt incredibly numb and shivery. Her back arms convulsed considerably and her arm skin became black and blue as blood vessels burst internally.
A single hit was all it took. It woke up the fire inside Gamma, there was hope. Long had the demon race been hiding in cowardice, long had they feared the explosive population growth of humanity. Long had they-
[Inutile purgatory]
Kanou's final skill. For a person who has reached the edge of the universe, their feats of infinity made their existence large and significance, bringing their soul closer to the edge... This is where they can see the true value of Kanou's finale skill.
In the normal world, it was a mere antimagic field that disabled any skill use without having to making physical contact. At the edge, it was like an abyss opened up under his feet. Everytime she uses her first skill, she catches a glimpse of the edge. When she uses it continuously, she draws near to the edge. An exclusive space for her, another dimension of existence that only she can exist in. This was her worth, or in the words of demons, her destiny.
The abyss was a real physical effect, Gamma was being rapidly sucked out and back into the real world, pulling him away from the edge. It's as if his world went black right before Kanou takes his head with a kick. The low heel on her boots penetrated his skull and turned his brain into mush.