*
"READ THIS!" (Kaede)
The fact that speed does not exist as a factor in battle really tripped her out, it was mind boggling to handle this new concept and work around it. But having fought and practice with the sleeping deities, she gradually got used to it. She was by no means perfect yet, but she used her first skill to cover her gaps and inch her forward to where she desired.
The manipulation of gradients. In the first place, what are gradients. It can be considered the speed of increase or decrease of a line's height, or the movement of substances. But not only was it speed, if every line technically moved at the same speed horizontally on a cartesian plane, the gradient can be considered the 'quality' of movement instead. She had always considered herself the substance in question, the object to activate her magic on.
This time, she used it to alter her trajectory. Though in this case, there was only teleportation in this realm and movement was minimal. To the 3 god magical girls here, movement in this place was as good as having no augmentations, they really felt like normal people again when trying to run or swing here. There was only 2 modes of movement, normal movement that looked unaugmented, and teleportation.
In this case, the angle at which she arrives at her destination for teleportation can be affected by her skill. For example... Right after arriving behind Zedicia, her skill gave her momentum to slide her legs and close the distance between them. It's the speed of sprinting, she puts her hips into the punch and swings at the back of Zedicia's head.
But Zedicia launches a backwards kick, a high and powerful rotation of her hips had promptly turned her around to face Kaede and striked with a great force that shattered her wrist. An aching pain consumes her wrist but she pushes on with that hand, leaving it limp like a meat shield, she dives under and tackles upwards against her right leg. Zedicia was already in a precarious position, so she cut her losses with this dangerous stance that was opened to attacks and teleported away.
Himei appeared behind her to follow up, forcing her to turn around and swipe with a newly materialised claw. Hand to hand combat was easy to deal with if she just equipped a weapon like her large claw gauntlets or duel short swords. Kaede arrived nearby to swing her rapier, exploiting its larger reach to slash at her back from a safe distance. The problem with equipping was that it prompted the opponent to do the same and the advantage becomes null.
Zedicia dodged by side stepping, but it loosens the ongoing parry between her and Himei. So Himei pressures her. This was a tactic only these monsters can pull off. She let's go of the parry and runs into the staff that Himei held, the staff stabs into her flesh effortlessly so she also encroached effortlessly.
*PING!!*
A sharp whistle escapes before the sound of grinding metal ensues. The thinness of Kaede's rapier can also be used to her advantage like this. Zedicia swung her claw at Himei's eyes, but her rapier slipped in to collide at the last moment as Kaede slip to the side and left her arm outstretched as much as possible. The tip of it struck with her strength behind it, giving Himei time to jump back and abandon her staff while letting it dissipate.
"Did you think I would get discouraged after just one time?" (Zedicia)
She spun with her hood fraying into air, then slid forward towards Kaede with her other claw at the ready. A gargantuan rapier was spat out of the air, the sheer energy and mass behind it slammed Zedicia away like a fly swatter. Kaede teleported nearer and slammed her rapier from the opposite side, her strength somehow matching the giant rapier. Her right arm quivers with tension as her strength and magic coursed through it.
Zedicia vanished before the 2 rapiers collide into her body, causing Kaede to clash with her own attack for a moment before she releases the attack. Then Kaede vanishes as well. Her rapier collides with Zedicia in a new location, but they do not relocate after the first slash. She shoots giant rapiers which were just masses of black towards Zedicia, while shifting around. Zedicia slices away some of the rapiers with her claws.
But the mass of black was impossible to sift through, no matter where she teleported to, more rapiers would follow. And finally, Kaede launched a successful punch. She put all of her strength, hidden by the storm of rapiers her fist impacts her liver. Her fist busts through Zedicia's flesh like an explosion. Her knuckles crush through all obstacle and end up on the other side of Zedicia's body bloodied up, Zedicia shifts behind Kaede and snaps her neck, but Kaede responds by growing rapiers out of her back like a porcupine to stake Zedicia thoroughly.
"Hehe, ready? Second skill [Otherworldly disassociation, decay spreads to all] ." (Zedicia)
"Have you forgotten? Oblivion Magia, World of wandering fate. Fate reorientation.
This time, there is no such processor limit on me, I can keep sending back the damage to you before you send yours." (Kaede)
It really felt like she has come a long way. The progenitor was no longer this menacing existence that she feared with all of her being or had any concern dying to. She was finally standing on the same stage, she has surpassed the Kaori of that day. It was evident seeing where she was right now.
"GUFUH?!" (Zedicia)
Blood spilt out of her throat like a broken damp, it didn't shoot out like a hose, but rather like a slow flood that kept coursing out of her body. The damage was ravaging her insides once more, each time she uses her inversion skill on the damage that she was receiving, my Oblivion Magia reads, calculates and redirects the damage to her. Meaning that she was increasing the damage and continuously sending it back to herself in hopes that my Oblivion Magia would stop working. I'm sorry, but I am no longer the Kaori of that day.
Reigning drill cross punch, a black wind wraps my fist like a drill as it spirals forward. I strike at Zedicia in the chest while she's weak, she's about recover at any moment, so if I want to finish her it has to be now. It might have been an infinite amount of time since we last met, it was impossible to tell, but in that time she lost resistance to my Oblivion Magia's advanced technique. In other words, while it finally damages her now, we have to finish her.
I strike at her heart, it feels awfully hard due to her defence, but when both our stats are infinite it doesn't really matter. The one receiving, in other words the one defending will break instead. That's why we're all so adamant on parrying instead of blocking while staying still. Full impact, spread it across her body so everything breaks apart. A gargantuan rapier packed with so much energy it could strip bare atoms into their fundamental particles rains from the sky to strike at Zedicia.
"Now!" (Kaede)
"[Perception dances under the sole observer of the universe], it operates under the theory of subjective idealism, but take it to the extreme. As the sole observer of the universe, whatever I perceive is the only thing that exists, and thus I can superimpose my perception over reality as the 'truer' reality. " (Himei)
In other words, she will erase Zedicia from existence. As long as she perceives it to be, the rules of the universe will no longer apply, because she is the universe.
" Final skill. [Fate trickles down the mud]. Rather than damage reversal, it is phenomenon reversal. The ultimate counterattack to any final skill." (Zedicia)
"..." (Kaede)
No matter what, she could no longer find Himei around. Himei shot an attack that erased Zedicia's existence, and she in turn deflected it back... A reality manipulating skill that switches positions, a life saver if she was in peril... And the absolute worst outcome possible. There was no longer a 2v1 advantage. Only emptiness filled her heart as what was basically her other half vanished from existence.
Her eyes widened when she heard Zedicia's words, and they couldn't relax ever again since. Despite growing so strong, she could not comprehend such simple words. Her mind froze on the spot and she lost the voluntary motor control of her body. She simply stood there, jaw agasp. Right before they could finish her off by piling 2 god level conceptual attacks, it all went wrong. Come one, Kaede, do something.
Kaede tells herself. Her heart really shattered into pieces on the spot, as if the world had become sludge and she couldn't bear to move another cm or think another thought. Did everything seriously crumble down into this? Running from The Great Disaster, fighting with the help of The Eye God just to lose her to The Progenitor. She couldn't change anything at all.
'Ah. Ah. Do you hear me? I'm using De Lan's skill to transmit a message to Kaori, just to you.
Ah, maybe you're not Kaori after all. If that's the case, you've been afraid haven't you?' (Barius)
What? What the hell is going on. How'd she even send a voicemail... We don't have phones anymore...
' I'm sure there's a lot we need to talk about. GIVE HER BACK!!! GIVE BACK KAORI!!! Was that what you wanted to hear?
Hahah... How silly. I noticed quite a while ago, the only reason you could go on for this long and sacrifice this much was because you didn't want the people in Kaori's life to worry about her.
Was it the guilt over losing Myuu and Paridia? Maybe Gerald too? Unfortunately, I'm the perfect magical girl, Barius Kleine. Yeah it's not my real name, it's practically a stage name, but which magical girl gives their real name nowadays?
See, I can't blame you for saying your name is Kaori if that's your magical girl name, it's very important after all, the names we give to ourselves. But I have to admonish you for commiting fraud by pretending to be our friend...
So I won't be so kind. I won't take out my anger on you so you can feel better from the guilt. Keep it straight in your heart and mind, keep it deep in there and don't ever forget it. ' (Barius)
A lecture at this time? I fend of Zedicia's claws, just as I have no definitive way to kill her, as long as I keep parrying with my rapier she can't kill me either. I will have to take the place of Himei, to atone for letting another comrade die. I see, maybe I'm destined to fight alone. That's why everyone I bring dies. That's why I feel so bad bringing allies just to attenuate my loneliness, just to let all of them die in the end. Like I'm switching out batteries... It's so messed up...
Reality catches up and my tear ducts felt loose. Ah... A god magical girl can cry too. Even though I'm a spiritual body imitating a mortal body... For some reason the subconscious production of tears... Was kept... A magical girl has no food or water intake as their metabolism is fueled solely off of magical particles... So why...? Where did these come from...?
Barius, if you got mad at me and started cursing me, it would also spark the end of my wrongdoings... Because u would take your scoldings as punishment and forget about my sins... You're right, this guilt is so much more heavy, and so much more painful. Because my heart is like this... Because it's weak to guilt and wishes for justice... That you can inflict this sort of punishment... What do I do...? It's beginning to cloud my vision, will I get killed by Zedicia now? What happens now?
"Final skill, [weep thy mourning lark] phffff!!?!!!!!" (Levia)
When I blinked my tears away, a girl with greyish hair and a shiny white skull hair pin on her right was there to receive Zedicia's attack. Her skirt fluttered from the force of the impalement that bisected her head to toe and blood stained the vicinity of the large bisection. She was the first Kaitmei, the last king candidate that I made a solemn vow to, to win this battle.
"... Don't worry about it. My last skill... Is the ability to protect. It just happened to be you who triggered it... Anyway, don't cry until you finish the battle, idiot!" (Levia)
Her body vanishes. The next message from Barius plays.
'That's not the last of your atonement... One more thing. Despite being perfect, it's taking all I have to hold back the Demon King. You get what that means?
Everyone else is dead. Win the battle there and do something about it.' (Barius)