*
The reunion party went off without a hitch. Kaori spent a lot of time reminiscing about the past and getting up to date with the rest, namely Kenzi, Garion, Fiel, Izumi and Vibell.
"... [Judged journey]...?! Not only you, but both you and Myuu broke through to A grade?! " (Kenzi)
With the exception of the named few reach high B grade and nearing A, the others were more average and hovered around low B and high C grade. It seemed that those who reached B grade had done their training well, even after Kaori left, they continued to fight harsh battles against strong enemies who would threaten the piece. They also had far more experience fighting monsters than magical girls, a stark contrast from Kaori's experience.
But monsters were generally not that intelligent. Most of their potential logic circuits are utilised to conduct their magic to the fullest. A tamed monster could learn much more than expected, but they have to compensate intelligence for power unlike demons or magical girls.
"Heheh! I guess you could say I am currently an A grade, but when I get serious I can even fight off S grades!" (Kaori)
It was a strange thing to boast of no matter how anyone looked at it. After all, all the S grades have been poached by the governments, in other words fighting an S grade meant picking a fight with a government official. Fighting such a high ranking civil servant might just escalate matters into a war. Rather... Just how many magical girls has Kaori fought to get this far? It must have been enough to pile up mountains of corpses. To her enemies, she seemed to be a sort of unavoidable calamity... A natural disaster that keeps barreling forward towards their schemes.
"... I'm itching for a little fight. How about we get a little exercise done after the meal?" (Kenzi)
"Sure!" (Kaori).
It looks like Kenzi had become a little more belligerent when Kaori was gone, and she used to be so demure too... It was almost yesterday when she recalled Kenzi's crying face and reluctance to fight. It was a little twisted that Kaori encouraged her to fight a losing battle for her, but it all somehow turned out well and was never addressed again. In the end, it was because Kaori's attitude that caused Frena to retire from her job in the middle of battle.
They went over some of the crisis they've been through, the world really was too chaotic... Izumi and the others continued dwelling into the political chaos that was magical research and its implications, Kenzi and Garion fought off a few powerful monsters. It was strange enough that there are 16 demonic heavenly kings, otherwise known as the classification for S grade demons.
But there was no shortage of A and B grades running around, demons were not only extremely powerful with magic, but also incredibly intelligent compared to monsters. Of course, the difficulty will depend on the individual enemy, but it's pretty much the same as fighting other magical girls, they're bound to be intelligent enough to expand their tactics beyond the norm.
Kaori wasn't the only one that has been through a lot, it was arguable that she went through the most sure, but everyone had to overcome their own difficulties to live this far. It was fortunate that it seems everyone in their class survived. Save for the various groups that comprised half the class, the rest of the class lived more moderately. Their lives weren't devoid of danger, but it's far less compared to the active groups.
Kaori and Myuu
Barius, Kenzi and Garion
Izumi, Vibell and Fiel
These were considered the active groups in our class, well, actively pursuing grand ambitions. The remaining 7 members of the class had relatively safer lives as they spent their time with jobs unrelated to combat. Of course, there was the occasional dispatch to fight off monsters, those fearsome creatures would never stop being born. They were a force of nature, and before magical girls intervened, they were practically on the same severity as natural disasters themselves. It would take a missile or tank bullet to even possibly damage them. Anything less deadly would have absolutely no effect.
"We've practically become mercenaries for some interest groups... Even though we consider it voluntary and still unpaid, so we have freedom to discard any promises.
What will you guys do from now on...?" (Izumi)
Her sharp black hair strikes down below her jaw like powerful curtains that block out the sun, her combat dress had changed from a semi leather covered, plate armoured hakama to a less restrictive design. The plate armour for instance is no longer attached to her body but floats around her with magic cores on the bottom side that control the floating and trajectory. Her combat dress was similar to a furisode, it had long stylish sleeves with multiple layers of cloth, but it had a western leather belt instead of an oni, multiple in fact. Some of the belts secured the cloth together at her waist, others held swords by their scabards.
She had quickly grown to A grade, surpassing Vibell and Fiel. So 6 members out of the 8 in the active groups were already at A grade... How time flew...
"... You might laugh, but I think we'll take it easy for a while. It's tiring to fight the Demon King you know!" (Kaori)
She boasted with a sheepish smile filled with pride.
"... Hah? There's no way you could have defeated her, didn't all the S grades of humanity gathered and finished her off? Or did you find a way to somehow participate and leech off of their achievements? " (Garion)
A black haired beauty with sharp eyes and a constant penchant for wearing winter coats appeared. She might have been enduring the cold or was able to endure before, but she must have given up. It must have been a special cold produced by her own magic, so only she could feel it. Her passive perhaps? She wore a thin white cardigan over a thick pastel bluish grey goat with a fluffy black skirt underneath full of frills and fluttery layers. Her legs were coated with her translucent black stockings and thick white boots.
"oooh! Oooh! Isn't this related to how you said you could fight S grades if you were serious?" (Kenzi)
"Stop beating around the bush already! Just show your divine form! This girl cooperated with The Eye God to fight the Demon King because all the S grades were low on magic after fighting the demonic heavenly kings!" (Myuu)
"... Straight out of a fantasy... " (Fiel)
A brunette with a greenish grey wizard robe, a dainty figure with a white button shirt and dark brown leather skirt under. She wore dull blue thigh highs and a set of thick leather shoes with metal engravings. She had a hood and everything, even with a crossbow propped on the side of her waist. Kaori is aware that they're part of their combat dresses, but it still feels weird seeing people sit with their weapons at the reunion table...
Kaori sat in idyllic bliss as she watched the conversation unfold, the surrounding scenery, the false lighting, the warm air of the simulated park, the steady flow of breeze brushing by, the domestic birds hopping by... Her senses were tickled and her body took in all the stimulation. With her passive, information was localised in virtual servers and then gleaned into when she wished for it.
It was because the information was stored in virtual servers of magical particles that anti-recognaissance couldn't work, since they cannot detect her snooping. It also meant that when she wished for it, she could feel everything. The pain of every living thing in the surrounding 1000 km is also information. Her Oblivion Magia practically functioned as a super computer with high computing ability to simulate the future when the enemy's attacks hit, and then redirect that attack at the enemy after measuring the damage to herself.
In other words, even if the enemy is immune to their own magic, her Oblivion Magia would reflect it right back. But without her Oblivion Magia, she might be overloaded by the computing stress. Her thoughts swirl in her mind, drowning out the ambient noise.
"H-hey!! Transform now, or I'll look crazy trying to defend you! Come on!" (Myuu)
"Fufu...! " (Kenzi)
"F-fine...! I'll admit it! You look really good in that dress! Don't you want to show it off?!" (Myuu)
"Huh... Huh?! Sorry, I was daydreaming... " (Kaori)
Myuu looked like she swallowed something bitter, her lips clasp tightly with tension in her jaw crushing the air inbetween to a pulp. Her cheeks swell and her body was shaking.
" Ah-ah! I'm sorry okay! Here, here! I'll do it! So stop worrying about it! I'm sorry, okay?" (Kaori)
A flash of white akin to a flashbang shrouded Kaori's figure for a moment, but it subsided quickly, revealing her new combat dress as it faded away like a sliding door revealing a room. It began fading from the top and bottom and gradually closed into the centre. Her transparent, nearly invisible veil was thin enough that one had to focus to perceive it. Her dress of pure white peaked out like driven snow gathering into a mound. At where Kaori sat, a completely new combat dress took the place of the original, replacing her fluffy collar with bare air.
She sat elegantly with her wedding dress-like combat dress, spreading her arms as if to show off her sleeveless figure with exposed shoulders and upper chest. The chest area was covered in a manner similar to bunny suits, but the edges were decorated with large frills that covered more skin. A lightly smug expression took the place of her exuberance, her eyes narrowed a little with her cheeks raised, as if boasting off some sense of superiority nobody else understood. Did she like wedding dresses that much? Well, it's part of her divine form, so she must have at least highly respected it...
"... Ah... It didn't work... [Judged journey] couldn't pinpoint the value of your stats and copy it, it's the same as having magic that protects your information..." (Kenzi)
"Hahah! It's too dense to glean anything from, like an explosion of information. If you try harder, you brain might get fried, so I'd advise you to stop." (Kaori)
"... I'm sure our brains are already fried knowing you became an SS grade... That would be more credible to your testimony of fighting the Demon King... But we'd like to know more regarding the on field situation... " (Garion)
She looked up as if pleading, if a beautiful girl with prim and proper appearance looked so seriously at Kaori, her heart wouldn't be able to resist form skipping a beat... But! She must keep up with her new image! She sat a little straighter and threw a charming smile like that of a mature lady's (or what she thought was such) and began explaining.
'Easy...' (Izumi)
'She's too easy...' (Kenzi)
'Is she blind? Wasn't that additional information considered state secrets?!' (Myuu)
'... What the hell...' (Fiel)
'...' (Vibell)
Meanwhile, the person at the centre of this chaos was none the wiser. The public cover up was that the ArcMaidens worked with the S grades of other factions to successfully put down the powerful Demon King, the giant flesh wave that eradicated a portion of the South American and African continent was never explained to the public despite the countless witnesses popping up and speculating.
Well, the fall out was far easier to deal with as opposed to fighting the Demon King. For a quick moment, a phantom of a familiar figure appeared right next to Kaori and gave her unsuspecting head a hard slap before disappearing away.
"Agh! It hurts! Hey!!!! I know it's you!!!" (Kaori)
Her complains fell on deaf ears as the present situation was too much for the rest to comprehend. Someone who could sneak up on Kaori without offsetting her radar and simultaneously smack her head without offending her... Someone she knew... It could only be The Eye God or Kanou, but Kanou wasn't that kind of character...
Kaori as well, she went straight back to pouring some more tea into her cup, refilling it for the nth time as she leisurely blew at it after.
"Oh yeah, Kenzi! So about that fight-?" (Kaori)
"Ah... Ah... Never mind... [Judged journey] merely fuels the phenomena of 'copying' your stats, so there's no worry there but my mind might not be able to take it..." (Kenzi)
"... That reminds me of the time I had to step inbetween Himei and Zedicia... My sanity was dropping like a thermometer placed in ice water... But I forcefully adapted to it and gained some resistance as a result... Well, I unlocked the divine form before it happened, so I could endure it through brute force anyway.
But don't worry about that! I'll turn it off, I'm barely at the border of A grade, isn't that more fair? " (Kaori)
As she promised, her combat dress of pure white vanished and her iconic base combat dress returned. An inexplicable amount of pressure was exuded just from her smile alone, despite how her aura is docile and she wasn't using her magic or anything substantial. She looks like a creature that can't survive if she doesn't fight all the time...