*
*BOOM!!!*
A thundering crash struck the nearby burnt earth, the heavy scent of soot wafts throughout the air mixed with the tangy scent of blood.
Climbing out of the crater was a magical girl. She wielded a bow while donning a white and blue skirt, packed with frills much like those morning magical girl shows that play on television. She was undoubtedly strong, having survived an attack from that super sattelite class calamity.
"Y... You!! Get out of here! If you're not on the level of a sentinel, you're going to die immediately!" (?)
She hops away without a second breath, her figure vanishing into the clouds. A large wall of light extends from the distance, digging a trench into where that girl was last seen. That was a single laser attack sent by that very being. Without a doubt, that would kill them in one go if they got swallowed up by it.
"The sentinels are up ahead, dealing with it. Just like when they acted as the vanguard for the observer...
The fight is only kept ongoing because of their persistence and skill to avoid every single attack. How about it... Do you still want to join me, Arin? " (Lastia)
" Do I even have to say? " (Arin)
Unable to accept refusal, she steps forward. Her resolve was evident in her eyes and firm gaze. Nothing would shake her off unless it killed her. Her aura flared up in defiance, a dark sea blue light occupies the air around her making the atmosphere in close proximity feel extremely heavy. This was her aura, one could say it was akin to an insect's moulting. It is the excretion of excess magical energy, energy that has been depleted after usage doesn't vanish, it just becomes unusable.
A stronger magical girl uses more magic to amplify their parameters, so they have more to shed. When the magical energy is concentrated enough, they start to dye to air in their owner's colour. Arin's was reminiscent of the ocean floor. It swirled calmly yet it did so with precision and force. Sometimes, the aura also reflected a magical girl's mood.
The easiest and most common mood to read was bloodlust, that would involve the aura flying out of their owner's body at high speeds, then gathering and shooting into the sky like an insanely tall pillar. For strong magical girls, exuding an aura pillar that breached the clouds like the tower of babel was a mark of strength. It was common enough that even weaker magical girls could imitate it with their drastically smaller magic pools.
Lastia needed to get ready too. Her characteristic dark crimson shot out of her pores like numerous volcanic vents. Like a shade of blood, it was a crimson bordering on pitch black like the insides of a cave. At some points, there were even patches of black surrounding her. Psyching herself up, she took off, followed closely by Arin. She needed to activate Pandora from the start, raising her grade from C to A.
Even if it was the lower bounds of A, it was the minimum requirement needed to survive here. It didn't take long, they immediately met with their adversary and around 2 other magical girls here. Taneda, ward A's sentinel. Christine, ward B's sentinel.
"You... If you've come this far, you will bear your own circumstances. " (Taneda)
There were two individuals who were similarly robed in a colourless fabric. One would ordinarily think that meant their full body cloak was transparent, but it simply couldn't be described by a colour. Like television static that ceaselessly shifts into different hues, every waking moment it was a different texture and dye.
However there was a big difference today, their hoods were off. With this enemy, they couldn't afford to hold back. Rather than concealing their identity, it was better to go all out. Her brown twintails flew freely in the wind, gently soaring through the air behind her. Peaking out from under her cloak was a white collared button shirt and reddish brown corset. A greyish aquamarine skirt of translucent material clung to her legs, folding over many layers to look opaque like a sheet of sea foam.
"Haa?! Who are these newbies?" (Christine)
A magical girl they had never seen before, her greyish yellow hair was striking. It looked like the sunset dragged through murky waters, but her facial expression was astonishingly beautiful with skin that seemed to gleam from the dull evening light. Under her cloak was a frilly crimson dress with black tights and black gloves. Brass knuckles hung over her fingers, dyed in a vibrant ruby red they gave off a blinding glow whenever she brandished them outside of her cloak.
Sensing an attack, Lastia and Arin jumped to the sides, before a massive laser cleaver the ground in between them, forming a large ravine. At least it has been confirmed that A grade was enough to dodge the attacks, but who knew if it was able to withstand them...
"Why don't you remove the cloaks? Aren't they getting in the way?" (Lastia)
"Tch! You really know nothing at all, why bother?" (Christine)
The dirty blond magical girl spoke bluntly, but they didn't know if these words were directed at Lastia or herself. They've been fighting for a long time too, it'd be odd if the sentinels were still able to keep up with conversations.
"These cloak is the only reason we're still alive... This entity... This Fragment could annhilate the entirety of the earth's surface.
But this cloak created by Eterna operates on the same principle as the Law of magical girls. It inhibited The Fragment's perception to this single zone. " (Taneda)
Well, it wasn't necessarily the cloak. The cloak merely acted as the terminal to pinpoint the coordinates of the threat, that's why sentinels are always on patrol. In case a threat that humanity cannot contend with on its own shows up. Is it using Eterna's computing power to suppress the super satellite class calamity's perception of reality? Akin to putting it into a dream-like state... These are all ambiguous details that not even the sentinels know.
They were simply appointed by someone representing Eterna, and received the cloak from them. The cloak was made by Eterna, but that was just a small detail told to them by the representative. Whether they trusted the representative or knew Eterna's current state was completely another matter.
It wasn't necessary to tell them everything, so it was fine to tell them that the cloak was important. The two sentinels will continue to deal with the coordinates. Taneda wasn't really sure if these two intervening would actually change anything. From what she saw, they've been beating down The Frament's avatar repeatedly, only for nothing to change...