*
We stood atop a lightless expanse. A lone girl stands in the middle, purplish black gown similar to Lastia's combat dress. Dirty teal hair flowed into space, propelled by her ever flowing aura, magical waste. Like a tree's roots, her hair spreads softly without the hold of gravity. It's easier to say, gravity was weaker here allowing her aura to resist it without issue. She didn't even have to use magic to achieve flight.
3 people... Taneda, Lastia and Christine, that was the limit of Sariel's magic in the end. The rest couldn't even reach this stage.
"She's dead." (@#$&)
"...!?" (Lastia)
"Calm down!!" (Taneda)
Taneda stands in front of Lastia, her brown twin tails sway freely, obscuring the view of her slightly greyed shirt. Her reddish brown autumn corset was snug underneath, sitting comfortably atop numerous layers of translucent aquamarine fabric that make up her puffy skirt. Her bark brown heels align as a blade gleams in her right grip. Although her back was small, her twintails make for a truly imposing figure that inspired security inside Lastia, pushing composure into her like an injection.
Lastia grits her teeth and relents, her bubbled up rage was ready to explode but it barely had a lid capped onto it. The ridge of her nose furrowed viciously, she closed her eyes to redo her facial expression. Looks like it can't be helped, when she opened her eyes once more she couldn't help but to glare at her enemy. Reddish black light swirled around her fist, ready to pounce with how lively its rhythm was.
"The enemy is right here. Don't lose yourself so quickly, you'd just be giving them an easy victory. You want to give them hell don't you?
Then don't make it easy for her." (Christine)
Her dirty blond hair overflowed out of her colourless cloak. Her short jeans and black cardigan peak out from under. Under her cardigan was a black tube top with yellow accents like a bee. She had dark eye circles that almost seemed drawn on, but the energy she exuded would never be associated with someone who was sleep deprived. Her words were calm, but they held an undeniable hostility. That's right, Lastia wouldn't be the only victim here. Countless others have also died, cruelly put, what made Sariel more special than the others?
She felt guilty over this little fact, it has happened and couldn't ever be reconciled. But her fists understand. Not the heart nor the mind, her body shifts into optimum form.
"Thank you, Taneda. Let's go with the same formation. We'll be the vanguard, Christine will support. Though I'm thinking..." (Lastia)
"... Yeah, with how compatible their magic are, Christine might be playing a bigger role than we thought." (Taneda)
" Huh? I don't understand, but I'll do my best to beat her into the ground. All I have to do is make her useless, right?" (Christine)
She was raring to go. Lastia understood that sensation, after all she was the same. The moment she crashed her fist into her palm, everyone began to move at once. The heavenly king appeared in front of them, reducing the distance to 0. They could practically kiss as the heavenly king unleashed its attack. Rays of blinding light escaped her palm. First there was one, then two. It multiplied over and over.
A beam attack, it would pour forth and they could do nothing about it. They were slow, painfully so. They just about moved in slow motion for the heavenly king, it was no challenge for her, and this wasn't even her full effort. The beam was released within a fraction of their reaction speeds.
" Annhiliation. " (Heavenly King?)
"{Feed}. Yggdrasil." (Lastia)
This was the same trick as the very first time Lastia encountered the existence of the arcane and the unknown. Automatic activation, a power that soars out of her palm beyond her own comprehension. Now of course this was a different Lastia, that's why the sense of wonder for her own magic never faded. Using magic energy conversion, Yggdrasil's simulation has evolved over multiple iterations.
From an external magic energy storage and circulation module, to a computation entity capable of lending power to others and herself. Why was any of these possible? Magical energy conversion. A core function of {Feed} brought to the very extremes, as an immaterial resource that could switch through numerous states, it could serve as a binary language that stores information and makes calculations.
This was a more primitive utilisation of Yggdrasil, it activated on its own and ate up the energy beam fired at point blank. Dark red lightning crackled between their palms, swallowing the light while spitting out more lightning. At an exponential rate, the lightning expanded and kept consuming the opponent's energy, before erupting in a grand explosion. Smoke wafted from her skin, she almost appeared unscathed if not for the layers of soot coating one side of her arm and torso.
As if to test it out, the heavenly king shot a few more beams, only for the same results to occur. Taneda jumps in, her skill heightened her physicality to the most extremes. A plain wrought iron sword materialised in her palm, her body is low and she takes a wide swing from end of her body to another. We're still unaware if this was its true body or not, but it's far stronger than the avatar that we barely eked out a victory against.
The only reason we haven't been instantly defeated, despite Eterna's suppression, is because this individual is still playing it safe to see all our cards. Speed, strength, magic, toughness, there's nothing that it's lacking in. Christine jumps out, taking step after step in rapid fashion. She wields her camera and activates her skill, hoping to apply a more severe suppressive force than Eterna, a lukewarm dream.
In a single step, the heavenly king(?) stomps onto the wrought iron sword, sending Taneda into the ground. At the same time a shock wave shot off and erupted on Christine, knocking her out. The only one who remained was Lastia, and that was only because she stood far away enough. Her seniors stepped up and charged in. So much for not fighting without a plan, using the exact same strategy might as well constitute as going in blind against an intelligent enemy.
That's the worse part by far, this is a Fragment, a heavenly king level Trace. She could use its intelligence against it by stalling for time, for the others to wake up.
"Why do this!? What has humanity done to you? Or are we livestock to be consumed?" (Lastia)
There has been no records of the heavenly kings, because all who met it have perished. Then she'll make history here, because she's a magical girl.