NOVEL NEXT Interlude: Lenapehoking Territory
Violet Tempest
The sound of crickets filled the air as Violet Tempest hummed softly to herself, tapping her fingers together in a rhythmic pattern. Her long braided purple ponytail bobbed behind her with her every move, and her stormy eyes scanned her surroundings with an ever-so wondrous childlike gaze.
"Violet, please..." A voice called out to her from behind.
Hana of the Dawn's raspy, soft voice carried through the air like a warm summer breeze. Her long blonde hair flowed freely around her face, and her deep golden eyes were narrowed in an irritated expression.
Violet paused mid-tap, before she turned to the side, her smile widening even more than it had before. "What's wrong, Hana? We're gonna get a goodie tonight, right?" she asked.
Hana shook her head, sighing.
"We are about to enter a Nightmare Zone. Do take this a bit more seriously," Ignis Loveheart chided. "I am afraid, even though I know we will probably succeed in this mission with Miss Red leading the mission."
The redheaded magical girl's flaming eyes narrowed at her companions, her well-kept crimson red hair flowing freely down to her shoulders.
"Igni—" Hana started.
"A Nightmare Zone? Sounds really scary!" Violet giggled. "Gosh..."
Hana of the Dawn rolled her eyes, before glancing back at her.
"Ahem. Ignis. Just because she acts like that, doesn't mean she's actually not serious," Hana stated. "Violet is always like this. Hana can attest her rank is not unjustified."
Ignis nodded her head slowly, and she let out a sigh as well, her expression softening. "Of course. Having two A-Rank Magical Girls on this mission was a surprise. In any case, Mari and I are honored to be working with the two of you."
Hana shook her head. "Do not think much of it, Ignis Loveheart. Hana is glad to meet you too, both you and Marina."
Marina Loveheart nodded and gave Hana and Violet a small, yet cheerful smile.
The twins wore matching outfits - A pair of white dresses, white knee-length skirts, and black knee socks, but Marina's dresses was covered in blue frills and ribbons, and her skirt had a belt with a pink heart centered on it. Ignis on the other hand, had red ribbons and frills all over her outfit, and her belt was adorned with a golden heart. Both of them wore small plumed hats that matched the color schemes of their clothes.
Marina's short sky-blue hair was framed neatly around her face, and her honey-colored eyes were bright with excitement. Her expression shifted to an intense curiosity, as her gaze focused on the large dome that stood before them in the distance. Her hands moved in a series of rapid, elegant gestures.
"Mari says she's never handled a Nightmare Zone before, either. But she's confident that, if the three of you are with us, she won't be a hindrance," Ignis said with a warm smile, as she placed a comforting hand on her sister's shoulder.
The group continued walking towards the dome.
"So... what exactly are we dealing with?" Violet asked, as her eyes scanned their surroundings, her brow furrowed slightly.
"We have three squads of B-Rank and higher Magical Girls in the vicinity, but we have been tasked with the brunt of the work," Shasta replied, before frowning. "Celestial Sonata was supposed to be our vanguard, but she was supposedly injured in her civilian identity today. She is reportedly fine and recovering, but will be out of commission in the near future."
Ignis let out a frustrated groan. "Of all times to be injured..."
Hana glanced over at the dome, before letting out a soft sigh. She then looked at Ignis and Marina. "This one has never done something quite like this either. The last time a Nightmare Zone formed this close to a populated area was over tens years ago, was it not?"
"It was," Ignis confirmed. "Unfortunately it formed directly over a key negentropy generator cluster. If we do not eliminate the Zone quickly enough, it will expand further, and that will cause a massive chain reaction that would endanger the suburbs."
Violet hummed. "What are we looking at in there?"
"Multiple Marquis-class and a Duke-class horde leader," Shasta said. "But the real problem is the Duke is reportedly a Blightbringer, so it'll summon a legion of lesser chaos beasts."
Violet's eyes narrowed and her expression grew dark for a moment. "Sheesh. A Blightbringer? That's nasty. But it won't be a problem if we get the big guy before he summons too many minions, right?" she asked with a shrug.
She smiled cheerfully as she turned to Hana of the Dawn and Shasta. "If it's us leading the charge, it shouldn't be too bad. We'll just go in there, blast everything in sight until we find the Duke, then blast that sucker to kingdom come."
Ignis shook her head. "Miss Little Red Riding Hood's team will handle the Duke. Our mission is to neutralize the encroaching Marquis-class beasts. The Nightmare Zone will not disappear if the Blightbringer remains. But if Miss Red fails, we need to clear out enough of them for the engineering team to go in and repair the negentropy generators."
Violet frowned slightly, before she nodded.
"Sounds simple enough," Hana murmured, as her eyes focused on the Nightmare Zone's border.
The sky was dark and ominous, the stars hidden behind dark, heavy clouds. Lightning crackled across the horizon and thunder rumbled in the distance.
The dome itself was translucent - like a soap bubble overlaid on top of reality itself.
And beyond it, in the distance...
"Hana is not so certain about this. Hana sees far many beasts," Hana murmured.
She paused for a moment, before her golden eyes lit up, and the wind shifted slightly as a warm glow surrounded the girl.
"There are fourteen of us in the immediate area," she said, as the wind carried her words. "The engineering team is waiting behind the perimeter. If Hana is seeing things correctly, there are at least four Marquesses within, and a dozen of Count class. The Duke is in the center of the dome."
Marina's face paled and she took a deep breath before signing at Ignis. The redhead nodded.
"Miss Hana, Mari and I would like to be on the rear flanks," Ignis said, as she glanced back at her sister reassuringly.
Marina gave the other girls a nervous nod, before smiling awkwardly.
"Don't worry Marina! It's going to be alright," Violet said while gently touching her shoulder.
The twins were short - not as small as Hana, but noticeably so. Violet wasn't exactly an amazon herself, but even so she stood at least four or five inches taller. Their matching idol outfits only accentuated their diminutive stature. They were known for their long range elemental and support magic - but were powerful to a degree that qualified them as B-Ranks.
Their actual close-combat abilities weren't nearly up to snuff, and it was understandable they would feel a bit intimidated by this mission.
Marina's honey-colored eyes darted to the dome, as her expression hardened. Her fists clenched tightly, as a fire lit in her eyes. She let out a low growl and then nodded firmly. She took another deep breath and then began to sign again. She had an angry expression as she gestured.
"Mari is saying... she's not afraid. She is ready to do this. And... ah," Ignis murmured. "That was very vulgar, Mari..."
Violet grinned, her purple eyes shining with a mischievous glint. "That's the spirit, Mari! Now, let's get in there and blast those suckers into next week!" She grinned wider and gave the girl a thumbs up.
"Hana will cover the sisters. Leave it to this one, Ignis Loveheart, Marina Loveheart. You will not be harmed," Hana said.
Ignis smiled softly. "Thank you."
The two girls nodded, before Marina signed once more.
Ignis frowned, but nodded in agreement. "We appreciate your protection, Miss Hana. But could you speak to your team's abilities so that we may have a clearer understanding?"
"Hana's abilities are many, and she does not wish to bore you with the details," Hana murmured.
Violet rolled her eyes and sighed. "She means to say she's an all-arounder, but with exceptional capabilities in both long-range and mid-range offense with her weapons use and conventional combat magic. But really what she's saying is she doesn't trust easily and keeps her full abilities close to heart. So please forgive her."
Marina smiled and gave a thumbs up.
Hana shot her a scathing, silent look.
Violet stuck her tongue out, before turning back to the twins.
Ignis chuckled and nodded. "Understandable. Mari and I, on the other hand, focus more on support magic. Our skills are in defensive, offensive and healing magic. Mari has an affinity for light, and I for fire. But we lack the raw strength to fight these monsters at close range, hence why we're not going after the Duke. But could you guys get a little more specific? What are your roles?"
Violet nodded. "I'm more of a skirmisher and Shasta is our heavy hitter. Just keep the Count classes from hitting us in the back while we deal with the big fish," Violet murmured, as her eyes landed on Hana's oversized rifle. "And as you guys can probably tell, Hana here is both our long-range cover and recon girl."
Hana nodded her head stoically, before glancing towards Violet, who gave her an encouraging grin.
"Shasta here is our leader and front line fighter, but she's good at so many things it's almost insulting," Violet continued, while gesturing at the long-haired redhead. Shasta, for her part, remained silent, her gaze fixed on the Nightmare Zone's edge.
"Um, I've been meaning to ask... your leader is a B-Rank?" Ignis said hesitantly.
The twins looked at each other for a moment, before turning to face Violet, and the purple haired girl let out an embarrassed chuckle.
"Well, she's not just any B-Rank, y'know?" Violet stated, her voice tinged with a hint of amusement. "She's Shasta! Besides, I was only recently promoted to an A-Rank myself. So don't let the numbers bother ya. I know she looks pretty and all, but she hits as hard as an S-Rank, easily. Just trust me."
Ignis and Marina exchanged glances once again.
Shasta finally turned, and her gaze fell upon the twins.
"Your concerns are not unjustified. However, I believe we should focus our attention on the task ahead," she stated calmly in her familiar, soothing British accent. "We do not know what to what degree this Nightmare Zone will expand and evolve."
Not all Nightmare Zones were problems - ordinarily, they formed around a single stray Marquis-class chaos beast after a major Chaos Event. It would summon a horde, which would slowly form an expanding sphere of chaos corruption that would vary in size and danger. However, the chaos beasts within rarely wandered beyond the boundary of a Nightmare Zone, preferring to nest and grow.
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If left alone for a long enough period, it could form into something more dangerous - such as what had happened with The Pit, the gigantic, miles wide Nightmare Zone in Anatolia the size of Edo itself. It took hundreds of Magical Girls working in conjunction with Sisyphus's magical technicians and engineers to maintain a magical barrier to keep that zone contained, and it required constant attention to prevent it from growing. However, for the most part, Nightmare Zones could be safely left alone and dealt with when it became feasible to do so. That is, if the conditions were not optimal.
Most of the time, Nightmare Zones stabilized after a few days and would reach an equilibrium for months, if not years, before snowballing. However, the circumstances of this one had been... irregular. The location was right next to a large population center, with a key infrastructure target in its center. And if that wasn't enough to make it a problem, there was a Blightbringer at the helm of the chaos beast hierarchy.
That made this one far, far more dangerous than most other zones, because Duke-class chaos beasts were rare. There were only a handful the world had to deal with every year. And Blightbringers were one of the most dangerous types of Dukes, capable of creating entire Magnitude 7 or Magnitude 8 hordes by themselves given enough time.
The Blightbringer's presence would destabilize the Nightmare Zone's expansion. A normal Marquis-led Zone could be predicted to within a few feet.
A Blightbringer-led horde? It was a crap shoot.
The longer they took, the more beasts would form and the more dangerous it would be for everyone. There had only been two other Nightmare Zones in history led by a Blightbringer, and both had caused serious damage because they'd been allowed to grow out of hand. One had been stopped early by the intervention of several S-Rank and A-Rank magical girls, but the other had taken months to destroy.
By then, it had become the size of an entire World City, and hundreds of thousands had lost their lives.
The Nightmare Zone in Anatolia had been caused by a Blightbringer as well, and that had only been stopped by the combined might of dozens of high-ranked magical girls and hundreds of lower ranked ones. However, when a Duke was involved, it was common practice to only send B-Rank and above Magical Girls. The casualty rates for Magical Girls rated C-Rank and below when facing a Marquis-class was far too high.
To lose even a handful was devastating, but to lose an entire cohort to an overwhelming horde?
No. That was unthinkable.
Only those who had proven themselves worthy of a high rank were trusted to handle Dukes and the hordes they spawned. And even among the higher ranks, only those who had the most raw power were entrusted to go head to head with one. The B-Ranks and lower would be relegated to dealing with their lesser spawn, while those who could fight them in single combat led the strike teams. Even with S-Ranks involved, only the most desperate situations would require one to face a Duke alone.
It wasn't that Magical Girls of lower rank were useless or unskilled. It was simply the sheer power gap was too much. A Marquis-class Aberration was powerful enough that it was hard for anything but a B-Rank or an A-Rank Magical Girl to defeat them alone.
But Dukes?
It took a truly exceptional S-Rank or a well-coordinated team of A-Ranks and B-Ranks to bring them down, and even then it was a challenge. And the collateral damage from their fights... There was a reason S-Rank Magical Girls avoided fighting close to cities unless the need was beyond salvation.
The classification of Aberrants was a holdover from the middle ages when they had abruptly begun to scourge the European continent, before the rest of the world was affected. The ranking had made more sense then, when mages had to rely on feudal states to organize and equip their forces, but now, with the modern age and a centralized world government, it had become something of an archaic holdover from an older time.
Still, the basic principle behind it remained sound.
A Baron designation was assigned when it necessitated the resources of a city-state, and a Count when it required a County, Marquis were assigned to those that necessitated the resources of a larger territory. Dukes required the resources of an entire country to defeat.
But, the one above Dukes?
Emperors?
Those required a major alliance. A global effort to destroy. And when they emerged, it was a threat to humanity as a whole and a distinct extinction threat.
Since Magical Girls had begun to appear a century and a half ago, the amount of death and resources to battle and contain Chaos Events and any subsequent Nightmare Zones had dropped precipitously. A single fledgling E-Rank Magical Girl could handle a Baron-class chaos beast with some trouble, while an entire mage platoon supporting conventional soldiers could barely manage it without major losses. A small squad of Magical Girls could handle a Viscount, a creature which required an entire battalion of soldiers with skilled mages to take on.
That being said, it didn't mean there were not other problems that arose from that.
Namely, Magical Girls dying or retiring before they reached the necessary power to deal with the threats the world was currently facing. Even the weakest Magical Girl today had the potential to be another Silver Angel, Nuwa, Izanami, or Radiant Rhiannon. But they needed time, experience and the will to survive to reach that level. And the loss of any Magical Girl, at any age or rank, was devastating.
But there was a reason why there were so few S-Rank Magical Girls.
To become a Magical Girl required multiple standout attributes. Whether it was a practical talent such as Violet's art skills or innate strength of character and force of will - no Magical Girl had ever been truly 'ordinary.' It was unknown what actually triggered the awakening of a Magical Girl, but oftentimes it was both a willingness and desire to fight drawn from pure love. The most common but not quite universal catalyst was a desire. A wish in duress to protect and save their loved ones.
And even then, most of the time it took a confluence of circumstances to create a truly powerful one.
Not all of the S-Rank Magical Girls that were known were particularly heroic or talented. There were quite a few that had reached their peak power at a relatively young age.
The legendary SS-Rank Magical Girl Saint Elizabeth had been little more than an eight year old girl when she had been granted her wish for the power to save her adopted father. A shoemaker's daughter that would have been destined for obscurity had saved the world, not only in that moment but countless times after that.
There were also cases where Magical Girls became too strong, too quickly.
Take, for example, Silver Angel. The most powerful Magical Girl of her era. Often considered the weakest of the four Empresses due to her untimely early death.
The most famous Magical Girl of her generation, she was a veteran of over 600 confirmed missions and countless Chaos Events and Nightmare Zones. Her strength had become almost legendary, and she'd reached that level of strength by 20. No one had expected that a young, timid girl from a rural French village, who had made a wish to desperately save her younger sister from the flames, would go on to be known as one of the greatest heroes in all of human history.
She was a case where the right confluence of circumstances, innate talent, and luck had combined.
However, while she saved the day with a smile every time, nobody knew how badly it affected her. What it did to her mind. How many times she had come within an inch of breaking. She never talked about what went through her mind, or how many close calls she'd had.
It was rumored she'd considered retiring before her untimely death.
And then there was Radiant Rhiannon, who was considered the most powerful Magical Girl of the modern era.
Radiant Rhiannon was a woman whose origins were shrouded in mystery, but she had famously been born into poverty and misery. She was considered to be one of the most powerful Magical Girls of all time.
But no matter the rumors, there had never been a definitive answer on her origins. There were many theories, of course, but nothing concrete, which only served to make her more of a legend.
However, despite her mysterious origins, her feats and exploits were known all-too well today. And now, she is often kept only as a last resort because her Signature Motif was far more useful for solving everyday issues.
Too useful, in fact, that politics often got in the way of her missions and the missions she chose. For example, a decade-long drought in a region of the Sahel in Africa? It was a major crisis for a decade, with millions of lives on the line.
Rhiannon could easily solve that, and she did, multiple times.
However, there was a cost. It cost the livelihood of the people whose jobs had been to mitigate the damage of that drought and find a long term solution. To immediately solve that crisis was to undermine the authority of the governments and organizations trying to solve the root of the problem.
That's not even going into how much money had been invested to try to fix the issue permanently. Triilions of credits and millions of jobs were put on the line if Rhiannon was called in, and her solution was only temporary.
Oftentimes, her ability to laugh off reality to a limited degree enabled more permanent solutions, but there were many who felt it undermined the need to work on solutions without her.
It was the same reason that she had rarely been called upon during minor Chaos Events and extermination missions unless she was already nearby. She was considered to be too useful in solving crises and too valuable to be risked in direct combat unless dealing with serious threats. The world relied too heavily on her, and she had been considered a strategic resource to be protected and utilized sparingly.
As a result, her missions were carefully vetted and chosen to minimize the potential fallout, both in lives and in politics, and to maximize her potential for doing good. In fact, many S-Ranks found themselves in similar situations to varying degrees. The strongest and most influential ones were often hamstrung by the bureaucracy.
Then there were legendary Magical Girls that were just... insane. Completely outside the scope of what is reasonable.
Like Izanami. The greatest Magical Girl of the modern age, a veteran of countless impossible battles and a legend in her own right. She was a monster amongst monsters when it came to strength and power.
She was a Japanese noble from an unknown clan who brandished a Divine Relic. Divine relics were artifacts from legends jealously hoarded by the Old Families and passed down through their lineages. Claimh Solais and Fragarach. The Imperial Regalia of Japan. Joyeuse and Durandal. It was uncertain what exactly she'd carried, but it took the shape of a heavenly naginata. But she was not dependent on her Divine Relic by any stretch. A single use of one of her signature finishing move was powerful enough to destroy a mountain range and cause tsunamis across the world. The mere presence of her fully unleashed battle aura could cause the tectonic plates of the world to move and shift. Arming her with a Divine Relic just tipped her capabilities from peerless to truly absurd.
Izanami's feats of strength were so incredible, it was hard for anyone to believe she existed at all. She was a legend that lived in every Magical Girl's mind. A hero that had saved the world a hundred times over.
She was a woman who had survived every danger imaginable and walked away with barely a scratch. Her strength was said to have no bounds and no limits, yet, she had a limit to her power. A strange weakness. A single, crippling flaw in an otherwise invincible Magical Girl.
Her desire to leave her chains behind.
Those that were close to her, including Radiant Rhiannon, had always said Izanami was a girl that wanted nothing more than to escape from her destiny. A destiny she had been born to, and a destiny that was forced upon her. She wanted to be free, to live without the shackles of her blood and heritage.
It was rumored that she wanted nothing more than to be normal. But she had never spoken about her true feelings to the public.
It was said that her heart was empty and cold. A husk of what was once a person. Yet in spite of that, she embodied hope itself whenever she fought for the world. No matter how much the odds were against her, she always found a way to win. Her victory was inevitable, and she had no equal in the world.
The most powerful Magical Girl in existence.
And the weakest in some ways.
So, when the portals to Earth had opened up, she'd disappeared from humanity's view into the crowd.
Some say that she was dead. Some say she was still out there, somewhere.
Some even say that she had been killed by her own clan, her body left to rot in an unmarked grave.
No one really knows the truth. But what is known is that she vanished. And now, the only trace of her left is her name and legend.
She was, without a doubt, a monster. But even monsters have a limit to their power. Even the greatest of Magical Girls could not live forever or fight forever. They were typically at their prime during their prime athletic years. Their twenties or early thirties, at most. Their power levels would rapidly start to wane, and they'd eventually have to retire and stay as reservists.
That didn't mean they'd become weak or anything of the like.
A former A-Rank Magical Girl that was in their forties or fifties was still powerful enough to be considered a force to be reckoned with. They were just not at the level they were when they were in their youth. But the amount of time they could maintain the transformation was short, and their chaos resistance were barely above a normal civilian's.
That being said, there was another, far darker side of that.
The average life expectancy for an active duty Magical Girl, including ones on support duties, was 26 years. And that number was skewed heavily by girls in support positions. Most Magical Girls were not Izanami. They were not L'ange D'argent. They were not Radiant Rhiannon.
They were just ordinary Magical Girls who lived their lives for humanity and died far too early for it.
Violet was, by all accounts, a child prodigy if she had to be truthful with herself. Magical Girls were already abnormal to begin with. The vast majority of Magical Girls had some kind of innate magical potential, or were naturally gifted with cunning or artistic talent, or simply had a powerful enough desire and inclination to heroism with the will to back it up.
Even among that select group of people, a large number of Magical Girls never rose beyond a D or C-Rank, their powers remaining powerful, but not exactly world-shattering for their entire lives.
Rarer even still were B and A-Rank Magical Girls.
The average mage, no matter how powerful or well-trained, would be hard-pressed to last an hour against even the weakest Magical Girl. Truly exceptional mages could defeat D-Rank and maybe even some C-Rank Magical Girls.
It was the main reason Magical Girls had been given such a prominent place in society, despite being an outlier in terms of age. They were just that powerful. That rare. And that valuable to the survival of the world. Even without their powers, they would often grow to become some of the best of the best at whatever they set their mind to in their civilian identities.
And it was also the main reason why the world needed as many as it did. They could not afford to use even a single Magical Girl as cannon fodder. No Magical Girl could be allowed to die. Every single one of them was a potential life-changer. Every Magical Girl was a potential Silver Angel. Every single Magical Girl could become a Rhiannon. And that meant they had to be protected by their seniors.
Every Magical Girl had a wish, a reason to fight. Something to live and die for.
But even Magical Girls had to rest.
"Maaan. I would've loved to work with Celestial Sonata," Violet pouted as she watched her teammates make their final preparations.
Shasta chuckled. "Still glowin' on and on' about that one, Vi?" she asked, her eyes sparkling with mischief. "Ya keep on yappin' 'bout that one."
"I can't believe you don't get how cool she is," Violet murmured.
"I never said I don't get it. I just don't think it's worth goin' on an' on about," Shasta replied. "In any case, we have a bit of time before Miss Red's team and the others will breach." Shasta said, before taking a step forward and raising her right arm, and a long, thin blade materialized in her hand.
The blade glowed brightly as the light of her magical girl aura intensified.
"Once we get the signal, we are to flank around and distract and eliminate as many Marquis and Count classes as possible so the engineering teams can make their way inside," Shasta explained, her voice steady.
"Shouldn't be a problem for us, should it, Hana? Violet beamed.
The blonde sighed, but nodded. "Right."