Chapter 37: And You Will Know My Name Is The Lord When I Lay My Vengeance Upon Thee
The ceiling of the GeoFront had been blown open, the cavern exposed to the light of day for the first time in over a billion years. Now, the Magical Girls, its' last defenders, faced off against the formation of Evangels descending from above. The Evangels were arrayed in a hexagonal pattern, one in the center one in each of the six corners. Each was surrounded by a magic circle with a demonic sigil burning brightly in the center. Thick bands of magic energy connected the Evangels to one another, binding them tightly in formation. Unlike the Magical Girls, who were partially depleted from their recent battle with the Angel Tabris, they were all fresh and brimming with magical power. But no matter how intimidating their opponents, and no matter how poor the odds appeared to be, the Magical Girls' determination would never falter. They reacted as one to the approaching Evangels.
"Axel Shooter!"
"Plasma Lancer!
"Swallow Flier!"
A storm of energy projectiles bore down on the Evangels. However, the magic enshrouded figures didn't so much as flinch at the incoming barrage. Their bodies remained as motionless as statues within the interconnected magic circles that surrounded them. Their stillness was unnatural for humans, and made them seem more like robots than living beings.
The Evangels didn't move in response to the incoming attacks, but they reacted in another manner. The magic circles around them glowed diabolically, and the aura of magic emanating from them swelled massively. The air around them seemed to thicken and ripple as a vast quantity of magical energy flooded outwards. The missiles launched by the Magical Girls exploded harmlessly as the immense surge of energy struck them.
"We need to charge up stronger attacks if we're going to penetrate that formation." Nanoha said.
The Magic Girls raised their Intelligent Devices and began gathering the power they would need to punch through the incredibly dense haze of magical energy that boiled around the Evangels. However, building up that much power required time — time that the Magical Girls didn't appear to have. The Evangels' energy output didn't stop increasing; the magical radiance surrounding them continued to grow until the red lines of their magic sigils were glowing so brightly that they were painful to look at directly.
"Funesta Sefirot: Apocalypsi" the Evangels said in toneless voices.
The attack took form in front of them: a sphere of black and red energy, pulsating with malevolence. Even with all the distance between them and the Evangels, the Magical Girls could not help but flinch in the face of such terrible energy. The orb began descending towards the Magical Girls, bathing the exposed interior of the GeoFront in hellish red light like some unholy sun, and there was no doubt in any of their minds that it was powerful enough to destroy them all. There was no possible defense that could stand against the infernal energies that would be released when it detonated, no barrier that would not crumble to ash before the might of this all-encompassing cataclysm.
But even in the face of such an overwhelming attack, the Magical Girls were not helpless. After nearly a year of fighting the Angels, they were familiar with handling opponents who surpassed them in terms of raw power. And in particular, they had a way of dealing with powerful but slow-moving attacks that were too strong to be stopped by ordinary methods. Shamal, shutting her eyes against the harsh red light emanating from the incoming attack, called on the power of Klarer Wind and opened a portal in front of the sphere. She placed the other end in the upper atmosphere, facing out towards space, where there wasn't anything for the attack to harm. The throbbing ball of red and black energy passed through the portal amidst a whirlwind of air being drawn into vacuum; then Shamal snapped the portal closed, cutting off the last of the sphere's sinister red glow. The city-buster had been neutralized — and the other Magical Girls had finished charging their attacks.
"Divine Buster!"
"Thunder Smasher!"
"Comet Flier!"
"Fire Dragon Flash!"
The brilliantly colored streams of magical energy launched by the girls blazed through the air and converged on the Evangels. The beams began to slow as they entered the magic-saturated air surrounding the Sefirot Formation, but continued to burn their was through the dense field of energy that had deflected the earlier attacks. Inch by inch, they penetrated the thick miasma and drilled towards the Evangels at the center of the cloud. For a moment, it looked like they might strike true. But then the network of glowing lines surrounding the Evangels pulsed with additional power. The Magical Girls' attacks were snuffed out like candles in the wind by a massive outpouring of energy that rushed like a tsunami from the seven interconnected magic circles.
"Insincerus Sefirot: Vitio" the Evangels chanted in unison.
Terrible energies once more began flowing forth from the Sefirot Formation. This time, however, the Evangels' magic did not coalesce into a single projectile that might be caught by one of Shamal's portals. Instead, innumerable fine filaments of corrupt magic energy began sprouting from the glowing lines of the sigils composing the Sefirot Formation. The tendrils seemed to spread out and fill the sky, as though the Magical Girls were caught beneath the center of a descending spider web.
The girls tried to prepare defensive spells, but there was nothing they could do. Tendrils of dark magic were closing on them from every direction. There was nowhere to run or hide, and any barriers they created would surely shatter at the merest touch of the tangled braids of seething black energy coursing towards them.
Then, abruptly, an unexpected voice shouted out:
"DIABOLIC EMISSION!"
A sphere of swirling black energy materialized around the girl at the center of the Sefirot Formation. The brilliant magical energy burning through her body was quenched in an instant, like a torch plunged into muddy water. The ravenous ball of dark energy devoured every drop of her magic, shredding her Barrier Jacket as though it were mere tissue and making her metal helmet shatter like brittle clay. The destructive cloud then began to expand, swelling towards the other members of the Sefirot Formation. It drew into itself the web of bonded sigils and magical symbols that flowed between the Evangels, gorging on the bands of magical energy between them that allowed them to function so cohesively as a single unit. The six Evangels who occupied positions on the rim of the formation were forced to break the Sefirot and scatter lest they be engulfed as well.
A moment later, the churning mass of black magic vanished. Drained of magic and battered unconscious by the attack, Evangel Mammon plummeted from the sky like a stone. A moment before she would have struck the ground, a flight spell caught her and eased her landing. However, no one was paying attention to Evangel Mammon, but rather to the girl who had cast the spells. Hayate Yagami sat in a wheelchair outside the entrance to Central Dogma, the book of Reinforce spread in her lap and a look of indomitable determination in her eyes.
"Hayate!" Nanoha exclaimed. "What are you doing here!?"
"I heard the announcement by the Commander." Hayate said. "I've been lying around doing nothing for too long. I just can't stay idle anymore — not when so much is at stake."
"Dummy!" Vita said. "You're injured! You shouldn't be out here!"
"I know you want to protect me, Vita." Hayate said. "But I'm a Magical Girl too. It's my duty to fight, even if it puts my life in danger."
"But—" Vita protested.
"Let me fight." Hayate pleaded. "This whole time, while I've been in the hospital, you've been putting yourself in danger to protect me. Let me at least help you out here at the very end in return."
"We should let her fight." Signum said. "We will need all the strength we can muster to prevail."
"I think it would be an honor to fight by your side again." Fate said.
"It's up to you, Hayate." Shamal said. "If this is what you want..."
"It is." Hayate affirmed.
"...then we welcome you to fight alongside us." Shamal finished.
"It's decided, then." Nanoha said. "Welcome back, Hayate."
"Thank you." Hayate said.
"Dammit." Vita muttered. "I really like you, okay? So if you're going to fight, you better win. I wouldn't be able to bear it if you died."
Hayate smiled at her.
"You know, you're cute when you're flustered." she said.
"What!?" Vita blushed furiously. "Don't just say something like that out of the blue—"
"Talk later." Signum said abruptly. "The battle is resumed."
The Evangels had descended to the surface of the GeoFront and were now staring at the Magical Girls. They showed no compassion or concern for their fallen comrade, Evangel Mammon; however, they had reacted to her loss in a way by breaking out of formation. When creating the Mass-Production Magical Girls, SEELE had regarded human emotion as a weakness to be overcome. They couldn't rely on young girls to think rationally in the midst of a battle, they had thought; a perfect warrior would be one who was cold, ruthless, and utterly emotionless. And so they had destroyed the Evangels original personalities, using the blood of Lilith to imprint their minds with a carefully selected set of traits and skills — among them, unconditional loyalty to the Council and uncompromising ruthlessness in battle. However, because of this, the Evangels also lacked the greatest strength of humanity: flexibility. While they had been programmed with many strategies for fighting together as a team, all of these strategies had involved the participation of Evangel Mammon. It may have been possible to adapt some of these strategies so to be effective even without Evangel Mammon's assistance, but the Mass-Production Magical Girls lacked the mental flexibility to figure out how. Instead, the Evangels switched from thinking about fighting together to fighting the opposing Magical Girls one-on-one. The Evangels formed a line, each one staring at her chosen opponent: Evangel Satan at Nanoha; Evangel Leviathan at Fate; Evangel Lucifer at Signum; Evangel Beelzebub at Shamal; Evangel Belphegor at Vita; and Evangel Asmodeus at Hayate.
Six Magical Girls versus six Evangels. An even fight.
Nanoha stared across the battlefield at her enemy. Though her opponent's metal face mask betrayed no emotion, she could feel waves of enmity radiating from Evangel Satan. Red magical energy flowed around her body and gathered in front of her, solidifying into the form of a floating dagger. The glowing dagger then hurled itself at Nanoha.
"Protection!" Nanoha shouted.
A pink shield appeared in front of her and blocked the dagger. However, upon impact, the magical energy composing the dagger exploded like a small bomb. Taken by surprise by the detonation, Nanoha flinched, and her barrier wavered. Evangel Satan took advantage of her weakness by manifesting more magical energy. A variety of glowing red weapons took form in the air in front of her — sword, poleaxe, sickle, morningstar, and something Nanoha couldn't even identify — then hurtled through the air towards Nanoha.
"Protection!"
The magically manifested weapons exploded all around Nanoha, gouging craters into the earth and sending plumes of smoke into the air. Nanoha's barrier managed to absorb all of the energy from the explosions before breaking, but she was still pelted by falling debris. What's more, as the smoke cleared, she saw that Evangel Satan had already begun readying another barrage of weapons. Since it was clear she couldn't win as long as she remained on the defensive, Nanoha decided to switch to attacking.
"Divine Shooter!"
There was no time to prepare a complicated attack. Nanoha used her most basic offensive spell, hurling a barrage of pink spheres at Evangel Satan. At the same time, Evangel Satan launched the cluster of weapons she had manifested. Nanoha's energy bullets struck Evangel Satan's explosive weapons midway between the two Magical Girls, causing a series of detonates to obscure the area between them. Nanoha swiftly changed position behind the cloud of dust, hoping to use the time afforded by the smokescreen to charge a more powerful attack.
"Divine —"
Before she could complete the Divine Buster, however, a nearby explosion made her stumble. Evangel Satan was apparently firing blindly into the smoke, spreading out her weapons instead of concentrating them on a single point. Because they exploded on impact, she didn't need to score a direct hit to be dangerous. Nanoha couldn't take the time to charge up one of her stronger attacks with blasts detonating all around her; and raising a barrier or firing back with Divine Shooter would just result in the same stalemate as before.
Nanoha did have one idea she thought might work. It seemed like Evangel Satan's weapons were very unstable, and would explode at the slightest provocation. This was a property she could use against her opponent. It would be a gamble, but Nanoha couldn't see any other path to victory. She would have to risk everything on this one chance.
Nanoha didn't wait for the smoke to clear. She activated Flier Fin and jumped high into the air. Her hovering body presented a clear target to Evangel Satan, one that the enemy Magical Girl could not possibly ignore. As Nanoha expected, Evangel Satan immediately prepared to attack her. Numerous glowing red weapons of all varieties manifested around her and oriented themselves to be launched at Nanoha. In the moment before they could be fired, Nanoha acted.
"Barrel Shot!"
A pink magic circle manifested around the array of weapons generated by Evangel Satan and then contracted to bind them in place. However, when the bands of restraining magic came into contact with the unstable and highly explosive offensive magic of the weapons, it triggered them to prematurely detonate. The entire group of weapons that Evangel Satan had summoned exploded directly in front of her, engulfing her in a cloud of flame and smoke. Nanoha didn't imagine for a moment that this trick would defeat Evangel Satan, but it might distract her for long enough to let Nanoha seize the advantage. She began pouring her magic into Raising Heart.
"Divine... Buster..." Nanoha began.
The smoke around Evangel Satan cleared. Seeing the attack being prepared by Nanoha, she quickly regained her composure. Rather than summoning any more weapons, which would surely be blown away by the energy Nanoha was gathering, Evangel Satan focused all her magic into a coherent beam. A massive pillar of red energy blazed out from her outstretched hands and flew towards Nanoha.
"...EXTENSION!" Nanoha finished.
A thick beam of pink energy erupted from the tip of Nanoha staff and lanced downwards towards Evangel Satan. It struck the oncoming beam of red energy head-on, and the two outpourings struggled against one another for dominance. Nanoha and Evangel Satan both strained to pour more magic into their attacks; to overwhelm their opponent's beam with their own. The intersection between the beams wavered, moving first towards one girl and then towards the other.
"I don't know anything about you." Nanoha said. "I don't know why you became a Magical Girl for SEELE. It's possible that, like me, you were tricked into fighting for someone without understand what a bad person they were. In fact, I hope that's the case, rather than you knowing about SEELE's true goals and deciding to join them anyway. Because if you're supporting them of your own free will even knowing what they plan to do, that would make you a bad person too. But if you've only been tricked... then maybe you're a good person at heart. Maybe we could even become friends someday. I'd like that. But right now, I have to stop you. So please forgive me if I go a little hard on you, okay? MAXIMUM POWER — ABSOLUTE DESTRUCTION!"
A massive outpouring of energy surged from Raising Heart. The beam of magic firing from Nanoha's staff swelled massively in size, rapidly overwhelming Evangel Satan's beam. Before the enemy Magical Girl could react, the torrent of pink energy had blown away her attack and enveloped her. The magic shredded her Barrier Jacket and shattered her metal helmet. It flooded her body, rushing inwards towards her Linker Core. Overwhelmed by the irresistible rush of Nanoha's magic, Evangel Satan's Intelligent Device sputtered and failed. The girl's strength deserted her, and she collapsed unconscious to the ground.
Fate stood across from Evangel Leviathan. A thick cloud of red magic boiled around the enemy Magical Girl, and the energy seemed to be getting absorbed by her straightjacket-like Barrier Jacket. Fate couldn't tell whether the spell was offensive or defensive in nature. If Evangel Leviathan was powering up her Barrier Jacket, Fate's best option would be to strike now, before the Evangel's defenses got any stronger. However, if Evangel Leviathan was actually building up energy for some form of attack, then committing to a strike now could leave Fate unable to shield herself. There was no time to consider the matter at length; Fate only had a split second to make her decision. Judging that the Mass Production Magical Girls were more oriented towards offense than defense, Fate raised a protective shield in front of her.
"Defenser!"
Evangel Leviathan finished gathering energy, and Fate braced for her attack. Numerous tubes began sprouting out of the girl's Barrier Jacket and falling to the ground around her. Fate examined them more carefully, and saw that they were snakes composed of magical energy. Their eyes were glowing pits of red fire, and their fangs were glittering crescents of offensive magic. More and more extended from Evangel Leviathan's body covering the ground around her in a thick mat of intertwining coils. However, while the snakes had an air of immense danger about them, it appeared they could only move slowly across the ground. What's more, Evangel Leviathan, standing at the center of the writhing mass with their tails fused to her Barrier Jacket, seemed unable to move. Now was Fate's opportunity to attack.
"Plasma Lancer!"
Numerous spheres of crackling yellow energy appeared in front of Fate's defensive barrier, then were launched at Evangel Leviathan. It was a relatively weak attack, one that wouldn't have worked on an Angel. However, Evangel Leviathan was human — she didn't have a powerful Barrier like the Angels did. As such, Fate's primary concern was using too much force rather than too little. This attack should be enough to penetrate the girl's Barrier Jacket without causing irreparable damage to her body.
As expected, Evangel Leviathan had no Barrier. However, completely unexpectedly, she had something else. As Fate launched her attack, two magic circles appeared in the air behind the enemy Magical Girl. They glowed green rather than red; and rather than bearing the Sigil of Leviathan, they had a design that made them resemble a pair of giant floating eyes. Each of these magic circles launched an attack identical to her own. Halfway between Fate and Evangel Leviathan, the two attacks collided. Each of the energy bullets Fate had fired was struck head-on by an identical counterattack, causing both to explode harmlessly. But because there were two magic circles issuing retaliation, the number of incoming magic blasts was twice the number Fate had sent out. Only half the yellow spheres were destroyed by collision with Fate's; the remainder continued forwards and exploded against Fate's defensive barrier. It shuddered under the impacts, and Fate was knocked down to her knees. She had essentially been hit by her own attack. Fate tightened her grip on Bardiche — Evangel Leviathan could be a tougher opponent than she'd thought.
"Thunder Smasher!" Fate yelled.
A stream of energy blazed like lightning from the head of Bardiche, shooting towards Evangel Leviathan. At the same time, the two magic circles behind the enemy Magical Girl issued identical bolts. The three beams collided, and Evangel Leviathan's two easily overmatched Fate's one. This time Fate's barrier couldn't withstand the force of the attack; it shattered, and Fate was blasted backwards. It took Fate a few seconds to get back onto her feet. When she did, she noticed that the mass of red snakes being generated by Evangel Leviathan's Barrier Jacket had continued to grow, and was in fact starting to get dangerously close. The heads of the nearest snakes were already rearing up in preparation to strike.
"Arc Saber!"
Fate used Bardiche's crescent blade to slice through the necks of the snakes threatening her, causing their severed heads to crumble into sparkling dust. She then immediately leapt backwards, both to put additional distance between herself and the rest of the approaching snakes and to dodge the counterattack that was surely incoming from the two green magic circles. However, no attack came. A few seconds passed, and the magic circles remained inert. Fate considered the situation.
"Photon Lancer!"
Fate fired a single ball of yellow energy at Evangel Leviathan. This time, the circles reacted, sending two bullets of yellow magic her way. One of them collided with and destroyed Fate's attack; Fate ducked under the other one and it exploded somewhere behind her.
"Arc Saber!"
Fate reignited the buzzing crescent blade. There was no response from the magic circles. It appeared they were only activated by ranged attacks. This was something that Fate could exploit.
"Bardiche — Zanber Form!" Fate ordered. "Riot Blade!"
Bardiche altered its form, becoming a sword with a massive blade of brilliant yellow energy. Evangel Leviathan's magic circles did not react. They could duplicated projectile attacks; but Fate's Arc Saber and Riot Blade spells were both physically attached to Bardiche, and Evangel Leviathan didn't hold a weapon of her own. Though Fate couldn't tell for certain, she suspected that Evangel Leviathan's Intelligent Device had taken the form of the metal helmet covering her face, upon which the Sigil of Leviathan faintly glowed.
Keeping a tight grip on her blazing sword, Fate took a long leap into the air. The arc of her jump put her on a trajectory to land on the snake-covered ground close behind Evangel Leviathan. The snake heads in that area perked up, turning to greet her with their glowing fangs. However, as Fate began to descend, she activated her flight spell, slowing her fall. At the same time, she spun around towards Evangel Leviathan, bringing her Riot Blade about in a sweeping arc. The humming blade of energy sliced cleanly through the two green magic circles floating behind Evangel Leviathan's back, causing them to shatter like glass in its wake. Fate then put more energy into her flight spell, rising back into the air as the snake heads below her snapped futilely at the bottoms of her feet. Fate deactivated the Riot Blade, converting Bardiche back into its shooting form, and began gathering energy. With the retaliating magic circles gone, she would be able to blast Evangel Leviathan with a Trident Smasher from safely beyond the reach of the snakes below — or so she thought.
"Noli fuge." Evangel Leviathan intoned, her hollow voice resonant with magic.
A red magic circle inscribed itself in the air above Fate, and she slammed into it like a ceiling. The barrier then abruptly descending, forcing back Fate towards the ground, into the waiting fangs of the snakes. They wrapped their coils around her body and plunged their fangs into her flesh. Fate's Barrier Jacket was no protection against the snakes; their fangs were needles of concentrated offensive magic that relentlessly punched through any defense. Once the magic was inside her body, it lost its solid form and began to dissolve into her blood. Instead of venom, the snakes were pumping Fate full of Evangel Leviathan's magic. Fate didn't know any protection spells to defend the inside of her body from magical attack; the caustic offensive magic that was surging into her veins would surely tear her to shreds from within.
Fate could only see one chance. The snakes biting into her were serving as conduits conducting a large amount of magic energy from Evangel Leviathan directly into Fate's body. But perhaps the connection worked both ways: if it conducted magic from Evangel Leviathan to Fate, then it could also conduct magic from Fate to Evangel Leviathan...
"Thunder Rage!"
Lightning exploded from Fate's body in all directions. Once discharged, the power began following the path of least resistance. The snakes, which had penetrated Fate's Barrier Jacket, were also weaknesses in Evangel Leviathan's Barrier Jacket. They acted like power cables, conducting the full force of the attack directly into the Magical Girls body and earthing it in her Linker Core. Evangel Leviathan twitched and shuddered as she was electrocuted from within. Finally, her Linker Core was overwhelmed; her helmet, the manifestation of her Device, lost its form and crumbled to glittering dust. As Evangel Leviathan collapsed unconscious on the ground, the rest of her magic faded as well: first her Barrier Jacket, then mass of snakes wrapped around Fate's body, and finally the boiling flood of offensive magic that had been injected into Fate's blood.
Fate gave a sigh of relief; that fight had been too close for comfort.
Signum eyed her opponent, Evangel Lucifer, wearily. Normally she would not have any concerns about taking on an enemy of this caliber, but she was still gravely weakened from her battle with the Angel Tabris. Signum held Laevatein in a guard position, waiting to see how her opponent would attack.
Hot red energy began seething around Evangel Lucifer, flowing towards her hands and gathering into burning glove-like auras around her fists. She subtly shifted her weight, settling into a martial arts pose.
"Violet Lightning Flash." Signum said evenly.
Laevatein became sheathed in a layer of flames. At the same moment, when Signum was distracted casting her spell, Evangel Lucifer rushed forwards. Signum slashed at the other girl, trying to counter, but Evangel Lucifer caught the sword by the edge in one of her hands. The fiery energy surrounding her hand like a glove hissed and crackled as it warred against the thick flames coating Laevatein. Given enough time, Laevtaein's offensive magic might have won out, but the Evangel only gripped the sword for a second. She brought her other hand around in a short arc, driving a magically enhanced fist into Signum's side. Then she leaped backwards, back out of range of any counterattack, and resumed her neutral pose.
Signum turned her head to the side and spat out some blood. Even with the protection of her Barrier Jacket, the impact of the offensive magic coating Evangel Lucifer's fists had been brutal; it felt like one of her ribs had been cracked. It was curious, though, that the Evangel had retreated back to range after delivering one strike. With distance between them, Signum's sword conferred her an advantage. Once Evangel Lucifer was inside her guard, with one hand on Laevatein, she should have tried to twist the sword out of Signum's grasp or else aim a strike at her elbow to make her drop it. It made no sense to go for a punch to the side of her chest when she had the opportunity to disarm her opponent.
Signum started to charge at Evangel Lucifer, then planted her foot and turned her forward momentum into a sword thrust. Evangel Lucifer used the back of one hand to strike the flaming blade, knocking it to the side so it missed her body, then used her other hand to send a punch hurtling at Signum's skull. This time Signum's reactions were fast enough to dodge; she ducked under the glowing fist, which ruffled her hair. However, as soon as her fist had passed Signum's head, Evangel Lucifer opened her hand and drew it back towards her. She grabbed Signum's hair and pulled Signum towards her by the head. At the same time, her other hand was flying towards Signum's midsection. Signum's sword arm was overextended; she lacked the leverage to swing it towards Evangel Lucifer's back from that position, and didn't have time to draw it back to herself to block. Evangel Lucifer delivered a hammer blow to Signum's stomach, below the rib cage. Then she released Signum's hair, leapt backwards, and resumed her standard pose.
Signum coughed and wiped bloody spittle from her lips, but inwardly nodded to herself. Her suspicion was confirmed: Evangel Lucifer was holding back. Twice now she had effortless countered Signum's actions and gained a superior position; but instead of pressing her advantage and ending the fight, she would fall back into her basic pose and prepare to deliver a different strike. Signum would have believed she was showing off, if she'd though the Evangel still capable of an emotion such as arrogance. More likely it was part of her battle programming. It was like she wasn't viewing the fight as a continuous event, but as a series of exercises: strike the opponent and return to neutral stance to await the next exercise. She was probably programmed with a list of combat maneuvers and the ideal responses to them; instead of reading the situation and thinking tactically, she simply input Signum's actions into a database and carried out the preprogrammed response. Signum wondered if Evangel Lucifer had ever participated in an actual fight before, or if the entirety of her training had just consisted of an encyclopedia of moves being imprinted on her brain.
Evangel Lucifer really wasn't a person to SEELE, just a tool. Signum grimaced at the thought that she might have ended up the same way, if Commander Precia hadn't requested that she be transferred to NERV. She'd show the old men that there was more to being a warrior than carrying out actions like a mindless machine.
Signum rushed Evangel Lucifer, a deliberately sloppy attack that could be easily blocked and countered. Since Signum knew what the main flaws in her attack were and the obvious ways they could be taken advantage of, she could be reasonably confident in how she expected Evangel Lucifer to respond to it. Sure enough, Evangel Lucifer took a step backwards, dodging the first sweep of the blade; then when Signum started to sweep it back, she stepped forwards again and swung a magically-enhanced fist. As the Evangel's fist struck Laevatein, Signum withdrew her magic energy from the weapon. Without magic reinforcement, the sword's blade was snapped in half by the offensive magic imbued in the Evangel's fist. Signum's Device disintegrated in a shower of sparks. The Evangel's other fist struck Signum across the jaw, knocking loose a few teeth and sending Signum flying backwards. As she struck the ground, Signum loosened her Barrier Jacket, allowing the magic composing it to start bleeding away in a haze of sparkling dust.
Signum imagined Evangel Lucifer processing the situation in what was left of her mind. Signum was lying prone on the ground, her Barrier Jacket disintegrating; there was a high probability she was unconscious. The designated action in this situation was to finish off the incapacitated enemy. Of course, her programmers would have included the other possibility, that enemy was merely feigning incapacitation in order to draw Evangel Lucifer into striking range; the so-called "Wounded Gazelle Gambit". However, Signum's injuries were clearly severe; she had gone into the fight already weakened, and had sustained still further damage. Since she had been unable to fight effectively against Evangel Lucifer even while wielding the sword Laevatein, it would be inconceivable for her to have a chance empty-handed. The material form of Laevatein had been broken; in the time it would take for Signum to materialize another, Evangel Lucifer could easily fall back to a safe distance. Therefore, the action dictated by her battle programming would be to carry out a finishing move.
Evangel Lucifer began walking towards Signum's limp body. As she did, she brought her hands together. The auras of glowing red energy that encased them fused and changed shape, becoming a sword of pure offensive magic. Evangel Lucifer stepped over Signum's body, holding the sword out and point-down, ready to deliver a strike that would surely penetrate Signum's crumbling Barrier Jacket and fatally pierce her through the heart.
It was an elegant coup de grace, one which Evangel Lucifer was carrying out with grace, which only went to show that whoever had programmed Evangel Lucifer's fighting skills had been inferior to Signum's tutor. The Evangel had been programmed to fight with dignity, poise, and a minimum of wasted movement. Signum had been taught to defeat the enemy by any means necessary. As Evangel Lucifer stood astride her, prepared to drive the sword down through her heart and kill her in a single clean blow, Signum lashed upwards with one of her legs, planting her boot solidly in Evangel Lucifer's crotch. While generally considered a more effective move against men, a hard hit in that area was painful for any gender. However, to make sure, Signum released the magic energy of her Barrier Jacket composing the boot, causing it to explode with the force of a bomb between Evangel Lucifer's thighs.
The Evangel toppled like a statue.
Signum drew herself up over the fallen Evangel. She delivered a blow to the Evangel's throat, to the unprotected area between the bottom of her helmet and the top of her Barrier Jacket, to close her windpipe. Then she dug her fingers into either side of the Evangel's neck, blocking off the carotid arteries. Unconsciousness came quick, and the Evangel's helmet and Barrier Jacket dissolved as the girl's magic was redirected towards the task of keeping her alive.
Signum drew herself slowly to her feet. She was almost completely drained of magic now; everything she had left was being used to heal the fresh injuries the Evangel had inflicted on her. But she was victorious. That was all that mattered.
Shamal faced off against Evangel Beelzebub. Her magic was primarily defensive in nature, based on reflecting an opponent's attacks back at them, so she needed to wait for enemy to make the first move. What's more, while she had employed the tactic of closing portals while the enemy was halfway through against the Angels, she didn't feel comfortable doing so against a fellow human being. Evangel Beelzebub might be her enemy, but she was still a person. She might not even be a bad person; after all, it wasn't that long ago that Shamal herself had held misguided loyalty towards SEELE. She wanted to settle this battle non-fatally, if possible.
Though Evangel Beelzebub stood motionless, Shamal could sense her preparing to attack. The aura of magic energy emanating from her body surged as she readied herself to strike. Shamal tensed up as well; she didn't know what kind of attack her opponent would be launching, and might have only fractions of a second to open a portal to catch it. She used the spell Panzer Geist to create a defensive barrier around her body in case she couldn't intercept the first attack; but depending on how powerful the Evangel's offensive abilities were, even that might not be enough to protect her.
Evangel Beelzebub abruptly launched her attack. Some of the magical energy surrounding her condensed into the shape of a glowing red chain, which launched itself through the air at Shamal. Shamal quickly opened a portal between herself and the oncoming chain, placing the other portal out over the ocean where she was reasonably sure there were no innocent bystanders. Evangel Beelzebub reacted by materializing a second chain and flinging it at Shamal as well. Since it was another direct attack from the front, Shamal simply widened the portal so that this chain also passed through it.
Evangel Beelzebub retracted the chains back to her body. Then she launched them off to her sides, on long arcing trajectories that would carry them to strike Shamal's body from both sides. Shamal closed the portal in front of her and opened a new pair of portals at her sides. The chains passed through them, each entering one side and exiting the other while bypassing her body. Evangel Beelzebub tried to redirect the chains once more, curving them around to strike her exposed front and back, but Shamal simply snapped the portals shut. The closing portals severed the ends of the chains, and the disconnected portions fizzled into harmless red sparks.
Energy once more gathered around the body of Evangel Beelzebub. This time, instead of taking the form of chains, the magic became innumerable motes of red light that surrounded Evangel Beelzebub like a field of stars. Then, at some unspoken command, the countless flowing pinpricks flew towards Shamal. Shamal quickly opened a portal in front of herself; but instead of passing into it, the small flecks of burning light scattered. The didn't follow a straight trajectory like bullets, but rather seemed to swarm around her like a cloud of flies.
Shamal could only open one pair of portals at a time; she couldn't defend against an attack that came from all directions at once. The fly-like motes of offensive magic easily maneuvered around her attempts at defensive portals and settled over her body in a blanket-like layer. Each mote burned like a drop of flaming oil. Individually, their power was nearly insignificant; but Shamal was covered in countless thousands of them. If she hadn't encased her body in a defensive shell of magic with Panzer Geist, they probably would've been able to eat through her Barrier Jacket and burn her to ashes. Even with the layer of magic covering her, Shamal was assaulted by a wave of pain.
The many small motes of magic quickly exhausted their power and fizzled out against the green magic shielding Shamal. That one attack alone was not sufficient to overwhelm her. However, it did break her concentration, allowing Evangel Beelzebub to once more summon her chains and send them flying at Shamal. The first one shattered to pieces against Panzer Geist; but the impact overwhelmed the already-weakened barrier, which shattered like glass under the impact of the second chain. The chain wrapped itself around Shamal's throat and began to slowly contract, cutting off her air.
Shamal dropped to her knees, fighting for breath. She was taken aback by the efficiency of the attack. The Angels had mostly just tried to blast the Magical Girls, so their Barrier Jackets had provided them with a layer of last-line defense if their shields were broken. The Evangels, however, were human, and so knew about human vulnerabilities and weaknesses. Evangel Beelzebub knew that she could kill Shamal without having to break through her Barrier Jacket if she stopped her from being able to breathe.
And with that revelation, Shamal realized how she could beat Evangel Beelzebub. She'd been fighting as though her opponent was just another Angel. But Evangel Beelzebub was human like her — and so had the same human frailties. The Angels, having bodies made of materialized magic, had been completely solid. Since Shamal could only open portals in empty spaces, she never would've been able to open a portal inside the body of an Angel. But human bodies had plenty of open spaces in them. The windpipe, for instance, as Evangel Beelzebub was currently using to her advantage. But Shamal could do the same to her. The Evangel's impressive straightjacket-like Barrier Jacket and intimidating metal helmet wouldn't protect against portals.
Shamal opened one end of a portal inside Evangel Beelzebub's trachea, blocking her ability to breathe. However, that alone wasn't enough; since Shamal had already been deprived of air for some time by Evangel Beelzebub's chain, she would lose a contest of endurance. Therefore, she opened the other end of the portal to the vacuum of outer space. All of the air was sucked out of Evangel Beelzebub's lungs in an instant, and the enemy Magical Girl collapsed like a marionette with its strings cut. Her concentration broken, the chain that had been wrapped around Shamal's neck fell apart and dissolved. Not wanting to risk killing the other girl, Shamal quickly closed her portals as well.
For a moment, both girls fell to their knees gasping for breath. Then Evangel Beelzebub, perhaps better conditioned to withstand pain than Shamal, began rising back to her feet. Shamal opened a fist-sized portal in front of herself and placed the other side inside of the Evangel's stomach, then delivered a brutal internal gut-punch. Evangel Beelzebub fell face-first to the ground. She made a desperate gagging noise, then pulled off her metal helmet and vomited.
As far as Shamal was concerned, the fight was done; Evangel Beelzebub had no defense against her portals, so Shamal could keep beating her down all day. The problem was, it didn't look like Evangel Beelzebub was going to give up. She seemed perfectly ready to just keep standing back up until Shamal knocked her unconscious — no easy task, given Shamal's weak offensive abilities and the healing powers granted by an Intelligent Device. She could choke Evangel Beelzebub unconscious by opening another portal in her windpipe, but was afraid it would be too easy to accidentally kill the other girl that way.
After a moment's thought, Shamal opened a portal to the NERV infirmary. She quickly reached into one of medicine cabinets and drew out a syringe of tranquilizer. It was a medication Dr. Akagi had used on Hayate while treating her after her possession by Bardiel, so Shamal knew it would be effective even against the enhanced metabolism of a Magical Girl. She couldn't be sure the needle would penetrate Evangel Beelzebub's Barrier Jacket, so she opened another portal inside the Magical Girl's body to inject it directly into her from within. Evangel Beelzebub shuddered, then fell to the ground and drifted into unconsciousness.
Vita glared at her opponent, Evangel Belphegor. The Evangel's metal mask showed no emotion, but the Sigil of Belphegor emblazoned on it smoldered with magical energy.
"I want to have a proper reunion with Hayate, so let's finish this quickly." Vita said. "Swallow Flier!"
She swung her hammer Graf Eisen about in an arc, sending a projectile of orange energy hurtling towards the enemy Magical Girl. It had crossed half the distance between them when Evangel Belphegor countered with her own attack. A red magic circle containing the Sigil of Belphegor appeared on the ground between them, rapidly growing in size to cover the entire area between the two girls. The projectile launched by Vita abruptly altered its course, harmlessly impacting the ground well short of Evangel Belphegor. Then the magic circle expanded further, its red lines passing beneath Vita's feet, and Vita knew why her attack had missed. It felt like the force of gravity was doubled within the magic circle, the extra weight driving Vita down to her knees. Vita eyed Evangel Belphegor warily and prepared to roll to the side, expecting her opponent to take advantage of her reduced mobility within the circle by launching an attack. However, Evangel Belphegor showed no sign of motion; the enemy Magical Girl stood idly beyond the far edge of the magic circle, as though waiting to see what Vita would do next.
"Don't get cocky, idiot." Vita said. "This alone isn't enough to stop me! Swallow Flier!"
Vita launched another blazing missile from Graf Eisen. Compensating for the increased gravity, she launched it on a trajectory over Evangel Belphegor's head, so that it would fall down in an arc and strike her from above. However, it had only partway completed its flight when the magic circle flashed and the force of gravity doubled again. Her attack once more fell harmlessly short of its target.
Vita reconsidered her options. She didn't know if there was any upper limit to how much Evangel Belphegor could increase the force of gravity within her magic circle, but staying within its bounds was starting to look like a poor proposition. She would stand a much better chance if she could get outside its area of effect. However, that course of action posed problems of its own. When the magic circle had expanded across the ground between them, it had not started from the center and expanded evenly in all directions. Rather, the point on the edge closest to Evangel Belphegor had remained fixed, while the point on the opposite edge closest to Vita had moved outwards. Thus, the shortest distance to an edge would require her to move forwards, towards Evangel Belphegor. In contrast, moving away from Evangel Belphegor would take her towards the fastest-expanding part of the circle, the part that would increase in distance the most if Evangel Belphegor grew the circle again.
There was no way around it: if Vita wanted out of this crushing magic circle, she'd have to go through Evangel Belphegor.
"Alright, metal-head; let's see how you handle this!" Vita yelled. "Destruction Hammer!"
She poured magical energy into Graf Eisen, and the hammer's head grew to gigantic size. The enormous weapon was far too heavy for her to hold up in the current quadruple gravity, and its head came crashing down onto the ground in front of her. Vita focused her magic on the hammer's handle, which began growing in length. The hammer's magic-imbued head began rushing forwards, tearing through the ground like a plow. For a moment, it looked like it would strike true; then the magic circle glowed brightly beneath Vita's feet and the force of gravity doubled once again. The increased weight of Graf Eisen was too much for the ground to handle, and the massive hammer broke through the surface and began to sink underground. Vita had to shrink it back to its normal size to maintain her hold on it.
"You're a real one-trick pony, aren't you?" Vita gritted out. "Don't you have any imagination?"
Evangel Belphegor only stared silently from behind her faceless metal helm. Despite her bravado, Vita was in a serious situation. It was clear that her opponent would respond to any attack by increasing the force of gravity within the magic circle. Ranged attacks were futile; the only chance Vita had was to reach the Evangel and strike her directly. However, once Vita started moving towards her, Evangel Belphegor would probably double gravity again. Vita was already experiencing eight times normal gravity. Doubling it again would subject her to 16 G. She had learned about G-force in school at SEELE, as part of preparations for the flight spell that Graf Eisen would grant her. A normal human, she remembered, would black out when subjected to 5 G. A properly trained and equipped jet fighter pilot could remain conscious in up to 9 G. A Magical Girl, supported by flight spells, the protective magic of her Barrier Jacket, and healing magic repairing her internal injures, could likely handle quite a bit more. But under normal conditions, exposure to such high G-force would be limited to fractions of a second, during high-speed aerial maneuvers. A sustained, continuous 16 G over about a minute would likely kill her regardless of what magic she used to support herself.
Vita grimaced. She'd just have to do it in less than a minute, then; because there was no force in the world that could persuade her to give up. Not when Hayate was depending on her.
"Ready or not, here I come." Vita said. "Rocket Hammer!"
Energy gathered at the back of Graf Eisen and ignited like a rocket engine. The force of the magic propelled Vita forwards towards Evangel Belphegor. At the same time, as expected, the magic circle increased in power once more. Even with her flight spells running at full power, Vita fell face-first to the ground like she was made of lead. But even so, she did not release her grip on Graf Eisen. The hammer continued to burn brightly with orange energy, struggling to drag its wielder towards her target.
"Gonna take..."
Vita felt like a mountain had been dropped on her back. Pushing all other thoughts out of her mind, she focused all her concentration on her limbs. Though they felt so cumbersome that she could only move them an inch at a time, she managed to get her hands under her.
"...more than that..."
Vita pushed upwards. Her muscles screamed in agony, beginning her to surrender to the crushing weight pressing down on her. Vita ignored them, straightening out her arms inch by painful inch, until she was able to pull herself to her knees. Then she turned her attention to her legs. Though her bones felt like they might shatter at any second under the horrific weight of her body, Vita began straightening them as well. Her feet tore deep indentations into the ground, as though she were stepping in lightly-packed snow rather than standing on solid earth.
"...to keep me down!"
Vita stood, and for the first time Evangel Belphegor's statue-like composure seemed to waver. The magic circle spread across the ground beneath Vita brightened momentarily, then flickered and dimmed again. Evangel Belphegor had reached her limit; she was already pouring every drop of her magical energy into the circle, and couldn't increase its force any further.
"Don't you know..."
Vita felt lightheaded. She shrank the size of her Barrier Jacket, mercilessly contracting it around her limbs in order to force blood back into her brain. For the first time in as long as she could remember, she no longer minded being the shortest member of her group; while once she had worried that her small stature might lead to her being rejected as a candidate to become a Magical Girl, she understood that it was now the only reason she was still conscious — it meant that there was less distance that her heavy blood had to be pumped.
"...who I am?"
Continuing to walk forwards was the hardest thing Vita had ever done in her life, but she resolutely placed one foot in front of the other. She ignored the pain in her legs, ignored the feeling of her magic reserves being rapidly depleted, ignored everything but the remaining distance between herself and Evangel Belphegor. And though her lungs burned as she struggled to breathe the densely compressed air, she shouted her defiance at the Magical Girl trying to crush her.
"My name is Vita, Lady Knight of Adririon, the Might of God; and there is nothing in this world I cannot destroy!"
The magic engine powering Graf Eisen gave one last crucial burst of thrust, allowing the hammer to cross the remaining distance to Evangel Belphegor. With all of her energy completely invested in powering the magic circle, the enemy Magical Girl had none left to defend herself. Graf Eisen impacted the girl directly in the face, shattering her helmet and knocking her unconscious in a single blow. As she crumpled to the ground, the magic circle she had created faded, and Vita heaved a sigh of relief as the terrible weight on her body dissipated.
Evangel Asmodeus slowly floated down through the air towards Hayate. Though Hayate put on a brave face for her friends, she secretly worried about her ability to fight. This was the first time she had drawn on Reinforce's magic since it had awakened as Bardiel several months ago. She didn't know if she was still capable of using the Device's full power after what Nanoha had done to suppress Bardiel; or worse, where it was possible that using too much magic might cause the Angel to reawaken. Worse still, when she'd tried casting her flight spell earlier, she'd realized that she'd always used her legs to steer it. Now, unable to move or feel her legs, she was also incapable of controlled flight. She might be able to come up with a modified version of the spell, given time; but for this fight, she would be confined to her wheelchair, unable to dodge.
"Misteltein!"
Hayate decided to strike first, hoping to take out the enemy Evangel before she had a chance to launch an attack that Hayate might not be able to block. Her spell caused nine spears of light to fall from the sky towards the enemy Magical Girl. However, Evangel Asmodeus dodged them easily, performing a series of mechanically smooth and graceful spins and flips through the air that took her through the group of falling spears without difficulty. The Evangel then held out one hand towards Hayate, and a jet of flame erupted from her palm.
"Panzer Schild!"
Hayate managed to raise a barrier just in time to block the magical flamethrower. She quickly pumped energy into the defensive shield, parting the blazing enemy that flowed around her like a river of flame. The barrier glowed with heat, but held firm in the face of the attack. After a few moments, Evangel Asmodeus realized that she couldn't overwhelm Hayate this way and changed tactics. The stream of flame relented as Evangel Asmodeus cupped her hands in front of her. A small sphere of fire ignited between her palms. Though tiny in size, the ball of fire began to grow in brightness until it hurt Hayate's eyes to look at it. The air around Evangel Asmodeus grew hazy with heat, and the dirt beneath her feet baked and cracked. Hayate couldn't allow this attack to be launched or the sheer amount of heat might incinerate her through her shield.
"Atem des Eises!"
A deluge of freezing magic engulfed the area around Evangel Asmodeus, quenching the brilliant flame between her hands and encasing her in a prison of ice. Hayate realized that if she was fast enough, she might be able to take advantage of this immobility. The only question was what spell to use. Diabolic Emission covered the largest area, but also took the most time to cast, and it was apparent that Evangel Asmodeus didn't intend to stay frozen for long. Her body had begun glowing with an aura of intense heat, causing cracks to spread through the ice. Hayate decided to use her fastest spell instead.
"Misteltein!"
Nine more spears of light rained from the sky, aimed at the trapped Evangel, but they weren't quick enough. Evangel Asmodeus exploded out of the ice encasing her and nimbly dodged the spears with mechanical grace. Hayate was struck by how artificial the movements were, lacking any of the uncertainty or hesitation displayed by normal humans. She couldn't consider it for long, however, as Evangel Asmodeus was preparing another attack. The Evangel raised her hands above her head, and a large glowing magic circle containing Sigil of Asmodeus inscribed itself between them. The sigil pulsed, and a massive beam of blazing red magic roared towards Hayate.
"Hraesvelgr!"
Hayate countered by creating three magic sigils of her own, each of which shot a beam of energy at the incoming attack. The beams collided mid-air and detonated in an enormous explosion. The area between the two battling Magical Girls was engulfed in an enormous cloud of smoke and debris. Hayate realized with growing fear that she couldn't see what Evangel Asmodeus was doing on the other side of the cloud. She'd managed to counter the attacks launched at her so far, but only because she'd been able to see them coming. Evangel Asmodeus could be flying straight at her right now and she wouldn't be able to tell.
"Diabolic Emission!"
A sphere of dark magic blossomed in the center of cloud, expanding outwards in all directions. Anything that Evangel Asmodeus tried to shoot at her through the smoky veil should get absorbed by the spell's power before striking her. This time, however, it was the Evangel who had anticipated her. Instead of firing through the smoke, she had decided to fly over it. By the time Hayate saw her passing over the apex of the expanding Diabolic Emission and beginning to descend, it was too late to do anything about it. Evangel Asmodeus landed next to Hayate and then whirled about, delivering a vicious spin-kick into the side of her wheelchair. The force of her blow knocked the chair over and sent Hayate sprawling across the ground. The Evangel began walking towards the paralyzed Magical Girl, her fists glowing red-hot with magic.
"Misteltein!"
It was all about anticipation, Hayate had realized. She and the Evangel were locked in a dance, matching action and reaction. The only way to win was to take her enemy by surprise. Since she'd already cast Misteltein twice before during this battle, Evangel Asmodeus was familiar with it. She knew exactly how to react, how to avoid the glowing spears that would fall from the sky. So Hayate did something she wouldn't expect. She cast the spell sideways. Instead of dropping down from above, the spears shot horizontally across the battlefield. Evangel Asmodeus, looking in entirely the wrong direction, never even saw them coming. Though eight of the spears passed harmlessly through empty space on either side of her, one of them struck her dead center in the chest. The beam of magical light passed straight through Evangel Asmodeus's heart, but it didn't do any physical damage. Instead, it overloaded her Linker Core, breaking her connection to her Device and cutting off her supply of magic. Evangel Asmodeus collapsed to the ground, her Barrier Jacket and her helmet dissolving in a spray of red sparks, and Hayate breathed a sigh of relief. In her first battle since her hospitalization, she had emerged victorious.
The seven Evangels defeated, the six Magical Girls reunited in the shadow of the black pyramid of Central Dogma. Vita righted Hayate's wheelchair and helped her back into it.
"Wow." Hayate said. "I can't believe we won."
"It isn't over yet." Nanoha cautioned her. "We've defeated the Magical Girls sent by SEELE, but we still have to stop the Commander."
"Stop Commander Testarossa?" Hayate asked. "Why? What's she doing?"
Before anyone could answer her, a tremor ran through the ground.A rumbling sound came from deep beneath them, starting distant but growing in intensity with each passing second until it became a deafening roar that blotted out all other sounds. It was more than a sound, it was a sensation, a world-shaking vibration that rattled them to the very bones. It was the sound of something rising up beneath them, rending its way through millions of tons of earth and steel, for kilometer after kilometer, as though Hell itself was forcing its way up to Earth. Then it arrived at the surface. The central pyramid exploded into a massive cloud of glass shards and metal shrapnel as Lilith, the Black Progenitor, mother of all terrestrial life, erupted from the ground. The enormous form of the Black Mother towered over the scarred battlefield at the bottom of the GeoFront, a god looming over the stunned mortals below.
Then, slowly, with a strange air of majesty, Her body began to crumble.
Her blood, the primordial soup of life, spilled in torrents from countless wounds. Great chunks of flesh fell from Her body and landed amidst the debris below. Her head split down the middle, breaking apart like an overripe fruit, and what remained of Her body collapsed to the ground as though Her skeleton had liquified. Her skin, tissue, and organs began to melt as well, dissolving back into the primordial soup which composed it. Soon all that remained was a single fist-sized lump of still-living flesh. This embryonic mass was the fetal form of the Black Mother, the seed from which She could eventually regrow if given enough time. It hovered in the air between the outstretched hands of Commander Precia Testarossa.
"It is my victory." Precia said. "Now I will consume the Black Mother as I consumed the White, and initiate the Forbidden Union within myself; and in doing so, I will become God. Bear witness, children, to the end of the old world, and the beginning of something entirely new. Something..."
The Commander's eyes, usually so cold and emotionless, were shining with fervor.
"...glorious."
The Commander closed her hands around the helpless fetus and raised it towards her open mouth.